It will now give pain to no one, if I notice Mr. Wilson, formerly curate
of Halton Gill, near Skipton in Craven, and father of the late Rev.
Edward Wilson, canon of Windsor. He wrote a tract, entitled “The Man in
the Moon,” which was seriously meant to convey the knowledge of common
astronomy in the following strange vehicle:
A cobbler, Israel Jobson by name, is supposed to ascend first to the top
of Pennigint; and thence, as a second stage equally practicable, to the
moon! after which he makes a tour of the whole solar system. From this
excursion, however, the traveller brings back little information which
might not have been had upon earth, excepting that the inhabitants of
one of the planets, I forget which, were made of “pot metal.” The work
contains some other extravagancies; but the writer, after all, was a man
of talent, and has abundantly shown that had he been blessed with a
sound mind and a superior education, he would have been capable of much
better things. If I had the book before me I could quote single
sentences here and there, which in point of composition rise to no mean
degree of excellence. It is rarely to be met with, having, as I am told,
been industriously bought up by his family. I have only seen one copy,
and my recollection of what I read in it is not very particular.[333]
Mr. Wilson had also good mechanical hands, and carved well in wood, a
talent which he applied to several whimsical purposes. But his
_chef-d’œuvre_ was an oracular head, like that of friar Bacon and the
disciple of the famous Escotillo, with which he diverted himself and
amazed his neighbours, till a certain reverend wiseacre threatened to
complain of the poor man to his metropolitan as an enchanter! After this
the oracle was mute.[334]
[333] Could any reader of the _Table Book_ forward a copy?--ED.
[334] Rev. Dr. Whitaker’s History of Craven.
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