THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
pire; so that. it was ordered to be embodied in the next imperial decree, as also in the imperial “ election capitulation,” and every objection to and contradiction of it was nullified. Violation of the treaty was made subject to the penalty for breach of the peace. If any one was to suffer injury through the violation of another, and this should not be repaired within three years, whether amicably or legally, he was authorized‘tq resort to arms and lay claim to the help of all parties to the treaty. The formal exchange of ratifications did not take place till Feb. 8, 1649; and the terms of execution were agreed upon by a joint deputation of the three electoral colleges at Nuremberg, June 16, 1650. The inclusion in the decree followed, Regensburg, 1654, and in the “ election capitulations,” as late as Francis II., pledging the maintenance of the treaty. Already at Miinster, the papal legate, Cardinal Fabius Chigi, had protested against the treaty, Oct. 14 and 26, 1648; and Nov. 26 Pope Innocent X. promulgated the bull, Zelo domus dei, in which the measures of the treaty were declared null and void, because adopted without the approval of the papal see. This protestation, however, had no practical consequences. On the contrary, the treaty was repeatedly confirmed on subsequent occasions, although its execution was delayed by controversies on individual points. Its provisions on the relations of the religious parties were not abrogated by the dissolution of the empire in 1806; but rather, in view of parity and tolerance, they were enlarged and amplified by the national legislation. HE. SHHLING.
BrsuioGRAPHyY: Sources are: J. G. von Meiern, Acta pacis publica, oder westphiilische Friedenshandlungen und Geschichte, 6 vols., Hanover, 1734-36, with Register, Géttingen, 1740; idem, Acta pacis executionis publica, oder niirnbergische Friedens-Executions-Handlungen, 2 parts, ib. 1736; idem, Acta comitialia Ratisbonensia publica de 1653 et 1654, 2 parts, Leipsic, 1738; the documents reproduced in Instrumenta pacis Ces. Suec. et Ces. Gallic., with preface by Meiern, Géttingen, 1738, and Die Urkunden der Friedensschliisse zu Minster und Osnabriick, Zurich, 1848. Consult: Cambridge Modern History, iv. 395-433, and very notable bibliography, pp. 865-869, New York, 1906; J. S. Piitter, Geist des westphiilischen Friedens, Géttingen, 1795; G. H. Bougeant, Hist. du traité de Westphalie, 2 vols., Paris, 1744; R. K. Freiherr von Senkenberg, Darstellung des westphilischen Friedens, Frankfort, 1804; K. L. von Woltmann, Geschichte des westphilischen Friedens, 2 vols., Berlin, 1808; M. Bernard, Four Lectures on Subjects Connected with Diplomacy, lecture 1, London, 1868; G. Bardot, Quomodo explanandum sit instrumenti pacis Monaster. cap.:86, Lyons, 1899.
WETTE, dé vet’te, WILHELM MARTIN LEBE- RECHT DE: German exegete and theologian; b. at Ulla (8 m. w. of Weimar) Jan. 12, 1780; d. at Basel June 16, 1849. He entered Jena in 1799, and obtained the doctorate in 1805, becoming privat-docent the same year. His earliest publica-
tions, a critical dissertation upon
Life at Deuteronomy (Jena, 1805, republished Jena and inhis Opuscula theologica, Berlin, 1830), Heidel- and his Beitrdge eur Hinleitung in das berg. Alte Testament 1806-07) proved his originality and independence. He
was called to Heidelberg as extraordinary pro-
fessor in exegesis, 1807, and became ordinary professor in theology, 1809. While there he made, at first in conjunction with Augusti, but later alone, a translation of the entire Bible (Hei-
RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Westphalia, Peace of Wettstein
delberg, 1809-14, 4th ed., 1858), and wrote his Commentary on the Psalms (1811, 5th ed., ed. G. Baur, 1856), which is so exclusively critical that he felt it necessary to add an appendix ‘‘ On the Devotional Use of the Psalms”’ (1837). He denies the Davidie origin of many psalms, and also that the historical Christ is prophesied anywhere in the collection, referring the so-called Messianic incidents and allusions to nearer historical events.
In 1810 he was called to the newly founded university at Berlin, where he came into touch with Schleiermacher, and the two labored for that “better day” in theology when the demands of faith and science should alike be met. In 1815 De Wette published his Commentatio de morte Jesu Christi expiatoria (Berlin), in 1814 his Lehrbuch der hebrdisch-jiidischen Archdologie (4th ed. by Ri&biger, 1864), in 1817 Historisch-kritisch Hinleitung in... das Alte Testament (seven editions during his lifetime; 8th ed. by E. Schrader, Berlin, 1869, Eng. transl. by T. Parker, 2 vols., Boston, 1843; A Critical and Historical Introduction to the Canonical Scriptures of the Old Testament, 2d ed. 1850); in 1826 his Hinlettung in das Neue Testament (6th ed., 1860, Eng. transl., by F. Frothingham, 1858).
