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 classes of the community; he was a scholarly man, and a vigorous writer and orator (1802-1865).
Wishart, George, a Scottish martyr, born in Forfarshire; 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 Haddingtonshire 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 (assembly 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 vassals, and thanes.
Wither, George, poet, born at Arlesford, in Hampshire, 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 passages 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, Renfrewshire; 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 multitude 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-butts for practice by the Volunteers.
Wolcot, John, better known by his pseudonym Peter Pindar, born in Devonshire; 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 classical scholar, born near Nordhausen; studied at Göttingen; 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 circumstance 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 God, and die contented" (1727-1759).
Wolfenbüttel (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 Godwin.
Wolseley, Garnet Joseph, Lord, field-marshal, born in co. Dublin, of a Staffordshire 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 chancellorship 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 God as I have served the king, He would not have forsaken me in my grey hairs" (1471-1530).
Wolverhampton (82), a town in Staffordshire, 12½ 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 entitle 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 canal cut from his house to the church, and to have sailed thither in his barge every Sunday; d. 1540.
Wood, Anthony, antiquary, born at Oxford, and educated at Merton College, Oxford; was a gentleman of independent means; wrote "History and Antiquities of Oxford University," which appeared in 1674, and "Athenæ Oxonienses," which appeared in 1691, being an exact history of all the writers and bishops educated at Oxford from 1500 to 1690 (1632-1695).
Wood, Sir Evelyn, soldier, born in Essex; served in the Indian Mutiny War, and received the V.C., also in the Ashanti, in the Zulu, in the Transvaal (1880-1881) Wars, and in Egypt in 1882; b. 1838.
Wood, Mrs. Henry (née Price), novelist, born in Worcestershire; her best novels "The Channings" and "Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles," though her most popular "East Lynne"; she wrote some thirty, all popular, and deservedly so (1820-1887).
Wooden Horse, a gigantic horse of wood, within which Greek warriors were concealed, and which the Trojans were persuaded to admit into their city, to its ruin, on the pretext that it was an offering by the Greeks to Pallas, to atone for their abstraction of her image from the citadel.
Woodstock, a small market-town on the Glyme, 8 m. NW. of Oxford, once a royal manor, near which is Blenheim Park (q. v.).
Woolner, Thomas, English sculptor, born at Hadleigh, in Suffolk; sympathised with the Pre-Raphaelite movement; did a number of statues (one of Bacon for Oxford), busts of famous contemporaries—Carlyle, Darwin, Tennyson, &c.—and ideal works, such as Elaine, Ophelia, Guinevere, &c.; was a poet as well as a sculptor (1826-1892).
Woolsack, the seat of the Lord Chancellor in the House of Lords, as Speaker of the House, being a large square cushion of wool covered with red cloth, without either back or arms.
Woolston, Thomas, an eccentric semi-deistical writer, born at Northampton, who maintained a lifelong polemic against the literal truth of the Bible, and insisted that the miraculous element in it must be allegorically interpreted, with such obstinacy that he was in the end subjected to imprisonment as a blasphemer, from which he was never released, because he refused to recant (1669-1731).
Woolwich (40), a town in Kent, on the S. bank of the Thames, 9 m. below London; is the chief military arsenal in the country; contains a gun factory, ammunition factory, laboratory, &c., which employ 12,000 men, besides barracks for artillery, engineers, &c., covering an area 4 m. in circumference.
Worcester (42), the county town of Worcestershire, on the left bank of the Severn, 26 m. SE. of Birmingham; a very ancient place, and a handsome city, with a noble old Gothic cathedral; is famous for its blue porcelain ware and other industries, particularly glove-making; was the scene in 1651 of Cromwell's victory over the Royalists, which he called his "crowning mercy."
Worcester (118), the second city of Massachusetts, U.S., a place of busy industry, and with a flourishing trade.
Worcester, Marquis of, inventor of the steam-engine, born probably in the Strand; early gave himself to mechanical studies; was an ardent Royalist; negotiated with the Irish Catholics on behalf of the king; was discovered and imprisoned on a charge of treason, but his release being procured by the king, he spent some time in exile; on his return he was again imprisoned and then released; wrote an account of inventions amounting to a hundred, "A Century of Inventions" as he called it, one of which he described as "an admirable and most forcible way of driving up water by fire" (1601-1667).
Worcestershire, an agricultural and pastoral county in the valley of the Severn, the N. part of which is the Black Country, rich in coal and iron mines, with Dudley for capital, and the SW. occupied by the Malvern Hills, while the S. is famous for its orchards and hop-gardens; it has also extensive manufactures at Worcester, Kidderminster, Stourbridge, and Redditch.
