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W H I 
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Behold, 
Upon the hempen tackle ship boys climbing ; 
Hear the shrill whistle, which doth order give, 
To sounds confus’d. Shakspeare. 
The noise of winds.—A call, such as sportsmen use to 
their dogs. 
Madam, here comes my lord. 
—I have been worth the whistle. Shakspeare. 
The knight, pursuing this epistle, 
Believ’d he’d brought her to his whistle. Hudibras. 
WHl'STLER, s. One who whistles.—The prize was a 
guinea, to be conferred upon the ablest whistler, who could 
whistle clearest, and go through his tune without laughing. 
Addison. 
WHISTLEY, a hamlet of England, in Berkshire; 5 miles 
east-by-north of Reading. Population 656. 
WHI'STLY, ado. Silently. 
I, upon a little rising hill, 
Stood wistly watching for the herd’s approach. 
Arden of Feversham. 
WHISTON (William), M. A., an English divine and ma¬ 
thematician, was the son of the rector of Norton near Twy- 
cross, in Leicestershire, and born in the year 1667. He 
finished his education as a sizer at Clare-hall, Cambridge, 
applying with great diligence to the study of mathematics, 
and composing devout meditations corresponding to the early 
bent of his disposition. Having also received the degree of 
B. A. in 1690, and being elected fellow of his college, he 
took pupils; and in 1693 became M. A., and entered into 
holy orders. Soon afterwards he declined the office of tutor, 
and was appointed chaplain to Dr. More, bishop of Nor¬ 
wich. His acquaintance with Sir Isaac Newton commenced 
in J694, and produced a change in his philosophical system, 
from that of Des Cartes to that of Newton. On the principles 
of this philosophy, he published, in 1696, his “ Theory of 
the Earth,” which was refuted by Keill. Having been pre¬ 
sented by his patron, the bishop, to the living of Lowestoft 
in Suffolk, he resigned his chaplainship, and in order fully to 
discharge his religious duties procured the assistance of a 
curate. Being obliged to vacate his fellowship by marriage. 
Sir Isaac Newton nominated him his deputy as professor of 
mathematics, allowing him all the profits of the office; and 
in 1703 he surrendered to him the professorship itself. Upon 
this accession, he resigned his living, settled at Cambridge, 
and was appointed by Dr. More, bishop of Ely, catechetical 
lecturer of St. Clement’s. Having already published “ A 
Short View of the Chronology of the Old Testament, and the 
Harmony of the Four Evangelists,” and “ Tacquet’s Euclid,” 
he presented to the public in 1706 his “ Essay on the Revela¬ 
tion of St. John;” and in the following year he preached the 
Boyle’s lecture sermon on the subject of the “ Accomplish¬ 
ment of Scripture Prophecies.” In the year 1706 he began 
to entertain doubts concerning the divinity of Christ, and in 
the prosecution of his inquiries he was led to adopt Arian 
opinions, which were further confirmed by the perusal of the 
“ Apostolical Constitutions,” reckoned spurious by most writ¬ 
ers, but pronounced by Whiston to be “ the most sacred of 
the canonical books of the New Testament.” In 1708 he 
offered an “ Essay on the Apostolical Constitutions” to be 
printed at the University press, but it was rejected; however, 
in 1709, he published sermons and essays supporting these 
opinions. His invincible perseverance caused him to be de¬ 
prived of the catechetical lecture, and at the same time he 
declined receiving the salary which the bishop wished to con¬ 
tinue. His situation at the University became very precari¬ 
ous, and in October, 1710, he was expelled from it, in con¬ 
formity to a statute against maintaining doctrines contrary to 
the established religion. In the following year he also lost 
his professorship ; and having no further employment at 
Cambridge, he removed to London, and published an ac¬ 
count of the proceedings against him, and also books in 
defence of his sentiments, which he retained without regard¬ 
ing any worldly considerations. All his future prospects 
seemed now to depend on his knowledge of mathematics, 
and accordingly in 1710, he published his “ Prselectiones 
Physicae-Mathematicse ; sive Philosophia Clarissimi Newtoni 
Mathematica illustrata.” At this time Addison and Steele, 
and several other persons, exerted themselves in procuring a 
subscription to his astronomical lectures. But at the close of 
this year he published the“ Historical Preface” to a proposed 
work on Primitive Christianity, which subjected him to the 
inquisitorial animadversion of the lower house of convocation. 