His entrance into the sphere of dogmatic theology was made in the volume on the death of Christ. He followed this up by Lehrbuch der christlichen Dogmatik (2 vols., Berlin, 1813-16, 3d ed., 1831-40), Ueber Religion und Theologie (1815, 2d ed. 1821), and Christliche Sittenlehre (3 vols., 1819- 23; Eng. transl., Human Lije; or, Practical Ethies, by 8. Osgood, 2 vols., Boston, 1838, reprint, 1856). This period was made bright with the friendship of Schleiermacher, Liicke, F. W. Krummacher, and Spitta. But he was opposed by Marheineke, who had followed him to Berlin and had lectured against him. De Wette’s reply was in the anonymous Die neue Kirche und Glauben in Bunde (1815). The last work composed by him in Berlin was Kritischer Versuch tiber die Schriften des Lukas (1817).
Taking a great interest in public affairs, he wrote a letter to the mother of an Erlangen student, Karl
Ludwig Sand (who murdered August
Dismissal von Kotzebue), in which, while exfrom Ber- pressing deep abhorrence at the crime, lin, Call to he still cleared Sand’s motives of sus- Basel. picion on the ground that the deed was prompted by pure patriotism.
For this bold defense he was summarily dismissed from the university by the king (Oct. 2, 1819). He betook himself to Weimar, and there employed his enforced leisure in preparing the first complete edition of Luther’s Briefe (1825-28, 5 vols., supplemental volume by Seidemann, 1856), by which, had he done nothing else, he would have proved himself a scholar. In 1822 he issued his first romance, Theodor, oder des Zweiflers Weihe (1822, 2d ed., 1828; Eng. transl. by J. F. Clarke, Theodore, or the Skeptic’s Conversion, 2 vols., Boston, 1849), to which Tholuck replied in Die wahre Weihe des Zweiflers (Hamburg, 1823); and his second, Heinrich Melchthal, in 1829, 2 vols. In 1822, quite unexpectedly, he was called to Basel,
At Berlin.
where he passed the rest of his days. He did excellent service in advancing the university, and won the hearts of many who had bitterly opposed his coming. There he composed his Vorlesungen tiber die Sittenlehre (Berlin, 1823-24, 2 vols.), and Ueber die Religion, ihr Wesen, thre Erscheinungsformen und ihren Hinfluss auf das Leben (1827). He also preached to a highly appreciative audience, and published five collections of sermons (Basel, 1825-29). Another series was published after his death (1849). In 1846 he issued the first part of his unfinished Biblische Geschichte, and in 1836 he began, and in 1848 he finished, his Kurzgefasstes exegetisches Handbuch zum Neuen Testament (3 vols., Leipsic), a work marked by brevity and precision and accurate scholarship. The numerous works already mentioned make up only a partial list of De Wette’s writings. Reviews, criticisms, essays, encyclope- Varied Ac- dia and newspaper articles, sermons, tivities. addresses, pamphlets, works upon art (Berlin, 1846), even a drama Die Entsagung (Berlin, 1823), and poems, came from his gifted pen. He was fond of society, and hospitably inclined; and, although deemed a rationalist and “ heretic,’ he took a leading part in philanthropic movements. He founded (1825) a society in Basel to help the Greeks in their struggle against Turkish tyranny, to send missionaries to Greece, and to educate their children, and adopted a little Greek boy into his own family. He also
founded the Basel branch of the Gustav-Adolf-
Verein (q. v.).
The theism of the Kantian criticism forms the basis of De Wette’s doctrinal system; but he leans visibly toward Jacobi’s theory of religion as feeling. He makes a sharp distinction between knowledge and faith. The former has to do only with finite things; while the infinite must be grasped by faith under the form of feeling. The infinite is revealed
by the finite in a symbolical manner.
His Phi- The whole historical revelation is a losophy and symbol in which eternal and super-
Theology. sensuous ideas have found their ex-
pression. The miracle is a cross to the understanding, but as a symbol it shows its meaning. The dogma is inaccessible to the understanding, but opens itself to the intuition; for intuition is the only means of conception when the object is a symbol. All religious conception is consequently esthetic, and this esthetic elevation above the merely intelligible is to De Wette the only tenable form of supernaturalism. De Wette closely connected dogma with ethics, made ethical considerations decisive in judging other systems, and held fast to the personality of Christ. (G. FRANK. )
Brstiocrapuy: K. R. Hagenbach, Leichenrede, Basel, 1849; idem, Akademische Gedéchtnissrede, Leipsic, 1850; D. Schenkel, W. M. L. [de Wette und die Bedeutung seiner Theologie fiir unsere Zeit, Schaffhausen, 1849; F. Liicke,
/ W. M. L. de Wette, Hamburg, 1850; A. Wiegand, W. M. L. de Wette, Erfurt, 1879; R. Stiihelin, W. M. L. de Wette nach seiner theologischen Wirksamkeit und Bedeutung, Basel, 1880.
WETTSTEIN, wet’/stain or vet/stain (WETSTE- NIUS, WETSTEIN), JOHANN JAKOB: New-Testament scholar; b. at Basel Mar. 5, 1693 (old style);
Wettstein Whately