The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 454

WIGAN (55), a town in Lancashire, 18 m. NW. of Manchester, in the centre of a large coal-field; cottons are the staple manufactures; is a place of ancient date, and has some fine buildings.

WIGHT, ISLE OF, an island in the S. of England, included in Hampshire, from which it is separated by the channel of the SOLENT (q. v.); it is of triangular shape, is 23 m. of utmost length, and about 14 m. of utmost breadth; it is traversed by a range of chalk downs from E. to W.; the soil is fertile, especially in the E.; the scenery rich and varied, and the climate charming; Newport is the capital in the centre; near Cowes is...o...b..rne House, the summer residence of Queen Victoria.

WIGTOWNSHIRE (36), the most southerly county in Scotland, in the SW.

of which the largest town is Stranraer, and the county town Wigtown; it is an agricultural county, and largely pastoral.

WILBERFORCE, SAMUEL, English prelate, born at Clapham, third son of the succeeding; entered Oriel College, Oxford, at 18, where he distinguished himself by his powers of debate; took holy orders, and rose to eminence in the Church; was made Bishop of Oxford in 1845, and of Winchester in 1869; was a High Churchman of the pure Anglican type, and equally opposed to Romanism and Nonconformity; shone in society by his wit and powers of conversation; Carlyle often "exchanged pleasant dialogues with him, found him dexterous, stout and clever, far from being a bad man"; "I do not hate him," he said to Froude one day, "near so much as I fear I ought to do"; he found him "really of a religious nature,"

and secretly in sympathy with himself on religious matters; was killed by a fall from his horse; he was popularly known by the sobriquet of "Soapy Sam" (1805-1873).

WILBERFORCE, WILLIAM, eminent philanthropist, born at Hull, son of a wealthy merchant; attended St. John's College, Cambridge, at 17; represented his native town in Parliament as soon as he was of age; he was early and deeply impressed with the inhumanity of the slave-trade, and to achieve its abolition became the ruling pa.s.sion of his life; with that object he introduced a bill for its suppression in 1789, but it was not till 1801 he carried the Commons with him, and he had to wait six years longer before the House of Lords supported his measure and the Emanc.i.p.ation Act was pa.s.sed; he retired into private life in 1825, and died three days after the vote of 20 millions to purchase the freedom of the West Indian slaves; he was an eminently religious man of the Evangelical school; wrote "Practical View of Christianity" (1759-1833).

WILD, JONATHAN, an English villain, who for housebreaking was executed in 1725, and the hero of Fielding's novel of the name; he had been a detective; was hanged amid execration on the part of the mob at his execution.

WILDERNESS, a district covered with brushwood in Virginia, U.S., the scene of a two days' terrible conflict between the Federals and the Confederates on the 5th and 6th May 1864.

WILDFIRE, MADGE, a character in the "Heart of Midlothian," who, being seduced, had, in her misery under a sense of her crime, gone crazy.

WILFRID, ST., a Saxon bishop of York, born in Northumbria; brought up at Lindisfarne; had a checkered life of it; is celebrated in legend for his success in converting pagans, and is usually represented in the act; _d_. 709.

WILHELMINA I., queen of the Netherlands, daughter of William III., and who ascended the throne on his decease in November 1890; her mother, a sister of the d.u.c.h.ess of Albany, acted as regent during her minority, and she became of age on the 11th August 1898, when she was installed as sovereign amid the enthusiasm of her people; _b_. 1880.

WILHELMSHAVEN (13), the chief naval port of Germany, on Jahde Bay, 43 m. NW. of Bremen.

WILKES, CHARLES, American naval officer; made explorations in the Southern Ocean in 1861; boarded on the high seas the British mail-steamer _Trent_, and carried off two Confederate commissioners accredited to France, who were afterwards released on the demand of the British Government (1798-1877).

