GEORGE HUNTINGTON WILLIAMS. 7^ 1 



conduct toward his junior associate, whose advancement he 

 earnestly advocated and materially hastened, and between whom 

 and himself there always existed the closest affiliation and heart- 

 iest concord. And when, about to venture upon untried ground, 

 the present writer sought his friend's advice, he found a gener- 

 ous counselor, one ever ready to communicate ideas, observations, 

 and valued knowledge, who seemed incapable of secreting for 

 some fancied gain anything that might benefit another. But 

 higher yet must be recorded the purity of his life — his honor 

 without reproach ; his affections above suspicion. 



Turning- to his career as teacher and investigator we have 

 first to note those faculties he happily inherited, which showing 

 themselves from time to time during his early development at 

 last became his strength and power. Among these was a great 

 love for books, his frequent companions when a child. He was 

 not only fond of studying them, but attempted making them„ 

 and soon developed correct habits of reading — close observation 

 and discriminating analysis. These, combined with a good mem- 

 ory, also discriminative, proved invaluable aids to his success as 

 a teacher, as well as to the completeness of his literary work, in 

 which fullness of bibliography and strength of historical treat- 

 ment are characteristic features. 



He had also a faculty for acquiring languages that not only 

 made him proficient in German and French, and well versed in 

 Latin and Greek, but gave him a command over English which 

 was evident in his writings and even more so in his speech. His 

 conversation was fluent, and his ability to express his ideas in a 

 clear, forcible manner rendered him an excellent lecturer and an 

 attractive speaker. His skill in drawing and illumination devel- 

 oped during his school days, and turned his thoughts toward 

 architecture, his choice of professions at the time of his entering 

 college at eighteen. This talent served him well in after 

 life, and contributed no little to his descriptive powers. A 

 healthy inquisitiveness and the habit of close observation sup- 

 plied the necessary elements of an original investigator, who 



