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LEFT WINDHAM 386 WINDOM called from its beauty "Queen of the Lakes"; partly in the county of Lancas- ter, and partly divides that county from Westmoreland. It is nearly 11 miles long and about 1 mile in extreme breadth; fed by the Brathay and the Rothay, the waters of which become united before entering the lake, and by the streams which drain the neighboring lakelets of Esthwaite, Troutbeck, and Blelham; and, lying 134 feet above sea- level, discharges its surplus waters S. into Morecambe Bay by the Leven. Next to Wast Water, Windermere is the deep- est of all the English lakes, its greatest depth being 240 feet, while Wast Water is 270 feet deep. It contains a number of islands, the largest being 28 acres in area. Soft rich beauty is the principal characteristic of the islands of the lake, of the wooded shores, and of the scenery around; there being a total absence of that wildness and sublimity which char- acterize some of the other lakes, ex- cept at the N. end, where Langdale Pikes, Harrison Stickle, Sea Fell, and Bow Fell stand forward prominently in the land- scape. WINDHAM, WILLIAM, an English statesman; bom in London, May 3, 1750; was educated at Eton, at Glasgow Uni- versity, and University College, Oxford. In 1784 he was returned to Parliament for Norwich. In 1783, on the formation of the Portland ministry, remarkable for the coalition of Lord North and Mr. Fox, he had become principal secretary to Lord Northington, then lord-lieutenant of Ireland, but ill-health soon obliged him to resign. He followed Burke in his view of the French Revolution, and in 1794 he became seeretary-at-war under Pitt. He went out with Pitt in 1701, and denounced Addington's peace of Amiens (1801) in a speech of splendid eloquence. This lost him his seat for Norwich, but he was elected for St. Mawes in Cornwall, and on the return of the Grenville party to power (January, 1806) he became war and colonial secretary. He helped Cob- bett to start his "Political Register" (January, 1802), carried a scheme for limited service in the army (1806), and at the general election in October, 1806, found a seat in New Romney, and next year at Higham Ferrers. He went out of office in 1807, when the Portland ad- ministration was formed, having previ- ously declined the offer of a peerage, and strongly denounced the expedition against Copenhagen, and afterward the disastrous Walcheren expedition. In 1808 a clause was introduced by his suc- cessor, Lord Castlereagh, into the Mutiny Act, permitting men to enlist for life, contrary to Windham's scheme of limited service, which was, however, readopted in 1847. He died June 4, 1810. WINDMILL, a mill which receives its motion by the wind acting on sails, and which is used for grinding grain, rais- ing or pumping water, and other pur- poses. When wind is employed as the first mover of machinery, it may be ap- plied in two ways: (1) By receiving it on sails which are nearly vertical, and which give motion to an axis nearly horizontal, in which case the machine is called a vertical windmill, or (2) by re- ceiving it on vertical sails which move in a horizontal plane, and give motion to a vertical axis, in which case it is called a horizontal windmill. Sometimes the whole mill is made to turn on a strong vertical post, and is then called a post mill; but more commonly the roof or head only revolves, carrying with it the wind wheel and its shaft, this weight being supported on friction rollers. As it is necessary that the extremity of the wind shaft must always be placed so as to point to the quarter from which the wind blows, a large vane oi* weather- cock is placed on the side which is op- posite the sails, thus turning them always to the wind. But in large mills the motion is regulated by a small supple- mentary wind wheel, a pair of sails occupying the place of the vane, and situated at right angles to the principal wind wheel. When the windmill is in its proper position with the shaft parallel to the wind, these supplementary sails do not turn; but when the wind changes they are immediately brought into action, and, by turning a series of wheel work, they gradually bring round the head to its proper position. On account of the inconstant nature of the motion of the wind, it is necessary to make some pro- vision for accommodating the resistance of the sails to the degree of violence with which the wind blows. This is done by clothing and unclothing the sails; that is, by covering with canvas or thin boards a greater or smaller portion of the frame of the sails according to the force of the wind. WINDOM, WILLIAM, an American financier; born in Belmont, 0., May 10, 1827; began practicing law in Mount Vernon, O., in 1850. In 1852 he was made prosecuting attorney of Knox county, O. He held this position for three years, when he i-emoved to Minnesota. He was sent to Congress from that State in 1859, and was re-elected to serve four succes- sive terms, a period of 10 years, ending his career in the House in 1869. He was appointed to the United States Senate in 1870 to fill the unexpired term of Daniel S. Norton, deceased. He was also elected