XX 
LIFE OF WILSON. 
felt. Revolution principles had also crept in among the artisans, 
which, superadded to the decline of business, were the means of 
many being thrown out of stated employment ; and the distress of 
others was not a little aggravated by exactions which it was sup- 
posed neither policy nor justice ought to have dictated. Hence 
arose a misunderstanding between the manufactui^ers and the 
weavers, which soon grew into a controversy, that awakened the 
zeal of both parties ; and Wilson, incited by principle, as well as 
intei'est, remained not idle on an occasion which seemed to de- 
mand the exercise of his talents for the benefit of the poor and 
the oppressed. 
Among the manufacturers there was one of considerable 
wealth and influence ; who had risen from a low origin by a con- 
currence of fortunate circumstances ; and who had rendered him- 
self greatly conspicuous by his avarice and knavery. This ob- 
noxious individual was arraigned in a galling satire, written in the 
Scottish dialect ; which is well known to be fertile of terms of sar- 
casm or reproach. The piece was published anonymously; and, 
being suited to the taste of the multitude, was read with eagerness. 
But the subject of it, stung to the quick by the severity of the 
censure, sought revenge of his concealed enemy, who, through 
some unforeseen occurrence, was revealed in the person of Wilson. 
A prosecution for a libel was the consequence of the disclosure ; 
and our satirist was sentenced to a short imprisonment, and to 
burn, with his own hands, the poem at the public cross in the 
town of Paisley. Wilson underwent the sentence of the law, sur- 
rounded by his friends, a gallant and numerous band, who viewed 
him as a mai’tyr to the cause of honour and truth; and who, while 
his character was exalted in their opinion, failed not to stigmatize 
that of his adversary in all the bitterness of contempt. The prin- 
ter, it is said, was fined for his share in the publication, 
in the year 1792, Wilson wrote his characteristic tale of 
Watty and Meg,” the last poem which he composed in Scotland. 
