tor of the Presbyterian church at Oxford, Miss., in 1859, was a chaplain in the army of the Confed- eracy for the whole duration of the civil war, then was settled at Memphis, Tenn., till 1870, when he was chosen chaplain of the University of Virginia for the usual period of two years. After his in- cumbency in that post he took charge of a church at Petersburg, Va., which he left in 1882 to be- come pastor of one in Louisville, Ky., and at the same time chairman of the evangelistic agency of the synod. He has been invited to various pro- fessorships and to the presidency of colleges, but would not leave the pastorate. The University of Mississippi gave him the degree of D. D. in 1868, and that of LL. D. in 1884. Dr. Witherspoon is the author of " Children of the Covenant ' (Rich- mond, 1867), and " Letters on Romanism " (1877).
WITHINGTON, Leonard, clergyman, b. in
Dorchester (now a part of Boston), Mass., 9 Aug.,
1789 ; d. in Newbury, Mass., 22 April, 1885. He
was graduated at Yale in 1814, studied theology
at Andover seminary, was ordained as a Congrega-
tional minister on 31 Oct., 1816, and acted as pas-
tor of the 1st church at Newbury till 1858, when
he retired from the active duties of the ministry,
though he continued to be connected with the
church as senior pastor till his death. He received
the degree of D. D. from Bowdoin in 1850. He
fmblished, besides numerous sermons, reviews, and
ectures, " The Puritan, a Series of Essays," under
the pen-name of " Jonathan Oldbug " (2 vols., Bos-
ton, 1836), afterward suppressing the edition ;
" Penitential Tears, or a Cry from the Dust by the
Thirty-One" (1845), referring to the protest of Bos-
ton school-masters against the abolition of corporal
punishment ; and " Solomon's Song Translated
and Explained," which was the fruit of nearly
twoscore vears of study (1861).
WITHROW, William Henry, Canadian au-
thor, b. in Toronto, 6 Aug., 1839. He was edu-
cated at Toronto academy, Victoria college, and
Toronto university, and was graduated in 1864.
He entered the ministry of the Methodist church
in 1864, and was subsequently pastor consecutively
at Waterford, Montreal, Hamilton, and Niagara.
In 1874 he was elected editor of the " Canadian
Methodist Magazine " at Toronto, which he has
since held, and he is also editor of the Sunday-
school periodicals of his denomination. He was
f>rofessor of ethics and metaphysics in Wesleyan
adies' college at Hamilton in 1873-'4 ; was a mem-
ber of the senate of Toronto university in 1866,
and of Wesleyan theological college since 1886;
was elected a fellow of the Royal society of Canada
in 1884, and in 1882 received the degree of D. D.
from Victoria university, Cobourg. He has trav-
elled extensively, and has been identified with the
cause of temperance in Canada. He has published
" The Catacombs of Rome, and their Testimony
relative to Primitive Christianity" (New York,
1874) ; " School History of Canada" (Toronto, 1876) ;
" History of Canada " (Boston, 1878) ; " Worthies
of Early Methodism" (Toronto, 1879); "Romance
of Missions" (1879) ; "The King's Messenger, or
Lawrence Temple's Probation " (1879) ; " Barbara
Heck" (1880); "Great Preachers, Ancient and
Modern " (1880) ; " Neville Trueman, the Pioneer
Preacher " (1880) ; " A Canadian in Europe " (1881) ;
"Valeria, the Martyr of the Catacombs" (1881);
"Men Worth Knowing " (1883) ; "Life in a Par-
sonage, or Lights and Shadows of Itinerancy"
(1885) ; and " The Dominion of Canada, Picturesque
and Descriptive " (1888).
WITSEN, Willem Jacobus, Dutch physician,
b. in Oesgeet, Holland, in 1739 ; d. near Rotter-
dam in 1808. He was educated at the University
of Leyden, and went about 1765 to St. Eustatius,
W. I., where he practised his profession and formed
a valuable library. After holding the office of
health commissioner of the colony, he was trans-
ferred to Surinam in the same capacity, and
checked there an epidemic of yellow fever in
1779-'80, and the Asiatic cholera in 1783. He
was maintained in his office when the colony was
captured by the English and retaken by the
French, and after the conclusion of peace he estab-
lished a botanical garden in Surinam, and made
several expeditions into the interior to collect
medicinal plants. In 1797 he was appointed sur-
geon-inspector in the home navy department, and
retired from active service in 1801, settling on an
estate near Rotterdam, where he died. Among
his works are " Tropiske Medicinske Voorden-
boek, gefolgden van een Verhandling over medi-
cinske planten van Guiana " (Rotterdam, 1799), and
" De plantarum Guiana? asconomia" (1802).
WITTE, Nicolas (vit-teh), Flemish missionary,
known also as Fray Juan de San Pablo, b. in
Bruges about 1505; d. in Mexico, 21 Oct., 1565.
It is said that he was a relative of the Emperor
Charles V., who gave him a high office at court,
but in 1532 he fled to the convent of San Agustin
and became a monk, despite the emperor's en-
treaties. As he longed to labor in the New World,
and had refused several bishoprics, he obtained
leave in 1543 to go to New Spain. He learned the
Indian dialects in Mexico, took charge in 1548 of
the missions in the northern provinces, preaching
in the native languages with remarkable success.
He was given by the Indians the name of " El
Roco," which means friend, or protector. Owing
to his great favor with the emperor, he abolished
in his missions the enforced labor to which the
Indians had before been subjected, and, making
known at court their true condition, succeeded in
obtaining several imperial decrees, enacting im-
provements and measures for their welfare, not
only in Mexico but in the whole of South America.
He was prior successively of the convents of Chilapa
and Mexico. Witte left to the convent of Burgos
a rich library of books about Aztec and Toltec
monuments. Besides manuscripts that are pre-
served in the archives of Simancas, and several
letters published in the recent Spanish state publi-
cation " Cartas de Indias," he wrote " Ensayo sobre
la lengua Mexicana " (Seville, 1561).
WOEDTKE, Frederick William (vet'-keh),
Baron de, soldier, b. in Prussia, about 1740; d.
near Lake George, N. Y., 31 July, 1776. He was
for many years an officer in the army of Frederick
the Great, attaining the rank of major. Coming
to Philadelphia with letters of recommendation
from friends of America in Paris, he was appointed
a brigadier-general on 16 March, 1776, and ordered
to join the Northern army. He took part, about
three weeks before his death, in a council of war
at Crown Point, which decided, against the advice
of Col. John Stark and others, to evacuate that
post and fall back on Mount Independence.
WOERT, or WERT, Jan Jacobus Sebald, Dutch navigator, b. about 1550; d. in Holland about 1612. He was in the service of the East Indian company, when he sailed as rear-admiral of the fleet of Jacobus Mahn, which was sent to explore the Strait of Magellan, and left Texel in June, 1598. The admiral having died at sea in September following, Simon Van Cordes succeeded in command, and Woert became vice-admiral. After visiting Buenos Ayres and making soundings along the coast of Patagonia, they anchored in
