The remainder of Whitefield's life was spent chiefly in evangelizing tours in Great Britain, Ireland and America. It has been stated that "in the compass of a single week, and that for years, he spoke in general forty hours, and in very many sixty, and that to thousands." In 1748 the synods of Glasgow, Perth and Lothian passed vain resolutions intended to exclude him from churches; in 1753 he compiled his hymn-book, and in 1756 opened the chapel which still bears his name in Tottenham Court Road. On his return from America to England for the last time the change in his appearance forcibly impressed Wesley, who wrote in his Journal: "He seemed to be an old man, being fairly worn out in his Master's service, though he had hardly seen fifty years." When health was failing him he placed himself on what he called "short allowance," preaching only once every week-day and thrice on Sunday. In 1769 he returned to America for the seventh and last time, and arranged for the conversion of his orphanage into Bethesda College, which was burned down in 1773. He was now affected by a severe asthmatic complaint; but to those who advised him to take some rest, he answered, "I had rather wear out than rust out." He died on the 30th of September 1770 at Newburyport, Massachusetts, where he had arrived on the previous evening with the intention of preaching next day. In accordance with his own desire he was buried before the pulpit in the Presbyterian church of the town where he died.
Whitefield's printed works convey a totally inadequate idea of his oratorical powers, and are all in fact below mediocrity. They appeared in a collected form in 1771-1772 in seven volumes, the last containing Memoirs of his Life, by Dr John Gillies. His Letters (1734-1770) were comprised in vols. i., ii. and iii. of his Works and were also published separately. His Select Works, with a memoir by J. Smith, appeared in 1850. See Lives by Robert Philip (1837), L.Tyerman (2 vols., 1876-1877), J. P. Gledstone (1871, new ed. 1900), and W. H. Lecky's History of England, vol. ii.
WHITEFISH, a collective name applied in different countries to very different kinds of freshwater fishes. The numerous European species of the Cyprinoid genus Leuciscus are frequently comprised under the name of "Whitefish," but the term is employed here for the various species of the Salmonoid genus Coregonus. The Coregonus group are somewhat herring-shaped, silvery salmonids with small, toothless or feebly-toothed mouth, and rather large scales. They are distributed over Europe, Asia and North America, some species living in the sea, but most inhabiting clear lakes. The highly esteemed "lavaret" of Savoy, the "felchen," "kilch," "gangfisch," "palée," "gravenche," "fera " of Switzerland and southern Germany, the "sik" of Sweden, belong to this genus, which is represented in British and Irish waters by the houting (C. oxyrhynchus), occasionally found in the North Sea, the gwymad or pawan (C. clupeoides) of Loch Lomond, Haweswater, Ullswater and Bala, the vendace (C. vandesius) of Lochmaben, and its newly described ally (C. gracilior) from Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite lakes in Cumberland. About eight species are distinguished from the northern parts of North America. The Coregonus are mostly of small size, few of them attaining a length of 18 in. Secondary nuptial sexual characters are by no means so well marked as in Salmo, but pearl-like excrescences may appear on the scales during the breeding season, and are more prominent in males than in females.
WHITEHALL, a village of Washington county. New York, U.S.A., in a township of the same name on the Poultney river and the Champlain Canal, at the head of Lake Champlain, and 78 m. by rail N. by E. of Albany. Pop. (1890) 4434; (1900) 4377, of whom 547 were foreign-born; (1905) 4148; (1910) 4917. Whitehall is served by the Delaware & Hudson railway, and is the N. terminus of the new barge-canal system of New York state. It is situated in a narrow valley between two hills called West Mountain and Skene's Mountain, and Wood Creek flows through the village and empties into the lake with a fall, from which valuable water-power is derived; there are various manufactures, and the village owns and operates the water works. In 1759, to strengthen the British hold on Canada, a large tract of land at the S. end of Lake Champlain was granted to Colonel Philip Skene (1725-1810), who fought at Ticonderoga in 1758 and in 1759, and who established here in 1761 a settlement of about thirty families which he called Skenesborough and which was patented in 1765. Skene was a Loyalist, and in May 1775 Skenesborough was seized by a party of American volunteers. In Burgoyne's expedition (1777) Skene and his son, Andrew Philip Skene (1753-1826), served as guides, and Skenesborough was recovered by the British after most of it had been burned by the Americans. At the close of the war Skene's estate was confiscated and in 1786 the place was named Whitehall. In the War of 1812 Whitehall was fortified and was a base of supplies for American operations against Canada. It was incorporated as a village in 1806.
WHITEHAVEN, a municipal and parliamentary borough, seaport and market town of Cumberland, England, 41 m. S.W. of Carlisle. Pop. (1901) 19,324. It lies mainly in a valley opening upon the Irish Sea, with high ground to north and south, and is served by the London & North-Western, the Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith and the Furness railways. The harbour is protected by two main piers, of which the western is a fine structure by Sir John Rennie, and divided into four parts by others; it has a wet dock and extensive quayage. Regular passenger communications are maintained with the Isle of Man. The exports are principally coal, pig iron and ore, steel and stone. The port was made subordinate to that of Maryport in 1892. There are collieries near the town, the workings extending beneath the sea; there are also iron mines and works, engineering works, shipbuilding yards, breweries, tanneries, stone quarries, brick and earthenware works, and other industrial establishments in and near the town. The parliamentary borough returns one member. The municipal borough is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area 1810 acres.
Whitehaven (Witofthaven) was an insignificant possession of the priory of St Bee which became crown property at the dissolution of the religious houses. It was acquired before 1644 by relatives of the earl of Lonsdale, who secured the prosperity of the town by working the coal-mines. From 1708 the harbour was governed by twenty-one trustees, whose power was extended and municipalized by frequent legislation, until, in 1885, they were incorporated. In 1894 this government by incorporated trustees gave place to that of a municipal corporation created by charter in that year. The harbour was entrusted to fifteen commissioners. Since the Reform Act of 1832 Whitehaven has returned one representative to parliament. A weekly market and yearly fairs were granted to Sir John Lowther in 1660; two fairs were held in 1888; and the market days are now Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Whitehaven coal was sent chiefly to Ireland in the 18th century. In the first half of the 19th century other exports were lime, freestone, and grain; West Indian, American and Baltic produce, Irish flax and Welsh pig iron were imported, and shipbuilding was a growing industry. Paul Jones, the notorious buccaneer, served his apprenticeship at the port, which in 1778 he successfully raided, burning three vessels.
WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM (1715-1785), English poet-laureate, son of a baker, was born at Cambridge, and baptized on the 12th of February 1715. His father had extravagant tastes, and spent large sums in ornamenting a piece of land near Grantchester, afterwards known as "Whitehead's Folly." William was his second son, and through the patronage of Henry Bromley, afterwards Lord Montfort, was admitted to Winchester College. In 1735 he entered Clare Hall, Cambridge, as a sizar, and became a fellow in 1742. At Cambridge Whitehead published an epistle "On the Danger of writing Verse"[1] and some other poems, notably an heroic epistle, Ann Boleyn to Henry the Eighth (1743), and a didactic Essay on Ridicule (1743). In 1745 he became tutor to Viscount Villiers, son of the earl of Jersey, and took up his residence in London. He produced two tragedies: The Roman Father (Drury Lane, 24th of February 1750), and Creusa, Queen of Athens (Drury Lane, 20th of April 1754). The plots are based respectively on the Horace of Corneille, and the Ion of Euripides. In June 1754 he went abroad with Lord Villiers,
- ↑ Printed in A Collection of Poems by several Hands (vol. ii., 1748).
