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and laid particular stress on the compact which it recognised between the people and the monarch. After the subject had been long under discussion, Frederic was on the point of cutting the whole matter short; but death prevented him. A constitution was at last agreed to by king William, September 26, 1819. It is founded on compact. (See Constitution.) The outlines are given in the preceding paragraph.

rangement of the congress of Vienna, made new changes. The grand-duke received back his hereditary state of Tuscany, and Würzburg was restored to Bavaria. The grand-duchy of Würzburg forming, at present, a part of the Bavarian circle of the Lower Maine, contains 1900 square miles, with 290,000 inhabitants, mostly Catholics. The country is level, but surrounded on three sides by chains of mountains. The Maine passes through a great part of it. The soil is very fertile, and produces much grain: the vine is particularly cultivated on the hills of the valley of the Maine. The best sorts of wine made are the Stein wine and the Leisten wine, which are produced only in the neighborhood of the capital, and bring considerable sums into the country, which is not rich in minerals, and has few manufactures. Würzburg, the fortified capital of the grand-duchy, with 1970 houses, and 21,800 inhabitants (lon. 9° 55′ E., lat. 49° 46′ N.), has a fine situation, occupying both banks of the Maine, over which there is a bridge 540 feet long. Among the public buildings is the palace of the former prince-bishops, built in 1720, with a beautiful garden; at present generally occupied by the queen dowager of Bavaria. The extensive and rich Julius hospital, conducted in an excellent manner, with which is connected a lying-in hospital, a botanical garden, an anatomical theatre, and various collections, is well known. Among the churches are the large cathedral, said to have been founded by bishop Burchard, in the eighth century, but entirely rebuilt in 1042; the elegant new minster; the university church, with an observatory on the tower; &c. Würzburg contains many other fine buildings, public and private. It has a gymnasium, a central school of industry, a school for midwives, a swimming school, an institution for the blind, several seminaries, the orthopedic (q. v.) Caroline institute, a veterinary school, and a university, of which we shall speak below. It has also manufactures of woollen cloths, looking-glasses, leather, colors, glauber salt, tobacco, &c. The navigation on the Maine is considerable. Without the city is the citadel of Marienberg, on a hill 400 feet high. From a part of this height, called the Leiste (List), comes the famous Leisten wine, and from the Steinberg (stonemountain), also near the city, comes the Stein wine. The whole space occupied by the vineyards around the city is 7000 acres. Not far from here, in the former

Würzburg, GRAND-DUCHY OF, has been, since 1814, a part of the kingdom of Bavaria. The former bishopric of Würzburg was founded, as early as 741, when Burchard was appointed the first bishop, by St. Boniface, and the Frankish kings endowed the church with some lands which were subsequently much increased by grants from the emperors, and other acquisitions made by the bishops, until the principality of Würzburg was formed. A duke of Saxony, Sigismond, having been elected bishop of Würzburg in 1440, his successors bore the title of dukes of Franconia. The archbishop of Mayence was the spiritual superior of the bishop of Würzburg, even after the grant of the archiepiscopal dignity, in 1752, to the latter, whose title was prince of the holy Roman empire, bishop of Würzburg, and duke of Franconia. The bishopric comprised 1840 square miles, with 250,000 inhabitants; and the annual income of the bishop amounted to 500,000 guilders. By the articles of the peace of Luneville (q. v.), the bishopric of Würzburg, with the other "immediate" ecclesiastical possessions in Germany, were given to Bavaria as an indemnity for her lost provinces on the Rhine, with the exception of a few districts, amounting to 318 square miles, and containing 37,000 inhabitants, given to other princes. The last prince-bishop was compensated for the loss of Würzburg by an annual pension of 60,000 guilders, besides receiving 30,000 guilders as coadjutor of the prince-bishop of Bamberg. By the peace of Presburg (q. v.), concluded December 26, 1805, Würzburg was given to the former grand-duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand (q. v.), who ceded the duchy of Salzburg, which he had received in 1803, with the dignity of elector, to Austria; and the electoral title passed over to Würzburg. Bavaria was compensated for the loss. September 30, 1806, the new elector joined the confederation of the Rhine (see that article), and assumed the title of grand-duke of Würzburg. The events of 1817, and the ar

