Sanscrit and English—1819, second edition, 1832—which has been called "the key by which mainly the learned of Europe obtained access to this branch of literature." In this way, and by his contributions to the Asiatic Researches, he gained the reputation of being the worthy successor of Sir William Jones and of Colebrooke. In 1825 appeared in the Asiatic Researches his "History of Cashmere;" and in 1826-27 his Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindoos, translations of antique Sanscrit dramas, with an introduction—a work which was eagerly welcomed in Europe. In 1827 he published "Documents illustrative of the Burmese War, with introductory sketch of the events of the war." Meanwhile he was performing with zeal and success his official duties in the assay office of the Calcutta mint, and, as secretary to the mint committee, introducing reforms in the Indian coinage. As secretary to the committee of public instruction in Calcutta, he superintended the arrangements of the Hindoo college, and is said to have been the first person to introduce the study of European science and literature into the educational curriculum of the natives. In 1833, having achieved the highest distinction as an orientalist, he was elected Boden professor of Sanscrit at Oxford, and after his arrival in England became also librarian at the India house, and director of the Asiatic Society. In 1840 appeared his translation of the Vishnu Parana, with notes, &c., forming a system of Hindoo mythology and tradition. His "Ariana Antiqua" followed in 1841; in 1844-48 his valuable edition, with a continuation to 1835, of Mill's History of British India; and in 1855 his practically useful "Glossary of Judicial and Revenue Terms," &c., from a number of oriental languages. Perhaps his magnum opus as a Sanscrit scholar was his translation of the Rig-Veda—the collection of ancient Hindoo hymns, the oldest authority for the religious and social institutions of the Hindoos—three volumes of which, completing one-half of the work, were published in 1850-57. Professor Wilson contributed several memoirs to this work. After suffering long from a painful disease, he submitted to an operation, from the effects of which he died in 1860. A list of the works written and edited by him, and of his other contributions to oriental learning was drawn up by himself a fortnight before his death, and is printed at the close of the biographical notice of him in the Annual Report of the Royal Asiatic Society for May, 1860.—F. E.
WILSON, James, Captain, the able and enterprising conductor of the first christian mission to the South Seas, was the son of the commander of a merchant vessel engaged in the Newcastle trade, and was born in 1760. He entered the navy at an early age, served in the American war, and was present at the battle of Bunkers hill, fought in 1775. On his return home he obtained a situation as mate of an East Indiaman; but on his arrival at Bengal he quitted his ship and entered the civil service, in which his active and energetic conduct soon procured him promotion. He undertook the hazardous duty of conveying supplies of provisions to the British troops near Cuddalore, under Sir Eyre Coote, who were reduced to great straits by the combined operations of the troops of Hyder Ali on land, and a French squadron, which lay at anchor near Pondicherry, and succeeded in evading the hostile fleet, and conveying safely to their destination the whole of the cargoes intrusted to his charge. He continued for some time to be employed in carrying down supplies to the troops; but on one of these occasions he was unfortunately captured by the French, and carried prisoner to Cuddalore. Hyder Ali was at this time most anxious to get English officers into his hands, in order to induce them to enter his service; and the French commander, Suffrein, basely agreed for the sum of three hundred thousand rupees, to deliver up to him all his prisoners, to be conveyed to Seringapatam. As soon as Captain Wilson obtained information respecting this disgraceful bargain, he resolved at once to make his escape; and that very night, accompanied by his servant, a Bengalese boy, he leaped down from the battlements of the fort, a height of forty feet, and taking the boy on his back, he swam across several wide and rapid rivers. The lad became so terrified that Wilson was obliged to leave him behind, near Porto Nuovo; and continuing his course, he succeeded in crossing the great Coleroon river, which swarms with alligators, and though greatly exhausted, before sunrise reached its farther bank, a distance of more than forty miles from Cuddalore. He was discovered, however, by a party of Hyder Ali's cavalry, who were scouring the coast, and marched back naked and half-famished to his former prison. Next day he was chained to