Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/625

* WILLIAMS. 533 WILLIAMS. Berlin (1750), at Dresden again (17.51), and at Vienna (1753). He made a Latin distich on Maria There.sa, that was repeated throuf,'liout Evirope. Afterwards he was ap- pointed to .Saint Petersburg with the mission of helping form a triple allianee between Russia, Austria, and England, which did not eonie about. Williams's occasional verse is worthy to be regarded as a link between that of Prior and Cowper, and his conversation was exceeding- ly lirilliant. His writings were collected in 1703, and were repuldishcd in 1775 an<l 1822. Consult Coxe, Historical Tuiir in Monmouthshire (London, 1801). WILLIAMS, Edwakd (bardic name, ToLO MoRCiANNWG) (1740-1826). A Welsh bard, burn March 10, 1740, in the parish of Llan t.'arfan, Glamorganshire, Wales. He was self-taught, From the age of nine he followed for many years the trade of stone-mason, and eventually took up land-surveying. After much wan<U'ring, he settled at Flemingston, in the vale of Gla- morgan, where he died December 18, 1820. His published verse comprises mainly I'orms. Li/ric and I'ustoral, in English (1704), and the I'snlniK of the Oiuixh in the Desert, in Welsh (1st vol. 1812; 2d vol. posthumous. 1834). With Owen Jones and William Owen Pughe. he edited from manuscripts the collection of Welsh verse and prose called the Myryrian Arehnioloyy (3 vols., 1801-07). A continuation of the work, known as the lolo MSS., was issued by the Welsh Manu- scripts Society in 1848 (reprint 1888). A treatise on the bardie system, called Cyfrinach y Beirdd (English, The Mystery of Bardism) , almost complete at his death, was pre- pared for the press in 1829 by his son Taliesin Williams. Consult the interesting ReeoUec- tions and Aneedotes of Edtoard Williams, by Elijah Waring (London, 1850). WILLIAMS, Eleazae (1787-1858). An American missionary, who claimed to be the 'lost dauphin' (Louis XVII.) of France. He was born probably in Caughnawaga, N. Y., and is supposed to have been the great-grandson of Eunice Williams, who -was carried away from Deerfield. Mass., at the time of the massacre of February. 1704. Eleazar was educated at Long Meadow and Westhampton. !Mass. At the out- break of the War of 1812 he was superintendent in the Northern Indian Department, ser<'d with the American troops, and was wounded at Plattsbnrg. Subsequently he took orders in the Episcopal Church and became a missionary among the New York Indians. In 1820 he accompanied the Oneidas, who were removed from New York State to a reservation near Green Bay, Wis., and remained there with them for thirty years. A rather striking likeness to the Bourbons, coupled with the fact that there were some discrepan- cies in the accounts of his early years, probably gave rise to the story that he was the 'lost dauphin.' the son of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, whose fate was shrouded in mystery. Williams had a strong imagination and he prob- ably exaggerated the rather weak evidence in behalf of his assertion until he really believed its truth. His claim that, in 1841, he had nn interview with the trince de .Toinville, then in America, who asked him to sign an 'abdi- cation' of the French throne was subsequently (l<'nied by the Prince. In 1850 he returnwl to New York and settled at Hogansburg, where he died. For a statement of his claim consult an article by Hanson in Putnam's Mayit-iiic for February, 1853, entitled "Have We a IJuurbon Among L'sV" also The Lost Prince (1854), by the same author. Williams was an authority on Indian language and history, and published A Hpelling Book in the Uinyuagc of the Nei-en Iroquois Sations (1813); A Caution A'jainst Our Common Enemy (1S13, in Iroquois; translated into Englisli ISl.")) ; Life of Te-ho-ra- (jira-nr-ijcn (Thomas Williams) (18.')9), a sketch of his reputed father, the grandson of Eunice Williams. He translated into Irocjuois TJic Book of Common Prayer (1853). WILLIAMS, Epiiraim (1715-55). An Ameri- can soldier and ])inni'cr. founder of Williams College. He was born in Newton, Mass., and after following the sea for several years settled in western Massachusetts, where he distinguished himself in frontier warfare with the Indians. At the outbreak of the war with France in 1744 he commaniled a company which took part in the Louisburg expedition, and later commanded the forts in the Connecticut Kiver valley in western Massachusetts. In recognition of his services he received from IMassachusetts in 1750 a large grant of land near the present sites of Williams- town and Adams. At the beginning of the French and Indian War (1755) he was commis- sioned a colonel of one of the Massachusetts regi- ments raised to take part in Sir William .John- son's expedition against Crown Point. While in camp at Albany he made his will, leaving money and lands for the founding of a free academy at Williamstown, which eventually became Williams College (q.v.). He led the advance toward Crown Point and was killed at the head of his troops during a skirmish, known as the ''Bloody Morn- ing's Scout," that preceded the battle of Lake George, September 8, 1755. WILLIAMS, Sir George (1821—). The founder of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion. He was born at a farm house in the parish of Dulverton, Somersetshire, England. He was converted at Bridgewater in 1837. In 1841 he became junior assistant in the dry goods firm of George Hitchcock & Co., in London. Two years afterwards he induced some of the em- ployees to hold a prajer meeting at regular intervals, and in June of the following year twelve persons, including Williams, formed them- selves into a society under the name of the Young IMen's Christian Association. There can be no doubt that to him belongs the chief credit of originating the society. From 1803 to 1885 he was treasurer of the organization, and in 188.5 became president. He also became hea<l of the firm of Hitchcock, Williams •& Co.. and in 1894 was knighted. Consult. Stevenson, Histori- cal Records of the Younfi Men's Christiati Asso- ciatio)! from IS.'/'l to ISS.'i (London, IS84). WILLIAMS, George Hexry (1823—). An American jurist, born in New Lebanon. N. Y. He was admitted to the bar in 1844. and from 1847 to 1852 was judge of the First Judicial Dis- trict of Iowa. From 1853 to 1857 he was Chief .Justice of Oregon Territory, and from 1865 to 1871 he was a member of the joint high commission that prepared the Treaty