WILMOT (John), earl of Rochester, a great wit in the reign of Charles II., the son of Henry earl of Rochester, was born in 1648. He was taught classical learning at the free-school at Burford. In 1659 he was admitted a nobleman of Wadham College, where he obtained the degree of M. A. He afterwards travelled through France and Italy; and at his return was made one of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber to the king, and comptroller of Woodstock park. In 1665 he went to sea, and was in the Revenge, commanded by Sir Thomas Tiddiman, when an attack was made on Bergen. During the action, he acted so well, that he gained a high reputation for courage, which he supported in a second expedition, but afterwards lost it in a private adventure with lord Mulgrave. His mode of life had never been regular; but at last he became so sunk in debauchery that he was for five years together intoxicated. In October 1679, when recovering from a violent disease, which ended in a consumption, he was visited by Dr. Burnet. The doctor published an account of their conferences; in which it appears that, though he had lived the life of a libertine and atheist, yet he died the death of a penitent and Christian. His death happened in 1680; since which time his poems have been various times printed, both separately and together; but many pieces not of his writing have crept into the later editions. WILNA, an extensive province of the northwest of European Russia, containing the north part of Lithuania. It extends from 53° 40′ to 56° 15' of N. lat.; has an area of 2300 square miles; and a population of 1,000,000. The trade, such as it is, is carried on by the Jews. The principal rivers are the Niemen, the Vilia, the Pripez, and the Narew. WILNA, a city of Russian Lithuania, the chief town formerly of a palatinate, at present of a province or government. It is situated in a hilly country, and occupies several eminences near the river Vilna or Vilia. Its circuit is nearly four miles; its population, amounting in 1788 to 21,000, is now nearly 30,000. Like other towns in Poland and Russia, it is built chiefly of wood, very deficient in cleanliness, and exhibits a striking contrast of wretchedness and tawdry magnificence. Wilna is the see of a Greek metropolitan and a Catholic bishop. Its university, established in 1570, was new modelled by the Russian government in 1803. Connected with the establishment is an observatory and several libraries. There are in Wilna also a gymnasium or classical school, a seminary for the education of the Catholic clergy, another for those of the Greek church, and an institution for youths of good family. 400 miles S. S. W. of Petersburg, and 195 east of Konigsberg. WILSON (Florence), known by the name of Florentius Volusenus, was born at Elgin, in the shire of Murray in Scotland, and educated in the university of Aberdeen. Travelling to England, he was introduced to Cardinal Wolsey, who appointed him tutor to one of his nephews. In that capacity he went to Paris, and continued there till the cardinal's death. During his residence there he became acquainted with the learned cardinal Bellai, archbishop of Paris, who allowed him a pension, and meant to have appointed him royal professor of Greek and Latin in the university of Paris: but, Bellai being disgraced, Wilson's pros pects faded. Wilson was taken ill at Avignon, and the cardinal proceeded without him. After his re covery, he paid a visit to the celebrated carda! Sabolet, the Mæcenas of his time, who was as bishop of Carpentras, where he then resided. T cardinal was so charmed with his erudition that he appointed him professor of the learned language with a stipend of 100 pistoles per annum. Dare: his residence at Carpentras, he wrote his celebrat treatise De Animi Tranquillitate. Mackenzie s that he afterwards taught philosophy in Italy; a that, being at length desirous of returning to See land, he began his journey homeward, was taken: at Vienne in Dauphiny, and died there in 15 He was generally esteemed an accomplished i guist, philosopher, and Latin poet. He wrote b sides the above treatise, 1. Poemata, Lond, 16. 4to. 2. Commentatio quædam theologica in a rismos dissecta, per Sebast. Gryph. 3. Phil phiæ Aristot. Synopsis, lib. iv WILSON (John), a native of Kendal in We morland, whose first employment was the knitting stockings; but, acquiring a great know of botany, he commenced lecturer on that scrace, both at Kendal and Newcastle, with great s In 1744 he published A Synopsis of British in Mr. Ray's method, 8vo. He died in 1750. WILSON (Matthias). See KNOT. WILSON (Richard), an eminent painter, bon Pineges in Montgomeryshire, in 1714. He s died portrait paintings at London; and in 174 went to Italy. In 1755 he returned to Lond with high reputation, became a member of Royal Academy, and in 1779 librarian. He de in 1782, aged sixty-eight. WILSON (Thomas), lord bishop of Sodor Man, was born in 1663, at Burton, in Chest He commenced his education at Chester, thence was removed to Dublin. He continued college till 1686, when, on the 29th of June, was ordained deacon. In 1686 he was licen to the curacy of New Church in Winwick. 