Word, The, or Logos, the name given by St. John to God as existing from the beginning as in the fulness of time He manifested Himself in Christ, or as at first what He revealed Himself at last.
Wordsworth, Charles, bishop of St. Andrews, born in Lambeth, studied at Christ Church, Oxford; was private tutor to Gladstone and Manning, Warden of Glenalmond College, Perthshire, and made bishop in 1852; was a student of Shakespeare, and distinguished as a prelate for his zeal for Church union in Scotland; he was a nephew of the poet (1805-1892).
Wordsworth, William, poet, born at Cockermouth, of a Yorkshire stock; educated at Hawkshead Grammar School and at St. John's College, Cambridge; travelled in France at the Revolution period, and was smitten with the Republican fever, which however soon spent itself; established himself in the S. of England, and fell in with Coleridge, and visited Germany in company with him, and on his return settled in the Lake Country; married Mary Hutchinson, who had been a school-fellow of his, and to whom he was attached when a boy, and received a lucrative sinecure appointment as distributor of stamps in the district, took up his residence first at Grasmere and finally at Rydal Mount, devoting his life in best of the Muses, as he deemed, to the composition of poetry, with all faith in himself, and slowly but surely bringing round his admirers to the same conclusion; he began his career in literature by publishing along with Coleridge "Lyrical Ballads"; finished his "Prelude" in 1806, and produced his "Excursion" in 1814, after which, from his home at Rydal Mount, there issued a long succession of miscellaneous pieces; he succeeded Southey as poet-laureate in 1843; he is emphatically the poet of external nature and of its all-inspiring power, and it is as such his admirers regard him; Carlyle compares his muse to "an honest rustic fiddle, good and well handled, but wanting two or more of the strings, and not capable of much"; to judge of Wordsworth's merits as a poet the student is referred to Matthew Arnold's "Selections" (1770-1850).
World, the, the name applied in the New Testament to the collective body of those who reject and oppose the spirit of Christ, who practically affirm what He denies, and practically deny what He affirms, or turn His Yea into Nay, and His Nay into Yea.
Worms (25), an old German town in Hesse-Darmstadt, in a fertile plain on the left bank of the Rhine, 40 m. SE. of Mainz, with a massive Romanesque cathedral having two domes and four towers; it was here the Diet of the empire was held under Charles V., and before which Martin Luther appeared on 17th April 1521, standing alone in his defence on the rock of Scripture, and deferentially declining to recant: "Here stand I; I can do no other; so help me God."
Worsaae, Jans Jacob, eminent Danish archæologist, born in Jutland; has written on the antiquities of the North, specially in a Scandinavian reference (1821-1885).
Worthing (16), a fashionable watering-place on the Sussex coast, 10½ m. SW. of Brighton; has a mild climate, fine sands, and a long wide parade.
Wotton, Sir Henry, diplomatist and scholar, born in Kent; was ambassador of James I. for 20 years, chiefly at Venice; visited Kepler (q. v.) on one occasion, and found him a very "ingenious person," and came under temporary eclipse for his definition of an ambassador, "An honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country"; was ultimately provost of Eton, and was a friend of many good men, among others Isaac Walton, who wrote his Life; he wished to be remembered as the author of the saying, "The itch of controversy is the scab (scabies) of the Churches," and caused it to be insculpt in his epitaph (1568-1630).
Wouvermans, Philip, Dutch painter, born at Haarlem, where he lived and died; painted small landscapes, hunting pieces, and battle pieces, from which the picture-dealers profited, while he lived and died poor; had two brothers, whose pictures are, though inferior, often mistaken for his (1619-1668).
Wrangel, Frederick, Prussian field-marshal, born at Stettin; served with distinction in various campaigns, and commanded in the Danish War of 1864, and was present in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, though without command; was known as Papa Wrangel among the Berliners, who loved him for his disregard of grammar (1784-1877).
Wrangler, name given in Cambridge University to those who have attained the first rank in mathematics, pure and applied, the one who heads the list being known as the Senior Wrangler.
Wrede, Philip, field-marshal and prince, born in Heidelberg; served as a Bavarian general against Austria as the ally of Napoleon at Wagram, and also in the expedition against Russia in 1812, on which occasion he covered the retreat of the French army to the loss of nearly all the cavalry; fought against the French at Hanau; was defeated, but was afterwards successful on French soil, and eventually became commander-in-chief of the Bavarian army (1767-1838).
