PREFACE. 
IN the preface to the first edition of this supplementary 
volume, the motives of the publication are stated, and the peculiar 
circumstances under which its author was placed, in respect to ma- 
terials, are detailed ; there is, therefore, no need of repeating 
them. 
It has been thought proper to augment the volume by a se- 
lection from the series of interesting letters, which were put into 
the writer’s hands by some of Wilson’s personal friends, who were 
anxious that these memorials should not be lost. It may be, per- 
haps, objected that some of them are of too trifling a nature for 
publication ; but let it be observed that they all, more or less, tend 
to throw light upon the employments, and peculiarities of charac- 
ter, of an individual of no every day occurrence ; one of those to 
whose genius we would render homage, and the memory of whom 
we delight to cherish. 
For the particulars of Wilson’s early life, the writer has been 
indebted to a narrative, in manuscript, which was communicated 
to him by Mr. William Duncan. This information, coming from 
