During his peregrinations through the country, he was frequently exposed to the most imminent dangers, from which he sometimes narrowly escaped with his life; for example, we give the following as related by himself. "From Ballymena I was one day going out to the Rev. Robert Stewart's. At the end of the town the road divides; one branch leads to Ballymena, and the other to Broughshane. In the forks an old well was opened for the purpose of sinking a pump. It being two o'clock in the day, the workmen were all at dinner, and I was groping about with my staff to ascertain the turn in the road, when a man called out to me to stand still and not move a single step. I did so, when he came forward and told me, that two steps more would have hurried me into a well eighty feet deep, and half full of water. He held me by the arm, and made me put forth my staff to feel and be convinced of my danger, when I found that I was actually not more than one yard from the edge! The blood ran cold in my veins; I was scarcely able to stand erect,

'And every limb, unstrung with terror, shook.""

In the year 1800, a temporary Institution was established at Belfast, for the instruction of those destitute of sight, in such mechanical pursuits as were best adapted to their peculiar situation. Of this, James Wilson became an inmate, and soon acquired a knowledge of the upholstery business; a trade, by the pursuit of which, under the patronage of his

friends, he rendered his circumstances more easy. In 1803, a number of young men formed a reading society in Belfast, and, although they were all mechanics, some of them were also men of taste, and possessed considerable talent. Into this association Wilson was admitted a member, which was the dawning of a brighter day in his literary pursuits. One of its members, to whom he was warmly attached, kindly offered to read to him such books as he could procure. Their stated time for this employment was from nine o'clock in the evening until one in the morning, in the winter season, and from seven until eleven in the summer. In this way he committed to memory a vast collection of pieces, both in prose and verse. "So ardent," says he, "was my desire for knowledge at that time, that I could never bear to be absent a single night from my friend; and often, when walking in the country, where I could have been comfortably accommodated, I have traveled three or four miles, in a severe winter night, to be at my post in time. Pinched with cold and drenched with rain, I have many a time sat down and listened for several hours together, to the writings of Plutarch, Rollin, or Clarendon." This course of reading he continued for seven or eight years, during which time he was made acquainted with almost every work in the English language.

Aided by a retentive power cultivated to a surprising degree, it may well be supposed that Mr. Wilson had by this time accumulated a large store of use

F

ful knowledge. So tenacious was his memory, that, during the French revolution, being somewhat interested in politics, he served as an army and navy list to the illiterate who had relations in either of these departments. To illustrate how fully, we give the following anecdote as related by himself: "Being invited by a friend to spend an evening at his house, I had scarcely sat down when three gentlemen entered, and the conversation turning on the news of the day, I was requested by my friend to repeat the names of as many of the ships of the British navy as I could recollect, telling me, at the same time, that he had a particular reason for making the request. I commenced, and my friend marked them down as I went along, until I had repeated six hundred and twenty, when he stopped me, saying I had gone far enough. The cause of the request was then explained. One of the gentlemen had wagered a supper that I could not mention five hundred; he expressed himself much pleased, however, at the loss, having been, as he acknowledged, highly entertained by the experiment." In another place, in adverting to his memory, he says: "In relation to geography, I became acquainted with every place of note on the habitable globe, so that on being examined by some who were either curious or doubtful of my knowledge, my descriptions have been found to coincide with the best constructed maps. Respecting history, the reader will best judge of the power of my memory, by the following relation: To a few select friends who

wished to prove my knowledge of English history, I repeated, to their entire satisfaction, an epitome of the history of England, from the Norman conquest till the peace in 1783, invasions, conspiracies, insurrections, and revolutions; the names of all the kings and queens; the years of their accessions; the length of their reigns, and the affinity each had to his predecessors; together with the names and characters of all the great statesmen, heroes, philosophers, and poets, who flourished in the different reigns. In consequence of this and similar rehearsals, I was termed 'the Living Book,' and a 'Walking Encyclopedia."" We hear it sometimes remarked, that those deprived of sight, are naturally endowed with extraordinary retentive powers. But we claim, that memory, like all other faculties of the mind, is only strengthened by continued exercise. The surprising and almost unparalleled degree of perfection which Mr. Wilson attained in this respect, he ascribes mainly to this cause. The power of retaining facts and impressions, of recorded events, and linking together by association a chain of occurrences, is strikingly analogous to the magnet, which, if allowed to lie inactive and to corrode, soon loses its mysterious affinity for the objects that have clustered about it, and they drop one by one like lost remembrances. But if strengthened by daily accession, its power may be cultivated to an almost illimitable degree. of his age, to

Wilson was married in the 23d

year

a respectable young lady with whom he had been acquainted for some time. Her unassuming manners, amiable disposition, industrious habits, and assiduous devotion to his interests, made her not only an agreeable companion of his youth, but a solace in declining age. They had eleven children, only four of whom were living when he published his memoirs, in 1838. His merits as an author, and fine literary attainments, recommended him to the notice of many distinguished cotemporary writers, among whom were Dr. Percy, bishop of Dromore, last of that illustrious school of which Johnson, Goldsmith, and Burke were members; and the Rev. H. Boyd, well known in the literary world as translator of Dante.

Quite early in life, at the solicitation of his friends, our author published a small work in verse. Though this production would not, perhaps, commend itself to the mercy of literary cudgelers, we think it quite creditable, and shall favor our readers with a few selections.

He afterward formed the design of publishing a history of the blind, which he accomplished, though attended with immense labor, in 1820. To this work we are greatly indebted for many valuable statistics.