SIR WILLIAM JONES. Persian, at the request of the King of Denmark, After making another tour, he gave up his tutorship, and, in September, 1770, entered himself a student of the Temple, for the purpose of studying for the bar. He took this step in compliance with the earnest solicitations of his friends. "Their advice," he says, in a letter to his friend Reviczki, only road to the highest stations in this country, is that of the law; and I need not add how ambitious and laborious I am." The mode in which he occupied himself in chambers is best described by his own pen, in a letter to his friend, Dr. Bennett ; WILLIAM JONES, the son of an eminent mathe- | matician, was born in London, in the year 1746. Losing his father, when only three years of age, he was left to the entire care of his mother, a woman of strong mind and good sense, and from whom he imbibed an early taste for literature. In 1753, he was sent to Harrow School, where he soon attracted the attention of the masters, and the admiration" was conformable to my own inclinations; for the of his associates, by his extraordinary diligence and superior talents. Among his school fellows were Dr. Parr, and Bennett, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, who, in speaking of young Jones, at the age eight or nine, says, he was even then "an uncommon boy." Describing his subsequent progress at Harrow, he says, "great abilities, great particularity of thinking, fondness for writing verses and plays of various kinds, and a degree of integrity and manly courage, distinguished him even at that period. I loved him and revered him, and, though one or two years older than he was, was always instructed by him from my earliest age." Such was his devotion to study, that he used to pass whole nights over his books, until his eyesight became affected; and Dr. Thackeray, the master of Harrow, said, "so active was the mind of Jones, that if he were left, naked and friendless, on Salisbury Plain, he would, nevertheless, find the road to fame and riches." "I have learned so much," he says, “seen so much, written so much, said so much, and thought so much, since I conversed with you, that were I to attempt to tell half what I have learned, seen, writ, said, and thought, my letter would have no end. I spend the whole winter in attending the public speeches of our greatest lawyers and senators, and in studying our own admirable laws. I give up my leisure hours to a Political Treatise on the Turks, from which I expect some reputation; and I have several objects of ambition which I cannot trust to letter, but will impart to you when we meet." In the midst of all these engagements he found time to attend Dr. William Hunter's lectures on anatomy, and to read Newton's Principia : and in 1772, he published a collection of poems, consisting, principally, of translations from the Asiatic languages. In the same year he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society; and, in 1774, appeared his celebrated commentaries De Poesi Asiatica, which procured him great reputation both at home and abroad. In 1764, he was entered at University College, Oxford, in opposition to the wishes of his friends, who advised his mother to place him under the superintendence of some special pleader, as at that early age he had made such a voluntary progress in legal acquirements, as to be able to put cases from an abridgement of Coke's Institutes. At the university, instead of confining himself to the Being now called to the bar, he suspended all usual discipline, he continued the course of classi-literary pursuits, and devoted himself, with intense cal reading which he had commenced at Harrow, earnestness, to the study of his profession. In and devoted a considerable portion of his time to 1775, he became a regular attendant at Westminthe study of the oriental languages. During his ster Hall, and went the circuit and sessions at vacations, which he generally spent in London, he Oxford; and in the following year he was, without learnt riding and fencing; and at home he occu- solicitation, made a commissioner of bankrupt, by pied himself in the perusal of the best Italian, Lord-chancellor Bathurst. It would seem, from the Spanish, French, and Portuguese authors. In 1765, correspondence of our author, that soon after his he became private tutor to Lord Althorp, the son of call to the bar, he acquired considerable practice, Earl Spencer; and shortly afterwards he was elect- as he says, in a letter to Mr. Schultens, dated July, ed fellow on the foundation of Sir Simon Bennett. 1777, "My law employments, attendance in the In 1767, he accompanied the Spencer family to courts, incessant studies, the arrangement of pleadGermany; and whilst at Spa, he learnt dancing, ings, trials of causes, and opinions to clients, the broad-sword exercise, music, besides the art of scarcely allow me a few moments for eating and playing on the Welsh harp; "thus," to transcribe sleeping." In 1778, he published his translation an observation of his own, " with the fortune of of the Orations of Isæus, with a Prefatory Disa peasant, giving himself the education of a course, Notes, and Commentary, which displayed prince." On his return, he resided with his pupil profound critical and historical research, and exat Harrow, and, during his abode there, he trans-cited much admiration. In March 1780, he publated into French the life of Nadir Shah from the lished a Latin Ode in favour of American freedom; for me; and if the whole legislature of Britain were to offer me a station different from that I now fill, I should most gratefully and respectfully decline it." He continued, with indefatigable zeal, his compilation of the Hindoo and Mahometan Digest; on the completion of which he was to have followed his wife to England, who had proceeded thither, for the recovery of her health, in the December of 1793. This intention, however, he did not live to carry into effect, being shortly afterwards attacked with an inflammation of the liver, which terminated his existence on the 27th of April, 1794. His epitaph, written by himself, is equally admirable for its truth and its elegance. Here was deposited and, shortly