Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/665

Rh WIT W B 625 cussion among English lawyers. In 1878 the Criminal Code Commission recommended that prisoners should be allowed to give evidence on their own behalf on oath. Several recent Acts have modified in some degree the rigour of the common law. The accused, or the husband or wife of the accused, may give evidence on oath in certain proceedings, nominally criminal, substantially of a civil nature, such as indictments for nuisance or non-repair of a highway (40 Viet, and 41 Viet. c. 14). The same is the case under the Merchant Shipping, Licensing, and Customs Acts, the Married Women s Property Act, 1882, the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, the Merchandise Marks Act, 1887, and other Acts. Up to 1702 the prisoner was under the further disability of not being able to have his witnesses examined on oath. This harsh rule, borrowed from Roman law, was not abrogated in Ireland until 1711, in Scotland until 1735. Where a witness is competent, he is also compellable, except the king. The only privileged witnesses practically now recognized in England are high officers of state, executive or judicial, and members of the legal profession, who need not divulge what has been disclosed to them in professional confidence. Clergy and medical men are not privileged, though attempts have sometimes been made to protect disclosures to them, especially to priests in the confessional. Any witness is privileged from answering questions the answers to which might expose him to penalty or forfeiture or to a charge of adultery. Lists of wit nesses intended to be called by the crown must be supplied to the accused in charges of TREASON (q.v. }, and are generally on the back of the indictment in ordinary cases, though the prosecution is not bound to call them. In Scotland lists of the witnesses are supplied in all cases, and in the United States in capital charges. The mode of securing the attendance of a witness is by subpcena (see WRIT) in civil actions in the High Court, by subpoena or RECOGNIZANCE (q.v.) before an assize court, by SUMMONS (q.v.) in a county court or court of summary jurisdiction. In exceptional cases attendance may be secured by writ of habeas corpus ad testi- ficandum or by WARRANT (q. v. ) of a secretary of state. In Scotland attendance is generally secured by citation. Disobedience to a sub- pcena is punishable as CONTEMPT OF COURT (q.v.}. 1 False evidence renders the offender liable to the penalties of perjury. Various Acts of Parliament deal with compelling appearance before com mittees of parliament, courts of martial, and other tribunals of a special nature. A witness is protected from any action for slander for words spoken in the witness box. He is also protected from arrest eundo, morando, et rcdcundo. The scale of allowances to witnesses depends upon orders of court made with the approval of the Treasury. It is graduated according to the social position of the witnesses. (J. Wt.) WITSIUS, HERMANN (1636-1708), Dutch theologian, was born February 12, 1636, at Enckhuysen, North Hol land, studied at Utrecht, Leyden, and Groningen, and was ordained to the ministry in 1657. In 1675 he became professor of divinity at Franeker, and in 1680 he was translated to a corresponding chair at Utrecht. In 1685 lie acted as chaplain to the Dutch embassy sent to London to congratulate James II. on his accession. In 1698 he succeeded Spanheim at Leyden, where he died on October 22, 1708. Subjoined is a list of his more important works. Judxus Christianizans, circa Principia Fidci ct SS. Trinitatcm, Utrecht, 1661 ; De (Economia Feeder um Dei cum Hominibus, 1677 (often re printed, both in Latin and in English, and still regarded as one of the clearest and most suggestive expositions of the so-called &quot;federal&quot; theology); Diatribe dc Scptern Epistolarum Apocalijpti- carum Sensu Historico ac Prophctico, Franeker, 1678; Excrcitationes Sacrfg in Symbolum quod Apostolorum dicitur et in Orationem Dominicam, Franeker, 1681; Miscellanea Sacra, Utrecht, 1692- 1 700 (2 vols. 4to). WITT. See DE WITT. WITTEN, a rapidly growing town of Westphalia, Prussia, is favourably situated among the coalfields of the Ruhr, 14 miles east of Essen and 15 miles north east of Elberfeld. The coal-mines in the neighbourhood provide abundant fuel for large cast-steel works, iron- foundries, railway workshops, machinery and boiler works, glass-works, distilleries, and other industrial establishments. In 