Chapter XXV: Part 25

WHATELEY, RICHARD (1787-1863).--Theologian and economist, _s._ of the Rev. Dr. Joseph W., _b._ in London, and _ed._ at a school in Bristol, and at Oxf., where he became a coll. tutor. Taking orders he became Rector of Halesworth, Suffolk. In 1822 he delivered his Bampton lectures on _The Use and Abuse of Party Feeling in Religion_. Three years later he was made Principal of St. Alban's Hall, in 1829 Prof. of Political Economy, and in 1831 Archbishop of Dublin. As head of a coll. and as a prelate W. showed great energy and administrative ability. He was a vigorous, clear-headed personality, somewhat largely endowed with contempt for views with which he was not in sympathy, and with a vein of caustic humour, in the use of which he was not sparing. These qualities made him far from universally popular; but his honesty, fairness, and devotion to duty gained for him general respect. He had no sympathy with the Oxf. movement, was strongly anti-Calvinistic, and somewhat Latitudinarian, so that he was exposed to a good deal of theological odium from opposite quarters. He was a voluminous writer, and among his best known works are his treatises on _Logic_ (1826) and _Rhetoric_ (1828), his _Historic Doubts relative to Napoleon Buonaparte_ (1819), intended as a _reductio ad absurdum_ of Hume's contention that no evidence is sufficient to prove a miracle, _Essays on some Peculiarities of the Christian Religion_ (1825), _Christian Evidences_ (1837), and ed. of Bacon's _Essays_ with valuable notes, and of Paley's _Evidences_.

WHETSTONE, GEORGE (1544?-1587?).--Dramatist, one of the early, roistering playwrights who frequented the Court of Elizabeth, later served as a soldier in the Low Countries, accompanied Sir Humphrey Gilbert's expedition to Newfoundland in 1578, and was at the Battle of Zutphen in 1586. He was a trenchant critic of the contemporary drama, contending for greater reality and rationality. His play, _Promos and Cassandra_, translated from Cinthio's _Hecatomithi_, was used by Shakespeare in _Measure for Measure_.

WHEWELL, WILLIAM (1794-1866).--Philosopher, theologian and mathematician, _s._ of a joiner at Lancaster, where he was _b._, _ed._ at Camb., where he had a brilliant career. He became Prof. of Mineralogy at Camb. 1828, of Moral Theology 1838, was Master of Trinity from 1841 until his death, and he held the office of Vice-Chancellor of the Univ. in 1843 and 1856. W. was remarkable as the possessor of an encyclopædic fund of knowledge, perhaps unprecedented, and he was the author of a number of works of great importance on a variety of subjects. Among the chief of these may be mentioned his Bridgewater Treatise on _Astronomy and General Physics considered with Reference to Natural Theology_ (1833), _History of the Inductive Sciences_ (1837), _The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences_ (1840), _Essay on Plurality of Worlds_ (anonymously), _Elements of Morality_ (1845), _History of Moral Philosophy in England_ (1852), and _Platonic Dialogues_. In addition to these he wrote innumerable articles, reviews, and scientific papers. It was as a co-ordinator of knowledge and the researches of others that W. excelled; he was little of an original observer or discoverer. He is described as a large, strong, erect man with a red face and a loud voice, and he was an overwhelming and somewhat arrogant talker.

WHICHCOTE, BENJAMIN (1609-1683).--Divine, belonged to a good Shropshire family, and was at Camb., where he became Provost of King's Coll., of which office he was deprived at the Restoration. He was of liberal views, and is reckoned among the Camb. Platonists, over whom he exercised great influence. His works consist of _Discourses_ and _Moral and Religious Aphorisms_. In 1668 he was presented to the living of St. Lawrence, Jewry, London, which he held until his death.

WHIPPLE, EDWIN PERCY (1819-1886).--Essayist and critic, _b._ in Massachusetts, was a brilliant and discriminating critic. His works include _Character and Characteristic Men_, _Literature and Life_, _Success and its Conditions_, _Literature of the Age of Elizabeth_, _Literature and Politics_, etc.

WHISTON, WILLIAM (1667-1752).--Theologian, and man of science, _b._ at Norton, Leicestershire, and _ed._ at Camb., where he succeeded Newton as Lucasian Prof. of Mathematics, was a prominent advocate of the Newtonian system, and wrote a _Theory of the Earth_ against the views of Thomas Burnet (_q.v._). He also wrote several theological works, _Primitive Christianity Revived_ and the _Primitive New Testament_. The Arian views promulgated in the former led to his expulsion from the Univ. His best known work was his translation of _Josephus_. He was a kindly and honest, but eccentric and impracticable man, and an insatiable controversialist.

WHITE, GILBERT (1720-1793).--Naturalist, _b._ at Selborne, Hants, and _ed._ along with the Wartons (_q.v._) at their father's school at Basingstoke, and thereafter at Oxf., entered the Church, and after holding various curacies settled, in 1755, at Selborne. He became the friend and correspondent of Pennant the naturalist (_q.v._), and other men of science, and _pub._ in the form of letters the work which has made him immortal, _The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne_ (1789). He was never _m._, but was in love with the well-known bluestocking Hester Mulso, afterwards Mrs. Chapone, who rejected him. He had four brothers, all more or less addicted to the study of natural history.

WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806).--Poet, _s._ of a butcher at Nottingham. At first assisting his _f._, next a stocking weaver, he was afterwards placed in the office of an attorney. Some contributions to a newspaper introduced him to the notice of Capel Lofft, a patron of promising youths, by whose help he brought out a vol. of poems, which fell into the hands of Southey, who wrote to him. Thereafter friends raised a fund to send him to Camb., where he gave brilliant promise. Overwork, however, undermined a constitution originally delicate, and he _d._ at 21. Southey wrote a short memoir of him with some additional poems. His chief poem was the _Christiad_, a fragment. His best known production is the hymn, "Much in sorrow, oft in Woe."

WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841).--Poet, _s._ of a merchant, an Irish Roman Catholic resident at Seville, where he was _b._, became a priest, but lost his religious faith and came to England, where he conducted a Spanish newspaper having for its main object the fanning of the flame of Spanish patriotism against the French invasion, which was subsidised by the English Government. He again embraced Christianity, and entered the Church of England, but latterly became a Unitarian. He wrote, among other works, _Internal Evidences against Catholicism_ (1825), and _Second Travels of an Irish Gentleman in search of a Religion_, in answer to T. Moore's work, _Travels, etc._ His most permanent contribution to literature, however, is his single sonnet on "Night", which Coleridge considered "the finest and most grandly conceived" in our language.

WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885).--Shakespearian scholar, _b._ in New York State, was long Chief of the Revenue Marine Bureau, and was one of the most acute students and critics of Shakespeare, of whose works he _pub._ two ed., the first in 1865, and the second (the Riverside) in 1883. He also wrote _Words and their Uses_, _Memoirs of Shakespeare_, _Studies in Shakespeare_, _The New Gospel of Peace_ (a satire), _The Fate of Mansfield Humphreys_ (novel), etc.

WHITEHEAD, CHARLES (1804-1862).--Poet, novelist, and dramatist; is specially remembered for three works, all of which met with popular favour: _The Solitary_ (1831), a poem, _The Autobiography of Jack Ketch_ (1834), a novel, and _The Cavalier_ (1836), a play in blank verse. He recommended Dickens for the writing of the letterpress for R. Seymour's drawings, which ultimately developed into _The Pickwick Papers_.

WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM (1715-1785).--Poet, _s._ of a baker at Camb., and _ed._ at Winchester School and Camb., became tutor in the family of the Earl of Jersey, and retained the favour of the family through life. In 1757 he succeeded Colley Cibber as Poet Laureate. He wrote plays of only moderate quality, including _The Roman Father_ and _Creusa_, tragedies, and _The School for Lovers_, a comedy; also poems, _The Enthusiast_ and _Variety_. His official productions as Laureate were severely attacked, which drew from him in reply _A Charge to the Poets_.

WHITMAN, WALTER or WALT (1819-1892).--Poet, was _b._ at Huntingdon, Long Island, New York. His mother was of Dutch descent, and the farm on which he was _b._ had been in the possession of his father's family since the early settlement. His first education was received at Brooklyn, to which his _f._ had removed while W. was a young child. At 13 he was in a printing office, at 17 he was teaching and writing for the newspapers, and at 21 was editing one. The next dozen years were passed in desultory work as a printer with occasional literary excursions, but apparently mainly in "loafing" and observing his fellow-creatures. It was not till 1855 that his first really characteristic work, _Leaves of Grass_, appeared. This first ed. contained only 12 poems. Notwithstanding its startling departures from conventionality both in form and substance it was well received by the leading literary reviews and, with certain reserves to be expected, it was welcomed by Emerson. It did not, however, achieve general acceptance, and was received with strong and not unnatural protest in many quarters. When a later ed. was called for Emerson unsuccessfully endeavoured to persuade the author to suppress the more objectionable parts. On the outbreak of the Civil War W. volunteered as a nurse for the wounded, and rendered much useful service. The results of his experiences and observations were given in verse in _Drum Taps_ and _The Wound Dresser_, and in prose in _Specimen Days_. From these scenes he was removed by his appointment to a Government clerkship, from which, however, he was soon dismissed on the ground of having written books of an immoral tendency. This action of the authorities led to a somewhat warm controversy, and after a short interval W. received another Government appointment, which he held until 1873, when he had a paralytic seizure, which rendered his retirement necessary. Other works besides those mentioned are _Two Rivulets_ and _Democratic Vistas_. In his later years he retired to Camden, New Jersey, where he _d._ W. is the most unconventional of writers. Revolt against all convention was in fact his self-proclaimed mission. In his versification he discards rhyme almost entirely, and metre as generally understood. And in his treatment of certain passions and appetites, and of unadulterated human nature, he is at war with what he considered the conventions of an effeminate society, in which, however, he adopts a mode of utterance which many people consider equally objectionable, overlooking, as he does, the existence through all the processes of nature of a principle of reserve and concealment. Amid much that is prosaic and rhetorical, however, it remains true that there is real poetic insight and an intense and singularly fresh sense of nature in the best of his writings.

_Works_, 12 vols., with _Life_. _See_ Stedman's _Poets of America_. Monographs by Symonds, Clarke, and Salter.

WHITNEY, WILLIAM DWIGHT (1827-1894).--Philologist, _b._ at Northampton, Mass., was Prof. of Sanskrit, etc., at Yale, and chief ed. of the _Century Dictionary_. Among his books are _Darwinism and Language_ and _The Life and Growth of Language_.

WHITTIER, JOHN GREENLEAF (1807-1892).--Poet, was _b._ at Haverhill, Massachusetts, of a Quaker family. In early life he worked on a farm. His later years were occupied partly in journalism, partly in farming, and he seems also to have done a good deal of local political work. He began to write verse at a very early age, and continued to do so until almost his latest days. He was always a champion of the anti-slavery cause, and by his writings both as journalist and poet, did much to stimulate national feeling in the direction of freedom. Among his poetical works are _Voices of Freedom_ (1836), _Songs of Labour_ (1851), _Home Ballads_ (1859), _In War Time_ (1863), _Snow Bound_ (1866), _The Tent on the Beach_ (1867), _Ballads of New England_ (1870), _The Pennsylvania Pilgrim_ (1874). W. had true feeling and was animated by high ideals. Influenced in early life by the poems of Burns, he became a poet of nature, with which his early upbringing brought him into close and sympathetic contact; he was also a poet of faith and the ideal life and of liberty. He, however, lacked concentration and intensity, and his want of early education made him often loose in expression and faulty in form; and probably a comparatively small portion of what he wrote will live.

WHYTE-MELVILLE, GEORGE JOHN (1821-1878).--Novelist, _s._ of a country gentleman of Fife, _ed._ at Eton, entered the army, and saw service in the Crimea, retiring in 1859 as Major. Thereafter he devoted himself to field sports, in which he was an acknowledged authority, and to literature. He wrote a number of novels, mainly founded on sporting subjects, though a few were historical. They include _Kate Coventry_, _The Queen's Maries_, _The Gladiators_, and _Satanella_. He also wrote _Songs and Verses_ and _The True Cross_, a religious poem. He _d._ from an accident in the hunting-field.

WICLIF, or WYCLIF, JOHN (1320?-1384).--Theologian and translator of the Bible, _b._ near Richmond, Yorkshire, studied at Balliol Coll., Oxf., of which he became in 1361 master, and taking orders, became Vicar of Fillingham, Lincolnshire, when he resigned his mastership, and in 1361 Prebendary of Westbury. By this time he had written a treatise on logic, and had won some position as a man of learning. In 1372 he took the degree of Doctor of Theology, and became Canon of Lincoln, and in 1374 was sent to Bruges as one of a commission to treat with Papal delegates as to certain ecclesiastical matters in dispute, and in the same year he became Rector of Lutterworth, where he remained until his death. His liberal and patriotic views on the questions in dispute between England and the Pope gained for him the favour of John of Gaunt and Lord Percy, who accompanied him when, in 1377, he was summoned before the ecclesiastical authorities at St. Paul's. The Court was broken up by an inroad of the London mob, and no sentence was passed upon him. Another trial at Lambeth in the next year was equally inconclusive. By this time W. had taken up a position definitely antagonistic to the Papal system. He organised his institution of poor preachers, and initiated his great enterprise of translating the Scriptures into English. His own share of the work was the Gospels, probably the whole of the New Testament and possibly part of the Old. The whole work was ed. by John Purvey, an Oxf. friend, who had joined him at Lutterworth, the work being completed by 1400. In 1380 W. openly rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation, and was forbidden to teach at Oxf., where he had obtained great influence. In 1382 a Court was convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, which passed sentence of condemnation upon his views. It says much for the position which he had attained, and for the power of his supporters, that he was permitted to depart from Oxf. and retire to Lutterworth, where, worn out by his labours and anxieties, he _d._ of a paralytic seizure on the last day of 1384. His enemies, baffled in their designs against him while living, consoled themselves by disinterring his bones in 1428 and throwing them into the river Swift, of which Thomas Fuller (_q.v._) has said, "Thus this brook has conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the Narrow Seas, they into the main ocean, and thus the ashes of Wicliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over." The works of W. were chiefly controversial or theological and, as literature, have no great importance, but his translation of the Bible had indirectly a great influence not only by tending to fix the language, but in a far greater degree by furthering the moral and intellectual emancipation on which true literature is essentially founded.

WILBERFORCE, WILLIAM (1759-1833).--Philanthropist and religious writer, _s._ of a merchant, was _b._ at Hull, _ed._ at Camb., entered Parliament as member for his native town, became the intimate friend of Pitt, and was the leader of the crusade against the slave-trade and slavery. His chief literary work was his _Practical View of Christianity_, which had remarkable popularity and influence, but he wrote continually and with effect on the religious and philanthropic objects to which he had devoted his life.

WILCOX, CARLES (1794-1827).--Poet, _b._ at Newport, N.H., was a Congregationalist minister. He wrote a poem, _The Age of Benevolence_, which was left unfinished, and which bears manifest traces of the influence of Cowper.

WILDE, OSCAR O'FLAHERTY (1856-1900).--Poet and dramatist, _s._ of Sir William W., the eminent surgeon, was _b._ at Dublin, and _ed._ there at Trinity Coll. and at Oxf. He was one of the founders of the modern cult of the æsthetic. Among his writings are _Poems_ (1881), _The Picture of Dorian Gray_, a novel, and several plays, including _Lady Windermere's Fan_, _A Woman of no Importance_, and _The Importance of being Earnest_. He was convicted of a serious offence, and after his release from prison went abroad and _d._ at Paris. _Coll._ ed. of his works, 12 vols., 1909.

WILKES, JOHN (1727-1797).--Politician, _s._ of a distiller in London, was _ed._ at Leyden. Witty, resourceful, but unprincipled and profligate, he became from circumstances the representative and champion of important political principles, including that of free representation in Parliament. His writings have nothing of the brilliance and point of his social exhibitions, but his paper, _The North Briton_, and especially the famous "No. 45," in which he charged George III. with uttering a falsehood in his speech from the throne, caused so much excitement, and led to such important results that they give him a place in literature. He also wrote a highly offensive _Essay on Woman_. W. was expelled from the House of Commons and outlawed, but such was the strength of the cause which he championed that, notwithstanding the worthlessness of his character, his right to sit in the House was ultimately admitted in 1774, and he continued to sit until 1790. He was also Lord Mayor of London.

WILKIE, WILLIAM (1721-1772).--Poet, _b._. in Linlithgowshire, _s._ of a farmer, and _ed._ at Edin., he entered the Church, and became minister of Ratho, Midlothian, in 1756, and Prof. of Natural Philosophy at St. Andrews in 1759. In 1757 he _pub._ the _Epigoniad_, dealing with the Epigoni, sons of the seven heroes who fought against Thebes. He also wrote _Moral Fables in Verse_.

WILKINS, JOHN (1614-1672).--Mathematician and divine, _s._ of a goldsmith in Oxf., but _b._ at Daventry and _ed._ at Oxf., entered the Church, held many preferments, and became Bishop of Chester. He _m._ a sister of Oliver Cromwell, and being of an easy temper and somewhat accommodating principles, he passed through troublous times and many changes with a minimum of hardship. He was one of the band of learned men whom Charles II. incorporated as the Royal Society. Among his writings are _The Discovery of a World in the Moon_, _Mathematical Magic_, and _An Essay towards ... a Philosophical Language_.

WILKINSON, SIR JOHN GARDNER (1797-1875).--Egyptologist, _s._ of a Westmoreland clergyman, studied at Oxf. In 1821 he went to Egypt, and remained there and in Nubia exploring, surveying, and studying the hieroglyphical inscriptions, on which he made himself one of the great authorities. He _pub._ two important works, of great literary as well as scholarly merit, _Materia Hieroglyphica_ (1828) and _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_ (6 vols., 1837-41). He wrote various books of travel, and was knighted in 1839.

WILLIAM of MALMESBURY (_fl._ 12th cent.).--Historian, was an inmate of the great monastery at Malmesbury. His name is said to have been Somerset, and he was Norman by one parent and English by the other. The date of his birth is unknown, that of his death has sometimes been fixed as 1142 on the ground that his latest work stops abruptly in that year. His history, written in Latin, falls into two parts, _Gesta Regum Anglorum_ (Acts of the Kings of the English), in five books, bringing the narrative down from the arrival of the Saxons to 1120, and _Historia Novella_ (Modern History), carrying it on to 1142. The work is characterised by a love of truth, much more critical faculty in sifting evidence than was then common, and considerable attention to literary form. It is dedicated to Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the champion of Queen Matilda. Other works by W. are _De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum_, Lives of the English Bishops, and a history of the Monastery of Glastonbury.

WILLIAM of NEWBURGH, or NEWBURY (1136-1198?).--Historian, belonged to the monastery of Newburgh in Yorkshire. His own name is said to have been Little. His work, _Historia Rerum Anglicarum_ (History of English affairs), is written in good Latin, and has some of the same qualities as that of William of Malmesbury (_q.v._). He rejects the legend of the Trojan descent of the early Britons, and animadverts severely on what he calls "the impudent and impertinent lies" of Geoffrey of Monmouth (_q.v._). His record of contemporary events is careful.

WILLIAMS, SIR CHARLES HANBURY (1708-1759).--Diplomatist and satirist, _s._ of John Hanbury, a Welsh ironmaster, assumed the name of Williams on succeeding to an estate, entered Parliament as a supporter of Walpole, held many diplomatic posts, and was a brilliant wit with a great contemporary reputation for lively and biting satires and lampoons.

WILLIS, BROWNE (1682-1760).--Antiquary, _ed._ at Westminster and Oxf., entered the Inner Temple 1700, sat in the House of Commons 1705-8. He wrote _History of the Counties, Cities, and Boroughs of England and Wales_ (1715), _Notitia Parliamentaria_, etc.

WILLIS, NATHANIEL PARKER (1806-1867).--Poet, _b._ at Portland, and _ed._ at Yale, was mainly a journalist, and conducted various magazines, including the _American Monthly_; but he also wrote short poems, many of which were popular, of which perhaps the best is "Unseen Spirits," stories, and works of a more or less fugitive character, with such titles as _Pencillings by the Way_ (1835), _Inklings of Adventure_, _Letters from under a Bridge_ (1839), _People I have Met_, _The Rag-Tag_, _The Slingsby Papers_, etc., some of which were originally contributed to his magazines. He travelled a good deal in Europe, and was attached for a time to the American Embassy in Paris. He was a favourite in society, and enjoyed a wide popularity in uncritical circles, but is now distinctly a spent force.

WILLS, JAMES (1790-1868).--Poet and miscellaneous writer, younger _s._ of a Roscommon squire, was _ed._ at Trinity Coll., Dublin, and studied law in the Middle Temple. Deprived, however, of the fortune destined for him and the means of pursuing a legal career by the extravagance of his elder brother, he entered the Church, and also wrote largely in _Blackwood's Magazine_ and other periodicals. In 1831 he _pub._ _The Disembodied and other Poems_; _The Philosophy of Unbelief_ (1835) attracted much attention. His largest work was Lives of _Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen_, and his latest publication _The Idolatress_ (1868). In all his writings W. gave evidence of a powerful personality. His poems are spirited, and in some cases show considerable dramatic qualities.

WILLS, WILLIAM GORMAN (1828-1891).--Dramatist, _s._ of above, _b._ in Dublin. After writing a novel, _Old Times_, in an Irish magazine, he went to London, and for some time wrote for periodicals without any very marked success. He found his true vein in the drama, and produced over 30 plays, many of which, including _Medea in Corinth_, _Eugene Aram_, _Jane Shore_, _Buckingham_, and _Olivia_, had great success. Besides these he wrote a poem, _Melchior_, in blank verse, and many songs. He was also an accomplished artist.

WILSON, ALEXANDER (1766-1813).--Poet and ornithologist, _b._ at Paisley, where he worked as a weaver, afterwards becoming a pedlar. He _pub._ some poems, of which the best is _Watty and Maggie_, and in 1794 went to America, where he worked as a pedlar and teacher. His skill in depicting birds led to his becoming an enthusiastic ornithologist, and he induced the publisher of _Rees's Cyclopædia_, on which he had been employed, to undertake an American ornithology to be written and illustrated by him. Some vols. of the work were completed when, worn out by the labour and exposure entailed by his journeys in search of specimens, he succumbed to a fever. Two additional vols. appeared posthumously. The work, both from a literary and artistic point of view, is of high merit. He also _pub._ in America another poem, _The Foresters_.

WILSON, SIR DANIEL (1816-1892).--Archæologist and miscellaneous writer, _b._ and _ed._ in Edin., and after acting as sec. of the Society of Antiquaries there, went to Toronto as Prof. of History and English Literature. He was the author of _Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time_, _The Archeology and Pre-historic Annals of Scotland_ (1851), _Civilisation in the Old and the New World_, a study on "Chatterton," and _Caliban, the Missing Link_, etc.

WILSON, JOHN ("CHRISTOPHER NORTH") (1785-1854).--Poet, essayist, and miscellaneous writer, _s._ of a wealthy manufacturer in Paisley, where he was _b._, was _ed._ at Glas. and Oxf. At the latter he not only displayed great intellectual endowments, but distinguished himself as an athlete. Having succeeded to a fortune of £50,000 he purchased the small estate of Elleray in the Lake District, where he enjoyed the friendship of Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, and De Quincey. In 1812 he _pub._ _The Isle of Palms_, followed four years later by _The City of the Plague_, which gained for him a recognised place in literature, though they did not show his most characteristic gifts, and are now almost unread. About this time he lost a large portion of his fortune, had to give up continuous residence at Elleray, came to Edinburgh, and was called to the Scottish Bar, but never practised. The starting of _Blackwood's Magazine_ brought him his opportunity, and to the end of his life his connection with it gave him his main employment and chief fame. In 1820 he became Prof. of Moral Philosophy in the Univ. of Edin. where, though not much of a philosopher in the technical sense, he exercised a highly stimulating influence upon his students by his eloquence and the general vigour of his intellect. The peculiar powers of W., his wealth of ideas, felicity of expression, humour, and animal spirits, found their full development in the famous _Noctes Ambrosianæ_, a medley of criticism on literature, politics, philosophy, topics of the day and what not. _Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life_ and _The Trials of Margaret Lyndsay_ are contributions to fiction in which there is an occasional tendency to run pathos into rather mawkish sentimentality. In 1851 W. received a Government pension of £300. The following year a paralytic seizure led to his resignation of his professorial chair, and he _d._ in 1854. He was a man of magnificent physique, of shining rather than profound intellectual powers, and of generous character, though as a critic his strong feelings and prejudices occasionally made him unfair and even savage.