1692 he was appointed domestic chaplain to liam earl of Derby, and tutor to his son James Strange. He was soon after elected master of alms house at Latham. As his income increas he increased the portion of it which was allotts." the purposes of charity. At first he set apar tenth, then a fifth, afterwards a third, and last when he became a bishop, he dedicated a ful of his revenues to pious and charitable uses. 1697 he was promoted to the bishopric of the le of Man; a preferment which he held fiftyyears. This good prelate lived till 1755. works have been published in 2 vols. 4to. WILSON (Thomas), D. D., son of the bush was born in 1703, and educated at Christ Chur Oxford, where he graduated in 1739. He bec rector of St. Stephen Walbrook, a prebend Westminster, and sub-almoner to the king: yet engaged with great keenness in political cont versy, on which he published several tracts. He such an enthusiastic admirer of Mrs. Macaulay, historian, that he set up her statue in the chart of liberty, in Walbrook church; which was jes censured as too high a compliment to a living racter. He published a pamphlet, entitled tilled Liquors the Bane of the Nation. He also p lished his father's works, and died at Bath in 17 L WILTON, a borough, market-town, and parish, in Branch and Dole hundred Wiltshire, situate on the river Willy, three miles west by north of Salisbury, and eighty-five from London; containing 390 houses, and 2058 inhabitants, a considerable number of whom are employed in the carpet and clothing manufactures, but the principal trade is now in flannel and fancy woollens. It has a market on Wednesday. Wilton-house, the seat of the earl of Pembroke, is the most magnificent house in the county. The whole of its avenues, staircases, and chambers, are ornamented with most curious statues, vases, and antiques, collected from all parts of the world, and paintings by the most celebrated English and foreign artists. Here Sir Philip Sidney wrote his Arcadia. WILTSHIRE, by some early writers, is called Severnia, and Provincia Severorum, from Servia, a name by which Old Sarum was formerly known. It derives its present name from Wilton, which was formerly the most considerable place in the county. The northern part was in early times inhabited by that tribe of the Belga distinguished by the name of Cangi. During the heptarchy this district formed part of the kingdom of the West-Saxons. It is an inland county, bounded on the north and north-west by Gloucestershire, on the west by Somersetshire, on the south-west by Dorsetshire, on the south and east by Hampshire, and on the northeast by Berkshire. It is about fifty-four miles in length, and thirty-four in the greatest breadth. It is divided into two districts, viz. South Wiltshire and North Wiltshire. This division is generally made by supposing an east and west line to pass through the county, at or near Devizes. This county is in the province of Canterbury and the diocese of Salisbury, and is comprehended in the western circuit. It is divided into twenty-nine hundreds, containing one city, twenty-five market towns, fifteen boroughs, and 304 parishes. Salisbury is considered as the county town. district. These soils, with all their consequent mixtures and variations, may be said to constitute the far greater part of this district. The soil of the North District is not so uniform as that of the South District. It may, nevertheless, be reduced to a few leading particulars. The under stratum of a large portion is a loose irregular mass of flat broken stones, called in the country corn-grate.' It runs, without interruption, through the northwest part of Wiltshire. The upper soil of this corn-grate is chiefly a kind of reddish calcareous loam, mixed with irregular flat stones, and is usually called stone-brash. A vein of gravel of a most excellent, small, pebbly, shelly sand, and in general covered with a good depth of rich loam, runs in a broken line from Melksham, through Chippenham to Cricklade; but its greatest extent is from Tytherton, through Christian Malford and Dantzey, to Somerford; and the richest part of it perhaps is at or near Dantzey. There are two principal veins of sand in this district, in general red, of a sharp, loose, gravelly texture, and of course not so fertile as the tough close lands of South Wilts. The greatest part of the residue of the soil of this district, and particularly from Highworth by Wootton Basset to Clack, lies on a hard close rock of a rough irregular kind of bastard limestone. The soil over this kind of stone is various, but generally cold, owing to its own retentive nature, and to the frequent intervention of a vein of clay. Bradon Forest (between Cricklade and Malmsbury) is an exception to the whole: it is a cold iron clay to the very surface; so bad as to be called, by way of distinction, Bradon land;' and, says Mr. Davis, whom we have before been quoting, never so well applied as when in its original state of woodland. There being a considerable difference