[Woffington, Peg], actress, born in Dublin, where she made her first appearance in 1737, and in London at Covent Garden in 1740, in a style which carried all hearts by storm; she was equally charming in certain male characters as in female; her character was not without reproach, but she had not a little of that charity which covereth a multitude of sins, in the practice of which, after her retirement in 1757, she ended her days (1720-1768).
[Woiwode], name at one time of an elective prince among the Slavs, originally one chosen in some emergency; superseded by Hospodar in 1716.
[Woking] (9), a small town in Surrey, 24 m. SW. of London; contains a large cemetery with crematorium near it, and not far off is Bisley Common, with shooting-butts for practice by the Volunteers.
[Wolcot, John], better known by his pseudonym Peter Pindar, born in Devonshire; bred to and practised medicine; took orders, and held office in the Church; took eventually to writing satires and lampoons, which spared no one, and could not be bribed into silence; was blind for some years before he died (1738-1819).
[Wolf, Friedrich August], great classical scholar, born near Nordhausen; studied at Göttingen; was professor of Philology at Halle; became world-famous for his theory of the Homeric poems; he maintains, in his "Prolegomena ad Homerum," that the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" were originally a body of independent ballads handed down by oral tradition, and gradually collected into two groups, which finally appeared each as one, bearing the name of Homer, who, he allows, was probably the first to attempt to weave them severally into one; the "Prolegomena" was published in 1735, and its appearance caused a wide-spread sensation, and gave rise to a controversy which maintains itself to the present time (1759-1824).
[Wolfe, Charles], author of the "Burial of Sir John Moore," born in Dublin; became an Irish clergyman; died of consumption (1791-1823).
[Wolfe, James], major-general, born in Kent, son of a lieutenant-general, who served under Marlborough; was present at the battles of Dettingen, Fontenoy, Falkirk, and Culloden, and served in the expedition against Rochefort, which it was believed proved disastrous because his counsel was not followed; this circumstance attracted the attention of Pitt, who appointed him a command in Canada; here he distinguished himself first at the siege of Louisburg, and then by the capture of Quebec, where he fell at the moment of victory; he lived to hear the cry "They run," and eagerly asked "Who run?" and being told the French, exclaimed, "I thank God, and die contented" (1727-1759).
[Wolfenbüttel] (13), an old town in Brunswick, 7 m. S. of Brunswick; contains an old building, now rebuilt, being a library of vast extent and rich in MSS.; has various manufactures.
[Wolff, Johann Christian von], German philosopher and mathematician, born at Breslau; was appointed professor at Halle in 1707, but was in 1723 not only removed from his chair, but banished from Prussia by Frederick William on account of his opinions, which, as fatalistic, were deemed socially demoralising, but was recalled by Frederick the Great on his accession, and afterwards promoted to the rank of baron of the empire; he was a disciple of Leibnitz, and the father of the philosophy that prevailed in Germany before the time of Kant; his merits as a philosopher were threefold: he claimed for philosophy the entire field of knowledge, he paid special attention to method in philosophical speculation, and he first taught philosophy to express itself in German, or made German the philosophical language (1679-1754).
[Wollaston, William], ethical and theological writer, born near Stafford; wrote "Religion of Nature," a rationalistic work written in an optimistic spirit (1659-1724).