WILKES, JOHN, a notable figure in the English political world of the 18th century, born in Clerkenwell, son of a distiller; was elected M.P.

for Aylesbury in 1761; started a periodical called the _North Briton_, in No. 45 of which he published an offensive libel, which led to his arrest and imprisonment in the Tower, from which he was released--on the ground that the general warrant on which he was apprehended was illegal--amid general rejoicing among the people; he was afterwards prosecuted for an obscene production, an "Essay on Women," and outlawed for non-appearance; he sought an asylum in France, and on his return was elected for Middles.e.x, but instead of being allowed to sit was committed to prison; this treatment made him the object of popular favour; he was elected Lord Mayor of London, re-elected for Middles.e.x, and at length allowed to take his seat in the House; he was for years the cause of popular tumults, the watchword of which was "Wilkes and Liberty"; the cause of civil liberty certainly owes something to him and to the popular agitations which an interest in him stirred up (1727-1797).

WILKIE, SIR DAVID, painter, born at Cults, Fife; executed a great many pictures depicting homely subjects, which were very popular, and are generally well known by the engravings of them, such as the "Rent Day,"

"The Penny Wedding," "Reading the Will," &c., which were followed by others in a more ambitious style, and less appreciated, as well as portraits (1785-1841).

WILKINS, JOHN, bishop of Chester, born in Northamptonshire; married Oliver Cromwell's sister; wrote mathematical treatises, a curious one in particular, "Discovery of a New World," and was one of the founders of the Royal Society (1614-1672).

WILKINSON, SIR JOHN, Egyptologist, born In Westmorland; studied at Oxford; explored the antiquities of Egypt, and wrote largely on the subject (1797-1875).

WILL, FREEDOM OF THE, the doctrine that in and under the dominion of pure reason the will is free, and not free otherwise; that in this element the Will "reigns unquestioned and by Divine right"; only in minds in which volition is treated as a synonym of Desire does this doctrine admit of debate.

WILLEMS, JAN FRANS, Dutch poet and scholar, born near Antwerp; translated "Reynard the Fox" into Flemish, and did much to encourage the Flemings to preserve and cultivate their mother-tongue (1793-1846).

WILLIAM I., THE CONQUEROR, king of England, born at Falaise; became Duke of Normandy by the death of his father; being an illegitimate son had to establish his power with the sword; being the cousin of Edward the Confessor was nominated by him his successor to the English throne, which being usurped by Harold, he invaded England and defeated Harold at Senlac in 1066 and a.s.sumed the royal power, which he established over the length and breadth of the country in 1068; he rewarded his followers with grants of land and lordships over them, subject to the crown; the DOOMSDAY BOOK (q. v.) was compiled by his order, and the kingdom brought into closer relation with the Church of Rome, his adviser in Church matters being LANFRANC, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY (q. v.); died by a fall from his horse when suppressing rebellion in Normandy, and was buried at Caen. He was, as characterised by Carlyle, "in rude outline a true G.o.d-made king, of most flashing discernment, of most strong lion-heart--in whom, as it were, within a frame of oak and iron the G.o.ds had planted the soul of 'a man of genius' ... the essential element, as of all such men, not scorching fire (merely), but shining illuminative light ... the most sure-eyed perception of what is what on this G.o.d's earth." His invasion of England is known as the Norman Conquest, and it involved the introduction of the feudal system and Norman manners in the habits and speech of the English people (1027-1087).

WILLIAM II., king of England, surnamed Rufus or Ruddy, born in Normandy, third son of William I.; succeeded his father in 1087; had to face a rebellion, headed by Bishop Odo, in favour of his eldest brother, Robert, Duke of Normandy, which he suppressed by favour of the ma.s.s of the people, to whom he made promises which he did not keep, for he proved a stern and exacting ruler; his energy was great, but was frequently spasmodic; he added Normandy to his dominion by compact with Robert, who went on Crusade, compelled Malcolm of Scotland to do homage for his kingdom, conducted several campaigns against the Welsh, and had a long-continued wrangle with Archbishop Anselm, virtually in defence of the royal prerogative against the claims of the Church, for a humorous account of the meaning of which see Carlyle's "Past and Present," Book iv. chap. i.; he was accidentally shot while hunting in the New Forest by Walter Tirel, and buried in Winchester Cathedral, but without any religious service; in his reign the Crusades began, and Westminster Hall was built (1066-1100).