between the two great parts of this county, it has been thought proper by Mr. Davis, in his Agricultural Report, to consider the circumstances of each district distinctly. The air on the whole is salubrious and agreeable: on the Downs it is sharp and clear; and in the valleys mild, even in winter. The cold sharp air of the Wiltshire Downs is so well known as to be almost proverbial. The soil of South Wilts, though various, is in a certain degree uniform the hills are chalk, with its usual accompaniment of flint; and in general the land on the sides of the hills, from which the flints have been washed, is a chalky loam, or rather a dissolved chalk; the flatter parts are a flinty loam, and the centre of the valleys, through which the rivulets run, is a bed of broken flints covered with black earth washed from the hills above. In some of the valleys there are veins of peat formed by the black earth without any mixture of flints: hence the white land prevails most near the sources of the rivulets, where the hills are steepest; and the flinty loams near the junction of the rivulets, where the county is flattest. The sides of the hills which have been most washed are the thinnest and weakest soils; and the level tops, which have been very little if at all washed, are frequently the deepest and strongest land. There are some instances of strong clays and clayey loams on the skirts of this The principal rivers of Wiltshire are the Thames, the Upper and the Lower Avon, the Nadder, the Willey, the Bourne, and the Kennet. The Thames enters the north part of the county, between Cirencester in Gloucestershire and Tetbury, and runs eastward by Cricklade into Berkshire. The Lower Avon enters this county near Malmsbury, takes a southern course by Chippenham, where it becomes enlarged by the Colne and other rivulets into a wide stream, and winding westward, by Melksham and Bradford, leaves the county, and pursues its course towards Bath. The Upper Avon rises among the hills, nearly in the middle of the county, about Devizes; runs southward by the city of Salisbury, where it receives the united streams of the Willey and the Nadder; hence it flows into Hampshire, and at Christchurch makes its exit into the British Channel. The Nadder, a serpentine river, rises near Shaftsbury in Dorsetshire, upon the western borders of this county, and flowing north-east falls into the Willey at Wilton. The Willey rises near Warminster, and running southeast, after receiving the Nadder, falls into the Upper Avon on the east side of Salisbury. The Kennet rises near the source of the Upper Avon, and runs eastward by Marlborough into Berkshire. The smaller rivers of the county are the Colne, the Were, and the Deverill. This last dives under ground, like the Guadiana in Spain, and the Mole in Surrey, and pursues its subterraneous course upwards of a mile, then rising runs onward towards Warminster.-The canals of Wiltshire are the Thames and Severn Canal, which passes through only a small part of the extreme boundary of the county. The Kennet and Avon Canal, from the river Kennet at Newbury in Berkshire to the river Avon at Bath in Somersetshire, passing through the very heart of the county by the town of Devizes and Bradford. The Wilts and Berks Canal, which enters the county from Berkshire near South Marston, passes by Swindon and Wootton Basset; and, with branches to Chippenham and Calne, extends southwards to Melksham, near which town it unites with the Kennet and Avon.-Wiltshire has no peculiarity of natural productions. Great numbers of sheep and cattle for the London markets are bred there. Neither are there any particular mineral productions. Wiltshire sends thirty-four representatives to parliament: viz. two for the county, two for the city of Salisbury, two for Old Sarum, two for Wilton, two for Downton, two for Hindon, two for Heytesbury, two for Westbury, two for Calne, two for Devizes, two for Chippenham, two for Malmsbury, two for Cricklade, two for Great Bedwin, two for Luggershall, two for Wootton Basset, two for Marlborough. The following are some of the most eminent persons born there :-The great, the wise, and good Joseph Addison, moralist, poet, dramatic writer, critic, and miscellaneous writer, was born at Milston, May 1, 1672, and died June 17, 1719.Christopher Anstey, the ingenious author of the New Bath Guide (a work more distinguished for its humor and poetry, than for its decency and piety), was born, as is supposed, at Harden Herish, near Chippenham, in the year 1724.--Died in 1805. Dr. Thomas Bennet, a learned divine and controversial writer. Born at Salisbury in 1673. Died in 1728.-Sir John Davis, an ingenious poet, and lord chief justice of the Court of King's Bench. Born at Chisgrove in 1570. Died about 1626. He married a daughter of lord Audley: she pretended to prophetical powers, and printed several pamphlets of revelation. She died in 1652.Stephen Duck, an ingenious poet and divine, but originally a thrasher.-James Harris, a philological and philosophical writer. Born at Salisbury in 1709. Died in 1780.