A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 49

WARBURTON, BARTHOLOMEW ELIOT GEORGE (1810-1852).--Miscellaneous writer, _b._ in County Galway, travelled in the East, and _pub._ an account of his experiences, _The Crescent and the Cross_, which had remarkable success, brought out an historical work, _Memoirs of Prince Rupert and the Cavaliers_ (1849), and ed. _Memoirs of Horace Walpole and his Contemporaries_. He perished in the burning of the steamer _Amazon_.

WARBURTON, WILLIAM (1698-1779).--Theologian, _b._ at Newark, where his _f._ was an attorney. Intended for the law, he was for a few years engaged in its practice, but his intense love of, and capacity for, study led him to enter the Church, and in 1728 he was presented to the Rectory of Brand-Broughton, where he remained for many years. His first important work was _The Alliance between Church and State_ (1736), which brought him into notice. But it was entirely eclipsed by his _Divine Legation of Moses_, of which the first part appeared in 1737, and the second in 1741. The work, though learned and able, is somewhat paradoxical, and it plunged him into controversies with his numerous critics, and led to his publis.h.i.+ng a _Vindication_. It, however, obtained for him the appointment of chaplain to Frederick, Prince of Wales. In 1739 W. gained the friends.h.i.+p of Pope by publis.h.i.+ng a defence of _The Essay on Man_. Through Pope he became acquainted with most of the men of letters of the time, and he was made by the poet his literary executor, and had the legacy of half his library, and the profits of his posthumous works. On the strength of this he brought out an ed. of Pope's works. He also _pub._ an ed. of Shakespeare with notes, which was somewhat severely criticised, and his _Doctrine of Grace_, a polemic against Wesley. He became Dean of Bristol in 1757 and Bishop of Gloucester in 1759. W. was a man of powerful intellect, but his temper was overbearing and arrogant.

"WARD, ARTEMUS", (_see_ BROWN, C.F.).

WARD, ROBERT PLUMER (1765-1846).--Novelist and politician, _b._ in London, _ed._ at Oxf., and called to the Bar 1790, held various political offices, and wrote some books on the law of nations; also three novels, _Tremaine, or the Man of Refinement_, full of prolix discussions; _De Vere, or the Man of Independence_, in which Canning is depicted under the character of Wentworth; and _De Clifford, or the Constant Man_.

WARD, WILLIAM GEORGE (1812-1882).--Theologian, _ed._ at Winchester and Oxf., and came under the influence of J.H. Newman, whose famous Tract No.

XC. he defended, and whom he followed into the Church of Rome. In 1844 he _pub._ _The Ideal of a Christian Church_ from the Romanist point of view, whence his soubriquet of "Ideal Ward." He was lecturer on Moral Philosophy at St. Edward's Coll., Ware, and wrote various treatises on controversial theology.

WARDLAW, ELIZABETH, LADY (1677-1727).--Poetess, _dau._ of Sir Charles Halkett of Pitfirrane, and wife of Sir Henry Wardlaw of Pitreavie, is believed to have written the pseudo-ancient ballad of "Hardyknute." The ballad of "Sir Patrick Spens" and others have also, but doubtfully, been attributed to her.

WARNER, SUSAN (1819-1885).--Writer of tales, _b._ at New York, and wrote, under the name of "Elizabeth Wetherell," a number of stories, of which _The Wide, Wide World_ (1851) had an extraordinary popularity. Others were _Queechy_ (1852), _The Old Helmet_ (1863), and _Melbourne House_ (1864). They have no particular literary merit or truth to nature, and are rather sentimental and "gushy."

WARNER, WILLIAM (1558-1609).--Poet, _b._ in London or Yorks.h.i.+re, studied at Oxf., and was an attorney in London. In 1585 he _pub._ a collection of seven tales in prose ent.i.tled _Pan his Syrinx_, and in 1595 a translation of the _Menaechmi_ of Plautus. His chief work was _Albion's England_, _pub._ in 1586 in 13 books of fourteen-syllabled verse, and republished with 3 additional books in 1606. The t.i.tle is thus explained in the dedication, "This our whole island anciently called Britain, but more anciently Albion, presently containing two kingdoms, England and Scotland, is cause ... that to distinguish the former, whose only occurrants I abridge from our history, I ent.i.tle this my book _Albion's England_." For about 20 years it was one of the most popular poems of its size--it contains about 10,000 lines--ever written, and he and Spenser were called the Homer and Virgil of their age. They must, however, have appealed to quite different cla.s.ses. The plain-spoken, jolly humour, homely, lively, direct tales, vigorous patriotic feeling, and rough-and-tumble metre of Warner's muse, and its heterogeneous acc.u.mulation of material--history, tales, theology, antiquities--must have appealed to a lower and wider audience than Spenser's charmed verse.

