work was his Bloody Tenent, written in answer to Cotton's treatise, which upheld the right and enforced the duty of the civil magistrate to regulate the doctrines of the church. This called forth a reply from Cotton, entitled the Bloody Tenent Washed and made White in the Blood of the Lambe; and this was followed by a rejoinder from Williams, entitled the Bloody Tenent yet more Bloody, by Mr. Cotton's Endeavor to Wash it White. In these works of Williams, the doctrine of religious liberty and unlimited toleration are illustrated in strong language, and supported by stronger arguments-arguments that preceded those of Locke, Bayle and Furneau. In 1672, Williams had a controversy with the Quakers. He maintained a public dispute with them at Newport and at Providence, in August, 1672, and afterwards published his George Foxe digged out of his Burrowes, in answer to a work of Fox. This is a rare book.

WILLIAMS, William, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born April 8, 1731, at Lebanon, in Connecticut, where his father was the minister of a parish. At the age of sixteen, he entered Harvard college, and graduated with honor in due time. After serving a long time in the legislature of his native state, he was, during the years 1776 and 1777, a member of the general congress. At one time, when the paper money was of so little value, that military services could not be procured for it, he exchanged for it more than two thousand dollars in specie for the benefit of the cause, which he never recovered. He contributed to arouse the spirit of freedom by several essays on political subjects, and once by an impressive speech. During the whole revolutionary war, he was very useful in obtaining private contributions of supplies for the army. He died Aug. 2, 1811, in the eighty-first year of his age.

WILLIAMS, Otho Holland, a brigadier general in the American army, was born in Prince George's county, Maryland, in 1748. He was first placed in the clerk's office of his native county, and then removed to the clerk's office of the county of Baltimore, of which he had the principal direction. In the beginning of the revolutionary struggle, he was appointed lieutenant in the company of riflemen raised in the county of Frederick, and marched, in 1775, to the American camp near Boston. The following year, a rifle regiment was organized, in which he was appointed major. It formed part of the

garrison of fort Washington, in New York, when captured by the British, and gained great honor by the gallant manner in which it withstood the attack of the Hessian column to which it was opposed. Major Williams was taken prisoner with the rest of the defenders of the fort, but was soon exchanged. While in captivity, he became entitled to the command of a regiment, and, on recovering his liberty, was placed at the head of the sixth Maryland. The Maryland and Delaware lines having been detached to South Carolina, soon after the reduction of Charleston, he accompanied the baron de Kalb; and, when general Gates assumed the command of the southern army, he was named adjutant-general, in which station he remained until the close of the war. In the disastrous battle of Camden, he behaved with great distinction. At the crossing of the river Dan, he performed efficient service; and he was very useful in thwarting the various attempts of Cornwallis to strike a blow at Greene after the return of the latter into North Carolina. Previous to the disbandment of the army, congress made him brigadier-general. He died in July, 1794, of a pulmonary complaint.

WILLIAMS, Helen Maria; a distinguished writer on history and general literature, born in the north of England, in 1762. She went to London at the age of eighteen, and was introduced to the literary world by doctor Andrew Kippis. The first production of her pen appears to have been a legendary tale, in verse, entitled Edwin and Eltruda (1782); and this was followed by an Ode on Peace (1783); Peru, a poem (1784), and a Collection of Miscellaneous Poems (1786, 2 vols., 8vo.). In 1788, she published a poem On the Slave-Trade; and, the same year, she visited France, where she formed many literary and political connexions. In 1790, she went again to France, and settled at Paris; and soon after appeared her Letters written from France, in the Summer of 1790, of which she published a continuation in 1792. The object of these, and of some contemporary productions of this lady, was to recommend the doctrines of the Girondists (q. v.); and, consequently, on their fall, under the tyranny of Robespierre, she incurred great danger, and, being arrested, was for some time a prisoner in the Temple at Paris. On obtaining her freedom, she renewed her application to literary pursuits. sides many works of minor importance, she engaged in an English translation of

