WALLACE, LEWIS (1827-1905).—Novelist,b.at Brookville, Indiana, served with distinction in the Mexican and Civil Wars, and rose to the rank of General. He was also a politician of some note, and was Governor of Utah and Minister to Turkey. His novel,Ben Hur(1880), dealing with the times of Christ, had great popularity, and was followed byThe Fair God,The Prince of India, and other novels, and by a work on theBoyhood of Christ.
WALLER, EDMUND (1606-1687).—Poet,b.at Coleshill, Herts, anded.at Eton and Camb., belonged to an old and wealthy family, and in early childhood inherited the estate of Beaconsfield, Bucks, worth £3500 a year. He was related to John Hampden, and was distantly connected with Oliver Cromwell, his own family, however, being staunch Royalists. He studied law at Lincoln's Inn, and at the age of 16 became a member of Parliament, in which he sat for various constituencies for the greater part of his life, and in which his wit and vivacity, as well as his powers of adapting his principles to the times, enabled him to take a prominent part. In 1631 he added to his fortune by marrying Anne Banks, a London heiress, whod.in 1634, and he then paid assiduous but unsuccessful court to Lady Dorothea Sidney, to whom, under the name of Sacharissa, he addressed much of his best poetry. Though probably really a Royalist in his sympathies, W. supported the popularcause in Parliament, and in 1641 conducted the case against Sir Francis Crawley for his opinion in favour of the legality of ship-money. His speech, which was printed, had an enormous circulation and brought him great fame. Two years later, however, he was detected in a plot for seizing London for the King, was expelled from the House, fined £10,000, and banished. On this occasion he showed cowardice and treachery, humiliating himself in the most abject manner, and betraying all his associates. He went to the Continent, living chiefly in France and Switzerland, and showing hospitality to Royalist exiles. Returning by permission in 1652 he addressed some laudatory verses, among the best he wrote, to Cromwell, on whose death nevertheless he wrote a new poem entitled,On the Death of the late Usurper, O.C.On the Restoration the accommodating poet was ready with a congratulatory address to Charles II., who, pointing out its inferiority as a poem to that addressed to Cromwell, elicited the famous reply, "Poets, Sire, succeed better in fiction than in truth." The poem, however, whatever its demerits, succeeded in its prime object, and the poet became a favourite at Court, and sat in Parliament until his death. In addition to his lighter pieces, on which his fame chiefly rests, W. wrote an epic,The Summer Islands(Bermudas), and a sacred poem,Divine Love. His short poems, such as "On a Girdle," often show fancy and grace of expression, but are frequently frigid and artificial, and exhibit absolute indifference to the charms of Nature. As a man, though agreeable and witty, he was time-serving, selfish, and cowardly. Clarendon has left a very unflattering "character" of him. Hem.a second time and had five sons and eight daughters.
WALLER, JOHN FRANCIS (1810-1894).—Poet,b.at Limerick, anded.at Trinity Coll., Dublin, became a contributor to and ultimately ed. of theDublin University Magazine, usually writing under the pseudonym of "Jonathan Freke Slingsby." His works includeRavenscroft Hall(1852),The Dead Bridal(1856), andPeter Brown(1872).
WALPOLE, HORATIO or HORACE (1717-1797).—Miscellaneous writer, thirds.of Sir Robert W., the great minister of George II., wasb.in London, anded.at Eton and Camb., after which he travelled on the Continent withGray, the poet (q.v.). Hisf.bestowed several lucrative appointments upon him, and he sat in Parliament for various places, but never took any prominent part in public business. By the death of his nephew, the 3rd Earl, he became in 1791 4th Earl of Orford. In 1747 he purchased the villa of Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, the conversion of which into a small Gothic Castle and the collection of the works of art and curios with which it was decorated was the main interest of his subsequent life. His position in society gave him access to the best information on all contemporary subjects of interest, and he was as successful in collecting gossip as curios. He also erected a private press, from which various important works, including Gray'sBard, as well as his own writings, were issued. Among the latter areLetter from Xo Ho to his Friend Lien Chi at Pekin(1757),The Castle of Otranto, the forerunner of the romances of terror of Mrs. Radcliffe and "Monk" Lewis,The Mysterious Mother(1768), a tragedy of considerable power,Catalogueof Royal and Noble Authors,Anecdotes of Painting,Catalogue of Engravers(1763),Essay on Modern Gardening,Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of George II.,Memoirs of the Reign of George III., and above all hisLetters, 2700 in number, vivacious, interesting, and often brilliant. W. neverm.
