xlviii 
LIFE OF 
Bartram, he says, — “ My dear friend, this day the heart of every 
republican, of every good man, within the immense limits of our 
happy country, will leap for joy. 
“ The reappointment and continuance of our beloved Jefferson 
to superintend our national concerns, is one of those distinguished 
blessings whose beneficent effects extend to posterity, and whose 
value our hearts may feel, but can never express. 
“ I congratulate you, my dear friend, on this happy event. The 
enlightened philosopher — the distinguished naturalist — the first 
statesman on earth — the friend, the ornament of science, — is the 
father of our country, the faithful guardian of our liberties. 
“ I am at present engaged in drawing the two birds which I 
brought from the Mohawk ; and if I can finish them to your appro- 
bation, I intend to transmit them to our excellent President, as the 
child of an amiable parent presents to its affectionate father some 
little token of its esteem.” 
He did transmit these drawings to the President, whose answer 
in return will shew in what estimation he held the abilities of 
Wilson as a draughtsman and ornithologist : 
“ Monticello, April 7 , 1805 . 
“ Sir, — I received here yesterday your favour of March 18 , 
with the elegant drawings of the new birds you found on your 
tour to Niagara, for which I pray you to accept my thanks. The 
Jay is quite unknown to me. From my observations while in Europe, 
on the birds and quadrupeds of that quarter, I am of opinion that 
there is not in our continent a single bird or quadruped which is 
not sufficiently unlike all the members of its family there to be 
considered specifically different. On this general observation, I 
conclude with confidence, that your Jay is not a European bird. 
“ The first bird on the same sheet I judge to be a Muscicapa , 
from its bill, as well as from the following circumstance : Two or 
three days before my arrival here, a neighbour killed a bird, 
unknown to him, and never before seen here, as far as he could 
learn. It was brought to me soon after I arrived, but in the dusk 
of the evening, and so putrid, that it could not be approached but 
with disgust. But I retain a sufficiently exact idea of its form and 
colours to be satisfied it is the same with yours. The only difference 