The style is clear, spirited, and pointed, but, as has been said, "with all its force and vivacity ... fancy at times, and graphic descriptive power, it is poetry with as little of high imagination in it as any that was ever written." In his narratives W. allowed himself great lat.i.tude of expression, which may partly account for the rapidity with which his book fell into oblivion.

WARREN, SAMUEL (1807-1877).--Novelist, _b._ in Denbighs.h.i.+re, _s._ of a Nonconformist minister. After studying medicine at Edin. he took up law, and became a barrister, wrote several legal text-books, and in 1852 was made Recorder of Hull. He sat in the House of Commons for Midhurst 1856-59, and was a Master in Lunacy 1859-77. He was the author of _Pa.s.sages from the Diary of a late Physician_, which appeared (1832-37) first in _Blackwood's Magazine_, as did also _Ten Thousand a Year_ (1839). Both attracted considerable attention, and were often reprinted and translated. His last novel, _Now and Then_, had little success. W.

entertained exaggerated ideas as to the importance of his place in literature.

WARTON, JOSEPH (1722-1800).--Critic, elder _s._ of the Rev. Thomas W., Prof. of Poetry at Oxf., was _ed._ at Basingstoke School, (of which his _f._ was headmaster), Winchester, and Oxf. He took orders, held various benefices, and became headmaster of Winchester Coll., and Prebendary of Winchester and of St. Paul's. He _pub._ miscellaneous verses, 2 vols. of _Odes_ (1744 and 1746), in which he displayed a then unusual feeling for nature, and revolted against the critical rules of Pope and his followers. He was a good cla.s.sical scholar, and made an approved translation of the _Eclogues_ and _Georgics_ of Virgil. He and his brother Thomas (_q.v._) were friends of Johnson, and members of the Literary Club. His last work of importance was an _Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope_, of which the first vol. appeared in 1757, and the second in 1782, and which gave an impulse to the romantic movement in English literature. He also ed. Pope's works, and had begun an ed. of Dryden when he _d._

WARTON, THOMAS (1728-1790).--Literary historian and critic, younger _s._ of Thomas W., Prof. of Poetry at Oxf., and brother of the above, was _ed._ under his _f._ at Basingstoke and at Oxf. At the age of 19 he _pub._ a poem of considerable promise, _The Pleasures of Melancholy_, and two years later attracted attention by _The Triumph of Isis_ (1749), in praise of Oxf., and in answer to Mason's _Isis_. After various other poetical excursions he _pub._ _Observations on Spenser's Faery Queen_ (1754), which greatly increased his reputation, and in 1757 he was made Prof. of Poetry at Oxf., which position he held for 10 years. After bringing out one or two ed. of cla.s.sics and biographies of college benefactors, he issued, from 1774-81, his great _History of English Poetry_, which comes down to the end of the Elizabethan age. The research and judgment, and the stores of learning often curious and recondite, which were brought to bear upon its production render this work, though now in various respects superseded, a vast magazine of information, and it did much to restore our older poetry to the place of which it had been unjustly deprived by the cla.s.sical school. His ed. of Milton's minor poems has been p.r.o.nounced by competent critics to be the best ever produced. W. was a clergyman, but if the tradition is to be believed that he had only two sermons, one written by his _f._ and the other printed, and if the love of ease and of ale which he celebrates in some of his verses was other than poetical, he was more in his place as a critic than as a cleric. As a poet he hardly came up to his own standards. He was made Poet Laureate in 1785, and in the same year Camden Prof. of History, and was one of the first to detect the Chatterton forgeries, a task in which his antiquarian lore stood him in good stead.

WATERLAND, DANIEL (1683-1740).--Theologian, _b._ at Waseley Rectory, Lincolns.h.i.+re, and _ed._ at Camb., took orders, and obtained various preferments, becoming Master of Magdalene Coll., Camb. 1713, Chancellor of York 1722, and Archdeacon of Middles.e.x 1730. He was an acute and able controversialist on behalf of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, on which he wrote several treatises. He was also the author of a _History of the Athanasian Creed_ (1723).

