WttSON-WINCHELL 



1771. as to the state of tilings in America, lie told the 

 Mory of the destruction of the tea ut Boston, and 

 frankly said that war was probable it' tlir policy of 

 coercion wore not abandoned, at which I*>rd North 

 expressed much surprise. The talc of hi- obtaining 

 the Hutehinson letters, though long believed and 

 oticii repeated, has been dispioved. After his return 

 lie entered into business, removed to Kdcnton. N. (' . 

 and during the war served as an army surgeon, ami 

 was sent l the legislature. He was a member of 

 Congress 178l'-j and I7S7-S, and of the Constitu- 

 tional Convention in 1757 : at home he pleaded the 

 cause of the Constitution, and bon- a part in bringing 

 North Carolina into the federal Union. In 17'.'.; la- 

 removed to New York, where he atlained a conspicu- 

 ous place as a citizen and scholar. He contributed to 

 the AiiKi-ifiiii Mitsfiim and to the Truiisuctfuiit of 

 several learned bodies, wrote upon comets and canals, 

 and delivered an address before the New York His- 

 torical Society in 1810 on Th>- ttwjil* <>/ Ciril ///*- 

 tun/. His (lb.nrc<itiiins on ( 'liinntc (181 1) had a pa- 

 triotic object to defend America from the aspersions 

 of certain foreigners in this respect and received praise 

 from Jefferson. His llistnry of Xortk C'uroliini ('2 

 vols., IslU) added less to his reputation. He died in 

 New York, May J. 1819. A Memoir of him by Dr. 

 Hosack is preserved in the Collections of the New 

 York Historical Society. 



WILSON, DANIEL, Canadian scientist and archae- 

 ologist, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in Islo. 

 Alter a full course of study in its High School and 

 I 'diversity, he went to London to engage in literary 

 work, but soon returned to his native city. Here his 

 devotion to archaeology procured for him the appoint- 

 ment of secretary of the Scottish Antiquarian Society. 

 In 1843 he removed to Canada, where he was made 

 professor of history and Knglish literature in I'nivcr- 

 bity College, Toronto. In Canada Dr. Wilson found a 

 wide field for his favorite researches, while he also de- 

 voted himself assiduously to his academic duties. In 

 J s> I he was chosen to be executive head of the college. 

 His first publication was M<-inorinls of Kflluburgh in 

 tlie Oltltn Time (2 vols. , 1847), and, after an interval 

 of thirty years, he produced a similar work. AVm/n/.s-- 

 cences of Old Edawmrgk (1878). His wore ambitious 

 work. The ArcJuiolor/i/ <iii<l l\elustoric Aiiiniln nf 

 Smtlnml (is/i I ; lid ed., 1803), won the praise of 

 Hallam a-s the most scientific treatment of the aivh;e- 

 ological evidences of primitive history ever written. 

 Yet this work was only preparatory to his greater 

 achievement. I'nliiatorir Mini: /{mriirchi* into tin- Ori- 

 gina/('irili':iitiini int/ir (Mil mill t/tr Xnr II ni'lilx ( I SI 1 ,.".). 

 Us later editions have been considerably rewritten, but 

 it still stands conspicuous not only for scientific value 

 but for grace of literary style. Besides these areh.-c- 

 ologiral works. Dr. Wilson has published C/iittlrrton : 

 11 J!i',ii/rni>hiriil S/.-i-ti-h (|si', ( .i); Caliban, the ,1/iW/ir/ 

 Link (I: S7o). and .X'/tn.'/ \Vilii l-'lotrrrx. a volume of 

 verse. He has also eontrihutcd to the rrormlingx of 

 antiquarian, anthropological, und other scientific soeic- 

 The Marquis of I/irnc. in instituting the llo\al 

 . of Canada, nominated Dr. Wilson its vice 



Sv.-idcnt. To the ninth edition of the F.Ncvn.oi'.v.iMA 

 RITASNICA he has contributed not only the articles 

 on "Canada" and "Toronto," but even that on 

 " Edinburgh," besides biographical notices of "Fer- 

 guson" and "Chatterton. Dr. Wilson still lives in 

 the city of his adoption and discharges the duties of 

 his profeMonbip. 



