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DEWING, THOMAS WILMER (1851- )

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 140 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DEWING, See also:THOMAS WILMER (1851- ) , See also:American figure painter, was See also:born in See also:Boston, See also:Massachusetts, on the 4th of May 1851. He was a See also:pupil of Jules See also:Lefebvre in See also:Paris from 1876 to 1879; was elected a full member of the See also:National See also:Academy of See also:Design in 1888; was a member of the society of Ten American Painters, New See also:York; and received medals at the Paris See also:Exhibition (1889), at See also:Chicago (1893), at See also:Buffalo (1901) and at St See also:Louis (1904). His decorative genre pictures are notable for delicacy and finish. Among his portraits are those of Mrs See also:Stanford See also:White and of his own wife. Mrs Dewing (b, 1855), nee Maria Oakey, a figure and See also:flower painter, was a pupil of See also:John La Farge in New York, and of See also:Couture in Paris. DE WINT, See also:PETER (1784-1849), See also:English landscape painter, of Dutch extraction, son of an English physician, was born at See also:Stone, See also:Staffordshire, on the 21st of See also:January 1784. He studied See also:art in See also:London, and in 1809 entered the Academy See also:schools. In 1812 he became a member of the Society of Painters in See also:Water-See also:colours, where he exhibited largely for many years, as well as at the Academy. He married in 1810 the See also:sister of See also:William See also:Hilton, R.A. He died in London on the 3oth of January 1849. De Wint's See also:life was devoted to art; he painted admirably in See also:oils, and he ranks as one of the See also:chief English water-colourists. A number of his pictures are in the National See also:Gallery and the See also:Victoria and See also:Albert Museum.

DE See also:

WINTER, See also:JAN WILLEM (1750-1812), Dutch See also:admiral, was born at See also:Kampen, and in 1761 entered the See also:naval service at the See also:age of twelve years. He distinguished himself by his zeal and courage, and at the revolution of 1787 he had reached the See also:rank of See also:lieutenant. The overthrow of the " patriot " party forced him to See also:fly for his safety to See also:France. Here he threw himself See also:heart and soul into the cause of the Revolution, and took See also:part under See also:Dumouriez and See also:Pichegru in the See also:campaigns of 1792 and 1793, and was soon promoted to the rank of brigadier-See also:general. When Pichegru in 1795 overran See also:Holland, De Winter returned with the See also:French See also:army to his native See also:country. The states-general now utilized the experience he had gained as a naval officer by giving him the See also:post of See also:adjunct-general for the reorganization of the Dutch See also:navy. In 1796 he was appointed See also:vice-admiral and commanderin-chief of the See also:fleet. He spared no efforts to strengthen it and improve its See also:condition, and on the 11th of See also:October 1797 he ventured upon an encounter off Camperdown with the See also:British fleet under Admiral See also:Duncan. After an obstinate struggle the Dutch were defeated, and De Winter himself was taken prisoner. He remained in See also:England until See also:December, when he was liberated by See also:exchange. His conduct in the See also:battle of Camperdown was declared by a See also:court-See also:martial to have nobly maintained the See also:honour of the Dutch See also:flag. From 1798 to 1802 De Winter filled the post of See also:ambassador to the French See also:republic, and was then once more appointed See also:commander of the fleet.

Ike was sent with a strong See also:

squadron to the Mediterranean to repress the See also:Tripoli piracies, and negotiated a treaty of See also:peace with the Tripolitan See also:government. He enjoyed the confidence of Louis See also:Bonaparte, when See also:king of Holland, and, after the See also:incorporation of the See also:Netherlands in the French See also:empire, in an equal degree of the See also:emperor See also:Napoleon. By the former he was created See also:marshal and See also:count of Huessen, and given the command of the armed forces both by See also:sea and See also:land. Napoleon gave him the See also:grand See also:cross of the See also:Legion of Honour and appointed him inspector-general of the See also:northern coasts, and in 1811 he placed him at the See also:head of the fleet he had collected at the Texel. Soon afterwards De Winter was seized with illness and compelled to betake himself to Paris, where he died on the 2nd of See also:June 1812. He had a splendid public funeral and was buried in the See also:Pantheon. His heart was enclosed in an See also:urn and placed in the Nicolaas Kerk at Kampen. DE WITT, See also:CORNELIUS (1623-1672), See also:brother of John de Witt (q.v.), was born at See also:Dort in 1623. In, 165o he became burgomaster of Dort and member of the states of Holland and See also:West See also:Friesland. He was afterwards appointed to the important post of ruwaard or See also:governor of the land of Putten and See also:bailiff of Beierland. He associated himself closely with his greater brother, the grand See also:pensionary, and supported him throughout his career with See also:great ability and vigour. In 1667 he was the See also:deputy chosen by the states of Holland to accompany Admiral de Ruyter in his famous expedition to See also:Chatham.

Cornelius de Witt on this occasion distinguished himself greatly by his coolness and intrepidity. He again accompanied De Ruyter in 1672 and took an See also:

honourable part in the great naval fight at See also:Sole See also:Bay against the See also:united English and French fleets. Compelled by illness to leave the fleet, he found on his return to Dort that the See also:Orange party were in the ascendant, and he and his brother were the See also:objects of popular suspicion and hatred. An See also:account of his imprisonment, trial and See also:death, is given below. DE WITT, JOHN (1625-1672), Dutch statesman, was born at Dort, on the 24th of See also:September 162 5. He was a member of one of the old burgher-See also:regent families of his native See also:town. His See also:father, See also:Jacob de Witt, was six times burgomaster of Dort, and for many years sat as a representative of the town in the states of Holland. He was a strenuous adherent of the republican or oligarchical states-right party in opposition to the princes of the See also:house of Orange, who represented the federal principle and had the support of the masses of the See also:people. John was educated at See also:Leiden, and See also:early displayed remarkable talents, more especially in See also:mathematics and See also:jurisprudence. In 1645 he and his See also:elder brother Cornelius visited France, See also:Italy, See also:Switzerland and England, and on his return he took up his See also:residence at the See also:Hague, as an See also:advocate. In 165o he was appointed pensionary of Dort, an See also:office which made him the See also:leader and spokesman of the town's deputation in the See also:state of Holland. In this same See also:year the states of Holland found themselves engaged in a struggle for provincial supremacy, on the question of the disbanding of troops, with the youthful See also:prince of Orange, William II.

