Page:A biographical dictionary of modern rationalists.djvu/469

 WALLACE

WALPOLB

WALLACE, Professor William, M.A.,

philosopher. B. May 11, 1844. Ed. St. Andrews and Oxford (Balliol). At St. Andrews University Wallace won an exhi bition which allowed him to go to Balliol. He began to study for the Church, but withdrew. In 1867 he became a Fellow, in 1868 a tutor, and in 1871 librarian, of Merton College. In 1882 he was appointed Whyte professor of moral philosophy at Oxford. Wallace was a Theist of the Hegelian schcol. He translated Hegel s Logic and Philosophy of the Mind, and wrote studies of Kant and Schopenhauer. He often lectured for the London Ethical Society, and in his Lectures and Essays on Natural Theology and Ethics (1898) he discards all supernatural religion (p. 205, etc.), and seems to give up the idea of personal immortality. D. Feb. 18, 1897.

WALPOLE, Horatio (Horace), fourth Earl of Orford, writer. B. Sep. 24, 1717. Ed. Eton and Cambridge (King s College). Son of Sir Eobert Walpole [next paragraph] , he was baptised Horatio, but changed his name to Horace. Before he left Eton his father, who was then Prime Minister, got him several sinecures in the Civil Service. He made the grand tour of Europe, and was elected member of Parliament for Callington on his return to England in 1741. He took no interest in political life, however, and for many years settled down to the life of a country gentleman. His interest in literature grew, and he set up, at his house at Twickenham, a private press which turned out some handsome work. He wrote A Catalogue of the Eoijal and Noble Authors of England (2 vols., 1758), Fugitive Pieces in Verse and Prose (1758), and a few other works, the most successful of which was a novel, The Castle of Otranto (1764). Walpole, who succeeded to the Earldom of Orford in 1791, is chiefly known to-day by his amusing and infor ming letters (the best edition of which, pub lished in 1905, runs to sixteen volumes). They justly reflect him as an elegant idler, removing himself as far as possible from 865

the blunt outspokenness and tireless in dustry of his father. He resented aggres sive or open criticism of religion, but repeatedly expressed his Deism to his correspondents. In a letter of 1783 to the Eev. W. Mason he ridicules the Christian heaven &quot; the absurd idea of the beatified sitting on golden thrones and chanting eternal allelujahs to golden harps &quot; and he pointedly evades the question whether he believes in immortality or no (xiii, pp. 78-82). He uses Theistic lan guage, but frequently shows that beyond this he is with his French friends, the philosophers. D. Mar. 2, 1797.

WALPOLE, Sir Robert, first Earl of Orford, statesman. B. Aug. 26, 1676. Ed. Eton and Cambridge (King s College). Walpole was intended for the Church, but his elder brother died, and his father entrusted him with the management of his estates, to which he succeeded in 1700. In the following year he was returned to the House of Commons, and he represented King s Lynn there from 1702 until near the end of his life. Within a few years Walpole was a powerful and prominent figure in Par liament, and on several occasions he used his influence on behalf of religious toleration. In 1705 he entered Prince George s Council ; and he became Secretary at War in 1708, and Treasurer of the Navy in 1710. The Whigs fell in 1710, and he led them in opposition with such ability that the Tories had him lodged in the Tower on an unjust charge (Diet. Nat. Biog.). He was ex cluded from office until 1715. He then became First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was reappointed in 1721, after the South Sea Bubble. His success was such that the King used to say that Walpole could turn stones into gold. Whatever he chose to do in private, he kept the country pros perous and peaceful, and he was the only public man to oppose the Spanish War. He refused a peerage, and continued for twenty years to dominate the House of ommons. Walpole is, in fact, reckoned

866

2G