S. Butler, Hudibras, ii. 3 (1664).
Whang, an avaricious Chinese miller, who, by great thrift, was pretty well off, but, one day, being told that a neighbor had found a pot of money which he had dreamt of, began to be dissatisfied with his slow gains, and longed for a dream also. At length the dream came. He dreamt there was a huge pot of gold concealed under his mill, and set to work to find it. The first omen of success was a broken mug, then a house-tile, and at length, after much digging, he came to a stone so large that he could not lift it. He ran to tell his luck to his wife, and the two tugged at the stone, but, as they removed it, down fell the mill in utter ruins.--Goldsmith, A Citizen of the World, lxx. (1759).
Wharton (Eliza), heroine of one of the first novels published in the United States, under the title of The Coquette, or The History of Eliza Wharton, by Hannah Webster Foster (1797).
Whartons (The). Henry Wharton, young royalist captain, arrested as a spy while visiting his father’s house, which is within the American lines. He is assisted to escape by Harvey Birch.
Sarah Wharton, the elder daughter, has royalist proclivities; Frances is loyal to the colonial cause, and betrothed to Major Dunwoodie.
Mr. Wharton (père), fine specimen of the old English gentleman.--James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy (1821).
What Next? A farce by T. Dibdin. Colonel Clifford meets at Brighton two cousins, Sophia and Clarissa Touchwood, and falls in love with the latter, who is the sister of Major Touchwood, but thinks her Christian name is Sophia, and so is accepted by Sophia’s father, who is Colonel Touchwood. Now, it so happens that Major Touchwood is in love with his cousin, Sophia, and looks on Colonel Clifford as his rival. The major tries to outwit his supposed rival, but finds they are both in error, that it is Clarissa whom the colonel wishes to marry, and that Sophia is quite free to follow the bent of her own and the major’s choice.
Wheel of Fortune (The), a comedy by R. Cumberland (1779).
⁂ For the plot and tale, see Penruddock.
Whetstone Cut by a Razor. Accius Navius, the augur, cut a whetstone with a razor in the presence of Tarquin, the elder.