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586 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