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DEWEY. Messiah. About 18 44 he quilled the pulpit and lectured in various parts of the country. Auioni; his works are: LeItiiK on liiiiitUs; Uiacourses uii llutnaii itture; Discourses on Human Life (1S41); Discourses on the ulurc of licliyion; and The Inilarian Hclicf. A collected edition of his works appeared in Xcw York (1847). Con- sult his Aulobiotiraphy and Letters, edited by his daughter (Boston, 1884).

DEWING, Thomas Wilmer (18.51—). An American portrait and figure painter, born in Boston, ilay 4, 1851. He studied in Paris, under Jules Lefehvre, from 187G to 1879. After that he moved to Xew York. His ])icture "The Days" gained the Clarke Prize in 1887. He was elected an associate of the Academy in 1887, and a na- tional academician in 1888. Dewing's work has much distinction and great refinement in color. His subjects, besiilcs portraits, are of a purely fanciful arrangement of landsea|)e, figure, and Jine.

DE WINTER, devln'ter, .J..x Willem (1750- 1812). A Dutch admiral. He was born at Kampen, and entered the navy at the age of twelve. He fought in the Frencli ranks under Dumouriez and Pichegru, rising to the rank of brigadier-general. I'pon his return to Holland in 1795 he was appointed by Napoleon com- mander of the Dutch lleet, consisting of fifteen ships of the line a;id twelve frigates. On October 11, 1797. he was attacked by Admiral Duncan and defeated in the hotly contested batrle of the Texel, his own ship, the f'rijheid, and seven others falling into the hands of. the British. Al- though captured and conveyed as a prisoner of war to England, he was treated there with dis- tinction, and. upon his return to Holland, was not only exonerated from blame, but commended for his gallantry and skill. In 1798 he became Minister Plenipotentiary to France, and in 1802 was reappointed to the command of the Dutch fleet.

DE WITT, devit. Corxelius (1623-72). A Dutch naval officer. He was born at Dort, and was educated at Leyden. As an officer under .•Vdmiral De Ruyter he participated in the burn- ing of the British shipping in the Medway (1667). and in 1672 took a conspicuous part in the battle of Solehay (Southwold). In this year he was charged by Tiehelaar with participation in the plot to murder the Prince of Orange, and. after being tortured, was sentenced to banisli- nient. As he was leaving his prison he was at- tacked by the burgliers of The Hague and mur- dered, with his brother, .Jan De Witt. He was not only an able officer, but a man of broad gen- eral culture.

DE WITT, (1025-72). A celebrated statesman of Holland, born at Dort, September 25. 1025. He was the son of .Jacob De Witt. a vehement opponent of William TI., Prince of Orange. Young De Witt was carefully educated, and soon exhibited rewarkahle ability. He was one of the deputies sent by the States" of Holland in 1652 to Zealand for the purpose of dissuading that province from adopting the cause of Orange. There his eloquence secured him such universal eonfidencp that he was made Grand Pensionary of Holland, an office to which he was several times reelected. The Orange party, supported by the populace and the clergA', was ever striving to increase the power of the young prince (after- wards William HI.), who was then a mere in- fant; the republican, or oligarchic, party, com- posed of the nobles and the wealthier burgesses, at the head of which was De Witt, sought, on the other hand, to strip the House of Orange of all power, and to abolish entirely the office of Stadtliolder. During William's niiiiorilv the ad- vantage was with De Witt and the repililican-. In 1654, on the conclusion of the war with Eng- land, a secret article was inserted in the treatv drawn up between De Witt and Cromwell, in vir- tue of which the House of Orange was to be de- prived of State offices for all time. The acces- sion of Charles II. severed the friendiv relations of England, and caused De Witt to lean toward France. A commercial treaty between France and Holland was followed, in' 1065, by another English-Dutch war, which lasted luitil "the Peace of Breda, in 1667. The result was that the power of the republican party in Holland seemed firm- ly established, for in the same year a perpetual edict was proclaimed abolishing "forever the office of Stadtholder. But in reality, however, the power of De Witt was diminished, and he was soon compelled to concede a larger measure of infiuence to the House of Orange. ' His prospects became still more clouded when the designs of Louis XIV. upon the Spanish Netherlands be- came manifest. The Orange party carried their point in the elevation of William" to the family dignity of Stadtholder., On the invasion of the Netherlands by Louis XIV., in 1072. the Prince of Orange was appointed commander of the Dutch forces: and when the first campaign proved unfortunate, the popular clamor against De Witt greatly increased. He had jjreviously resigned his office of Grand Pensionary, and now his brother Cornelius, accused of conspiring against the life of the Stadtholder, was imprisoned, tor- tured, and condemned to perpetual banishment. De Witt went to see him on his release from prison, and as they were coming out they were attacked by an infuriated mob and were both murdered. August 20, 1672. The States-General demanded an investigation and the imnishraent of the murderers, but the Stadtliolder did not take the necessary st«]is. De Witt was person- ally a man of the most upright chaiacter. Con- sult: Portalis, Jan De Witt' (English trans., 2 vols., London, 1885); Geddes. The Administration of John De Witt (London, 1879): Motley, History of the United Netherlands (4 vols., New York, 1860-08).

DE WITT, (1821-). An American Reformed Dutch scholar. He was born at Albany, X. Y.. November 29. 1821: graduated at Rutgers College in 1838, and at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1842: was professor of Oriental literature (1803-84) and of New Testament exegesis (1884-91) in the latter institution. He was a member of the Old Testament Company of the American Revision Committee (1872-85), and author of The Praise floni/s of Lsrael: A New Rendering of the Boole of Psalms (1885).

DE WITT, (1842—). An American Presbyterian scholar. He was born at Harrisburg. Pa.. October 10. 1842; graduated at Princeton College in 1801 and at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, in 1805, He became professor of Church history in Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1882, and