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WITCH-HAZEL

2102

WOBURN

torted by torture and the testimony of enemies and children accepted. In one year, in the district of Corno, 1,000 persons suffered as witches and 500 in three months in Geneva, while 4,000 persons perished in Scotland, and during the session of the Long Parliament (1640-52) 3,000 persons were condemned in England. The delusion was almost universal, such a judge as Sir Matthew Hale giving sentence against a suspected person and a physician as eminent as Sir Thomas Browne declaring his belief in witchcraft, in spite of having written a volume on Popular Fallacies. The last execution in England was in 1716, and the laws against witchcraft were repealed in 1735. The last execution on the European continent took place in Posen as late as 1793. The persecution of supposed witches in Salem, Mass., was a result of the general belief so common at the time. Cotton Mather, in 1685, published an account of cases of witchcraft and made experiments on suspected persons, by which he learned that the demons understood T tin, Greek and Hebrew well but Indian d ^iects only imperfectly. He wrote Wonaers of the Invisible World to convince doubters, and his book received the recommendation of the governor of the colony and the president of Harvard College. Nineteen persons were hanged between June and September of 1692. Consult Poole's Cotton Mather and Upham's Salem Witchcraft.

Witch'«Ha'zel, the name of a small tree or shrub belonging to a family of which there are several species, among them the liquid-amber, a forest tree. The witch-hazel grows in damp woods about ten feet high, has leaves much like the hazel, with clusters of three or four bright yellow flowers which appear in the fall. The fruit is a pointed, two-celled pod, which does not ripen until the next summer. The wood is white, the bark and leaves contain tannin, and an extract of the bark and leaves is used as an external application in medicine. The name of witch-hazel comes from a popular belief that a green branch held in the hands will turn toward the ground to indicate a hidden supply of water or of gold.

Wit'te, Sergei Julievitch, a Russian statesman, born at Tiflis, June 17 (Old Style; July 29, New Style), 1849. His father was of modest German extraction, but his mother was descended from the princely Dolgoruki family. From earliest childhood he was instructed at home by the best teachers in Tiflis, even while he studied at the classical gymnasium; he grew up a true Christian, a Russian in soul and mmd. He completed his education in scientific lines at Odessa; and although, by birth, by the station of his relations, by education, and by natural endowments be could always count upon a successful put lie career, he connected himself with the steamship and

railroad company then under the supervision of Admiral Chikhchov. At the same time he entered the government service in the office of Governor Kozebu. He distinguished himself in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-8 by his achievements in military transportation. This gained him the position of Minister of Ways of Communication, and in. 1896 he was promoted to the head of the financial ministry. He has applied his principles of economy to the development of Russia, including protection, and to the exploitation of mines. He is credited with having inaugurated the plan for the Trans-Siberian Railway (q. v.). He possessed the confidence of his sovereign, the esteem of the outside world and, especially, the full reliance of foreign financial communities. The brilliant success of the Russian war-loan was mainly due to Count Witte. He was the head of the Russian embassy at Portsmouth (1905) to formulate a treaty of peace with Japan, a task which he accomplished in spite of the Russian government. He urged the Czar to call the Duma. In 1905 he became prime minister, but retired in May of 1906 rather than be associated with the party of reactionaries. At Algeciras he reinstated Russia into the place of influence she had temporarily lost in the councils of Europe. He may be ranked as the most sagacious statesman and skilfull diplomatist of Russia to-day.

Wittenberg (vitf ten-berg), a town of Prussian Saxony, is on Elbe River, 45 miles southeast of Magdeburg. It is famous as the home of Luther and Melanchthon, whose tombs are in the church on the doors of which Luther nailed his famous theses. The church was restored, and in 1858 new bronze doors with the theses in Latin were erected. In another church are two pictures: one of Luthei preaching, the other of Melanchthon administering the communion. The houses of Melanchthon and Luther are still shown, Luther's containing his chair and table and two portraits of himself; and in the market-place is a bronze statue of him. The university where Luther was processor and where, according to Shakespeaie, Hamlet studied, has been removed to Halle. Wittenberg has manufactures of woolen and linen goods, hosiery, leather, brandy and beer. Until 1422 it was the residence of the dukes and electors of Saxony. In 1547 it was taken by Charles V and in 1760 by the Austrians, when nearly one third of it was destroyed. Napoleon captured it in 1806 and fortified it in 1813, the Prussians finally capturing it in 1814. Population 18,340.

Wo'burn, Mass., a city and manufacturing center in Middlesex County, eastern Massachusetts, on the Boston and Maine Railroad, ten miles northwest of Boston. The chief