WATERTON, CHARLES (1782-1865).--Naturalist, belonged to an old Roman Catholic family in Yorks.h.i.+re, and was _ed._ at Stonyhurst Coll. Sent out in 1804 to look after some family estates in Demerara, he wandered through the wildest parts of Guiana and Brazil, in search of plants and animals for his collections. His adventures were related in his highly-spiced and entertaining _Wanderings in South America, etc._ (1825), in which he details certain surprising episodes in connection with the capture of serpents, and specially of a cayman, on the back of which he rode. He also wrote an interesting account of his family.

WATSON, JOHN (1850-1907) "IAN MACLAREN".--Novelist and theological writer, _b._ at Manningtree, where his _f._ was an Inland Revenue official, _ed._ at Stirling and Edin., and the New Coll. there. He came, after serving in a country charge, to Sefton Park Presbyterian Church, Liverpool, where he was a popular preacher, and took a prominent part in the social and religious life of the city. He wrote, under the name of "Ian Maclaren," several novels belonging to the "Kailyard" school, including _Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush_ and _The Days of Auld Lang Syne_, which had great popularity both at home and in America. He also wrote religious works, of which _The Mind of the Master_ is the best known.

WATSON, ROBERT (1730-1781).--Historian, _s._ of an apothecary in St.

Andrews, where and at Edin. and Glasgow, he was _ed._ He became Prof. of Logic, and afterwards Princ.i.p.al of St. Salvador's Coll., at St. Andrews, and wrote a History of Philip II. of Spain, and part of a continuation on Philip III., which were long standard works.

WATSON, THOMAS (1557?-1592).--Poet, _b._ in London, was at Oxf., and studied law. He was a scholar, and made translations, one of which was a Latin version of the _Antigone_ of Sophocles. In 1582 he _pub._ _Hecatompathia, or The Pa.s.sionate Centurie of Love_, consisting of 100 eighteen-line poems, which he called sonnets. It was followed by _Amyntas_ (1585) and _Teares of Fansie_ (1593).

WATTS, ALARIC ALEXANDER (1797-1864).--Poet, _b._ in London, had an active career as a journalist. He founded the _United Service Gazette_, and ed.

various newspapers and an annual, the _Literary Souvenir_. His poems were _coll._ as _Lyrics of the Heart_. His numerous journalistic ventures finally resulted in bankruptcy.

WATTS, ISAAC (1674-1748).--Poet and theologian, _b._ at Southampton, where his _f._ kept a school, and _ed._ at a Nonconformist academy at Stoke Newington, became minister of an Independent congregation in Mark Lane; but his health proving insufficient for his pastoral duties, he resigned, and gave himself chiefly to literary work, continuing to preach occasionally. For the last 36 years of his life he resided at Theobald's, the house of his friend, Sir Thomas Abney. Among his writings were various educational treatises, including those on _Logic_ and _The Improvement of the Mind_, and some works on theological subjects. But his fame rests on his sacred poems and his hymns, which number over 500, and with much that is prosaic comprised "There is a Land of Pure Delight," "O G.o.d our Help in Ages Past," and "When I survey the Wondrous Cross," which has been called "the most majestic hymn in English speech." His _Horae Lyricae_ was _pub._ in 1706, _Hymns_ (1707), _Divine Songs_ (for children) (1715), _Metrical Psalms_ (1719). Some of his poems, such as his exquisite cradle song, "Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber" have a perfect beauty and tenderness.

WAUGH, EDWIN (1817-1890).--Poet, _s._ of a shoemaker, was _b._ at Rochdale and, after a little schooling, apprenticed to a printer. He read eagerly, and became a.s.sistant sec. to the Lancas.h.i.+re Public School a.s.sociation. He first attracted attention by his sketches of Lancas.h.i.+re life and character in the _Manchester Examiner_. He wrote also in prose _Factory Folk_, _Besom Ben Stories_, and _The Chimney Corner_. His best work was, perhaps, his dialect songs, _coll._ as _Poems and Songs_ (1859), which brought him great local fame. He was possessed of considerable literary gift, and has been called "the Lancas.h.i.+re Burns."

WEBBE, WILLIAM (_b._ 1550).--Critic and translator. Almost nothing is known of him except that he was at Camb. and acted as tutor in certain distinguished families, and was a friend of Spenser. He wrote a _Discourse of English Poetrie_ (1586), in which he discusses metre, rhyme (the use of which he reprehends), and reviews English poetry up to his own day. He also translated the first two of the _Eclogues_ of Virgil in singularly unmelodious hexameters.

