of Munster, eldest son of William IV. The earl of Egremont

died in 1838 in his eighty-sixth year, having held the peerage for the long period of seventy-four years. His splendid estates in Sussex and Cumberland—the old Percy property—yielding a rental of £65,000 a year, together with his large investments in the funds, were bequeathed to his own children, the eldest of whom was created Lord Leconfield in 1859; but the earldom of Egremont, and the entailed Wyndham estates in Somersetshire, Devon, and Cornwall, amounting to £16,000 a year, were inherited by his nephew George, fourth earl of Egremont, a naval officer who had entered the British navy in 1799, and had attained the rank of captain. On his death without issue in 1845, the title of Egremont became extinct.—J. T. WYNTOUN, Andrew, the author of the "Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland," was prior of St. Serfs monastery, situated on an island in Lochleven. The precise date of his birth is unknown, but he held the office of prior in 1395. His chronicle, which was undertaken at the request of Sir John Wemys, an ancestor of the present noble family of that name, commences with a general history of the world, and five of the nine books of which it consists are occupied with the nature of angels, the creation of the world, the death of Abel, the primeval race of giants, the deluge, the confusion of tongues, and other heterogeneous topics; and it is not till the commencement of the sixth book that he comes to speak of the "wars between the Scots and the Picts." The latter part of the "Cronykil" is valuable for its historical accuracy, as well as a picture of ancient manners. Wyntoun was decidedly inferior in poetical genius to his predecessor Barbour, but his versification is easy, his language pure, and his style often animated. His descriptions, however, are not unfrequently unnecessarily minute and diffuse, and he indulges in frequent digressions. His work abounds in fresh and curious pictures of the manners and superstitions of the age, and throws much light on the progress of the country in agriculture, manufactures, and commerce. The chronicle must have been completed between the 3rd of September, 1420, and the return of James I. from England in 1424, and it is probable that the author did not long survive the completion of his work.—J. T. WYON, William, chief engraver to the mint, was born at Birmingham in 1795. His father and uncle were in business as die-sinkers and medallists, and William was apprenticed to them. When out of his time he came to London and obtained the appointment of second engraver to the mint, his cousin Thomas being chief engraver. The latter died early, and William Wyon expected to succeed him, but to his great disappointment Pistrucci was made chief engraver. Between Pistrucci and Wyon there was much ill-feeling, and their friends defended their respective merits in pamphlets as well as in the periodicals; but the controversy is not worth reopening. It was eventually settled by the office being divided, Pistrucci having the title of medallist, and Wyon engraver. Pistrucci continued to engrave the coins till 1822 when (as mentioned under Pistrucci, Benedetto) he offended the king, George IV., by refusing to engrave his head from Chantrey's bust, which gave a more youthful air to the royal countenance. Wyon had no such objection; indeed, it is a distinctive characteristic of all Wyon's coins that the face is "idealized," whilst, in utter defiance of chronology, year after year there is no appearance of increased age. However neatly engraved, therefore, his coins and medals are, historically, worthless, or worse, misleading. In that, as in most other respects, they afford a disheartening contrast to those of Simon, the great engraver of the Commonwealth and the Restoration. William Wyon engraved all (except the earliest) coins of George IV.; those of William IV., and of the early years of Victoria; pattern pieces, military medals, and some seals. Besides his mint works he engraved a vast number of medals for the principal scientific and literary societies, the Royal Academy, colleges, and other educational institutions. Their execution is always neat, and their general style not ungraceful; but they do not certainly rank in the first class. Wyon was elected A.R.A. in 1831; R.A. in 1838. He died at Brighton, October 29, 1851. His son Leonard, also a medallist of merit, has succeeded to his position, and follows his manner.—J. T—e. WYTHE, George, an American statesman, born in Virginia in 1726. His early years appear to have been spent in dissipation; but after reaching the age of thirty he devoted himself to study, and acquired a competent knowledge of classics, mathematics, and English law. He was elected a deputy to the assembly of Virginia, and in 1775 was sent to congress, where he distinguished himself among the stoutest upholders of the national cause, and was one of those who signed the declaration of independence. He became one of the three judges of the court of chancery and chancellor of the state of Virginia, an office which he held until his death. In 1788 he took part in the Virginia convention for the organization of the United States. As one of the federalist party, he opposed the re-election of Adams as president, and assisted in the elevation of his friend Jefferson to the presidential chair. He died in 1806.—F. M. W. WYTTENBACH, Daniel, an eminent Dutch hellenist, was born of a Dutch family at Berne, 7th August, 1746. He was carefully educated by his father, who at the time of his birth held a pastorate at Berne, but was some years later called to a chair at Marburg. Here young Wyttenbach laid the foundations of his erudition, and then pursued his studies at Göttingen and Leyden, in which latter university he heard Valckenaer and Ruhnken. In 1771 he obtained the professorship of Greek in the Athenæum at Amsterdam, and in 1799 was called to the chair of eloquence at Leyden. Declining health, particularly the loss of an eye, obliged him to retire in 1816, and he died at his country-seat at Œsgeest, 17th January, 1820. A few years before his death he had married his niece, Johanna Gallien, with the intention to provide for her; she was a lady of so high attainments, that in 1827 the university of Marburg conferred the degree of Ph.D. upon her. Wyttenbach's chief works are his "Epistola Critica;" his editions of Plutarch De sera Numinis vindicta and of the Moralia; his "Præcepta Philosophiæ Logicæ," his "Index Græcitatis," and his "Vita Ruhnkenii." —(See Mahne, Vita Wyttenbachii, Ghent, 1823.)—K. E.