Snake. Being an answer to the Third and Last Edition of the Snake in the Grass’ (by Charles Leslie [q. v.]), London, 1699, 8vo. To this a supplement was added by George Whitehead [q. v.], to whose ‘Antidote against the Venom of the Snake in the Grass’ Wyeth had also written what he calls ‘An Appendix’ or sequel (though published separately) entitled ‘Primitive Christianity continued in the Faith and Practice of the People called Quakers,’ London, 1698, 8vo. Of all the attacks upon early quakerism, Leslie's ‘Snake in the Grass’ was the most reasoned, and it provoked the greatest number of replies. The ‘Switch’ was answered by Richard Mather [q. v.], ‘Primitive Christianity’ by Francis Bugg [q. v.], neither of them being an opponent of much weight. Wyeth also contributed ‘An Answer to a Letter from Dr. Bray,’ London, 1700, 4to, and ‘Remarks on Dr. Bray's Memorial,’ London, 1701, to the opposition organised by the quakers against the establishment of a state church in Maryland, which Thomas Bray [q. v.], commissary-general, succeeded in carrying through the English parliament in 1701.
He was for twenty years a friend of Thomas Ellwood [q. v.], whose ‘Life’ he prepared for the press, adding a supplement, preface, and bibliography to the first edition, 1714, 8vo. For the preparation of this he passed in review many letters and documents which had formerly belonged to Milton; the most important of them were afterwards published by John Nickolls [q. v.], who had at one time been apprenticed to Wyeth.
He also published ‘The Athenian Society unvail'd, or their Ignorance and Envious Abusing of the Quakers detected and reprehended,’ London, 1692, fol., and ‘A Vindication of W. P. [William Penn] from the Erronious and False Testimony of Thomas Budd. Being an Answer to a sheet of his entitled “A Testimony for Truth against Error,”’ London, 1697, 8vo.
Wyeth died of fever on 9 Jan. 1730–1, and was buried at the Park, Worcester Street, Southwark, on the 15th. His wife Margaret died at Tottenham, aged 76, on 13 Sept. 1749, and was buried with her husband.
[Smith's Catalogue, ii. 965; Wyeth's Works; Whiting's Catalogue, 1708, p. 215; Nickolls's Original State Papers, preface, p. iv; Ellwood's Life; Registers at Devonshire House; Whitehead's Christian Progress, p. 680.]
WYKE, Sir CHARLES LENNOX (1815–1897), diplomatist, born on 2 Sept. 1815, was the son of George Wyke, of Robbleston, Pembrokeshire, captain in the grenadier guards, by his wife Charlotte, daughter of F. Meyrick. He was a lieutenant in the royal fusiliers, and afterwards a captain on the king of Hanover's staff. In 1847 he was appointed vice-consul at Port-au-Prince, and in 1852 consul-general in Central America. On 31 Oct. 1854 he was appointed chargé d'affaires, and on 8 Aug. 1859 he was nominated envoy extraordinary. In the same year he was gazetted C.B., and on 23 Jan. 1860 was removed to Mexico as minister plenipotentiary to the republic, and created K.C.B. on 22 May. On 30 June 1861 Juarez was elected president of the Mexican republic with dictatorial powers, and on 17 July the congress suspended payment of public bonds for two years. In consequence France and England broke off diplomatic relations with the republic on 27 July, and Wyke left the city of Mexico in December with all his staff, but remained in Mexico to carry on the negotiations connected with the joint intervention of England, France, and Spain. When the design of France, however, to subvert the Mexican government became apparent, England and Spain withdrew from the alliance, and Wyke returned home. On 19 Jan. 1866 he was accredited to Hanover, but in September his mission was cut short by the Austro-Prussian war and the annexation of Hanover by Prussia. In the following year he was appointed (on 16 Dec.) minister at Copenhagen, where he remained for fourteen years. In August 1879 he was created G.C.M.G., and on 22 June 1881 he was transferred to Portugal, where he remained till the close of his diplomatic career. He retired on a pension on 21 Feb. 1884, and was nominated a privy councillor on 6 Feb. 1886. Wyke died unmarried on 4 Oct. 1897 at his residence, 23 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea.
[Times, 5 Oct. 1897; Burke's Peerage; Foster's Peerage; Haydn's Book of Dignities.]
WYKEHAM, WILLIAM of (1324–1404), bishop of Winchester and chancellor of England, took his name from Wickham, near Fareham, Hampshire, where he was born in the summer of 1324. His mother, Sibill Bowade, had some gentle blood, but his father, John Long, is merely described as of free condition (Lowth, App. p. i; Moberly, p. 323). They were poor, and Wykeham was sent to school at Winchester by some unnamed patrons, perhaps Sir Ralph Sutton and Sir John Scures (lord of the manor of Wickham), for whose souls he long after ordered masses to be said in his colleges. On leaving school he became secretary to the constable of Winchester
