ly, had he been able to restrain his passions. The insinuations of the eunuch Heraclius made him suspect treachery in the pride of his general Aëtius. He therefore slew him with his own hand, in an altercation in the palace at Rome. He afterwards dishonored the wife of the senator Maximus. The injured husband avenged himself, and, on the 15th March, 455, Valentinian fell on the field of Mars, with his favorite Heraclius, under the swords of two followers of the murdered Aëtius, who belonged to the emperor's body-guard. The senator and patrician Petronius Maximus was hereupon proclaimed emperor by the senate and people. He married his son to the eldest daughter of the late emperor, and obliged Valentinian's widow, Eudoxia, to espouse him. After three months, he fell a victim to her hatred. Eudoxia, unable to obtain assistance from Constantinople, called upon king Genseric, in Carthage, to deliver her from an abhorred husband. Genseric landed in the port of Ostia. The flying Maximus was stoned in the streets of Rome, and thrown into the Tiber; but the capital, again saved, by the eloquence of Leo the Great, from fire and sword, was pillaged during fourteen days. All the monuments of former times, and all the wealth collected in forty-five years, since the sack of Alaric, became the prey of the conquerors, who likewise dragged to Africa, in their ships, many thousand Romans of both sexes. While these events were taking place in Rome, Avitus, a Gaul, prefect of Gaul under Valentinian, and appointed by the emperor Maximus general of the army in that country, a man of great talents and knowledge, supported by Theodoric, king of the Visigoths, received the crown of the Western empire at Arles, Aug. 15, 455, was acknowledged by the court of Constantinople, and also, though with secret dissatisfaction, by the senate and people of Rome. Theodoric, who went, as an ally of the Romans, to drive the Suevi from Spain, treated this country with the severity of a conqueror. Avitus rendered himself contemptible by his sensuality. Ricimer, one of the chief cominanders of the mercenary troops, sent for the defence of Italy, after a victory over the fleet of the Vandals, returned, and was hailed by the people as their deliverer, and announced to Avitus, Oct. 16, 457, that his reign was ended. Avitus, condemned to death by the senate, fled, and perished in his flight. Majorian, formerly a soldier under Aëtius, was now raised by Ricimer to the imperial dignity, which

he adorned by his virtue and his wisdom. Many useful regulations, especially with regard to taxes and public morals, distinguished his domestic administration, while, at the same time, he had the good fortune to defeat Theodoric, and also to obtain some advantages over Genseric, who had again attacked Italy. Nothing but the accidental loss of his fleet, in the year 460, prevented him from utterly destroying the power of the Vandals. But Rome was no longer worthy of such a ruler; and Majorian fell a victim to the general corruption, and the hatred of his enemies. Ricimer suddenly took from him the purple, and, five days after, his life, Aug. 7, 461, having spread the report that he had died of the dysentery. A certain Livius Severus was proclaimed emperor, but was put out of the way in 465. The supreme power, in the course of these five years and the two following, during which the throne remained vacant, was solely in the hands of Ricimer, who did not, however, dare to take the imperial title. But, being pressed by the Vandals, he soon saw himself obliged to ask the assistance of the emperor of the East; and the court of Constantinople made a league with Rome, on condition that it should be left to the emperor Leo to name the ruler of the West. The Grecian patrician Anthemius was appointed, and entered the capital with great pomp, April 12, 467. He gave his daughter in marriage to Ricimer, and many interests formerly divided seemed now reunited for the welfare of Rome. But the war with the Vandals was continued with varying fortune. It cost immense sums; and, soon after, a misunderstanding took place between Anthemius and Ricimer, the latter of whom had marched to Milan. By the mediation of Epiphanias, bishop of Pavia, a reconciliation was, indeed, effected between them; but, shortly after, Ricimer, at the head of a large army, reinforced by the Burgundians and Suevi, appeared before Rome, proclaimed the senator Olybrius, son-in-law to Valentinian, emperor of the West, March 23, 472, and took Rome, which Anthemius had defended for three months with a people devoted to his cause. Anthemius was put to death by order of his son-in-law. July 11, the city was pillaged, and filled with the blood of its noblest citizens; and Olybrius was placed upon the throne. In the next month, Aug. 20, the tyrant Ricimer died, and, soon after, the new emperor, Oct. 23. Rome now saw itself exposed to the arbitrary caprice of the barbarians, at

