ALEXANDER WILSON. 
xli 
« To Mr William Bavtram. 
“ Kingsessing, March. 31, 1804. 
“ I take the first few moments I have had since receiving your 
letter, to thank you for your obliging attention to my little attempts 
at drawing, and for the very affectionate expressions of esteem 
with which you honour me. But sorry I am, indeed, that afflictions 
so severe as those you mention should fall where so much worth 
and sensibility reside, while the profligate, the unthinking, and 
unfeeling, so frequently pass through life strangers to sickness, 
adversity, or suffering. But God visits those with distress whose 
enjoyments he wishes to render more exquisite. The storms of 
affliction do not last for ever ; and sweet is the serene air and warm 
sunshine after a day of darkness and tempest. Our friend has, 
indeed, passed away in the bloom of youth and expectation ; but 
nothing has happened but what almost every day’s experience 
teaches us to expect. How many millions of beautiful flowers 
have flourished and faded under your eye ! and how often has the 
whole profusion of blossoms, the hopes of a whole year, been blasted 
by an untimely frost ! He has gone only a little before us — we 
must soon follow ; but while the feelings of nature cannot be 
repressed, it is our duty to bow with humble resignation to the 
decisions of the Father of all, rather receiving with gratitude the 
blessings he is pleased to bestow, than repining at the loss of those 
he thinks proper to take from us. But allow me, my dear friend, 
to withdraw your thoughts from so melancholy a subject, since the 
best way to avoid the force of any overpowering passion is to turn 
its direction in another way. 
“ That lovely season is now approaching, when the garden, woods, 
and fields, will again display their foliage and flowers. Every day 
we may expect strangers, flocking from the south to fill our woods 
with harmony. The pencil of Nature is now at work, and outlines, 
tints, and gradations of lights and shades, that baffle all description, 
will soon be spread before us by that great Master, our most 
benevolent Friend and Father. Let us cheerfully participate in the 
feast he is preparing for all our senses. Let us survey those 
millions of green strangers, just peeping into day, as so many happy 
messengers come to proclaim the power and munificence of the 
VOL. i. d 
