xxxiv 
MEMOIR OF 
and to music, with its “ strains, which might create a 
soul under the ribs of death and we would just 
suggest, that these gentlemen did themselves, at least, as 
much service as they could do Wilson, in thus acquiring 
a claim to be connected with his name, and his imperish- 
able reputation. If we allow ourselves to recollect that 
he was kept in constant thraldom to the drudgeries of a 
school, depressed by penury, and tasking his powers to 
their utmost stretch in unremitting study for his own 
improvement, we may easily account for that bodily 
lassitude, which occasionally threw a shade of languor 
and melancholy over his mind. For, when the bodily 
powers are outworn, there invariably follows a tendency 
to mental depression ; so close is the connection, so 
intimate the sympathy, between the body and the mind. 
Wilson’s letters to his nephew, W. Duncan, then residing 
on a farm, their joint property, in the State of New York, 
shew both the cause of his incessant toil, and the spirit 
with which he bore it. The following extracts relate to 
this subject : — 
“ My dear friend and nephew, I wish you could find 
a leisure hour in the evening to give the children, particu- 
larly Mary, some instruction in reading, and Alexander in 
writing and accounts. Don’t be discouraged though they 
make but slow progress in both, but persevere a little 
every evening. I think you can hardly employ an hour 
at night to better purpose. And make James read every 
convenient opportunity. If I live to come up beside you, 
I shall take that burden off your shoulders. Be the con- 
stant friend and counsellor of your little colony, to assist 
them in their difficulties, encourage them in their despond- 
encies, to make them as happy as circumstances will 
enable you. A mother, brothers, and sisters, in a foreign 
country, looking up to you as their best friend and sup- 
porter, places you in a dignified point of view. The 
future remembrance of your kind duty to them now, will, 
