"Cbrtetopbet Worth" 177 



hair, and rapid unconcerned progress, like that of a 

 plough through stubble." 



" A Norse demi-god " was the phrase his admirers, 

 and their name was Legion, loved to apply to him. De 

 Quincey, however, whose judgment is entitled to respect, 

 did not think him handsome. " His complexion," writes 

 the " English Opium-eater," <( was too florid : hair of a 

 hue quite unsuited to that complexion : eyes not good, 

 having no apparent depth, but seeming mere surfaces, 

 and, in fact, no one feature that could be called fine 

 except the lower region of his face, the mouth, chin, and 

 the parts adjacent which were then truly elegant and 

 Ciceronian." One must be acquainted with the bust of 

 Cicero to understand that final comparison, which smacks 

 of the fantastic. But whatever difference of opinion 

 might exist as to his features, all who knew John Wilson 

 were agreed as to the grandeur and majesty of his 

 figure a noble and impressive combination of stateli- 

 ness and strength. 



Of his social qualities Thomas Carlyle gives us a 

 glimpse in one of his letters : 



" Last night," he writes, " I supped with John Wilson, 

 Professor of Moral Philosophy here, author of the ' Isle 

 of Palms,' etc., a man of the most fervid temperament, 

 fond of all stimulating things from tragic poetry down 

 to whisky punch. He snuffed, and smoked cigars, and 

 drank liquors, and talked in the most indescribable 

 style. It was at the lodging of one John Gordon, a very 

 good young man from Kirkcudbright, who sometimes 

 comes here. Daylight came on us before we parted ; 

 indeed, it was towards three o'clock as the Professor 



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