jects, loith Ecclesiastical Characteristics ( Lond. 1764, 3 vols. 12mo; 17G5, 3 vols. 12mo). These volumes were composed of pieces which had previously been published in Scotland, with the exceiition of his celebrated Trea- tise on Regeneration, which ajipeared now for the first time. This Treatise was also published separately in 17G4, 12rao: — Sermons (9) on Practical Subjects (Glas- gow, 17G8, rimo; Edinb. 1804, l-2mo):— Practical Dis- courses (14) on Leading Truths of the Gospel (17G8, 12mo ; Lond. 1792, 8vo; 1804, 12mo). The discourses in this volume are so arranged as to form a concise system of practical divinity: — Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Par- liament (Phila. 1774, 8vo; Lond. 1775, 8vo). He also published a number of Sermons: — Lectures on moral philosophy, on eloquence, on divinity, and on education : — Letters on Marriage: — an excellent i,ssa^ on Money : — philological papers (see The Druid) :— various Speech- es in Congress, etc. After his death appeared, in one vol- ume. Sermons on Various Subjects, a Supplementary Vol-' ume, with the Hist, of a Corporation of Servants, ami other Tracts (Edinb. 1798, 12mo; 1799, 12mo). A col- lective edition of his works, with an account of the author's life, with Sermon by John Rodgers, D.D. (also published separately [ N. Y. 1795, 8vo ], and in Prot, Dissent. Magazine, vol. ii), was ])ublished in New York (1800-1, 4 vols. 8vo; 2d ed. ;802, 4 vols. 8vo), Samuel Stanhope Smith, D.D., supplying the Memoir. An- other edition, with his Life, appeared at Edinburgh in 1804 (9 vols. 12mo); again in 1815 (9 vols. 12mo). His Miscellaneous Wo7-/cs were published at Philadelphia ( 1803, 8vo ) ; his Select Wor/cs, with Life, in London (1804, 2 vols. 8vo) ; his Lectures on Moral Philosophy in Philadelphia (3d ed. 1810, 12mo) ; his Essays, Lect- ures, etc. in Edinburgh (1822, 4 vols. 12mo) ; and Ser- mons on Public Occasions (2 vols. r2mo). "Tlie name of Dr. Witherspoon stands high on both continents. No man thinks of Witherspoon as a Briton, but as an American of the Americans : as the counsellor of Mor- ris, the correspondent of Washington, the rival of Frank- lin in his sagacity, and of Reed in his resolution ; one of the boldest in that Declaration of Independence, and one of the most revered in the debates of the Congress" (Alexander [Rev. J. AV. ], Princeton Address). See Chambers and Thomson, Biog. Diet, of Eminent Scots (ed. 1855), iv, 487 ; Sprague, A nnals of the A mer. Pulpit, iii, 288-300 ; Rich, Bibl. A mer. Nova, i, 226, 270 ; Bart- \ett, Americanisms (ed. 1859), xxix, xxxi; Aiiier. Quar. Reg. ix, 105 ; Edinburgh Chi-istian Instructor, Oct. 1829 ; Blackivood's Mag. ii, 433; Dr. Alex. Ca)Iyle's Auto- biog. (1861); Headley, Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution (N. Y. 18G4, 12mo) ; Cleveland, Compendium of A mer. Lit. p. 45 ; Thomas, Pronouncing Biog. Diet. s. V. ; Lond. Month. Rev. 1754, ii, 288 ; Bickersteth, Chris- tian Student (4th ed.), p. 309 ; Bull, Life of John Newton (1868), p. 150, 22G. (J. L. S.)
Witsius (Wits, or Witsen), Herjian, a Dutch theologian of the Federal school, witli mediating tenden- cies, was born at Enkhuysen, in West Frisia,reb.r2,]636. His father was a magistrate, and later burgomaster of the town ; and his uncle, Peter Gorliard, was a scholar, from whom he doubtless received the exact classical training and the liberal tendencies which distinguished him among the men of his time. He entered the University of Gron- ingenwhen sixteen years of age, and subsequently stud- ied also at Leyden and Utrecht. The teachers whose influence over him was most pronounced were Leusden, who initiated him into the study of the Old -Test. Scriptures and the Oriental languages with such suc- cess that at the age of eighteen years he was able to de- liver a learned address in Hebrew; Cocceius; and Jus- tus van den Bogaerdt, a preacher, who made him ac- quainted with subjective Christianity, and of whom he was accustomed to say that the best of all his tlieologi- cal acquirements had been obtained at his hands.
Witsius passed the examination j^ro ministo'io with honor in 1G5G, and became pastor at Westwoud. la
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IGGl lie was at Worraeren, in 16GC at Goesen, and in 1G()8 at Leeinvanlen. In these several fields of labor ho earned the reputation of a faithful pastor, a superior jireaclier, and a scholarly thinker, and was, in conse- ([ucnce, honored in 1075 with a call to a professorship and pulpit at Franoker, and after tivc years more with a similar call to Utrecht. In 1G85 he was appointed chaplain to tlie embassy sent by the Netherlands to the court of James II of England, and while in England he entered into relations of personal intimacy with prince ^\■illiam (subseciuenlly king William III). In 1G98 he ac- cepted a call to Lcyden, which released him from the pul- pit, and on Oct. 22, 1708, he closed his busy life in death.
The principal work of Witsius {J)e (Kconomia Fadc- ruin Dei ciini Jlominibits Libri I\") was published in 1G77, and originated in his desire to meliorate the ac- rimonious spirit apparent in the controversies between the orthodox and the Federalists. His plan involved no true mediation between the opposing systems, how- ever, but merely the knocking-off of a few of the more prominent angles on the Federal hypothesis; and he succeeded only in raising a storm among the Federal- ists against himself, without conciliating the opposing party, lie was simply and only a scriptural theologian, and incapable of exercising the acuteness of a scholastic ajiprehension — the more, perhaps, because he thought and wrote in classical Latin. The plan of the (Econ. Fad. is confused (lib. i, Be Feed. Dei in Genere; ii, De Fad. Grati(P ; iii, De Fad. cum Eleciis ; iv, 7>e Doctr. Salutis). The doctrine of Christ's person and work is treated of in the second book, and that of the election of grace and the appropriation of salvation in the third. The fourth book contains a history of Revelation, be- sides the doctrine of the sacraments. The personality of Witsius was of greater importance to the Church tlian his theology.