WELD. Sec FRANCE, Index.

WELLINGTON, a large market town of England in Somersetshire, is situated on the south side of the river Tone, on the grand western canal. It consists of four streets, of which the high street is wide and spacious. The houses, which are of brick, are in general good. The principal public building is the church, which is a handsome Gothic building with an elegant embattled tower at its west end, decorated with 12 beautiful pinnacles, and furnished with a clock and bells. The church is 110 feet long, and 51 broad, and the tower 100 feet high. The church contains some fine monuments, among which is the magnificent tomb of Sir J. Popham. The principal manufactures are serges, druggets, and pottery on an extensive scale. Population of the parish in 1821, 837 houses, 842 families, 207 ditto engaged in agriculture, 524 in manufactures, and total population 4170.

WELLINGTON, a market town of England in Shropshire, is situated near a branch of the Shropshire Canal, and consists of several narrow irregular streets. The town, however, has been lately much improved, and contains many good houses. The church is a handsome building, erected in 1790, and supported by cast iron columns. Coal, iron and limestone abound in the vicinity. The furnaces for melting iron are supposed to be the largest in England. The manufactures of the town consist of nails, and other articles of hard

ware.

At Admaston, in the vicinity, are two mineral springs. Population of the parish in 1821, houses 1700, families 1871, those engaged in agriculture 185, ditto in trade 1465. Total number of inhabitants 8390.

WELLS, a city of England in Somersetshire, is situated at the south foot of the Mendip Hills, near the source of the river Axe. It consists of several parallel streets, intersected by others of a smaller size, which are neatly built and well paved. The principal building is the cathedral which stands at the west end of the town, and is built in the form of the cross, its length being 380 feet from cast to west, and 180 from north to south. It contains nine chapels, one of which, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, has gothic windows of stained glass and of great beauty. It is 52 feet long and 35 broad. In the centre of the transept is a quadrangular tower 178 feet high. The west part is flanked with two smaller towers 125 feet high, in one of which are six large bells. A short way south of the cathedral is the bishop's palace, a fine and venerable pile of building. Its walls, flanked by bastions at the angles, enclose an area of seven acres. The deanery is a handsome building, and the houses for the prebendaries and vicars are good. The other public edifices are St. Cuthbert's church, with its lofty and well proportioned tower, the market house and the town-hall, beneath which is Bishop Bubwith's hospital. There is a charity school here for 20 boys and 20 girls, and some well endowed almshouses. The principal manufactures are those of knit stockings and lace. About two miles northwest of Wells is the remarkable cavern of Wookey Hole, about 600 feet long. Its entrance is a small

aperture near the base of a perpendicular rock about 200 feet high, and it contains in some places wide and lofty apartments. The population of Wells, consisting of the parish of St. Andrews, St. Cuthbert in and St. Cuthbert out, was in 1821, houses 1058, families 1275, families engaged in agriculture 500, do. in trade 524, total number of inhabitants 5888.

WELLS, WILLIAM CHARLES, an eminent physician and natural philosopher, was born at Charlestown in South Carolina in May 1757, his parents having arrived there from Scotland a few years before. He was educated at the grammar school of Dumfries in Scotland and in 1770 he went to the university of Edinburgh. In 1771 he returned to Charlestown, where he began the study of medicine. In 1775 he returned to London, and between 1775 and 1778 he pursued his medical studies at Edinburgh. In 1779 he went to Holland as surgeon to a Scotch regiment, and in 1780 he took his degree of M.D. at Edinburgh, the subject of his Thesis being on "Cold." In 1782, Dr. Wells returned to Charlestown, and while he was there he was at the same time a volunteer officer, a printer, a bookseller, a merchant, and on one occasion a judge advocate. In December 1782, when the king's troops evacuated Charlestown, he went to St. Augustine in East Florida, where he edited the first weekly newspaper that had appeared in that province. Here he became a captain of a volunteer corps, and manager of a company of officers who had agreed to act plays for the relief of the loyal refugees from Carolina and Georgia. In 1784 he went to London, and after paying a three months visit to Paris in 1785, he settled in London as a physician. In 1788 he was admitted a licentiate of the royal college of physicians, and in 1793, a fellow of the royal society, to whose transactions he communicated several interesting papers.

