BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
OF 
ALEXANDER WILSON. 
ALEXANDER WILSON was born in the town of Paisley, 
in the west of Scotland, on the sixth day of July, 1766. His father, 
who was also named Alexander, followed the distilling business ; 
an humble occupation, which neither allowed him much time for 
the improvement of his mind, nor yielded him much more than 
the necessaries of life. He was illiterate and poor; and died on 
the 5th June, 1816, at the age of eighty-eight. His mother was a 
native of Jura, one of the Hebrides or Western Islands of Scotland. 
She is said to have been a woman of delicate health, but of good 
understanding; and passionately fond of Scotch music, a taste for 
which she early inculcated on her son; who, in his riper years, cul- 
tivated it as one of the principal amusements of his life. She died 
when Alexander was about ten years old, leaving him, and two sis- 
ters, to mourn their irreparable loss ; a loss which her affectionate 
son never ceased to deplore, as it deprived him of his best friend ; 
one who had fostered his infant mind; and who had looked forward, 
with fond expectation, to that day, 
“ When, clad in sable gown, with solemn air, 
“The walls of God’s own house should echo back his prayer:” 
For it appears to have been her wish that he should be educated 
for the ministry. 
VOL, IX. D 
M. EVmhJHT, 
West ChfiMe? Fa., 
Jfct to dd ioancci on '(>ny Condit ' • 