a common soldier, and compelled, under a vertical sun, to march on foot to Seringapatam, nearly five hundred miles distant. In spite of his dreadful sufferings, however, he peremptorily refused to enter Hyder's service, and was in consequence, though emaciated with disease and fatigue, thrust into a noisome dungeon, loaded with irons, and kept chained to a common soldier night and day. In this horrible captivity he remained two and twenty months, when the victories of Sir Eyre Coote compelled the cruel savage to release his British prisoners, of whom only thirty-two remained out of one hundred and fifty-three, who had originally shared Wilson's imprisonment. As soon as his health and strength were recruited. Captain Wilson returned again to active life, and made a voyage to Bencoolen and Batavia, in which every European on board the ship except himself died. He soon realized a competency, and returning to England in 1794, took up his residence at Horndean in Hampshire. Up to this date, Captain Wilson, though a sober well-behaved man, was yet an avowed infidel, who knew little and cared less about religion. But he was converted, in very interesting circumstances, through the instrumentality of the Rev. J. Griffin, baptist minister of Portsea, and joined his church in 1796. He soon after offered himself to the London Missionary Society, to conduct their first expedition to the islands of the Pacific ocean. The offer was accepted, and in September, 1796, he sailed from Spithead in command of the well-known mission-ship, Duff, having on board four ordained missionaries with their wives, a surgeon, and twenty-five settlers, together with all necessary equipments for their important enterprise; and after a prosperous voyage of five months, landed at Otaheite on the 4th of March, 1797. After establishing the missionaries in their respective settlements, and making all necessary arrangements for their safety and comfort. Captain Wilson quitted the South Sea islands the following September, and reached England in July, 1798. Shortly after the close of this successful and eventful voyage. Captain Wilson married the only child of Richard Holbert, Esq., a wealthy London merchant, and spent the remainder of his life in the enjoyment of domestic comfort and happiness, and in quiet and unostentatious acts of b enevolence and social usefulness. He died on the 12th of August, 1814, after a painful and protracted illness, which he bore with great patience and fortitude, leaving a widow and five children to lament his loss.—J. T.
WILSON, James, a distinguished zoologist, was born at Paisley, in November, 1795, and died at Woodville, near Edinburgh, on 18th May, 1856. He was the youngest brother of the late John Wilson, professor of moral philosophy in the university of Edinburgh. He passed his early school and college days at Edinburgh, and in 1811 entered on the study of law, which the state of his health, however, did not allow him to follow out. He had a great love for natural history, which he displayed even in his boyhood, and to this subject he finally devoted his attention in a special manner. He was also fond of literature, and read largely in imaginative works, both grave and humorous. He had a peculiar vein of subtle wit and curiously grotesque humour, which made him a welcome addition to every social circle. In 1816 he visited Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Paris. He purchased the Dufresne collection of birds for the museum of the university of Edinburgh, and afterwards arranged them. In 1819 he visited Sweden, and soon after his return symptoms of pulmonary disease appeared, which called for medical treatment. During 1820-21 the state of his health compelled him to reside in Italy. In 1824 he married Miss Isabella Keith, and settled down to scientific and literary labours. He wrote many papers for Blackwood's Magazine, the North British Review, the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews, and other, periodicals. He also contributed largely to the seventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica—his articles being chiefly zoological. The Transactions of the Wernerian Society also contain some of his papers. He published "Illustrations of Zoology," in which he expressed his views of system and classification. The work contains excellent figures of animals. His love of nature and natural scenery was intense, and he greatly enjoyed all sorts of rural sports. Angling was a favourite pursuit, and he wrote a most interesting work on the "Rod and the Gun." He was a truly christian man, and died in the faith which had made his life happy.—J. H. B.
WILSON, James, founder of the Economist, late chancellor of the Indian exchequer, was born in 1805 at Hawick, where his father, a Quaker, was engaged in the hosiery trade. He
