ft 4 IK WITT 1842, his health again failing, he went abroad for two jreftTt, r turned in 1*44, and was com- pelled by continued ill health to dissolve his connection with his church in 1848, and retire
- in,, in ShetHeld, where he prepared a
coarse of lectures for the Lowell institute at Boston, on the " Prohk-m <>f Human Life and Destiny." which was repeated twice in New York, and delivered in many other places. This course was followed in 1855 by another Lowell course on the "Education of the Hu- man Race," which was almost as widely re- peated. Meanwhile he filled a Unitarian pulpit in Albany one winter, and in Washington two. In 1858 he was settled as pastor over the Uni- tarian society in Church Green, Boston, known as the "New South," from which after four years' service he returned to his home in Shef- field. The first book he published was a little work, which attracted much attention, entitled rs on Revivals." During his ministry at New Bedford he contributed to the " Chris- tian Examiner" and the "North American Review." On leaving New Bedford he pub- lished a volume of sermons. His subsequent works have been collected and published in three volumes (New York, 1847); they con- sist of "Discourses on Human Nature," "Dis- courses on Human Life, " " Discourses on the Nature of Religion," " Discourses on Commerce and Business," "Miscellaneous and Occasional Discourses," "The Unitarian Belief," and " Discourses and Reviews." DEWITT. I. A S. county of Texas, drained by the Guadalupe river ; area, 898 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 6,443, of whom 1,757 were colored. It abounds in fine scenery, and has a hilly or roll- ing surface. The soil, particularly in the val- ley of the Guadalupe, is fertile. There are several medicinal springs, mostly sulphurous. The chief productions in 1870 were 107,896 bushels of Indian corn, 13,683 of sweet pota- toes, 55,523 Ibs. of butter, 21,275 of wool, and 641 bales of cotton. There were 5,520 horses, 6,547 milch cows, 53,832 other cattle, 17,232 sheep, and 7,226 swine. Capital, Clinton. II. A central county of Illinois, intersected by Salt creek; area, 675 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 14,768. It is mostly level, and comprises forests of val- uable timber and fertile prairies, remarkably easy of cultivation. Bituminous coal is the chief mineral product. The N. division of the Illinois Central railroad crosses it, and the Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Western rail- road inter rts the S. E. corner. The chief productions in IHT<I were 118,185 bushels of 1,811,686 f Indian corn, 216,756 of oats, 88,120 of potatoes, 20,289 tons of hay,
- 41.4:i Ibs. of butter, and 90,910 of wool.
-.351 milch cows cattle, 21,799 sheep, and 29,322
- 12 carriage factories, 1 flour mill, and 2
manufactories of saddlery and harness. Capi- tal, Clinton. lK WITT, Jtn, a Dutch statesman, born in Dort in 162.1, murdered at the Hague, Aug. DE WITT 20, 1672. From his father, who had been a member of the states and a conspicuous op- ponent of the house of Orange, he inherited strong republican tendencies. The imprison- ment of his father in 1650 intensified his hatred of the stadtholders ; and the death of William II. in October of that year gave a favorable turn to the fortunes of De Witt. In 1052 he was one of the deputation sent to Zealand to dissuade that province from adopting the Orange policy, and the eloquence he then dis- played gave him considerable popularity. In the following year he became grand pensionary of Holland ; and his new power was at once exerted to the utmost to put an end to the plu- rality of offices which had rendered the stadt- holders almost despotic. He so far succeeded that the office of stadtholder was abolished ; and in negotiating the treaty of Westminster with Cromwell (1654), he procured the inser- tion of a secret article by which the house of Orange was to be for ever excluded from the highest offices. When Charles II. was re- stored, De Witt sought to form an alliance with France ; and England thereupon declared war against Holland. After hostilities had continued two years, the advantage was with Holland ; De Ruyter's fleet was in the Thames and had burned the British shipping in the Medway, and the peace of Breda was con- cluded, July, 1667. Though De Witt managed the affairs of his office with great skill and wis- dom during this war, his popularity sensibly declined, and the Orange party continually gained strength. When France assumed a hostile attitude toward Holland, he made such haste to form an alliance with Sweden and England that he had the treaty ratified at once by the states general, when it should have been referred to the council of each province. However this action may have been justified by the emergency, it was easy to make it a cause of popular clamor and distrust. Yet the grand pensionary did not abate his hostility to the house of Orange, or cease his efforts for regulating the finances and otherwise strength- ening the internal condition of the government. Louis XIV. having succeeded in detaching England from the Dutch interest and forming a counter alliance, and his armies having invaded Holland in 1672, De Witt lost all hold on the confidence of the people, and was obliged to resign his office. William III. of Orange was made commander-in-chief of the Dutch forces, and was nominated stadtholder. De Witt's brother Cornelius, two years older than him- self, had served with distinction in the navy for several years during his youth, was after- ward appointed inspector of war vessels, and was again conspicuous under De Ruyter when the fleet entered the Thames. He was more celebrated, however, as a magistrate, and had risen to the office of deputy in the states gen- eral. The popular clamor excited against his brother was turned upon him also, and he was accused of plotting against the life of the prince
