116 



WREXHAM - WHK.il i 



Sutit'K com) it<n 

 Hujiu Eeclttia et Urbtt Cimditor, 



.'. > . 



<)':i ririt Annul ultra nonoginti. 



Son libi ted Bono puMico. 



Lfctor, ti MommcntuiH yu<rrit, 



Circuaupict. 



i* laid the builder of thit rlmn li nml ritv M ho livr.l 

 bore ninety yean, not for liiinti-lf. Imt tor tin- public good. 

 Reader, if thou seokest his monument, look around ) 



The edifices constructed by this architect were 

 principally public, including a royal hunting seat 

 at Winchester, and the modern part of the palace 

 at Hampton Court. Some of the most remarkable 

 of his buildings, besides St Paul's, are the monu- 

 ment on Fish street hill, the theatre at Oxford, the 

 library of Trinity college, Cambridge ; the hospi- 

 tals of Chelsea and Greenwich ; the church of St 

 Stephen's, Walbrook ; those of St Mary-le-Bo\v, 

 St .Michael, Cornhill, and St Bride, Fleet-stive t ; 

 and the great campanile of Christ-church, Oxford. 

 Of his character as a man of science, we may accept 

 the testimony of Newton, who, in his Principia, 

 joins the names of Wren, Wallis, and Huygens, 

 whom he styles hujus cetatis geometrarum facile prin- 

 cipes (the greatest geometricians of the age.) As 

 an architect he possessed an inexhaustible fertility 

 of invention, combined with good natural taste and 

 profound knowledge of the principles of his art. 

 His talents were particularly adapted to ecclesias- 

 tical architecture ; in his palaces and private houses 

 he has sometimes sunk into a heavy monotony, as 

 at Hampton-court and Winchester. The interior 

 of the church of St Stephen's, Walbrook, which has 

 been considered as his chef-d'oeuvre, exhibits a de- 

 viation from common forms equally ingenious and 

 beautiful. The monument is grand and simple ; 

 and St Paul's cathedral, notwithstanding the se- 

 vere criticisms to which it has been subjected, may 

 be fairly reckoned among the most magnificent pro- 

 ductions of architectural genius. Sir Christopher 

 Wren's architecture is the perfection of that mo- 

 dern style, which, with forms and modes of con- 

 struction essentially Gothic, adopts, for the pur- 

 poses of decoration, the orders and ornaments of 



classical antiquity See Parentalia, or Memoirs of 



the Family of the Wrens (folio, 1750), published by 

 his grandson, and Elmes's Life of Wren (4to.,1823). 

 WREXHAM ; a populous and prosperous town 

 in North Wales, in the county of Denbigh, 179 miles 

 north-west of London. It was anciently called 

 Wrightesham, by the Saxons, to whom its founda- 

 tion is attributed, and from whom the inhabitants 

 are supposed to derive their customs and language. 

 The town consists of some good avenues, the High 

 street, in front of the Wynnstay Arms, and termi- 

 nated by a spacious town-hall, is the most respect- 

 able, and presents at all times a scene of trade, 

 bustle, and animation. The church, the architec- 

 tural boast of Wales, was erected in the reign of 

 Henry VII., and is an exquisite specimen of the 

 florid Gothic which began to prevail at that period. 

 The tower attains a height of 140 feet, having 

 three of its fronts adorned with whole-length figures 

 occupying niches. The interior is by no means 

 in keeping with the richness and decoration of the 

 tower and sculptures of the outside of the chancel, 

 but contains an ancient monument, inscribed with 

 Saxon characters, and a noble design and work by 

 Roubilliac, to the memory of Mary, daughter of Sir 

 Richard Myddleton, of Chirk Castle. It represents 

 the resurrection of the body in its last sad clothing, 

 and the 'grave resigning its dead at the citation of 

 the angel on the Day of Judgment. This design 



has since been n-peatrdly imitated. Wrexham w 

 the great thoroughfare between Liverpool and 

 Chester, and North Waifs. The coaching esta- 

 blishments are numerous, and the travelling in con- 

 sequence at moderate rates. The great fair, for 

 all sorts of wares, goods, &c. commences on the 

 '23d of March, and continues during one fort- 

 night. It is attended by purchasers, chietly small 

 shop-keepers, from all parts of North Wales, and 

 business is transacted on this occasion to a consi- 

 derable extent. The flannel trade is less prosper- 

 ous here than formerly, but an extensive trade is 

 carried on in coal, iron, and lead, as well as in flour, 

 wire-drawing, and paper-making. Population in 

 1841, l-J.y-21. 



WRIGHT, JOSEPH, a celebrated English painter, 

 usually styled Wriylit of Derby, wa< born in that 

 town, in 1734. In 1751, he was placed under Hud- 

 son, the most celebrated portrait painter of the 

 day, although of very moderate talcn:-. He then 

 visited Italy, where he made great advances in his 

 profession, and, in 1755, returned to England. Hav- 

 ing resided first at Bath, but afterwards at Derby, 

 employed in portrait painting, at a mature age he 

 again visited Italy, and, on his return, in 1~> S - 

 elected an associate of the royal academy. His later 

 pictures were chiefly landscapes, which are much 

 admired for elegance of outline and judicious man- 

 agement of light and shade. A large landscape, a 

 View of the Head of Ulleswater, stands at the head 

 of his productions of this class; while, in the his- 

 torical line, the Dead Soldier is sufficient to stamp 

 him a fine painter. He fell a victim to his un- 

 wearied attention to his profession, dying of a de- 

 cline, in 1797. 



WRIGHT, THOMAS; a captain in the British 

 navy, whose fate has excited much discussion 

 Having been employed to land the conspirators 

 George Cadoudal, Pichegru, the Polignacs, and 

 others, on the French coast, in the years 1803 and 

 1804, captain Wright was soon after made prisoner 

 of war ; and, on the supposition that his evidence 

 would be useful in procuring the conviction of 

 Pichegru and Cadoudal, he was carried to Paris, 

 and lodged in the Temple. He, however, declared 

 himself ignorant of the plans of the conspirators, 

 asserting that he merely obeyed orders in landing 

 them in France. Reports were spread at the time, 

 and of course believed, that he was put to the tor- 

 ture, by order of Napoleon, to force him to confess,' 

 and that Real and Dubois were the instruments of 

 the emperor in this act. In 1805, his exchange 

 was consented to ; but, in November, the Monitcur 

 announced that he had been found dead in prison, 

 having cut his own throat from impatience and de- 

 spair. The enemies of Napoleon, and particularly 

 the British, on the other hand, loudly charged the 

 death of the prisoner to the emperor, who, as it 

 was pretended, had been induced to commit this 

 foul act to prevent a public exposure of the treat- 

 ment to which captain Wright bad been subjected 

 in the Temple. Others have imputed the murder 

 to Savary, Fouche, and Real, to whom the same 

 motive a desire of concealing their conduct to- 

 wards the prisoner has been imputed. While at 

 St Helena, doctor Warden mentioned the subject 

 to Napoleon, and told him that it was pretty gene- 

 rally believed in England, that he had caused cap- 

 tain Wright to be put to death. " Why should I 

 have committed such an act ?" replied the emperor. 

 " Of all men whom I have had in my power, he 

 was the person whom I should have been most de- 



