WILLOW -WILSON. 



65 



through England, Scotland and Ireland, to solicit 

 benefactions for the academy of Newark, in Del- 

 aware; but, owing to the irritation subsisting at 

 the time against the colonies, they were not very 

 successful. He returned to America in 1777- In 

 1787, he was one of the delegates from North 

 Carolina to the convention at Philadelphia that 

 framed the federal constitution, of which he was a 

 decided advocate. In 1811, he published, in one 

 volume, 8vo., his Observations on the Climate in 

 different Parts of America, compared with the 

 Climate in corresponding Parts of the other Con- 

 tinent, and exposed the futility of the assertion that 

 America is a country in which the frigid tempera- 

 ture and vice of the climate prevent the growth 

 and expansion of animal and vegetable nature, and 

 cause the degeneration of man and beast. In 1812, 

 appeared his History of North Carolina (2 vols., 

 8vo.) a valuable addition to the annals of the 

 American continent. His death occurred suddenly, 

 May 22, 1819, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. 



WILLOW (safe). The species of willow are 

 very numerous, and most of them are confined to 

 the more northern parts of the globe. They are 

 trees or shrubs, with alternate and usually lanceolate 

 leaves, and inconspicuous flowers, which are dice- 

 cious, and disposed in aments. Most of them grow 

 in moist situations, and are constant attendants 

 along the margins of streams and water-courses. 

 This genus is considered the most difficult to un- 

 derstand of the whole vegetable world, as the male 

 and female flowers are situated upon different 

 plants, appear before the expansion of the leaves, 

 and soil, situation, and climate, produce a very con- 

 siderable change in their appearance. The bark of 

 some willows is employed for tanning, and some- 

 times, from its bitter and astringent properties, is 

 given, in intermittent fevers, as a substitute for 

 cinchona. The long pliant branches of the osiers 

 are used for the fabrication of baskets, and other 

 agricultural implements ; and they are cultivated 

 pretfy extensively for these purposes. 



The weeping willow (S. Babylonica), so gene- 

 rally admired for its long, pendent branches, grows 

 wild in Persia, and, besides, has long been a fa- 

 vourite ornamental tree in China. Almost all the 

 '.villows are of the easiest propagation and culture. 

 Care should be taken, however, with most of them, 

 that the soil is not absolutely bog or marsh. 



WILMOT. See Rochester. 



WILNA (Wilno}; a city of Russia, capital of 

 the government of Wilna, formerly capital of Li- 

 thuania, on the Wilia, 170 miles east of Konigs- 

 berg, 350 south-south-west of Petersburg ; Ion. 

 25 17' east; lat. 54 41' north; population in 

 1826, 25,000, Jews 5000 ; see of a Greek arch- 

 bishop and of a Catholic bishop. It has thirty-five 

 Roman Catholic churches and convents. It is 

 situated in a hilly country, and occupies several 

 eminences near the river ; is about four miles in 

 circuit, built chiefly of wood, very deficient in clean- 

 liness, and exhibits a striking contrast of wretched- 

 ness in some buildings, and gorgeousness in others. 

 It contained a Catholic university, established in 

 1570, and new-modelled in 1803. In 1832, the 

 university was suppressed, undoubtedly on account 

 of the insurrection of Lithuania. Here i^a semi- 

 nary for the education of clergy of the Greek church, 

 and one for the education of Catholic clergy, and a 

 college of Piarists. The trade consists in the ex- 

 port of corn, hemp, flax, honey, wax, and other 

 products of the surrounding country, conveyed 



by the Wilia and Niemen to Memel and Konigs- 

 berg. 



The Government of Wilna contains 25,000 square 

 miles, and 1,350,000 inhabitants. It is a plain, with 

 some slight elevations, woods, morasses, and lakes. 

 In general, the soil is fertile, producing much grain, 

 flax, and hemp. The manufactures are unimport- 

 ant. The inhabitants are Lithuanians, Lettes, Poles, 

 Jews, Greeks, Tartars, Russians, and Germans. 



WILSON, ALEXANDER, the celebrated American 

 ornithologist, also distinguished as a writer of Scot- 

 tish poetry, was born at Paisley, in 1766. His parents 

 were industrious people of an humble rank in life ; 

 and in his thirteenth year, young Wilson was bound 

 apprentice to a weaver. After serving an appren- 

 ticeship of three years, and working as a journey- 

 man weaver for about four years, during which pe- 

 riod he had cultivated his mind by his own unaided 

 exertions, arid had already given indications of 

 poetical talent, disgusted with the confined and 

 tedious nature of his employment, he abandoned 

 the loom, and adopted the life of a wandering ped- 

 lar. Three years were spent in this mode of life ; 

 and, in 1789, having already prepared a volume of 

 poems for publication, he offered his muslins, and 

 solicited subscriptions for his work at the same 

 time. Unsuccessful in the latter object, and tired 

 of a pedlar's life, he once more returned to the 

 loom. In 1791, he published a poem under the title 

 of the Laurel Disputed, on the comparative merits 

 of Allan Ramsay and Robert Ferguson, and, in 

 1792, his Watty and Meg, which, having appeared 

 anonymously, was ascribed to Burns ; a mistake, 

 which the author, of course, felt as the highest 

 acknowledgment of its merits. In humour and 

 truth of description, it is certainly not surpassed by 

 any production of the Scottish muse. Having 

 soon after written a severe satire upon a person in 

 Paisley, Wilson was thrown into prison : he was 

 likewise looked upon with suspicion as a member 

 of the society of the Friends of the People, who 

 hailed the French revolution as a new morning of 

 liberty ; and, impelled by these circumstances, he 

 determined to come out to the United States. He 

 arrived at Newcastle, in the Delaware state, in 

 1794, and again resumed his former trade, but, 

 after a while, turned school-master, acting in this 

 capacity in several places in Pennsylvania. It was 

 while thus engaged at Kingsess, near Philadelphia, 

 that he became acquainted with Mr Bartram, the 

 naturalist, and Mr Lawson, an engraver, whose 

 tastes and instructions proved the occasion of call- 

 ing out his own talents. He had already under- 

 taken some long excursions for making ornithologi- 

 cal researches, and devoted much time to the study, 

 when he was engaged, in 1806, to assist in editing 

 the American edition of Ree's Cyclopaedia, and now 

 began to prepare for the publication of his work on 

 American ornithology. The first volume of this 

 work was published in 1808, and the seventh in 

 1813. The interval had been passed in exploring 

 different parts of the country, for the purpose of 

 extending his observations, collecting specimens, 

 and watching the habits of birds in their native 

 haunts. In 1813, the literary materials for the 

 eighth volume of the Ornithology were ready ; but 

 its progress was greatly retarded for want of proper 

 assistants to colour the plates. Wilson was, there- 

 fore, obliged to undertake the whole of this depart- 

 ment himself, in addition to his other duties, and 

 these multifarious labours, by drawing largely upon 

 his hours of rest, began rapidly to exhaust his con- 



