ronage had been so injurious to him. In 1729 he was allowed to return to France, where Brutus and Eriphile and his best play Zaire were produced at

VOLTAIRE.

intervals. His English Letters, reflecting on everything in church or state in France, under the pretense of praising England, brought out in 1733, was condemned and burned, he himself being safely out of the way in Lorraine, where he lived for fifteen years with Madame du Chatelet, writing and studying Newton's Principia. His Merope and Mahomet, among his best plays, belong to this period, as also his Age of Louis XIV.

His life at the Prussian court, as the friend of Frederick the Great, lasted three years, with the jealousies, squabbles and court quarrels which Voltaire always succeeded in falling into. Being refused permission to return to France, he bought Ferney, an estate four miles from Geneva, which was his home for the last 20 years of his life. Here he was visited by many of the most celebrated men of Europe, carried on an immense correspondence, rescued from want and educated a niece of Corneille, interfered in several cases of oppression and injustice, and adopted a young girl whom he had rescued from a convent. After the death of Louis XV. he was permitted to return to Paris, and on Feb. 10, 1778, he entered Paris after 28 years of exile. He was received with enthusiasm, and crowned with laurel at the theater where his new play Irene was produced. He died at Paris soon after, May 30, 1778. His

VULCAN

works fill about 90 volumes, including the tragedies Zaire, Merope and Mahomet, which give him a place with the best French dramatists, and historical works, Charles XII., Louis XIV. and Peter the Great; philosophical works, poems, criticism and miscellaneous writings. See Life by Morley.

Voorhees, DANIEL W., an American politician, was born in Ohio, Sept. 26, 1827. He studied at Asbury University, in Indiana, and began his law practice in that state, where he was appointed district attorney. He was a representative from Indiana for four terms of congress, and became United States senator in 1877, and reëlected in 1885 and 1891.

Vosges, a range of mountains on the left bank of the Rhine, in northeastern France and western Germany. The tops are rounded and called ballons and covered with snow for several months in the year. Mines of iron, lead, salt and copper abound.

VULTURE.

Vulcan (Greek, HÆPHESTUS), in Roman mythology the god of fire. He was so deformed at his birth that his mother, Juno, dropped him into the sea. He lived with the sea gods nine years and on returning to Olympus was hurled down to earth by Jupiter, for interfering in a quarrel between Jupiter and Juno. This fall made him lame. He fell on the island of Lemnos, where he built a palace, with a workshop and anvil. He had also a beautiful palace in Olympus, or according to others in the heart of an island, where with the help of the Cyclops, he made the seepter for Jupiter, the armor of Achilles and the weapons of Hercules. There

Wabash, a river of Indiana. It rises in western Ohio, runs through Indiana, and forming for 100 miles the boundary line between that state and Illinois, flows into the Ohio. It is 600 miles long and navigable for 300 miles. Waco, a city of Texas, on the Brazos river. It is a prosperous manufacturing city, and growing rapidly. It is the seat of Baylor University, founded by the Baptists in 1845. Population 14,445.

an

Be

Wade, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, American statesman, was born at Springfield, Massachusetts, Oct. 27, 1800. He studied law in Ohio, and was three times elected state senator. coming United States senator in 1851, again in 1857, and also in 1863, he was known as a strong anti-slavery man, being one of six senators who voted to repeal the fugitive slave law. He also opposed all the measures proposed as compromises between the north and the south. He was also influential in getting the homestead bill through congress. After the death of President Lincoln, Wade was acting vice-president of the United States. He died at Jefferson, Ohio, March 2, 1878.

Wadsworth, JAMES, & New York pioneer, was born in Durham, Connecticut, April 20, 1768. He with his brother bought a large tract of land in 1790 in what is now the town of Genesee, New York, and he was one of the great landowners of the state. He was very active in promoting the interests of religion and education in the new state. He published pamphlets and paid for lecturers on education, and gave a premium to any town that started a school library. A library was founded by him at Genesee, and in all his land sales he insisted that 125 acres should be set apart for a church and 125 acres for a school. He died June 8, 1844.