-Thomas Hobbes, a learned but eccentric philosophical and metaphy: sical writer. Born at Malmsbury in 1588. Died in 1679.-John Hughes, an ingenious poet, dramatic, and miscellaneous writer. Born at Marlborough in 1677. Died February 17, 1720. He had a brother named Jabez, who published a translation of Claudian's Rape of Proserpine, and several other works, and died in 1731, aged fortysix.-Edward Hyde, earl of Clarendon and lord chancellor of England. Born at Dinton in 1608. Died at Rouen in 1670.-George Keate, a poet and miscellaneous writer. Born at Trowbridge in 1729. Died in 1797.-Dr. Henry Sacheverell, a notorious political preacher. Born at Marlborough in 1672. Died in 1724.-Dr. John Scott, author of the work entitled, The Christian Life, &c. &c. Born at Chippenham in 1638. Died in 1694.Thomas Tanner, bishop of St Asaph, a very learned and industrious antiquary. Born at Market-Lavington in 1674. Died 1738.-Sir Christopher Wren, an ingenious and celebrated architect, was born at East Knoyle in 1632. Died in 1723. The extent of manufactures in the county of Wilts is very great; but the woollen manufactory is by far the greatest.-Salisbury manufactures great quantities of flannels and fancy woollens, and has a considerable manufactory of cutlery, and stee goods, perhaps, for excellence of workmanship, sperior to any in the kingdom; Wilton, a la manufactory of carpets and fancy woollens; D vizes, a considerable manufactory chiefly of f woollens; Bradford, Trowbridge, Warminst Westbury, and all the adjacent towns and village from Chippenham to Heytesbury inclusive, ca on most extensive woollen manufactories, pri pally of superfine broad-cloths, kerseymeres, a fancy cloths; at Mere and its neighbourhood the is a manufactory of linen, chiefly dowlas and be ticks; at Albourn, a manufactory of cotton goo chiefly strong goods, thicksets, &c.; at Swind and its neighbourhood, a considerable manufact of gloves. There is, indeed, scarcely a town in county that has not a manufactory of some kind other. WI'LY, adj. From wile. Cunning: WI'LILY, adv. full of stratagem; insidan WILINESS, n. s. the adverb and noun substa tive corresponding. They did work wilily, and went and made as if t had been ambassadors. The ungodly, for his own lust, doth persent the poor let them be taken in the crafty wiliness all they have imagined. They are so cautelous and wily headed, e being inen of small practice in law matters, that would wonder whence they borrow such subtilita shifts. Брете In the wily snake My wily nurse by long experience found, And first discovered to my soul its wound; 'Tis love, said she. Dryin WIM'BLE, n. s. & adj. Belg. wimpel, wemelen, to bore. An instrument with w holes are bored, by turning: nimble. He was so wimble and so wight, From bough to bough he leaped light, And oft the pumies latched. Who ply the wimble, some huge beam to bore; As when a shipwright stands his workmen o'er, Urged on all hands it nimbly spins about, The grain deep piercing till it scoops it out. The trepan is like a wimble used by joiners. Sh WIMPINA (Conrad), a learned professor divinity at Frankfort, in the sixteenth century wrote against Luther under the name of l Tetzel. He died in 1529. WIM'PLE, n. s. & v. a. Fr. guimple. A h a veil. Printed in Spenser, perhaps by wimble. To draw down as a veil. The Lord will take away the changeable suits of parel, and the wimples, and the crisping pias. Isaiah 20 So fair and fresh, as fairest flower in May, For she had laid her mournful stole aside, And widow-like sad wimble thrown away. The same did hide Under a veil that wimbled was full low. WIN, v. a. & v. n. Pret. wan and won; pass. won. Sax. pinna; Belg. winnen; Goth lure: to gain the victory; obtain influence Swed. winna. To gain by conquest; obtain favor; be conqueror. The town of Gaza, where the enemy lay was not so strong but it might be won. Thy virtue won me; with virtue preserve me thou love me? Keep me then still worthy to be belem Thy well-breathed horse Impels the flying car, and wins the course. Temple. Dryden. He had given a disagreeable vote in parliament, for which reason not a man would have so much correspondence with him as to win his money. Addison. Thy words like musick every breast controul, When thus he swore, and won the yielding dame. Gay. WINCANTON, a market-town in Ferris-Norton hundred, Somersetshire, seven miles west of Mere, and 108 west by south of London; containing 390 houses and 2143 inhabitants, of whom a considerable number are employed in the manufacture of ticking, dowlas, serges, and stockings; it has also a good trade in cheese. WINCE, v. n. Arm. and Welsh gringo. kick, as impatient of a rider, or of pain. I will sit as quiet as a lamb, To I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word. Shaksp. If he came within so many yards of a prince. Ben Jonson. WINCH, v. a. The same with wince; or from Fr. guincher, to twist. To kick with impatience; shrink from any uneasiness. We who have free souls Dryden. winch and fling, as if they had some mettle. Tillotson. WINCHCOMBE, a market-town and parish in Kiftsgate hundred, Gloucester, situate