others and reached England. For a time he commanded the French emigrants in the Austrian service. But he abandoned the ungrateful task of fighting against his countrymen after the battle of Marengo, and passed some time in England, where he lost his fortune in speculations. He removed to America, where he stayed until the Restoration, when he returned to Paris, and received the appointment of governor of Corsica. This office he held for three years, to the satisfaction of the inhabitants. He died at Choigny, near Paris, 17th December, 1823.—R. H.
WILLOUGHBY, Sir Hugh, was of an ancient and illustrious family, one of the members of which had filled the office of lord chief-justice in the reign of Edward III. The expedition with which his name is associated was undertaken at the instance of Sebastian Cabot, who had been appointed by Edward VI. "pilot-major" of England.—(See Cabot.) Three ships were fitted out for the occasion—the Bona Esperanza, of one hundred and twenty tons; the Edward Bonaventure, of one hundred and sixty tons; and the Bona Confidentia, of ninety tons, each vessel being accompanied by a pinnace and a boat. Willoughby, as "captain-general of the fleet," sailed in the Bona Esperanza. The Edward Bonaventure was commanded by Richard Chancelor, who filled the place of "pilot-general." The third vessel was commanded by Cornelius Durforth. The promoters of the expedition appear to have entertained the fullest confidence in its successful issue, and omitted no precaution likely to conduce to such a result. The ships were sheathed with metal, to enable them to withstand the destructive attacks of worms, common to the warm latitudes which it was believed they would reach; and the commanders were furnished with letters from the king (written in Latin, "and also in Greek, and divers other languages") to the "kings, princes, and potentates inhabiting the north-east parts of the world towards the mighty empire of Cathay." The ships sailed from London on the 10th May, 1553, and dropped slowly down the river, saluting the king as they passed Greenwich. They did not leave Gravesend until the 20th May. Adverse winds appear to have baffled from the beginning the progress of the fleet, and when off the north-western coast of Norway, the Edward Bonaventure parted during a storm from the other vessels.—(See Chancelor, Richard.) Willoughby, in company with the remaining ship, continued to advance to the eastward, until compelled, on September 18, to take shelter in a haven formed by the mouth of the river Arzina, on the coast of Russian Lapland, long. 38° 30´ E. of Greenwich. Here, "seeing the yeare farre spent, and also very evill wether, as frost, snow, and haile," it was determined to pass the winter. Men were sent out from the ships in various directions to explore, but returned without finding any trace of inhabitants. In this dreary wilderness, away from all hope of succour, the ill-fated commander of the expedition, with all his companions, seventy in number, perished of cold and hunger, their dead bodies being found by some Russian fishermen in the following year. From the date of a will of Gabriel Willoughby (a kinsman of the admiral, and one of his companions in the enterprise) it appears that Sir Hugh Willoughby and most of his company were alive in January, 1554. This is all that is known of the gallant English knight, whose portrait, with some other relics of interest, is preserved at Wollaton hall, near Nottingham, the seat of the Willoughby family. The records of this disastrous voyage are contained in Hakluyt's Collection, vol. i., p. 226; London, 1599.—W. H.
WILMOT. See Rochester.