Wagner, WILHELM RICHARD, a German musical composer, was born at Leipsic, May 22, 1813. He was educated at Dresden and Leipsic, and in 1836 was

made conductor of the opera at Magdeburg. Rienzi and The Flying Dutchman were composed at Paris, where Rienzi was unsuccessfully put on the stage, but at Dresden it made him a musical conductor. For his next opera, Tannhäuser, he went to the old German songs, but the work was only partially successful when brought out in Dresden. During the revolution in Saxony of 1849 Wagner was prominent as a leader and had to flee to Zurich, where he lived ten years, until allowed to return. Lohengrin, composed before he left Dresden, was produced at Weimar under the direction of Liszt in 1850, and in answer to Liszt's call for a new creation he began his collection of operas based on the Nibelungenlied. În order to bring out his “festival stage play," as he called his Nibelungen collection of operas, he built a theater at Baireuth, Bavaria. Founded on the old German poem, it was a great success, both in Bavaria and in London, where Wagner was present at its performance in 1877. His last and perhaps greatest work, Parsifal, founded on the story of the Holy Grail, was finished in Palermo, 1882. He died at Venice Feb. 13, 1883, and was buried at his home at Baireuth. See HOLY GRAIL, NIBELUNGENLIED. See Life by Nohl.

Wagram (wä'-gram), a village in Austria, ten miles from Vienna, important as the site of the great battle between the Austrians and the French in 1809. Napoleon surprised the Austrians under Archduke Charles by crossing the Danube at night, but was at first driven back. The next day the French, with a loss of 25,000, forced the retreat of the Austrians, leaving 25,000 dead on the field. This battle was followed by the peace of Vienna, Oct. 14, 1809.

Waite, MORRISON REMICH, an American statesman, was born in Lyme, Connecticut, Nov. 29, 1816. He graduated at Yale and began practicing law at Maumee City, Ohio, afterwards settling in Toledo. His reputation as a

lawyer led to his being sent as one of the counsel for the United States in the Alabama case, to Geneva in 1871 -'72. He presided over the constitutional convention of Ohio in 1873, and in 1874 was appointed chief-justice of the United States. He died in 1888.

Wake, from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning to watch, is a religious festival, once universal in England. The early churches were dedicated to a saint, and on the birthday of the saint of a parish church the festival was kept. The day at the time was reckoned from sunset to sunset, so that the first part of the festival was the night watch, hence the name "wake." These festivals degenerated into fairs, because of the peddlers, etc., who were attracted by the crowds, and became scenes of riot. They were forbidden to be held in the country churchyards by Edward I., and Henry VI. abolished all selling, except of food, at wakes, while Henry VIII. made the first Sunday in October the day of the feast. The wake is still observed in some country parishes in England. The Irish wake is the custom of watching all night around the dead, which is often accompanied by loud mourning, drinking and even riot. Wake-Robin, the common name of species of trillium, and also for the plant known as "Jack-in-the-pulpit." There are several varieties of the trillium, which is a species of lily. They grow in damp woods from Canada to Georgia, and are among our best known wild flowers. There is usually a long stalk with a cluster of three leaves, with a single white or purple flower. The curious Jack-in-the-pulpit, which is called wake-robin in the south, has a large, greenish or purplish spathe, or leaf-like envelope, turning over like a hood, which encloses a long fingershaped stem, called the spadix. The calla lily belongs to the same family.

Waldenses, or VAUDOIS, a Christian denomination in Italy, founded about 1170 by Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons, who sold his goods and gave them to the poor; then he went forth preaching voluntary poverty, and his followers were called the "Poor of Lyons." They did not intend to secede from the church, but thinking it utterly corrupt, they sought to bring it back to its primitive purity. When the archbishop of Lyons commanded them to be silent they appealed to Pope Alexander III., but he also forbade their meetings. Waldo, however, con

WALES

tined to preach, and with his followers was excommunicated. His doctrines spread in Italy, France and Bohemia, and especially in the valleys of Piedmont, where the Waldenses were greatly persecuted during the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1680 they suffered at the hands of an Italian and French army, 3,000 being killed, 10,000 imprisoned and 3,000 of their children being placed in different Catholic towns and villages. They had permission to emigrate the next year, and about 5,000 went from Piedmont to Switzerland, Holland, Brandenburg, Hesse and Würtemberg. There are now ten congregations in Würtemburg with over 16,000 members. When all Italy was opened to them in 1858, they chose Florence as their center, removing their theological seminary and printing press there. They formed an Italian evangelical publication society in 1861, and have been especially active in printing religious books. They accept the Bible as their only rule of faith, but hold their Confession of Faith, published in 1655, as the most correct interpretation of it.

