ence. Though almost every branch of science, at different times, occupied his attention, chemistry was that to which he seems to have been most ardently devoted; and it was by his investigations in that department of philosophy that he attained the most distinguished reputation. He was accustomed to pursue his chemical examinations on the smallest specimens of the substance which he was analysing; and he invented an ingenious method of determining the properties and constituents of very minute quantities of matter. He was endowed with bodily senses of extraordinary acuteness and accuracy, as well as with great general vigor of understanding, and had acquired a powerful command over his attention, and habituated himself to the most rigid correctness of thought and language. Among his inventions are his sliding rule, or scale of chemical equivalents (see Equivalents, Chemical); the goniometer, or in strument for measuring the angles of crystals; the camera lucida, &c.; and we are indebted to him for the discovery of two new metals, palladium and rhodium (see the articles), and of the malleability of platina. (q.v.) Doctor Wollaston was the author of a great number of communications to the Transactions of the Royal Society, of which he was a member, and of several articles in doctor Thomson's Annals of Philosophy, and other periodical works.

WOLLASTONITE. (See Tabular Spar.) WÖLLNER, John Christian von; notorious in the ignominious government of Frederic William II of Prussia, the successor to Frederic the Great. He was the son of a clergyman, was born in 1727, studied theology in Halle, became minister in a village near Berlin, in 1759; was appointed counsellor of finance to prince Henry of Prussia, as he had shown some knowledge of political economy, made a noble in 1786 by the above-mentioned king, and, after receiving several appointments, became minister of state in 1788. In this situation, he exercised the greatest influence over the weakminded monarch, by winking at his debaucheries, and resorting to low arts, such as frightening him with pretended apparitions. He caused the king to issue the notorious "religious edict," which established intolerance and mysticism, so contrary to the spirit of the time, and particularly of the monarchy. The present king Frederic William III repealed this edict as soon as he ascended the throne, and dismissed this narrow-minded minister, who

died in 1800, on one of his estates in Brandenburg. Wöllner was a member of several secret societies, including the Rosicrusians. (q. v.)

WOLODOMIR. (See Wladimir.)

WOLSEY, Thomas, cardinal, an eminent minister of state under Henry VIII, is said to have been the son of a butcher at Ipswich, where he was born in 1471. After receiving a grammatical education, he was sent to Magdalen college, Oxford, of which he was elected fellow. Being appointed master of a grammar-school dependent on the college, he had three sons of the marquis of Dorset under his care-a circumstance which induced that nobleman to present him with the living of Limmington, in Somersetshire, and, while here, he was put in the stocks in consequence of a drunken frolic. Although his conduct was by no means regular, his manners and appearance recommended him to Dean, archbishop of Canterbury, who made him his domestic chaplain. On the death of that prelate, he served sir John Nanfan, governor of Calais, in the same capacity, by which patron he was recommended to Henry VII, who made him one of his own chaplains; and, in consequence of his able and expeditious conveyance of a despatch to the emperor at Bruges, he was rewarded with the deanery of Lincoln. On the death of Henry VII, he was introduced by Fox, bishop of Winchester, to Henry VIII, whose favor he courted so successfully, that he shortly obtained the first place in the royal favor, and became uncontrolled minister. His progress in advancement was very rapid. In 1510, he was introduced into the privy-council, made reporter of the star-chamber, registrar, and afterwards chancellor of the garter. Ecclesiastical preferments were also profusely heaped upon him, of which the principal were the bishoprics of Tournay and Lincoln, in 1513, and the archbishopric of York in 1514. The following year, the pope, to ingratiate himself with Henry, elevated him to the dignity of cardinal. His nomination to be the pope's legate a latere completed his ecclesiastical dignities, by exalting him above the archbishop of Canterbury. Naturally proud and ostentatious, no English subject, either lay or ecclesiastic, ever took so much state upon himself. He entertained a train of eight hundred servants, many of whom were knights and gentlemen. In 1515, archbishop Warham, whom he had much annoyed by his ambition, resigned the office of chancellor, to which