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the Personal Narrative of the Travels of Humboldt and Bonpland in America (1814-1821, 6 vols., 8vo.). Miss Williams died at Paris, in December, 1827. In addition to the works already mentioned, she wrote Julia, a novel (2 vols.); a Narrative of Events in France in 1815; Letters on the Events which passed in France since the Restoration in 1815; and other pieces; and she was at one time a contributor to the New Annual Register. WILLIAMSBURG; the seat of justice for James City county, Virginia, twelve miles west of Yorktown; population about 1500. It was formerly the metropolis of the state, but has greatly declined. The college of William and Mary was founded here in 1693, in the time of king William, who gave it an endowment of £2000 and 20,000 acres of land, together with a revenue of a penny a pound on tobacco exported to the plantations from Virginia and Maryland. To these, other endowments were added; and the whole annual income of the college was formerly estimated at £3000. The income has greatly diminished, and its accommodations are poor. It has seven instructers, and sixty students, and a library of 3600 volumes. The commencement is on the 4th of July. WILLIAMSON, Hugh, was born Dec. 5, 1735, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and graduated at the college of Philadelphia, May 17, 1757. He early showed much fondness for mathematics. He studied theology, and was licensed to preach; but the infirm state of his health induced him to relinquish the pulpit, and to turn his attention to the study of medicine. From 1760 to 1763, he was professor of mathematics in the college of Philadelphia. In 1764, he went to Edinburgh to pursue his medical studies. He next proceeded to London, where he studied twelve months, and then repaired to the university of Utrecht. After his return to Philadelphia, he practised for some years with much success, but, at length, gave up the profession on account of the weak state of his health, and remained a number of years devoted to literary and philosophical pursuits. In 1769, he was appointed by the American philosophical society a member of the committee to observe the transit of Venus and Mercury over the sun's disk, which occurred in that year. The results of the observations made by him are contained in the first volume of the Transactions of the society. In this year, moreover, he presented to the American philosophical society a theory respecting a remarkable

comet that had appeared in the month of September. The tail, he contended, was only the atmosphere of the comet thrown behind the nucleus as it approached the sun, and illuminated by the refracted rays of the sun's light. The body of the comet, he conceived, might be habitable. In 1770, doctor Williamson published, in the Transactions of the above-mentioned society, some remarks upon the amelioration of climate which had taken place more especially in the middle colonies of North America, which obtained consider. able attention in Europe. In 1773, he was appointed, in conjunction with doctor Ewing, to make a tour through England, Scotland and Ireland, to solicit benefactions for the academy of Newark, in Delaware; but, owing to the irritation subsisting at the time against the colonies, they were not very successful. They sailed from Boston just after the destruction of the tea; and doctor Williamson was examined upon the subject before his majesty's privy council. He gave the first correct information to the ministry respecting the state of public feeling; and lord North declared that he was the first person whom he had ever heard intimate the probability of a war. Some time afterwards, he obtained possession of the celebrated letters of Hutchinson and Oliver, and gave them to doctor Franklin, who transmitted them to Boston, by which the machinations of those persons were discovered. The letters were obtained in a singular manner: Having heard that they were deposited in an office (appertaining, it is believed, to the treasury department) different from that in which they ought regularly to have been placed, and having understood that there was little exactness in the transaction of the business of that office, doctor Williamson repaired to it, and stated that he had come for the last letters that had been received from governor Hutchinson and Mr. Oliver, mentioning, at the same time, the office in which they should have been placed. The letters were delivered to him, and, after carrying them to doctor Franklin, he left London the next day for Holland. He returned to America in 1777. The ship in which he sailed was captured off the capes of Delaware; but he, with another passenger, escaped in an open boat, with some very important public despatches, of which he was the bearer. Soon afterwards, he went to Charleston on a mercantile speculation, and thence to Edenton, in North Carolina, where he settled, and traded to neu

