she has written for the instruction of youth. She is said to be the original promoter of banks for the savings of the poor, which are now so general. Some of her works are, "Juvenile Improvement," "Leisure Hours," "An Introduction to Botany," "Mental Improvement," "Reflections on the Present Condition of the Female Sex, with Hints for its Improvement," "A Familiar Tour through the British Empire," "Excursions in North America," "Sketches of Human Manners," "Variety," "Perambulations in London," "Instinct Displayed," "The Traveller in Africa," "Introduction to the Knowledge of Jnsects," and "The Traveller in Asia." Mrs. Wakefield was one of those useful writers, whose talents, devoted to the cause of education, have been a moral blessing to the youth of England. Her first work was published in 1795, her last in 1817; thus, for more than twenty years, she kept her post in the cause of improvement.
WALTERS, HENRIETTA,
An artist, was born at Amsterdam, in 1692. She was first instructed by her father, Theodore Van Pee, but afterwards by the "best artists in the city. After copying some of the works of Christopher Le Blond, she became desirous of having him for an instructor, which favour, with great difficulty, she obtained; his compliance being almost entirely owing to the extraordinary talents he discovered in her. In the manner of Le Blond, she painted portraits in small; and copied a portrait and a St. Sebastian, after Vandyck, which exceedingly advanced her reputation, as her copies resembled the originals to an astonishing degree.
She gradually rose to such a reputation, that Peter the Great of Russia offered her a large pension, to engage her in his service at St. Petersburg; but no inducements were sufficient to make her leave her own country, where she was so highly esteemed. The czar sat to her for his picture, but he had not patience to have it finished, as she usually required twenty sittings, of two hours each, for every portrait. She was afterwards honoured with a visit from the King of Prussia, who solicited her to reside at his court; but his generous proposal was also rejected. She died at Amsterdam, in 1741, aged forty-nine years.
WARE, KATHARINE AUGUSTA,
Daughter of Dr. Rhodes, of Quincy, Massachusetts, was born in 1797. In 1819, she married Charles A. Ware, of the navy. She is principally known as a poetical contributor to periodicals. She also edited, for a year or two, a magazine called "The Bower of Taste," published at Boston. She came to Europe, in 1839, and died at Paris, in 1843. A collection of her poems was published in London, not long before her death.
WARREN, MERCY,
One of the first American female poets, and a historian who still holds a high place among the writers of her day, was born in Barnstable, in the old colony of Plymouth, in 1728. She was the daughter of Colonel James Otis, and received her instruction principally from the Rev. Jonathan Russel, the clergyman of the village, as schools were then almost unknown. About 1754, Miss Otis married James Warren, a merchant of Plymouth, who encouraged