In the year 1812, Dr. Wells began a series of experiments on dew, and after they were completed, he published, in August 1815, his Essay on Dew, which contains some important discoveries upon which his reputation as a philosopher chiefly rests. In 1816 the royal society of London adjudged to him the Rumford medals for these discoveries, of which we have already given a full account in our Article METEOROLOGY, Vol. XIII. p. 185-188.

In 1814, Dr. Wells was admitted a fellow of the royal society of Edinburgh. The ardour with which he had pursued his experiments on dew, and the exposure of himself to the open air which they required, injured his health, which he never again recovered. He died on the 18th September 1817, in the 64th year of his age.

The only work of any importance besides his Essay on Dew, is his "Essay upon Single Vision with Two Eyes," Lond. 1792, a work of great merit, but not free from considerable errors. His other writings consist of papers of temporary interest in the Philosophical Transactions and in the Periodical Journals. See the Gentlemen's Magazine for Nov. 1817, for a more minute account of his life.

WELSHPOOL, a market town of Wales, in

Montgomeryshire. It is situated about a mile from the Severn, and consists chiefly of a long and spacious street. It is neat and clean. The church and the county-hall, which is a brick building, are the chief edifices. The population of Welshpool parish in 1821 was 3460. See MONTGOMERYSHIRE, Vol. XIV. p. 725.

WERNER, ABRAHAM GOTTLIEB, a celebrated minerologist, was born at Wehrau on the Queiss, in Upper Lusatia, on the 25th September 1750. His father, who was director of a forge, gave him different minerals as playthings, and thus accustomed him in early life to recognise them by their more prominent properties. From the school at Buns leur he went to the Mineralogical Academy at Freyburg, and from thence to Leipsic, where he studied natural history and jurisprudence. Here he published, at the age of 24, his treatise on the external characters of mineralogy, a pamphlet of only a few sheets. In 1775 he was appointed professor of mineralogy, and inspector of the mineralogical cabinet at Freyberg. In 1780 he published the first part of a translation of Cronstedt's mineralogy, and in his notes on this work he gave the first sketches of his mineralogical system.

In 1791 Werner published his new theory of the formation of metallic veins, which was translated into English by Anderson, and into French by d'Abuisson. In 1792 he was appointed counsellor of the mines in Saxony. His cabinet of minerals, consisting of 100,000 specimens, was sold for

40,000 crowns.

The distresses of his sovereign and his country seem to have prayed upon his mind, and produced a complication of diseases, and having gone to Dresden in the expectation of some mitigation of his suffering, he was taken ill, and died in the arms of his sister on the 30th June 1817, in the 67th year of his age.

Werner had undoubtedly the merit of extending the study of mineralogy, but his reputation never rose above that of a popular lecturer, who derives his fame from the gratitude and admiration of his pupils. No mineralogist ever enjoyed a higher degree of contemporary applause, and its echo will doubtless be heard in another generation; but when mineralogy has been purified from its barbarous technology and its empirical methods, and when it has attained that dignity and perfection which it must soon receive from the labours of the natural philosopher, the crystallographer and the chemist; we shall in vain look among its facts, or among its generalizations, for any thing that has been contributed either by Werner or his pupils. See Baron Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Werner, in the Memoirs of the Institute of France.

WERNERITE, &c. MINERALOGY Index. WESLEY, JOHN, one of the founders of method ism, was born at Epworth in Linconshire in June 1703, and he died on the 2d March 1791. For an account of his labours see our article METHODISTS, Vol. XI. p. 190-191.

WEST, BENJAMIN, the youngest son of John and Sarah West, was born in the township of Spring

field, in the county of Delaware, then a part of Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the 10th of October 1733.

