[Wilkes, John], a notable figure in the English political world of the 18th century, born in Clerkenwell, son of a distiller; was elected M.P. for Aylesbury in 1761; started a periodical called the North Briton, in No. 45 of which he published an offensive libel, which led to his arrest and imprisonment in the Tower, from which he was released—on the ground that the general warrant on which he was apprehended was illegal—amid general rejoicing among the people; he was afterwards prosecuted for an obscene production, an "Essay on Women," and outlawed for non-appearance; he sought an asylum in France, and on his return was elected for Middlesex, but instead of being allowed to sit was committed to prison; this treatment made him the object of popular favour; he was elected Lord Mayor of London, re-elected for Middlesex, and at length allowed to take his seat in the House; he was for years the cause of popular tumults, the watchword of which was "Wilkes and Liberty"; the cause of civil liberty certainly owes something to him and to the popular agitations which an interest in him stirred up (1727-1797).
[Wilkie, Sir David], painter, born at Cults, Fife; executed a great many pictures depicting homely subjects, which were very popular, and are generally well known by the engravings of them, such as the "Rent Day," "The Penny Wedding," "Reading the Will," &c., which were followed by others in a more ambitious style, and less appreciated, as well as portraits (1785-1841).
[Wilkins, John], bishop of Chester, born in Northamptonshire; married Oliver Cromwell's sister; wrote mathematical treatises, a curious one in particular, "Discovery of a New World," and was one of the founders of the Royal Society (1614-1672).
[Wilkinson, Sir John], Egyptologist, born In Westmorland; studied at Oxford; explored the antiquities of Egypt, and wrote largely on the subject (1797-1875).
[Will, Freedom of the], the doctrine that in and under the dominion of pure reason the will is free, and not free otherwise; that in this element the Will "reigns unquestioned and by Divine right"; only in minds in which volition is treated as a synonym of Desire does this doctrine admit of debate.
[Willems, Jan Frans], Dutch poet and scholar, born near Antwerp; translated "Reynard the Fox" into Flemish, and did much to encourage the Flemings to preserve and cultivate their mother-tongue (1793-1846).
[William I., the Conqueror], king of England, born at Falaise; became Duke of Normandy by the death of his father; being an illegitimate son had to establish his power with the sword; being the cousin of Edward the Confessor was nominated by him his successor to the English throne, which being usurped by Harold, he invaded England and defeated Harold at Senlac in 1066 and assumed the royal power, which he established over the length and breadth of the country in 1068; he rewarded his followers with grants of land and lordships over them, subject to the crown; the [Doomsday Book] (q. v.) was compiled by his order, and the kingdom brought into closer relation with the Church of Rome, his adviser in Church matters being [Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury] (q. v.); died by a fall from his horse when suppressing rebellion in Normandy, and was buried at Caen. He was, as characterised by Carlyle, "in rude outline a true God-made king, of most flashing discernment, of most strong lion-heart—in whom, as it were, within a frame of oak and iron the gods had planted the soul of 'a man of genius' ... the essential element, as of all such men, not scorching fire (merely), but shining illuminative light ... the most sure-eyed perception of what is what on this God's earth." His invasion of England is known as the Norman Conquest, and it involved the introduction of the feudal system and Norman manners in the habits and speech of the English people (1027-1087).
[William II.], king of England, surnamed Rufus or Ruddy, born in Normandy, third son of William I.; succeeded his father in 1087; had to face a rebellion, headed by Bishop Odo, in favour of his eldest brother, Robert, Duke of Normandy, which he suppressed by favour of the mass of the people, to whom he made promises which he did not keep, for he proved a stern and exacting ruler; his energy was great, but was frequently spasmodic; he added Normandy to his dominion by compact with Robert, who went on Crusade, compelled Malcolm of Scotland to do homage for his kingdom, conducted several campaigns against the Welsh, and had a long-continued wrangle with Archbishop Anselm, virtually in defence of the royal prerogative against the claims of the Church, for a humorous account of the meaning of which see [Carlyle's] "Past and Present," Book iv. chap. i.; he was accidentally shot while hunting in the New Forest by Walter Tirel, and buried in Winchester Cathedral, but without any religious service; in his reign the Crusades began, and Westminster Hall was built (1066-1100).
[William III.], king of England, born at The Hague, son of William II., Prince of Orange, by Mary, the daughter of Charles I.; during a contest on the part of the United Provinces with Louis XIV. was, in 1672, elected Stadtholder, and by his valour and wisdom brought the war to an end in 1678; married his cousin Mary, daughter of James II.; being invited to England, landed with a large army at Torbay, and on the flight of James to France, he and Mary were proclaimed king and queen of Great Britain and Ireland in 1689; the Scotch and the Irish offered resistance in the interest of the exiled monarch, but the former were defeated at Killiecrankie in 1689, and the latter at the battle of the Boyne in 1690; he was an able man and ruler, but his reign was troubled by an interminable feud with France, and by intrigues on behalf of James both at home and abroad; he died by a fall from his horse at Kensington just as a great war with France was impending; he was through life the adversary of the covetous schemes of Louis, and before his death he had prepared the materials of that coalition which, under Marlborough and Prince Eugene, brought Louis to the brink of ruin; his reign forms one of the great epochs in the history of England, and is known as the Revolution (1650-1702).
[William IV.], king of England, known as the "sailor king," born in Buckingham Palace, the third son of George III.; entered the navy in 1779; saw service under Rodney and Nelson, but practically retired in 1789, as from insubordination he had to do, though he was afterwards promoted to be Admiral of the Fleet, and even Lord High Admiral, and continued to take great interest in naval affairs; after living, as Duke of Clarence, from 1792 to 1816 with Mrs. Jordan, the actress, by whom he had 10 children, he married in 1810 Adelaide, eldest daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen; on the death of the Duke of York in 1827 became heir-presumptive, and on the death of George IV. in 1830 succeeded to the throne; his reign was distinguished by the passing of the first Reform Bill in 1832, the abolition of slavery in the colonies in 1833, the reform of the poor-laws in 1834, and the Municipal Reform Act in 1835; died at Windsor, and was succeeded by his niece. Queen Victoria (1765-1837).