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In 1828 he became an associate member of the National academy, and the following year he was elected an academician. He succeeded Charles R. Leslie in 1832 as pro- fessor of drawing at the U. S. military academy at West Point, which post he held for forty-two years. Subsequently he resided in New York city. His por- trait was painted by Daniel Huntington, and is in the library of the- U. S. mili- tary academy. Prof. Weir was perhaps best known by his historical paintings, and was one of the first American art- ists to practise this

branch of art. His

numerous works, in many of which he was espe- cially effective in the rendering of the accessories and "still-life, include " The Belle of the Carnival " (1836) ; " The Bourbons' Last March " ; " Landing of Henry Hudson" (1842); "Indian Captive"; '• Taking the Veil " ; " Church of the Holy Inno- cents at Highland Falls, West Point," in the Cor- coran gallery, Washington (1847) ; " Embarkation of the Pilgrims " (1845), in the rotunda of the eapi- tol at Washington ; " The Evening of the Cruci- fixion" (1867); "Virgil and Dante crossing the Styx" (1869); "Christ in the Garden" (1873); " The Portico of the Palace of Octavia, Rome " (1874); "Our Lord on the Mount of Olives " (1877) : "Indian Falls" (1878); "Titian in his Studio"; " Last Communion of Henry Clay," in water-color ; and "Columbus before the Council of Salaman- ca" (1884). He also executed a number of por- traits, including one of Red Jacket. — His son, John Ferguson, artist, b. in West Point, N. Y., 28 Aug., 1841, began to paint under his father. He opened a studio in New York in 1861, was elected an associate of the National academy in 1864, and an academician in 1866. In 1869 and again in 1880 he went abroad, and, after returning from his first trip in 1869, he became director of the School of fine arts at Yale. He was appointed i'ndge of the fine arts at the Centennial exhibition, 'hiladelphia, in 1876, and wrote the official report on his department. His two best-known pictures are " The Gun-Foundry," exhibited at the National academy in 1867, in Paris the same year, and in Philadelphia in 1876, and " Forging the Shaft " (1868). The latter was burned, but a replica was exhibited in Paris in 1878. Among his other works are " Sunset at West Point " (1859) ; " The Christmas Bell " (1860) ; " The Culprit Fay " (1861) ; " Tapping the Furnace " (1872) ; " The Confession- al," shown at Philadelphia in 1876 ; " Venice " (1887) ; and various portraits, including those of the faculty of the Yale theological school (1882), and S. Wells Williams (1883). Of late years he has given some attention to sculpture, and has pro- duced a statue of the elder Benjamin Silliman, which stands on the Yale college grounds (1884). — Another son, Julian Alden, artist, b. at West Point, N. Y., 30 Aug., 1852, studied under his father and Jean L. Gerome. He is noted for his excellent portraits, and has also painted genre pieces with success. In Paris he received honor- able mention at the salon of 1881, and in 1888 he was awarded the prize, at the exhibition of the American art association, for his " Idle Hours." His studio is in New York, where he was one of the founders of the Society of American artists, and was elected an associate of the National acade- my in 1885 and an academician the following year. Among his works are " A Brittany Interior " (1875) ; " Brittany Peasant-Girl " and " Study of an Old Peasant * (1877) ; " Breton Interior " (1878) ; " The Muse of Music " (1880) ; " Jeune Fille" and "The Good Samaritan " (1881) ; and portraits of Robert W. Weir (1880); Warren Delano and Olin L. Warner (1881) ; Richard Grant White (1883) ; Peter Cooper (1884); and John Gilbert (1888). Two of Prof. Robert W. Weir's sons, Gulian Verplanck and William Bayard, were in the regular army and served through the civil war, while Henry C. served in the volunteer army and attained the brevet rank of colonel. Another son, Robert, was in the navy.

WEISS, or WEITZIUS, George Michael (wys), clergyman, b. in the Palatinate of the Rhine, Germany, in 1697; d. near Philadelphia, Pa., in 1762. He was ordained to the ministry at Heidelberg in 1725, and two years afterward emigrated to this country with 400 settlers. He went with them to Pennsylvania, organized a Reformed Dutch church at Skippack, returned to Holland, and collected funds for its support. He became pastor of German congregations in Schoharie and Dutchess counties, N. Y., in 1731, and labored there fourteen years, but was compelled to fly to Pennsylvania to escape the attacks of the Indians. From about 1746 until his death he preached in Old Gosenhoppen and Great Swamp, Pa. He published “An Account and Instruction relating to the Colony and Church of Pennsylvania, made up by the Deputies of the Synod of South Holland” (Amsterdam, 1730); a pamphlet concerning his arrangements with the classis of Amsterdam to care for the Germans in Pennsylvania (1731); and an “Account of the Indians” (1743).

WEISS, John, author, b. in Boston, Mass., 28 June, 1818; d. there, 9 March, 1879. His father, a German Jew, was a barber in Worcester, Mass. John was graduated at Harvard in 1837, and at the divinity-school in 1843, meanwhile studying abroad. He then was settled over the Unitarian church in Watertown, Mass., but withdrew on account of his anti-slavery opinions, and was pastor at New Bedford a short time, resigning on account of the failure of his health. After several years of study and travel he resumed his pastorate in Watertown, and preached there in 1859-'70. Mr. Weiss was an ardent Abolitionist, an advocate of women's rights, a rationalist in religion, and a disciple of the transcendental philosophy. He delivered courses of lectures on “Greek Religious Ideas,” “Humor in Shakespeare,” and “Shakespeare's Women.” Of his lectures on Greek religious ideas, Octavius B. Frothingham says: “They were the keenest interpretation of the ancient myths, the most profound, luminous, and sympathetic, I have met with.” He is the author of many reviews, sermons, and magazine articles on literary, biographical, social, and political questions, “Life and Correspondence of Theodore Parker” (2 vols., New York, 1864), and “American Religion” (1871). He also edited and translated “Henry of Afterdingen,” a romance by Friedrich Van Hardenberg (Boston, 1842); “Philosophical and Æsthetic Letters and Essays of Schiller,” with an introduction (1845); and “Memoir of Johann G. Fichte,” by William Smith (1846).

WEISS, Lewis, jurist, b. in Berlin, Prussia. 28 Dec, 1717; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 22 Oct., 1796. He was educated at Lindheim. near Frankfort-on-