convent of the Cistercians, is the manufactory of power printing-presses, by Messrs. König and Bauer, who invented the steam press in London-an old convent has been converted into a manufactory of power presses!-The university of Würzburg was founded by the fiftyfifth bishop, in the year 1403, on the model of that of Bologna; but it soon sunk into decay. In 1582, it was reestablished by a bishop Julius, who is justly considered the true founder. After him the university is called Julia. Med icine has always flourished in this institution, and mainly contributed to its reputation, whilst theology and philosophy were exclusively in the hands of Jesuits, until the abolition of the order. Many distinguished scholars have been professors here; and, when Würzburg was ceded to Bavaria, the government of that country invited many eminent men to fill its chairs. It also established a Protestant theological faculty. But the changes which we have mentioned at the beginning of this article, were highly injurious to the institution, and, in 1809, it was reorganized according to the views of the Catholic clergy, who had remained far behind the spirit of the time. But when Würzburg was reunited with Bavaria, a new life was given to this institution. In 1818, Bavaria received a constitution; and the university has distinguished itself by the cultivation of constitutional law, which, however, has found no favor with government. Since 1814, the number of students has been generally from 650 to 700; sometimes more. The foreign students, about 150 in number, are mostly connected with the medical faculty. In 1821, a professorship of French law was established for the Bavarian subjects of the circle of the Rhine. There is a faculty for teaching political economy. The library contains above 100,000 volumes. Gustavus Adolphus carried the whole library which he found there to Sweden. We should also mention the musical institute, in which instruction is given gratis in singing and playing. The school-masters of Bavaria are here instructed in music. The Bavarian government seems to patronise the new university of Munich somewhat at the expense of Würzburg.

WYAT, Sir Thomas, a distinguished courtier of the age of Henry VIII, son of sir Henry Wyat, master of the jewel of fice, was born in 1503, at Allington castle, in the county of Kent, the seat of the family. He commenced his academical

education at Cambridge, which he completed at Oxford, and, on quitting the university, went on his travels to the continent. On his return to England, he appeared at court, where the reputation he had already acquired as a wit and a poet, introduced him to the notice of Henry, who knighted him, and retained him about his person. In the affair respecting the king's divorce from queen Catharine, sir Thomas narrowly escaped losing the royal favor, by an indiscreet expression of his opinions on the subject; but, finding how the business must terminate, he had sufficient pliability of disposition to veer about in time, and, by a facetious remark on the possibility of "a man's repenting his sins without the leave of the court of Rome," so met the king's humor, that his influence increased rather than suffered any diminution. He was subsequently employed on several diplomatic missions to different powers, and died in 1541. His poetical works, which consist principally of love elegies, odes, &c., and a metrical translation of the Psalms, were published in conjunction with those of his contemporary and personal friend, the earl of Surrey. They evince more elegance of thought than imagination, while his mode of expression is far more artificial and labored than that of his friend. He must not be confounded with a sir Thomas Wyat who headed an insurrection in the reign of queen Mary.

WYCHERLEY, William, one of the wits and dramatists of the reign of Charles II, was the eldest son of a gentleman of Cleve, in Shropshire, where he was born about 1640. After receiving a school education, he was sent to France, where he embraced the Catholic religion. He returned to England a short time before the restoration, and, resuming Protestantism, was entered a gentleman commoner of Queen's college, Oxford, which he left without a degree, and took chambers in the Middle Temple. He paid, however, little attention to the law, but became a man of fashion on the town, and made himself known, in 1672, as the author of Love in a Wood, or St. James's Park, a comedy. This piece brought him into much notice: he became a favorite of the meretricious duchess of Cleveland, and was much regarded by Villiers, the witty and profligate duke of Buckingham, who made him captain-lieutenant in his own company, and one of his equerries, or masters of the horse. He was likewise in great favor with the king himself; but he lost the king's countenance by a clan

