WESTMACOTT Slavery is abolished in all the islands except those of Spain. Spanish, French, and English are the languages spoken, though in Hayti the colored races use & patois combining the Af- rican tongues with French and Spanish. In the Spanish, French, and Venezuelan islands, and Hayti, the Koman Catholic religion pre- vails ; and in the British islands Anglican Protestantism is established. WESTMACOTT. I. Sir Richard, an English sculptor, born in London in 1775, died there, Sept. 1, 1856. He studied at first under his father and afterward under Canova, remain- ing in Italy from 1793 to 1797. Among his works are statues of Pitt, Fox, and Addison; the duke of York on the column in Waterloo place ; the colossal equestrian bronze statue of George III. at Windsor ; and the monuments of Collingwood, Abercromby, Pakenham, and Erskine. He also excelled in the representa- tion of children. His "Psyche" and "Cu- E id," "Nymph and Cupid," and the large ri- evo of the "Dream of Horace" evince both skill and a feeling for the antique. In 1827 he succeeded Flaxman as professor of sculp- ture at the royal academy, and in 1837 was knighted. II. Richard, son of the preceding, born in London in 1799, died April 19, 1872. He studied under his father and in Italy from 1820 to 1826. He treated subjects taken from classic mythology in his father's style, but ex- celled in devotional and monumental works. Among the latter are the recumbent figure of the archbishop of Canterbury, the "Angel Watching" on the Ashburton monument, "David as the Slayer of Goliath," and the group of figures on the pediment of the royal exchange. He succeeded his father as pro- fessor of sculpture in 1857. WESTMANLAND, a S. E. Ian of Sweden, in Svealand, bounded E. by the Ian of Stockholm ; area, 2,549 sq. m. ; pop. in 1874, 119,485. It is mountainous, and contains many mines. Iron and copper are the principal products; silver is mined at Sala. There is little tillable land. Capital, Westeras. WESTMEATH, a central county of Ireland, in the province of Leinster, bordering on Cavan, Meath, King's, Roscommon, and Longford; area, 678 sq. m.; pop. in 1871, 78,416. The surface is hilly in the north. The principal rivers are the Shannon and the Boyne. The soil is barren in. the west. Cattle raising is the chief occupation. Capital, Mullingar. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. See LONDON, vol. x., p. 600. WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY OF DIVINES, a con- vocation of clergymen and laymen, who as- sembled at Westminster, England, by direction o parliament, July 1, 1643, and remained in session till Feb. 22, 1649. The attempt of Charles I. to force upon the Scottish church the liturgy of the church of England, and the dissatisfaction both in England and Scotland with the oppression which had been exercised against the dissenting bodies, led the parliamen- WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY 567 tary commissioners to propose to the king, in the negotiations at Oxford (Jan. 30 to April 17, 1643), that he should give his assent to "a bill for calling an assembly of learned and godly divines and* others, to be consulted with by .the parliament for the settling of the gov- ernment and the liturgy of the church of Eng- land, and for the vindication of the doctrine of the said church from false aspersions and interpretations." This proposition was not sanctioned by the king, but was afterward con- verted into "an ordinance of the lords and commons in parliament," and passed June 12, 1643. By this act 121 clergymen, 10 lords, and 20 lay commoners were summoned by name, to meet and constitute the assembly. To these were subsequently added, to fill vacancies, about 20 more. Of those thus appointed about 20 were clergymen of the church of England, and several of them afterward bishops. The king on June 22 by a proclamation forbade the meeting of the assembly, and few of the church of England members took their seats. On the opening of the assembly 69 of the clerical members were in attendance, and at different times 96 of them were present, though the usual attendance ranged between 60 and 80. The great body of the members, both clerical and lay, were Presbyterians; 10 or 12 were Inde- pendents, or as they called themselves Congre- gationalists ; and five or six styled themselves Erastians. All, or nearly all, were Calvinists. On Sept. 15 four Scottish ministers and two lay assessors were, by a wammt from the parliament, admitted to seats in the assembly (but without votes), as commissioners from the church of Scotland, which on Aug. 17 had passed the " Solemn League and Covenant," binding on their part the ecclesiastical bodies of the two nations in a union, which was substantially Presbyterianism. The "Solemn League and Covenant" was subsequently ac- cepted by the Westminster assembly, and the English parliament ordered it to' be printed Sept. 21, and subscribed on Sept. 25, when the house of commons, with the Scottish commis- sioners and the assembly of divines, met in the church of St. Margaret's, Westminster. The house of lords did not take the covenant till Oct. 15. It was expressly provided in the "ordinance" that the assembly should not assume or exercise any jurisdiction, power, or authority ecclesiastical whatsoever, or any other power, except merely the right "to con- fer and treat among themselves of such mat- ters and things, touching and concerning the lit- urgy, discipline, and government of the church of England, or the vindicating and clearing of the doctrine of the same," &c. The power of the Independent party in the parliament was constantly growing during their session, and its influence was sufficient to prevent much ac- tion which would otherwise have been taken, in the way of advice and recommendation, by the assembly. The important part of the as- sembly's work was all performed in the first