at the source of a small brook that falls into the Avon, among the Cotswold hills, six miles north-east of Cheltenham, and ninety-five and a half W. N. W. of London. This is a town of great antiquity, and was once deemed a county of itself. WINCHELSEA, a borough and market-town in Guestling hundred, rape of Hastings, Sussex, two miles south of Rye, eight north-east of Hastings, and sixty-seven south-west of London. It has only one parish church, although it is supposed to have had anciently no fewer than eighteen, the whole of which were swallowed up by the sea in a tempest. That part of Old Winchelsea which was not swallowed up is now a marsh. About two miles to the north-west are the ruins of a castle called Camber, built by Henry VIII. in 1539. WINCHELSEA (Anne), countess of, was maid of honor to the duchess of York, second wife to king James II., and was afterwards married to Heneage second son of the earl of Winchelsea. One of the most considerable of the countess of Winchelsea's poems was that on the Spleen. A collection of her poems was printed at London in 1713, containing a tragedy never acted, entitled Aristomenes. The countess died in 1720 without issue. WINCHESTER, a city, and the county-town of eleven miles N. N. E. of Southampton, and sixtyHants, situate on the banks of the river Itchin, two south-west by west of London. Most of the buildings have the appearance of antiquity, and the streets are broad and clean. It is about half a mile long from east to west, about a mile and a half in compass, and contains eight churches, exclusive of St. Bartholomews at Hyde. The cathedral was begun in the eleventh century by bishop Walkelyn, and was in part rebuilt by bishop Wickham in 1394. The choir under the tower was vaulted in the reign of Charles I. The length of this magnificent fabric is 545 feet, including the chapel of our lady, fifty-four feet, and the choir 136. The height of the tower is 138 feet, but it appears from the abrupt manner of its termination never to have been finished. The altarscreen is thought by many to be even superior to that of St. Alban's. The entrance into the choir is by a noble flight of steps, the breadth of the middle aisle. On each side of the great arch of the entrance are recesses, wherein are placed the statues of king James and Charles I., cast in copper. The cross, from north to south, is divided from the choir by wooden partitions, carried up to a vast height. The stalls in the choir are of fine Gothic workmanship, but the bishop's throne is inferior to the rest. The stone screen, where the high altar is placed, is a neat and delicate piece of Gothic work; but the niches, formerly ornamented with images, have now only urns placed in them. At the west end of the church is a painted window, representing the history of the Old Testament, but much defaced. At the east end is also a window with paintings representing the Virgin Mary, the Son, and the Father. For many years this church was the place of the coronation of our kings. The east end of the church is terminated by three chapels; that on the south is called bishop Langton's chapel, of curious carved work, containing several elegant tombs. In the centre is the chapel of our Lady, in which prayers are read every morning at six o'clock. The college was founded by William of Wickham, the warden whereof is appointed by New College, Oxford, also erected by the same pious founder. The building consists of two large courts, containing suites of apartments for the warden, ten fellows, seventy scholars, three chaplains, six choristers, masters, &c.; in the centre is an elegant chapel; in the second court are the schools, and a long cloister and enclosures for the diversions of the scholars. In the middle of the cloisters is the library, a strong stone building. Over the door of the school is a statue of the founder. Contiguous to the college, on the west, is a spacious quadrangular building, forming a detached school for commoners, or gentlemen not on the foundation, where they live in a collegiate manner under the immediate care of the head master. The college, chapel, and school, were completely repaired in 1795. The mother church of Winchester is St. Lawrence; it consists of one large aisle, with a lofty square tower containing five bells. St. Thomas's is an ancient structure, consisting of two aisles divided by round pillars of the Gothic order; the tower is a low ordinary building. St. Maurice's was originally a priory, and consists of two aisles, one of which is very spacious; the tower is strong. St. Michael's is a low and ancient building, tiled, having two good aisles, and a tower containing five bells. St. Swithin's is erected over a postern called Kingsgate, and consists of a large neat room, ascended to by a stone staircase. St. Peter's Cheesehill consists of two aisles, of different sizes, both neat but plain; it has a tower containing three bells. St. John's at Hill is divided into three aisles by round Gothic pillars; the tower is remarkably strong, and finished with a turret containing a clock. St. Martin's Winnall