"the American ornithologist," was born at Paisley, in Scotland, on the 6th of July 1766. His father was a hand-loom weaver, and he himself followed the same trade. His education was more liberal than that of many in similar circumstances. Some poems which he published, especially those written in the Scottish dialect, possess great merit. In 1794 he emigrated to the United States, where, after working for some time as a weaver, he betook himself to the not less laborious but more refined employment of schoolmaster. For a series of years his time was occupied in that country with various studies, such as mathematics, the German language, music, draw- ing, and, above all, natural history. At length he resolved to devote himself entirely to ornithology, and, at whatever hazard, to form a collection of all the birds of the United States. For this he was eminently qualified. In the words of his American biographer, "he was not only an enthusi- astic admirer of the works of creation, but he was consistent in research, and permitted no dangers or fatigues to abate his ardour or relax his exertions. He incurred himself to hardships by frequent and laborious exercise, and was never more happy than when employed in some enterprise which promised, from its difficulties, the novelties of discovery. Whatever was obtained with ease appeared to him com- paratively uninteresting; the acquisitions of labour alone seemed worthy of his ambition. He was no closet philoso- pher; he was indebted for his ideas, not to books, but to nature....His powers of observation were acute, and his judgment seldom erred. That his industry was great, his work will ever testify; and our astonishment may well be excited that so much should have been performed in so short a time. A single individual, without patron, fortune, or recompense, accomplished, in the short space of seven years, as much as the combined body of European natu- ralists have taken a century to achieve. The collection and discovery of these birds were the fruits of many months of unwearied research amongst forests, swamps, and mo- rases, exposed to all the dangers, privations, and fatigues incident to such an undertaking. What but a remarkable passion for the pursuit, joined with an ardent desire for fame, could have supported a solitary individual in labours of body and mind, compared to which the bustling avocations of common life are mere holiday activity or recreation?" With regard to the literary merit of his American Ornithology, passages occur in the prefaces and descriptions, which, for elegance of language, graceful ease, and graphic power, can scarcely be surpassed. In America he composed various poetical pieces. The longest of these, The Foresters, a narrative in verse of a pedestrian journey performed by himself and two friends to the Falls of Niagara, is decidedly superior to any of a descriptive kind which he had written in Scotland, manifesting great improvement both in his taste and his power of composition. In personal appearance Wilson was tall, handsome, and vigorous; but, adapted as his frame was for a life of activity, it gradually gave way under the accumulated and harassing toils to which he was subjected, and he died of dysentery at Philadelphia on the 23rd of August 1813, in the forty-eighth year of his age, when the publication of his great work, which appeared in volumes, was nearly completed. Strong good sense, high moral worth, and a lofty spirit of independence, were the characteristic features of his mind. With the feelings of a poet, he had few of the defects that often cling to the poetic character. Wilson, Daniel, fifth Bishop of Calcutta, was the son of Stephen Wilson, a silk manufacturer of Spitalfields. He was born in Church Street, Spitalfields, 2d July 1778. At school the vigour of his character attracted attention, and his master used to say of him that "he would be something either very bad or very good." At the age of fourteen (1792), he was bound as an apprentice to his uncle, W. Wilson; and it was during this period that those first serious impressions took hold of his mind, which resulted in what he would have termed his "conversion." Hitherto he had probably been neither much better nor much worse than other young men similarly circumstanced; and the bitter self-accusations arising from the poignant remorse of a sensitive and awakened conscience must not be understood in his case (any more than in that of John Bunyan) to indicate unusual depravity. While in this desponding condition, he had the advantage of constant intercourse with several eminent clergymen, whose advice he recorded. He was especially indebted to Mr Eyre, Mr Cecil, and Mr Newton for religious instruction, and his mind was moulded in their school of thought. Feeling that he had a call to the ministry, he obtained the sanction of his parents to leave his present occupation, and entered as an under-graduate in St Edmund's Hall, Oxford (1798). His studies at the university were characterized by extraordinary assiduity and some success. By unswerving diligence he repaired the defects of his education, and passed through the university with credit. In 1802 he took his degree of B.A., having been ordained the previous year. He began his ministerial work as curate of Mr Cecil at Chobham and Bixley, where he shared one little house with Dr Pearson, afterwards dean of Salisbury. In 1803 he obtained the Oxford English Essay Prize for a paper on Common Sense,—a subject well adapted to his clear and energetic style. It is an interesting circumstance that he was succeeded on the rostrum by his predecessor in the bishopric of Calcutta. Reginald Heber rose to recite his celebrated poem Palestine when Daniel Wilson had finished reading his Essay on Common Sense.

In 1803, he was married to his cousin; in 1804, he became assistant-tutor of St Edmund's Hall; and from 1807 to 1812, he was sole tutor and vice-principal, combining with these offices the curacy of Worton. In 1812 he left Oxford for St John's Chapel, Bedford Row; and in 1824 he succeeded to the Vicarage of Islington, the advowson of which had been bequeathed to him by his uncle. In Islington, as indeed at every place where he was long located, his self-denying energy and laborious ministry produced the best effects. He silenced opposition by his earnestness, and churches and Sunday-schools flourished under his guidance. In 1832 he was appointed Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan of India; and here, with the exception of a short visit to England in 1845, he continued until his death, which took place, at the age of 80, January 2, 1858.

The best proof of Bishop Wilson's ability and diligence is to be found in the success which attended his efforts both in England and in India. Islington, a parish which up to his time was in no way remarkable, became while he was vicar one of the most eminent parishes in the kingdom for the number of its churches and the multitude of its good works. In India, where he found church discipline extremely lax, he established episcopal jurisdiction over the chaplains on a firm basis, and successfully combated the interference of the Church Missionary Society with the just rights of his ecclesiastical authority. His diocese comprised at first no less than sixteen dioceses of the present day; and he ruled them all with a firmness and wisdom which will long cause his name to be remembered with gratitude, in spite of his occasional freedom of speech and his hearty adoption of party opinions.

His faults, as noted by his son-in-law and biographer, were "hasty impulse, quick action, sharp words, want of consideration for others, something of egotism, and occasional inaccuracy of statement;" yet few will deny to him the praise of having been "a brave and noble soldier, a wise, bold leader," and a most earnest and pious overseer of the Church of God.