Wolsey was appointed; and his administration in that capacity did him much credit. His legatine power, on the contrary, was exercised with great severity and oppression, and his eagerness for acquirement was unbounded. At the time when the celebrated rivalry between the emperor Charles V and Francis I rendered the friendship of Henry of great importance, Wolsey was treated with the greatest respect by both sovereigns, receiving pensions from each, as well as a third from the pope. He ultimately, however, favored the side of Charles, who settled upon him the revenues of two bishoprics in Spain, and flattered him with hopes of the papal chair, which induced him to involve Henry in a war with France. Insatiable in the pursuit of ecclesiastical emolument, in 1519, he obtained the administration of the see of Bath and Wells, and the temporalities of the abbey of St. Alban's, and afterwards enjoyed, in succession, the rich bishoprics of Durham and Winchester. By these means, his revenues nearly equalled those of the crown, part of which he expended in pomp and ostentation, and part in laudable munificence for the advancement of learning. He founded several lectures at Oxford, where he also erected the celebrated college of Christ-church. He also founded a collegiate school at Ipswich, and built a palace at Hampton court, which he presented to the king; but much of this was done by the seizure of minor religious establishments, for which he obtained papal authority. The critical affair of the divorce of queen Catharine was one of the first steps to his fall, as he was thought by the king to assist the delays of the court of Rome. The attachment of Henry to Anne Boleyn still further involved him; and, at length, in 1529, the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk were sent to require the great seal from him, and he was ordered to quit York place, his palace in London, and retire to Esher, all his rich plate and furniture being seized in the king's name. After some suspense, owing to some remnant of attachment on the part of Henry, articles of impeachment were exhibited against him in parliament; but he was defended so vigorously by his retainer Cromwell, that they were withdrawn. His enemies then indicted him, under the statute of provisoes, for procuring bulls from Rome, which was made the grounds of a sentence of forfeiture. After the intended effect was produced of making him resign York palace and its riches to

the king, he was granted a full pardon, and part of his revenues. In 1530, he was ordered to remove to his diocese of York, where he passed part of the year at his mansion of Cawood, until once more, on the first of November, in the same year, he was arrested for high treason, and set out, under custody, for London. Indisposition of body, however, combining with mental distress, he was obliged to stop at Leicester, where he was honorably received at the abbey. His disorder increasing, a few days brought him to his end, on the 28th of November, 1530, in the sixtieth year of his age. Shortly before his decease, he exclaimed to the officer appointed to conduct him, “Had I but served God as diligently as I have served my king, he would not have given me over in my gray hairs." There has been considerable disposition in later writers to vindicate the character of this minister; and it must not be forgotten that, in the reign of Henry VIII, who had basely murdered him, of Mary, the daughter of the much-injured Catharine, and of Elizabeth, whose mother (Anne Boleyn) was the chief instrument of his downfall, no justice could be expected to be rendered to the better traits of his mixed character. If he was loose in his morals, grasping in his ambition, and rapacious, he was liberal, and even profuse, towards his dependants and in his patronage of letters. He was enlightened far beyond the period in which he lived, and not only by fostering learning, but by causing many reforms to be made in the church, he prepared the way for that more extensive though imperfect measure of reformation which took place in England after his death. As a diplomatist, it is difficult to say whether his abilities or industry was the most remarkable. To him England is indebted for the first notion of a vigorous police, and for a regular system in the administration of justice; and, in justice to his memory, it should be observed that, while his influence prevailed with Henry VIII, the ferocity of that royal butcher was kept in check. We have a Life of Wolsey by his gentleman usher Cavendish (new editions, with notes by Singer, 1827), and an account of the Life and Administration of Cardinal Wolsey, by Galt (1812, 4to., and 1817, 8vo.).

WOLSTONECRAFT, Mary. (See Godwin, Mary.)