whose head was Gundobald, nephew of Ricimer, a Burgundian prince. Gundobald named Glycerius, one of his soldiers, emperor of the West, but gave him so 'ittle support, that he was displaced by Julius Nepos, a nephew of Marcellinus, and governor of Dalmatia, who had been proclaimed by the court of Constantinople. Glycerius received, instead of the empire, the bishopric of Salona (474). Shortly after ascending the throne, Nepos made peace with the Visigoths, ceding to them the territory of Auvergne; but, soon after, a rebellion of the allied barbarians, under the command of their general Orestes, obliged him to fly from Ravenna to Dalmatia. The fugitive emperor lived there five years, until he was assassinated at Salona, at the instigation of Glycerius, who received, perhaps on this account, the archbishopric of Milan. Romulus Augustus, son of Orestes, was proclaimed emperor of the West, in 476. The fall of the empire was now at hand. The German troops, Herulians, Rugians, &c., revolted under their general Odoacer, when Orestes refused to divide among them a third part of the Italian territory. Pavia, where he sought to defend himself, was taken by storin; Ores⚫tes was executed; Augustus abdicated; Odoacer was proclaimed king by his army, and the senators of Rome sent an embassy to the emperor Zeno at Constantinople to declare" that it was neither necessary, nor desirable, that Italy should any longer be governed by an emperor of its own; and therefore they acknowledged, in the name of the people, that, the seat of the general government being transferred from Rome to Constantinople, they renounced the right of choosing an emperor for themselves. The republic, however, confiding in the virtues of Odoacer, humbly prayed that the emperor would grant him the title of patrician, and the administration of the Italian province." So low had Rome fallen! The emperor Zeno first gave the senate to understand that Nepos, who was still living in Dalmatia, was the lawful sovereign of Rome; but, soon after, pleased with the prospect of being sole ruler, he received the honors of the emperor of the West. The dethroned monarch, Romulus Augustus, whose first name had been changed, in Constantinople, to that of Momyllus, and whom the Romans called, in derision, Augustulus, was banished by Odoacer to the villa of Lucullus, in Campania, with a yearly pension of 6000 pieces of gold. Soon after, in the year 486, the Franks estab

lished their kingdom in Gaul. Thus the barbarians had risen in proportion as the spirit of the Romans had declined. From mercenaries of Rome they had become its allies; from allies its masters. King Odoacer ruled Italy for fourteen years. In the year 491, he was conquered by Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, who, in 493, founded the kingdom of the Ostrogoths on the classic ground of Italy. The name of Rome was all that remained of that empire, which had subsisted twelve centuries since its foundation by Romulus. In the history of the decline of this gigantic state, we see the causes of its fall. The prevailing corruption of manners destroyed all moral energy; and, from the time when Honorius ascended the throne, to the total overthrow of the empire, it was in a continual death-struggle. The system of dividing the empire, introduced by Diocletian, in 284, and completed by Theodosius, was the chief cause of its political weakness and final dissolution, which its moral degradation made it impossible to avert, especially as the increase of civilization among the barbarians who had broken into the empire, gave them an overwhelming power. A new order of things commenced: the feudal system, introduced by the Ostrogoths, Franks, and Lombards, altered the whole character of a state which for centuries had boasted of a republican constitution; and even the Roman language gave way before the total change in the spirit of the times; and its place was supplied by the Italian, French, Spanish and English tongues. (See Byzantine Empire.)

WESTERN ISLANDS. (See Hebrides, and Azores.)

WESTERN UNIVERSITY. (See Pitts burgh.)

WESTERWALD; a chain of mountains in the Prussian government of Coblentz, and the duchy of Nassau, connected with the Siebengebirge. (q. v.) The highest point is near Neuburg and Salzkirch, 2600 feet above the level of the sea. Flax is cultivated and cattle raised on the Westerwald. It affords iron, copper, excellent building stone, and great quantities of brown coal.

