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WAS the first blood was shed in this memorable contest at Lexington." On the 25th of November, 1783, the British army evacuated New York, and Washington, with the civil authorities, made a public entry into the empire city. On the 4th of December he took personal farewell of the principal officers of the army. On the 23rd he formally resigned in the hall of congress his commission as commander-in-chief, and on the following day he was at Mount Vernon, once more a simple private citizen.

The next six years of Washington's life were spent in the examination and restoration of his private affairs, in the improvement of his estates, and in the methodical discharge of his various duties. As time wore on, it became evident that the Union would fall to pieces unless the authority of congress were strengthened, and something like a real federal system established. At this period Washington, in a private station, leaned to the views of what was afterwards termed the federalist party, and of which Alexander Hamilton (q.v.) became the foremost representative. In the federal convention of 1787, which met to fix finally the constitution of the United States, Washington sat as delegate from Virginia, and as president of it affixed his signature to the new constitution. On the 30th of April, 1789, he took the oaths as first president of the United States. From a wish to conciliate, he gave two of the chief seats in his cabinet to the leaders of the two parties which had already developed themselves; Alexander Hamilton, the federalist, became secretary of the treasury; Thomas Jefferson, the democrat, secretary of state; and between those two men it was no easy task for the president to hold the balance even. Both of them, however, if they differed on most other subjects, agreed in respecting Washington, and both united to persuade him to allow himself to be elected president a second time, March, 1793. It was during his second presidency that he himself was first personally assailed. When England and France went to war in 1793, a large party in the States were for supporting their former ally against their former enemy. Washington was firm for neutrality, and some loss of popularity was the result. In the last year of his second presidency he even came into collision with the house of representatives on the subject of the treaty of commerce which he had ratified with England, and which the malcontents deemed too favourable to the old country. On the 4th March, 1796, he was succeeded by President Adams, and retired once more into private life. When, in 1798, there was a prospect of war between the United States and the French directory, all eyes were turned to Washington, and he was nominated commander-in-chief of the army of the United States. Before news could reach him of the settlement of the differences with France, and while he was actively employed in making arrangements for raising and organizing an army, he died after a brief illness, caused by exposure to the weather, on the 14th of December, 1799. In person Washington was tall and well-shaped, with regular features and light blue eyes. His strong temper he kept habitually in subjection, and the expression of his countenance was benignant. He was sensible rather than fluent in his conversation, and though he enjoyed wit and humour, seldom himself exhibited them. His manner blended courtesy and affability with a quiet but unmistakable dignity. In all the relations of private life he was unexceptionable. Indeed his general character, public and private, was that of a man without a flaw. He was simple, truthful, sincere, patriotic, and served his country with an energy, perseverance, and patience equal to his disinterestedness. In his devotion to duty, as in some other characteristics, he resembles, of the famous men of modern times, our own duke of Wellington the most strongly, although inferior to the English warrior in the highest qualities of a great commander. The "Writings" of Washington, public and private, were edited in twelve volumes in 1837 by Mr. Jared Sparkes, who prefixed to them a well-written biography of the American hero. The latest and most elaborate Life of Washington is the careful and attractive work of Washington Irving.—F. E.  WASSIAN, Archbishop of Rostow, died in 1581. When the Russian empire, under Ivan III., was threatened by the Khan Achmet, Wassian exerted himself to unite the imperial family against the invader. Ivan, yielding to fear, was about to make terms with the invader, but the archbishop rebuked his weakness. Ivan, attacking the Tartars in the rear, gained a complete victory, and the empire was saved.—F. M. W.  