tral islands in the West Indies. He also resumed there the practice of medicine, and, in the beginning of 1780, was placed at the head of the medical department of the militia of North Carolina, despatched to the relief of South Carolina after the occupation of Charleston by the enemy. In the autumn of the same year, he was invested with a similar trust. In the spring of 1782, he was chosen a representative of Edenton in the house of commons of North Carolina, and was afterwards elected to congress. In 1787, he was one of the delegates from North Carolina to the convention at Philadelphia that framed the federal constitution, of which he was a decided advocate. In December of the same year, he was again honored with a seat in congress, but declined a reelection. The last act of his public career was attending the second convention of North Carolina, in 1789, to consider the adoption of the federal constitution, the first having rejected it. It was carried by a majority of two to one. He then retired to private life, the tranquillity of which was interrupted by domestic losses, the deaths of his wife and his two sons. He persevered, however, in his literary and philosophical pursuits. In 1811, he published, in one volume, 8vo., his Observations on the Climate in different Parts of America, compared with the Climate in corresponding Parts of the other Continent, and exposed the futility of the assertion that America is a country in which the frigid temperature and vice of the climate prevent the growth and expansion of animal and vegetable nature, and cause the degeneration of man and beast. In 1812, appeared his History of North Carolina (2 vols., 8vo.)-a valuable addition to the annals of the American continent. His death occurred suddenly, May 22, 1819, in the eighty-fifth year of his age.

WILLIAMSTOWN; a post-town of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, at the northwest corner of the state, 28 miles north of Lenox, 135 west by north from Boston; population in 1830, 2137. It has two Congregational churches and a college. Williams college was incorporated in 1793. The buildings are two brick edifices of four stories, and a laboratory. In 1831, there were seven instructers, 115 students, 2550 volumes in the library, and 2000 in the students' libraries. The whole number of graduates was then 721. Commencement is on the first Wednesday in September. There is a medical school connected with this col

lege, but it is situated at Pittsfield. In 1831, it had 85 students.

WILLOW (salix). The species of willow are very numerous, and most of them are confined to the more northern parts of the globe. They are trees or shrubs, with alternate and usually lanceolate leaves, and inconspicuous flowers, which are dicecious, and disposed in aments. Most of them grow in moist situations, and are constant attendants along the margins of streams and water-courses. This genus is considered the most difficult to understand of the whole vegetable world, as the male and female flowers are situated upon different plants, appear before the expansion of the leaves, and soil, situation and climate produce a very considerable change in their appearance. The bark of some willows is employed for tanning, and sometimes, from its bitter and astringent properties, is given, in intermittent fevers, as a substitute for cinchona. The long pliant branches of the osiers are used for the fabrication of baskets, and other agricultural implements; and they are cultivated pretty extensively for these purposes.-The weeping willow (S. Babylonica), so generally admired for its long, pendent branches, grows wild in Persia, and, besides, has long been a favorite ornamental tree in China. Almost all the willows are of the easiest propagation and culture. Care should be taken, however, with most of them, that the soil is not absolutely bog or marsh.

WILMINGTON; a borough and port of entry in Newcastle county, Delaware, between the Brandywine and Christiana creeks, one mile above their confluence, and two miles west of the Delaware; lat. 39° 43′ N.; lon. 77° 34' W. It is twentyeight miles south-west of Philadelphia. The town is built on a gently-rising ground, the most elevated part of which is one hundred and twelve feet above tide-water; and its situation is pleasant and healthy. It is regularly laid out, and most of the buildings are of brick. It has considerable trade, and is the largest town in the state. Population in 1820, 5268; in 1830, 6628. The Christiana is navigable as far as Wilmington, for vessels drawing fourteen feet of water. On the Brandywine, at a little distance from the town, there is a considerable village, about one half of which belongs to this borough. Here is the finest collection of flour-mills in the U. States, known as the Brandywine mills. They are situated at different places within ten miles of Wil

mington; and many factories are established within the same district.

