WILBUR, JOHN: A noted minister of the So ciety of Friends; b. at Hopkinton, R. I., July 17, 1774; d. there May 1, 1856. He came into prom inence in 1838, by opposing Joseph J. Gurney (q.v.), an English minister, who, he claimed, wax exalting the letter of the Bible as against the inward light. His own Meeting sustained him, but the New Eng land Yearly Meeting was opposed to him and, to depose him from the ministry, joined his Monthly Meeting to another which had a majority against him. In this manner he was disowned by Friends; but a considerable number of his sympathizers sep arated from the main body and formed a separate Yearly Meeting which still exists. A number of Meetings in different parts of the United States which held similar views became separated from the larger bodies of Friends about the same time, and have been designated by the name " Wilburite " (see FRIENDS, SOCIETY OF, I., § 7). John Wilbur published certain polemical pamphlets during his life, and his Journal and Correspondence appeared after his death (Providence, 1859). BIBLIOGRAPHY: F. S. Turner, The Quakers, pp. 247, 300, 302, London, 1889; American Church History Series, xii. 264-272, New York, 1894. WILDEBOER, vil'de-bor, GERRIT: Dutch Protestant, Old-Testament scholar; b. at Amster dam Sept. 9, 1855; d. at Leyden Sept. 4, 1911. He was educated at the University of Leyden (D. D., 1880); was pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Heiloo, near Alkmaar (1881-84); be came professor of Old-Testament exegesis, litera ture, and religion at the University of Groningen (1884), where he was rector (1897-98); went to Leyden in a similar capacity (1907). In theology he was " historico-critical, believing in God's par ticular revelation given to Israel." He wrote De waarde der syrische Evangelien vests- Cureton (Leyden, 1880); De profeet Micha en zijne beteekenis voor het verstand der profetie onder Israel (1884); De profetie onder Israel in hare grondbeteekenis voor ehristendom en theologie (1884); Het ontstaan van den kanon des Ouden Verbonds (Groningen, 1889; 4th ed., 1908; Eng. transl. by B. W. Bacon, The Origin of the Canon of the Old Testament, London, 1895); De letterkunde des Ouden Verbonds naar de tijdsorde van hair ontstaan (1893, 3d. ed., 1903); Karakter en beginselen van het historisch-kritisch onderzoek des Ouden Verbonds (Utrecht, 1897); the volumes on Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Esther in K. Marti's Kurzer Handkommentar zum Alien Testament (Frei burg, 1897-1908); and Jahvedienst en Volksreligie (Groningen, 1898). WILDENSPUCH, vil'den-spuH, CRUCIFIXION, THE: An event which took place in the hamlet of Wildenspuch (about 6 m. s. of Schaffhausen), canton of Zurich, Switzerland, Mar. 15, 1823. The deed is partially explicable from the religious fer ment caused quite widely in Europe by several series of events, such as the Napoleonic wars, the German wars for freedom, the lingering effects of the French Revolution, the famine years of 1816 1817, and the celebration of the Reformation, which in the region named took place in 1819. A sort of revival, attended by violent physical convulsions and other like phenomena, involved the district and

induced singular experiences and led to singular beliefs in numbers of cases.

In the hamlet of Wildenspuch, consisting of about twenty houses, lived a well-to-do family named Peter engaged in agriculture, in which there were one son and five daughters, one of the latter married to a shoemaker and farmer named Johannes Moser, of the neighboring village of Oerlingen. The youngest daughter was Maxgareta, born in 1794, unusually gifted mentally and spiritually, and from an early age very precocious. She became the favorite of the family and neighborhood, and was expected to develop into something extraordinary. She, however, developed chronic phthisis, and seemed destined to an early death. But one day at noon during her illness, while in her father's vineyard, she had a vision of an angel who showed her a herb in a place about an hour distant from her home which was to cure her. She found the herb, distilled from it a tea which she drank, and found herself restored. In thankfulness she dedicated herself to God, became associated with pious persons, attended with her brother-in-law Moser the assemblies of the Herrnhut Brethren, began to preach, and conceived that she had battles with the devil and evil spirits. She came into connection with Barbara Juliana von Kruedener (q.v.), being accompanied by her brotherin-law and her sisters Elizabeth and Susanna, and she came to have the opinion that the events of the period presaged the imminent end of the world.

A new influence upon her at this time was the personality and opinions of Jakob Ganz, a man of lowly birth and moderate equipment, vicar of Embrach in the canton of Zurich, and a preacher of revival type. He had developed the theory that in order to attain blessedness no real change was necessary in man's life, but that there was needed simply a development of the good in man which had been latent but not lost. His watchword was: Not Christ for us, but Christ in us. The Church was Antichrist since Christ had not arisen in it. In each Christian Christ must .fight Satan, suffer, die, and rise again. Under this influence Margareta deserted the association of the Brethren and preached at home. In a vision she found herself before the throne of God, saw there the Father and the Spirit surrounded by angels, patriarchs, Elijah, and the apostles; but the Son was not there, and God told her that the Son was to live, suffer, die, and abide in her; she also looked into hell, where she saw thousands of poor souls whom she was to save. Through Ganz a certain melancholic shoemaker named Morf, a married man and a father, was summoned to receive in his house Margareta and her sister Elizabeth, where they remained inactive for a year and a half, while to Morf was revealed that with Margareta he was to enjoy a spiritual love and was to be transported to heaven. The two sisters returned home Jan. 11, 1823, after Margareta had given birth the night before to a daughter by Morf -as Maxgareta stated, altogether unexpectedly to her, therefore by God's doing. She declared that she must prepare for the great event which was to happen, and therefore undertook no more visits and remained at home inactive. On Mar. 13, she assembled her relations to fight against the devil for

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[This article has not been corrected.] books for Chautauqua courses, special mention may be made of The Dance of Modern Society (New York, 1868); A Free Lance in the Field of Life and Letters (1874); The Baptist Principle (Philadelphia, 1881); Edwin Arnold as Poetizer and Paganizer (New York, 1885); The Epic of Saul (1889); The Epic of

Paul (1897); The Epic of Moses (1905); and Modern Masters of Pulpit Discourse (1905); Good of Life and Other Little Essays (1910); and Daniel Webster; d Vindication, and other historical Essays (1911). His poems have been collected in . five volumes (New York, 1909).