The West family emigrated from England with William Penn on his second visit to Pennsylvania about the year 1699. They had joined in religious fellowship with the society of Friends about twenty years previous to their emigration; and it is probable that their inducements to leave their native land was the hope of enjoying, under the mild and paternal administration of William Penn, that perfect toleration in the enjoyment and exercise of their faith, which was denied them in the country of their birth. John West, the father of Benjamin, married Sarah, the daughter of Thomas Pearson, about the year 1714, by whom he had ten children. The farm on which the artist was born was originally settled by his maternal grandfather, and called Springfield, in consequence of a large spring of water which rose in the first field that was cleared for cultivation. From this circumstance the township afterwards received the name of Springfield.

West exhibited, even in his childhood, the germs of those great talents for painting, which secured for him, in the maturity of manhood, the patronage of princes, and the admiration of the lovers of the fine-arts. It is a question which has been a fruitful theme for controversy among speculative philosophers, whether the particular bent and direction of genius was the work of nature, or the result of habit and early associations. Without presuming to pronounce a decisive judgment on this point, it may be observed that the early history of the youthful artist who is the subject of this notice, must be admitted at least to strengthen the argument in favour of native talent for particular pursuits. His first essay at the art in which he afterwards became so celebrated, appears to have been made in his seventh year. Being left in charge of a child who was sleeping in the cradle, while his mother and a near relation took a walk in the garden to gather flowers, which were then in full bloom, his attention was particularly arrested by the sweet smile of the sleeping infant. By his own account, his imagination was awakened, and he felt an emotion such as he had never before experienced. He instinctively seized some paper, pens and ink, which he observed on a table, and endeavoured to delineate her portrait. When his mother returned, he manifested some anxiety lest she should be offended at what he had done. But after viewing for sometime this first specimen of the genius of her son, she was so far from being displeased, that she showed the pleasure she felt by carresses. This encouraged him so much that he immediately offered to draw the likeness of the flowers which she held in her hand. When the drawing of the sleeping infant was shown to his father, he acknowledged it to be a good likeness, and was not less pleased than his mother had been at this early indication of talent in his little son. When it is considered that he was then not seven years old, that he had never seen a picture or drawing of any kind, nor heard of the art of portrait

painting, we cannot withhold our admiration of the strength of that instinct of nature which prompted him, at so early a period, to imitate the powers that excited sensations of pleasure in his mind.

From this time he seems to have possessed a consciousness of his powers. He felt that he could imitate whatever gratified his eye or pleased his fancy. His first essays were necessarily rude and imperfect. His materials were but illy suited to his genius. The first colours he used were charcoal and chalk, mixed with the juice of berries; and his first imitation of a pencil was made of the fur of a cat, drawn tightly through a goose quill. With such implements of his art as these, when about nine years old, he drew on a sheet of paper the portraits of a neighbouring family, in which the delineation of each individual was sufficiently accurate to be immediately recognised by his father when the picture was first shown to him. When about twelve years old he drew a portrait of himself, with his hair hanging loosely about his shoulders.

When advanced in life he was very desirous of obtaining this portrait, as a specimen of his juvenile productions, and frequently wrote to his relations in Pennsylvania to procure it for him if possible. But it could not be found.

When a little school-boy, he drew a ship in the sand, which took the attention, and excited the admiration of his school-fellows, and drew them from their play to examine it. One of them seemed displeased at this interruption to their amusements, and reluctantly followed the other boys, who were assembled round the young artist to view this evidence of his skill. When this boy at length condescended to look at the picture of the ship in the sand, West asked him what he thought of it. "I think," answered the boy that time and chance happen to all, and you'll be a great man yet:" which prediction he confirmed by an oath. It appears that this incident, trifling as it may seem, made a lasting impression on the mind of West. For in For in his letters to his friends in Pennsylvania, he frequently made inquiries after this boy, and reminded them of his prediction.

One of his early productions was the treaty of William Penn with the Indians, under the great elm tree in Kensington. This painting was for many years in the possession of his brother; but he lent it to an artist of Philadelphia, who never returned it, and it cannot now be found. The loss of this painting is deeply regretted by his friends and relations, on account of the interesting character of the subject, the merits of the design, and the skill displayed in the execution.

