WILSON, JoHN, the CHRISTOPHER Nom!' of Blackwood's llagetzine (1785-18541. A Scottish writer, horn May 18, 1785, at Paisley, and edu cated at Glasgow and Oxford. Inheriting from his father an estate of £50,000, he purchased the property of Elleray overlooking Lake Winder mere, where he settled as gentleman and poet. There, in the Lake District, he associated inti mately with Wordsworth and came to know well De Quineey. Southey, and Coleridge. To this pe riod belong two volumes of graceful verse—The Isle of Palms (1812) and The City of the Plague (1816). Having lost his fortune through a dis honest uncle, lie migrated to Edinburgh, where he took a memorable hand with J. G. Lockhart (q.v.) in the Blackwood's ilaya:..ine (q.v.) for October, 1817. Thereafter, till near his death, he was the leading writer for this famous Tory magazine, though he was never strictly its edi tor. In 1820 he was appointed professor of moral philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, defeating in the contest Sir William Hamilton. His only claim to the post was his rampant Toryism, then regarded as sufficient. Wilson nevertheless was an enthusiastic teacher and in spired his pupils. even if he had nothing very pro found to impart to them. In 1822 lie began in Mackirood's the symposium known as the Xoctes _(q.v.). Here Wilson is seen at his
best—his wit, humor, and pathos. The "Et trick Shepherd," an idealized portrait of James (q.v.), is a masterly creation. The death of the 'Shepherd' in 1835 necessarily put an end to these delightful banquets. In the earlier days Wilson also contributed to Riad: wood's three good novels, afterwards published separately: Lights and. Shadows of Scottish Life (1822) The Trials of Margaret Lyndsny (1823) ; and The Foresters (1825). Later came the substantial essays on Homer, Spenser. and all manner of papers on contemporary writers and subjects. For 1834 the number reached fully 54 distinct contributions. In IS37 Wilson lost his wife and never recovered from his grief. On resigning his professorship in 1851 he was granted a pension of £300 a year. He died in Edinburgh, April 3, 1854. In 1865 a statue was erected to his mem ory in Princess Street Gardens. Consult his Works, edited by P. J. Ferrier (12 vols., Edin burgh, 1855-58) ; the Nodes Ambrosia:1m, edited by R. S. Mackenzie (5 vols., New York, 1854) ; Memoir by his daughter, AI. W. Gordon (2 vols., Edinburgh, 1862) : and for a good estimate, G. Saintsbury's Essays in English Literature (Lon don, 1890).