668 
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W I L 
ditions. Mr. Ray also collected and arranged Willughby’s 
papers on Ichthyology. He added the two first books, and 
with the assistance of the Royal Society published them in 
1686 under the following title: “ Fran. Willughbeii Arm. 
de Historia Piscium, Libr. quatuor, jussu et sumptu Soc. 
Regise Lond. editi. Totum opus recognovit, coaptavit, 
supplevit librum etiam primum et secundum integros adjecit 
J. Rams.’’ Oxon. fob The papers of Willughby in the 
Phil. Trans, relate to vegetation, plants, and insects. The 
collection of Ray contains some of his letters. Biog. Brit. 
Pulteney's Sketches of Botany. 
WILLY, a river of England, in Wiltshire, which rises 
near Warminster, and being joined by the Nadder, runs 
into the Upper Avon, near Salisbury. 
WILMINGTON, a parish of England, in Kent, near 
Darlford. Population 646. 
WILMINGTON, a parish of England, in Sussex; 4y 
miles south-west of Haylsham.. 
WILMINGTON, a post township of the United States, in 
Windham county, Vermont; 21 miles east of Bennington. 
Population 1193.—2. A township of Middlesex county, 
Massachusetts; 16 miles north of Boston. Population 716. 
WILMINGTON, a borough of the United States, and 
port of entry, in Newcastle county, Delaware, between the 
Brandywine and Christiana creeks, one mile above their con¬ 
fluence, and two west of the Delaware. 
The Christiana is navigable as far as Wilmington, for ves¬ 
sels drawing 14 feet of water. 
On the Brandywine, separated at a little distance from the 
body of the town, there is a village of about 100 houses, 
nearly one-half of which are included within the borough; 
and 14 flour-mills, the finest collection in the United States. 
The Brandywine and the Christiana, with their branches, 
afford a great number of excellent seats for mills and manu¬ 
factories ; 5 miles north-north-east of Newcastle, 28 south¬ 
west of Philadelphia, and 70 north-east of Baltimore. Lat. 
39. 43. N. long. 77. 34. W. Population 4416.—2. A post 
town of the United States, and capital of Clinton county, 
Ohio; 50 miles west of Chillicothe, and 54 north-east of Cin¬ 
cinnati.—3. A post township of the United States, in Flu¬ 
vanna county, Virginia.—4. A post town and port of entry 
of the United States, and capital of New Hanover county, 
North Carolina, on the east side of Cape Fear river, just 
below the confluence of the north-east and north-west bran¬ 
ches, about 35 miles from the sea; 90 miles south-east of 
Fayetteville. Lat. 34. 11. N. long. 78. 10. W.—4. An is¬ 
land of the United States, near the coast'of Georgia, at the 
mouth of the Savannah. Lat. 32. N. long. 81. 6. W. 
WILMOT (John), earl of Rochester, was the son of 
Henry, earl of Rochester, an eminent loyalist in the reign of 
Charles I., and was born in 1647, at Ditchley, in Oxford¬ 
shire. In 1659 he was entered at Wadbam college, Oxford, 
and afterwards travelled into France and Italy under a tutor, 
who is said to have reclaimed him from his early licentious¬ 
ness; but upon his return to the profligate court of Charles 
II., in which he was a gentleman of the bed-chamber, he 
relapsed into his former intemperance. In 1665 he went to 
sea, and, as it is said, behaved with great intrepidity in the 
attack of a castle at Bergen, in Norway, which character for 
courage he also maintained when he afterwards served under 
Sir Edward Spragge. In some of his domestic adventures, 
however, he forfeited this kind of reputation. Welcomed in 
all companies on account of his wit and vivacity, he became 
habitually intemperate, insomuch that, on a subsequent 
review of his conduct, he acknowledged that for five succes¬ 
sive years he was never free from the inflaming effects of 
wine. His various adventures, in his real, or in a disguised 
character, have furnished many anecdotes, that have been 
circulated in conversation, or in books of mere amusement, 
but which are not worth recording in graver publications. 
