W I s 
necessary here the same system of appeal as in other parts of 
Germany. The aggregate revenue is about 700,000/. a sum 
equal to that of England in the reign of James I. The 
public debt of Wirtemberg is between 3,000,000/. and 
4,000,000/. 
The dukes of Wirtemberg were Protestant until 1772, 
when the reigning prince became a Catholic, giving, how¬ 
ever, to his representative body, the most solemn pledges that 
no change should be introduced into the religious establish¬ 
ment, and that even no new Catholic churches should be 
built. In the wars of the French revolution, Wirtemberg 
was repeatedly traversed by the hostile armies: its territory 
was, in 1796, the ground chosen for conflicts in the advance, 
as well as in the celebrated retreat, of Moreau: in 1799 it 
was the sfcene of the defeat of the French under Jourdan; in 
1800, of their renewed success under Moreau. The treaty of 
Luneville (February, 1801) was followed next year by a 
treaty of indemnity, when it suited the politics of France to 
secure to the duke of Wirtemberg an acquisition of territory, 
and the rank of elector in the German empire. A similar 
policy led to a farther extension of his dominions, on the 
peace of Presburg, in December, 1805; and on joining the 
Confederation of the Rhine, in 1806, the royal title, with some 
additional territory, was conferred on him. These honours 
and acquisitions were necessarily followed by an implicit 
obedience to the French government; and the Wirtember- 
gers, like their Bavarian neighbours, were doomed to lose the 
flower of their troops in Russia, in 1812. In the following 
year, the remainder of the forces fought under the French 
banners, until the evacuation of Germany, when the allies, 
having engaged to serve the king in his various acquisitions, 
received his support in the invasion of France. Since then, 
Wirtemberg has had no military contest to sustain; and its 
standing army, amounting, for some time after the peace, to 
16,000 men, has lately been subjected to reduction. 
WI'RY, adj. See Wiery. 
To WIS, v. a. pret. and part. pass. wist, [pippan, Sax¬ 
on ; wissen, German ; wysen, Dutch.] To think; to ima¬ 
gine. Obsolete. 
Marry with a king, 
A batchelor, a handsome stripling too, 
I wis your grandam had a worser match. Skakspeare. 
WI'SARD. See Wizard. 
WISBADEN, a small town of the west of Germany, in 
the duchy of Nassau; 8 miles north-west of Mentz. It has 
3500 inhabitants, with a mansion belonging to the duke, and 
several other public buildings. It has also some Roman an¬ 
tiquities; in particular, the Heidenische Maur, or Heathen’s 
Wall, which forms part of the works of the place. Whether 
it be the remains of the entrenchments thrown up by Drusus 
to cover Mentz or not, it is evidently of great antiquity. 
Wisbaden derives its name from its celebrated hot springs, 
which attract every year 3000 or 4000 strangers to the place. 
Its environs are pleasant, and produce good wine, particu¬ 
larly the species called Emerich. 
WISBEACH, a market town of England, in the county 
of Cambridge, and Isle of Ely, is situated among the fens on 
the river Ouse or Wis, which flows through it, and falls into 
the sea at the distance of eight miles. Over this river was 
built, in 1767, a stone bridge of one elliptical arch, in room 
of an old wooden one. The church is a spacious fabric, 
though of very singular construction, it being furnished with 
two naves and two aisles. The naves are lofty, and sepa¬ 
rated from each other by a row of light slender pillars, with 
pointed arches: the aisles are the most ancient, being divided 
from their respective naves, by low, massy pillars, and semi¬ 
circular Saxon arches. On one of the naves is the date of 
1586. The tower is generally supposed to have been erected 
in the year 1111, from the top of the north side being appa¬ 
rently marked with four units, but is evidently of much later 
workmanship. The sectaries from the established church are 
not numerous, but are each provided with a meeting-house. 