Escaping, however, the apprehended consequences of their 
interference, he persisted in his course, and in 1711 printed 
this work which he had announced, and which had occa¬ 
sioned an alarm, in 4 vols. 8vo. The convocation not suffi¬ 
ciently informed with regard to the extent of their power in 
cases of heresy, addressed the queen in order to obtain the 
opinion of the judges, who disagreed upon the subject, and 
no further measures were pursued by this body. However, 
in 1713, Whiston was prosecuted in the spiritual court; and 
as he did not appear to its citation, he was declared contu¬ 
macious. Difficulties occurring on the part of the lay-judges, 
the business was deferred, and the prosecution was terminated 
by an act of grace in 1715. Whiston was at this time a pro¬ 
fessed member of the established church, and attended its 
worship, till at length he was refused admission to the sacra¬ 
ment ; and therefore he opened an assembly for worship at 
his own house, and used a liturgy of his own composing. 
He also established a weekly meeting for the promotion of 
primitive Christianity, which subsisted for two years. Whilst 
he was thus occasionally engaged, he devoted himself to 
mathematical and philosophical pursuits; and in concert 
with Mr. Ditton, who was his colleague in his lectures, pub¬ 
lished a project for discovering the longitude at sea. But as 
their speculations were of no use, it will be sufficient to 
observe, that he published at last a method of ascertaining 
the longitude by observations of the eclipses of Jupiter’s 
satellites, with tables of such eclipses for four years from the 
year 1738. 
His zeal in religious discussions and projects remained un¬ 
abated ; and, among other publications in 1716 and the two 
following years, appeared several pieces founded on the sup¬ 
posed genuineness and authority of the apostolical consti¬ 
tutions. In 1719 he published a letter addressed to Finch, 
earl of Nottingham, on the “ Eternity of the Son of God 
and his Holy Spirit,” which received an answer from his 
lordship, that induced the clergy and universities to return 
him public thanks, and which caused Whiston’s exclusion 
from the Royal Society, when he was proposed as a candidate 
in 1720. Sir Isaac Newton, it is said, who was of a very 
timid temper, took measures for defeating his election. In 
1749 he published two volumes of memoirs of his own life, 
to which a third was added in 1750. Having attained to 
the 85th year of his age, he died at London in 1752. 
WHISTON, a township of England, in Lancashire, south 
of Prescot. Population 1015.—2. A parish in Northampton¬ 
shire; 5f miles east-by-south of Northampton.—3. A town¬ 
ship in Staffordshire; 2 miles west of Penkridge.—4. Ano¬ 
ther township in Staffordshire; 3 miles north-east of Cheadle. 
—5. A pari-h in the West Riding of Yorkshire; 2J miles 
south-east of Rotherham. Population 762. 
WHIT, s. [pihe, a thing; apihe, any thing, Sax.] A 
point; a jot.—We love, and are no whit regarded. Sidney. 
Her sacred book, with blood ywrit. 
That none could read, except she did him teach; 
She unto him disclosed every whit. 
And heavenly documents thereout did preach. Spenser, 
WHITAKER (John, B.D.), a divine of the established 
church, was born at Manchester about the year 1735, and 
educated at Oxford, where he became fellow of Corpus- 
Christi college, taking the degree of M. A. in 1759, and of 
B. D. in 1767. His first work, viz. “ The History of Man v 
Chester,” appeared in 1771, 4to., in which he takes occasion 
to give a view of the state of the kingdom in general. This 
work, abounding in literary research and ingenious conjec¬ 
ture, gave reputation to the writer, and was followed in the 
same 
