WILSON 381 WILSON suit, defended the sugar witnesses who had refused to testify before a Senate committee; was counsel in the court- martial of General Swain, and was con- nected with the "Alabama Claims" and the French "Spoliation" cases; etc. In 1901, after the Navy Department had granted the request of Admiral Schley for a court of inquiry, the admiral chose Judge Wilson as his chief counsel. While serving as such Judge Wilson died sud- denly in Washington, D. C, Sept. 24, 1901. WILSON, JOHN, pseudonjTn, Chris- topher North, a Scotch author; born in Paisley, Scotland, May 18, 1785; was educated at Glasgow University and at Magdalen College, Oxford; noted as a scholar and athlete; settled in Cumber- land, and became one of the "Lake Group" with Wordsworth, De Quincey, Southey, and Coleridge. Losing most of his inherited fortune, he removed to Edinburgh and studied law. From the starting of "Blackwood's Magazine" in 1817 he was a chief contributor, and was for many yea^s its generally accredited head. For it he wrote (with Maginn and others, but largely alone) the "Noc- tes Ambrosianae," by which he is best re- membered — imaginary dialogues at Am- brose's tavern in Edinburgh, between the leading contributors to the magazine; a selection from these was published in 1876. He also wrote among other things: "The Isle of Palms" (1812), and "The City of the Plague" (1816), poems; "Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life" (1822) ; "The Trials of Margaret Lind- say" (1823); "The Foresters" (1825); and "Essay on the Genius and Character of Burns" (1841). He was Professor of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh Uni- versity from 1820 to near the end of his life. He died in Edinburgh, April 3, 1854. WILSON, JOHN, a Scotch missionary; born near Lauder, Scotland, Dec. 11, 1804; was educated at the University of Edinburgh, went out to Bombay in the service of the Scottish Missionary So- ciety, and in 1843 transferred his labors to the mission work of the Free Church of Scotland. He established numerous schools; became vice-chancellor of the University of Bombay; contributed largely to the abolition of the practice of suttee; traveled all over India establish- ing missionary centers; and was univer- sally honored and beloved by the natives. His linguistic ability was remarkable, and his contributions to literature in- cluded: "The Parsi Religion" (1842); "India Three Thousand Years Ago" (1857); "Memoirs on the Cave-Temples Cyc 25 of India" (1859); "The Lands of the Bible Visited and Described" (1867) ; and "Indian Caste" (1877). He died in Edinburgh, Scotland, Dec. 1875. WILSON, SIR ROBERT THOMAS, an English military writer; born in London, England, in 1777, He served in the Peninsular war; was British military commissioner at the Russian and Allied headquarters, 1812-1814; member of Parliament and governor of Gibraltar, 1842-1849. He wrote: "History of the British Expedition to Egypt" (1802) ; "Sketches of the Campaigns in Poland" (1810) ; "Military and Political Power of Russia" (1817) ; "Narrative of Events During the Invasion of Russia, 1812" (1860); "Diary" (1861); etc. He died in London, May 9, 1849. WILSON, THOMAS, an English clergyman; born in Burton, England, Sept. 20, 1663; studied at Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, and served as curate of Newchurch Kenyon from 1686 till 1692, when he became chaplain to the Earl of Derby, who appointed him Bishop of So- dor and Man in November, 1697. For 58 years he governed his diocese with constant care. His "Principles and Duties of Christianity" (1707), com- monly called the Manx Catechism — the first book printed in the native tongue — and his "Essay Tov/ard an Instruction for the Indians," written for Ogle- thorpe's Georgia plantation scheme, and submitted to Isaac Watts (published only in 1740), were combined to form "The Knowledge and Practice of Chris- tianity Made Easy to the Meanest Capac- ities" (1775). But his name best sur- vives in his admirable "Short and Plain Instructions for the Better Understand- ing of the Lord's Supper" (1736), and "Sacra Privata, Private Meditations, De- votions and Prayers" (1800). Other books are "Parochialia, or Instructions for the Clergy" (1788), and "Maxims of Piety and Christianity" (1789). He in- stituted a Manx translation of the Bible, which was completed 1772-1775. He died March 7, 1755. WILSON (THOMAS) WOODROW, 28th President of the United States, was bom of Scotch-Irish ancestry at Staun- ton, Va., Dec. 28, 1856. His father was the Rev. Joseph R. Wilson, a South- ern Presbyterian minister, who gave much of his time to teaching; his mother was Jenet (Jessie) Woodrow. Educated in youth at various Southern schools and having spent about a year at Davidson College (N. C.) ; he went to Princeton, where he distinguished himself in de- bating and literary work, graduatino: 1879, ranking 38th in a class of 106. He Vol. X