W 1LS( )N, J AMKS (1 74LM79S). signer of the Declara- 

 tion of Independence, was born near St. Andrew's, 

 nd. and passed from the 1'niversity of that jilaee 

 to tho-e nf (ila-L'ow and Edinburgh. Having finished 

 his studies, he crossed the sea n bout I7ii.;. and taught 

 lor a time in the college at Philadelphia. He ami 

 William AVhitc, afterwards bishop, became friends, 

 and wrote in company some essays called The Vititant 

 (17G7-9). After studying law under Dickinson (q. r.), 



'and praciising for a few "years at Carlisle and else- 

 where, he returned to Philadelphia, and soon attained 

 very high rank in his profession. His pamphlet on 

 Tlie Authority of thr Jlritish I'tirlinmritt (1774) Was 

 much praised. By this time lie was a colonel of militia 

 and member of the convention of the province. Sent 

 in 177"> to the Continental Congress, he won repute as 

 a scholar and debater, but did not favor indi pi i 

 In February. 177(i, he sought to oiven the ports, and 

 offered an address to the country, which, being highly 

 conservative in substance and spirit, ini t with no favor, 

 and was not evi-n voted on. lie OMtiniied to oppose 

 all measures of separation until the will of 1, 

 :-titiu nts was declared for independence ; then, July 4, 

 he .-igned the Declaration with his colleagues. In'lhe 

 same month he proposed a tax upon .-!;m s. The next 

 year he was made a commissioner to treat with Indians. 

 He defended certain Tories and merchants who refused 

 to lower their prices to a scale propose d in popular rcso- 



;lulions, and by these and similar acts incurred much 

 odium. A mob attacked his house with cannon Oct. 

 4, 177'J ; he and his friends defended it ; the City Troop 

 came to his aid. and blood was shed, lie acted as ad- 

 vocate-general of France in the United States 1779-81, 

 and continued to give advice for some time after; tho 



Bist was more laborious and honorable than luci 

 ut his gains at the bar. of which he was long the 

 acknowledged head in his city and State, were large. 

 He was a directorof the Bank of North America from 

 1781, and its counsel 178') ; agent for his State in 17>-2 

 in the controversy with Connecticut concerning the 

 Wyoming tract on the Susquehanna ; again a leading 

 member in Congress in 17S12 and 17sf>. In the Conven- 

 tion of I7S7 he was " the best-read lawyer," and chair- 

 man of the committee which reported the draft of a 

 constitution, August t'>. His services here and after- 

 ward were pcihaps more illustrious than in Congress. 

 At the State Convention which followed he lauded the 

 Constitution as "the best form of government ever 

 offered to the world," and in the ceremonies which 

 celebrated its adoption, delivered at the State House, 

 July 4, 17SS. a weighty and memorable oration. Yet as 

 a member of a committee to harmonize the State con- 

 stitution with that of the United States, he took the 

 other side in objecting to the choice of senators by elec- 

 tors. Washington appointed him inOctolx-r, 1789, one 

 of the first judges of the I". S. Supreme Court. This 

 post he retained till his death, though his talents were 

 tlioujlil to shine more brilliantly at the bar than on the 

 bcncli. One of his decisions, in a case concerning 

 (ieorgia. asserted the sovereignly of the nation; in 

 this Chief Justice Jay and two others concurred. He 

 received in I7'.' the first appointment as professor of 

 law at the City College, which was united with the 

 University of Pennsylvania in 17'JL 1 . Here he delivered 

 but three courses of led UK s. Appointed in March, 

 I7'JI. to revise and diL'cst the laws of Pi nnsylvania, 

 he submitted in Angus! an elaborate plan. The Si mite 

 did not concur, and he carried on the task for his own 

 satisfaction, without authority or eoinin nsatioti. His 

 later practice was chiefly in the adinirally courts. 

 Large as were his gains, they were swallowed by the 

 land speculations then so disastrously rife : he In came 

 involved, and to avoid arrest lor debt, exchanged cir- 

 cuits with a Southern colleague. He died t Kdcnton, 

 N. ('., Aug. US, 17 ( .IH, of strangury, Mondial to the 

 oliler accounts. Prof MeMasli r goes so far as to sav 

 that he "died a broken-hearted fugitive from justice. 1 ' 

 His ]\'tirtfx, includitiir his law-lectures, were edited by 

 his son, Hev. Bird Wilson (3 vols., JS03-4). 



(F. M. n.) 



WINCIIF.LL, ALEXANDER, geologist, was born at 

 North Hast, Duchess 00., N . Y.. Dec. 31, 18l!4. 

 While still young, he evinced a strong _ inclination 

 towards what has been the pursuit of his life, and 

 began teaching at the early a ire of l.'i. After several 

 years thus engaged, he entered Wesleyan University, 

 Middletown, Conn., from which he graduated in 1847. 



