Copy 1, Volume 1

American ornithology; or the natural history of the birds of the United States / By Alexander Wilson; with a continuation by Charles Lucian Bonaparte, prince of Musignano. The illustrative notes and life of Wilson, by Sir William Jardine. Bart. F.R.S.E. F.L.S. ... In three volumes.

  • Wilson, Alexander, 1766-1813.
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: American ornithology; or the natural history of the birds of the United States / By Alexander Wilson; with a continuation by Charles Lucian Bonaparte, prince of Musignano. The illustrative notes and life of Wilson, by Sir William Jardine. Bart. F.R.S.E. F.L.S. ... In three volumes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    follow up those better resolves. He was recommended to qualify himself for a clerk to some mercantile establishment. A letter from Mr Gavin, Commercial Academy, Paisley, to whom he applied for instruction in some of the branches necessary for his occupation, will best shew the state of his mind at this time: — “Wilson came to my school, and requested that he might be taught some branches of arithmetic, in which he was deficient, in order, he said, to qualify him to become a clerk to some merchant or manufacturer. I cheerfully undertook to teach him all I knew, and he sat down at a desk, apparently in good earnest. Before to-morrow, another thought had struck him, — he never returned to school.”* He tried it again, while on a journey, at Callander, but with no better success. He records the circumstance himself in a letter to Mr Brodie : — “ Having agreed with the town school¬ master,” he says, “ I accordingly went, purchased a slate, and set seriously about it. Two days elapsed ; I persevered; but the third day gave it up.” Thus, a mind, too roving for a respectable and stable business, led him into the society of those companions, whose temporary applause made him forget the precepts of his father, afterwards so strongly impressed upon his mind.”f The west country was now in such a state as to require the more immediate attention of government. The general depression of trade, occasioned by the wars incident to the French Revolution, threw into comparative idleness many of the young operatives, who began so openly to promulgate revolutionary principles, and sentiments of discontent against the steadier manufacturers, who would not yield to all their unreasonable demands, that many of them became “ marked men,” and were obliged to remain in tem¬ porary concealment, or entirely to leave their country. It was Wilson’s misfortune to have formed an intimacy with some of these, who, knowing his talents, prevailed upon him to revile and satirize the conduct of those who were most offensive to their views of liberty, or of propriety of conduct as masters. Wilson himself, well acquainted with all the circumstances regarding these matters * Letters of Senex, p. 42. f When his satirical productions first gained notice, his father was repeatedly heard to say, — “ Sandy, I see you have some talent about you, but my advice is, never to use it to wound the feelings of others.”