He was first taught how to mix red and yellow colours by a party of Indians who visited his father's house at Springfield. To these his brother added blue, by giving him a piece of indigo. But the greatest stimulus and encouragement was given to his genius when very young, by a present of a box of paints, some pencils, several pieces of canvass, and a number of engravings, from a relation of the

family who resided in Philadelphia. The attention of this relative had been attracted by some specimens which he had seen of the young artist's skill, when on a visit to his father's house; and perceiving the embarrassments under which he laboured for want of suitable materials on which to exercise his native talent, he sent him the presents above mentioned. These presents filled him with delight and enthusiasm. For several successive days he spent his time in a retired room in the garret, where he spread the canvass on the floor, and imitated the figures in the engravings. In this delightful employment he forgot the school hours, and joining the family at meal times, he concealed from his parents the manner in which he spent his time. At length the school-master sent to learn the cause of his absence from school. This led to a discovery of the nature of his employments and the cause of his absence. His mother had observed him retiring to the garret, and on examination she found him at work at his painting. Her displeasure at his absenting himself from school was changed into admiration, when she came to view his performance. "He had not condescended to copy a single engraving; but had selected the most striking features from a number, and by combining them with wonderful taste and accuracy, had composed a picture as complete in the arrangement of the several parts, and colouring of the whole, as the most skilful artist could have painted, under the direction of a finished master.” Sixty-seven years afterwards," says his biographer Galt, Mr. West had the gratification of seeing this piece in the same room with his sublime painting of Christ Rejected,' on which occasion he declared that there were inventive strokes of art in his first juvenile essay, which, with all the knowledge and experience he afterwards acquired, he had never been able to surpass."

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When about fourteen years old, at the solicitation of his uncle John Clarkson, he was placed under the tuition of Dr. Smith, Provost of the college of Philadelphia. Under the patronage of his uncle, he was instructed in classical literature, and had every facility afforded him for the cultivation of his talent for painting. Dr. Smith, perceiving the bent of his genius, gave such a direction to his instructions as would improve his taste, and give him a perfect knowledge of the great masters of Greece and Rome. "He did not impose upon him those grammatical exercises of language which are usually required from young students of the classics, but directed his attention to those incidents which were likely to interest his fancy, and furnish him at some future time, with subjects for the pencil."* He continued to prosecute his studies advantageously, until about sixteen years of age. About this time it became an object of solicitude with his father that the occupation of his life should be finally determined. And here we have to record one of the most remarkable and interesting incidents in his life.

The bent of West's mind was well known to his connexions and friends, and the indulgence given by his father to his inclinations, was regarded rather unfavourably by the members of the religious society to which he belonged. He was anxious, therefore, in determining the future course of his son, to receive the countenance and approbation of his friends. For this purpose a meeting of the members of his own society was called at the meeting-house at Springfield, to deliberate on the subject, and to advise the father upon this interesting occasion. At this meeting, after a long debate and consultation, it was finally concluded that as God had evidently bestowed upon the youth extraordinary genius for the art of painting, it would be presumption in them to attempt to counteract the designs of Omniscience, or to say that these peculiar talents ought not to be culti vated. In the strong inclinations of the young man's mind, they saw an impulse of the divine hand, pointing to his proper destination. This conclusion, so liberal, and at the same time so rational, is alike honourable to the youth who was the object of it, and to the assembled elders of a sect whose prejudices and peculiar views were opposed to the occupation to which West seemed destined.

After this first meeting, another was appointed to be held at his father's house, at which young West was desired to be present. Here the previous solemn conclusion of the first assembly was confirmed, and the youth received the encouragement and the blessing of the venerable heads of his own society, of both sexes, who had met on his account, and who, in obedience to what they believed to be the designs of Providence, gave their sanction to a pursuit which was not in accordance with the strictness of their peculiar tenets. It was cause of gratitude to West during life, and was a source of his most pleasing recollections, even when encouraged by the patronage of princes, that he had engaged in his favourite pursuit with the approbation of his friends, and the blessings of the society to which his family belonged.

