LIFE OF WILSON. 
xxxvii 
value eitlier of their opiuions so much as I would yours. I have bestowed 
more pains upon this than I ever did upon any former poem ; and if it contain 
nothing really good, I shall for ever despair of producing any other that will." 
To Mr. Wm. Bartram. 
" March 4th, 1805. 
" My Dear Friend, 
" This day the heart of every republican, of every good man, within the 
immense limits of our happy country, will leap with joy ! 
" The re-appointment and continuance of our beloved Jeiferson to superin- 
tend our national concerns, is one of those distinguished blessings whose bene- 
ficent effects extend to posterity ; aud whose value our hearts may feel, but 
can never express. 
'• I congratulate with you, my dear friend, on this happy event. The 
enlightened philosopher, — the distinguished naturalist, — the first statesman on 
earth, — the friend, the ornament of science, is the father of our country, 
the faithful guardian of our liberties. May the precious fruits of such pre- 
eminent talents long, long be ours : and the grateful effusions of millions of 
freemen, at a far distant period, follow their aged and honored patriot to the 
peaceful tomb. 
" I am at present engaged in drawing the two birds which I brought from 
the Mohawk; and, if I can finish them to your approbation, I intend to trans- 
mit them to our excellent president, as the child of an amiable parent presents 
to its afi"ectionate father some little token of its esteem. 
To Mb. Wm. Duncan. 
Gray's Ferry, March 26th, 1805. 
"I received your letter of January 1st, some time about the beginning of 
February; and wrote the same evening very fully; but have heard nothing in 
return. Col. S. desires me to tell you to be in no uneasiness, nor part with 
the place to a disadvantage on his account. His son has been with me since 
January. I told you in my last of the thinness of my school : it produced me 
the last quarter only twenty-six scholars; and the sum of fifteen dollars was 
all the money I could raise from them at the end of the term. I immediately 
called the trustees together, and, stating the affair to them, proposed giving 
up the school. Two of them on the spot offered to subscribe between them 
one hundred dollars a-year, rather than permit me to go ; and it was agreed to 
call a meeting of the people : the result was honorable to me, for forty-eight 
scholars were instantly subscribed for ; so that the ensuing six months my 
school will be worth pretty near two hundred dollars. So much for my 
affairs. * 
" I have never had a scrap from Scotland since last summer ; but I am 
much more anxious to hear from you. I hope you have weathered this terri- 
ble winter, and that your heart and your limbs are as sound as ever. I also 
most devoutly wish that matters could be managed so that we could be 
together. This f\irm must either be sold, or let; it must not for ever be a 
great gulf between us. I have spent most of my leisure hours this winter in 
