he entertained a profound respect, and who afterwards assured him, in a personal conference with which he was honoured, that he was highly pleased with his acquiescence in that call, and that himself had been the first mover of it; and partly because he deemed it equally conducive to the interest of the Church and his own comfort, that he should now desist from the labours of the pulpit, and devote exclusively his few remaining years to academical employments. He commenced the duties of his office at Leyden on the 16th of October 1698, by delivering an oration on the character of a candid and modest Divine; and for the space of ten years he continued to perform them, with unwearied diligence, and universal applause. Here he was attended, as he had formerly been at Franeker and Utrecht, by a numerous circle of promising youths from every part of the Protestant world, who listened with delight to his pious, learned, and eloquent instructions. Many candidates for the ministry from Holland, Germany, France, Poland, Prussia, Switzerland, and Great Britain, and even individuals from America, amongst whom, too, were some native Indians, resorted to the seats of learning where he successively taught; and after finishing their studies, returned to their several native countries, equally built up in piety, and improved in learning. Even Doctors in divinity and Professors of the sciences, in great numbers, did him the honour to hear him daily. His acquaintance, too, was prized and solicited by the learned SELDEN,

* Witsius had an equally sincere regard for MARY, the Queen; as appears, according to Dr Marck, from a discourse which he preached and published on occasion of her death, and in which he celebrated her virtues with peculiar dignity and elegance.

and by many eminent scholars and divines throughout Europe.

Scarcely had he passed one year at Leyden, when, in compliance with the importunate request of the States of Holland and West Friesland, he reluctantly accepted the office of Regent of the theological college in the room of MARK ESSIUS, then just deceased. In this arduous and honourable office, he discovered strict fidelity, tempered with uncommon mildness and affection towards his pupils. He retained it till the 8th of February 1707, when, upon account of his advanced years and increasing infirmities, he resigned the situation with all its emoluments. At his own earnest request, he was, at the same time, exempted from the public duties of his professorship in the university, for discharging which with his former accuracy and spirit, he found himself, notwithstanding the unimpaired vigour of his mind, in a great degree disabled by bodily indisposition. On that occasion, he often declared to an intimate friend, that he thought it much better to desist altogether from his work, than not to perform it in a becoming manner.

Amidst the arduous and incessant labours of his useful life, Witsius was blessed with all that is soothing in domestic felicity. In the year 1660, he married ALETTA VAN BORCHORN, daughter to WESSAL VAN BORCHORN, a citizen and merchant of good character at Utrecht, and an esteemed elder in the church. With this excellent woman, who was equally eminent for the sweetness of her natural temper, and the amiable graces which adorn the Christian, he lived in uninterrupted harmony till the year 1684, when, after a painful and lingering illness, she died in a manner ornamental to the gospel. He was no less happy in his

children. Not to mention two sons who died young, he had three pious and accomplished daughters, who showed their venerable father every possible mark of filial affection and respect. Two of them, to wit, MARTINA and JOHANNA, were respectably married some time before his death. PETRONELLA, however, determined to remain with him to the last, and continued, with the most affectionate solicitude, to attend and comfort him, amidst the growing infirmities of age.

Witsius never had the advantage of a vigorous constitution, or of a long course of confirmed health. He was often afflicted with certain painful and alarming distempers, which threatened an early dismission from the service of the Church on earth. In advanced life, he had several violent attacks of the gout and the stone: and six years previous to his death, whilst sitting in the Professor's chair and delivering an academical lecture, he was seized, for the first time, with a temporary dizziness, accompanied with a suspension of memory and absence of thought. These disorders, though mitigated by medicine, were never thoroughly cured. It is perhaps worthy of notice that, notwithstanding his other ailments, arising, no doubt, in a great degree, from his long continued habits of intense application to reading and writing, he retained his eyesight in such perfection, that, within a few months of his death, he was able, by moon-light, and without the assistance of spectacles, to read the Greek New Testament in the smallest type. His last illness was ushered in by an universal languor, and, according to the accounts of the celebrated BOERHAAVE, it commenced in a fever, with which he was suddenly seized on the 18th of October 1708, about one o'clock in the morning; and which, although it soon

subsided, was followed by an extreme debility of body and torpor of mind. The good man, perceiving these symptoms, with great serenity and composure told the physician and others around him, that he knew he had but few days to live. Nor was he mistaken. His senses were gradually weakened by repeated slumbers, whilst his soul was fixed on invisible objects, and sustained by the hope of a blessed immortality. In his very last hour, when Dr Marck stood by administering consolation to his much-revered friend, he signified his perseverance in the same faith and hope which he had often expressed before; and then, about noon, on the 22d of October 1708, he sweetly departed this life, and entered into the joy of his Lord, in the 73d year of his age, and 52d of his ministry.

His death was deeply regretted by the friends of religion in Holland and other countries. And on the 29th of October, after his mortal remains had been committed to the dust amidst the tears of a vast concourse of mourners, Dr Marck, the same worthy Divine who attended him in his last moments, by appointment of the Professors of the university of Leyden, pronounced a Funeral oration, which contains interesting details of his history. In the course of that oration, he takes occasion to specify, with much feeling, the friendly services which Witsius had done to himself, and the great advantages which he had derived, in youth, from the public discourses, academical lectures, personal intercourse, salutary counsels, and engaging example of this eminent man of God.

It only remains to present the reader with a rapid sketch of his Character, and a short notice of his Works.

His talents were of the first order. The force of his genius, the accuracy of his judgment, the strength of his memory, and the charms of his eloquence, were extensively known and admired. His learning was various and profound. Deeply skilled in languages, philosophy, and history, he improved them to the noblest purposes. He discovered an uncommon dexterity in availing himself of the aids of human literature for the elucidation of divine truth, and in bringing forth from his copious treasures whatever seemed most conducive to the illustration of the subject before him. With Theology in all its departments, he possessed an intimate acquaintance. He devoted himself, in par ticular, to the study of the BIBLE. Few have ever acquired either so complete a command of the expressions of Scripture in the original tongues, or so great a facility in expounding its most difficult passages. Instead of relying upon human authority, or suffering himself to be led by the greatest names, whether ancient or modern, he constantly appealed to the sacred volume as the only infallible standard, and implicitly acquiesced in the dictates of the Holy Spirit. His zeal for the faith once delivered to the saints" conspicuously appeared in his discourses and writings. When dangerous opinions in philosophy and divinity prevailed, and when reason was extolled to the prejudice of faith and to the overthrow of the essential doctrines of the Christian religion, he vindicated the cause of truth with pious ardour and unshaken fidelity, most happily blended with meekness and prudence. With regard to the less important differences of sentiment which took place among sound and faithful theologians, no one could exercise greater mildness and forbearance. He was an admirer of that excellent saying; "Una

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