No doubt Rafinesque was often treated unjustly, either through ignorance or intent, while many naturalists were exasperated by the barbed arrows which he shot into the air or direct at the mark. Others through sheer inability to follow him gave up the attempt, one writer[272] saying that such an attitude was justified when it appeared that he had made six species out of one, not to speak of several different genera and two sub-families. If anyone still believes that Rafinesque has been misjudged, says Günther,[273] let him read his letters to Swainson, from 1809 to 1840, fifty-three in number, covering 178 closely written quarto or folio pages, now in possession of the Linnæan Society of London. "Rafinesque," continues this critic, "was a man deeply to be commiserated, not merely on account of the unfortunate circumstances which left him in his youth to himself, without teacher or guide, but still more on the ground of that natural disposition by which his universal failure in life was brought about. He was possessed of a feverish restlessness which entirely disqualified him from serious study of any of the multitudinous subjects which attracted his mind in rapid succession."
Rafinesque, bereft of friends and fortune, unknown even to his neighbors, by whom he seems to have been regarded as a harmless herb doctor, was left to struggle on alone, without recognition and without sympathy or support. Reduced finally to abject poverty, he concocted and sold medicines which were advertised much like quack remedies at the present day, especially his "Pulmel," which without a doubt he thought had cured him of the pulmonary consumption. To advertise this he wrote a little treatise, hoping to realize something from its sale and at the same time to avoid any undue appearance of empyricism.
Toward the very end of his life, Rafinesque projected a savings bank, and, strangely enough, this seems to have been a success, though just how is not clear, since it both borrowed and loaned money at six per cent. He had already attempted to secure rights on a "steam-plough," a "submarine boat," "incombustible houses," and similar novelties which abler inventors have later perfected. For a long time he led the life of a perfect recluse in a garret in a poor quarter of Philadelphia, in the midst of his collections, his books and his manuscripts, never the world forgetting but ever by the world forgot. There, in the direst misery, he died in 1840, at the age of fifty-six, without a word of cheer or a tear of regret. His body was barely saved from the dissecting table and given decent burial through the loyalty and promptitude of one of his few remaining friends, Dr. William Mease, who with undertaker Bringhurst, broke into the room where his body lay and let it down through a window by ropes.[274] Even his will was ruthlessly violated, and all of his effects, in eight dray-loads, were hurried off to the public auction rooms and sold in bargain lots, his books and all else bringing but a mere pittance, not even enough to pay his landlord and the administrator of his estate.
Thus died the "eccentric naturalist" whom Audubon had portrayed, and for whom the world in general had shown scant sympathy. Rafinesque, nevertheless, possessed a mind of extraordinary acumen and an energy and versatility little short of marvelous. He dipped into every field of knowledge, looking for precious metal, but much that he brought to the surface was dross. His restless versatility alone would probably have ruined him, for nothing short of an analysis of the globe with all of its contents would have satisfied his ambitious spirit. His was the ardor of the traveler and the explorer, with a passionate love for nature seldom equaled, but without the incentive and the patience of the investigator or a balance-wheel in the judgment. His ambition in early life was to become the greatest naturalist of his age; had his early training and environment been suited to his needs, and had fortune favored him more consistently with her smiles, this ambition possibly might have been realized, but we suspect that in this case nature would have proved stronger than nurture, and that he would have been Rafinesque to the end.
CHAPTER XX
AUDUBON'S ÆNEID, 1819-1824: WANDERINGS THROUGH THE WEST AND SOUTH
Pivotal period in Audubon's career—His spur and balance-wheel—Resort to portraiture—Taxidermist in the Western Museum—Settles in Cincinnati—History of his relations with Dr. Drake—Decides to make his avocation his business—Journey down the Ohio and Mississippi with Mason and Cummings—Experiences of travel without a cent of capital—Life in New Orleans—Vanderlyn's recommendations—Original drawings—Chance meeting with Mrs. Pirrie, and engagement as tutor at "Oakley"—Enchantments of West Feliciana—"My lovely Miss Pirrie"—The jealous doctor—Famous drawing of the rattlesnake—Leaves St. Francisville and is adrift again in New Orleans—Obtains pupils in drawing and is joined by his family—Impoverished, moves to Natchez, and Mrs. Audubon becomes a governess—Injuries to his drawings—The labors of years destroyed by rats—Teaching in Tennessee—Parting with Mason—First lessons in oils—Mrs. Audubon's school at "Beechwoods"—Painting tour fails—Stricken at Natchez—At the Percys' plantation—Walk to Louisville—Settles at Shippingport.
Audubon's failure at Henderson was the crucial turning point in his career. For the five years that immediately followed he led a peripatetic existence in the southern and western states, seldom tarrying long at one point, often leaving his family for months at a time, living from hand to mouth, but ever bent on perfecting those products of his hand and brain, his life studies of American birds and plants.
At this crisis Audubon could have accomplished nothing but for the intelligent devotion of his capable wife. Generous, emotional, inclined to be self-indulgent, Audubon needed both the example and the spur of a strong character such as his wife possessed, and at this time Lucy Audubon furnished both the motive power and the balance-wheel that were requisite for the development of her husband's genius. Without her zeal and self-sacrificing devotion the world would never have heard of Audubon. His budding talents eventually would have been smothered in some backwoods town of the Middle West or South. For the space of nearly twelve years, Mrs. Audubon, now as the head of a small private school, now as a governess in some friendly family who appreciated her worth, practically assumed the responsibility for the support and education of their children in order that her husband's hands might be free, and with her hard-earned savings was able to aid him materially in the prosecution of his labors. When relatives or friends upbraided him for not entering upon some form of lucrative trade, she recognized his genius and always came to his support, being fully persuaded that he was destined to become one of the great workers of the world. Whatever others may have said or done at that time, both Audubon and his wife were confident of the ultimate success of his mission. In short, the work in which the naturalist was engaged became a family interest, in which every member was destined sooner or later to bear a part.
Audubon recalled a somber incident of this time which he thought might furnish a lesson to mankind, and he shall relate it in his own words: