The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 456

WINTHROP, JOHN, "Father of Ma.s.sachusetts," born in Suffolk; studied at Trinity College; headed a Puritan colony from Yarmouth to Salem, and was governor of the settlement at Boston till his death; was a pious and tolerant man; left a "Journal" (1581-1649).

WISCONSIN (1,686), one of the Central States of North America, nearly as large as England and Wales, and situated between Lake Superior and Michigan; the surface is chiefly of rolling prairie, and the soil fertile; yields cereals, sugar, hops, hemp, and large quant.i.ties of lumber from the forests; lead, iron, copper, and silver are among its mineral resources; it abounds in beautiful lakes; the Wisconsin and the Chippewa are the chief rivers, tributaries of the Mississippi; and Madison (the capital), Milwaukee, and La Crosse are the chief towns.

WISDOM OF JESUS. See ECCLESIASTICUS.

WISDOM OF SOLOMON, one of the most beautiful books in the Apocrypha, written at the close of the 2nd century B.C. by one who knew both the Greek language and Greek philosophy, to commend the superiority to this philosophy of the divine wisdom revealed to the Jews. Its general aim, as has been said, is "to show, alike from philosophy and history, as against the materialists of the time, that the proper goal of life was not mere existence, however long, or pleasure of any sort, but something n.o.bly intellectual and moral, and that the pious Israelite was on the surest path to its attainment."

WISEMAN, NICHOLAS, cardinal and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, born at Seville, of Irish parents; studied at a Roman Catholic college near Durham and the English college at Rome, of which he became rector; lectured in London in 1836 on the Doctrines of the Catholic Church, and in 1840 became vicar-apostolic, first in the central district of England, then of the London district in 1846, and was in 1850 named Archbishop of Westminster by the Pope; this was known in England as the "papal aggression," which raised a storm of opposition in the country, but this storm Wiseman, now cardinal, succeeded very considerably in allaying by a native courtesy of manner which commended him to the regard of the intelligent and educated cla.s.ses of the community; he was a scholarly man, and a vigorous writer and orator (1802-1865).

WISHART, GEORGE, a Scottish martyr, born in Forfars.h.i.+re; began life as a schoolmaster; was charged with heresy for teaching the Greek New Testament; left the country and spent some time on the Continent; on his return boldly professed and preached the Reformation doctrines, and had the celebrated John Knox, who was tutor in the district, for a disciple among others; he was arrested in Haddingtons.h.i.+re in January and burned at St. Andrews in March 1546; Knox would fain have accompanied him on his arrest, but was paternally dissuaded by the gentle martyr; "Go home to your bairns" (pupils), said he; "ane is sufficient for a sacrifice."

WISMAR (15), a seaport of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, on the Baltic; has a number of quaint old buildings, various manufactures, and an active trade.

WITCH OF ENDOR, a divining woman consulted by King Saul, who affected to call up the spirit of Samuel, who foretold his defeat and doom.

WITENAGEMOT (a.s.sembly of the wise), name given to the national council or Parliament of England in Anglo-Saxon times, agreeably to whose decisions the affairs of the kingdom were managed; it consisted of the bishops, royal va.s.sals, and thanes.

WITHER, GEORGE, poet, born at Arlesford, in Hamps.h.i.+re, and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford; was imprisoned for his first poem, a satire, "Abuses Stript and Whipt," in 1613; his subsequent productions betray true poetic inspiration, and special pa.s.sages in them are much admired; he was a religious poet, and is much belauded by Charles Lamb; in the Civil War he espoused the Puritan side, and in his zeal in its behalf raised a troop of horse (1588-1667).

WITHERSPOON, JOHN, Scottish theologian, born at Tester; was minister at Paisley; became president of the college at New Jersey, U.S.; died at Princeton; wrote "Ecclesiastic Characteristics" against the Moderates, also on justification and regeneration (1722-1794).

WITSIUS, HERMANN, Dutch theologian; became professor at Leyden; wrote on what are in old orthodox theology called the "Covenants," of which there were reckoned two, one of works, under the Mosaic system, and the other of grace, under the Christian (1636-1708).

WITTEKIND, leader of the Saxon struggle against Charlemagne; annihilated the Frankish army in 783, in retaliation for which Charlemagne executed 4500 Saxons he had taken prisoners, which roused the entire Saxon people to arms, and led to a drawn battle at Detmold, upon which Wittekind accepted baptism, and was promoted to a dukedom by the Frankish king; he fell in battle with Gerold, a Swabian duke, in 807.

WITTENBERG (13), a town in Prussian Saxony, on the right bank of the Elbe, 50 m. SW. of Berlin; was the capital of the electorate of Saxony, and a stronghold of the Reformers; is famous in the history of Luther, and contains his tomb; it was on the door of the Schlosskirche of which he nailed his famous 95 theses, and at the Elster Gate of which he burned the Pope's bull, "the people looking on and shouting, all Europe looking on."

WIZARD OF THE NORTH, name given to Sir Walter Scott, from the magic power displayed in his writings.

WODEN, the German and Anglo-Saxon name for ODIN (q. v.).

WODROW, ROBERT, Scottish Church historian, born at Glasgow; studied at the University, became librarian, and settled as minister at Eastwood, Renfrews.h.i.+re; was diligent with his pen; left 50 volumes of MSS., only one of which was published in his lifetime, "History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution," the rest having been in part published by several antiquarian societies since (1679-1734).

WOFFINGTON, PEG, actress, born in Dublin, where she made her first appearance in 1737, and in London at Covent Garden in 1740, in a style which carried all hearts by storm; she was equally charming in certain male characters as in female; her character was not without reproach, but she had not a little of that charity which covereth a mult.i.tude of sins, in the practice of which, after her retirement in 1757, she ended her days (1720-1768).

WOIWODE, name at one time of an elective prince among the Slavs, originally one chosen in some emergency; superseded by Hospodar in 1716.

WOKING (9), a small town in Surrey, 24 m. SW. of London; contains a large cemetery with crematorium near it, and not far off is Bisley Common, with shooting-b.u.t.ts for practice by the Volunteers.

WOLCOT, JOHN, better known by his pseudonym Peter Pindar, born in Devons.h.i.+re; bred to and practised medicine; took orders, and held office in the Church; took eventually to writing satires and lampoons, which spared no one, and could not be bribed into silence; was blind for some years before he died (1738-1819).

WOLF, FRIEDRICH AUGUST, great cla.s.sical scholar, born near Nordhausen; studied at Gottingen; was professor of Philology at Halle; became world-famous for his theory of the Homeric poems; he maintains, in his "Prolegomena ad Homerum," that the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" were originally a body of independent ballads handed down by oral tradition, and gradually collected into two groups, which finally appeared each as one, bearing the name of Homer, who, he allows, was _probably_ the first to attempt to weave them severally into one; the "Prolegomena" was published in 1735, and its appearance caused a wide-spread sensation, and gave rise to a controversy which maintains itself to the present time (1759-1824).

WOLFE, CHARLES, author of the "Burial of Sir John Moore," born in Dublin; became an Irish clergyman; died of consumption (1791-1823).

WOLFE, JAMES, major-general, born in Kent, son of a lieutenant-general, who served under Marlborough; was present at the battles of Dettingen, Fontenoy, Falkirk, and Culloden, and served in the expedition against Rochefort, which it was believed proved disastrous because his counsel was not followed; this circ.u.mstance attracted the attention of Pitt, who appointed him a command in Canada; here he distinguished himself first at the siege of Louisburg, and then by the capture of Quebec, where he fell at the moment of victory; he lived to hear the cry "They run," and eagerly asked "Who run?" and being told the French, exclaimed, "I thank G.o.d, and die contented" (1727-1759).

