W I L 



adaptation to fuch a purpofe, and confequently there are not 

 many piftures of this clafs to be met with which have pro- 

 ceeded from his pencil. The great charafteriftic of his 

 works is grandeur, refulting from breadth, purity, and fim- 

 plicity, united in fullnefs of colour and mellownefs of touch. 

 He was perfeftly original in feeling and execution, more 

 grand in general conception than Claude, though infinitely 

 lefs perfett in detail ; and far from travelling through his 

 career in art, with fo even a pace as his great predeceflbr and 

 only rival in the more exalted ftyle of landfcape-painting be- 

 fore our time. Now a third fhines in the fame hemifphere, 

 and Claude and Wilfon find no ill-fuited aflbciate in the name 

 of Turner. 



At the inftitution of the Royal Academy, Wilfon was 

 chofen one of the founders ; and after the death of Hay- 

 man he was made librarian. That ftation he retained till his 

 death, which happened in May 1782, in the 68th year of 

 his age. 



WiL.so>f, Thomas, an Englifh prelate, was born in 

 1663, at Burton-in-Wirral, Cheftiire, and finiflied his educa- 

 tion in Dublin college, where he took his degree of arts. 

 In 1689 he was ordained prieft, and in 1692 became do- 

 meftic chaplain to the earl of Derby, and attended his fon, 

 lord Strange, who was his pupil, on a tour to the continent. 

 Upon the death of the young gentleman, he returned to 

 England, and in recompence of his faithful fervices, was 

 nominated to the bilhopric of the Ifle of Man, by the earl of 

 Derby, who then poflefled the fovereignty of the ifland. 

 The nomination was approved by king William, and he was 

 confecrated in January 1697-8, having received at Lambeth 

 the degree of LL.D. The revenue of the bifhopric did 

 not amount to more than 300/. a year ; but by fome col- 

 lateral advantages the bifhop was enabled to exercife hofpi- 

 tality and charity, to repair his ruined palace, and to found a 

 new chapel at Caftletown. He alfo eftablifhed parochial libra- 

 ries, which he furnifhed with religious books, among which 

 was a fmall traft, the firft that was ever printed in the Manks 

 language. He improved the agriculture of the ifland by 

 introducing into it corn, horfes, cattle, and Iheep, from 

 England ; and he ftudied phyfic with a view of adminifter- 

 ing to the relief and comfort of the iflanders. He publiflied 

 ecclefiaftical conftitutions, which were fo much approved, 

 that lord chancellor King faid of them, that " if the ancient 

 difcipline of the church were loft, it might be found in all its 

 purity in the Ifle of Man." Bifliop Wilfon, chiefly with a 

 view to the intereft of religion and morality, was anxious to 

 maintain a due regard to epifcopal authority, and this 

 anxiety led him in two inftances to exceed the bounds of 

 prudence and propriety. When fome copies of the " Inde- 

 pendent Whig" had found their way into the ifland, he or- 

 dered them to be feized, apprehending that they inculcated 

 fentiments hoftile to Chriftianity and the eftabhflied church. 

 He alfo involved himfelf in difficulties and incurred reproach 

 by excluding from the communion the wife of the governor, 

 on account of an aft of defamation, for which flie refufed to 

 afk pardon of the injured party. This led to a ferious al- 

 tercation with the governor, who fined both the bifliop and 

 his two vicars-general, for fufpending his chaplain for dif- 

 obedience in admitting the wife to communion, and who ar- 

 refted them for refufing to pay the fine. Accordingly they 

 were kept clofe prifoners in the caftle for nine weeks, till the 

 bifliop, by application to the council in England, obtained 

 their releafe. The pious and mild-tempered bifliop after- 

 wards declined profecuting the governor for damages. 

 From his piety and attachment to the church, he was ho- 

 noured in 1707 with the degree of D.D. from the univerfity 

 I Vol. XXXVIII. 



