cviii 
LIFE OF WILSON. 
Harbor.* There they remained for nearly four weeks, constantly occupied in 
collecting materials for the eiglitli volume, which Wilson had resolved should 
in no respects fall short of the preceding ; but which should, if possible, enhance 
his reputation, by the value of its details, and the beauty of its embellislmients. 
Immediately on his return to Philadelphia, he engaged anew in his arduous 
avocation ; and by the month of August he had succeeded in completing the 
letter-press of the eighth volume, tiiougli the wiiole of the plates ,were not 
finished. But unfortunately his great anxiety to conclude the work, condemned 
him to an excess of toil, which, inflexible as was his mind, his bodily frame 
was unable to boar. lie was likewise, by this flood of business, prevented from 
residing in the country, where hours of mental lassitude might have been 
beguiled by a rural walk, or the rough but invigorating exercise of the gun. 
At length he was attacked by a disease, which, perhaps, at another period of 
his life might not have been attended with fatal effects, but which now, in his 
debilitated state of body, and harassed mind, proved a mighty foe, whose 
assaults all the combined efforts of friendship, science and skill, could not repel. 
The dysentery, after a sickness of ten days, closed the mortal career of Alexan- 
der Wilson, on the twenty-third of August, 1813. 
It may not be going too far to maintain, that in no age or nation has there 
ever arisen one more eminently qualified for a naturalist than the subject of 
these memoirs. He was not only an enthusiastic admirer of the works of 
creation, but he was consistent in research ; and permitted no dangers or fatigues 
to abate his ardor, or relax his exertions. He inured himself to hardships by 
frequent and laborious exercise ; and was never more happy than when employed 
in some enterprise, which promised from its difficulties the novelties of disco- 
very. Whatever was obtained with ease, to him appeared to be attended, 
comparatively speaking, with small interest: the acquisitions of labor alone 
seemed worthy of his ambition. He was no closet philosopher — exchanging the 
frock of activity for the night-gown and slippers. He was indebted for his 
ideas, not to books, which err, but to Nature which is infallible ; and the 
inestimable transcript of her works, which he has bequeathed to us, possesses a 
charm which affects us the more, the better acquainted we become with the 
delightful original. His inquisitive habits procured him from others a vast 
heterogeneous mass of information ; but he had the happy talent of selecting 
from this rubbish whatever was valuable. His perseverance was uncommon; 
and when engaged in pursuit of a particular object, he would never relinquish 
it, while there was a chance of success. His powers of observation were very 
acute, and he seldom erred in judgment, when favored with a fair opportunity 
of investigation. 
Credulity has been aptly termed " the vice of naturalists;" but it maybe 
said, to the honor of our author, that it would be difficult to find one less 
infected with this vice than himself. His mind, strongly imbued with common 
sense, and familiar with the general laws of nature, could not be imposed upon 
* Wilson made six journeys to the coast of New Jersey, in pursuit of «'ater-birds, which 
abound in the neighborhood of Great Egg Harbor. 
