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, Jan (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, John (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, John (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
