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WAKEFIELDWALACUIA. 



creasing, he determined to take the first, oppor- 

 tunity of resigning his situation in it ; which design 

 lie fulfilled in 1779, mid accepted the office of clas- 

 sical tutor at the dissenting academy at Warring- 

 ton. He had early formed a design of giving a new 

 version of the New Testament, and published, in 

 17--', his New Translation of the Gospel of St 

 Matthew, with Notes Critical, Philological, and 

 Explanatory (4to.) On the dissolution of the 

 Warrington academy, he removed to Bramcote, in 

 Nottinghamshire, with a view of taking private pu- 

 pils. Here he published, in 1784, the first volume 

 of an Enquiry into the Opinions of the Christian 

 Writers of the First Three Centuries concerning 

 the Person of Jesus Christ, a work which he never 

 concluded. He subsequently removed to Richmond 

 and Nottingham, until, in 1789, he commenced his 

 Silva Critica, the object of which was to illustrate 

 the Scriptures by the philology of Greece and 

 Rome. Of this learned performance, five parts 

 appeared in succession, until 1790, the three first 

 from the Cambridge press. In 1796, he quitted 

 Nottingham, in order to accept the office of classical 

 tutor at the dissenting college at Hackney. Here 

 bis services were highly esteemed, until be advo- 

 cated the superiority of private to public worship, 

 and wrote a book in support of his opinions, which 

 tended to dissolve the connexion. In 1792, he gave 

 the world his Translation of the New Testament, 

 with Notes Critical and Explanatory, (in 3 vols. 

 8vo.) and, in 1795, published Memoirs of his Own 

 Life, (2d ed., 1804, 2 vols. 8vo.,) a characteristic 

 performance. He next defended revealed religion 

 by his Evidence of Christianity, in answer to Paine's 

 Age of Reason, and planned a new edition of Pope's 

 Works, in which he was anticipated by Doctor 

 Warton. He, however, proceeded so far as to pub- 

 lish a first volume, and a volume of Notes on Pope ; 

 as also an edition of his versions of the Iliad and 

 Odyssey. He followed up his labour with edi- 

 tions of Select Greek Tragedies ; of Horace ; of 

 Bion and Moschus; of Virgil; and, finally, of Lu- 

 cretius, (in 3 vols. 4to,) a work which has ranked 

 him among the most erudite and industrious of 

 critical editors. He soon after entered the path of 

 politics, and censured the policy of the war against 

 France, produced by the French revolution, in a 

 pamphlet written in 1798, entitled a Reply to the 

 Bishop of Llandaff's Address to the People of 

 Great Britain ; for which be was subjected to a 

 crown prosecution for libel, which terminated in 

 a trial and conviction in February, 1799, when he 

 was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in Dor- 

 chester gaol. He endured the whole of this sen- 

 tence, which was however alleviated by a subscrip- 

 tion amounting to 5000, that took away his 

 anxiety for the future support of his family. On 

 his restoration to liberty, he opened a course of 

 lectures upon Virgil, in the metropolis, but in 

 August of the same year, was seized with a typhus 

 fever, which terminated his life, Sept. 9, 1801, in 

 the forty-sixth year of his age. Mr Wakefield 

 was a zealous and industrious scholar, who fol- 

 lowed what he deemed truth, without regard to 

 consequences, wherever it might lead him : hence 

 his abandonment of the church, and of public wor- 

 ship, and formation of a system of divinity of his 

 own ; for he never formally joined any body of 

 dissenters. His classical emendations occasionally 

 exhibit strange singularities of taste and opinion ; 

 and, in conjectural criticism, indeed, he evinced 

 much of the bold character of Bentley and Mark- 



land. His private character was amiable and esti- 

 mable, and far removed from the asperity of Ins 

 controversy and his criticism. Besides the works 

 already mentioned, and a few more of minor impor- 

 tance, a Collection of Letters, in a correspondence 

 between him and the right honourable C. J. Fox. 

 has been published since his death, chiefly rela- 

 tive to topics of Greek literature. 



WALACHIA, OB WALLACHIA ; a province 

 under the protection of the Porte, lying on the 

 northern bank of the Danube, with Moldavia and 

 Transylvania on the north, and Serviu on the 

 west. Its area is equal to about 25,000 square 

 miles, with a population of 950,000 souls. The 

 capital is Bucharest. The other principal towns 

 are Brailow, the key of the Danube, Tergovi.-t;i, 

 and Giorgiev. The face of the country is consi- 

 derably diversified : in the north it is mountainous ; 

 the central and southern parts are less uneven, 

 consisting chiefly of fertile valleys and extensive 

 plains. Few countries are more indebted to na- 

 ture ; but the bad government and insecurity of 

 property have left it nearly a waste. Corn, to- 

 bacco, Sax, horses, sheep, and salt abound ; but the 

 rich soil is little cultivated, and the mineral trea- 

 sures of the country are undisturbed. The inha- 

 bitants are chiefly Walachians and gypsies. The 

 former, the original inhabitants, are a mixture of 

 different nations Dacians, Bulgarians, Sclavonians, 

 Goths, and Romans. They call themselves Ro- 

 mans, and speak a corrupt Latin. Their summer 

 dress also resembles that of their ancestors in the 

 period of the Roman empire, as appears by the 

 figures on Trajan's column in Rome. They are 

 rude, ignorant, and stupid. The gypsies, who are 

 very numerous, resemble those found in other 

 countries. The mountaineers, who have the right 

 to bear arms, are called, in Moldavia and Walachia, 

 Pandoors (a Moldavian word, signifying frontier 

 guards.') The religion of the inhabitants is Greek, 

 and the upper classes speak the Greek language, 

 and in general have the manners of the Greeks. 

 Walachia is under the protection of the Porte, 

 which has the right of naming its hospodar or prince. 

 The hospodars were formerly appointed for seven 

 years, during which time they could not lawfully 

 be removed ; but pretences enough were always 

 found for suspecting them, and they were rarely suf- 

 fered to die a natural death. By the treaty of Adria- 

 nople, in 1829, it was stipulated that the offk-e 

 should be held for life ; that the inhabitants should 

 enjoy the free exercise of their religion, freedom of 

 trade, and a separate administration ; that no Mo- 

 hammedan should be allowed to reside in Walachia, 

 and that the yearly tribute to the Porte should be 

 fixed at a certain sum, beyond which, that power 

 should claim no further contributions. In the time 

 of the Romans, Walachia formed a part of Daeia. 

 In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it was go- 

 verned by princes dependent on the Byzantine 

 court, and, in 1421, was rendered tributary to the 

 Turks. It still, however, retained its own princes, 

 and a separate administration, the Turks occupying 

 only the three fortresses of Brailow or Ibrail, Gior- 

 giev, and Thurnul. Still it was often plundered 

 by the Turks, and subjected to forced contributions, 

 and the hospodars made the best use of their pre- 

 carious authority to pillage the people. In 1716, 

 Mavrocordatus was appointed hospodar. He was 

 the first Greek who had received this post, and 

 with his successors, who were also Greeks, did 

 much towards civilizing and improving the condi- 



