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WISBERG, a town of Germany, in the principality 

 of Culmbach ; 8 miles E. of Culmbach. 



WISBY, a town of Sweden, on the weft coaft of the 

 ifland of Gothland. This is a very ancient ftaple, and in 

 former times one of the Hanfe towns. When Wineta, a 

 place of great trade in the ifland of Ufedom, near the coaft 

 of Pomerania, was deftroyed by an inundation, feveral of 

 its wealthieft inhabitants removed to Wifby. It was likewife 

 frequented by Swedes, Goths, Danes, Normans, French, 

 Englifli, Saxons, Livonians, Spaniards, Ruffians, Greeks, 

 and other nations. The maritime laws of Wifby were 

 famous in all parts, and adopted along the coaft of the Baltic. 

 (See Insurance.) The wall of Wifby, and the towers 

 with which it is flanked, were built in the year 1289. This 

 town continued in a flouriftiing condition till the year 1361, 

 when the Danes almoft totally deftroyed it. The harbour is 

 fafeand commodious, but not very large. N. lat. 57° 38'. 

 E. long. iS" 18'. 



WISCASSET, a fea-port town of America, in the 

 province of Maine, in the county of Lincoln, on the Sheep 

 cut, with 2083 inhabitants ; 30 miles N.E. of Brunfwick. 



WISCHAU, or Wiskau, a town of Moravia, in the 

 circle of Brunn ; 15 miles E. of Brunn. N. lat. 49° 1 7'. 

 E. long. 16° 54'. 



WISCHBACH, or Fischbacii, a town of the duchy 

 sf Stiria ; 5 miles S. of Mnertzenfchlag. 



WISCHGROD, a town of the duchy of Warfaw, on 

 :he Viftula ; 27 miles S.E. of Poloczk. 



WISCHITEN, a town of Lithuania, in the palatinate 

 oi Troki ; 70 miles W. of Troki. 



WISCHKOWA, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of 

 Saatz ; 5 miles N.N.E. of Saatz. 



WISCHNOWA, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of 

 Beraun ; '^ miles E. of Przibram. 



WISDIM, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of Boleflaw ; 

 14 miles W.N.W. of Jung Buntzel. 



WISDOM, Sapience, ufually denotes a higher and 

 more refined knowledge of things, immediately prefented to 

 the mind, as it were by intuition, without the affiftance of 

 ratiocination. 



In this fenfe, wifdom may be faid to be a faculty of the 

 nind, or at leaft a modification and habit of it. 



Sometimes the word is more immediately ufed in a moral 

 'enfe, for what we call prudence or difcretion ; which confifts 

 n the foundnefs of the judgment, and a conduft anfwerable 

 :o it. 



The fcliool-divines fometimes reftrain wifdom to the know- 

 ledge of the more fublime and remote objeAs, as that of 

 God, &c. In which fenfe, theology is properly faid to be 

 wifdom. 



The Latin word for wifdom is fapientia, which literally 

 Jxpreffes the fenfe of tafting ; to which wifdom is fuppofed 

 to have fome conformity. The fight, and other feiifes, only 

 reprefent to us the furface of things : tafte goes deeper, and 

 penetrates into the fubftances ; fo that what, e. gr. to the 

 Feeling feemed cold, to the tafte will be found hot : fo wif- 

 iom, arifing from a deep attention to our ideas, goes farther, 

 and frequently judges otherwife than the common apprehen- 

 fions of men would reach to. 



WISE, Michael, in Biography, an admirable compofer 

 For the church, foftered in the Chapel Royal after the Ref- 

 ;oration, under captain Henry Cook, at the fame time as 

 Humphrey and Blow, three muficians, who not only far 

 "urpafled their mailer in genius and abilities, but all our 

 :hurch compofers of the 17th century, except Purcell. 

 However, they prepared the way for his bold and original 



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genius to expand; as feveral new melodies, modulations, 

 and happy licences, which we ufed to think entirely of his 

 invention, upon an attentive examination of their works, ap- 

 pear to have been firft fuggefted by thefe three fellow- 

 ftudents. Yet, what they had (lightly and timidly touched, 

 Purcell treated with the force and courage of a Michael 

 Angelo, whofe abilities rendered the difficult eafy, and gave 

 to what, in lefs powerful hands, would have been diftortion, 

 facility, and grace. 



Dr. Boyce has printed fix verfe and full anthems, by Wife, 

 which are admirable ; and in Dr. Tudway's colleftion, Brit. 

 Muf., there are feven more, and a whole fervice in D 

 minor. 



He was author of the celebrated two-part fong, «' Old 

 Chiron thus preached to his pupil Achilles," which is ftill 

 too well known to need an encomium here. 



Michael Wife was killed in a ftreet-fray at Salilbury, by 

 the watchman, in 16S7. 



The firft movement of his verfe-anthem for two voices, 

 " The ways of Zion do mourn," is mo'-e beautiful and ex- 

 preffive than any grave and pathetic compofition for the 

 church of other countries, of the fame kind and period of 

 time, that we have hitherto difcovered. 



The ufe which the author has made of chromatic intervals 

 at the word mourn, is not only happy and mafterly, but new, 

 even now, at more than a hundred and twenty years diftance 

 from the time when the anthem was produced ! The whole 

 compofition feems to us admirable ; and befides the intelli- 

 gence and merit of the defign, the melody is truly plaintive, 

 and capable of the moft touching and elegant expreffion of the 

 greateft fingers of modern times ; the harmony too and mo- 

 dulation are fuch as correfpond with the fenfe of the words, 

 and enforce their expreffion. 



There is an elegance of phrafe in a paflage of the fecond 

 movement of the preceding anthem, at the word down, 

 which has been lately revived, and in great favour, with a 

 very minute diiFerence, among the firft fingers of Italy. 

 The difference confifts only in pointing the firft note if a 

 crotchet or quaver, and making the fecond and third notes 

 femiqnavers or demifeiniquavers. 



Wife was a native of Saliftjury, in which cathedral he was 

 appointed organift and mafter of the chorifters, in 1668; 

 and in 1675, ^ gentleman of the chapel royal. In 1686, he 

 was preferred to the place of almoner and mafter of the 

 boys at St. Paul's. He is faid to have been in great favour 

 with Charles II., and being appointed to attend him in 

 a progrefs, claimed, as king's organift for the time, the 

 privilege of playing to his majefty on the organ, at what- 

 ever church he went. 



Wise Men of Greece, Seven, in the Hiflory of Phtlofophy, 

 an appellation given to feveral eminent men, on whom was 

 beftowed the praife of civil and moral wifdom. The hiftory 

 of thefe perfons, originally without doubt plain and fimple, 

 has been rendered obfcure and uncertain by traditionary re- 

 ports. The incident to which this appellation was at firft 

 owing was as follows : 



In the third year of the 49th Olympiad, it happened that 

 certain youths of Ionia, purchaiing from a fiftierman of Mi- 

 letus a large draught of filh, which he had brought to 

 ftiore, found in the net a golden tripod of great value. 

 Upon this a dil'pute arofe between the fifherman and the pur- 

 chafers : the former maintaining that he had only fold them 

 the capture of fifti ; the latter afterting that they liad bought 

 the chance of the draught, whatever it might be. The 

 queftion was referred to the citizens of Miletus, who were 

 of opinion, that in an affair fo extraordinary, the Delphic 



oracle 



