WAG

WAK

the order of St. Francis, resided at Rome, where he died in 1655. He wrote "Annals of his Order," in 8 vols. fol. afterwards continued by other authors, till the edition of Rome in 1731 et seq. amounted to 17 vols. fol. Another of his works was a " Bibliotheca of Writers of the Franciscan Order,” 1650, fol. which has been in considerable esteem, and was continued by Father Harold. Wading was a man of industry and probity, but his zeal for his order has caused him to adopt several fables worthy of the dark ages, and his piety was greater than his critical sagacity. Moreri. Nouv. Dict.

Hist.-A.

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WAGENSEIL, JOHN-CHRISTOPHER, learned philologist, was born at Nuremburg in 1633, in which city his father was a tradesman. After studying at various universities, he resided during five years at that of Altdorf, and then engaged as a preceptor in the family of a nobleman, with whose son he made a tour through great part of Europe. At Turin he discovered in the cabinet of the Duke of Savoy the famous Isiac table, which had been lost from the time of the pillage of the Duke of Mantua's cabinet. By his publications, and his correspondences with the learned, he obtained a high reputation, and was one of those foreign men of letters who tasted the bounty of Lewis XIV. In 1665 he was admitted to the degree of doctor of laws in Orleans; and returning to

VOL. X.

law and history in the University of Altdorf. He had afterwards the chair of oriental languages, and the office of public librarian; and he died at Altdorf in 1705 at the age of 72. Of his writings, some of the most distinguished are, a "Dissertation on a supposed Fragment of Petronius;" "Fasciculus Opusculorum variorum Historicorum et Philologicorum ;"" Tela ignea Satanæ," 2 vols. 4to. being a collection of Jewish works against the Christian religion, with their refutation; " Dissertatio de Monetali veterum Romanorum;" "Commentatio de Civitate Norimburgensi ;" ;""Dissertatio de Academiis." He was a member of the academies of Turin and Padua.

HELEN-SIBILLA, his daughter, married to Dan Mollerus, was celebrated for her erudition, and particularly for her skill in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages. Moreri. Saxi

Onom. A.

WAKE, WILLIAM, an eminent English prelate, born at Blandford, Dorsetahne, in 1657, was the son of a gentleman of fortune in that place. In 1672 he was entered of Christchurch college, Oxford; where having taken his degrees in arts, he made choice of the ecclesiastical profession, and entered into holy orders, to the disappointment of his father, who had purchased a share for him in the clothing trade. His fellow collegian, Lord Viscount Preston, having been nominated by Charles II. envoy

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extraordinary to the court of France in 1682, Wake accompanied him, as his chaplain, and resided a considerable time in that kingdom. He returned to England soon after the accession of James II. and having distinguished himself by his pulpit-compositions, was chosen preacher to the society of Gray's-inn. Whilst at Paris, he had obtained a copy of Bossuet's original edition of his famous "Exposition of the Doctrine of the Catholic church," in which that subtle controversialist had sunk or softened many articles, in order to conciliate the Protestants; but which was suppressed on a remonstrance of the doctors of the Sorbonne, and an edition with considerable alterations was subsituted. This circumstance was made known, and the sophistical arts of the writer were exposed, in a work published by Wake in 1686, entitled "An Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England." In this tract he closely followed the method of Bossuet's book, opposing to the professed doctrines of the Roman-catholic church, those of the English church; and he published two defences of his work against replies to it by Bossuet and a writer who appeared as his vindicator. He composed other pieces in the popish controversy, which was carried on with so much vigour during that reign; and at its close he published "A State of the Controversy," in an account of the books that were written on both sides during its course. At the approach of the Revolution, he quitted his patron, Lord Preston, who was much attached to King James, and after marrying in 1688, he took the degree of D.D. at Oxford, and was collated to a canonry in Christ-church. In 1689 he was appointed deputy-clerk of the closet to King William and Queen Mary. He published in 1693 "An English Version of the genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers, with a Preliminary. Discourse concerning the right Use of .those Ethers. In this performance he stated their authority in matters of doctrine at a high tate saying, among other things, that "they were endued with a large portion of the Holy Spirit, aulas such could hardly err in what they delivered as the gospel of Christ." A new edition of this work with many corrections and improvements was printed in 1710. A passage from it having been quoted against Dr. Middleton as an instance of plain reference to miraculous powers in that age, contained in St. Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians, that author found himself obliged, in the defence of his "Free Enquiry," to shew how extremely arbitrary and forced the paraphrase was, which

Dr. Wake had thought proper to annex as an explanation of the text.