WILLIAM III., king of England, born at The Hague, son of William II., Prince of Orange, by Mary, the daughter of Charles I.; during a contest on the part of the United Provinces with Louis XIV. was, in 1672, elected Stadtholder, and by his valour and wisdom brought the war to an end in 1678; married his cousin Mary, daughter of James II.; being invited to England, landed with a large army at Torbay, and on the flight of James to France, he and Mary were proclaimed king and queen of Great Britain and Ireland in 1689; the Scotch and the Irish offered resistance in the interest of the exiled monarch, but the former were defeated at Killiecrankie in 1689, and the latter at the battle of the Boyne in 1690; he was an able man and ruler, but his reign was troubled by an interminable feud with France, and by intrigues on behalf of James both at home and abroad; he died by a fall from his horse at Kensington just as a great war with France was impending; he was through life the adversary of the covetous schemes of Louis, and before his death he had prepared the materials of that coalition which, under Marlborough and Prince Eugene, brought Louis to the brink of ruin; his reign forms one of the great epochs in the history of England, and is known as the Revolution (1650-1702).

WILLIAM IV., king of England, known as the "sailor king," born in Buckingham Palace, the third son of George III.; entered the navy in 1779; saw service under Rodney and Nelson, but practically retired in 1789, as from insubordination he had to do, though he was afterwards promoted to be Admiral of the Fleet, and even Lord High Admiral, and continued to take great interest in naval affairs; after living, as Duke of Clarence, from 1792 to 1816 with Mrs. Jordan, the actress, by whom he had 10 children, he married in 1810 Adelaide, eldest daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen; on the death of the Duke of York in 1827 became heir-presumptive, and on the death of George IV. in 1830 succeeded to the throne; his reign was distinguished by the pa.s.sing of the first Reform Bill in 1832, the abolition of slavery in the colonies in 1833, the reform of the poor-laws in 1834, and the Munic.i.p.al Reform Act in 1835; died at Windsor, and was succeeded by his niece. Queen Victoria (1765-1837).

WILLIAM I., emperor of Germany, born at Berlin, second son of Frederick William III. of Prussia, and brother of Frederick William IV., his predecessor on the Prussian throne; was bred from boyhood to military life, having received his first commission at the age of 10; took part in the war of liberation that preceded the fall of Napoleon, and received his baptism of fire on 14th February 1814; visited England in 1844, and again in 1848, and returned prepossessed in favour of const.i.tutional government, which he found the king had already conceded in his absence; in 1858 he was appointed regent owing to his brother's incapacity, and on 2nd February 1861 he succeeded to the throne, having previously made the acquaintance of Moltke in 1818 and of Bismarck in 1834; on his accession, while professing all due respect to the representatives of the people, he announced his intention to maintain to the uttermost all his rights as king, and this gave rise to a threat of insurrection, but a war with Denmark, which issued in the recovery of the German duchies of Sleswick-Holstein, led to an outburst of loyalty, and this was deepened by the publication of the project of Bismarck to unite all Germany under the crown of Prussia; this provoked a war with Austria, which lasted only seven weeks, and ended with the consent of the latter to the projected unification of the other States, and the establishment of a confederation of these under the headship of the Prussian king, a unification which was consolidated into an Imperial one at the close of the Franco-German War, when, on the 18th January 1871, the Prussian king was proclaimed emperor of Germany in the palace of Versailles; the reign which followed was a peaceful one, and the pledge of peace to the rest of Europe; the emperor was a man of robust frame, of imposing figure, of temperate habits, of firm purpose, conspicuous courage, and devoted with his whole heart to the welfare of his people (1797-1888).

