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WALDECK. 



WILLIAMS. SETH. 



W 



WALDECK, the name of a German princi- 

 pality. Prince, George, born January 14, 1831 ; 

 succeeded his father, May 15, 1845. Heir-ap- 

 parent, Prince Frederick, born January 20, 



1865. Area, 4(56 square miles. Population, in 

 1864, 59,143. Contingent to the Federal army, 

 866 men. Revenue, in 1865, 511,801 thalers. 

 In the German-Italian war Waldeck took sides 

 with Austria. After the war it joined the 

 North German Confederation. 



WHEWELL, WILLIAM, D. D., LL. D., an 

 English mathematician and philosopher, Master 

 of Trinity College, Cambridge, born in Lancas- 

 ter, May 24, 1794; died in Cambridge, March 5, 



1866. He graduated A. B. in 1816, obtained a 

 fellowship and became tutor in 1823. In 1828 

 he was made Professor of Mineralogy, and held 

 that office until 1832. The long catalogue of 

 his contributions to the " Transactions" of the 

 Philosophical Society attest the vast amount of 

 reading done during that period. In 1838 he 

 was chosen Professor of Moral philosophy, and 

 the previous year gave to the world his " History 

 of the Inductive Sciences," which, for range of 

 knowledge, depth and grasp of thought, and 

 lucidity of style, has few equals in modern 

 times. This work was followed in 1841 by his 

 " Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences," which 

 he regarded as the moral of the first. In 1841 lie 

 became Master of Trinity. In connection with 

 the British Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, of which he was president at this time, 

 he drew up the reports on the " Tides " and on 

 the " Mathematical Theories of Heat, Magnetism, 

 and Electricity." In 1855 he was chosen vice- 

 chancellor of the university. The same year he 

 lost his wife, and for a time was much absorbed 

 by his grief. During this period, by way of 

 diverting his thoughts from his affliction, he 

 wrote his popular work, "The Plurality of 

 Worlds," in which he argued that none of the 

 planets save the earth were inhabited. The 

 severe mental labor of a lifetime had its ef- 

 fect upon his brain, though he had shown no 

 sign whatever of failing power, unless it was 

 an increased somnolency, but an accident which 

 threw him from his horse, with no injury to the 

 skull, produced concussion of the brain, which 

 terminated fatally a few days after. Besides the 

 above-mentioned works on physical science, 

 Dr. Whewell was the author of " Astronomy and 

 General Physics with reference to Natural The- 

 ology." In moral philosophy, he wrote " Lectures 

 on the History of Moral Philosophy in England," 

 " Lectures on Systematic Morality," and " Ele- 

 ments of Morality, including Polity " (1845). 

 In regard to university reform he had written 

 two treatises upon education, and also several 

 upon mechanics, the most important of which 

 are a " Treatise on Conic Sections," and one on 

 " The Mechanics of Engineering." He edited Sir 



James Mackintosh's "Introduction to the Study 

 of Ethical Philosophy," and among his latest 

 productions were some translations of the "Eth- 

 ical Dialogues of Plato." He also translated 

 Goethe's "Hermann and Dorothea" into Eng- 

 lish hexameters, and published aversion of the 

 '- Professor's Wife," by Auerbach. In 1863 he 

 published "Six Lectures on Political Economy," 

 delivered at the request of the late Prince Con- 

 sort before the Prince of Wales and other stu- 

 dents. Dr. Whewell also published sermon?, 

 addresses, and a large number of scientific 

 papers on different subjects. 



WILLIAMS, SETH, brevet Major-General of 

 Volunteers in the United States Army, and at 

 the time of his death Adjutant-General of the 

 Department of the Atlantic on General Meade's 

 staff; born in Augusta, Me., March 22, 1822; 

 died in Boston, Mass., March 23, 1866. He 

 was appointed a cadet to the Military Academy 

 at West Point in 1838, and graduated in 1842, 

 receiving a commission of brevet second-lieu- 

 tenant of artillery. During this initiatory pe- 

 riod of his military career, he showed those 

 qualities of careful performance of duties by 

 which he was distinguished and well known 

 throughout the service ; and gained an honor- 

 able position in a class remarkable for its talent. 

 In the ordinary routine of promotion he became 

 first-lieutenant of artillery in 1847, and went 

 with the army into Mexico, where he received 

 the appointment of aide-de-camp to Major- 

 General Patterson, and won the brevet of cap- 

 tain for gallant and meritorious conduct in the 

 battle of Cerro Gordo. In September, 1850, 

 Captain Williams was appointed adjutant of 

 the Military Academy, and served in that ca- 

 pacity until September, 1853, having in August, 

 1853, received the appointment of assistant 

 adjutant-general, with the brevet rank of cap- 

 tain in the Adjutant-General's Department. In 

 1861 he was appointed major in the same corps; 

 and in September, 1861, brevet brigadier-gen- 

 eral of volunteers. In this last capacity he 

 served as adjutant-general of the Army of the 

 Potomac under its different commanders, until 

 the close of the war, when he was relieved ; and, 

 after serving upon several army boards, was 

 appointed adjutant-general of the department 

 under General Meade's command. 



In 1864 General Williams was transferred to 

 the staff of Major-General Grant, as acting in- 

 spector-general of th& armies of the United 

 States, and the same year was commissioned 

 major-general of volunteers, by brevet. He 

 held the full rank of lieutenant-colonel in the 

 regular army, but had been brevetted colonel 

 and brigadier-general "for gallant and merito- 

 rious services during the war." The services 

 of General Williams in the organization of the 

 army can hardly be overestimated ; and the un- 



