Professor John Wilson [pp. 401-414]

SOUTHERN LITERARY M ENGER.
A MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND ART.
RICHMOND, JUNE, 1859.
PROFESSOR JOHN WILSON.*
BY AN ALABAMIAN.
An surely never did there live on earth
A man of kindlier nature.
WORDSWORTH.
Wilson was placed under the direction of
Dr. Mcintyre, a cl erg yman of c haracter,
who resided a t Glenorchs, in the Hig hlands. We are informed that he was a
man of extensive informati on, a nd was
distinguished for his pure and ardent love
of nature, as well as for his classical
knowledge. By his manliness and virtue,, his energy and act ivity, his diligence and perseverance, Wilson won the
confidence and, esteem of his worthy preceptor. It was, perhaps, at t his very
school, amid the beautiful and romantic
IHighlands of Scotland, that he received
those " first impressions," which in after
life contributed so much to his vast
knowledge of nature. It was there his
soul first expanded with Fry, when he
beheld the blue summits of distant mountains updifted against an evening sky,and learned to gaze with delight upon
the golden splendours of the sinking sun.
It was there he first wandered alone
through the flowery glens and over the
heather hills, and caught an inspiration
from every object that met his youthful
eyes. It was there he first sought the
.mossy bank of some beautiful loch, rest
No man has exerted a greater influence upon the literature of the age than
Professor John Wilson. No man has ever
arrived at such a brilliant literary height,
and occupied such high and honourable
positions, a-bout whom, among the generality of readers in our country, so little
is known. To Dr. Mackenzie are due
many thanks for the very able manner
in which he has edited the Noctes Ambrosianee, and for the entertaining biographical sketch of the author, with
which he has prefaced the work.
John Wilson was born in Paisley, in
Scotland, on the 19th of May 1785, and
ended his life on the 3rd of April 1854.
It would be difficult to find a village that
has produced more distinguished men.
Here was born, in July 1776, Alexander
Wilson, the greatest of European ornithologists. In this little town of weavers;,
was born on the 3rd, of June 1774, that
sweet and tender lyrical poet, Robert
Tannahill. This place was the home,
from early childhood, of William Motherwell, the author of " Jeanie Morrison,"
the most sentimental and pathetic lyric
that was ever penned. At an early age,
* Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life"-" The Trials of Margaret Lindsay"-"The
Foresters "-Edinburgh: Blackwood & Sons. "-Recreations of Christopher North."
' Noctes Amb)rosian'," in Five Volumes, Edited by Dr. R. Shelton Mackenzie. New
York: Redfield.
VOL. XXVIII-26
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