clxxii 
LIFE OF WILSON. 
in research ; and permitted no dangers or fatigues to abate his ar- 
dour, 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 diffi- 
culties the novelties of discovery. Whatever was obtained with 
ease, to him appeared to be attended, comparatively speaking, with 
small interest : the acquisitions of labour alone seemed worthy of 
his ambition. He was no closet philosopher — exchanging the 
frock of activity for the night-gown and slippers. He was indebt- 
ed 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 un- 
common ; 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 
judgement when favoured with a fair opportunity of investigation. 
Credulity has been aptly termed “ the vice of naturalists 
but it may be said, to the honour 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 by appearances; 
and marvellous narratives, in that science which he had so much 
at heart, were the objects of his decided disapprobation. The 
ridicule and scorn with which he treated the hypothesis of the an- 
nual torpidity of swallows are well known; and he regarded with 
equal contempt those tales of the fascinating faculty attributed to 
serpents, which are yet but too well adapted to the taste of the 
multitude to be effectively discredited. 