destine marriage with the countess of Drogheda, a young, rich and beautiful widow, whose jealousy embittered their union. At her death, she settled her fortune upon him; but, his title being disputed, the costs of law and other encumbrances produced embarrassment, which ended in arrest. He remained in confinement seven years, until released by James II, who was so pleased with his comedy of the Plain Dealer, that he ordered his debts to be paid, and added a pension of £200 per annum. Wycherley's modesty rendering him unwilling to disclose the whole that he owed, he still remained involved until the death of his father, whose estate descended to him, but with considerable limitation, which prevented him raising money on it. He, however, discovered an expedient, by marrying, at the age of seventy-five, a young gentlewoman with a fortune of £1500, whom he recompensed with a good jointure. He died about fifteen days after the celebration of the nuptials, in 1715, enjoining his wife not to take an old man for her second husband. Besides the plays already mentioned, he wrote the comedies of the Gentleman Dancing-Master, and Country Wife, and a volume of poems, printed in 1660. The correspondence between him and Pope, then a youth, is printed in the collection of that poet's letters. He is now only remembered as a dramatist, and that principally by his Plain Dealer, and Country Wife, the latter of which is better known by the title of the Country Girl-a name given to a modern adaptation, which gets rid of much objectionable coarseness. His Plain Dealer may be deemed an English counterpart of the Misanthrope of Molière, displaying more license, with considerable wit, humor, and comic force of character. The Posthumous Works of Wycherley, in Prose and Verse, were published by Theobald,

in 1728.

WYCLIFFE. (See Wickliff.)

WYKEHAM, William of, bishop of Winchester, and lord high chancellor of England, a distinguished prelate of the fourteenth century, was born at Wykeham,a village in Hampshire, in 1324, of respectable parents, but so poor that, but for the liberality of the lord of the manor of Wykeham, a liberal education would have been beyond his reach. On the completion of his studies, he became private secretary to his patron, and was by him recommended to the notice of Edward III. In 1356, Edward appointed him to superintend the erection of Windsor castle, as

surveyor of the works. (See Windsor.) On one of the towers he put an inscription, This made Wykeham. His enemies exclaimed against his presumption. Wykeham, however, assured the king that he had intended to intimate, that his diligence in forwarding the building had raised him, through the favor of his prince, to his present rank. Wykeham, having taken holy orders, rose rapidly to the highest dignities in church and state. In 1366, he was elevated to the rich see of Winchester, and, in 1367, reached the highest point of his career, the chancellorship of England. This office he discharged with great ability nearly four years, distinguishing himself by his orderly management of his diocese, and by his disinterestedness in dedicating a large portion of his temporalities to the improvement of his cathedral, and the foundation of a grammar school at Winchester, which still exists as a monument of his munificence. (See Winchester.) · In 1371, a party at court, opposed to the increasing wealth and influence of the clergy, and headed by John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, succeeded in persuading the parliament that his power was too great for a subject; and he was compelled to resign the seals. For the remainder of this reign, he continued apart from the court, consoled for his disgrace by the attachment of the people. On the accession of Richard, he was restored to his dignities and emoluments. In 1386, he completed his noble foundation of New college, Oxford. In the chapel belonging to this establishment, his crosier, or pastoral staff, is still preserved, supposed to be the only one in England. Scarcely was this college finished, when he commenced erecting another at Winchester, which he also lived to see finished. In 1391, he resigned the chancellorship. His death took place in 1404. (See his Life, by Lowth; and Milner's History of Winchester.)

