bury, which passed
sentence of condemnation upon his views. It says much for the position
which he had attained, and for the power of his supporters, that he was
permitted to depart from Oxf. and retire to Lutterworth, where, worn out
by his labours and anxieties, he _d._ of a paralytic seizure on the last
day of 1384. His enemies, baffled in their designs against him while
living, consoled themselves by disinterring his bones in 1428 and
throwing them into the river Swift, of which Thomas Fuller (_q.v._) has
said, "Thus this brook has conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into
Severn, Severn into the Narrow Seas, they into the main ocean, and thus
the ashes of Wicliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is
dispersed all the world over." The works of W. were chiefly controversial
or theological and, as literature, have no great importance, but his
translation of the Bible had indirectly a great influence not only by
tending to fix the language, but in a far greater degree by furthering
the moral and intellectual emancipation on which true literature is
essentially founded.

WILBERFORCE, WILLIAM (1759-1833).--Philanthropist and religious writer,
_s._ of a merchant, was _b._ at Hull, _ed._ at Camb., entered Parliament
as member for his native town, became the intimate friend of Pitt, and
was the leader of the crusade against the slave-trade and slavery. His
chief literary work was his _Practical View of Christianity_, which had
remarkable popularity and influence, but he wrote continually and with
effect on the religious and philanthropic objects to which he had devoted
his life.

WILCOX, CARLES (1794-1827).--Poet, _b._ at Newport, N.H., was a
Congregationalist minister. He wrote a poem, _The Age of Benevolence_,
which was left unfinished, and which bears manifest traces of the
influence of Cowper.

WILDE, OSCAR O'FLAHERTY (1856-1900).--Poet and dramatist, _s._ of Sir
William W., the eminent surgeon, was _b._ at Dublin, and _ed._ there at
Trinity Coll. and at Oxf. He was one of the founders of the modern cult
of the aesthetic. Among his writings are _Poems_ (1881), _The Picture of
Dorian Gray_, a novel, and several plays, including _Lady Windermere's
Fan_, _A Woman of no Importance_, and _The Importance of being Earnest_.
He was convicted of a serious offence, and after his release from prison
went abroad and _d._ at Paris. _Coll._ ed. of his works, 12 vols., 1909.

WILKES, JOHN (1727-1797).--Politician, _