Wales, a part of Great Britain, is a peninsula on the western coast of England, lying between the Bristol Channel and the Irish Sea. It is 136 miles long and about 90 wide, about as large as Massachusetts. It has a broken coast line of 360 miles, and is a mountainous country. The Snowdon mountains_in_the north, the Plinlimmon and the Black mountains are the main ranges, with peaks over 3,000 feet high. There are several small streams, and only one lake, Bala. The country abounds in minerals; copper, lead, iron, coal, zinc and silver are found, and remains of gold mines worked by the Romans. The climate is not severe, though somewhat cold and very damp. Butter, cheese, wool and grain are among the most important products, and iron and flannel are the principal manufactures. University College, St. David's College, St. Beuno's College, and colleges at Bala, Brecon, Llangollen and Trevesca are among the higher institutions. people are of Celtic origin, and call themselves Cymri, the name Welsh being given them by the English. The English language is spoken in most of the large cities, but Welsh or Cymraeg, as they call it, is the language of the country. It is the best preserved of the Celtic dialects.

The

Wales was inhabited by three Celtic

tribes when the Romans invaded it, but never conquered it. It was in constant warfare with the Saxons and the Danes, paying tribute to Athelstan, king of England, and later to Harold. William the Conqueror subdued it, and the English kings have ever since claimed possession of the country. In 1267 Llewellyn ap Gryffith was acknowledged prince of Wales by Henry III., but refusing to obey the call of Edward I. to parliament, was attacked and defeated. In 1282 he rebelled again, and was slain in battle and his brother David, who succeeded him, executed as a traitor, and Wales was united to England. The title prince of Wales has been given ever since to the eldest son of the English sovereign, Under Owen Glendower the Welsh made a final effort for freedom, the struggle lasting fifteen years from 1400 to his death in 1415. Population, 1,518,

914.

Walhalla or Valhalla (the hall of the fallen), in Scandinavian mythology, the hall where were gathered the dead who had fallen in battle. The hall, according to the legend, was in Gladsheim (the house of joy), with a grove of golden leaved trees around it. It was ornamented with shields and spears, and had 540 doors so wide 800 people could walk abreast through them. Every morning the inmates marched out at the crowing of the cock, and fought furiously until noon, when all wounds were healed, and they sat down to a banquet with Odin, where they were waited on by the Walkyries, or battle-maidens.

Walker, ROBERT JAMES, an American statesman, was born in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, July 19, 1801. After practising law at Pittsburgh, he moved to Natchez, Mississippi, and was sent from that state to the United States senate in 1837, which position he held until 1845, when he was made secretary of the treasury under President Polk. He was made governor of Kansas when a territory, in 1857. Siding with the Union during the civil war, he went to Europe in 1863 as financial agent for the United States and succeeded in selling $2,500,000 of government bonds. He died in Washington, D. C., Nov. 11,

1869.

Wallace, ALFRED RUSSEL, an English naturalist, was born in Monmouthshire, England, Jan. 8, 1822. His studies in natural history led to his going with a scientific expedition to

WALLACE

Brazil, where he spent four years, exploring the Amazon, and published the results in two volumes, Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro and Palm Trees of the Amazon. Eight years were spent in exploring the islands of the Malay Archipelago. Here his work led him to study the origin of species, and not knowing of Darwin's work, he wrote a paper On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart from the Original Species, in which he suggested the same theory of evolu tion as Darwin in his paper On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties. The two papers were read at the same time before the Linnæan Society in England, July 1, 1858. The results of his labors in the east were a volume entitled The Malay Archipelago: the Land of the Orang-utan and the Bird of Paradise; and a collection of more than 8,000 birds and 100,000 insects. He has written also Tropical Nature, Geographical Distribution of Animals and two works on Darwinism.

Wallace, LEWIS, an American general and writer, was born at Brookville, Indiana, in 1827. His military service was in the Mexican war, and in the civil war, where he commanded a division at the capture of Fort Donelson, and guarded Cincinnati when besieged by General Kirby Smith. In July, 1864, though defeated by General Early, who was marching on Washington, his attack detained the confederate forces until Grant had reenforced the capital. He was governor of Utah from 1878-'81, and minister to Turkey from 1881-'85. His writings include The Fair God, a story of the conquest of Mexico; Life of Benjamin Harrison, The Boyhood of Christ and one of the most popular books of the kind, BenHur, a Tale of the Christ.

Wallace, SIR WILLIAM, the most popular national hero of Scotland, was born about 1270. While studying at Dundee, so tradition reports, he killed a young Englishman in revenge of an insult, and was outlawed. He gathered around him a band of desperate men whom he led in attacks on the English. His followers and his successes increased until the English king recognized it as an insurrection, and sent an army against the insurgents, when most of the nobles deserted Wallace, He fled to the north and soon collected another army and drove the English from Scotland, and was chosen guardian of Scotland in 1297. The English re newed the contest and the Scottish