WILLIAM I. 373 WILLIAM I. of the World War, and how far it lay in his power in the summer of 1914 to prevent war, cannot be determined until all the facts are known. After the outbreak of the World War, the Emperor devoted himself more or less exclusively to military affairs, spending most of his time near the various fronts, although, of course, not actively partici- pating in any of the fighting. When it became clear, in the fall of 1918, that the German armies on the western front were facing inevitable defeat, and when, at the same time, a series of revolutions in various parts of Germany made it evident that the Imperial Government was about to collapse, the Emperor finally, on Nov. 8, 1918, abdicated. The abdication was announced the following day, although the actual official act was not written and signed until the end of November 1918. It was dated Ameron- gen, Holland, Nov. 28, 1918. It was at this place that the Emperor had sought refuge at the castle of Count Bentinck, a Dutch nobleman. Eventually the Dutch Government permitted him to remain after certain guarantees had been re- ceived from the Emperor. In 1920 the Emperor purchased an estate of his own a short distance of Amerongen, at Doom, where he continued to live in exile. His wife, ex-Empress Augusta Victoria, died on April 10, 1921. WILLIAM I., Frederick, King of Holland, Grank-Duke of Luxembourg, Prince of Orange and Duke of Nassau; born in The Hague, Aug. 24, 1772. He distinguished himself in the wars with the French republic, and became an exile with his father, the hereditary stadt- holder of the Dutch republic, in 1795; after his father's death, he succeeded first to the duchy of Nassau, and joined the Prussian army against Napoleon. He became King of Holland by the settle- ment of affairs which followed the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the countries united under his rule by the Congress of Vienna being the old united provinces of Hol- land, the bishopric of Liege, and Belgium; the latter, however, was separated by the revolution of 1830. He abdicated in 1840, and died in Berlin, Dec. 12, 1843. WILLIAM II., Frederick George Lewis, son and successor of the preced- ing; born in The Hague, Dec. 2, 1792, distinguished himself in the peninsular war under Lord Wellington ; he also com- manded the army of the Netherlands at the battle of Waterloo. His reign com- menced immediately upon his father's abdication in 1840. He died March 17, 1849. WILLIAM III., Alexander Paul Frederick, son and successor of the pre- ceding; born in The Hague, Feb. 19, 1817. His reign was chiefly distinguished by undertakings of internal improve- ment; and, under his rule, the king- dom enjoyed uninterrupted peace, and material prosperity increased. While Prince of Orange, William married, 1839, the Princess Sophia Frederica Matilda, daughter of the late King William I., of Wiirttemberg. They had two sons; William Nicholas Alexander Frederick Charles Henry, Prince of Orange; born in 1840, and William Alexander Charles Henry Frederick; born in 1851, and died in 1884, the last male heir of the house of Orange. William III. died at the Castle of Loo, Nov. 23, 1890. WILLIAM I., surnamed The Lion, King of Scotland; born in 1143, a grandson of David I., and brother of Malcolm IV., whom he succeeded in 1165. Whence he derived his designa- tion is one of the mysteries of history. His predecessors had long contested with the Kings of England the sovereignty of Northumberland and other districts of what is now the N. of England. Under Malcolm these claims were virtually abandoned and the king of Scots received, as a sort of equivalent for them the earldom of Huntingdon and other valuable estates. William had still, however, a hankering after the North- umbrian districts. He attended Henry of England in his continental wars, and is supposed, when doing so, to have pressed for a portion at least of the old disputed districts. In his disappoint- ment he invaded them after the example of his ancestors. On July 13, 1174, he fell, near Alnwick Castle, into the hands of an English party. For security he was conveyed to Normandy, and there he consented, as the price of his liber- ation, to perform that homage for his kingdom which the English kings so long in vain attempted to exact from the government of Scotland. The treaty of Falaise, as the transaction was termed, from the place where it was adjusted, v/as revoked in the year 1189 by Richard I. of England in consideration of a pay- ment of 10,000 marks, which he wanted for his celebrated expedition to Palestine. William had several disputes with the Church, but he was one of the early benefactors of the regular ecclesiastics and founded in 1178 the great abbey of Arbroath, which he dedicated to Thomas Becket, slain eight years earlier. William died in Stirling in 1214. WILLIAM I., OF NASSAU, Prince of Orange, surnamed The Silent; the first