WILSON, JOHN (1804-1875).--Missionary and orientalist, _b._ at Lauder, Berwickshire, and _ed._ at Edin. for the ministry of the Church of Scotland, went in 1828 to India as a missionary, where, besides his immediate duties, he became a leader in all social reform, such as the abolition of the slave-trade and _suttee_, and also one of the greatest authorities on the subject of caste, and a trusted adviser of successive Governors-General in regard to all questions affecting the natives. He was in addition a profound Oriental scholar as to languages, history, and religion. He was D.D., F.R.S., and Vice-Chancellor of Bombay Univ. Among his works are _The Parsi Religion_ (1812), _The Lands of the Bible_ (1847), _India Three Thousand Years Ago_, and _Memoirs of the Cave Temples of India_.

WILSON, THOMAS (1525?-1581).--Scholar and statesman, _b._ in Lincolnshire, was at Camb., and held various high positions under Queen Elizabeth. He was the author of _The Rule of Reason containing the Arte of Logique_ (1551), and _The Arte of Rhetorique_ (1553), and made translations from Demosthenes. He endeavoured to maintain the purity of the language against the importation of foreign words.

WINGATE, DAVID, (1828-1892).--Poet, was employed in the coal-pits near Hamilton from the time he was 9. He _pub._ _Poems and Songs_ (1862), which was favourably received, and followed by _Annie Weir_ (1866). After this he studied at the Glasgow School of Mines, became a colliery manager, and devoted his increased leisure to study and further literary work. _Lily Neil_ appeared in 1879, followed by _Poems and Songs_ (1883), and _Selected Poems_ (1890). W. was a man of independent character. He was twice _m._, his second wife being a descendant of Burns.

WINTHROP, THEODORE (1828-1861).--Novelist, _b._ at New Haven, Conn., descended through his _f._ from Governor W., and through his mother from Jonathan Edwards, _ed._ at Yale, travelled in Great Britain and on the Continent, and far and wide in his own country. After contributing to periodicals short sketches and stories, which attracted little attention, he enlisted in the Federal Army, in 1861, and was killed in the Battle of Great Bethel. His novels, for which he had failed to find a publisher, appeared posthumously--_John Brent_, founded on his experiences in the far West, _Edwin Brothertoft_, a story of the Revolution War, and _Cecil Dreeme_. Other works were _The Canoe and Saddle_, and _Life in the Open Air_. Though somewhat spasmodic and crude, his novels had freshness, originality, and power, and with longer life and greater concentration he might have risen high.

WITHER, GEORGE (1588-1667).--Poet, _b._ near Alton, Hampshire, was at Oxf. for a short time, and then studied law at Lincoln's Inn. In 1613 he _pub._ a bold and pungent satire, _Abuses Stript and Whipt_, with the result that he was imprisoned for some months in the Marshalsea. While there he wrote _The Shepheard's Hunting_, a pastoral. _Wither's Motto_, _Nec Habeo, nec Careo, nec Curo_ (I have not, want not, care not) was written in 1618, and in 1622 he _coll._ his poems as _Juvenilia_. The same year he _pub._ a long poem, _Faire Virtue, the Mistress of Philarete_, in which appears the famous lyric, "Shall I wasting in despair." Though generally acting with the Puritans he took arms with Charles I. against the Scotch in 1639; but on the outbreak of the Civil War he was on the popular side, and raised a troop of horse. He was taken prisoner by the Royalists, and is said to have owed his life to the intercession of a fellow-poet, Sir John Denham. After the establishment of the Commonwealth he was considerably enriched out of sequestrated estates and other spoils of the defeated party; but on the Restoration was obliged to surrender his gains, was impeached, and committed to the Tower. In his later years he wrote many religious poems and hymns, _coll._ as _Hallelujah_. Before his death his poems were already forgotten, and he was referred to by Pope in _The Dunciad_ as "the wretched Withers". He was, however, disinterred by Southey, Lamb, and others, who drew attention to his poetical merits, and he has now an established place among English poets, to which his freshness, fancy, and delicacy of taste well entitle him.

WODROW, ROBERT (1679-1734).--Church historian, _s._ of James W., Prof. of Divinity in Glasgow. Having completed his literary and theological education there, he entered the ministry of the Church of Scotland, and was ordained to the parish of Eastwood, Renfrewshire. Here he carried on the great work of his life, his _History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland 1660 to 1688_. W. wrote when the memory of the persecutions was still fresh, and his work is naturally not free from partisan feeling and credulity. It is, however, thoroughly honest in intention, and is a work of genuine research, and of high value for the period with which it deals. It was _pub._ in two folio vols. in 1721 and 1722. W. made large collections for other works which, however, were not _pub._ in his lifetime. _The Lives of the Scottish Reformers and Most Eminent Ministers_ and _Analecta, or a History of Remarkable Providences_, were printed for the Maitland Club, and 3 vols. of his correspondence in 1841 for the Wodrow Society. The _Analecta_ is a most curious miscellany showing a strong appetite for the marvellous combined with a hesitating doubt in regard to some of the more exacting narratives.

WOLCOT, JOHN (1738-1819).--Satirist, _b._ near Kingsbridge, Devonshire, was _ed._ by an uncle, and studied medicine. In 1767 he went as physician to Sir William Trelawny, Governor of Jamaica, and whom he induced to present him to a Church in the island then vacant, and was ordained in 1769. Sir William dying in 1772, W. came home and, abandoning the Church, resumed his medical character, and settled in practice at Truro, where he discovered the talents of Opie the painter, and assisted him. In 1780 he went to London, and commenced writing satires. The first objects of his attentions were the members of the Royal Academy, and these attempts being well received, he soon began to fly at higher game, the King and Queen being the most frequent marks for his satirical shafts. In 1786 appeared _The Lousiad, a Heroi-Comic Poem_, taking its name from a legend that on the King's dinner plate there had appeared a certain insect not usually found in such exalted quarters. Other objects of his attack were Boswell, the biographer of Johnson, and Bruce, the Abyssinian traveller. W., who wrote under the _nom-de-guerre_ of "Peter Pindar," had a remarkable vein of humour and wit, which, while intensely comic to persons not involved, stung its subjects to the quick. He had likewise strong intelligence, and a power of coining effective phrases. In other kinds of composition, as in some ballads which he wrote, an unexpected touch of gentleness and even tenderness appears. Among these are _The Beggar Man_ and _Lord Gregory_. Much that he wrote has now lost all interest owing to the circumstances referred to being forgotten, but enough still retains its peculiar relish to account for his contemporary reputation.

