John Williams

“ John Williams from giving herself up to thinking, or from thinking about anything but her own private affairs. Not that Mrs. Williams gave herself up to scrubbing doors and windows and cleaning pots and pans with her own hands, but she was "taken up" all the same. When Christ was a babe on earth there was no room for him in the inn, so to-day many a heart is so full that Christ and his cause are turned out. If a heart is full how can it hold more? Do not suppose that there was no thinking done by Mrs. Williams. She superintended all her work and did much of her own sewing ”

“ He appears, however, to have been an honourable man, respected by his friends, and of some real poetical sensibility. His works are:
‘Life of John Williams ... [abridged from Hacket] with appendix giving a just account of his benefactions to St. John's College, Cambridge,’ 1700. ‘Pastorals’ in Tonson's ‘Miscellany’ (p. vi) , 1709. ”

“ He married Anne, daughter of John Goddard of Rotterdam and Woodford Hall, Essex, and a niece of Henry Hope, one of the chief partners in the bank, a nephew of Adrian Hope, and a near kinsman of Thomas Hope (1770?–1831) [q. v.] . Williams assumed the name of Hope at first in addition to his own, but subsequently dropped the name of Williams altogether. On the return of Henry Hope with other members of his family to England in 1794, Williams-Hope managed the business in Amsterdam, and was elected one of the eight statesmen of Holland. ”

“ So you are going to spoil a noble career, are you? That's selfish. I didn't think it of you. There are thousands of successful physicians, but there is only one Ernest Hamilton.
Helen
[laughs]
Oh, don't worry, John, he has promised me to keep his two-thousand-dollar job. [Pg 134]
John
Ah, I'm glad. You must let nothing interfere with his great humanitarian work. Think what it means to the lives of little children! Think what it means to the future of the race! Why, every one says his greatest usefulness has hardly begun! ”

“ The finest Puritan of them all comes last, Governor John Winthrop of the Bay Colony. A splendid, noble face is his. He is every inch a gentleman. He has brought the best of old England into the crude life of New England and is helping to build up so sturdy a race that the generations which follow will be proud of their descent from him and Puritans like him. He does not agree with Roger Williams, but a life-long friendship springs up between the two. ”

“ Williams gave considerable assistance to John Brickdale Blakeway in his ‘Sheriffs of Shropshire’ and ‘History of Shrewsbury,’ and to Archdeacon Joseph Plymley in his ‘Agricultural Survey of Shropshire.’ During the latter years of his life Williams discontinued his antiquarian pursuits, and devoted himself entirely to his parochial duties. ”

“ That night John attended prayers with more earnestness, and repeated his own lesson with more seriousness, than had been remarked for a long time. He went on day by day making himself more useful and active about the house, and at school doing his best to get forward in his learning. ”

“ He discovered some ingenuity in mending locks and [25_83] hinges, and other little things, which in a house, are often getting out of order. Every room was looked into; if perchance a nail might be loosened, the putty falling from a pane of glass or a button off—in truth, there was nothing of this sort which escaped his care.
The week soon passed away,—his sea clothes were all made, and sent on board the vessel. John went to take leave of his faithful teacher, Mr. Brown, who gave him several good books and his blessing at parting. ”

“ We knew that John was prepared to die, and we could not feel regret that he had been indulged in pursuing that course of life for which he had such a decided preference. We rejoiced that the lessons of piety which it had been [33_91] our happiness to impart, had taken root and produced the fruits of righteousness. ”

“ Williams was not only a man of great powers of mind, but also of remarkable independence of character, and as a self-taught genius attracted, on his visits to London, a good deal of notice from the men of letters of his day. ”

“ Dialogue (Welsh) between ‘Philalethes’ and ‘Eusebius’ as to true Christianity, Carmarthen, 1791; a defence of Peter Williams [q. v.] In 1811 Williams's second son, John, at the request of the South Wales Association, issued at Carmarthen a complete edition of his father's hymns, which was reprinted at Carmarthen in 1824 and Swansea in 1829. Other (incomplete) editions were those of Robert Jones, Rhos Lan, in 1795 (‘Grawnsypiau Canaan,’ Liverpool) , and William Rees in 1847 (‘Y Pêr Ganiedydd, Liverpool) . ”