WILMINGTON; a post-town, port of entry, and capital of New Hanover county, North Carolina, on the east side of cape Fear river, just below the confluence of the north-east and north-west branches, about thirty-five miles from the sea, ninety miles south-east of Fayetteville; lat. 34° 11' N.; lon. 78° 10′ W.; population in 1820, 2633. It contains the county buildings, two banks, and has an extensive trade. The principal part of all the exports from North Carolina are from Wilmington. The harbor admits vessels of three hundred tons; but the entrance is rendered difficult by a large shoal. Opposite the town, there are two islands, which divide the river into three streams. These afford the best rice-fields in the state. November 4, 1819, about two hundred buildings were consumed by fire. The damage was estimated at $1,000,000. WILMOT. (See Rochester.)

WILNA (Wilno); a city of Russia, capital of the government of Wilna, formerly capital of Lithuania, on the Wilia, 170 miles east of Königsberg, 350 southsouth-west of Petersburg; lon. 25° 17' E.; lat. 54° 41' N.; population in 1826, 25,000, Jews 5000; see of a Greek archbishop and of a Catholic bishop. It has thirty-five Roman Catholic churches and convents. It is situated in a hilly country, and occupies several eminences near the river; is about four miles in circuit, built chiefly of wood, very deficient in cleanliness, and exhibits a striking contrast of wretchedness in some buildings, and gorgeousness in others. It contained a Catholic university, established in 1570, and new-modelled in 1803. In 1832, the university was suppressed, undoubtedly on account of the insurrection of Lithuania. Here is a seminary for the education of clergy of the Greek church, and one for the education of Catholic clergy, and a college of Piarists. The trade consists in the export of corn, hemp, flax, honey, wax, and other products of the surrounding country, conveyed by the Wilia and Niemen to Memel and Königsberg.

The Government of Wilna contains 25,000 square miles and 1,350,000 inhabitants. It is a plain, with some slight elevations, woods, morasses and lakes. In general, the soil is fertile, producing much grain, flax and hemp. The manufactures are unimportant. The inhabitants are Lithuanians, Lettes, Poles, Jews, Greeks, Tatars, Russians and Germans.

WILSON, Richard, an English landscape

painter, was born at Pineges, in Montgomeryshire, in 1714. After receiving a classical education, he was sent to London, and placed as a pupil with an obscure portrait painter. On leaving his master, he first practised in the same branch of his profession in London, but with no great success. At length he went to Italy, where he occasionally exercised his talents in studies of landscape; and at Venice meeting with Zuccarelli, that artist persuaded him to devote himself wholly to the cultivation of that department of the art in which he attained so much excellence. After staying some time at Rome and Naples, where he aoquired great reputation, he returned to England in 1755, and settled in the metropolis. He had for a while much employment; but he was at length doomed to undergo indifference and neglect, and was reduced to solicit the office of librarian to the royal academy, of which he was one of the brightest ornaments. He died in May, 1782. His taste was exquisite; and whatever came from his easel bore the stamp of elegance and truth. If posthumous fame could compensate for contemporary neglect, the fate of Wilson might be considered as fortunate; for he has been ranked among the greatest artists of modern times.

WILSON, James, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Scotland about the year 1742. His father was a respectable farmer. He studied successively at Glasgow, St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and then left Scotland for America. He arrived, in 1766, in Philadelphia, where he was first employed as a tutor in the Philadelphia college and academy, in which capacity he acquired a high reputation as a classical scholar. In a few months, however, he relinquished that occupation, and commenced the study of the law in the office of the celebrated John Dickinson. At the expiration of two years, he was admitted to the bar, and began to practise, first at Reading, and then at Carlisle. From the latter place he removed to Annapolis, and, in 1778, returned to Philadelphia, where he continued to reside during the rest of his life. He was elected, in 1775, a member of congress, and took his seat on the 10th of May. He was a uniform advocate of the declaration of independence, though he may have thought, perhaps, that the measure was brought forward prematurely: he voted in favor of it, as well on the 1st of July, in opposition to the majority of his colleagues from Penn

