The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1854-05-08
Death Of Professor Wilson.
From the London Daily Ne,os-

none of his readers ever thought OF as dead OF
or losing any Of the intense vitality which distinguish
the ideal ssChrisopher NORTH from all other men,
The "Chrstopher North and John Wilson are
separated now, and for The will live very
long, if not always and without losing atom OF his
vgor but the other, after long sinking: after grev'
Gus depression, AMI gradual extinction by paralysis,
is gone; and none Of the many who loved and wor-
shipped him could wish that he had lived another
day in the condition Of his latter years.
Yet he was not very old. lie was born at Paisley,
in 1888, his father being wealthy manufacturer
there. He entered Glasgow University at the age Of
lege, Oxford, where his extraordinary quality
recognized at He the leader in all sports,
from his great bodily strength we'll his enthusi-
assn for pleasure of that kind, and he gained the
Newdegate prize for an English poem Of sixty lines.
On leaving college, he b,ug the Eleray estate,
Windermere, which will ever be haunted by his
memory; for there is point of interest about it
or the neighborhood which he has not mmortalized.
So early the beg inning Of 1872. we find Scott wri-
ting to Joanna Baltic, of the extraordinary Young
man, John Wilson, who had written an cegy upon
''pOor Grahame, and was then engaged in "a poem
called the elsie Of Palms, '-''something," added
Scott curio,sIy enough, 'n the style Of Southey."
"He seems excellent rm-hearted and cnIhusi
astic young man; something too much, perhaps, Of
the latter quality places him among he'list of origin
ais" short time after this, and in consequence of
loss Of property, he studied law, and called to
the Scotch bar. SO early that date. before any of
the Wavery novels appeared, the grateful young poet,
who de- ply felt SCOTS kindness in encouraging his
music, gave him the title Of the Great Magician, by
which he was to he recognised by all the world
This was in some stanzas called the 'sNIagic Mrror,'
which appeared in the Edinburgh Annual Register.
when JohE kemble took leave of the stage at Edin-
burgh, and entertained at very remarkable din
ner where all the company believed they were taking
leave of dramatic pleasure forever, Jeffrey in the
chair, and John Wilson shared the vice president
ship with Scott. SCOTS kindness to his young
friend was earnest and Wig liant.
We find him inviting Wilson and Lockhart from
Elleray to Abbosford, the next year, fixing the pre-
else day when he wished them to arrive; aud the
turned out to he, that Lord Melville to b.
there, and it possible that something good might
turn up in the parliament house for the young in
consequence Of the interview. For Wilson this sort
of aid was soon unnecessary. He became Professor
Of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh in 1929, and had
already done more than any one man toward raising
the character of periodical literature by his marvel,
lous contributions to Blackwood's Magazine, and the
stimulus his genius impaired to whole generation Of
writer's of that class.
We all know his sele :tion from those papers-thc
three volumes of 'Recreations Of Christopher North
There is nothing in our literature exactly like them;
and we may venture to say there never will be-
They not only the most effective transcription Of
the moods of thought and feeling of deeply think
ing and feeling mind-a complete arresting and pre-
sentiment Of those moods as they I,ass-but abso-
lutte reasing Of the influence of nature in a book
The scents and breezes of the moorlnd are carried
fairly into even the sick chamber by that book, ard
through it the writer practised the benevoence of the
ancient rich man, and eyes to the blind and fee,
to the lame.
Mr.. Hallam the calmcst of the critics, has de-
clared Wilson's eloquence to he the rushing of
mighty waters; and it less the bracing Of the
mountain winds. His fame will on his prose
writings, and not on his two chief poems, the "Isie
of Palms" and the City of the Plague" and of his
prose writings, his "ltecreations" will, we imagine,
outlive his three novels, "Lighis and Shadows of
Scottish Lif,'' the 'rrials Of Margaret Lyndsay,"
and ssThe Forescrs.''
If the marvel of his eloqucnce is not cssened, it 10
at least accounted for those who have seen him.
even his portrait. Such presence is rarely seen;
and more than one person has said that he reminded
them of the first man, Adam; SO full that large
fame of vitality, force, and sentence His tread
seemed almost to shake the streets, his eve almost
saw through stone walls and as for his voice, there
was heart that could stand before it, He sweep,
away all hearts, whhersoevcr he would. No less
striking was it to see him in mood Of repose,
when he stecred the old packet boat that used pass
between Bownees and Amble>ide, before the steamers
were put upon the lake. Sitting motionlcss, with his
hand upon the rudder, in the presence OF ourneymen
and market women, with his eye apparently looking
beyond everything into nothing and his mouth closed
under his beard, if he meant never to speak again.
he was quite us impressive and immortal image
he could have been to the students of his class the
comrades Of his pvial hours. The tendencies Of such
a temperament are obvious enough; and his faults
from the indulgence Of those tendencies.
few words from friendly letter of SCOTS, writ
ten when Wilson was candidate for his professor
ship, will sufficiently Indicate the Of his weak
nesses, and may stand for all the are dis
posed to offer. You must, Of course" writes Scott
TO Mr.. Lockhart, srecomnend to Wilson c,eater
temper in his canvass, for wrath will do good-
After all, he must leave off sack, purge, and live
clearly as gentleman ought to do, otherwise people
will compare his present ambition to that of Sir Ter
ny O'Fag when he wished to become Judge. sOur
present vices are made the whips scolwgc u.s. as
Lear says, for otherwise what could possibly stand in
the way of his nomination! trust it will take place.
and give him the consistence and sieadress which
all he wants to make him the first man of the
age" He did get his election; and it was not very
long after that he and Campbell the poet were seen
one morning leaving tavern in Edinburgh, haggard
and red-eyed, hoarse and eXhausted-not oniy the
feeble Campbell but the mighty Wilsor-:hey having
sat te-ate for twenty four hours, discussing poe try
and wine to the top Of their bent; remarkable
spectacle in connex ion with the moral philosophy
chair IN university. But, if the constituents Of
such an office crave John Wilson to ill it, they
must take him with all his liabilities about him.
His moods were as various those Of the mother
nature he adored In 1915, when all the rest Of the
world was in the dark about thu Scotch novels. he
was in excessive delight at receiving from William
Ladlaw the evidence that Colonel Manneriny was
Scott himself; and deep in proportion was his grief
when he saw that genial mind going out. The trem-
bling Of his mighty voice when he had laid his trib-
death moved every heart present. lie could enter
into the spirit of lake scenery deeply with Words
worth when floating on Windermere at sunset, and
he could, as we sec by Moore's Diary, initiate
Wordswcr'h's monoloeu's 10 admiration under a
lamp at jovial Edinburgh sumner table. He could
collect as strange of oddities about him there as
ever Johnson or Fielding did in their city lodgings;
And he could wander alone for week along the
streams, and by the mountain turns of WeStmoreland
He could proudly lead the regatta from Mr.. Boil
toms at Storr's. as "Admral of the Lake, with
Canning, Scott, Wordsworth, Southev, and others,
and shed an intellectual sunshine radiant Thai