WILHELMSHOHEWILKES. 



51 



branchlets ; tlie stamens are six in number : ths 

 seeds are about half an inch long, slender, farina- 

 ceous, and afford a very good meal, which is much 

 used by the Indians in those districts where the 

 plant abounds. The seeds drop off with the slight- 

 est blow ; and the Indians collect them by bend- 

 ing the plants, and beating them over their canoes. 

 The wild rice grows in the Northern and Middle 

 States, and in Canada. It is extremely abundant 

 along the muddy shores of the Delaware, and forms 

 the chief attraction for the immense flocks of reed- 

 birds and black-birds which annually resort thither 

 in the autumn. Owing to the different features of 

 the Chesapeake and Hudson, it is rare on their 

 shores, and on most of their branches. It is most 

 abundant in the north-west, being found as far as 

 latitude 51, on lake Winnipeg; but it does not 

 exist on the Missouri, or west of the St Peters, a 

 branch of the Upper Mississippi. This plant, may, 

 perhaps, at some future day, exert considerable influ- 

 ence on the destiny of the human race, and render 

 populous many districts in the extreme north which 

 are now considered uninhabitable. Another and lar- 

 ger species of zizania is found in the more southern 

 parts of the United States, which is distinguished 

 by having the male and female flowers intermixed. 

 WILHELMSHOHE (Williams Height), for- 

 merly Weissenstein, and during the- brief existence 

 of the kingdom of Westphalia, called Napoleons 

 Hohe, is a castle belonging to the elector of Hesse- 

 Cassel, a league distant from Cassel, the usual sum- 

 mer residence of the monarch. Art and nature 

 have vied in adorning it. An alley of linden-trees 

 leads from Cassel to the foot of the elevation on 

 which the palace stands. The most remarkable 

 objects in this place are, 1. The palace of the elec- 

 tor. 2. The great fountain, a column of water 

 which may be made to rise 190 feet high. Its dia- 

 meter is nine inches. 3. The great cascade. The 

 water falls 104 feet, in a stream eighteen feet wide 

 and one foot in thickness. 4. The Carlsberg 

 (Charles mountain), with its cascades, erected, in 

 1701, by the Italian architect Giov. Franc. Guer- 

 nieri. Here is a grotto, in front of which is a 

 basin 220 feet in diameter. The water falls over 

 the grotto into the basin, and thence in a triple 

 cascade, 900 Rhenish feet long and 40 feet wide. 

 At intervals of 150 feet are basins. On both sides 

 of the cascade, 842 steps lead up to the palace, 

 called, on account of its form, the octagon. At the 

 foot of this building is a basin 150 feet in diameter, 

 in which a rock, lying as if it had fallen from above, 

 covers the body of the giant Enceladus. His mouth 

 is seven feet wide, and sends forth a mass of water 

 55 feet high. In the back-ground of the basin is a 

 grotto, on one side of which is a centaur, on the 

 other a faun, both of which blow through copper 

 horns as long as the water plays. There is also 

 another basin, provided with a grotto and a statue 

 of Polyphemus, which plays when the water flows. 

 Before this grotto is the artichoke basin, owing its 

 name to an enormous artichoke of stone, from the 

 leaves of which twelve fountains spring, of which 

 that in the centre rises forty feet. The giant cas- 

 tle (as the palace is called) is remarkable in various 

 respects. It has 192 Tuscan columns, each 48 

 feet high, which support the third story. On a 

 platform extending over the whole building, stands 

 a pyramid 96 feet high, at the summit of which, on 

 a pedestal eleven feet high, stands the colossal 

 statue of the Farnese Hercules, called, by the peo- 

 ple of the neighbourhood, the great Christopher. 



It is of copper, thirty-one feet high. In his club 

 there is sufficient room for twelve men. There is 

 a door in it, from which a splendid view is pre- 

 sented of the surrounding country. Among the 

 other curiosities are a remarkable bridge, a roman- 

 tic cascade, a Chinese village, &c. 



WILKES, JOHN, a political character of tempo- 

 rary celebrity, born in London, in 1727, was the 

 second son of an opulent distiller. After prelimi- 

 nary education, under a dissenting minister at 

 Aylesbury, he was sent to finish his studies at the 

 university of Leyden. He returned to England in 

 1749, with a considerable portion of classical and 

 general knowledge, and soon after married a lady of 

 large fortune. One daughter was the fruit of this 

 union, which did not prevent him from living a licen- 

 tious life ; and he soon after finally separated from 

 his wife. In 1757, he obtained a seat in parliament 

 for the burgh of Aylesbury, and involved his affairs 

 by the expenses of the election. He went into par- 

 liament under the auspices of earl Temple, through 

 whose interest he was also appointed lieutenant- 

 colonel of the Bucks militia. His early career was 

 by no means conspicuous ; but on the secession of 

 earl Temple and Mr Pitt from the ministry, in 1762, 

 he attained considerable reputation by some pam- 

 phlets attacking the administration, and more espe- 

 cially the earl of Bute. He extended his hostility 

 not only to that nobleman, but to his country, and, 

 by his paper entitled the North Briton, rendered 

 antipathy to Scotland prevalent in England. These 

 papers hastened the resignation of lord Bute, which 

 took place in April 1763. In the same month ap- 

 peared the famous No. 45 of the North Briton, 

 which commented on the king's speech in such caus- 

 tic terms, that a prosecution was determined upon. 

 The home secretary, in consequence, issued a general 

 warrant, or one in which particular names are not 

 specified, ordering the apprehension of the authors, 

 printers, and publishers of the paper in question. On 

 this warrant Wilkes, among others, was appre- 

 hended; but he asserted the illegality of the war- 

 rant, and refusing to answer interrogatories, was 

 committed to the Tower. Some days after, he 

 was brought, by writ of habeas corpus, before chief 

 justice Pratt, of the common pleas, who declared 

 the judgment of that court that general warrants 

 were illegal, and he was consequently discharged, 

 amidst the general rejoicings of the populace. 

 Aided by lord Temple, be brought actions against 

 the secretary of state, under secretaries, messen- 

 gers, and every person employed in the transaction, 

 in which the prosecutors obtained damages, which 

 were paid by the crown. Not content with this 

 escape, he reprinted the obnoxious North Briton, 

 which produced a regular prosecution to conviction; 

 and, in the meantime, having fought a duel with a 

 Mr Martin, in which he was dangerously wounded, 

 he withdrew to France. The result of his non-ap- 

 pearance to meet the prosecution was expulsion 

 from the house of commons. A second charge was 

 also brought against him for printing an obscene 

 poem, entitled an Essay on Women, and he was 

 found guilty of blasphemy as well as libel, added to 

 which, his continued absence, produced outlawry, 

 and thus the ministerial triumph was complete. He 

 in vain made attempts to procure the reversal of his 

 outlawry ; but trusting to his popularity, he ven- 

 tured to return, on a change of ministry, and to 

 deliver himself into custody. Notwithstanding his 

 imprisonment, he was elected to represent the 

 county of Middlesex, by a vast majority ; and soon 

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