WYNDHAM, Sir William, an eminent English senator and statesman, was born at Orchard-Wyndham, in Somersetshire, in 1687. His father, of the same name, had been created a baronet by Charles II. He was educated at Eton, whence he was removed to Christ-church, Oxford. On quitting the university, he made the tour of the continent, and, on his return, was chosen knight of the shire for the county of Somerset. He soon became conspicuous as one of the ablest members of the house of commons; and, on the change of ministry which produced the treaty of

Utrecht, was appointed master of the buckhounds, then secretary at war, and, in 1713, chancellor of the exchequer. On the breach between the earl of Oxford and viscount Bolingbroke, he adhered to the interests of the latter. Upon the death of queen Anne, he was displaced; and, in the ensuing parliament, took a leading part in opposition, and signalized himself by advocating the treaty of Utrecht, and in his defence of the duke of Ormond, and earls of Oxford and Strafford, when impeached by the house of commons. On the breaking out of the rebellion in Scotland, under the earl of Mar, in August, 1715, he was arrested at his seat in Somersetshire, on suspicion of being concerned in that event; but he made his escape from the messenger. On a proclamation being issued for his apprehension, he soon after surrendered himself, and was committed to the Tower,but was never brought to trial. On regaining his liberty, he continued his opposition, but on more broad, and less Jacobitical grounds than heretofore, and remained in strenuous contest with ministers until his death, in 1740. His son, by the daughter of the duke of Somerset, became, on the death of the duke, earl of Egremont, the title having been granted to that nobleman, with remainder to his grandson. The latter succeeded the first earl of Chatham as secretary of state, and died in 1763.

WYTE, or WITE, in the ancient English customs; a pecuniary penalty or mulct. The Saxons had two kinds of punishments were and wyte; the first for the more grievous offences: the wyte was for the less heinous ones. It was not fixed to any certain sum, but left at liberty to be varied according to the nature of the

case.

WYTHE, George, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born, in 1726, in Elizabeth county, Virginia. His education was principally directed by his mother. The death of both his parents before he became of age, and the uncontrolled possession of a large fortune, led him, for some time, into a course of ainusement and dissipation. At the age of thirty, however, his conduct underwent an entire change, Heapplied himself vig orously to the study of the law; and, soon after his admission to the bar, his learning, industry, and eloquence, made him eminent. For several years previous to the revolution, he was conspicuous in the house of burgesses, and, in the commencement of the opposition to England, evinced an ardent attachment to liberty.

In 1764, he drew up a remonstrance to the house of commons, in a tone of independence too decided for that period, and which was greatly modified by the assembly before assenting to it. În 1775, he was appointed a delegate to the continental congress, in Philadelphia. In the following year, he was appointed, in connexion with Mr. Jefferson and others, to revise the laws of Virginia-a duty which was performed with great ability. In 1777, he was elected speaker of the house of delegates, and, during the same year, was appointed judge of the high court of chancery of the state. On the new organization of the court of equity, in a subsequent year, he was appointed sole chancellor—a station which he filled for more than twenty years. In 1787, he was a member of the convention which formed the federal constitution, and, during the debates, acted, for the most part, as chairman. He was a strenuous advocate of the instrument adopted. He subsequently presided twice successively in the college of electors, in Virginia. His death occurred on the 8th of June, 1806, in the eighty-first year of his age. It was supposed that he was poisoned; but the person suspected was acquitted by a jury. In learning, industry and judgment, chancellor Wythe had few superiors. His integrity was never stained even by a suspicion; and, from the moment of his abandonment of the follies of his youth, his reputation was unspotted. The kindness and benevolence of his heart were commensurate with the strength and attainments of his mind.