was rebuilt in 1736, and consists of one aisle, having a small tower at the west end containing one bell. Besides these churches here are several meeting-houses for Dissenters of different denominations. Near the cathedral is a college or alms-house, founded by bishop Morley, in 1672, for ten clergymens' widows. Christ's Hospital, commonly called the Blue Alms, was founded in 1706; besides which there are a number of private charities, and three well-endowed charity-schools. The public infirmary is a handsome edifice, erected in 1759, the ascent to which is by a noble flight of steps. In the High Street is a market-cross, having five steps round it; this place serves also for a fish-market. The town-hall, in the same street, is a handsome building, supported by Doric pillars; it is ornamented with a statue of queen Anne. In 1788 a new spacious County jail was erected on the Howardian plan, in the court of which is a neat chapel; there is also a Bridewell for the city and another for the county; the latter erected in 1786. The theatre is a handsome structure, built in 1785. There is an annual well-attended music-meeting held here in September, continuing for three days, which closes with a ball. Winchester has also its winter assemblies, concerts, balls, and every other fashionable amusement. The streets are well paved and lighted, and a new and commodious market-house was erected in 1772. Here are two banking-houses. Winchester, by the Britons, was called Caer Gwent, and during the time of the Saxons many of their kings resided here. Athelstan granted it the privilege of six mints, and in 660 it was erected into a bishopric, transferred from Dorchester. Its ancient castle is supposed to have been built by king Arthur; in it William II., surnamed Rufus, was crowned. During the civil war it was mostly demolished by the parliamentary forces, except the old hall in which the assizes are still held; in this hall hangs what is denominated Arthur's round table, with the names of the knights thereon. O the site of the castle a royal palace was begun in 1683, the principal floor of which is a noble range of apartments, and contains in all 160 chambers; this has often been occupied by prisoners of war on their parole. Several monasteries and religious houses were formerly in the suburbs of this city The plague made great devastations here in the years 941, 1348, and again in 1668; and at the west end of the town is an obelisk having an inscription commemorative of those calamities. The corporation of this city consists of a mayor, recorder, six aldermen, &c., who, with the free burgesses, return two members to parliament. Winchester has but little trade, though an ancient wool-combing manufactory still exists, and a silk manufactory has been introduced. All the public business of the county is transacted in this city. The markets are held on Wednesday and Saturday, and are well supplied with all kinds of provisions, poultry, fish, &c. WINCHESTER, a post-town, borough, and capital of Frederick county, Virginia, thirty miles south-west of Harper's Ferry, seventy W. N. W. of Washington, ninety-five north-east of Staunton, and 150 N. N. W. of Richmond. It is pleasantly situated, regularly laid out in squares, is a handsome and flourishing town, and contains a court-house, a jail, an alms-house, a market-house, containing a freemason's hall, two banks, two academies, one for males and one for females, two printing offices, from each of which is issued a weekly newspaper, and six houses of public worship, one for Presbyterians, one for Episcopalians, one for German Lutherans, one for Baptists, one for Methodists, and one for Roman Catholics. The principal street is well paved. The town is well built; a large part of the houses are of brick. It is supplied with excellent water by an aqueduct. Near the town there are several medicinal springs; in the vicinity there are a number of flour mills. WINCHESTER (Elhanan), the founder of a religious sect called for a time Winchesterians or Universalists, because their distinguishing tenet was the ultimate universal salvation of mankind, and also of the devils. Many of them have since become Unitarians. He was a native of the United States, where he appears to have first broached his sentiments. He visited this country about 1788, and attempted to found a Philadelphian Society, and propagated his doctrine by means of a maga zine and preaching. He contended that as it was certain all are not regenerated in the present life, there must be room for a farther process of purification of fallen creatures in a future state; and that this would be effected chiefly by the means of punishment in the torments of hell, which, however, in some cases might extend to ages of ages' before the stubborn sinner would be purified. Besides other literary productions Mr. Winchester composed an heroic poem on the Process and Empire of Christ, from his Birth to the Time when he shall have Delivered up the Kingdom to God even the Father, which he recited from the pulpit in a chapel in Southwark, and afterwards pub |