William, with the support of the states-general and the army, seized five of the leaders of the states-right party and imprisoned them in Loevestein See also:

castle; among these was Jacob de Witt. The sudden death of William, at the moment when he had crushed opposition, led to a reaction. He See also:left only a See also:posthumous See also:child, afterwards William III. of Orange,and the principles advocated by Jacob de Witt triumphed, and the authority of the states of Holland became predominant in the republic. At this See also:time of constitutional crisis such were the eloquence, sagacity and business talents exhibited by the youthful pensionary of Dort that on the 23rd of See also:July 1653 he was appointed to the office of grand pensionary (Raadpensionaris) of Holland at the age of twenty-eight. He was re-elected in 1658, 1663 and 1668, and held office until his death in 1672. During this See also:period of nineteen years the general conduct of public affairs and See also:administration, and especially of See also:foreign affairs, such was the confidence inspired by his talents and See also:industry, was largely placed in his hands. He found in 1653 his country brought to the brink of ruin through the See also:war with England, which had been caused by the keen commercial rivalry of the two maritime states. The Dutch were unprepared, and suffered severely through the loss of their carrying See also:trade, and De Witt resolved to bring about peace as soon as possible. The first demands of See also:Cromwell were impossible, for they aimed at the absorption of the two republics into a single state, but at last in the autumn of 1654 peace was concluded, by which the Dutch made large concessions and agreed to the striking of the flag to English See also:ships in the narrow seas. The treaty included a See also:secret See also:article, which the states-general refused to entertain, but which De Witt succeeded in inducing the states of Holland to accept,by which the provinces of Holland pledged See also:DEWLAP themselves not to elect a See also:stadtholder or a See also:captain-general of the See also:union. This See also:Act of Seclusion, as it was called, was aimed at the See also:young prince of Orange, whose See also:close relationship to the Stuarts made him an See also:object of suspicion to the See also:Protector. De Witt was personally favourable to this exclusion of William III. from his ancestral dignities, but there is no truth in the See also:suggestion that he prompted the See also:action of Cromwell in this See also:matter.

The policy of De Witt after the peace of 1654 was eminently successful. He restored the finances of the state, and extended its commercial supremacy in the See also:

East Indies. In 1658-59 he sustained See also:Denmark against See also:Sweden, and in 1662 concluded an advantageous peace with See also:Portugal. The See also:accession of See also:Charles II. to the English See also:throne led to the rescinding of the Act of Seclusion; nevertheless De Witt steadily refused to allow the prince of Orange to be appointed stadtholder or captain-general. This led to See also:ill-will between the English and Dutch governments, and to a renewal of the old grievances about maritime and commercial rights, and war See also:broke out in 1665. The zeal, industry and courage displayed by the grand pensionary during the course of this fiercely contested naval struggle could scarcely have been surpassed. He himself on more than one occasion went to sea with the fleet, and inspired all with whom he came in contact by the example he set of calmness in danger, See also:energy in action and inflexible strength of will. It was due to his exertions as an organizer and a diplomatist quite as much as to the brilliant See also:seamanship of Admiral de Ruyter, that the terms of the treaty of peace signed at See also:Breda (July 31, 1667), on the principle of uti possidetis, were so honourable to the United Provinces. A still greater See also:triumph of See also:diplomatic skill was the conclusion of the Triple See also:Alliance (January 17, 1668) between the Dutch Republic, England and Sweden, which checked the See also:attempt of Louis XIV. to take See also:possession of the See also:Spanish Netherlands in the name of his wife, the infanta Maria See also:Theresa. The check, however, was but temporary, and the French king only bided his time to take vengeance for the rebuff he had suffered. Meanwhile William III. was growing to manhood, and his numerous adherents throughout the country spared no efforts to undermine the authority of De Witt, and secure for the young prince of Orange the dignities and authority of his ancestors. In 1672 Louis XIV. suddenly declared war, and invaded the United Provinces at the head of a splendid army.

Practically no resistance was possible. The unanimous See also:

voice of the people called William III. to the head of affairs, and there were violent demonstrations against John de Witt. His brother Cornelius was (July 24) arrested on a See also:charge of conspiring against the prince. On the 4th of See also:August John de Witt resigned the post of grand pensionary that he had held so See also:long and with such distinction. Cornelius was put to the See also:torture, and on the 19th of August he was sentenced to deprivation of his offices and banishment. He was confined in the Gevangenpoort, and his brother came to visit him in the See also:prison. A vast See also:crowd on See also:hearing this collected outside, and finally burst into the prison, seized the two See also:brothers and literally tore them to pieces. Their mangled remains were hung up by the feet to a See also:lamp-post. Thus perished, by the See also:savage act of an infuriated See also:mob, one of the greatest statesmen of his age. John de Witt married Wendela See also:Bicker, daughter of an influential burgomaster of See also:Amsterdam, in 1655, by whom he had two sons and three daughters.

End of Article: DEWING, THOMAS WILMER (1851- )

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