WILSON, Alexander, the eminent ornithologist, was born at Paisley in Scotland on the 6th July, 1766. His father was a hand-loom weaver; and in 1779 Wilson was apprenticed to the same trade, which was at that time in a very flourishing condition. On attaining his twentieth year he gave up weaving, and for three years followed the occupation of a pedlar. He had received a good education for a person in his position in life, and at an early age wrote several poems of considerable merit, which he intended to publish by subscription. The design was laid aside owing to the want of sufficient encouragement, but various single poems were from time to time given to the world. "The Laurel Disputed," on the respective merits of Ferguson and Ramsay, was recited before a literary society in Edinburgh, and published in that city in 1791. In the following year appeared his best known poem, "Watty and Meg," which attained no small popularity on account of its Scotch humour. It was at first attributed to Burns, who spoke of it in very high terms. In 1794 Wilson emigrated to the United States, and settled in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, where, after working for some time as a weaver and a pedlar, he betook himself to the occupation of a schoolmaster, and taught successively mathematics, the German language, music, and drawing. He had a great fondness for the study of natural history; and having, while teaching a school at Gray's Ferry, four miles from Philadelphia, become acquainted with Mr. Bartram, a botanist and naturalist, his taste for his favourite science was stimulated and improved by his intercourse with that gentleman. About the same time he received from an engraver named Lawson instructions in drawing, which he ultimately turned to good account in his great undertaking. In 1806 the American press having made known the intention of the president of the United States (Jefferson) to despatch several parties of scientific men to explore the district of Louisiana, Wilson, anxious to avail himself of such a favourable opportunity for the prosecution of his ornithological researches, addressed to the president a manly and respectful letter, stating his plans, and the progress he had made in forming a collection of all the birds of the United States, and soliciting permission to join any of those expeditions. But though Jefferson had previously received from the enthusiastic naturalist some splendid drawings, which afforded most satisfactory evidence of Wilson's qualifications for the enterprise, not the slightest notice was taken of his application. Soon after this disappointment, however, he was engaged by Mr. Bradford of Philadelphia to assist in preparing a new edition of Rees' Cyclopædia; and having explained to him his views respecting an American Ornithology, this enterprising bookseller promptly agreed to take upon himself the risk of publishing the work. Wilson was eminently qualified for such an undertaking; for he was not only an enthusiastic admirer of the works of nature, but he was also possessed of remarkable powers of observation, a sound judgment, indefatigable industry, and indomitable perseverance. "He was no closet philosopher," says his American biographer; "he was indebted for his ideas not to books, but to nature." His great ornithological work was the fruit of many months of unwearied research amongst forests, swamps, and morasses, and of continued exposure to dangers, privations, and fatigues, which would have daunted the spirit of a less resolute explorer, and which in the end ruined his health and shortened his days. The first volume (folio) was published in September, 1808, and equally astonished and delighted the American public by the accuracy and beauty of the figures, engraved from Wilson's own drawings and coloured after nature, and by the admirable letterpress descriptions which accompanied them. The author, however, received for a time a much larger amount of empty praise than of solid support. He was obliged to travel over a large portion of the country soliciting subscriptions for the work, and visited every town within one hundred and fifty miles of the Atlantic coast from the St. Lawrence to St. Augustine in Florida, meeting, however, with no great success. The second volume appeared in 1810; and Wilson soon after set out for Pittsburg, whence he descended the Ohio by himself in a skiff, performing a voyage of seven hundred and twenty miles in twenty-one days. As he proceeded he made frequent excursions from the banks of the river, with his gun and drawing materials, in search of new species of birds, which he sketched and described on the spot. He subsequently undertook several long journeys for the same purpose, occasionally on horseback, but usually on foot, through forests and swamps, over mountains and across deep and broad rivers, frequently enduring frightful hardships and privations. Successive volumes of his work appeared with astonishing rapidity and regularity. The seventh volume was published in 1813, and materials for other two volumes had been prepared when the author died at Philadelphia, 23rd August, 1813, in the forty-eighth year of his age, completely worn out with his incessant and arduous labours. The eighth and ninth volumes of the "Ornithology" were completed and published in 1814 by Mr. Ord, who had been the companion of Wilson in some of his excursions. A biography of the author was prefixed to the ninth volume. Three supplementary volumes have since been published by Lucien Bonaparte. Wilson's "Ornithology" is a most delightful book. Its pictorial illustrations are of a high order of excellence; and his descriptions of the appearance, character, and habits of the American birds are almost unequalled for their freshness, elegance of diction, graceful ease, graphic power, and eloquence, never degenerating into bombast. "Strong good sense, high moral worth, and a lofty spirit of independence were the
