He was re-elected to Congress the two succeeding years, and when the final vote upon the charter of our rights was taken, the voice of William Williams responded a thundering—“AYE”—that told his boldness and his zeal. That vote stands confirmed by his signature upon the record of immortal fame, a proud memento of his unalloyed patriotism, a conclusive proof of his moral firmness. He was free from an aspiring ambition based on self and nurtured by intrigue. From the pure fountain of an honest heart his motives emanated; to promote the glory of his country was his anxious desire. Upon the altar of liberty he was willing to sacrifice his property and his life; in vindicating the cause of freedom he was willing to spend his latest breath. Honesty of purpose, self-devotion, and persevering action were among his marked characteristics. To rouse his countrymen to a sense of danger, and to induce them to enlist in the common cause against the common enemy, he used every honourable exertion. Just before Congress was compelled to fly before the victorious foe from Philadelphia, Mr. Williams, at the risk of being captured himself, rescued his colleague, Colonel Dyer, from the fangs of the British, who had planned and were on the point of effecting his arrest. They both made a hair-breadth escape. When the government treasury was drained of its last hard dollar, this patriot threw in what he termed his “mite” of specie, amounting to more than two thousand dollars, and took continental money in return, which soon died in his hands. In the cause of equal rights his property was nearly all expended, and he gloried in being able to add to his mental aid a portion of “the sinews of power.” For forty years he was a judge of probate, a select-man of his native town during the war, commissioner of the public school fund, and held almost every office within the gift of his constituents, discharging the duties of all with so much industry, ability and integrity, that slander found no crevice in his uninterrupted and unblemished reputation for the smallest entering wedge, by which to impugn his private or public character. He was remarkably active and fortunate in obtaining private donations of necessaries to supply the army. He went from house to house among his friends, obtaining small parcels of any and every article that would alleviate the wants of the destitute soldiers. He forwarded to them at different times more than a thousand blankets. During the winter of 1781, he gave up his own house for the accommodation of the officers of the legion under Colonel Laurens, and used every effort to render them comfortable. His industry was equal to his patriotism, seldom retiring until after twelve at night, and rising at early dawn.