Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/629

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WILLIAMS. 53T WILLIAMS. versed in 1804. Among liis works were liutional (Jodtiiiess (1855); VUristiaiiity and Hinduiam (185U); Broad Chalice ticnnon Essays (1807); and The Uchrew I'ruijhcts (1800-71). Consult his Life and Letters, edited by his wife (Lon- don, 1874). WILLIAMS, Samuel WKLL.S (1812-84). An American missionary. Sinologist, and diplomat, born in Utiea, X. Y. He studied at the high- sehool there and at the Rensselaer Institute at Troy, and in 1833 went to Canton, Cliina, where he took charge of the newly established mission press of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Unsettled conditions in Canton necessitated his removal to Macao in 1835. In 1845 he returned to the United Stales. In the fall of 1848 he resvnned liis labors at Can- ton. He was interpreter to Conimo<lore Perry in his mission to Japan, 1853-54, severed his con- nection with the ilission Board in 1857, and was appointed secretary and interpreter_to the United States legation. In this capacity he assisted in negotiating the treaty of 1838, and accompanied Minister Vard to Peking in 1859 to exchange ratifications. In 1801 he again visited the United States, and when, in 1802, the first United States legation was established at Peking under Bur- lingame, he took np his residence in that cit}' and remained until 1870, when he resigned and re- turned to the United States. He settled at New Haven, Conn., and filled the chair of Chinese language and literature at Yale until his death. He edited the Chinese Repositori/ during nine- teen years of its existence (1832-51), and was a voluminous contributor to it. He also carried through the press Jledhurst's Dictionar;/ of the Hoklcicn Dialect (1837), and prepared (with Bridgman) and brought out Chinese Chrcsto- mathy ( 1841 ) . His independent works in- clude Easy Lessons in Chinese (1842); The Chinese Commercial Guide (1844); The To- pography of Cliinn (1S44) : Eni/lish Vncahnlary in the Court Dialect (1844) ; The Middle King- dom (1848); and A iSyllabic Dictionary of the Chinese Language (1874). his greatest work. Consult his Memoirs bv his son, F. W. Williams (London and New Y'or'k, 1889). WILLIAMS, Seth (1822-00). An American soldier, born at Augusta, Me. He graduated at West Point in 1842, entered the artillery, served on the frontier, and participated in the Mexican War. He was promoted to be first lieutenant in March, 1847, and was brevetted captain for gal- lantry at Cerro Gordo a month later. In 1801 he was commissioned brigadier-general of vol- unteers, and from November 14, 1802, to March 10, 1804, he served as inspector-general in the adjutant-general's department of the Army of the Potomac, taking part in the Peninsular, Maryland, Rappahannock, Pennsylvania, Rapi- dan, and Rielimond campaigns. He received sev- eral brevets, including that of major-general in the Regular Army for gallantry and meritorious services in the field during the war. In Febru- ary, 1860, he was appointed adjutant-general of the Military Division of the Atlantic, but died less than a month after receiving his appoint- ment. WILLIAMS, WiLi-i-AM (1717-91). A Welsh hymn-writer. He was born at Cefn-y-Coed, Wales, became a deacon in the Church of England in 1740, but was never ordained priest, and served as an itinerant minister in the Methodist body all his life. He published his first volumt of liymns in Welsh in 1744, and since then has been accorded first place among Welsh liynm- writers. Many of his hymns are still sung by his countrymen, and one of them in its English trans- lation, "(Juide -Me, (J Thou (Ireat Jehovah," is very familiar. The most recent collection of his works is by Cynhafa .Tones (Newport, 1891). He himself published two volumes of hymns in English (175'J and 1771). WILLIAMS, William (1731-1811). A signer of (be declaration of Independence, born at Lebanon, Conn. He graduated at Harvard in 1751 ; in 1755 was on the staff of his relative. Colonel Ephraim Williams, in the battle of J^ake George; and at the age of twenty-five became town clerk, a position he continued to hold for forty-five years. About the same time lie be- came a member of the Assembly, and was reelect- ed to that body until 1804. In October, 1775, and again in 1770, he was sent to the Continental Congress, and in the latter year was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He also held numerous other positions : was for forty years a judge of probate for tiie district of Windham ; and was a member of the Connecticut convention that ratified the Federal Constitution. WILLIAMS, Sir William Fexwick (1800- 83). A British general, the "hero of Kars.' He was born at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, was edu- cated at the Royal Jlilitary Academy, Woolwich, and entered the British anny as second lieuten- ant in the Royal Artillery, 1825. After serving on various European stations, in 1841, then be- ing a captain, he was employed in diplomatic work in Turke.y, and was brevetted major and colonel. In 1848 he was appointed a commissioner for the settlement of the Turco-Persian boundary, and in 1854, during the Crimean War, British commissioner with the Turkish army in Asia, of which, with the brevet of a ferik or lieuten- ant-general and the dignity of a pasha, he vir- tually took the command. In 1855 he heroic- ally defended Kars against the Russians under Muravieff, who was repulsed in a great assault on September 29th. After Williams was forced by famine to surrender (November) he was created Baronet of Kars, and received a pension of £1000. From 1850 to 1859 he was a member of Parliament and general commandant at Wool- wich. He was subsequently in command of the forces in Canada, 1859-70, and at Gibraltar, 1870-70. Two years before his death he received the appointment of constable of the Tower of London. WILLIAMS, William George (1822-1902). An American Jlethodist educator. He was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, and graduated from Wood- ward College, Cincinnati, 1844, He was pro- fessor of the Greek language and literature in Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, from its foundation in 1844 until his death. He joined the Central Ohio Conference in 1856, and was its secretary for twentj'-eight years; he was chaplain of the 145th regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 1804. He published Baptism: a Disciissinn of the Words "Buried u-ith Christ in Baptism" I 1901). and Exposition of the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans (1902).