WALPOLE, SIR SPENCER (1839-1907).—Historian,s.of the Right Hon. Spencer W., Home Sec. in the three Derby Cabinets, belonged to the same family as Sir Robert W.Ed.at Eton he became a clerk in the War Office, and was thereafter successively Inspector of Fisheries 1867, Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man 1882, and Sec. to the Post Office, where he made a reputation as an efficient administrator, and was made K.C.B. in 1898. Hepub.History of England from1815 in 6 vols., bringing the story down to 1858, and followed it up withThe History of Twenty-five Years. He also wrote Lives of Spencer Percival, Prime Minister 1809-12, who was assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons in the latter year, and who was his maternal grandfather, and of Earl Russell. His latest book wasStudies in Biography. He wrote with much knowledge, and in a clear and sober style.
WALTON, IZAAK (1593-1683).—Biographer, and author ofThe Compleat Angler,s.of a yeoman, wasb.at Stafford. Of his earlier years little is known. He carried on business as a hosier in London, in which he made a modest competence, which enabled him to retire at 50, the rest of his long life of 90 years being spent in the simple country pleasures, especially angling, which he so charmingly describes. He was twicem., first to Rachel Floud, a descendant of Archbishop Cranmer, and second to Ann Ken, half-sister of the author of the Evening Hymn. His first book was aLife of Dr. Donne(1640), followed by Lives of Sir Henry Wotton (1651), Richard Hooker (1662), George Herbert (1670), and Bishop Sanderson (1678). All of these, classics in their kind, short, but simple and striking, werecoll.into one vol. His masterpiece, however, wasThe Compleat Angler, the first ed. of which waspub.in 1653. Subsequent ed. were greatly enlarged; a second part was added byCharles Cotton(q.v.). With its dialogues between Piscator (angler), Venator (hunter), and Auceps (falconer), full of wisdom, kindly humour, and charity, its charming pictures of country scenes and pleasures, and its snatches of verse, it is one of the most delightful and care-dispelling books in the language. His long, happy, and innocent life ended in the house of his son-in-law, Dr. Hawkins, Prebendary of Winchester, where in the Cathedral he lies buried.
WARBURTON, BARTHOLOMEW ELIOT GEORGE (1810-1852).—Miscellaneous writer,b.in County Galway, travelled in the East, andpub.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 steamerAmazon.
WARBURTON, WILLIAM (1698-1779).—Theologian,b.at Newark, where hisf.was an attorney. Intended for the law, he was for a few years engaged in its practice, but his intense love of, andcapacity 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 wasThe Alliance between Church and State(1736), which brought him into notice. But it was entirely eclipsed by hisDivine 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 publishing aVindication. It, however, obtained for him the appointment of chaplain to Frederick, Prince of Wales. In 1739 W. gained the friendship of Pope by publishing a defence ofThe 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 alsopub.an ed. of Shakespeare with notes, which was somewhat severely criticised, and hisDoctrine 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", (seeBROWN, 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; andDe 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 hepub.The Ideal of a Christian Churchfrom 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 whichThe Wide, Wide World(1851) had an extraordinary popularity. Others wereQueechy(1852),The Old Helmet(1863), andMelbourne 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 Yorkshire, studied at Oxf., and was an attorney in London. In1585 hepub.a collection of seven tales in prose entitledPan his Syrinx, and in 1595 a translation of theMenæchmiof Plautus. His chief work wasAlbion's England,pub.in 1586 in 13 books of fourteen-syllabled verse, and republished with 3 additional books in 1606. The title 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 entitle this my bookAlbion'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 classes. The plain-spoken, jolly humour, homely, lively, direct tales, vigorous patriotic feeling, and rough-and-tumble metre of Warner's muse, and its heterogeneous accumulation 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 latitude of expression, which may partly account for the rapidity with which his book fell into oblivion.