WOLFE, CHARLES (1791-1823).--Poet, _s._ of a landed gentleman in Kildare, was _b._ in Dublin, where he completed his _ed._ at Trinity Coll., having previously been at Winchester. He took orders, and was Rector of Donoughmere, but his health failed, and he _d._ of consumption at 32. He is remembered for one short, but universally known and admired poem, _The Burial of Sir John Moore_, which first appeared anonymously in the _Newry Telegraph_ in 1817.

WOOD, or À WOOD, ANTHONY (1632-1695).--Antiquary, was _b._ at Oxf., where he was _ed._ and spent most of his life. His antiquarian enthusiasm was awakened by the collections of Leland, and he early began to visit and study the antiquities of his native county. This with history, heraldry, genealogies, and music occupied his whole time. By 1669 he had written his _History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford_, which was translated into Latin not to his satisfaction by the Univ. authorities, and he wrote a fresh English copy which was printed in 1786. His great work was _Athenæ Oxonienses; an exact History of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the University of Oxford, to which are added the Fasti or Annals of the said University_ (1691-92). For an alleged libel on the Earl of Clarendon in that work the author was expelled in 1694. He also wrote _The Ancient and Present State of the City of Oxford_, and _Modius Salium, a Collection of Pieces of Humour_, generally of an ill-natured cast.

WOOD, MRS. ELLEN (PRICE) (1814-1887).--Novelist, writing as "Mrs. Henry Wood," was _b._ at Worcester. She wrote over 30 novels, many of which, especially _East Lynne_, had remarkable popularity. Though the stories are generally interesting, they have no distinction of style. Among the best known are _Danesbury House_, _Oswald Cray_, _Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles_, _The Channings_, _Lord Oakburn's Daughters_, and _The Shadow of Ashlydyat_. Mrs. W. was for some years proprietor and ed. of the _Argosy_.

WOOD, JOHN GEORGE (1827-1889).--Writer on natural history, _s._ of a surgeon, _b._ in London, and _ed._ at home and at Oxf., where he worked for some time in the anatomical museum. He took orders, and among other benefices which he held was for a time chaplain to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He was a very prolific writer on natural history, though rather as a populariser than as a scientific investigator, and was in this way very successful. Among his numerous works may be mentioned _Illustrated Natural History_ (1853), _Animal Traits and Characteristics_ (1860), _Common Objects of the Sea Shore_ (1857), _Out of Doors_ (1874), _Field Naturalist's Handbook_ (with T. Wood) (1879-80), books on gymnastics, sport, etc., and an ed. of White's _Selborne_.

WOOLMAN, JOHN (1720-1772).--Quaker diarist, _b._ at Burlington, New Jersey, began life as a farm labourer, and then became a clerk in a store. He underwent deep religious impressions, and the latter part of his life was devoted to itinerant preaching and doing whatever good came to his hand. To support himself he worked as a tailor. He was one of the first to witness against the evils of slavery, on which he wrote a tract, _Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes_ (1753). His _Journal_ "reveals his life and character with rare fidelity" and, though little known compared with some similar works, gained the admiration of, among other writers, Charles Lamb, who says, "Get the writings of John Woolman by heart." In 1772 he went to England, where he _d._ of smallpox in the same year.

WOOLNER, THOMAS (1826-1892).--Sculptor and poet, _b._ at Hadleigh, attained a high reputation as a sculptor. He belonged to the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and contributed poems to their magazine, the _Germ_. He wrote several vols. of poetry, including _My Beautiful Lady_ (1863), _Pygmalion_, _Silenus_, _Tiresias_, and _Nelly Dale_. He had a true poetic gift, though better known by his portrait busts.

WORDSWORTH, CHRISTOPHER (1774-1846).--Biographer, etc., was a younger brother of the poet, _ed._ at Camb., took orders, and became Chaplain to the House of Commons, and Master of Trinity Coll., Camb. 1820-41. He was also Vice-Chancellor of the Univ. 1820-21 and 1826-27. He _pub._ _Ecclesiastical Biography_ (1810), and _Who wrote Eikon Basiliké?_ in which he argued for the authorship of Charles I.

WORDSWORTH, CHRISTOPHER (1807-1885).--_S._ of above, _ed._ at Camb., took orders and became a Canon of Westminster 1844, and Bishop of Lincoln 1868. He travelled in Greece, and discovered the site of Dodona. His writings include in theology a commentary on the Bible (1856-70), _Church History to A.D. 451_ (1881-83), and in other fields, _Athens and Attica_ (1836), and _Theocritus_ (1844).

WORDSWORTH, DOROTHY (1771-1855).--Diarist, etc., was the only sister of the poet, and his lifelong and sympathetic companion, and endowed in no small degree with the same love of and insight into nature as is evidenced by her _Journals_. Many of her brother's poems were suggested by scenes and incidents recorded by her, of which that on Daffodils beginning "I wandered lonely as a cloud" is a notable example.