WESTMACOTT, Richard, an eminent sculptor, the eldest son of a celebrated artist of the same class, was born in London, about the year 1774, and, having completed his preliminary studies, was sent abroad by his father, in 1792, before he had attained his eighteenth year. The first work of any importance that he was engaged in, on his return to his native

country, was a statue of Addison, which was placed in Westminster abbey about the year 1806. In 1809, he was elected an associate of the royal academy, at which time he completed and erected, in St. Paul's cathedral, the monument of sir Ralph Abercrombie, and, subsequently, that of lord Collingwood in the same church. On his engagement to execute the bronze statue of the duke of Bedford, in Russell square, he personally attended to the whole management of the casting, and thereby acquired so much skill that, after erecting the statue of lord Nelson at Birmingham, and of Mr. Fox in Bloomsbury square, he was able to accomplish the colossal statue of Achilles erected in Hyde park, the greatest task in bronzecasting that has been achieved in any country. (See Hyde Park.) In 1814, Mr. Westmacott completed his national monument to William Pitt in Westminster abbey, which is a work of great talent. Among his works are the beautiful statue of a Peasant Girl, exhibited at the royal academy in 1819, which is part of a monument erected to the memory of the late lord Penrhyn; and the Hindoo Girl, for a work to be erected at Calcutta, in memory of Alexander Colvin. The statue in bronze of George III, at Liverpool, is also the work of Mr. Westmacott. His last work is a colossal bronze statue of Canning, which has just been erected (1832) in Palace yard. He was elected an academician of the royal academy of arts, London, in February, 1811; and he is also fellow of the society of antiquaries, and a member of the Dilettanti society. WESTMINSTER, a city of Middlesex, England, the seat of government, the residence of royalty, and the centre of fashion, is now so united with London, that, in appearance, they form one city, and, in ordinary speech, are mentioned as one, though they have their separate jurisdictions. (See London.) Temple bar (q. v.) separates the two cities. Westminster lies to the west of London proper, with which it formerly communicated by means of the Strand, and forms the west end, or fashionable residence of the nobility and gentry. The existence of Westminster is derived from the foundation of the abbey. In 1259, Henry III granted to the abbot and convent of Westminster abbey a market and fair, which was the origin of the city and liberties of Westminster. At the general suppression of religious houses by Henry VIII, it was converted into a bishopric, which, however, was transferred to Nor

wich in 1550. The city of Westminster is comprised in two parishes, St. Marga ret and St. John, and the liberties consist of seven parishes. The population of the city and liberties, which return two members to parliament, is, by the census of 1831, 202,090. Here are Westminster hall, abbey and school, St. James's pal-· ace, Buckingham house, Carlton house, Whitehall palace, &c. Westminster hall, memorable as the scene of so many interesting transactions, was built by William II, in 1097,and entirely repaired, with many alterations, by Richard II, in 1397. The hall exceeds in dimensions any room in Europe unsupported by pillars, being 270 feet in length, 90 in height, and 74 in breadth. Parliaments have often sat in the hall, and the courts of chancery, exchequer, king's bench and common pleas, have been held here, in different apartments, ever since the reign of Henry III. It has also been used for the trial of peers, and other distinguished persons, accused of high treason, or other crimes and misdemeanors, such as the late lord Melville, Warren Hastings, &c. In this hall, likewise, are held the coronation feasts of the kings of England. The old palace, at the south end of the hall, including the chapel of St. Stephen, is now used to accommodate the two houses of parliament. The interior of the house of lords is ornamented with tapestry, representing the destruction of the Spanish armada. Here are the star chamber (q.v.), and the painted chamber, used as the place of conference between the lords and the commons. Guy Fawkes's cellar, in which the gunpowder designed to blow up the two houses of parliament (see Gunpowder Plot) was deposited, is still examined by the usher of the black rod at the beginning of every session. (For the house of commons, see Stephen's, St.) Westminster abbey was built by Edward the Confessor, about 1050, on the site of an old Saxon church; but all that part which extends from the eastern extremity to the entrance of the nave was rebuilt in its present state by Henry III (1220-1269). The nave was carried on slowly afterwards; and the towers were not completed till the time of sir Christopher Wren, who finished them as they now are. The chapel, which bears the name of Henry VII, was built by that monarch in 1502, as a royal sepulchre. The general plan is that of a Latin cross, of which the nave is 234 feet long from west to east, and 90 feet wide. The transept is 225 feet long from north to south, and 100 feet wide