WEBSTER, MRS. AUGUSTA (DAVIES) (1837-1894).--Poet and translator, _dau._ of Admiral Davies, _m._ Mr. Thomas Webster, a solicitor. She wrote a novel, _Lesley's Guardians_, and several books of poetry of distinguished excellence, including _Blanche Lisle_, _Dramatic Studies_ (1866), _Portraits_ (1870), _A Book of Rhyme_ (1881), and some dramas, including _The Auspicious Day_ (1874), _Disguises_, and _The Sentence_ (1887). She also made translations of _Prometheus Bound_ and _Medea_.

WEBSTER, DANIEL (1782-1852).--Orator, _s._ of a farmer in New Hamps.h.i.+re, was a distinguished advocate in Boston, and afterwards a member of the United States Senate and Sec. of State 1841-43 and 1850-52. He was the greatest orator whom America has produced, and has a place in literature by virtue of his _pub._ speeches.

WEBSTER, JOHN (1580?-1625?).--Dramatist. Though in some respects he came nearest to Shakespeare of any of his contemporaries, almost nothing has come down to us of the life of W. Even the dates of his birth and death are uncertain. He appears to have been the _s._ of a London tailor, to have been a freeman of the Merchant Taylor's Company, and clerk of the parish of St. Andrews, Holborn. Four plays are known to be his, _The White Devil, or the Life and Death of Vittoria Corombona_ (1612), _Appius and Virginia_ (1654), _The Devil's Law Case_ (1623), and _The d.u.c.h.ess of Malfi_ (1623), and he collaborated with Drayton, Middleton, Heywood, Dekker, etc., in the production of others. He does not appear to have been much regarded in his own day, and it was only in the 19th century that his great powers began to be appreciated and expounded by such critics as Lamb and Hazlitt, and in later days Swinburne. The first says, "To move a horror skilfully, to touch a soul to the quick, to lay upon fear as much as it can bear, to wean and weary a life till it is ready to drop, and then step in with mortal instruments to take its last forfeit, this only a Webster can do." W. revels in the horrible, but the touch of genius saves his work from mere brutality, and evokes pity and sorrow where, without it, there would be only horror and disgust. His work is extremely unequal, and he had no power of construction, but his extraordinary insight into motives and feelings redeem all his failings and give him a place second only to Marlowe and Ben Jonson among the contemporaries of Shakespeare.

WEBSTER, NOAH (1758-1843).--Lexicographer, etc., _b._ at Hartford, Conn., and _ed._ at Yale. His long life was spent in unremitting diligence as teacher, lawyer, and man of letters. His great work is his American _Dictionary of the English Language_ (1828), for which he prepared himself by 10 years' study of philology. Many abridgments of it have appeared, and in 1866 a new and enlarged ed. was _pub._ His _Elementary Spelling Book_ is believed to have attained a circulation of 70,000,000 copies. He also _pub._ _A Philosophical and Practical Grammar of the English Language_ (1807), and many other works.

WELLS, CHARLES JEREMIAH (1800?-1879).--Poet, _b._ in London, where he practised as a solicitor, _pub._ in 1822 _Stories after Nature_, written in poetic prose, which attracted no attention, and a biblical drama, _Joseph and his Brethren_ (1824), which had an almost similar fate until D.G. Rossetti called attention to it in 1863, giving it a high meed of praise. In 1874, stung by want of appreciation, he had burned his ma.n.u.scripts of plays and poems; but on the new interest excited in his _Joseph_ he added some new scenes. In his later years he lived in France.

_Joseph and his Brethren_ ed. in the World's Cla.s.sics, 1909.

WENDOVER, ROGER DE (_d._ 1236).--Chronicler, a monk of St. Albans, became Prior of Belvoir, from which he was deposed for extravagance, but was recalled to St. Albans, where he _d._ He wrote _Flores Historiarum_ (Flowers of History), a history of the world in 2 books, the first from the creation to the incarnation, the second to the reign of Henry III., his own time. The latter is of value as a contemporary authority, and is an impartial and manly account of his own period.

WESLEY, CHARLES (1707-1788).--Hymn-writer, younger brother of John W.

(_q.v._), was _b._ at Epworth, and _ed._ at Westminster School and Oxf.