“ In less fanciful language, arguments are given to show that neither laws nor civil magistrates should have authority over a man’s soul. Roger Williams did not mean any disrespect to his old friend, John Cotton, by thus openly taking opposite sides with him. ”

“ Although at odds with the theology of Massachusetts Bay, Williams remained in correspondence with Winthrop and others in Boston, by whom he was highly esteemed. He visited England in 1643 and 1652, and made the acquaintance of John Milton.
Besides the threat of an Indian war and their anxious concern for the purity of the Gospel in their churches, the colonists were haunted by superstitious forebodings of the darkest kind. ”

“ He neglected to provide for his wife and child, and at home did nothing but quarrel, and vent the ill humour he acquired abroad; and miserable to relate, in less than a year his wife became as useless and sinful as he. Their once quiet home was now the scene of perpetual strife and discord; mutual dislike succeeded to mutual reproach, and the unfortunate little John had the example of both parents to initiate him in those early lessons of vice;—and deeply have the seeds of [11_69] corruption been sown in his young heart. ”

“ In June 1789 Williams was appointed to the Otter, employed in the North Sea; and on 22 Nov. 1790 he was advanced to post rank. In December 1792 he was appointed to the Lizard, and in August 1794 to the Dædalus, both in the North Sea for the protection of trade, and to co-operate with the army in the Low Countries. For his good service in forcing a number of transports through the ice in the Ems in the winter of 1794–5, and so relieving the forces at Emden, he was specially thanked by the admiralty, and appointed, in July 1795, to the 32-gun frigate Unicorn on the Irish station. ”

“ To show John that there would be a grand sequel to the dreadful drama that was being performed before his eyes, as the canvas, as it were, passes a vision appears of those souls being given white robes, indicative of the glorious reward of immortality, to be bestowed upon them by Him who declared, "Behold; I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man (or every soul) as his work shall be."
The only shadow at which the believer in the immortality of the soul can snatch in this case is, that the souls are represented as crying out. "Can dead souls speak?", they triumphantly ask. ”

“ John and Shakespeare, Mary Magdalene and Mary Shelley, the angels of the church and the winged pterodactyls of the chalk, flashed and faded in everchanging kaleidoscopic dream.
The mood which welcomed all forms of belief, embraced none utterly, but contemplated all, became vague, chaotic, and transcendental; and Ambrose Bradley found himself in a fairy world where nothing seemed real and solemn enough as a law for life. ”

“ When weak and persecuted, the scope of his vision of intellectual liberty and Christian charity embraced the earth; when in power and strong, it contracted to the small orbit of his parish at Salem—himself the central sun of light and goodness. Such is the tendency of all human minds under like circumstances; and Roger Williams, great and good as he was, was not an exception.
The magistrates were greatly irritated; some of Williams's language was construed as treasonable and schismatic, and he was arraigned before the General Court at Boston on this charge. ”

“ And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."
It is here said that John was a great man, yet in the kingdom of heaven the least is greater. It can not be said that the least in the church is as great as John. Neither can it be, that the least one who has the so-called "kingdom of grace in the heart" is greater than he. The "kingdom of heaven," here, therefore, is not the church, nor the "kingdom in the heart." ”

“ This Patent gave a carte blanche to the colonists to settle their own form of government by voluntary consent, or vote, among themselves; and, having it in his pocket, Williams might hope, on his return to America, to set up, in the polity of Rhode Island and its adjacencies, such an example of complete civil democracy combined with absolute religious individualism as the world had never yet seen. The Bloody Tenent might be left in England as an exposition of his theory in the sphere of Religion until this practical Transatlantic example of it should be ready! ”