Wren, Sir Christopher, architect, born at East Knoyle, in Wiltshire; educated at Westminster School and Wadham College, Oxford, and became Fellow of All Souls; was early distinguished in mathematics and for mechanical ingenuity, and soon became notable for his skill in architecture, and received a commission to restore St. Paul's, London, but on its destruction in 1666 he was appointed to design and erect an entirely new structure; for this he had prepared himself by study abroad, and he proceeded to construct a new St. Paul's after the model of St. Peter's at Rome, a work which, as it occupied him from 1675 to 1710, took him 35 years to finish; he died at the age of 90, sitting in his chair after dinner, and was buried in the cathedral which he had erected, with this inscription, "Si monumentum requiris, circumspice" (If you inquire after his monument, look around); Wren was a man of science as well as an artist; he was at one time Savilian professor of Astronomy at Oxford, and one of the founders of the Royal Society (1631-1723).
Wren, Matthew, bishop of Ely; was one of the judges of the Star Chamber; assisted in preparing the liturgy for Scotland, which, when read in St. Giles', Edinburgh, roused the ire of Jenny Geddes (q. v.); was impeached, and confined in the Tower for 18 years, and released at the Restoration (1585-1667).
Wrexham (12), an important town in Denbighshire, North Wales, 12 m. SW. from Chester, in the centre of a mining district, and famed for its breweries.
Wright, Joseph, painter, usually called "Wright of Derby," from his birthplace and place of residence nearly all his life; he excelled in portraits, and in the representation of the effects especially of firelight (1734-1797).
Wright, Thomas, antiquary, born in Shropshire, but settled in London; wrote or edited a vast number of works bearing on the antiquities, literary and other, of England, and was connected with the founding of sundry antiquarian societies (1810-1877).
Writers to the Signet, a body of solicitors in Scotland who had at one time the exclusive privilege of practising in and drawing up cases for the supreme courts of the country, and whose privileges are now limited to the preparation of crown writs.
Wulstan, St., Saxon bishop of Worcester in the days of Edward the Confessor; being falsely accused by his adversaries, after the king's death, he was required to resign, but refused, and laying his crozier on the Confessor's shrine called upon him to decide who should wear it; none of his accusers could lift it, only himself, to his exculpation from their accusations.
Wundt, Wilhelm Max, distinguished German physiologist, born in Baden, and professor at Leipzig; distinguished for his studies on the connection of the physical with the psychical in the human organisation, and has written on psychology as well as physiology; b. 1832.
Wupperthal, a densely-peopled valley in Germany traversed by the river Wupper, which after a course of 40 m. enters the right bank of the Rhine between Cologne and Düsseldorf, and which embraces the towns of Barmen and Elberfeld.
Wurmser, Count von, Austrian general, born in Alsace; took an active part in the war with France; commanded the respect of Napoleon from his defence of Mantua, on the capitulation of which he refused to take him prisoner (1721-1797).
Würtemberg (2,035), a kingdom of South Germany, about one-fourth the size of Scotland, between Baden on the W. and Bavaria on the E.; the Black Forest extends along the W. of it, and it is traversed nearly E. and W. by the Swabian Alp, which slopes down on the N. side into the valley of the Neckar, and on the S. into that of the Danube; the soil is fertile, and is in great part under cultivation, yielding corn, vines, and fruits, agriculture being the chief industry of the population; there are only four towns whose inhabitants exceed 20,000, of which Stuttgart is one, and Ulm, the capital, is the other; the towns are the centres of varied manufactures; education is of a high standard; and associated with the country is a number of famous names-enough to mention the names of Kepler, Schiller, Hegel, Schelling, and Strauss; the government is constitutional, under a hereditary sovereign.
Wurtz, Charles Adolphe, celebrated French chemist, born at Strasburg (1817-1884).
Würzburg (51), a Bavarian town in a valley of the Main, 70 m. SB. of Frankfort; its principal buildings are the Royal or Episcopal Palace, the cathedral, and the university, with the Julius Hospital, called after its founder, Bishop Julius, who was also founder of the university, which is attended by 1500 students, mostly medical, and has a library of 100,000 volumes; the fortress of Marienberg, overlooking the town, was till 1720 the episcopal palace.
Wuttke, Karl, theologian, born at Breslau, professor at Halle; wrote on Christian ethics, stoutly maintained the incompatibility of Christianity with democracy, that a Christian could not be a democrat or a democrat a Christian (1819-1870).