He was all his life closely a.s.sociated with his elder and greater brother, one of whose most loyal helpers he was, though not agreeing with him in all points. His chief fame is founded upon his hymns, of which he is said to have written the almost incredible number of 6500, many of them among the finest in the language. They include "Jesus, Lover of my Soul," "Love Divine all Loves excelling," "Come, oh Thou Traveller Unknown," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," and "Come, let us join our Friends above."

WESLEY, JOHN (1703-1791).--Theological writer, diarist, and founder of Methodism, was the second surviving _s._ of the Rev. Samuel W., Rector of Epworth, Lincolns.h.i.+re. The name was also written Westley and Wellesley, and the family appears to be the same as that to which the Duke of Wellington and his brother the Marquis Wellesley belonged. W. was _ed._ at the Charterhouse and at Oxf., and was ordained deacon in 1725, and priest in 1728. After a.s.sisting his _f._ for a short time as curate, he returned to Oxf., where he found that his brother Charles, along with G.

Whitefield (_q.v._) and others, had begun that a.s.sociation for religious improvement from which sprang the great religious movement known as Methodism. About the same time the two brothers came under the influence of William Law (_q.v._), author of the _Serious Call_, and in 1735 John went on a mission to Georgia to preach to the Indians and colonists, and became closely a.s.sociated with the Moravian Brethren. Difficulties of a personal character, however, led to his return in 1738 to London, where he continued to a.s.sociate with the Moravians. It was at this time that, hearing Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans read at a meeting, he found his religious and ecclesiastical views revolutionised. Hitherto holding strong High Church views in some directions, he now a.s.sumed a position which ultimately led to his abandoning the doctrine of Apostolical succession, and ordaining pastors and bishops, and finally creating a separate ecclesiastical organisation. Consequences soon followed; the pulpits of the Church were closed against him, and he began his marvellous career of itinerant and out-of-door preaching, which was continued to the close of his long life. He soon became a mighty power in the land; vast crowds waited on his ministrations, which were instrumental in producing a great revival of religious interest, and improved morality among the people. At the same time violent opposition was aroused, and W. was often in danger of his life from mobs. In the end, however, he lived down this state of things to a large extent, and in his old age was the object of extraordinary general veneration, while in his own communion he exercised a kind of pontifical sway. During the 50 years of his apostolic journeyings he is said to have travelled 250,000 miles in Britain, Ireland, and the Continent; but notwithstanding this phenomenal activity he was able, by extreme economy of time, to write copiously, his works including educational treatises, translations from the cla.s.sics, histories of Rome and England, a history of the Church, biblical commentaries, manifold controversial treatises and ed.

of religious cla.s.sics. Most of them had an enormous circulation and brought him in 30,000, all of which he expended on philanthropic and religious objects. The work, however, on which his literary fame chiefly rests is his _Journal_, extending from 1735-90, which is one of the most graphic and interesting records of its kind in existence. He also wrote many hymns, largely translations from the German, and he had a considerable, hand in giving their final form to the almost innumerable hymns of his brother Charles. W. was a man of practical and organising ability of the first order, of intense religious earnestness and sincerity, benevolent feelings, and agreeable manners. At the same time he was of an autocratic temper, and often showed keenness and even intolerance in his controversies, which were largely against the extreme Calvinism of his old friend and fellow-labourer, Whitefield, and Toplady, the author of the hymn "Rock of Ages," himself a bitter polemic. In 1740 he had formally withdrawn from a.s.sociation with the Moravians. W. was _m._ in 1751 to a widow, Mrs. Vazeille, with whom, however, he did not live happily, and who separated from him in 1776.

WESTALL, WILLIAM (1834-1903).--Novelist, was originally in business, but later betook himself to journalism, and also wrote a large number of novels, including _The Old Factory_, _Strange Crimes_, _Her Ladys.h.i.+p's Secret_, etc., which, while healthy in tone and interesting, have no literary distinction.

WHARTON, THOMAS WHARTON, 1ST MARQUIS of (1648-1715).--Statesman and writer of "Lillibullero," _s._ of the 4th Baron W., was one of the most profligate men of his age. He was a supporter of the Exclusion Bill, and consequently obnoxious to James II. His only contribution to literature was the doggerel ballad, "Lillibullero" (1688), which had so powerful a political effect that its author claimed to have sung a King out of three kingdoms. He was generally disliked and distrusted, but held for a short time, from 1708, the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland, when he had Addison as his chief sec.