Wishart, George ( 1 ), called " The Jlartyr," a champion of the Reformation in Scotland, is supposed to have been a son of James Wishart, of Pittarrow, jus- tice-clerk during the reign of James Y. The time of his birth is not known. He was master of a grammar- school at Montrose at the beginning of the IGth century. He began to preach the doctrines of the Reformation at Montrose, but was compelled to fly to England on ac- count of the opposition of the enemies of that move- ment. He preached the same doctrines at Bristol in 1538, but was forced to recant and publicly burn liis fagot. In 1543 we find him at Cambridge, and during the same vear he returned to Scotland. The Reforma-
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tion having gained some power, and having a head for the protection of its members, lie preached more boldly in Dmulee, Perth, Montrose, and Ayr, creating pojiular tumults. JIc was implicated in an attempt to take the life of cardinal Beaton, but no positive proof has been brought to sustain the charge. While preaching at va- rious places in the neighborhood of Edinburgh, he was apprehended by the cardinal's troops, conveyed to St. Andrews, tried for heresy, condemned to be burned at the stake, and executed March '28, 1546. See Kogers, Life of George W'lshari, etc. ( 1876 ) ; Mackenzie, Lives of Scots Writers, iii, 9-19.
"Wishart, George (2), D.D., a Scotch divine, was born at Yester, East Lothian, in 1G09. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh ; became a parish minister at North Leith and St. Andrews, where he refused to take tiie Covenant in 1G39, for which refusal he was deprived of his living and imprisoned; made his way to New- castle, England, where he was captured by the Scottish "army in October, 1644, and taken to Edinburgh and thrown into the common jail, where he remained sev- eral months and suffered great hardships ; joined the marquis of Montrose, to whom he became chaplain, and narrowly escaped execution with him in IGuO; became chaplain to Elizabeth, the electress-palatine, and accom- panied her to England at the Restoration in 16G0 ; was then made rector of Newcastle-upon-Tj'ne, and conse- crated bishop of Edinburgh in 16(i2. He died at Edin- burgh in 1671. He published an elegant Latin history of the Wars of Montrose (1647), which was hung by a cord to the neck of the marquis at his execution. He left a second part, bringing the history down to the death of Montrose, which was never published in its original form, but a number of excellent translations of the whole work have been published at later dates. See Keith, Cataloffue of the Jjishojis of Scotland; Lyon, Uist. of St. A ndmrs, ii, 10-12.
Wishart, William, D.D., a Scotch clergyman, was born at Dalkeith in 1657. He was educated at LTtrecht ; became one of the ministers at South Leith after the Revolution; afterwards principal of the University of Edinburgh, and one of the city ministers in 1716. He died in 1727. He published several single Seimons: — some collections of Sermons: — and Principles of Liberty of Conscience (1739).
Wisner, Benjamin Blydenburg, D.D., a Con- gregational minister, was born at (ioshen, N. Y., Sept. 29, 1794. Under Rev. Dr. Axtell, of Geneva, N. Y., he ac- quired bis preparatory training. In 1810 he joined the sophomore class in Union College, from which he grad- uated in 1813. For one year he was principal of an academy at Johnstown, when he returned home and began to studj' law. From 1815 to 1818 he was tutor in Union College, and during this time he studied the- ology under professor Andrew Yates, D.D. Resigning his tutorship, he entered the theological seminary at Princeton in 1818. In .Tunc, 1820, he was licensed to preach, and received a call to the pastorate of the Pres- l)yterian Church at New Brunswick, N. J., which he de- clined; was ordained pastor of the Old South Church, Boston,Mass.,Feb. 21, 1821, where he continued to serve during twelve years. From October, 1832, he labored as the secretary for the American Board of Commission- ers for Foreign Missions.travelling extensively through- out the Union to establish new missionary organiza- tions, etc. He died in Boston, Feb. 9, 1835. He was a member of the board of directors of the American Edu- cation Society, and was a trustee of the Andover Theo- logical Seminary. His executive talent was undoubted, and he did not lack ability as an extemporaneous de- bater. His style as a writer was not imaginative nor particularly felicitous, but he was a man of commanding influence. Dr. Wisner published. Three Discourses on the History of the Old South Church : — A Sei-mon on the Benefits of Sunday - schools : — and a Memoir of Mrs. Iluntin'jton. He also contributed to the Spirit of the
nifjrims, and to the Comprehensive Commentary. See Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, ii, GS2.
Wisner, 'William, D.D., a Presbyterian divine, was born at Warwick, N. Y'., in 1782. He studied law, and practiced in Orange County; abandoned the law, and became pastor of a Church in Ithaca; was pastor of a Church in Rochester from 1830 to 1862; removed to Cedar Rapids, la., in 1870, and died there Jan. 7, 1871. He published, Incidents in the Life of a Pastor (1851): — Elements of Civil Liberty ; or, The Way to Maintain Free Institutions (1853) : — besides single Sermons, pam- phlets, and contributions to periodicals.