WORDSWORTH, WILLIAM (1770-1850).--Poet, _s._ of John W., attorney and agent to the 1st Lord Lonsdale, was _b._ at Cockermouth. His boyhood was full of adventure among the hills, and he says of himself that he showed "a stiff, moody, and violent temper." He lost his mother when he was 8, and his _f._ in 1783 when he was 13. The latter, prematurely cut off, left little for the support of his family of four sons and a _dau._, Dorothy (afterwards the worthy companion of her illustrious brother), except a claim for £5000 against Lord Lonsdale, which his lordship contested, and which was not settled until his death. With the help, however, of uncles, the family were well _ed._ and started in life. William received his earlier education at Penrith and Hawkshead in Lancashire; and in 1787 went to St. John's Coll., Camb., where he graduated B.A. in 1791. In the preceding year, 1790, he had taken a walking tour on the Continent, visiting France in the first flush of the Revolution with which, at that stage, he was, like many of the best younger minds of the time, in enthusiastic sympathy. So much was this the case that he nearly involved himself with the Girondists to an extent which might have cost him his life. His funds, however, gave out, and he returned to England shortly before his friends fell under the guillotine. His uncles were desirous that he should enter the Church, but to this he was unconquerably averse; and indeed his marked indisposition to adopt any regular employment led to their taking not unnatural offence. In 1793 his first publication--_Descriptive Sketches of a Pedestrian Tour in the Alps_, and _The Evening Walk_--appeared, but attracted little attention. The beginning of his friendship with Coleridge in 1795 tended to confirm him in his resolution to devote himself to poetry; and a legacy of £900 from a friend put it in his power to do so by making him for a time independent of other employment. He settled with his sister at Racedown, Dorsetshire, and shortly afterwards removed to Alfoxden, in the Quantock Hills, to be near Coleridge, who was then living at Nether Stowey in the same neighbourhood. One result of the intimacy thus established was the planning of a joint work, _Lyrical Ballads_, to which Coleridge contributed _The Ancient Mariner_, and W., among other pieces, _Tintern Abbey_. The first ed. of the work appeared in 1798. With the profits of this he went, accompanied by his sister and Coleridge, to Germany, where he lived chiefly at Goslar, and where he began the _Prelude_, a poem descriptive of the development of his own mind. After over a year's absence W. returned and settled with Dorothy at Grasmere. In 1800 the second ed. of _Lyrical Ballads_, containing W.'s contributions alone, with several additions, appeared. In the same year Lord Lonsdale _d._, and his successor settled the claims already referred to with interest, and the share of the brother and sister enabled them to live in the frugal and simple manner which suited them. Two years later W.'s circumstances enabled him to marry his cousin, Mary Hutchinson, to whom he had been long attached. In 1804 he made a tour in Scotland, and began his friendship with Scott. The year 1807 saw the publication of _Poems in Two Volumes_, which contains much of his best work, including the "Ode to Duty," "Intimations of Immortality," "Yarrow Unvisited," and the "Solitary Reaper." In 1813 he migrated to Rydal Mount, his home for the rest of his life; and in the same year he received, through the influence of Lord Lonsdale, the appointment of Distributor of Stamps for Westmoreland, with a salary of £400. The next year he made another Scottish tour, when he wrote _Yarrow Visited_, and he also _pub._ _The Excursion_, "being a portion of _The Recluse_, a Poem." W. had now come to his own, and was regarded by the great majority of the lovers of poetry as, notwithstanding certain limitations and flaws, a truly great and original poet. The rest of his life has few events beyond the publication of his remaining works (which, however, did not materially advance his fame), and tokens of the growing honour in which he was held. _The White Doe of Rylstone_ appeared in 1815, in which year also he made a collection of his poems; _Peter Bell_ and _The Waggoner_ in 1819; _The River Duddon_ and _Memorials of a Tour on the Continent_ in 1820; _Ecclesiastical Sonnets_ 1822; and _Yarrow Revisited_ in 1835. In 1831 he paid his last visit to Scott; in 1838 he received the degree of D.C.L. from Durham, and in 1839 the same from Oxf. Three years later he resigned his office of Distributor of Stamps in favour of his _s._, and received a civil list pension of £300. The following year, 1843, he succeeded Southey as Poet Laureate. His long, tranquil, and fruitful life ended in 1850. He lies buried in the churchyard of Grasmere. After his death the _Prelude_, finished in 1805, was _pub._ It had been kept back because the great projected poem of which it was to have been the preface, and of which _The Excursion_ is a part, was never completed.

The work of W. is singularly unequal. When at his best, as in the "Intimations of Immortality," "Laodamia," some passages in _The Excursion_, and some of his short pieces, and especially his sonnets, he rises to heights of noble inspiration and splendour of language rarely equalled by any of our poets. But it required his poetic fire to be at fusing point to enable him to burst through his natural tendency to prolixity and even dulness. His extraordinary lack of humour and the, perhaps consequent, imperfect power of self-criticism by which it was accompanied, together with the theory of poetic theme and diction with which he hampered himself, led him into a frequent choice of trivial subjects and childish language which excited not unjust ridicule, and long delayed the general recognition of his genius. He has a marvellous felicity of phrase, an unrivalled power of describing natural appearances and effects, and the most ennobling views of life and duty. But his great distinguishing characteristic is his sense of the mystic relations between man and nature. His influence on contemporary and succeeding thought and literature has been profound and lasting. It should be added that W., like Milton, with whom he had many points in common, was the master of a noble and expressive prose style.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1770, _ed._ at Camb., sympathiser with French Revolution in earlier stages, first publication _Tour in the Alps_ and _Evening Walk_ 1793, became acquainted with Coleridge 1795, _pub._ with him _Lyrical Ballads_ 1798, visits Germany and begins _Prelude_, returns to England and settles at Grasmere, _pub._ second ed. of _Lyrical Ballads_, entirely his own, 1800, _m._ Mary Hutchinson 1802, visits Scotland 1804 and becomes acquainted with Scott, _pub._ _Poems in Two Volumes_ 1807, goes to Rydal Mount 1813, appointed Distributor of Stamps, revisits Scotland, writes _Yarrow Visited_ and _pub._ _The Excursion_ 1814, _White Doe_ and _coll._ works 1815, _Waggoner_, _Ecclesiastical Sonnets_, etc., 1819-35, pensioned 1842, Poet Laureate 1843, _d._ 1850.

There are numerous good ed. of the poems, including his own by Moxon (1836, 1845, and 1850), and those by Knight (1882-86), Morley (1888), Dowden (1893), Smith (1908). Another by Knight in 16 vols. includes the prose writings and the _Journal_ by Dorothy (1896-97). _Lives_ by Christopher Wordsworth (1857), Myers (1880), and others. See also criticism by W. Raleign (1903).