Wyandots, a tribe of North American Indians of the Iroquois stock; were nearly exterminated in 1636, but a feeble remnant of them now occupy a small district in the Indian Territory.
Wyatt, Richard, sculptor, born in London; studied in Home under Canova, and had Gibson for fellow-student; a man of classical tastes, and produced a number of exquisitely-modelled, especially female, figures (1795-1850).
Wyatt, Sir Thomas, English poet, courtier, and statesman, born at Allington Castle, in Kent, and educated at St. John's College, Cambridge; was a welcome presence at court, a friend of Anne Boleyn, in high favour with the king, and knighted in 1537; did a good deal of diplomatic work in Spain and the Netherlands, and died on his way to meet the Spanish ambassador and convoy him to London; he had travelled in Italy, had studied the lyric poets of Italy, especially Petrarch, and, along with Surrey, imported their sentiment into English verse, "amourist poetry," as it has been called, "a poetry extremely personal, and personal as English poetry had scarcely ever been before" (1503-1542).
Wyatt, Sir Thomas, the younger, only son of the preceding; was leader of the rebellion that broke out in 1554 in consequence of the settlement of the marriage between Queen Mary and Philip of Spain, in which, being repulsed at Temple Bar, he surrendered, was committed to the Tower, and for which he was executed, Lady Jane Grey and her husband following to the same doom shortly after (1520-1554).
Wycherley, William, dramatist, born in Shropshire, of good birth, and resided for a time in Paris, being admitted to the circle of the Précieuses, but returned to England at the Restoration, and became a figure at the court; his plays were marked with the coarseness of the time, and his best were "The Country Wife" (1675) and the "Plain Dealer" (1677); married the Countess of Drogheda for her fortune, a legacy which cost him only lawsuits and imprisonment for debt; succeeded to his paternal estate when he was an old man; married again, and died immediately after (1640-1715).
Wycliffe, John. See Wicliffe.
Wycombe, High (13), a market-town in Buckinghamshire, on the Wye, 25 m. SE. of Oxford; has a parish church built in the Norman style in 1273 and restored in 1887, and several public buildings; the manufacture of chairs, lace, and straw-plait among the leading industries.
Wye, a lovely winding river in South Wales, which rises near the source of the Severn on Plinlimmon, and falls into its estuary at Chepstow, 125 m. from its head; rapid in its course at first, it becomes gentler as it gathers volume; barges ascend it as far as Hereford, but a high tidal wave makes navigation dangerous at its mouth.
Wykeham, William of, bishop of Winchester, born in Hampshire of humble parentage; was patronised by the governor of Winchester Castle and introduced by him to Edward III., who employed him to superintend the rebuilding of Windsor Castle, and by-and-by made him Privy Seal and Lord Chancellor, though he fell into disgrace towards the close of Edward's reign; was restored to favour in Richard II.'s reign and once more made Chancellor; in his later years he founded the New College, Oxford, built and endowed St. Mary's College, Winchester, and rebuilt the cathedral there. He was less of a theologian than an architect; was disparagingly spoken of by John Wickliffe as a "builder of castles," and his favourite motto was, "Manners make the man"; (1324-1404).
Wynnad, a highland district in the Western Ghâts, Madras Presidency, with extensive coffee plantations, and a wide distribution of auriferous quartz rock, the working of which has been on an extravagant scale, and has involved the loss of much capital.
Wyntoun, Andrew of, Scottish chronicler; lived at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries; was canon regular of St. Andrews and prior of St. Serf, Lochleven; the subject of his "Original Chronicle," as he calls it, was Scottish history, introduced by foreign from the creation downwards, and it was written in verse that can hardly be called poetry; it is of value historically and interesting philologically, and consists of nine books or cantos; it is to him we owe "When Alexander our King was dead."
Wyoming (60), a North-West State of the American Union, chiefly on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, an elevated region about three times the area of Ireland and a comparatively sparse population, settled principally along the line of the Union Pacific Railway; it has a very rugged surface, and abounds in deep cañons and frowning precipices, the lakes also are deep, and there are immense geysers, one, the Great Geyser, throwing up a volume of water 300 ft. high; it is rich in minerals, yields good crops of various grains, rears large herds of horses and cattle, as well as game on its moors, and trout and salmon in its rivers. See Yellowstone Park.
Wyoming Valley, a fertile valley in Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River, 20 m. long by 5 broad; it was the scene of a series of contests between rival settlers, when the last of them were set upon by an invading force, forced to surrender, and either massacred or driven forth from the valley; Campbell's "Gertrude of Wyoming" relates to this last disaster.