sylvania, as on the 4th, in conjunction with the majority. In 1777, he was superseded in congress, through the influence of party spirit; but, in 1782, he was again honored with a seat. A few months previously, he had been appointed, by the president and supreme executive council, a counsellor and agent for Pennsylvania, in the controversy between that state and Connecticut, relating to certain lands within the charter boundary of the former, and which were claimed by the latter as included within her charter. The decision was in favor of Pennsylvania. In 1779, he received the appointment of advocate-general for the French government in the U. States, an office the duties of which were both arduous and delicate. He resigned it in 1781, in consequence of difficulties respecting the mode of remuneration. He continued, however, to give advice in such cases as were laid before him by the ministers and consuls of France, until 1783, when the French transmitted to him a present of ten thousand livres. In 1787, Mr. Wilson was a member of the convention which framed the constitution of the U. States, and was one of the committee who reported the draught. In the state convention of Pennsylvania, he was principally efficient in causing the constitution to be adopted. He was subsequently a member of the convention which changed the constitution of Pennsylvania, to render it conformable to that of the U. States, and, being one of the committee appointed to prepare, was intrusted with the duty of making the draught of the necessary form. In 1789, he was appointed, by general Washington, a judge of the supreme court of the U. States; and, whilst on a circuit in North Carolina, in the discharge of his functions as such, he died at Edenton, 28th of August, 1798, aged about fifty-six years. As a lawyer and judge, Mr. Wilson was eminent for talent and integrity. In private life, he was courteous, kind and hospitable. His political and legal disquisitions are extant in three volumes, and much esteemed.

WILSON, Alexander, was born at Paisley, in Scotland, in 1766. His parents were industrious people of an humble rank in life; and in his thirteenth year, young Wilson was bound apprentice to a weaver. After serving an apprenticeship of three years, and working as a journeyman weaver for about four years, during which period he had cultivated his mind by his own unaided exertions, and had

already given indications of poetical talent, disgusted with the confined and tedious nature of his employment, he abandoned the loom, and adopted the life of a wandering pedler. Three years were spent in this mode of life; and, in 1789, having already prepared a volume of poems for publication, he offered his muslins, and solicited subscriptions for his work at the same time. Unsuccessful in the latter object, and tired of a pedler's life, he once more returned to the loom. In 1791, he published a poem under the title of the Laurel Disputed, on the comparative merits of Allan Ramsay and Robert Fergusson, and, in 1792, his Watty and Meg, which, having appeared anonymously, was ascribed to Burns. Having soon after written a severe satire upon a person in Paisley, Wilson was thrown into prison: he was likewise looked upon with suspicion as a member of the society of the Friends of the People, who hailed the French revolution as a new morning of liberty; and, impelled by these circumstances, he determined to come out to the U. States. He arrived at Newcastle in 1794, and again resumed hig former trade, but, after a while, turned school-master, acting in this capacity in several places in Pennsylvania. It was while thus engaged at Kingsess, near Philadelphia, that he became acquainted with Mr. Bartram, the naturalist, and Mr. Lawson, an engraver, whose tastes and instructions proved the occasion of calling out his own talents. He had already undertaken some long excursions for making ornithological researches, and devoted much time to the study, when he was engaged, in 1806, to assist in editing the American edition of Rees's Cyclopedia, and now began to prepare for the publication of his work on American ornithology. The first volume of this work was published in 1808, and the seventh in 1813, in which year the author died. The interval had been passed in exploring different parts of the country, for the purpose of extending his observations, collecting specimens, and watching the habits of birds in their native haunts. The eighth and ninth volumes of this great work were published in 1814, under the care of Mr. Ord, who had been the companion of several of his exploring expeditions. The ninth volume contains a notice of Wilson, by the editor. Three supplementary volumes, containing Amer→ ican birds not described by Wilson, have been published by Charles Lucien Bonaparte (fol., 1825—1828).