They consist of Quakers, Baptists, Anabaptists, and Metho¬ 
dists. The trade of Wisbeach has much increased of late 
WIS 695 
years, through the improved state of the drainage and navi¬ 
gation of the fens, and the consequent augmentation of the 
produce and consumption of the country. The average of 
the exports of corn alone amounts to 100,000 quarters an¬ 
nually. The principal articles of traffic are coals, corn, tim¬ 
ber, and wine. The neighbouring lands are in high culti¬ 
vation, chiefly on the grazing system. The sheep and 
oxen grow to a great size, and considerable numbers of 
them are fattened, and sent twice every week to the London 
market. 
The inhabitants are wholly employed in commerce, there 
being no manufacture of any kind in the place, though the 
surrounding country, produces large quantities of wool, hemp, 
and flax. The market is abundantly supplied with poultry, 
fish, and butcher’s meat; and the trade of the town is further 
promoted by six annual fairs, for hemp and flax, horned cat¬ 
tle, and horses. A canal, which was completed a few years 
ago, and extends from the river at this town, to the river 
Nene at Outwell, and thence to the river Ouse at Salter’s- 
Lodge Sluice, opened a communication with Norfolk, Suf¬ 
folk, and the western counties, and has already benefited the 
town considerably. Many improvements in the buildings 
have been made within the last forty years; and when the 
corporation have completed the custom-house, and erected 
new structures in the room of the ancient shire-hall and but¬ 
cher’s shambles (built in 1592), but very few towns will be 
more handsome. The Rose inn, where balls and monthly 
assemblies are held, has been a place of public reception from 
the year 1475, at which period it was known by the sign of 
the Horn ; and on one of the out-buildings, erected in 1601, 
the figure of a horn is yet to be seen. The theatre is in a 
central situation, and is well adapted for dramatic exhibitions. 
The education of youth is provided for by a free school, 
and two charity schools, supported by voluntary contribu¬ 
tions. The corporation of Wisbeach emanated from a reli¬ 
gious fraternity, styled the Guild of the Holy Trinity, insti¬ 
tuted in the year 1374, and possessed of estates for pious and 
charitable purposes. This establishment shared the general 
fate of ecclesiastical foundations in the reign of Henry VIII.; 
but Edward VI. restored the corporation, and in the charter 
which he granted, directed the inhabitants to assemble annu¬ 
ally, and to elect ten men, who were to form the corporation. 
This charter was renewed in 1610, when the inhabitants 
were constituted a body corporate, by the style of the burgesses 
of the town of Wisbeach, and the right of election limited 
to the possessors of 40 shilling freeholds; 42 miles north- 
north-west of Cambridge, and 89J north-by-east of London. 
Population 6300. 
WISBOROUGH, Green, a parish of England, in Sus¬ 
sex ; 6 miles north-east of Petworth. Population 1421. 
WISBY, a seaport and old staple town of Sweden, situ¬ 
ated on the west side of the island of Gothland. It was for¬ 
merly one of the Hanse towns; at present it is a dark and 
gloomy place, built in the old German style, and containing 
nearly 4000 inhabitants. It is fortified, and has a commodi¬ 
ous, though not large harbour. Lat. 57. 39. 15. N. long. 
18.26. 30. E. 
WISCASSET, a post town and port of entry of the United 
States, and capital of Lincoln county, Maine, on the west 
side of the Sheepscot. It is pleasantly situated, and contains 
a court-house, a jail, a meeting-house, an academy, a bank, 
an insurance office, and has considerable trade. The har¬ 
bour is generally open all winter. The shipping belong¬ 
ing to this port amount to 16,145 tons; 43 miles north-east 
of Portland, and 160 north-east of Boston. Population 
2083. 
WISCHAU, a town of Moravia; 18 miles east-by-north 
of Brunn. Population 2600. 
WISCHNITZA, a small town of Austrian Galicia, in the 
Bukowine. 
WFSDOM, [pipbom, Saxon; wiisdom, Danish.] Sa¬ 
pience; the power of judging rightly; the knowledge of 
divine and human things.—As science is properly that 
knowledge which relateth to the essences of things, so 'wis¬ 
dom to their operations. Grew. 
O sacred 
