that his prayers and his alms, had come up for a memorial before Him, who seeth in secret.
At the age of fifty, with an ample fortune, he relinquished a business, in which he had most diligently laboured, when the full tide of prosperity was flowing in upon him, in order that he might devote his time, and the means placed by Providence at his disposal, to the cause of neglected and suffering humanity.
For more than thirty years it became the essential and exclusive employment of his life, to explore and to relieve cases of poverty and distress, and in the accomplishment of this undertaking, he employed the same assiduity and care, which he had been wont to exercise in the management of his secular calling, distributing many times at the rate of a thousand pounds a year.
As a steward of the gifts of God, he carefully invested his money so as to secure a fair rate of interest, and on no occasion did he relax from the utmost exactness in his monetary dealings; and yet it is believed that his personal and domestic expenditure never reached £150. per annum.
His house, like his person, was a pattern of plainness and simplicity. His furniture consisted
of nothing fashionable or superfluous; and his table was equally marked by comfort and frugality.
He was a warm advocate in the cause of Temperance, and was deeply interested in the subject of “the prevention of Cruelty to Animals.”
Of Tracts, he must have paid for, and circulated gratuitously, some millions! His whole time and energies were fully employed, and often heavily taxed, in devising and carrying out schemes of mercy and benevolence, and his life presented one uniform tenor of consistent piety. To strangers he might appear reserved, but his apparent reserve only resulted from his constitutional modesty, and retiring habits, whilst to those who enjoyed his friendship, he was frank, open, and intelligent in no ordinary degree.
William Wilson was never robust, but toward the close of his life, his feebleness became more apparent; for more than a week he was confined to his bed, but without any urgent symptom of disease. His mind was calm and peaceful,—he knew and loved his Saviour, and through His mediation, we cannot doubt he has inherited the blessing to the pure in heart, leaving behind him, in many respects, an example worthy to be followed,
practically bearing a noble testimony to “christian moderation and temperance in all things,” and against that covetousness which is idolatry. The memory of such a man is blessed.