Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/602

Rh 566 W I L W I L She, fostering his inclination for a religious life, placed him under the care of an old noble, Cudda, who had be taken himself to a monastic life at Lindisfarne. Later on Banned enabled him to visit Rome under the protection of Benedict Biscop, the son of a Northumbrian, or rather Anglian, noble. At Lyons Wilfrid s pleasing features and quick intelligence made Dalfmus, or Aunemund, the archbishop, desire to adopt him and marry him to his niece. Resisting his offers, the youth went on to Rome, received the papal benediction, and then, in accordance with his promise, returned to Lyons, where he stayed for three years, till the murder of his patron C?656), whose fate he would have shared had not his beauty stayed the hand of the executioners. On his return home, Oswy s son Alchfrid gave him a monastery at Ripon, and before long Bishop Agilbert of Paris ordained him priest. He was probably already regarded as the leading exponent of the Roman discipline in England when his speech at the council of Whitby determined the overthrow of the Celtic party (664). About a year later he was consecrated to the see of York (not in England, where perhaps he could not find the fitting number of orthodox prelates, but at Compiegne). On his return journey he narrowly escaped the pagan wreckers of Sussex, and only reached his own country to find he had been supplanted in his see. The rest of his life is a record of wandering and misfortune. For three years (665-668) he ruled his monastery at Ripon in peace, occasionally, however, exercising his episcopal functions in Mercia and Kent. On Archbishop Theodore s arrival (668) he was restored to his see, but only to be driven out through the anger of King Egfrid s queen (677). Theodore now divided Wilfrid s large diocese into three ; and the aggrieved prelate went to lay his case before the bishop of Rome. On his way he narrowly escaped murder at the hands of foreign princes, whom his own countrymen had stirred up against him. A synod held at Rome under Agatho (?679) ordained his restitution; but even a papal decision could not prevent his being cast into prison on his return home. When released he wandered first to Mercia, whence Egfrid once more drove him forth to Sussex. Here he rescued the pagan folk from an impending famine, and established a bishop s see at Selsea. After Egfrid s death (20th May 685) Wilfrid was restored to York and Ripon (686-687). He was once more driven out in 691- 692, and after appealing to Rome in person obtained an other decision in his favour (703-704). Despite the inter cession of Berghtwald, archbishop of Canterbury, Egbert s brother Aldfrid refused to admit the aged prelate into his kingdom till his last illness (705). This year or the next a council was held near the river Nidd, the papal letters were read, and, despite the opposition of the bishops, Wilfrid once more received the abbeys of Ripon and Hexham. Not long after he died at Oundle (Northamptonshire) as he was going on a visit to Ceolred, king of Mercia (709). He was buried at Ripon, whence, according to Eadmer, his bones were afterwards removed to Canterbury. Wilfrid s is a memorable name in English history, not only be cause of the large part he played in supplanting the Celtic discipline and in establishing a precedent of appeal to papal authority, but also by reason of his services to architecture and learning. At York he renewed Paulinus s old church, roofing it with lead and furnish ing it with glass windows ; at Ripon he built an entirely new basilica with columns arid porches ; at Hexham in honour of St Andrew lie reared a still nobler church, over which Eddius grows eloquent. In the early days of his bishopric he used to travel about his diocese attended by a little troop of skilled masons. He seems to have also reformed the method of conducting the divine services by the aid of his skilled chanters, Mdde and JEonan, and to have established or renewed the rule of St Benedict in the monasteries. On each visit to Rome it was his delight to collect relics for his native land ; and to his favourite basilica at Ripon he gave a bookcase wrought in gold and precious stones, besides a splendid copy of the Gospels. As a missionary his success was extraordinary, and even on his way to Rome in 679 he found time to convert the Frisian king, Ald- gislus, though the latter had been bribed to slay him by the offer of &quot;a measure of gold solidi.&quot; Later in life he ordained Suidbert as the first bishop of Frisia. In earlier years his influence was so great that he supplied the Franks with one of their later Mero vingian kings, Dagobert II. Wilfrid s life was written shortly after his death by Eddius at the request of Acca, his successor at Hexham, and Tatbert, abbot of Ripon, both intimate friends of the great bishop. Other lives were written by Frithegode in the 10th, by Folcard in the llth, and by Eadmer early in the 12th century. The dates have to be supplied mainly from Bede s Hist. Ecd., iii. c. 25, &c., 13, &c., v. 19, &c. All the lives are printed in Raine s Historians of the Church of York, vol. i. (Rolls Series). WILHELMSHAVEX, or WILHELMSHAFEN, the chief naval station and war harbour of Germany on the North Sea, is situated on the east side of the Jahde, a large basin united with the sea by a channel 3 miles long. The ground on which it stands was purchased by Prussia from the duke of Oldenburg in 1853, and though reckoned a part of the province of Hanover is completely surrounded on the land ward side by Oldenburg territory. The town is laid out on a regular and ample scale, and the streets are wide and shaded with trees. A statue has been erected to Admiral Prince Adalbert of Prussia (d. 1873). Most of the inhabit ants, who numbered 13,972 in 1885, including 1326 Roman Catholics, are connected with the dockyard and fleet ; and there is an additional colony of dockyard em ployes at Bant (3000 inhabitants), on Oldenburg soil. The original harbour, constructed in 1855-69, consists of an inner and outer basin. To the south-east of the inner harbour, which is used by war- vessels not in active service, a large new harbour has recently been constructed for war-vessels in commission and for commercial purposes. The entrance to both the old and the new harbour is sheltered by long and massive moles. A torpedo har bour has also been formed. The inner harbour and the adjacent docks, building-slips, machine-shops, &c., form the Government dockyard, which is enclosed by a lofty wall with fourteen iron gates. The whole establishment is defended by strong fortifications. WILKES, JOHN (1727-1797), the champion of the right of free representation by British constituencies, was de scended from a family long connected with Leighton- Buzzard in Bedfordshire, but he himself was born at Clerkenwell, London, on 17th October 1727. His father, Israel Wilkes, was a rich distiller, and the owner, through his wife Sarah, daughter of John Heaton of Hoxton,&quot;of considerable house property in its north-eastern suburbs. After some training under private tuition John Wilkes was sent to the university of Leyden, matriculating there on 8th September 1744. Several young men of talent from Scotland and England were studying in this Dutch uni versity at that period, and a lively picture of their life, in which Wilkes displays the gaiety of temper which remained faithful to him all his days, is presented to us by &quot; Jupiter &quot; Carlyle. With this training he acquired an intimate know ledge of classical literature, and he enlarged his mind by travelling through Holland, Flanders, and part of Germany. At the close of 1748 he returned to his native land, and in a few months (October 1749) was drawn by his relations into marrying Mary, sole daughter and heiress of John Mead, citizen and grocer of London, who was ten years his senior. The ill-assorted pair, for she was grave and staid, while he rioted in exuberant spirits and love of society, lived together in the country for some months, when, to make matters worse, they returned to town to dwell with the wife s mother. One child, a daughter, was born to them, when Wilkes left his wife and removed to West minster, where he kept open house for many young men about town possessing more wit than morals. To this un fortunate marriage should in justice be attributed some of his errors in life. In 1754 he contested the constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed, but failed to gain the seat. Wilkes was now a well-known figure in the life of the West End, and among his associates were Thomas Potter, the son of the archbishop of Canterbury, Sir Francis Dashwood, after wards Lord le Despencer, and Lord Sandwich, the last of