WILLIAM II., emperor of Germany, born at Berlin, grandson of the preceding, and son of Frederick III., whom he succeeded as emperor in 1888; was trained from early boyhood for kinghood, and on his accession to the throne gave evidence of the excellent schooling he had received to equip him for the high post he was called to fill; he showed that the old Hohenzollern blood still flowed in his veins, and that he was minded to be every inch a king; one of the first acts of his reign was to compel the resignation of Bismarck, as it was his intention to reign alone; that he has proved himself equal to his task events since have fully justified, and it is hoped it will be seen that his influence on public affairs will lead to the advantage of the German people and the peace of the world; he is by his mother the grandson of Queen Victoria, and the relationship is full of promise for the union throughout the world of the Teutonic peoples, who have already achieved so much for the good of the race; _b_. 1859.

WILLIAM THE LION, king of Scotland, grandson of David I., and brother of Malcolm IV., whom he succeeded in 1165, and whose surname is supposed to have been derived from his subst.i.tution of the lion for the dragon on the arms of Scotland; was taken captive when invading England at Alnwick Castle in 1174; sent prisoner to Falaise, in Normandy, but liberated on acknowledgment of va.s.salage to the English king, a claim which Richard I. surrendered on payment by the Scots of 10,000 marks to aid him in the Crusade; was the first king of Scotland to form an alliance with France; died at Stirling after a reign of 49 years (1143-1214).

WILLIAM THE SILENT, Prince of Orange, a cadet of the n.o.ble house of Na.s.sau, the first Stadtholder of the Netherlands, a Protestant by birth; he was brought up a Catholic, but being at heart more a patriot than a Catholic, he took up arms in the cause of his country's freedom, and did not rest till he had virtually freed it from the Spanish yoke, which was then the dominant Catholic power; his enemies procured his a.s.sa.s.sination in the end, and he was murdered by Belthazar Gerard, at Delft; he was brought up at the court of Charles V., where "his circ.u.mspect demeanour procured him the surname of Silent, but under the cold exterior he concealed a busy, far-sighted intellect, and a generous, upright, daring heart" (1533-1584).

WILLIAMS, ISAAC, Tractarian, born in Wales; educated at Oxford; got acquainted with Keble; wrote religious poetry and Tract Lx.x.x. on "Reserve in Religious Teaching" (1802-1865).

WILLIAMS, JOHN, missionary and martyr, born near London; brought up an ironmonger; offered his services to the London Missionary Society; was sent out in 1816 to the Society Islands; laboured with conspicuous success among the natives; came home in 1834, and after four years returned, but was murdered at Erromango in the New Hebrides, and his body eaten by the cannibals (1796-1839).

WILLIAMS, SIR MONIER MONIER-, Sanskrit scholar, born at Bombay; appointed Boden professor of Sanskrit at Oxford, 1860; author of a Sanskrit Grammar and Lexicon, and projected the founding of the Indian Inst.i.tute; _b_. 1819.

WILLIAMS, ROGER, founder of the State of Rhode Island, U.S., born in Wales; being a Puritan, fled the country to escape persecution, and settled in New England, where he hoped to enjoy the religious freedom he was denied at home, but was received with disfavour by the earlier settlers as, from his extreme views, a "troubler of Israel," and obliged to separate himself and establish a colony of his own, which he did at Providence by favour of an Indian tribe he had made friends of, and under a charter from the Long Parliament of England, obtained through Sir Henry Vane, where he extended to others the toleration he desired for himself; he was characterised by Milton, who knew him, as "that n.o.ble champion of religious liberty" (1600-1683).

WILLIAMS, ROWLAND, English clergyman, born in Flintshire; was a prominent member of the Broad Church party; was condemned, though the judgment was reversed, by the Court of Arches, for a paper contributed to the famous "Essays and Reviews"; wrote "Rational G.o.dliness,"

"Christianity and Hinduism," &c. (1817-1870).

WILLIBROD, ST., the "Apostle of the Frisians," born in Northumbria; was the chief of a company of 12 monks who went as missionaries from Ireland to Friesland, where they were welcomed by Pepin d'Heristal, and afterwards favoured by his son, Charles Martel; he founded an abbey near Treves; when he was about to baptize the Duke of Friesland, it is said the duke turned away when he was told his ancestors were in h.e.l.l, saying he would rather be with them there than in heaven without them (658-739).