Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/350

Rh 326 A L W A L WALKEE, a town of Northumberland, England, on the north bank of the river Tyne, 2 miles east of Newcastle- ou-Tyne, with which it is connected by railway. Christ Church, in the Perpendicular style, erected in 1848, con sists of chancel, nave, aisles, and tower with beautiful illuminated clock erected in 1887. The windows of the church are all monumental stained glass. There is a large colliery, in which at one time was a salt spring, which was used in the manufacture of soda, begun by permission of the Government in 1795, by a company who may be re garded as the first producers of mineral alkali and soda in England. Along the banks of the Tyne there are large iron and chemical works, coal staiths, ship- and boat-building establishments, and brick and tile works. The corporation of Newcastle-on-Tyne are lords of the manor. The town is formed of what were formerly the villages of Walker, Low Walker, and Walker Quay. It is governed by a local board of health of twelve members. The population of the urban sanitary district (area 1200 acres) in 1871 was 8888, and in 1881 it was 9527. WALKER, FREDERICK (1840-1875), subject painter, was born in Maryleboue, London, on May 24, 1840. While very young he began to draw from the antique in the British Museum, and at the age of sixteen he was placed in the office of Baker, an architect. The occupation proved uncongenial ; at the end of eighteen months he resumed his work from the Elgin marbles at the Museum, attending art classes ; and in March 1858 he was admitted a student of the Royal Academy. He soon turned his attention to designing for the wood-engravers, and served an apprentice ship of three years with J. W. Whymper. His earliest book-illustrations appeared in 1860 in Once a Week, a periodical to which he contributed largely, as also to the Cornldll Magazine, where his admirable designs to the works of Thackeray and those of his daughter appeared. These woodcuts are among the most spirited and artistic works of their class, and entitle Walker to rank with Millais at the very head of the draughtsmen of our time who have dealt with scenes of contemporary life. In the intervals of work as a book-illustrator he practised painting in water-colours, his subjects being frequently more con sidered and refined repetitions in colour of his black-and- white designs. Among the more notable of his productions in water-colour are Spring, a Fishmonger s Shop, the Ferry, and Philip in Church, which gained a medal in the Paris International Exhibition of 1867. He was elected an associate of the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1864, and a full member in 1866 ; and in 1871 he became an associate of the Royal Academy. His first oil picture, the Lost Path, was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1863, where it was followed in 1867 by the Bathers, one of the artist s finest works, in 1868 by the Vagrants, now in the National Gallery, in 1869 by the Old Gate, and in 1870 by the Plough, a powerful and impressive render ing of ruddy evening light, of which the landscape was studied in Somerset. In 1871 he exhibited his tragic life-sized figure of a Female Prisoner at the Bar, a subject which now exists only in a finished oil study, for the painter afterwards effaced the head, with which he was dissatisfied, and was prevented by death from again completing the picture. The last of his fully successful works was the Harbour of Refuge, shown in 1872, for the Right of Way, exhibited in 1875, bears evident signs of the artist s failing strength. In the end of 1873 he made a journey to Algiers for his health, but, returning in the bitter English spring, he was again prostrated ; and on June 5, 1875, he died of consumption at St Fillau s, Perthshire. The works of Frederick Walker are thoroughly original and in dividual, both iu the technique of their colour and execution and in their view of nature and humanity. His colour, especially in his water-colours, is pure, powerful, and full of delicate gradations ; he had an admirable sense of design, and the figures of his peasants at their daily toil show a grace and sweeping largeness of line which recalls the antique ; while the sentiment of his subjects is unfail ingly refined and poetic. WALKER, SEARS COOK (1805-1853), astronomer, was born at Wilmington, Massachusetts, U.S., on March 28, 1805. He kept a school at Philadelphia till 1845, when he was appointed assistant at the Washington observatory. Shortly afterwards he took charge of the astronomical department of the United States Coast Survey, where he was among the first to make use of the electric telegraph for the purpose of determining the difference of longitude between two stations, and he introduced the method of registering transit observations electrically by means of a chronograph. He also investigated the orbit of the newly discovered planet Neptune. He died at Cincinnati on January 30, 1853. WALLACE, SIR WILLIAM, the most popular national hero of Scotland, is believed to have been the second son of Sir Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie and Auchinbothie, in Renfrewshire. The date of his birth is not certainly ascertained, but is usually given as 1270. The only authority for the events of his early life is the metrical history of Blind Harry. That authority cannot be implicitly relied on, though we need not conclude that the minstrel invented the stories he relates. He lived about two centuries later than Wallace, during which a considerable body of legend had probably gathered round the name, and these popular &quot;gestis&quot; he incorporates in his narrative. At the same time he professes to follow as his &quot; autour &quot; an account that had been written in Latin by John Blair, the personal friend and chaplain of Wallace himself. As Blair s account has perished, we cannot tell how far the minstrel has faithfully followed his authority, but some comparatively recent discoveries have confirmed the truth of portions of the narrative which had pre viously been doubted. At best, however, his authority must be regarded with suspicion, except when it is con firmed by other and more trustworthy evidence. Only for a period of less than two years in his life from the beginning of the insurrection in 1297 to the battle of Falkirk does Wallace come before us in the clearest historical light. With the exception of one or two glimpses of him that we obtain from authentic historical documents, the recorded events of his later as of his earlier life rest on no more certain authority than that of Blind Harry. In his boyhood, according to the usual accounts, he resided for some time at Dunipace, in Stirlingshire, with an uncle, who is styled &quot;parson&quot; of the place. By this uncle he was partially educated, and from him he imbibed an enthusiastic love of liberty. His education was continued at Dundee, where he made the acquaintance of John Blair. On account of an incident that happened at Dundee his slaughter of a young Englishman named Selby, for an insult offered to him he is said to have been outlawed, and so driven into rebellion against the English. Betaking himself to the wilds of the country, he gradually gathered round him a body of desperate men whom he led in various attacks upon the English. In consequence of the success of these early enterprises his following largely increased, several of the more patriotic nobles including the steward of Scotland, Sir Andrew Moray, Sir John de Graham, Douglas the Hardy, Wishart, bishop of Glasgow, and others having joined him. His insurrection now became more open and pronounced, and his enterprises of greater import ance. An attack was made upon the English justiciar, Ormsby, who was holding his court at Scone. The i justiciar himself escaped, but many of his followers