WOLTMANN, Charles Louis von, was born at Oldenburg, in 1770, and died in Prague, in 1817. He has written many books. His History of the Peace of

Westphalia is a work of great merit, and far superior to his other productions. WOLVERHAMPTON ; a borough and market town of England, county of Stafford, with numerous coal mines. Most of the farmers in the neighborhood have their forges, where they work when not employed in the field. Two canals (the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Grand Trunk, and Birmingham canal) pass in the immediate vicinity. It is said to have derived its name from Wulfruna, wife of the duke of Northampton, who built a monastery here in 996; whence its name of Hampton was changed to Wulfrun's Hampton, since corrupted into Wolverhampton. By the reform act of 1832, it was constituted, with Sedgeley, a borough, returning two members to parliament. Population, with Sedgeley, in 1831, 67,508; sixteen miles south of Stafford.

WOMAN. Among savages, a slave, in the harem of the luxurious, but half-civilized East, a voluptuous toy, in the more refined countries of Christendom alone is woman the equal and companion of man. It is in the Christian home only that woman reigns-the mother, sister, wife and friend. It is a common remark that, in proportion as civilization advances, the respect and attention paid to the weaker sex are increased. In the savage state, the woman nurses her young, prepares the food, and carries the burdens of her master, whom she follows to war and the chase, shares all the privations and hardships of his precarious life, without par*ticipating in its excitements and pleasures, and serves and suffers without being thanked, rewarded or pitied. In a more advanced stage of society, as in ancient Egypt and India, the condition of woman, in private life, is that of an humble de ́pendant, respected as a mother, but entirely subject to the will of the husband, and, in the higher castes, required to sacrifice herself upon his tomb. In China, the women of the lower classes are allowed to appear in public without restraint; but all the hard labor is put upon them, while the husband does the lighter work: the wife drags the plough, and the husband sows the seed. In the higher classes, the sex is subjected to a seclusion amounting almost to imprisonment. The temples are the only places to which they have free access. Elsewhere, they are not permitted to lose sight of their inherent inferiority: inhabiting a distinct set of apartments, not permitted to take their meals at the same table as their husbands, receiving no intellectual instruction, the

degradation imposed (as is supposed) by nature is perpetuated by these laws which repress all their energies of mind and heart. With the two most polished and interesting nations of the ancient world, the female sex was on a very different footing, but in both less highly respected and less justly estimated, than with the polished nations of modern times. Greece, situated on the borders of Asia, then the seat of civilization, presents a singular mixture of Oriental manners with European institutions and habits. The condition of the Grecian women accordingly resembles this general condi tion of society, in a union of something of Eastern restraint and seclusion, with somewhat of the moral virtues and brilliant qualities of Western civilization. Among the Greeks, we find some noble examples of womanly heroism, of conjugal love, and sisterly affection, but nothing of that spiritualized respect for the female sex which prevailed in the middle ages, and nothing of that spirit of gallantry which characterized more modern times. Woman was not, in Greece, the ornament and refiner of society, the companion and friend of man. Homer represents women simple, noble and virtuous; Sophocles gives them something of a beroic cast; and, in Euripides, we find some models of female purity and lofty devotion; but no where do we discover that adoration of female beauty which is expressed in modern poetry. (See Schlegel, Upon the Representation of the Female Character in the Greek Poets.) The Grecian women were secluded in their own apartments, and passed their time chiefly in directing the labors of their female slaves. They rarely or never appeared in the company of the men; and this separation was carried so far that the Gre cian houses were usually divided into two parts, in which the two sexes had distinct mansions assigned them. The part assigned for the women, the gyneceon, or gyneconitis, was the farthest from the street, and usually in the uppermost rooms. The unmarried women were subjected to particular restrictions, and were almost entirely confined at home. When the women went abroad, or appeared in public, they covered their faces with veils, and were generally accompanied by attendants. They were not permitted to appear at the theatre, unless at the representation of tragedies; but they formed religious processions, and took part in religious festivals. The want of cultivated females of virtue was supplied