“ But, on all grounds, Williams deserves the priority. [Footnote: For statements in this paragraph authorities are— Apologetic Narration (1644) ; Hanbury's Historical Memorials, II. 341 et seq.; Reprint of The Bloody Tenent by the Hanserd Knollys Society (1848) , with Mr. Underhill's "Biographical Introduction," pp. xxiii.-iv.; Jackson's Life of John Goodwin, p. 114 et seq.; Baillie's Letters, II. 180,181, and 211, 212, and Commons Journals, Aug. 9, 1644.]
Well may the Americans be proud of Roger Williams. His Bloody Tenent is of a piece with all his previous career. ”

“ Generous John!
John
[impatiently]
Never mind about me. That problem is all settled; now about Helen.... Lucy! I thought I told you——
[Lucy, in a guilty hurry, escapes into the house.
Judge
John, charity never settles problems; it perpetuates them. You can't cure social defects by individual treatment.
John
[more impatiently]
Does talk settle anything? [Pg 50]
Judge
Everything. We may even settle the marriage problem if we talk honestly. [Theodore returns from telephoning to the sanitarium.] Theodore, it's all right! John honestly believes in setting an example to society! ”

“ These two sailors liked especially to vex and teaze John, or as they called him, “pious Jack.” Their taunts produced no other effect on the boy, except to make him more serious and forbearing.
[29_87]
“After a time, they became ashamed of their folly in attempting to provoke one who always returned them good for evil, and who was ready at all hours to oblige them. These men became affected, rough as they were, by the influence of this young cabin boy. He persuaded them, after a time, to hear him read some tracts as they sat unemployed, as they often were for some hours together. ”

“ In them the text of scripture was reversed;—‘Good communication had reformed their manners,’—and they became the most valuable hands on board.
“While off the coast we encountered a heavy gale, and then John’s religion was put to the most certain test: for some hours we expected the ship would go to pieces; the night was dark and terrific; we were in danger of being driven on the shoals, and losing life with the cargo.
“We all knew that a moment might end our lives. John was fearless ”

“ John
Now, such men should be kept free from cares and anxiety. What was it you said yesterday? "He needs every cent of his salary for books, travel, all the advantages he simply must have for efficiency." To marry a poor man—most selfish thing a girl could do!
Helen
Yes, John, that's what I said yesterday.
John
[scoring]
But that was before he asked you! [Helen smiles. He sneers.] Rather pleased with yourself now, aren't you? "Just a woman after all" [Pg 135] —heroine of cheap magazine story! Sacrifices career for love!... All very pretty and romantic, my dear—but how about the man you love! ”

“ WILLIAMS, ROBERT (1767–1850) , Welsh bard, son of William Williams, was born at Betws Fawr in the parish of Llan Ystumdwy, Carnarvonshire, in 1767. His father was a small freeholder, and he succeeded him in the occupation of Betws Fawr, moving, however, towards the end of his life to Mynachty in the same district. ‘Robert ap Gwilym Ddu,’ as he was styled in bardic circles, became first known as the winner in 1792 of the Gwyneddigion Society's medal for the best ode on the ‘Massacre of the Bards.’ This was, however, his only success of the kind ”

“ Fir, spruce and cedar you will see along the slopes of the Cascades in varying density and grandeur, from thickets of slender trees reclaiming fire-swept lands to broken ranks of patriarchs whose crowns have swayed before the storms of centuries. ”

“ In a few hours he stands upon a barren shoulder of the peak, at timber line. A new world confronts him. The glaciers reach their icy arms to him from the summit, and he breathes the winds that sweep down from their fields of perennial snow. ”

“ WILLIAMS, MOSES (1686–1742) , Welsh antiquary, son of Samuel Williams, vicar of Llan Dyfrïog and rector of Llan Gynllo, Cardiganshire, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Jenkin Powel Prytherch, was born at Glaslwyn, in the parish of Llan Dysul, on 2 March 1685–6. From Carmarthen grammar school he went to University College, Oxford, matriculating on 31 March 1705. ”

“ Meanwhile he had been invited by William Wotton [q. v.] to assist him in his labours in connection with the laws of Hywel the Good; ‘Leges Wallicæ,’ published in 1730 after Wotton's death, though nominally edited by William Clarke (1696–1771) [q. v.] , no doubt owed much of its merit to the learning of Williams, whose assistance in the preparation of the text is expressly acknowledged. ”