LIFE OF WILSON.



thing yet undefined, or uncertain of the path it should follow,
to attain that eminence and independence after which it so ar-
dently aspired." Would it not be a more rational supposition,
that, as he advanced in knowledge, he was taught to reject
what he could not but be convinced was unworthy of the pub-
lic eye? If we may form a conjecture of what was destroyed,
by what was sanctioned by his own act of publication, there is
certainly no cause to mourn the loss; and one can hardly for-
bear wishing that the whole had met a similar fate.
  Of all the poetical productions of Wilson, written while in
Scotland, his tale of " Watty and Meg" is the only one that
has obtained popularity. In Cromek's " Select Scottish Songs"
it is thus introduced: " The reader is here presented with an
exquisite picture from low life, drawn with all the fidelity and
exactness of Teniers, or Ostade, and enlivened with the hu-
mour of Hogarth. The story excites as much interest as if it
had been written in a dramatic form, and really represented.
The interest heightens as it proceeds, and is supported with
wonderful spirit to the close of the poem.
  " It must have been in no small degree gratifying to the feel-
ings of the author, who published it anonymously, that, during
a rapid sale of seven or eight editions, the public, universally,
ascribed it to the pen of Burns. The author of ' Will and
Jean, or Scotland's Scaith,' had the candour to acknowledge
to the editor that he was indebted to this exquisite poem for
the foundation of that popular performance. "
  This tale is certainly told in a spirited manner; but whether
it is entitled to all the encomiums which have been lavished
upon it or not, may admit of a question. The incidents are all
common-place: a dram-drinking husband seeking refuge, in an
ale-house, from a scolding-wife, who pursues him thither, and
upbraids him, in no gentle terms, for deserting his home and
family, and spending his time and substance among drunken
blackguards. A pot companion had advised him to try the ex-
periment of threatening to abandon her, in order to bring her
into subjection: a scheme which had had a happy effect ill



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