His wit furnished in the societies which he frequented a kind 
of apology for his profaneness and licentiousness; and as for 
his poetical compositions, they were for the most part lam¬ 
poons or amatory effusions, the titles of which would stain the 
page of biography. “ In all his works, (says Dr. Johnson, 
meaning probably those which can be read), there is spright - 
liness and vigour, and every where may be found tokens of 
a mind which study might have carried to excellence.” The 
justice of Walpole’s sentence, in his “ Catalogue of Noble 
Authors,” will be generally allowed: “ Lord Rochester’s 
poems have much more obscenity than wit, more wit than 
poetry, more poetry than politeness.” His course of debau¬ 
chery was of no long duration ; for soon after the age of 30 
he sunk into a state of debility and disease, which induced 
him to study physic, and this study permitted him to reflect 
on the course of his past life, the irremediable effects of 
which he learnt from experience. Towards the close of his 
short life, he became acquainted with bishop Burnet, who 
convinced him of the truth both of natural and revealed 
religion, and his mind was then impressed to such a degree, 
that he is said to have become a sincere penitent. His life 
terminated in July, 1680, soon after he had commenced his 
33d year. He left a son and two daughters. 
WILMOT, a township of the United States, in Hills¬ 
borough county, New Hampshire; 29 miles north-west of 
Concord. 
WILMOTSHAM, a hamlet of England, in the parish of 
Stoke Pero, Somersetshire. 
WILMSLOW, or Wimboldshey, a parish of England, 
in Cheshire; 7 miles north-west of Macclesfield. 
WILMSTORF, Oj.d, a village of Prussian Silesia, in the 
county of Glatz, with 900 inhabitants. 
WILNA, an exlensivejprovince or government of the north¬ 
west of European Russia, containing the north part of Lithu¬ 
ania. It extends from 53. 40. to 56. 15. of N. lat.; has an 
area of 2300 square miles; and a population of 1,000,000. 
These are composed of Lithuanians, Poles, Lettonians, and 
descendants of German settlers: the prevailing creeds are 
those of the Catholics or of the Greek church. The surface, 
similar to that of Poland and the adjacent part of Russia, is 
in general flat, covered in various districts with wood, in 
others with marshes and lakes. The winter partakes of the 
severity of the Russian climate; the heat of summer is greater 
than in England. The towns are small, and thinly scattered. 
The inhabitants live in the country, employed in tillage, 
grazing, or hunting. The trade, such as it is, is carried on 
by the Jews. The principal rivers are the Niemen, the 
Vilia, the Pripez, and the Narew. See Samogitia and Lithu¬ 
ania. —2. A city of Russian Lithuania, the chief town for¬ 
merly of a palatinate, at present of a province or government. 
It is situated in a hilly country, and occupies several eminen¬ 
ces near the river Vilna or Vilia. Its circuit is nearly four 
miles; its population, amounting in 1788, to 21,000, is now 
nearly 30,000. Like other towns in Poland and Russia* it 
is built chiefly of wood, very deficient in cleanliness, and 
exhibits a striking contrast of wretchedness in some buildings, 
and tawdry magnificence in others. The inhabitants are a 
mixture of Catholics, Jews, and followers of the Greek church; 
but all live in harmony as far as regards religious feelings. 
The trade of the place ponsists in the export of corn, hemp, 
flax, honey, wax, and other products of the surrounding 
country. These are sent by the Vilia aud the Niemen (into 
which the former falls), to Konigsberg or Memel; and the 
trade is managed entirely by Jews. Wilna is the see of a 
Greek metropolitan and a Catholic bishop. Its university, 
established in 1570, was new modelled by the Russian go¬ 
vernment in 1803. The objects of tuition are the classics, the 
natural and moral sciences, literature, and, in some degree, 
the fine arts. The number of professors is 32; the number 
of assistants, 12. Connected with the establishment is an ob¬ 
servatory and several libraries. The farther appendages of a 
seat of learning, such as the cabinet of natural history, the 
chemical laboratory, the botanical garden, the collection of 
animals, are as yet in their infancy. The collection of min¬ 
erals is more complete. The university possesses several im¬ 
portant privileges; in particular, a jurisdiction over the es¬ 
tablishments for education through a large tract of country. 
Its regular income is6000/. a year; a limited number of stu¬ 
dents are maintained at the expense of the crown. There are 
in Wilna also a gymnasium or classical school, a seminary 
for 