After it had been determined by his relations and friends, that Benjamin West should pursue the bent of his inclinations, and cultivate his favourite art, he returned to Philadelphia, and resided with his relation John Clarkson, where his studies were directed by Dr. Smith. He continued his studies and the practice of his art in Philadelphia, New York, Lancaster and some other places, until the year 1759, when it was resolved that he should visit Europe, and study the masterly performances of Rome and the other cities of Italy. He embarked at Philadelphia, on the 10th of October 1759, and after a pleasant passage, during which the vessel touched at Gibraltar, and several ports on the coast of Spain, he landed at Leghorn, whence he proceeded to Rome, where he was immediately introduced by letters from his friends in Philadelphia and Leghorn, to some of the most distinguished characters in that emporium of the

fine arts. He early obtained an introduction, by means of an English gentleman residing at Rome, to Mengs, a famous Italian artist, who was at that time in the height of his popularity. The circumstance of an American, and a quaker, coming to Rome to study the fine arts, was thought so singular and extraordinary, that Mengs expressed much surprise at the information. He requested West to show him a specimen of his skill. This request was readily complied with, and a portrait of the English gentlemen who had procured his introduction to Mengs, and with whom West was on terms of intimacy, was soon produced, which received the applause of the best judges in Rome, as well as of the artist himself; and West was at once acknowledged as second only in his art to the first painter then at Rome. "Mengs himself, on seeing the picture, expressed his opinion in terms that did honour to his liberality, and gave the artist advice which he never forgot, nor remembered without gratitude. He told him the portrait showed that he had no occasion to learn to paint at Rome. You have already, sir,' said he, the mechanical part of your art: what I would therefore recommend to you, is, to see and examine every thing deserving attention here, and after making a few drawings of about half a dozen of the best statues, go to Florence, and observe what has been done by art in the collections there; then proceed to Bologne, and study the works of Carracca; afterwards visit Parma, and examine attentively, the pictures of Correggio; and then go to Venice, and view the productions of the great masters there. When you have made this tour, come back to Rome, and paint a historical composition, to be exhibited to the Roman public, and the opinion which will then be formed of your talents, should determine the line of our profession you ought to pursue.' This judicious advice, West found to accord so well with his own reflections and principles, that he resolved to follow it with care and attention."*

West spent about four years in Italy, in visiting those places recommended to him by Mengs, and in studying the works of the great masters of Italy and Rome. From Italy he went to France, where he remained no longer than was necessary to enable him to visit the works of the French artists, and the museums and royal collections at Paris. He was convinced by this visit to Paris, that the French did not possess the same taste for the fine arts as the Italians. He reached London in the month of August 1763. Here a new era opens in the life of this extraordinary man. He had left his native country to visit the schools of the artists in Italy, and to become acquainted with the works of the great masters of antiquity. That concurrence of prosperous and fortunate events which seemed always to accompany him through life, had made his journey through Italy delightful beyond his most sanguine expectations, and gained him the esteem and confidence of some of the first characters in Europe. From the society of plain, unassuming Pennsylva

nia quakers, the son of a farmer, born in the country, and reared in the simple habits of the followers of William Penn, he was now about to become the companion of courtiers, and to obtain the patronage and the confidence of princes. But in every situation he retained the same grave unassuming traits of character.

He was introduced to court at an early period after his arrival. He drew a portrait of the queen Charlotte, with which the king, George III., was so well pleased, that it secured his countenance and friendship to West ever after. He was desirous of returning to America, but his patron and friend, the king, would not consent. He had been engaged to a young lady of Philadelphia, before his departure for Italy, with whom he wished to fulfil his engagement. But it was concluded to send for her to England; and in 1765 his father accompanied her across the Atlantic, and they were married soon after her arrival. Her maiden name was Sewal, and she was a lady of great merit. In London she was called the Philadelphia beauty.