WOLFENb.u.t.tEL (13), an old town in Brunswick, 7 m. S. of Brunswick; contains an old building, now rebuilt, being a library of vast extent and rich in MSS.; has various manufactures.

WOLFF, JOHANN CHRISTIAN VON, German philosopher and mathematician, born at Breslau; was appointed professor at Halle in 1707, but was in 1723 not only removed from his chair, but banished from Prussia by Frederick William on account of his opinions, which, as fatalistic, were deemed socially demoralising, but was recalled by Frederick the Great on his accession, and afterwards promoted to the rank of baron of the empire; he was a disciple of Leibnitz, and the father of the philosophy that prevailed in Germany before the time of Kant; his merits as a philosopher were threefold: he claimed for philosophy the entire field of knowledge, he paid special attention to method in philosophical speculation, and he first taught philosophy to express itself in German, or made German the philosophical language (1679-1754).

WOLLASTON, WILLIAM, ethical and theological writer, born near Stafford; wrote "Religion of Nature," a rationalistic work written in an optimistic spirit (1659-1724).

WOLLASTON, WILLIAM HYDE, physicist and chemist, born in Norfolk, grandson of preceding; made extensive discoveries in chemistry and optics; invented the camera lucida and the goniometer.

WOLLSTONECRAFT, MARY. See G.o.dWIN.

WOLSELEY, GARNET JOSEPH, LORD, field-marshal, born in co. Dublin, of a Staffords.h.i.+re family; entered the army in 1852; served in the Burmese War of 1852-1853, in the Crimean War, where he was severely wounded, in the Chinese War of 1860, and afterwards in Canada; commanded in the Ashantee War in 1878, and received the thanks of Parliament, with a grant of 25,000, for "courage, energy, and perseverance" in the conduct of it, and after services in Natal, Egypt, and Ireland was made field-marshal in 1894, and commander-in-chief in 1895; _b_. 1833.

WOLSEY, THOMAS, cardinal, born at Ipswich, son of a well-to-do grazier and wool-merchant; educated at Magdalen College, Oxford; entered the Church early; gained the favour of Henry VII., and was promoted by him for his services to the deanery of Lincoln; this was the first of a series of preferments at the hands of royalty, which secured him one bishopric after another until his revenue accruing therefrom equalled that of the crown itself, which he spent partly in display of his rank and partly in acts of munificence; of his acts of munificence the founding of Christ Church College in the interest of learning was one, and the presentation of Hampton Court Palace, which he had built, to the king, was another; it was in the reign of Henry VIII. that he rose to power, and to him especially he owed his honours; it was for his services to him he obtained the chancellors.h.i.+p of the kingdom, and at his suit that he obtained the cardinal's hat and other favours from the Pope; this, though not the height of his ambition, was the limit of it, for he soon learned how frail a reed is a prince's favour; he refused to sanction his master's marriage with Anne Boleyn, and was driven from power and bereft of all his possessions; finally, though restored to the see of York, he was arrested on a charge of treason, took ill on the way to London, and died at Leicester, with the words on his lips, "Had I but served G.o.d as I have served the king, He would not have forsaken me in my grey hairs" (1471-1530).

WOLVERHAMPTON (82), a town in Staffords.h.i.+re, 12 m. NW. of Birmingham, in the midst of coal and iron fields; the centre of a group of towns engaged in different kinds of iron manufacture, locks and keys the staple, and the metropolis of the Black Country.

WOMAN'S RIGHTS, claims on the part and in the behalf of women to a status in society which will ent.i.tle them to the legal and social privileges of men.

WOOD, SIR ANDREW, Scottish admiral, born in Largo, Fife; was distinguished and successful in several naval engagements, chiefly in the Forth, against the English in the reigns of James III. and James IV.; received for his services the honour of knighthood and the village and lands of Largo in fee; was an eccentric old admiral; is said to have had a ca.n.a.l cut from his house to the church, and to have sailed thither in his barge every Sunday; _d_. 1540.