Wyss, Johann Rudolf, Swiss littérateur, born at Bern, professor of Philosophy there; the author of the "Swiss Family Robinson," on which alone his title to fame rests (1781-1830).
Wyvern, a heraldic device in shape of a dragon with expanded wings, with only two legs and the pointed tail of a scorpion.
X
Xanthus, principal city in ancient Lycia, on a river of the same name, celebrated for its temples and works of art; sustained two sieges, the last of which terminated in the self-destruction of its inhabitants; ruins of it exist, and are Cyclopean; also the name of a river in the Troad, called also the Scamander.
Xantippe, the name of the wife of Socrates, a woman of a peevish and shrewish disposition, the subject of exaggerated gossip in Athens, to the exaltation of the temper of her husband, which it never ruffled. She is quaintly described by an old English writer as "a passing shrewde, curste, and wayward woman, wife to the pacient and wise philosopher Socrates."
Xavier, St. Francis, a Jesuit missionary, styled usually the "Apostle of the Indies," born, of a noble family, in the north of Spain; a student of Sainte Barbe in Paris, he took to philosophy, became acquainted with Ignatius Loyola, and was associated with him in the formation of the Jesuit Society; was sent in 1541, under sanction of the Pope, by John III. of Portugal to Christianise India, and arrived at Goa in 1542, from whence he extended his missionary labours to the Eastern Archipelago, Ceylon, and Japan, in which enterprises they were attended with signal success; on his return to Goa in 1552 he proceeded to organise a mission to China, in which he experienced such opposition and so many difficulties that on his way to carry on his work there he sickened and died; he was buried at Goa; beatified by Paul V. in 1619, and canonised by Gregory XV. in 1622 (1506-1552).
Xebec, a small three-masted vessel with lateen and square sails, used formerly in the Mediterranean by the Algerine pirates, and mounted with guns.
Xenien, the name, derived from Martial, of a series of stinging epigrams issued at one time by Goethe and Schiller, which created a great sensation and gave offence to many, causing "the solemn empire of dulness to quake from end to end."
Xenocrates, an ancient philosopher and a disciple of Plato, born in Chalcedon, and a successor of Plato's in the Academy as head of it; d. 314 B.C.
Xenophanes, the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy, born in Asia Minor; was the first to enunciate the doctrine "all is one," but "without specifying," says Schwegler, "whether this unity was intellectual or moral.... Aristotle says he called God the one." See Eleatics.
Xenophon, historian, philosopher, and military commander, born at Athens, son of an Athenian of good position; was a pupil and friend of Socrates; joined the expedition of Cyrus against his brother Artaxerxes, and on the failure of it conducted the ten thousand Greeks—"the Retreat of the Ten Thousand"—who went up with him back to the Bosphorus, served afterwards in several military adventures, brought himself under the ban of his fellow-citizens in Athens, and retired to Elis, where he spent 20 years of his life in the pursuits of country life and in the prosecution of literature; the principal of his literary works, which it appears have all come down to us, are the "Anabasis," being an account in seven books of the expedition of Cyrus and his own conduct of the retreat; the "Memorabilia," in four books, being an account of the life and teaching and in defence of his master Socrates; the "Helenica," in seven books, being an account of 49 years of Grecian history in continuation of Thucydides to the battle of Mantinea; and "Cyropædeia," in eight books, being an ideal account of the education of Cyrus the Elder. Xenophon wrote pure Greek in a plain, perspicuous, and unaffected style, had an eye to the practical in his estimate of things, and professed a sincere belief in a divine government of the world (435-354 B.C.).
Xeres (61), a town in Spain, 14 m. NE. of Cadiz, a well-built, busy town, and the centre of the trade in sherry wine, which takes its name from it, and of which there are large stores.
Xerxes, a king of Persia, son of Darius I., whom he succeeded on the throne in 485 B.C.; in his ambition to subdue Greece, which, after suppressing a revolt in Egypt, he in 481 essayed to do with an immense horde of men both by sea and land, he with his army crossed the Hellespont by means of a bridge of boats, was checked for a time at Thermopylæ by Leonidas and his five hundred, advanced to Athens to see his fleet destroyed at Salamis by Themistocles, fled at the sight by the way he came, and left Mardonius with 300,000 men to carry out his purpose, but, as it happened, to suffer defeat on the fatal field of Platæa in 479, and the utter annihilation of all his hopes; the rest of his life he spent in obscurity, and he was assassinated in 465 by Artabanus, the captain of his bodyguard, after a reign of 20 years.