The productions of Benjamin West's pencil are so numerous, that we shall not attempt to name them. For fifty-five years he was continually adding to the list. His most celebrated pieces were, the "Death of General Wolfe," ""Death on the pale horse," "Christ Rejected,' and Christ healing the sick," the last of which was presented by him to the Pennsylvania Hospital. For "Christ Rejected," £10,000 sterling were offered and refused. On the death of Sir Joshua Reynolds, in 1791, West was elected president of the Royal Academy, which office he held till his death.

West's mind seemed to be exempt from the spoil of years. To the latest period of his life, he was engaged in his favourite pursuit, and suffered no visible decay of his power, either of design or execution. Till within a short time before his death, his mind was occupied in devising plans for future works which he had in contemplation.

In 1817 he lost the companion with whom he had lived for more than half a century, and in the month of March 1820, this extraordinary man breathed his last. He was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. He left two sons, Rembrandt and Benjamin.

Benjamin West was as remarkable for his calmness and cheerfulness as for his genius. His habits of simplicity, which were acquired in youth, seemed natural to him, and he preserved them through life. He was mild and dignified, combining gravity and cheerfulness in his manners. The circumstances of his fortune seemed to correspond in a remarkable degree with the placidity of his temper. In his passage through life, he encountered no storms, and scarcely a counter current or an adverse wind ever ruffled the tranquil serenity of his progress. His prosperity, and the honours received from nobles and princes, did not change the mild and placid character of the simple Pennsylvania quaker. His mind was absorbed in the profession of his choice, and was unmoved by the applause of the world or the smiles of the great.

In short, his character, from youth to old age, is without a speck or a blemish, and the evidences of his genius which he has left behind him, will enrol his name among the favoured few whom nature has gifted with extraordinary powers. E. LEWIS. WEST CHESTER, a post-town of Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the dividing ridge between the waters of Chester and Brandywine creeks, two miles east of the latter stream, and five miles south of the Philadelphia and Lancaster turnpike; 23 miles nearly due west from Philadelphia, and by post road 115 miles northeast from Washington city. The seat of justice of the county was removed from Old Chester to this town in 1786, prior to the division of the county, and it is probably to this circumstance it owes its existence as a borough, into which it was incorporated in the year 1799. The chartered limits, under the name of the burgesses and inhabitants of the borough of West Chester," embrace a space of about one and a quarter miles square; it is governed by a a chief burgess, second burgess, and five assistants, elected annually by the inhabitants.

The original plan of the town consisted of four contiguous squares, with two principal streets, crossing in the centre; in 1829 several streets were opened and new squares formed on the southwestern side of the town; the side walks were paved with brick in 1823, and the two principal streets were Macadamized in 1829 and 1830.

The public buildings are a court house, prison and offices for clerks, register and recorder of the county; and a market house which was erected in 1831, and is situated in that part of the town recently improved; it is 100 feet long, and is well supplied with provisions.

There are four places of worship, viz. two friend's meeting houses, one Roman catholic chapel, and one methodist episcopal church, besides which a Presbyterian church, 45 feet front by 75 feet deep, is now being erected. is also a library, academy, cabinet of natural sciences, and atheneum, the three latter incorporated; and there was a boarding school for young ladies established in 1830, in which are taught all the useful branches of an English education. The buildings erected specially for the purpose are pleasantly situated on a gentle elevation, immediately south of the village; and are calculated for the accommodation of about 60 young ladies; it is under the superintendence of a gentleman, who from long experience is eminently qualified for the task he has undertaken; it has received a liberal patronage and promises extensive usefulness. There is also in the town a number of minor literary establishments, and six weekly newspapers are published.

The Bank of Chester county established in this borough was incorporated in 1814, with a capital of 450,000 dollars, only 112,140 of which has been called in. It is one of the best conducted banking institutions in the state, has been extensively useful in the neighbourhood, and productive of large profit to the stockholders.

There is a daily line of stages between West