1843 the population was 3444; in 1885 it was 23,903. WITTENBERG, now an unimportant manufacturing town in the province of Saxony, Prussia, is situated 55 miles to the south-west of Berlin, on the Elbe, which is here spanned by a stone bridge 300 yards long, and by an 1 In the ecclesiastical courts it was formerly punished by EXCOM MUNICATION (q.v. ). iron railway bridge 320 yards long. The three suburbs which adjoin the town are not older than 1817. Witten berg is interesting chiefly on account of its close connexion with Luther and the dawn of the Reformation ; and several of its buildings are associated with the events of that time. Part of the Augustinian monastery in which Luther dwelt, at first as a monk and in later life as owner with his wife and family, is still preserved, and has been fitted up as a &quot;Luther museum.&quot; The Augusteum, built in 1564-83 on the site of the monastery, is now a clerical seminary. The Schlosskirche, to the doors of which Luther nailed his famous ninety-five theses in 1517, dated originally from 1490-99 ; it was, however, seriously damaged by fire during the bombardment of 1760, and has practically been re-built. The old wooden doors, burnt in 1760, are replaced by bronze doors, bearing the Latin text of the theses. In the interior of the church are the tombs of Luther, Melanch- thon, and the electors Frederick the Wise and John the Constant. The parish church, in which Luther often preached, was built in the 14th century, but has been much altered since Luther s time. The present infantry barracks were at one time occupied by the university of Witten berg, founded in 1502, but incorporated with the university of Halle in 1817. Luther was appointed professor of philosophy here in 1508; and the new university rapidly acquired a considerable reputation from its connexion with the early Reformers. Shakespeare makes Hamlet and Horatio study at Wittenberg. The ancient electoral palace is another of the buildings that suffered severely in 1760 ; it now contains archives. Melanchthon s house and the house of Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). who was burgomaster of Wittenberg, are also pointed out. Statues of Luther and Melanchthon embellish the town. The spot, outside the Elster Gate, where Luther publicly burned the papal bull in 1520 is marked by an oak tree. Woollen and linen-weaving, stocking-making, leather-work ing, distilling, and brewing are carried on in Wittenberg. The formerly considerable manufacture of the heavier kinds of cloth has died out. The population in 1885 was 13,856; in 1816 it was 6206. W T ittenberg is mentioned as early as 1180. It was the capital of the little duchy of Saxe-Witteuberg (vol. xxi. p. 352), the rulers of which afterwards became electors of Saxony; and it con- tinned to be the chief town of Saxony under the Ernestine electors. The capitulation of Wittenberg (1547) is the name given to the treaty by which John Frederick the Magnanimous was compelled to resign the electoral dignity and most of his territory to the Albertine branch of the Saxon family. In 1760 the town was bombarded by the Austrians. In 1813 it was refortified by com mand of Napoleon ; but in 1814 it was stormed by the Prussians under Tauentzien, who received the title of &quot; Von Wittenberg&quot; as a reward. Wittenberg continued to be a fortress of the third class until the reorganization of the German defences after the founda tion of the new empire in 1871 led to its being dismantled. WLOC-LAWEK, or VLOTSLAVSK, a district town of the government of Warsaw, on the left bank of the Vistula, which is crossed by an iron bridge, 118 miles by rail to the N.W. of Warsaw. It was founded about 1139, and became known under the name of Vladislavia, or Old Ladislaus, as a centre for trade of some importance. Later on it fell into decay ; but, owing to its position on the great water highway of Poland and on the railway connecting Warsaw with Berlin and Dantzic, its popula tion has rapidly increased of late, and now amounts to 22,600. Its merchants carry on an active trade in grain. It has a fine cathedral, dating from the 14th century. WOBURN, a town of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, United States, lies about 10 miles somewhat west of north from Boston ; it comprises within its limits four villages of greater or less size, besides a small rural population. The town contains 75 miles of streets. The population in 1885 was 11,750, about three-tenths of foreign birth. The XXIV. --79