702 
W I T 
W I T 
WI'TLESSNESS, s. Want of consideration.—Where 
wilful toillessness doth not bar against it. Sir E. Sandys. 
WITLEY, a village and parish of England, in the county 
of Surrey. It still retains its privilege of an ancient demesne 
of exemption from juries; 3J miles south-west of Godaiming. 
Population 1187. 
WITLEY, a hamlet of England, in Worcestershire; 8 
miles from Worcester. 
WITLEY, Great, a parish of England, in Worcester¬ 
shire; 10 miles north-west of Worcester. Population 414. 
Wl'TLING, a pretender to wit; a man of petty smart¬ 
ness.—You have takeu off the senseless ridicule, which for 
many years the witlings of the town have turned upon their 
fathers and mothers. Addison. 
WITLINGHAM, a parish of England, in Norfolk; 3 miles 
east-south-east of Norwich. 
WITNESHAM, a parish of England, in Suffolk; 4| 
miles north-by-east of Ipswich. 
WITNESS, s. [pitneffe, Saxon.] Testimony; attesta¬ 
tion. 
The devil can cite scripture for his purpose; 
An evil soul producing holy witness , 
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek ; 
A goodly apple rotten at the heart. Shalcspeare. 
One who gives testimony. 
The king’s attorney 
Urg’d on examinations, proofs, confessions 
Of divers witnesses. Shalcspeare. 
Nor need I speak my deeds, for these you see; 
The sun and day are witnesses for me. Dryden. 
With a Witness. Effectually ; to a great degree, so 
as to leave some lasting mark or testimony behind. A low 
phrase. 
Now gall is bitter with a witness; 
And love is all delight and sweetness. Prior. 
To WITNESS, v. a. To attest; to tell with assevera¬ 
tion. 
There ran a rumour 
Of many worthy fellows that were out, 
Which was to my belief witness'd the rather. 
For that I saw the tyrant’s pow’r a-foot. Shalcspeare. 
To WITNESS, v. n. To bear testimony. 
Witness you ever-burning lights above! 
You elements that clip us round about! 
Witness that here Iago now doth give 
The execution of his wit, hands and heart, 
To Othello’s service. Shalcspeare. 
WITNESS, interj. An exclamation signifying that per¬ 
son or thing may attest it. 
For want of words, or lack of breath, 
Witness, when I was worried with thy peels. Milton. 
Wl'TNESSER, s. One who gives testimony.—He was 
now so well become a constant witnesser of the passion of 
Christ, that, by crucifying the desires of his flesh, he gave an 
example of an heavenly conversation unto all his subjects. 
Martin. 
WITNEY, a market town of England, in the county of 
Oxford, is situated on the river Windrush, and consists 
chiefly of two streets. This place has been long celebrated 
for its manufactory of blankets, which flourished extremely 
during the last war, in consequence of the great demands of 
government to supply the various armaments engaged in 
foreign service. This trade has of course declined since the 
conclusion of peace. In the reign of queen Anne, the blan¬ 
ket weavers were incorporated, under the style of the master 
assistants, wardens, and commonalty of the blanket wea¬ 
vers of Witney. They have also their hall, in which they 
regulate all matters respecting the measure, mark, and quality 
of their staple commodity. This hall is situated on the east 
side of the High-street, and is a handsome edifice. About 
the centre of the same street is the town-hall, a handsome 
modern building of stone, with a piazza beneath, intended 
for a market-place. Nearly adjoining is a more humble 
building, termed the market-cross, which was erected by 
William Blake, Esq. of Coggs, in the year 1683, and was 
.repaired, by a subscription among the town’s people, in 
1811. A free school was founded here by Mr. Henry Box, 
in 1660. The building is respectable, and consists of a 
dwelling for the master, and a spacious school room, with 
an annexed library. A charity school was likewise founded 
here in the year 1732. The boys receive education, clothing, 
and five pounds as an apprentice fee. Witney church is a 
large and handsome building, of the cruciform description. 
From the square tower in the centre rises a spire, of substan¬ 
tial, rather than light proportions. At each angle of the 
tower is an octangular turret; and four faces of the steeple 
are ornamented with a pointed piece of masonry, divided by 
mullions of stone, into four compartments. The north en¬ 
trance is by a descent of several steps, through a round- 
headed doorway ; over which is a vacant canopied niche; 
and many niches of a similar description occur in various 
divisions of the northern side. Small grotesque figures are 
placed on several of the lower portions of the structure. The 
church contains the burial-places of several ancient families. 
There are meeting-houses for Quakers, Presbyterians, and 
Methodists. The market day is Thursday, and its fairs are, 
Easter Thursday, Holy Thursday, 10th July, Thursday be¬ 
fore 10th October, Thursday after September 8th, and the 4th 
December; 11J miles west-north-west of Oxford, and 66 
west-north-west of London. Population in 1821, 2722. 
WITSENIA [Nicholas Witsen, author of Descriptions of 
Shells, found in the East Indies], in Botany, a genus of the 
class triandria, order monogynia, natural order of ensatae, 
irides (Juss .)—Generic Character. Calyx none. Corolla: 
one-petalled, tubular; tube cylindrical, widening gradually; 
border six-parted, from upright spreading; segments oblong, 
obtuse. Stamina: filaments three, inserted into the tube 
above, short. Anthers oblong, upright. Pistil: germ su¬ 
perior. Style filiform, upright, but drooping at the tip, 
longer than the corolla. Stigma emarginate. —Essential 
Character. Corolla one-petalled, cylindrical, six parted. 
Stigma emarginate. Capsule superior. 
Witsenia maura.—Stem two feet high, ancipital, covered 
with sheaths of leaves. Leaves ensiform, alternate, approxi¬ 
mating, striated, narrow, the upper ones longer than the stem, 
with imbricate sheaths. Spike composed of alternate, im¬ 
bricate spikelets. Spathelets loose, scariose, subbiflorous, 
lanceolate. Corolla funnel-form, of the same figure with 
Gladiolus Meriana.—Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
WITSHED, Point, a cape on the west coast of North 
America, in Prince William Sound. Lat. 60. 29J. N. long. 
214. 29. E. 
WITSNA'PPER, s. One who affects repartee. 
Go in, sirrah; bid them prepare for dinner.— 
—That is done, sir; they have all stomachs.- 
—What a witsnapper are you! Shalcspeare. 
WITSON, a village of England, in Monmouthshire, near 
Newport. 
WITT (John de), the son of a burgomaster of Dordrecht, was 
born in 1625, and educated in various useful sciences, so as to 
excel in a knowledge of jurisprudence, politics, and mathema¬ 
tics, in the latter of which he was so great a proficient, that he 
wrote a treatise on the elements of curve-lines, which was pub¬ 
lished under the inspection of Francis Schooten. For further 
improvement he spent some years in travel, and upon his re¬ 
turn was elected to his father’s post of pensionary of Dor¬ 
drecht. Attached by his descent to the principles of repub¬ 
licanism, and jealous of the house of Orange, he opposed 
the elevation of this house, and dissuaded the province of 
Zealand from conferring the office of captain-general upon 
the young prince, William III. His conduct in this busi¬ 
ness was much approved, and he was henceforth regarded as 
at the head of the political administration of the United Pro¬ 
vinces. This was a period peculiarly critical and interesting. 
The war with the new English republic distressed the states; 
i it 