WYTTENBACH, Daniel; a learned philologist of the Dutch school, who was a native of Berne, and was born in 1746. His father having been appointed a professor at Marburg, he was admitted a student of that university. He afterwards went to Göttingen to study under Heyne, with whose assistance he published, in 1769, Epistola Critica ad Ruhnkenium super nonnullis Locis Juliani cui accesserunt Animadversiones in Eunapium et Aristanetum. This learned work procured him the friendship of Ruhnken (q. v.), whom he visited at Leyden, and who obtained for hier the professorship of philosophy and literature in the college of the Remonstrants at Amsterdam. He subsequently devoted his talents to the illustration of the works of Plutarch, and, in 1772, printed, at Leyden, the treatise of that writer, De Sera Numinis vindicta, with a learned commentary. In 1779, the magistrates of Amsterdam created a philo

sophical professorship at an institution called the Illustrious Athenæum, to which Wyttenbach was presented; and, in 1799, he was appointed professor of rhetoric at Leyden, where he died in 1819. The result of his researches relative to Plutarch, appeared in his excellent critical edition of the Moral Works of Plutarch, published at Oxford (1795-1810,

7 vols. 4to, and 12 vols. 8vo). Professor Wyttenbach was the author of Præcepta Philosophia logica (Amst. 1781, 8vo.); Selecta Principum Gracia Historicorum, with notes (1793 and 1807); Vita Ruhnkenii (1800, 8vo.); and some other works. His Opuscula appeared at Leyden in 1821; and there is a Life of him by Mahne (Ghent, 1823).

X.

X; the twenty-fourth letter of the English alphabet, taken from the Latin, into which it was adopted from the Greek. The pronunciation of it, in the middle and at the end of words, is like that of cs or ks. At the beginning of a word, it has precisely the sound of z; and the English alphabet might therefore dispense with this character without any inconvenience, except where etymology requires it. The Italians never use it, on account of its guttural character, which is hostile to the spirit of their language. When it occurs between two vowels, they supply its place by ss, as in Alessandro: when it immediately precedes c, they substitute another e for it, as in eccellente. In Spanish, the letter x had formerly two very different sounds, one like that of s or cs, derived from the Latin, and another strongly guttural, derived from the Arabian. At present, however, it is pronounced like s when it is followed by a consonant, and like ks when it comes between two vowels. The guttural sound formerly represented by r, is now represented by j before a, o and u, and by g before e and i; so that it is no longer necessary to put a circumflex over the vowel following the x, when the latter is to be pronounced like Es. The Germans, in words belonging to their language, have generally resolved the into ks, gs, or chs; and only when the derivation of the word containing the r is uncertain, so that it cannot be determined into what letters the x ought to be resolved, this character is retained. In French, T has also all the various pronunciations of s, cs, gz and z, according to circumstances. In many cases, it is not pronounced at all, and only indicates the plural number to the eye. The Latins call r a semivowel. and one of the letters

x

termed double. The Greek characters for this letter were ≈ and ; and the charac ter which we now use to designate X, was their guttural. From the circumstance that this guttural is the initial letter in XPIETOΣ (Christ), the letter r of the Latin alphabet-the same in figure, but different in sound-acquired much importance at an early period, particularly in the mon

ogram

letters of the word Xporos. Constantine , composed of the two first Greek the Great used it both on his coins and imitated his example; and this monogram military ensigns. Several other emperors came into common use with the Chris

tians, as on lamps, and other utensils, on tombs, &c. Constantine, however, did not invent this monogram, but merely gave it the Christian meaning. It is found cise meaning there is not ascertained. As on ancient medals and coins; and its prepersons who are unable to write are accustomed to put a cross instead of their him who makes the cross for them, such signature, or, at least, to touch the pen of crosses, when the signatures are printed, which may be found at the end of treaties are represented by an , long strings of concluded between the U. States and the Indian tribes. X, with the Romans, denoted ten, being composed of two Vs, thus X. (See V.) In this position, ✯, it signifies a thousand, and with a dash over it (x), ten thousand. X enters largely into the Roman system of notation. When it stands before a letter designating a larger number than itself, it must be subtracted; when after, it must be added: thus XC is equal to ninety; CX to a hundred and ten. X, y, z, are commonly used in mathematics to denote variable quantities, whilst the letters at the beginning of the alphabet are used for the constant quanti

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