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was made conductor of the opera at Magdeburg. Rienzi and The Flying Dutchman were composed at Paris, where Rienzi was unsuccessfully put on the stage, but at Dresden it made him a musical conductor. For his next opera, Tannhäuser, he went to the old German songs, but the work was only partially successful when brought out at Dresden. During the Revolution of 1849 in Saxony Wagner was prominent as a leader and had to flee to Zurich, where he lived ten years until allowed to return. Lohengrin, composed before he left Dresden, was produced at Weimar under the direction of Liszt in 1850, and in answer to Liszt's call for a new creation he began his collection of operas based on the Nibelungenlied. In order to bring out his festival stage play, as he called his Nibelungen collection of operas, he built a theater at Baireuth, Bavaria. Founded on the old German poem, it was a great success both in Bavaria and at London, where Wagner was present at its performance in 1877. His last and perhaps greatest work, Parsifal, founded on the story of the Holy Grail, was finished at Palermo in 1882. He died at Venice, Feb. 13, 1883, and was buried at his home at Baireuth. See Holy Grail and Niblungenlied. Consult Life by Nohl.
Wagram (vä'grȧm), a village in Austria, ten miles from Vienna, important as the site of the great battle between the Austrians and the French in 1809. Napoleon surprised the Austrians under Archduke Charles by crossing the Danube at night, and was at first driven back; but the next day the French, with a loss of 25,000, forced the retreat of the Austrians, who left 25,000 dead on the field. This battle was followed by the peace of Vienna, Oct. 14, 1809.
Wain'wright, Richard, American naval officer, was born at Washington, D. C., Dec. 17, 1849 (the son of Commander R. Wainwright, who died near New Orleans while commanding Farragut's flagship Hartford, Oct. 10, 1862). Young Wainwright entered the Naval Academy and graduated in 1868, when he was attached for a time to the brig Jamestown on the Pacific station. Later on he served on the Asiatic station, and after gaining a lieutenancy he did duty on the coast-survey vessel Arago. In September, 1894, he reached the rank of lieutenant-commander, and was executive officer on the battleship Maine when she was destroyed in Havana harbor (Feb. 15, 1898). After this he did good service at the battle of Santiago de Cuba as commander of the gunboat Gloucester, when Cervera's squadron was destroyed. He has since been in command of the ships of the United States navy at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
(Image: WILHELM RICHARD WAGNER)
Waite, Morrison Remich, an American statesman, was born at Lyme, Conn., Nov. 29, 1816. He graduated at Yale and began practicing law at Maumee City, O., afterwards settling in Toledo. His reputation as a lawyer led to his being sent to Geneva, in 1871—72, as one of the counsel for the United States in the Alabama case. He presided over the constitutional convention of Ohio in 1873, and in 1874 was appointed chief-justice of the United States. He died at Washington, D. C., March 23, 1888.
Wake, from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning to watch, is a religious festival, once universal in England. The early churches were dedicated to a particular saint, and the festival was kept on the birthday of that saint. The day at the time was reckoned from sunset to sunset, so that the first part of the festival was the night-watch; hence the name. These festivals degenerated into fairs, because of the peddlers etc., who were attracted by the crowd, and became scenes of riot. They were forbidden to be held in the country churchyards by Edward I, and Henry VI abolished all selling at wakes, except of food, while Henry VIII made the first Sunday in October the day of the feast. The wake is still observed in some country parishes in England. The Irish wake is the custom of watching all night around the dead.
Wake'field, Mass., a town in Middlesex County, about nine miles from Boston. It is in a farming section, but like many Massachusetts towns it is also engaged in manufacturing. Its factories make pianos, shoes and flour, and it has brass and iron foundries, rattan works and machine shops. The town contains three villages, each of which has graded schools. There are one high school and a public library containing 15,000 volumes. Wakefield is on the Boston and Maine Railroad. Population 11,404.
Wake-Rob'in, the common name of species of trillium and also for the plant known as Jack-in-the-pulpit. There are several varieties of the trillium, which is a species of lily. They grow in damp woods from Canada to Georgia, and are among our best-known wild flowers. There is usually a long stalk with a cluster of three leaves with a single white or purple flower. The curious Jack-in-the-pulpit, which is called wake-robin in the south, has a large greenish or purplish spathe or leaf-like envelop, turning over like a hood, which incloses a
