Academy in 1805, but did not appear as an exhibitor till about

1811. At first he painted subjects of familiar life, as well as landscapes; but eventually he worked only as a landscape painter, though his previous practice with the figure enabled him to introduce, with considerable effect, groups of children or peasants engaged in hay-making, hop-picking, gleaning, &c., in the foregrounds of his pictures, and thereby impart to them character and individuality. All Mr. Witherington's landscapes, and they are very numerous, are of native and familiar scenery. Such titles as the "Reapers' Repast," "Returning from Church," "A Lift on the Road," "The Orchard," and the incidents mentioned above, sufficiently indicate his class of subjects. The nation possesses three paintings by him—"The Stepping Stones" and "The Hop Garland" in the Vernon collection, and "The Hop Garden" in the Sheepshanks gallery. Mr. Witherington was elected A.R.A. in 1830; and R.A. in 1840. He died on the 14th of April, 1865.—J. T—e. WITHERSPOON, John, D.D., whose name occupies an honourable place in the list of Scottish divines, was born in 1722 at Yester, his father being then minister of that parish. Having completed his education at the university of Edinburgh, and served for a short time as assistant to his father, he was in 1744 presented to the parish of Beith in Ayrshire, which he left in 1757 for the Low church of Paisley. Meanwhile, he had given to the world several religious treatises, in which he ably advocated the evangelical principles then struggling against the dominant moderatism of the Church of Scotland. His work on church polity, entitled "Ecclesiastical Characteristics;" his "Serious Apology," published in defence of the former; his essay on the "Connection of Justification by Faith with holiness of life;" and his "Inquiry into the nature and effects of the Stage," became deservedly popular, and he had several invitations to other spheres of labour. At length an offer of the presidency of Princeton college. New Jersey, induced him to remove to America in 1768, and the remainder of his life was spent there, with the exception of a short visit to his native country, after the termination of the war of independence. In that dispute he had taken the side of the colonists, and had published in their defence his discourse on the "Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men." He held for seven years a seat in congress. His death occurred in 1794.—W. B. WITIKIND, WITTEKIND, or WITTICHIND, a Saxon hero, who contended successfully against the power of Charlemagne. When the emperor chose Aix-la-Chapelle as his residence, and at the diet of Worms (772) declared his intention to force the christian religion on the Saxons, his first efforts appeared successful, and he made himself master of the fortress of Eresburg. But during the absence of Charlemagne in Italy, the Saxons determined to renew the war, and chose as their chiefs Albion and Witikind. The latter, who possessed large estates in Westphalia and Engern, commanded the levies from these provinces, and forthwith invaded the Frankish territory. Charlemagne with a large army penetrated as far as the Ocker, in the present duchy of Brunswick. Most of the Saxon tribes were compelled to yield, including the Westphalians, but it does not seem that Witikind submitted. He remained quiet for nearly two years, and meanwhile Charlemagne built fortresses and took other means to consolidate his power. In 777 he held a gathering of the Saxon chiefs at Paderborn, when many of them were baptized and submitted to the Franks. Witikind, however, retired to the court of his brother-in-law Siegfried, king of Denmark; and it is probable that the alliance thus cemented was the origin of the constant inroads of the Danes on the French coast for a century afterwards. In 778, when Charlemagne was engaged in a war with the Arabs in Spain, Witikind, supported by a body of Danish horse, renewed the war, and ravaged the Frankish territory as far as Cologne and Coblentz. Charlemagne promptly returned, defeated his foe at Bocholt, and once more received the submission of a number of Saxon chiefs. Witikind, however, still unconquered, roused the Sorbi (a Slavonian nation on the right bank of the Elbe), crossed the river, and destroyed a Frankish army near Minden. Charlemagne having obliged a portion of the Saxons to give up their principal leaders, caused four thousand five hundred of them to be put to death, 783. An indecisive battle was fought in the Teutoburger Wald, and another to the north of Osnabruch; and the struggle was carried on with great obstinacy for two years. At the end of that time Charlemagne, seeing that the Saxon hero would be a constant source of disquietude, sent several ecclesiastics to him with a view to induce him to embrace the christian faith, and offering, on condition of his submission, to confirm him in his possessions. Witikind, from what motives cannot now be clearly known, accepted the proposals, and was baptized at Attigny with many other Saxon leaders, 786. He faithfully observed his allegiance, and received the title of duke of Saxony. It is asserted that he was killed in 807 in a battle with Geroald, duke of Suabia. Some writers claim for him the honours of canonization.