Beyond the transept, towards the east, are five chapels. In the poets' corner are the monuments of most of the distinguished poets of England; and in other parts of the abbey are those of distinguished statesmen, warriors, scholars and artists. The kings of England are crowned in the choir of the abbey. Westminster school was founded by queen Elizabeth, in 1590, for the education of forty boys, denominated the queen's scholars, who are prepared for the university. It is situated within the walls of the abbey, and is separated into two schools or divisions, comprising seven forms or classes. Besides the scholars on the foundation, many of the nobility and gentry send their sons to Westminster for instruction, so that this establishment vies with Eton in celebrity and respectability. They have an upper and an under master, with numerous assistants. Of these masters, many have been eminent in the walks of literature, particularly doctor Busby, so celebrated for his severity of discipline, and doctor Vincent, the author of the Voyage of Nearchus. See the History of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's, Westminster, its Antiquities and Monuments (2 vols., quarto, London, 1812); and Neale's History and Antiquities of Westminster Abbey illustrated (1818 and 1823, with 61 engravings).

WESTPHALIA; a name, 1. originally given to a large part of Germany; 2. to a duchy in Germany; 3. to one of the circles of the German empire; 4. to a kingdom; 5. to a province of Prussia,of which we shall treat in the above order. 1. The name of Westphalia was given, in the middle ages, to all the country between the Weser, Rhine and Ems, while the territory between the Elbe and Weser was called Eastphalia. The latter name was lost in the course of time: the former was retained, and was subsequently given to the circle of Westphalia, and to the Sauerland, or the duchy of Engern.

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2. Duchy of Westphalia. In arly times, this formed part of the great duchy of Saxony, and was then called Sauerland, a name which is still in use among the common people of that country, and includes also a part of the former county of Mark. In 1179, when Henry the Lion was put under the ban of the empire, the archbishop of Cologne received it from the empire as a fief, under the name of Westphalia, after which the name passed over to the country. Cologne remained in possession of it until the dissolution of the archbishopric, in 1802, upon which it was given, by way of indemnity, to

Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1815, it was ceded by this power to Prussia, and was united with the Prussian province of Westphalia. It then contained 1530 square miles, with 134,715 inhabitants.

3. Circle of Westphalia. This comprised not only the land between the Weser, Rhine and Ems, but also considerable districts on the left bank of the Rhine; but the proper duchy of Westphalia, as an appendage of Cologne, was considered as belonging to the electoral circle of the Rhine. It had also the official name of the Westphalian Circle of the Lower Rhine. It was one of the larger circles of the ancient empire.

4. Kingdom of Westphalia. The peace of Tilsit (q. v.) had made Napoleon master of all the Prussian territory west of the Elbe, and he also kept possession of the territories of the electors of Hesse and Hanover, and the duke of Brunswick. He had not then conceived the idea of extending the frontiers of the empire beyond the Rhine; and he created, out of the countries just mentioned, a kingdom of Westphalia, comprising all the country of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the electorate of Hesse (except Hanau and Katzenelnbogen), the Prussian provinces of Magdeburg and Altmark west of the Elbé, Halberstadt with Hohnstein, Hildesheim with Goslar, Mansfeld, Quedlinburg, Eichsfeld with Treffurt, Mühlhausen and Nordhausen, Stolberg-Wernigerode, Paderborn, Minden and Ravensberg, the Hanoverian provinces, Göttingen, Grubenhagen with Hohnstein and Elbingerode, and Osnabrück, Corvey, and the county of Rittberg. The area amounted to 1530 square miles, with 1,946,343 inhabitants. November 15, 1807, the kingdom of Westphalia was created, and Jerome, the brother of Napoleon, then only twenty-four years old (see Jerome), was made king, with a constitution formed in close imitation of that of the French, which abolished feudalism, and might have done good in various respects, could it ever have gone into full operation free from the weight of foreign influence which continually pressed upon the kingdom.* Jerome appeared,Dec.