W I L 



of Oxford, in full convocation, and in which he was after- 

 wards aggregated at Cambridge. 



Such was the biftiop's zeal for doing good, that he would 

 not quit the fphere affigned him for this purpofe, though he 

 was off^ered an Englifli bifliopric ; in reference to which cir- 

 cumftance queen Carohne, direfting her attention to Wilfon, 

 among a number of other prelates who happened to be at 

 court at the fame time with him, faid to them, " Here, my 

 lords, comes a bifliop whofe errand is not to apply for 

 a tranflation, nor would he part with his fpoufe be- 

 caufe flie is poor." His charafter was in fuch eftimation 

 with the French minifter, that he procured an order that no 

 French privateer fliould commit ravages on the Ifle of Man. 

 In this retired fituation his hfe was prolonged to his 93d 

 year, when he calmly expired in March, 1755, leaving one 

 furviving fon, known in the political world as reftor of St. 

 Stephen's, Walbrook, and patron of the celebrated hiftorian 

 Mrs. Macaulay. After his death a colleftion of his works 

 was publiflied in two vols. 4to. 1781. His notes to Crut- 

 well's Bible, which was pubhflied under the bifliop's name 

 in three vols. 4to. 1785, are of little value. The tranfla- 

 tion of the New Teftament into the Manks language, which 

 he had undertaken, was completed by his fucceffor, Dr. 

 Mark Hillefley. Biog. Brit. Life prefixed to his 

 Works. Gen. Biog. 



Wilson, Dr. John, a native of Feverfliam, in Kent, was 

 a gentleman of Charles the Firft's chapel, and fervant in 

 ordinary to his majefty, in the charafter of chamber-mufi- 

 cian. His infl;rument was the lute, upon which he is faid 

 to have excelled all the Engliflimen of his time ; and, ac- 

 cording to Ant. Wood, his royal mafter was fo pleafed with 

 his talents, and had even fuch a perfonal regard for him, 

 that he not only liilened to him with the greateft attention, 

 but frequently condefcended to lean or lay his hand on his 

 flioulder, while he was playing. 



For the excellence of his performance we muft now 

 wholly depend on tradition, as the compofitions he has left 

 behind him for the lute are but feeble teftimonies of a great 

 hand. Nor will his vocal produftions, or Fantafias, either 

 in print or manufcript, generate very exalted ideas of his 

 genius or abilities as a compofer. That he was admired by 

 his majefty, and by the lovers of mufic at Oxford, where he 

 was honoured with the degree of doftor in mufic, 1 644, and 

 where he long refided, proves more the low ftate of the art 

 at this time, before the ears of the public were rendered dif- 

 criminative, by a variety of great and rival talents, than his 

 own perfeftions. Little had been heard, and but little was 

 expefted. Swift fays, " we admire a little wit in a woman, 

 as we do a few words fpoke plain by a parrot :" and it 

 might more ferioufly be faid, that the beft mufic, during 

 times of ignorance and inexperience, is perhaps more admired 

 than the moft exquifite produftions and performance of a 

 more enlightened period. Nothing can prove this more 

 clearly than the unbounded and hyperbolical praifes be- 

 ftowed in France on the operas of Lulli, of which, at pre. 

 fent, the whole nation is aftiamed. 



Dr. Wilfon, indeed, feems to have fet words to mufio 

 more clumfily than any compofer of equal rank in the pro- 

 feflion ; but as he was refpefted by his contemporaries, and 

 held an exalted rank in his art, a liil fliall here be inferted of 

 his works ; not fo much for their intrinfic worth, as to 

 enable curious enquirers to judge for themfelves of the pro- 

 grefs which mufic had made in this kingdom, when fuch 

 produftions were in high favour, not only with the greateft 

 perfonages but principal profeflbrs of the times. 



" Pfalterium Carolinum, the devotions of his facred ma- 

 3 N jefty 