WARREN, SAMUEL (1807-1877).—Novelist,b.in Denbighshire,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 ofPassages from the Diary of a late Physician, which appeared (1832-37) first inBlackwood's Magazine, as did alsoTen 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, elders.of the Rev. Thomas W., Prof. of Poetry at Oxf., wased.at Basingstoke School, (of which hisf.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. Hepub.miscellaneous verses, 2 vols. ofOdes(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 classical scholar, and made an approved translation of theEcloguesandGeorgicsof Virgil. He and his brotherThomas(q.v.) were friends of Johnson, and members of the Literary Club. His last work of importance was anEssay 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 hed.
WARTON, THOMAS (1728-1790).—Literary historian and critic, youngers.of Thomas W., Prof. of Poetry at Oxf., and brotherof the above, wased.under hisf.at Basingstoke and at Oxf. At the age of 19 hepub.a poem of considerable promise,The Pleasures of Melancholy, and two years later attracted attention byThe Triumph of Isis(1749), in praise of Oxf., and in answer to Mason'sIsis. After various other poetical excursions hepub.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 classics and biographies of college benefactors, he issued, from 1774-81, his greatHistory 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 classical school. His ed. of Milton's minor poems has been pronounced 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 hisf.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, Lincolnshire, anded.at Camb., took orders, and obtained various preferments, becoming Master of Magdalene Coll., Camb. 1713, Chancellor of York 1722, and Archdeacon of Middlesex 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 aHistory of the Athanasian Creed(1723).
WATERTON, CHARLES (1782-1865).—Naturalist, belonged to an old Roman Catholic family in Yorkshire, and wased.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 entertainingWanderings 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 hisf.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, includingBeside the Bonnie Briar BushandTheDays of Auld Lang Syne, which had great popularity both at home and in America. He also wrote religious works, of whichThe Mind of the Masteris the best known.
WATSON, ROBERT (1730-1781).—Historian,s.of an apothecary in St. Andrews, where and at Edin. and Glasgow, he wased.He became Prof. of Logic, and afterwards Principal 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 theAntigoneof Sophocles. In 1582 hepub.Hecatompathia, or The Passionate Centurie of Love, consisting of 100 eighteen-line poems, which he called sonnets. It was followed byAmyntas(1585) andTeares of Fansie(1593).
WATTS, ALARIC ALEXANDER (1797-1864).—Poet,b.in London, had an active career as a journalist. He founded theUnited Service Gazette, and ed. various newspapers and an annual, theLiterary Souvenir. His poems werecoll.asLyrics of the Heart. His numerous journalistic ventures finally resulted in bankruptcy.
WATTS, ISAAC (1674-1748).—Poet and theologian,b.at Southampton, where hisf.kept a school, anded.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 onLogicandThe 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 God our Help in Ages Past," and "When I survey the Wondrous Cross," which has been called "the most majestic hymn in English speech." HisHoræ Lyricæwaspub.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, wasb.at Rochdale and, after a little schooling, apprenticed to a printer. He read eagerly, and became assistant sec. to the Lancashire Public School Association. He first attracted attention by his sketches of Lancashire life and character in theManchester Examiner. He wrote also in proseFactory Folk,Besom Ben Stories, andThe Chimney Corner. His best work was, perhaps, his dialect songs,coll.asPoems and Songs(1859), which brought him great local fame. He was possessed of considerable literary gift, and has been called "the Lancashire Burns."