by the hetare, who were often highly distinguished for their talents and accomplishments. (See Hetara.) Among the celebrated women of this class are Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, Lais, Phryne, and others. (See Böttiger's History of the Female Sex, in the 2d and 3d volumes of the Attisches Museum.) The Lacedæmonian women observed fashions quite different from their neighbors: their virgins went abroad barefaced, while the married women covered themselves with veils; the former designing to get husbands, the latter aiming to keep those they had. The Spartan maidens, says Plutarch (Life of Lycurgus), exercised themselves in running, wrestling, throwing quoits, casting darts, that they might be more healthy and vigorous; and they were also accustomed to dance naked at solemn feasts and sacrifices. When, however, the laws of Lycurgus were neglected, and the Spartans degenerated from the strict virtue of their forefathers, these practices contributed to render the prevailing licentiousness more universal. The Romans were, in many respects, in advance of their more polished neighbors in the treatment of their women. The Roman women appeared more in society: they were allowed to be present at feasts and entertainments, and at public spectacles, and, in general, associated more with men than the Grecian women. They took a more active part in public matters; and the institution of the vestal virgins has no example in the manners of the Greeks. Hence we find many models of true feminine greatness among the Roman women. In the period of the republic, they lived, however, considerably retired, occupied with domestic labors, and the education of their children, and distinguished for simplicity of appearance and rigid virtue. But with the increase of wealth, luxury and corruption, a great change took place; and, if Cornelia may be considered the representative of free and virtuous Rome, Messalina must be regarded as the emblem of the polluted epoch of the empire. The influence of Christianity gave woman a new station in society, broke her chains, and released her from the odious and degrading restrictions in which she had almost become the soulless thing which she had been represented to be. As man ceased to be a mere citizen of his own country, and felt himself to be a citizen of the world, so woman was restored to her natural rights. Other causes cooperated with the spirit of Christianity to establish a just and true equality of the

sexes. The German or Teutonic nations were the first who led the way in this revolution; and Tacitus remarked upon the estimation in which the female sex was held among them. The age of chivalry shows the effect of these two influences,mutually contributing to each other's developement; and the whole of Europe soon experienced the operation of these causes. In fact, the very peculiarities of the Christian religion, its spirit of love, of tenderness, and of charity, wholly unknown to the ancient nations, led to a submission of physical force and intellectual vigor to feelings of kindness and affection. "In every age and country," says Gibbon, "the wiser, or at least the stronger, of the two sexes has usurped the powers of the state, and confined the other to the cares and pleasures of domestic life. In hereditary monarchies, however, and especially in those of modern Europe, the gallant spirit of chivalry, and the law of succession, have accustomed us to allow a singular exception; and a woman is often acknowledged the absolute sovereign of a great kingdom, in which she would be deemed incapable of exercising the smallest employment, civil or military. But, as the Roman emperors were still considered as the generals and magistrates of the republic, their wives and mothers, although distinguished by the name of Augusta, were never associated to their personal honors; and a female reign would have appeared an inexpiable prodigy in the eyes of those primitive Romans who married without love, or loved without delicacy and respect." The exaggerated spirit of adulation which prevailed in the age of chivalry, was yet far from giving the female sex its true position; and the age of frivolous gallantry which succeeded it, was a natural result of the former. It is by observing a proper medium between servitude and deification, by treating the sex as women, and not as slaves or goddesses, by cultivating their minds and hearts, as well as by adorning them with the graceful accomplishments, that our own times have, in some measure, restored this part of our race to their rights and duties. (Consult, on this subject, Alexander's History of Women (2 vols., 4to., 1779); and Ségur, Les Femmes (3 vols., 1802); see, also, our articles Husband and Wife, Marriage, Polygamy, and Divorce.)

