crieff justifying their conduct, and on 12 Nov. declared them no longer ministers of the Scottish church. On 16 Nov. the four ministers put their names to a formal act of secession, and on 6 Dec. they constituted themselves an ‘associate presbytery.’ On 14 May 1734, however, the assembly, repenting their action, empowered the synods to reinstate the four ministers. Wilson was anxious for reconciliation, but further differences had arisen, especially through the support afforded by the assembly to patrons against the congregational veto. On 5 Nov. 1736 the associate presbytery appointed Wilson their professor of divinity, and on 15 May 1740 the seceders, now eight in number, were finally deposed. Wilson enjoyed the support of a large part of the people of Perth, who built a church for him and thronged to hear him. He was, however, deeply affected by the controversy and broken in health by his labours. He died at Perth on 8 Nov. 1741, and was buried at Perth, in Greyfriars' cemetery, where a monument was erected to his memory with an epitaph by Ralph Erskine [q. v.] Wilson married, on 20 June 1721, Margaret (d. 1742), daughter of George Alexander (d. 1713), an advocate, of Pepper Mill, Edinburgh. By her he had a son John, and two daughters, Isabella and Mary, who reached maturity.
Besides single sermons, Wilson published ‘A Defence of the Reformation Principles of the Church of Scotland,’ Edinburgh, 1739, 8vo; new ed. Glasgow, 1769, 8vo, and several collections of sermons:
- ‘The Day of the Sinner's believing in Christ a most remarkable Day,’ Edinburgh, 1742, 12mo.
- ‘The Father's Promise to the Son, a clear bow in the Church's darkest Cloud,’ Edinburgh, 1747, 8vo.
- ‘The Lamb's retinue attending him whithersoever he goeth,’ Edinburgh, 1747, 8vo;
2 and 3, with a few single sermons, were rebound in a larger collection, (4) ‘Sermons,’ Edinburgh, 1748, 8vo.
[Wilson's Works; Scott's Fasti Eccles. Scoticanæ, II. ii. 617–18; Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. xii. 223; New Stat. Acc. of Scotland, x. 111; Ferrier's Memoirs of Wilson, 1830; Eadie's Life of Wilson in United Presbyterian Fathers, 1849; Wilson's Presbytery of Perth, 1860, pp. 211–14; Brown's Hist. Account of the Rise and Progress of the Secession, 1793; The Representations of Ebenezer Erskine and James Fisher and of William Wilson and Alexander Moncrieff to the Commission of the late General Assembly, 1733; A Review of the Narrative and State of the Proceedings of the Judicatories against Erskine, Wilson, Moncrieff, and Fisher, 1734; Pilulæ Spleneticæ; or, a Laugh from a true blue Presbyterian, 1736; X. Y.'s Observations upon Church Affairs, 1734; Munimenta Glasguen. (Maitland Club), iii. 43; Struthers's Hist. of Scotland from the Union to 1748; Gib's Present Truth: a Display of the Secession Testimony, 1774.]
WILSON, WILLIAM (1801–1860), poet and publisher, born in Perthshire on 25 Dec. 1801, was the son of Thomas Wilson, by his wife, Agnes Ross. At an early age he was imbued with a passionate love of poetry derived from his mother, who sang with great beauty the Jacobite songs and ballads of Scotland. While a schoolboy he lost his father, so that Wilson's early life was accompanied by many privations, including the completion of his education. At twenty-two he became the editor of the Dundee 'Literary Olio,' a large proportion of which, both in prose and verse, was from his pen. In 1826 he removed to Edinburgh, where he established himself in business. His contributions were welcomed in the 'Edinburgh Literary Journal,' thirty-two of his poems appearing in its columns in the course of three years. At this period the young poet was well known to the leading literary men of the day, including his kinsman Professor John Wilson ('Christopher North'), and he was a constant visitor at the house of Mrs. Grant of Luggan, who possessed his portrait by Sir John Watson Gordon, now owned by his son, General Wilson. In 1833 he removed to the United States and settled at Poughkeepsie, on the Hudson, where he engaged in bookselling and publishing, which he continued till his death. Wilson was the lifelong friend and correspondent of Robert Chambers (1802–1871) [q. v.], and he was one of the few persons in the secret of the authorship of the 'Vestiges of Creation.' He died on 25 Aug. 1860. He was twice married: first, to Jane Mackenzie, and, secondly, in 1830, to the niece of James Sibbald (1745–1803) [q. v.]
In the New World Wilson occasionally contributed in prose and verse to American periodicals, and sometimes sent a contribution to 'Blackwood's,' 'Chambers's Journal,' and 'Fraser's Magazine.' Selections of his poems appeared in the 'Cabinet,' 'Modern Scottish Minstrel,' Longfellow's 'Poems of Places,' and his son's 'Poets and Poetry of Scotland;' but he never issued them in a volume nor even collected them, and it was not until 1889 that a portion of his poetical writings was published, with a memoir by Benson J. Lossing. A second edition with additional poems and a portrait appeared in 1875, and a third in 1881. Willis pronounced 'Jean Linn,' one of Wilson's poems, 'the best modern imitation of the old ballad