WEBBE, WILLIAM (b.1550).—Critic and translator. Almost nothing is known of him except that he was at Camb. andacted as tutor in certain distinguished families, and was a friend of Spenser. He wrote aDiscourse 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 theEcloguesof 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, includingBlanche Lisle,Dramatic Studies(1866),Portraits(1870),A Book of Rhyme(1881), and some dramas, includingThe Auspicious Day(1874),Disguises, andThe Sentence(1887). She also made translations ofPrometheus BoundandMedea.
WEBSTER, DANIEL (1782-1852).—Orator,s.of a farmer in New Hampshire, 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 hispub.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 thes.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), andThe Duchess 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., anded.at Yale. His long life was spent in unremitting diligence as teacher, lawyer, and man of letters. His great work is his AmericanDictionary 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. waspub.HisElementary Spelling Bookis believed to have attained a circulation of 70,000,000 copies. He alsopub.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 1822Stories 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 manuscripts of plays and poems; but on the new interest excited in hisJosephhe added some new scenes. In his later years he lived in France.Joseph and his Brethrened. in the World's Classics, 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 hed.He wroteFlores 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 ofJohn W.(q.v.), wasb.at Epworth, anded.at Westminster School and Oxf. He was all his life closely associated 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 survivings.of the Rev. Samuel W., Rector of Epworth, Lincolnshire. 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. wased.at the Charterhouse and at Oxf., and was ordained deacon in 1725, and priest in 1728. After assisting hisf.for a short time as curate, he returned to Oxf., where he found that his brotherCharles, along with G. Whitefield (q.v.) and others, had begun that association for religious improvement from which sprang the great religious movement known as Methodism. About the same time the two brothers came under the influence ofWilliam Law(q.v.), author of theSerious Call, and in 1735 John went on a mission to Georgia to preach to the Indians and colonists, and became closely associated with the Moravian Brethren. Difficulties of a personal character, however, led to his return in 1738 to London, where he continued to associate 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 assumed 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 classics, histories of Rome and England, a history of the Church, biblical commentaries, manifold controversial treatises and ed. of religious classics. 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 hisJournal, 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 association with the Moravians. W. wasm.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, includingThe Old Factory,Strange Crimes,Her Ladyship'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.
WHATELEY, RICHARD (1787-1863).—Theologian and economist,s.of the Rev. Dr. Joseph W.,b.in London, anded.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 onThe 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 onLogic(1826) andRhetoric(1828), hisHistoric Doubts relative to Napoleon Buonaparte(1819), intended as areductio ad absurdumof 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'sEssayswith valuable notes, and of Paley'sEvidences.
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'sHecatomithi, was used by Shakespeare inMeasure for Measure.
WHEWELL, WILLIAM (1794-1866).—Philosopher, theologian and mathematician,s.of a joiner at Lancaster, where he wasb.,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 onAstronomy 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), andPlatonic 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 ofDiscoursesandMoral 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 includeCharacter 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, anded.at Camb., where he succeeded Newton as Lucasian Prof. of Mathematics, was a prominent advocate of the Newtonian system, and wrote aTheory of the Earthagainst the views ofThomas Burnet(q.v.). He also wrote several theological works,Primitive Christianity Revivedand thePrimitive New Testament. The Arian views promulgated in the former led to his expulsion from the Univ. His best known work was his translation ofJosephus. He was a kindly and honest, but eccentric and impracticable man, and an insatiable controversialist.
WHITE, GILBERT (1720-1793).—Naturalist,b.at Selborne, Hants, anded.along with theWartons(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 ofPennantthe naturalist (q.v.), and other men of science, andpub.in the form of letters the work which has made him immortal,The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne(1789). He was neverm., 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 hisf., 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 hed.at 21. Southey wrote a short memoirof him with some additional poems. His chief poem was theChristiad, 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 wasb., 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), andSecond 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.