WATERLAND,, a celebrated theologian and controversialist, was born at Walesby, Lincolnshire, 14th February, 1683, his father being rector of the parish. He entered Magdalen college, Cambridge, on 30th March, 1699, when he had just completed his sixteenth year; obtained a scholarship in 1702; and was elected a fellow on 15th February, 1703-4. In 1706 he commenced A.M.; became master of his college in 1713, the gift of the earl of Suffolk; and had also by the same patron the rectory of Ellingham conferred upon him. He was also at this time a very diligent and successful tutor. On keeping a divinity act for his bachelor's degree in divinity, his first thesis was—"Was Arian subscription lawful?" Sherlock being his formal opponent. This question shows the leaning of his mind towards the great controversy which has immortalized his name. He was elected vice-chancellor in 1715, and one of his first acts was the reception of Bishop Moore's library, presented by the king to the university. In 1717 he was appointed one of the royal chaplains to George I.—a step which roused the jealous resentment of Conyers Middleton. When the king visited Cambridge, Waterland had the degree of D.D. conferred upon him in the royal presence. In 1721, after preaching the Lady Meyer's lecture, he was presented by the dean and chapter of St. Paul's to the rectory of St. Austin and St. Faith in the city. Two years afterwards he was promoted to the chancellorship of the diocese of York; in 1727 to a canony in Windsor, the vicarage of Twickenham, and the archdeaconry of Middlesex. He died 23rd December, 1740. The nail of one of his great toes had grown into it; the matter was neglected, and when a surgical operation had been performed, mortification and death ensued. Waterland's principal works refer to the Arian controversy, and he may be said to have extinguished Arianism in England. His first publication was "Queries in Vindication of Christ's Divinity;" then a "Defence of the Queries;" then a "Second Defence," especially in reply to Dr. Samuel Clarke's Scheme of the Holy Trinity. His Lady Meyer's sermons were also in defence of Christ's divinity. In 1723 appeared his "History of the Athanasian Creed;" and in 1734 the "Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity Asserted." He also published "Scripture Vindicated against Tyndal;" and in 1737 appeared his "Review of the Eucharist"—Hoadley and Johnson being especially aimed at. Waterland was a man of great learning, ability, and fairness in controversy; and his opponents were men of no ordinary mark—as Middleton, Clarke, Whitby—not to mention inferior disputants. His works, containing the treatises referred to, and others, with some sermons and charges, were published with his life by Bishop Van Mildert in eleven volumes, octavo, Oxford, 1823, and reprinted in six volumes, octavo; Oxford, 1856.—J. E.  WATERLOO,, a Dutch landscape painter, who was born near Utrecht about 1618. His pictures were distinguished, says Houbraken, by their clear skies and a rich and varied foliage; but as he did not sign them, they are attributed to better-known masters. Pictures assigned to this painter are exceedingly rare. There are many admirable etchings by him, which show also the accomplished landscape draughtsman; they are partly etched and partly engraved. Weenix is said to have painted figures in the landscapes of Waterloo, who died about 1662.—R. N. W.  WATERTON,, an eminent naturalist, belonged to an old family which adhered to the Church of Rome after the Reformation. He was born about 1782 at his seat at Walton hall, near Wakefield, and received his later education at the Roman catholic college of Stoneyhurst in Lancashire, displaying from his childhood a peculiar interest in "animated nature." At nineteen or twenty he proceeded to Demerara to look after some family property, and found himself in and near a region abounding with objects that rewarded the attention of the naturalist. After a series of years of varied experience in America and Europe, Mr. Waterton published in 1825 his "Wanderings in South America, the north-west of the United States, and the Antilles, in 1812, 1816, 1820, and 1824." The strangeness of some of the adventures recorded in it, the racy style, the writer's enthusiasm, and its impress of strong individuality, made the work successful. It was followed by "Essays on Natural History," in three series, published in 1838, 1844, and 1857, the author prefixing to each an instalment of his autobiography. At Walton hall Mr. Waterton gave for many years a hospitable shelter to all birds and beasts who chose to avail themselves of it. There is a pleasant account of this natural menagerie, "The Home of a Naturalist," in the Cornhill Magazine for June, 1862. Mr. Waterton died on the 26th of May, 1865.—F. E.  WATS,, a noted English writer, who flourished in the early part of the seventeenth century, was a native of 