cxii 
LIFE OF WILSON. 
and intelligence; his complexion was sallow, his mien thoughtful; his features 
were coarse, and there was a dash of vulgarity in his physiognomy, which 
struck the observer at the first view, but wliich failed to impress one on 
acquaintance. His walk was quick when travelling, so much so that it was 
difiBcult for a companion to keep pace with him; but when in the forests, in 
pursuit of birds, he was deliberate and attentive — he was, as it were, all eyes, 
and all ears. 
Such was Alexander Wilson. When the writer of this humble biography 
indulges in retrospection, he again finds himself in the society of that individual, 
whose life was a series of those virtues which dignify human nature ; he 
attends him in his wild-wood rambles, and listens to those pleasing observations, 
which the magnificence of creation was wont to give birth to; he sits at his 
feet, and receives the instructions of one, in science, so competent to teach ; 
he beholds him in the social circle, and notes the complacency which he inspired 
iu all around. But the transition from the past to the present quickens that 
anguish with which his heart must be filled, who casts a melancliuly look on 
those scenes, a few years since endeared by the presence of one, united to him 
by a conformity of taste, disposition and pursuit, and who reflects that that 
beloved friend can revisit them no more. 
It was the intention of Wilson, on the completion of his Ornitliology, to 
publish an edition in four volumes octavo ; the figures to be engraved in wood, 
somewhat after the manner of Bewick's British Birds ; and colored with all 
the care that had been bestowed on the original plates. If he had lived to 
effect this scheme, the public would have been put in possession of a work of 
considerable elegance, as respects typography and illustrations ; wherein the 
subjects would have been an'anged in systematical order; and the whole at the 
cost of not more than one-fifth part of the quarto edition. 
He likewise meditated a work ou the quadrupeds of the United States ; to 
be printed in the same splendid style of the Ornithology; the figures to be 
engraved with the highest finish, and by the best artists of our country. How 
much has science lost in the death of this ingenious and indefatigable 
naturalist ! 
His remains were deposited in the cemetery of the Swedish church, in the 
district of Southwark, Philadelphia. While in the enjoyment of health, he 
had conversed with a friend on the subject of his death, and expressed a wish 
to be buried in some rural spot, sacred to peace and solitude, whither the 
charms of nature might invite the steps of the votary of the Muses, and the 
lover of science, and where the birds might sing over his grave. 
It has been an occasion of regret to those of his friends, to whom was con- 
fided the mournful duty of ordering his funeral, that his desire had not been 
made known to them, otherwise it should have been piously observed. 
A plain marble tomb marks the spot where lie the ashes of this celebrated 
man ; it bears the following inscription : 