Besides the

Woman, in physiology. difference of the sexual organs, the woman exhibits other peculiar characters, which distinguish the sexes. In the fe

male, the head is smaller, the chest narrower, the pelvis broader, the limbs more delicately formed and more rounded, and the gait peculiar, on account of the breadth of the pelvis. The skin is soft, the hair of the head finer and longer, the muscular system little developed, the voice an octave higher than that of the male, and the nervous system predominating: their sensibility is consequently greater than that of the other sex. The rounded form and brilliant whiteness which characterize females are owing to the peculiarity of their lymphatic and cellular systems; and, their sanguineous system being less vigorous than in man, they are less liable to acute inflammations. Born to feel and to inspire the kind and tender affections, they are exempt from the gloomy and fierce passions which characterize the bilious temperament; and love, jealousy, and maternal affection, are the deepest springs of emotion in the female heart. Their delicate and peculiar organization modifies the general course of disease with them, and renders them liable to some from which the other sex is exempt. The period of puberty is more often attended by disease in the female sex. It is characterized by the developement of the breasts, and other physical changes, together with a general revolution in the tastes and feelings of the individual. (See Puberty, and Catamenia.) Ripe for the burden of maternity, the woman becomes a mother only through sufferings and pangs. The mother is exposed to yet new maladies as a nurse; and, when nature calls the child to other sources of nourishment (see Weaning), to new cares and precautions for herself and her infant. Having passed these successive periods of life, at the age of forty-five or fifty, another change of the system succeeds, attended with so many dangers, that this epoch has received the name of the "critical age." The physical changes which now take place are often accompanied with an unfavorable moral change, and both combine to render more dangerous the maladies to which this period is particularly liable. Great care should now be taken to be warmly clothed, to avoid violent excitements, to enjoy pure and wholesome air; and, this period passed, the health becomes confirmed, and life is often prolonged to an advanced age.

WOMB. (See Uterus.) WONDERS OF THE WORLD, SEVEN. (See Seven Wonders.)

WOOD. (For the structure of wood,

see the article Plants; for the use of wood as fuel, see Fuel.) We shall now give the character of some of the principal sorts of wood used in the arts. The part preceding the account of the fancy woods is taken from Bigelow's Technology.-Oak. Numerous species of the oaktree are found in the U. States. They are generally distinguished for great strength, but are coarse-grained and prone to warp and crack, under changes from moisture to dryness. The live oak of the Southern States (quercus virens) is prized in shipbuilding beyond any native timber. The white oak (quercus alba) is employed for the keels, side-timbers and planks of vessels, also for frames of houses, mills, and machinery requiring strength; for wagons, parts of carriages, ploughs, and other agricultural instruments. Large quantities are consumed for the staves and hoops of casks, for which they furnish one of the best materials. The bark of the black oak (quercus tinctoria) furnishes the quercitron used by dyers. Most of the species of oak are employed in tanning, and they all furnish a valuable fuel.-Hickory, or Walnut. The wood of the different species of native walnut or hickory (juglans or carya) is eminently distinguished for weight, tenacity and strength. It has, however, important defects. It warps and shrinks greatly, decays rapidly when exposed to the weather, and is very liable to the attacks of worms. On these accounts, it is never used for house or ship building, but is chiefly employed for minor purposes, where strength is the chief requisite, as in the teeth of mill-wheels, screws of presses, handspikes, capstan bars, bows, hoops, and handles of tools. As fuel, the hickory stands at the head of native trees, and commands a higher price than any other wood.-Ash. The white ash (frarinus Americana), and some other species, are of great utility in the arts. Ash wood is strong, elastic, tough and light, and splits with a straight grain. It is also durable, and permanent in its dimensions. It furnishes the common timber used in light carriages, for the shafts, frames, springs, and part of the wheels. Flat hoops, boxes, and the handles of many instruments, are made of it. It is almost the only material of oars, blocks of pulleys, cleats, and similar naval implements, in places where it can be obtained.-Elm. The common American elm (ulmus Americana) is valued for the toughness of its wood, which does not readily split. On this account, it is chiefly used for the