Witenagemot
or WITENAGE- MOTE, in English history, among the Anglo-Saxons the great national or genwhich met annually or oftener, whenever the king kept his eral assembly Christmas, Easter, or Whitsuntide, as well to do private justice as to consult on public business. It was composed of the athelings, or princes, ealdormen, or nobles, the large landowners, the principal , etc. They formed the ecclesiastics highest court of judicature in the kingdom, and their concurrence was necessary to give validity to laws, and treaties with foreign states. They had even power to elect the king, and if the throne bas passed to the heir of the late king, the new sovereign had to be recognized formally by the witenagemot at a meeting assembled for the purpose.
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Witherspoon
JOHN, an American educator; born in Yester, Haddingtonshire, Scotland, Feb. 5, 1722. He became president of Princeton College in 1768; delegate for six years from New Jersey to the Continental Congress, and a signer of the Declaration of Independ- He wrote; "Ecclesiastical Charence. acteristics" (1753); "Nature and Effects of the Stage" (1757); "Essays on Important Subjects" (1764); "Considera- Vol. X 26 tions on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament" (1774); etc. ("Works," 9 vols. Edinburgh, 1804). He died near Princeton, N. J., Sept. 15, 1794.
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Witte
SERGEI YULIEVITCH, COUNT, a Russian statesman; born at Tiflis, in 1849. He was educated at the University of Odessa and for a time was engaged in journalism. He soon entered the government service, however, and during the Russo-Turkish War did distinguished service in the transportation of troops. He was a member of the Imperial Railway Commission, and in 1883 published "Principles of Railway Tariffs." In 1892 he was appointed Minister of Communications, and soon afterward became Minister of Finance. He brought about many reforms in industrial development and introduced the gold standard. His efforts were especially directed toward the completion of the Trans-Siberian railway. In 1903 he was appointed president of the Committee of Ministers. He was appointed senior Russian delegate to negotiate peace with Japan, and at the Portsmouth Conference succeeded in obtaining favorable terms for Russia. He was created Count on his return, and became a powerful figure in the government during the Liberal upheaval which followed the Russo-Japanese War. He succeeded in obtaining from the Czar the manifesto of Aug. 30, 1905, and was appointed the first Russian Prime Minister. He was bitterly opposed by the Conservative circles and resigned office in 1906. He spent much time abroad and took no further part in governmental activities. He died in 1915.
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Wittekind
or WIDUKIND, the leader of the Saxons in their struggle with Karl the Great; came of a noble Westphalian house, and first appears at the head of the Saxon expedition against the Westphalian fortress of Eresburg (774). The emperor's return from conquering the Lombards drove him across the Weser, and after vainly renewing the revolt in 776, he fled to Denmark, but returning during Karl's absence in Spain, laid waste the Rhineland and surprised and annihilated the Frankish army on the Süntelgebirge (782). Karl retaliated by executing 4,500 Saxon prisoners, an action that roused the entire Saxon race to arms. The battle of Detmold was drawn (783), but that of Osnabrück crushed Wittekind's hopes and forced him to enter on negotiations, whose issue was that in 785 he accepted baptism in the imperial camp at Attigny, in Champagne. Karl, it is said, made him Duke of the Saxons and lord of Engern, and from his castle of Babilonie, near Lübeck, he exercised a mild and righteous sway till 807, when he fell in battle with Gerold, the Swabian duke. Various princely houses, as those of Brunswick and Sardinia, claim Wittekind for the founder of their line.
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Wittenberg College
a coeducational institution in Springfield, O., founded in 1845 under the auspices of the Lutheran Church; reported at the close of 1919: Professors and instructors, 32; students, 1,050. President, C. G. Heckert Heckert , D. D. WITWATERSRAND (Anglicized WHITE WATER RANGE), the name of a height of land in the Transvaal, south Africa, running S. and S. W. of Pretoria, and located between the Klip and Vaal rivers on the S. and the Limpopo on the W. It is about 100 miles long and extends nearly E. and W. with lat. 26° S. In 1886 gold was first discovered here, and since that date the region has developed into one of the most famous gold mining districts in the world. The production of gold in 1919 was valued at £35,384,000. See TRANSVAAL.
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Woad
a well known plant of the mustard family. The term woad is akin to weed. The woad was formerly much cultivated in Great Britain for the sake of a blue die which was extracted from the leaves by grinding, fermenting, and soaking. Woad is still cultivated in some parts of Europe, but has been supplanted by indigo which gives a more intense blue. Woad was a favorite die with the early inhabitants of Great Britain. They are said to have stained their bodies with it, Indian fashion.
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Woburn
a city in Middlesex co., Mass.; on the Boston and Maine railroad; 10 miles N. W. of Boston. It contains a public library, high school, Warren Academy, the birthplace of Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) preserved by an association, numerous churches, waterworks, electric street railroads, electric lights, National and State banks, and several newspapers. It has the largest leather industry in New England, and manufactories of shoes, chem icals, glue, electric dynamos and lamps, etc. Pop. (1910) 15,308; (1920) 16,574.
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Woden
or ODIN, the principal deity of the German and Scandinavian mythologies, common to all Teutonic peoples, and in a measure, corresponding to the Zeus of the Greeks. Odin, while not the creator, is the ruler of heaven and earth, an omniscient being, the king of the deities. His celestial residence is the palace Heidskialf, in Asgard, from whence his two black ravens, Hugin (Thought) and Munin (Memory), are sent forth daily to gather and bring in tidings of all that is taking place in earth and heaven. He is also the god of war, holding his court in Valhalla, whither brave warriors pass after death to revel in joys of battle and the hunt, such as they loved best on earth. Odin became the wisest of the gods by the aid of a draught from Mimir's fountain, though in doing so he lost the sight of Like Zeus, he added to his one eye. queen, Frigga, various other wives and favorites, and had a numerous progeny of sons and daughters. According to Rhys, Odin, or Woden, the sk sky god of the Teutons, may have had a Celtic origin, and been synonymous with the Celtic Gwydion.
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