*The emperor Napoleon gave this constitution to the country, as its preamble declares. It stipulates of what the kingdom of Westphalia is to consist; that half of all the domains of the former princes shall be at the emperor's disposal, to be given to his officers of the army; that Westphalia is to form part of the confederacy of the Rhine, with a contingent of 25,000 men, of whom, however, in the "first years." only half are to raised; the other half to be furnished by France, and to form the garrison of Magdeburg; that Jerome Napoleon is to be king, his direct male descendants to succeod

7, in Cassel, and entered on the governernment, but conducted, as might have been expected, not like a king, but rather like a French prefect. The situation of this new kingdom was deplorable. All the provinces had been systematically exhausted by the French, before they were 'united into a kingdom; in addition to which, the emperor had retained half of all the domains, or public property, in order to make grants therefrom to his soldiers; had stipulated that he should keep 12,500 men in Magdeburg, to be supported, clothed and paid by the people of the country; and the kingdom was to pay all the contributions which had been imposed upon the several territories composing it when they were conquered. Westphalia was, in many respects, but a province, a territory of France, without enjoying the advantages which it might have derived from forming an integral part of the einpire, and having the additional burthen of a large army and an expensive government. On the other hand, we must not omit to state the advantages which grew out of the intimate connexion of this new kingdom with France. The greatest were, as we have already said, the abolition of feudalism, and an increased estimation of the lower classes, a greater willingness to acknowledge their rights, e. g. in respect to the administration of justice, the distribution of the public burthens, their participation in the municipal administration, &c. The finances of the kingdom were in great embarrassment when it went into operation, and always remained so during the seven years of its existence, large sums going every year to France without any equivalent, and the kingdom being obliged to take part in all the great movements of the empire. The young, inex

him; the king to remain always subject to the imperial family statutes; in case of minority, Napoleon, or his descendants, to appoint a regent; the king and his family to have a revenue of 5,000,000 francs, to be raised from the other half of the domains, with additions from the public treasury, if they should fail to yield the requisite amount. It further provides that there shall be a constitution securing the equality of all the subjects and freedom of worship; that the feudal privileges, and those of corporations, shall be abolished, but the different ranks of nobility are to continue; one system of taxes to embrace all classes; the tax on real estate not to exceed a fifth of the revenue; four ministers to be appointed, and a council of state; laws respecting the finances, civil and penal legislation, to be drawn up in the council of state, to be discussed by committees of the chamber, their reports to be discussed by the council of state, and the law, as finally settled by the council of state, under the presidency of the king, to ne laid before the chamber; the estates to con

perienced monarch had, indeed, counsel. lors around him, who did the best that could be done under the deplorable circumstances of the kingdom. Within a short time, an army of 16,000 men was formed. The French code, though at first much disliked, gradually began to find less opposition from the people; the taxes, though high, were more uniformly distributed than ever before; and the new constitution afforded advantages to the great body of the people, which they soon began to estimate. The government gained in firmness as the prejudices against it diminished. The king, besides his civil list, had 1,000,000 francs as a French prince. He was much inclined to dissipation, but, at the same time, disposed to do good to his people. In 1809, internal commotions began, occasioned by the war between Austria and France. The eastern frontier of the kingdom was attacked by a corps under Schill. (q. v.) In the south, an insurrection broke out among the peasants near Marburg. These circumstances gave rise to severe measures, and the extension of the high police. The king was obliged, by France, to increase his army to 30,000 men; and the taxes were, in consequence, so much augmented that, neither the minister of finances nor the estates of the kingdom knowing any other means to provide for the exigency, the public domains were sold, and the public debt was arbitrarily reduced, by expunging a certain portion of each man's demand. In 1810, the whole of the former Hanoverian territory was united to Westphalia; but hardly had she taken possession of it, when another imperial decree was issued, annexing not only this newlyacquired territory, but also the former provinces of Osuabrück, Minden, and

sist of one hundred members (seventy to be chosen of owners of real estate, fifteen of merchants and manufacturers, and fifteen of literary men); a third part to be renewed every three years; their president to be nominated by the king; their debates to be secret; the country to be divided into departments, &c., with prefects, &c., and departmental colleges, &c., as in France; the Code Napoléon to be adopted January 1, 1808; the administration of justice to be public, in penal cases with the aid of juries; a new system of penal jurisprudence to be adopted July 1, 1808; courts of the peace to be established, with justices of the peace; the judges to be independent, appointed by the king; the judges to be removable only by the king, and only after sentence by the court of appeal, on charges presented by the royal procurator, or one of its presidents; no enlisting of soldiers for money to take place; the army tɔ be supplied by conscription. Dec. 23, 1808, a supplementary statute was issued, establishing one more minister.