—F. M. W. WITIKIND or WITEKIND, a historian of the tenth century. He was by birth a Saxon, and was sent at an early age to pursue his studies at the abbey of Corvey (Corbeia Nova) in Westphalia. He afterwards taught sacred and profane literature in the same religious house, where he also died about the year 973. He is said to have made a great number of excellent scholars. His "Annales de gestis Othonum" (Annals of the Saxons), by which chiefly he is now remembered, are brought down to the death of the Emperor Otho I. This chronicle, which was first published at Basle in 1532, in a collection of historical pieces belonging to the same period, has been frequently reprinted.—R. M., A. WITOLD or VITOLD (baptized Alexander), Grand-duke of Lithuania, born about 1350, was educated with his cousin, Yaguellon, grand prince of Lithuania. Kiestuth, father of Witold, however, discovered that Yaguellon was plotting against them, seized him, with the proofs of his treachery, at Wilna, in 1382. By the mediation of Witold, a reconciliation was effected; but new dissensions arose, and Kiestuth was seized and murdered. Witold himself escaped a similar fate through the bravery of his wife, and took refuge with the Teutonic knights. In 1385 he was again reconciled to Yaguellon, and in 1386 the two princes were baptized together. Witold even took an active part in repelling an invasion fomented by the Teutonic knights. In the same year Yaguellon, by his marriage with Hedwig of Anjou, became king of Poland, and Witold was named in 1392 his lieutenant-general in Lithuania. He recovered from the Teutonic knights, during the first four years of his administration, the duchies of Siewersk, Novogorod, Kiow, Podolia, and Smolensk; and by further acquisitions his dominions were extended till they reached from the Baltic to the banks of the Dnieper. Witold was less successful in his expedition against the Tartars, the troops of Poland and Lithuania being defeated by the army of Tamerlane. In 1410 difficulties again arose with the Teutonic knights, which ended in the total discomfiture of the forces of the latter, and the cession by them of the province of Samogitia. He refused the throne of Bohemia, and on the death of Yaguellon, that of Poland also, his ambition being to be crowned king of Lithuania. In this he had nearly succeeded, but he died on the eve of his coronation, in October, 1430.—F. M. W. WITSIUS or WITS, Herman, D.D., a celebrated Calvinistic theologian, was born in 1636 at Enchuysen in West Friesland, of highly respectable and pious parents. He received his early education in the public school of his native town, and subsequently from his uncle, the learned Peter Gerard, under whose tuition he made such rapid progress that he became thoroughly versant not only in the Greek and Latin, but also in the Hebrew language. In his fifteenth year he was sent to the university of Utrecht, where he prosecuted his studies under the celebrated Leusdon, Paul and Gilbert Voetius, and other distinguished divines. He also spent one year in the university of Groningen. He was licensed to preach the gospel in 1656, and in the following year was ordained pastor of the church of West-Wouden in North Holland. In 1661 he was translated to Wormeven, and in 1666 to Goes in Zealand. In 1668 he removed to Leewarden, the capital of West Friesland, where he displayed remarkable courage and firmness in a season of great public distraction and alarm, and was for some time tutor to Henry Casimir, prince of Nassau, and his sister Amelia. In 1675 Witsius was elected professor of divinity in the university of Franeker and pastor of the church in that town, and received the degree of D.D. He discharged the duties of these combined offices with such success, that he was invited to succeed Altingius in the chairs of theology and philosophy in the university of Groningen. He, however, declined the offer, though in the following year he accepted the chair of divinity in the university of Utrecht, left vacant by the death of Burman, and was appointed also minister of the church in that town. He spent eighteen years in discharging with indefatigable industry the onerous duties of these offices, and was twice appointed to the supreme government of