XVI 
LIFE OF WILSON. 
Caledonia is fruitful of verseinen: every village has its poets; 
and so prevalent is the habit of jingling rhymes, that a scholar is 
considered as possessing no taste, if he do not attune the Scottish 
lyre to those themes, which the amor patrii^^ the national pride of 
a Scotsman, has identified with his very existence. 
That poetry would attract the regard of Wilson was to be 
expected; it was the vehicle of sentiments which were in unison 
with his sanguine temperament; he had early imbibed a love of vir- 
tue, and it now assumed a romantic cast by assimilation with the 
high-wrought efforts of fancy, combined with the melody of song. 
After an apprenticeship of about five years Wilson became his 
own master; and, relinquishing the occupation of weaving, he re- 
solved to gratify his taste for rural scenery by journeying into the 
interior of the country, in the capacity of a pedler. He was now 
about eighteen, full of ardour and vivacity; had a constitution 
capable of great exertion; and a mind which promised resources 
amid every difficulty. Having been initiated in the art of trading, 
he shouldered his pack, and cheerfully set out in quest of riches. 
In a mind of a romantic turn, Scotland affords situations abundant- 
ly calculated to arouse all those associations which the sublime 
and beautiful in nature inspire, Wilson was an enthusiast; and 
the charms of those mountains, vallies, and streams, which had 
been immortalized in song, filled his soul with rapture, and incited 
some of the earliest efforts of his youthful muse. 
To him who would accumulate wealth by trade, the muses 
must not be propitious. That abstraction of mind from worldly 
concerns which letters require, but ill qualifies one to descend to 
those arts, which, in order to be successfully practised, must be the 
unceasing objects of solicitude and attention. While the trader 
was feasting his eyes upon the beauties of a landscape, or enditing 
an elegy or a song, the auspicious moment to drive a bargain was 
neglected, or some more fortunate rival was allowed to supplant 