WOTTON, SIR HENRY (1568-1639).--Diplomatist and poet, _s._ of a Kentish gentleman, was _b._ at Boughton Park, near Maidstone, and _ed._ at Winchester and Oxf. After spending 7 years on the Continent, he entered the Middle Temple. In 1595 he became sec. to the Earl of Essex, who employed him abroad, and while at Venice he wrote _The State of Christendom or a Most Exact and Curious Discovery of many Secret Passages and Hidden Mysteries of the Times_, which was not, however, printed until 1657. Afterwards he held various diplomatic appointments, but Court favour latterly failed him and he was recalled from Venice and made Provost of Eton in 1624, to qualify himself for which he took deacon's orders. Among his other works were _Elements of Architecture_ (1624) and _A Survey of Education_. His writings in prose and verse were _pub._ in 1651 as _Reliquiæ Wottonianæ_. His poems include two which are familiar to all readers of Elizabethan verse, _The Character of a Happy Life_, "How happy is he born and taught," and _On his Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia_, beginning "Ye meaner Beauties of the Night." He was the originator of many witty sayings, which have come down.

WRAXALL, SIR NATHANIEL WILLIAM (1751-1831).--Historical writer, _b._ at Bristol, was for a few years in the service of the East India Company, and thereafter employed on diplomatic missions, and sat for some years in the House of Commons. In addition to a book of travels and some historical works relating to the French and other foreign Courts, he wrote _Historical Memories of my own Time_ 1772-84, _pub._ in 1815. The work was severely criticised by both political parties, and in particular by Macaulay; but W. made a reply which was considered to be on the whole successful. A continuation bringing the narrative down to 1790 was _pub._ in 1836. The _Memoirs_ are valuable for the light they throw on the period, and especially for the portraits of public men which they give.

WRIGHT, THOMAS (1810-1877).--Antiquary, _b._ near Ludlow, of Quaker parentage, was _ed._ at Camb. His first work was a _History of Essex_ (1831-36). In 1836 he went to London, and adopted literature as a profession, devoting himself specially to archæology, history, and biography. He held office in various societies such as the "Camden," "Percy," and "Shakespeare," and ed. many works for them. In all he was the author of over 80 publications, of which some of the chief are _The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon_, _Biographia Britannica Literaria_, _Queen Elizabeth and her Times_, and _History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England during the Middle Ages_. He was superintendent of the excavation of the Roman city at Wroxeter in 1859.

WYATT, SIR THOMAS (1503-1542).--Poet, _s._ of Sir Henry W., a servant of Henry VII., and _ed._ at St. John's Coll., Camb., came to Court and was frequently employed by Henry VIII. on diplomatic missions. He is said to have been an admirer of Anne Boleyn before her marriage, and on her disgrace was thrown into the Tower for a short time. In 1537 he was knighted, and two years later was against his will sent on a mission to the Emperor Charles V. On the death in 1540 of Thomas Cromwell, to whose party he belonged, W. was accused of misdemeanours during his embassy and again imprisoned in the Tower, where he wrote a defence which resulted in his release. In 1542 he was sent to meet the Spanish Ambassador at Falmouth, and conduct him to London, but on the way caught a chill, of which he _d._ W. shares with the Earl of Surrey (_q.v._) the honour of being the first real successor of Chaucer, and also of introducing the sonnet into England. In addition to his sonnets, which are in a more correct form than those of Surrey, W. wrote many beautiful lyrics; in fact he may be regarded as the reviver of the lyrical spirit in English poetry which, making its appearance in the 13th century, had fallen into abeyance. In the anthology known as _Tottel's Miscellany_, first _pub._ in 1557, 96 pieces by W. appear along with 40 by Surrey, and others by different hands. W. has less smoothness and sweetness than Surrey, but his form of the sonnet was much more difficult as well as more correct than that invented by the latter, and afterwards adopted by Shakespeare, and his lyrical gift is more marked.

WYCHERLEY, WILLIAM (1640?-1716).--Dramatist, was _b._ at Clive, near Shrewsbury, where his _f._ had an estate. He was at the Inner Temple in 1659, and at Oxf. in 1660. Part of his youth had been spent in France, where he became a Roman Catholic, but at the Restoration he returned to Protestantism. He wrote four comedies, _Love in a Wood_, _The Gentleman Dancing Master_, _The Country Wife_, and _The Plain Dealer_, all produced in the reign of Charles II., and nothing of consequence afterwards, a vol. of poems doing little to add to his reputation. About 1679 he _m._ the widowed Countess of Drogheda, who _d._ in 1681, and he entered into a second marriage eleven days before his death. In his later years he formed a friendship with Pope, then a boy of 16. W. was one of the founders of the Comedy of Manners. The merit of his plays lies in smart and witty dialogue rather than in construction. _The Plain Dealer_, his best, is founded upon Molière's _Misanthrope_. His plays are notoriously coarse.

WYNTOUN, ANDREW of (1350?-1420?).--Chronicler, was a canon of St. Andrews, who became Prior of St. Serf's island in Loch Leven. His work, entitled _The Orygynale Cronykil_, begins with the creation of angels and men and comes down to 1406. It is poetic in form though rarely so in substance, and is of considerable historical value in its later parts and as regards the see of St. Andrews.

YALDEN, THOMAS (1670-1736).--Poet, _s._ of an exciseman at Oxf., and _ed._ at Magdalen Coll., entered the Church, in which he obtained various preferments. He was the author of a considerable number of poems, including a _Hymn to Darkness_, Pindaric Odes, and translations from the classics.

YATES, EDMUND (1831-1894).--Novelist and dramatist, _b._ at Edin., held for some years an appointment in the General Post Office. He did much journalistic work, mainly as a dramatic writer, and wrote many dramatic pieces and some novels, including _Running the Gauntlet_ and _The Black Sheep_. He was perhaps best known as ed. of _The World_ society journal.

YONGE, CHARLOTTE MARY (1823-1901).--Novelist, only _dau._ of a landed gentleman of Hampshire, was _b._ near Winchester, and in her girlhood came under the influence of Keble, who was a near neighbour. She began writing in 1848, and _pub._ during her long life about 100 works, chiefly novels, interesting and well-written, with a High Church tendency. Among the best known are _The Heir of Redclyffe_, _Heartsease_, and _The Daisy Chain_. She also wrote _Cameos from English History_, and Lives of Bishop Patteson and Hannah More. The profits of her works were devoted to religious objects.