In 1694 he was presented to the rectory of St. James's; and in 1697 he was the first champion who appeared in favour of the regal authority in ecclesiastical matters, in the warm controversy which was started on that subject. The work which he published on this occasion was "A Defence of the Power of Christian Princes over their Ecclesiastical Synods, with particular respect to the Convocations of the Clergy and Church of England." It was followed by a " Vindication of the King's Supremacy against both popish and fanatical Opposers of it;" and by " The State of the Church and Clergy of England," 1703, fol. By these writings he naturally recommended himself to the crown; and in 1701 he was promoted to the deanery of Exeter, whence, in 1705, he was advanced to the bishopric of Lincoln. Whig principles were now predominant, and the new bishop distinguished himself by a long and learned speech in favour of a comprehension with the Dissenters, and zealously concurred in the censure and punishment of Dr Sacheverel. He retained his moderation during the remainder of Queen Anne's reign; and when the opposite party came into power, and urged the Schism-bill, he was one of the opposers of that intolerant measure. This conduct would undoubtedly have prevented any farther promotion in that reign; but soon after the accession of George I. on the decease of Archbishop Tenison, Dr Wake was raised to the see of Canterbury in January 1715-6. Being now placed at the head of the church, and the circumstances of the time being also changed, different views of things seem to have opened on his mind. In 1718 he both wrote and spoke against the repeal of the Schism and Conformitybill; and in the following year he opposed the design of Dr. Hoadly and others to repeal the Corporation and Test-acts. As a reason for his conduct on these occasions he said, “The acts against occasional conformity and schism were proper means of self-defence and preservation, and the Dissenters were never to be gained by indulgence." He expressed much displeasure at Hoadly's famous sermon "Christ's Kingdom not of this World ;" and he joined the Earl of Nottingham in bringing in a bill for imposing a new test against the Arian opinions. For these proceedings he underwent some severe charges of inconsistency and tergiversation. The apology made for him is that he was influenced by a sincere regard for the good of the church over which he presided, and that he had

neither done nor designed to do any harm to the Dissenters as a religious sect.

One of the most remarkable circumstances in this primate's life was the part he acted in endeavouring to promote an union between the English and the Gallican churches. For this, too, he has incurred censure. Dr. Mosheim in his Ecclesiastical History has affirmed that "Dr. Wake formed a project of peace and union between the English and Gallican churches, founded upon this condition, that each of the communities should retain the greatest part of their respective and peculiar doctrines;" upon which assertion, the author of the "Confessional" has built the accusation that this "pretended champion of the Protestant religion had set on foot a project for union with a popish church, and that, with concessions in favour of the grossest superstition and idolatry." But the relation of the whole transaction in the Biographia Britan. and more particularly in Dr. Maclaine's Appendix, iii. to his translation of Mosheim's work, confirmed by original letters, seems entirely to acquit Dr. Wake of this severe charge. It thence appears, that the Archbishop, corresponding on literary matters with Mr. Beauvoir, chaplain to the English ambassador at Paris, the latter took occasion to mention, that having dined with the eminent ecclesiastical writer Dupin, and three other doctors of the Sorbonne, in 1717, they intimated an intended appeal of the kingdom of France to a general council in relation to the much disputed affair of the bull Unigenitus, and expressed a wish for an union with the church of England, as the most effectual means of uniting all the western churches. The Archbishop in his answer spoke very handsomely of Dupin, which gave the latter an occasion to write a letter of acknowledgment, at the close of which he hinted his desire of an union between their two churches, observing that the difference between them, in most points, was not so great as to render a reconciliation impracticable. Dr. Wake thereupon wrote a reply, dated February 1717-18, in which, after asserting the purity of the English church, he exhorted the French to maintain the rights and privileges of the Gallican church, and expressed his readiness in concurring to the formation of the wished for union. In the following month, Dr. Piers de Girardin pronounced a remarkable discourse at an extraordinary meeting of the Sorbonne, in which he recommended to the members of that society to proceed in their revision of the doctrines and rules of their church,

by which they would shew the church of England that they did not hold every decision of the Pope for an article of faith. After the delivery of this discourse, Dupin shewed Archbishop Wake's letter to Girardin, and it was also communicated to Cardinal de Noailles; and a closer correspondence ensued between the divines on both sides in pursuance of the plan of union, in which, however, the Archbishop made no concession which supposed an approximation to the doctrines or high pretensions of the church of Rome. At length he received from Dupin a "Commonitorium," or advice concerning the method of uniting the two churches, which had been read in the Sorbonne, and contained an examination of the 39 Articles of the church of England, with an approval of, or objections to, each. The Archbishop gave an indulgent reception to this advance, though he thought the piece insufficient to serve as a basis for the desired union, and he observed in his answer, that unless the Roman-catholics gave up some of their doctrines and rites, no union could be effected. He appears to have been desirous of keeping the matter in a state of suspense, in expectation of a separation of the Gallican church from the papal jurisdiction, in consequence of the violence with which Clement XI. proceeded against the opposers of the bull. It is to be observed that the correspondence was carried on with great secrecy, which on Dr. Wake's side was partly owing to his having nobody whom he could trust with it. "Most of the high-church bishops and clergy (he says in a letter to Mr. Beauvoir) he was satisfied would readily come into such a design, but they were not men to be confided in or made use of by him." The secret, however, was divulged, and became the topic of conversation at Paris. Lord Stanhope and Lord Stair were congratulated upon the prospect of an union, and the Regent and Dubois seemed at first favourable to the plan. But the Jesuits and Constitutionalists sounded such an alarm, that the French government, which had only some political ends in view, was obliged to discountenance it. Girardin was sent for, severely reprimanded, and compelled to give up all the Archbishop's letters, which were sent to Rome. It is said they were greatly admired for their catholic spirit and the ability with which they were composed, but the correspondence was probably represented in a light favourable to the church of Rome. Dupin soon after died; and all prospect of effecting the union having vanished, the correspondence at length ceased.