Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 61.djvu/416

 Arthur Champernowne of Dartington House, and settled in Dartington as curate to Thomas Keble. There he remained until 1848, when he removed to Stinchcombe, near Dursley, the parish of his brother-in-law, Sir George Prevost [q. v.] A house was built for him near the vicarage, and he rendered the clerical assistance in the parish that his health permitted. His college friend, E. A. Freeman, went that same year (1848) to live near Stinchcombe. In January 1846 Williams hovered between life and death, when Pusey and Manning went, as they thought, to see him for the last time. After this illness he spent his life in strict retirement, educating his sons and writing poetry, sermons, and other works. Newman paid him a farewell visit at Easter 1865. He died at Stinchcombe on 1 May 1865, and was buried in its churchyard, where a monument was erected to his memory. A stained-glass window was placed by subscription, as a memorial of him, in Trinity College chapel. A portrait, painted c 1850 by W. H. Cubley of Newark, hangs in the hall. His widow died at Ashleworth rectory on 1 Feb. 1886. He left six sons and one daughter (d. 1871).

The poems of Williams include: 1. ‘The Cathedral’ (anon.), 1838; 8th edit. 1859; republished, with the Rev. William Benham as editor, in 1889. Some part of it had appeared in the ‘British Magazine.’ It was written as a description of ‘the catholic and apostolic church in England,’ connecting the whole Gothic structure with the various points of religious doctrine. 2. ‘Thoughts in Past Years’ (anon.), 1838; 6th edit. 1852. The original edition was the work of the previous twelve years. The issue in 1852 was augmented by a section entitled ‘The Side of the Hill,’ i.e. Stinchcombe Hill, as well as by his school exercises, the ‘Ars Geologica,’ and the translations from the Greek and Latin hymns. 3. ‘Hymns translated from the Parisian Breviary’ (anon.), 1839; another edit. 1874. They led the Rev. John Chandler to produce his ‘Hymns of the Primitive Church.’ A selection from them, entitled ‘Ancient Hymns for Children,’ appeared in 1842, with preface signed ‘I. W.’ 4. ‘The Baptistery, or the Way of Eternal Life’ (anon.), 1842; pt. iv. 1844; 6th edit. 1863. This volume attacked the church of Rome, and provoked slight differences of opinion with Newman (cf., Reminiscences, i. 250). 5. ‘Hymns on the Catechism,’ 1843. 6. ‘Sacred Verses, with Pictures,’ 2 parts, 1845. 7. ‘The Altar,’ with numerous illustrations (anon.), 1847. Said to have been suppressed on account of the imperfections of the illustrations; another edit. 1849. 8. ‘The Christian Scholar’ (anon.), 1849. 9. ‘The Seven Days, or the Old and New Creation’ (anon.), 1850. 10. ‘The Christian Seasons’ (anon.), 1854, dedicated to his sister.

After the death of Williams there was published in 1869–70, in eight volumes, his 11. ‘Devotional Commentary on the Gospel Narrative.’ These had previously appeared as (i.) ‘Thoughts on the Study of the Holy Gospels,’ 1842; (ii.) ‘Harmony of the Four Evangelists,’ 1850; (iii.) ‘Our Lord's Nativity,’ 1844; (iv.) ‘Our Lord's Ministry: Second Year,’ 1848; (v.) ‘Our Lord's Ministry; Third Year,’ 1849; (vi.) ‘The Holy Week’ 1843; (vii.) ‘Our Lord's Passion,’ 1841 (a selection from the last two appeared in 1865 as ‘Daily Events of the Holy Week’); (viii.) ‘Our Lord's Resurrection,’ 1845.

His other writings in prose included: 12. ‘Some Meditations and Prayers to explain the Pictures by Boetius a Bolswert in “The Way of Eternal Life,”’ 1844. 13. ‘The Apocalypse, with Notes and Reflections,’ 1852 (new ed. 1873). 14. ‘Sermons on the Epistle and Gospel for each Sunday and for some of the Chief Festivals,’ 1853, 2 vols. Uniform with it was 15. ‘Sermons on the Epistle and Gospel for the Saints' Days and other Holy Days,’ 1855; new editions for whole series, 1875 and 1880. 16. ‘Sermons on the [Male] Characters of the Old Testament,’ 1856; new editions 1869 and 1879. 17. ‘Female Characters of Holy Scripture,’ 1859; new edit. 1884. 18. ‘Beginning of the Book of Genesis,’ 1861. 19. ‘The Psalms interpreted of Christ,’ vol. i. 1864, left unfinished. 20. ‘Plain Sermons on the Catechism,’ 1851 and 1882, 2 vols.

Williams started, with the hope of ‘soothing the alarms of many’ over the designs of the tractarians, a series in ten volumes of ‘Plain Sermons by Contributors to the Tracts for the Times,’ 1839–48, Copeland being his joint editor. His own contributions are indicated by the letter ‘B’ in a table at the end of volume x., and from this series were published in 1851 and 1882 his ‘Plain Sermons on the Catechism.’ He also wrote ‘A Short Memoir of the Rev. R. A. Suckling’ (1852 and 1853), and edited Suckling's ‘Sermons, Plain and Practical’ (1853). A volume of ‘Selections’ from his writings came out in 1890, and a second edition of his ‘Autobiography,’ a simple, unaffected narrative, commenced on 10 Dec. 1851, was called for within a few weeks of its first publication in 1892.

The name of Williams will always be included ‘among the soundest, the most loving, and the most thoughtful of the devo-