afterwards, on the resignation of Sir | want no addition to my fortune, which is enough Roger Newdigate, he was induced to become a candidate for the representation of the University of Oxford; but the liberality of his political principles rendering his success hopeless, he declined a poll. The tumults of this year induced him to write a pamphlet, entitled, An Inquiry into the Legal Mode of suppressing Riots, with a Constitutional Plan of Future Defence; and about the same period he published his celebrated essay on the Law of Bailments, in which he treated his subject, says Mr. Roscoe, with an accuracy of method hitherto seldom exhibited by our legal writers. In 1782, he spoke at a public meeting in favour of parliamentary reform, and also became a member of the Society for Contitutional Reformation. In a letter to the Dean of St. Asaph, this year, he says it is "his wish to become as great a lawyer as Sulpicius ;" and hints at giving up politics, to the resignation of which he was the more inclined in consequence of a bill of indictment being preferred against the divine abovementioned, for publishing a tract, composed by Jones, entitled, A Dialogue between a Farmer and a Country Gentleman, on the Principles of Government. Of this our author immediately avowed himself the writer, by a letter addressed to Lord Kenyon, in which he defended his positions, and contended that they were conformable to the laws of England. the mortal part of a man who feared God, but not death; and maintained independence, but sought not riches; who thought none below him but the base and unjust; none above him but the wise and virtuous; who loved his parents, kindred, friends, and country; and having devoted his life to their service, and the improvement of his mind, resigned it calmly, giving glory to his Creator, wishing peace on earth, and good will to all his creatures. His character was, indeed, truly estimable in every respect. To exquisite taste and learning quite unparalleled," says Dr. Parr, "Sir William Jones is known to have united the most benevolent temper, and the purest morals." His whole life was one unceasing struggle for the interests of his fellow creatures, and, unconnected with this object, he knew no ambition. He was a sincere and pious Christian; and in one of his latest discourses to the Asiatic Society, he has done more to give validity to the Mosaic account of the creation, than the researches of any contemporary writers. His acquirements as a linguist were absolutely wonderful: he understood, critically, English, Latin, French, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Persian, and Sanscrit; he could translate, with the aid of a dictionary, the Spanish, Portuguese, German, Ru nic, Hebrew, Bengalee, Hindoo, and Turkish; and he had bestowed considerable attention on the Russian, Swedish, Coptic, Welsh, Chinese, Dutch, Syriac, and several other languages. In addition to his vast stock of literary information, he possessed extensive legal knowledge; and, as far as we may judge from his translations, had sufficient capacity and taste for a first-rate original poet. His indefatigable application and industry have, perhaps, never been equalled; even when in illhealth he rose at three in the morning, and what were called his hours of relaxation, were devoted to studies, which would have appalled the most vigorous minds. In 1799, his widow published a splendid edition of his works, in six volumes, folio, and placed, at her own expense, a marble statue of him, executed by Flaxman, in the anti-chamber of University College, Oxford; and, among other public testimonies of respect to his memory, the directors of the East India Company voted him a monument in St. Paul's Cathedral, and a statue in His political principles had for some time prevented him obtaining the grand object of his ambition, an Indian judge-ship; but he was at length, in March, 1783, appointed judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature in Bengal, through the influence of Lord Ashburton. Previous to his departure he received the honour of knighthood, and married Miss Shipley, daughter to the Bishop of St. Asaph, with whom he arrived in Calcutta, in September, and entered upon his judicial functions in the following December. Law, literature, and philosophy, now engrossed his attention to such a degree, that his health, on which the climate also had a prejudicial influence, was quickly impaired. In a letter to Dr. Patrick Russell, dated March, 1784, he says, "I do not expect, as long as I stay in India, to be free from a bad digestion, the morbus literatorum, for which there is hardly any remedy but abstinence from too much food, literary and culinary. I rise before the sun, and bathe after a gentle ride; my diet is light and sparing, and I go early to rest; yet the activity of my mind is too strong for my constitution, though naturally not infirm, and I must be satisfied with a valetudinarian state of health." Soon after his arrival he projected the scheme of the Asiatic Society, of which he became the first president, and contributed many papers to its memoirs. With a view to rendering himself a proficient in the science of Sanscrit and Hindoo laws, he studied the Sanscrit and Arabic languages with great ardour; and whilst on a tour through the district of Benares, for the recovery of his health, he composed a tale, in verse, called The Enchanted Fruit, and A Treatise on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India. In 1790, he appears to have received an offer of some augmentation of his salary, as, in a letter of that year to Sir James Macpherson, he says, "Really I| Bengal. CAISSA: OR, THE GAME OF CHESS. ADVERTISEMENT. THE first idea of the following piece was taken from a Latin poem of Vida, entitled Scacchia Ludus, which was translated into Italian by Marino, and inserted in the fifteenth canto of his Adonis: the author thought it fair to make an acknowledgment, in the notes, for the pas sages which he borrowed from those two poets; but he must also do them the justice to declare, that most of the descriptions, and the whole story of Caissa, which is written in imitation of Ovid, are his own; and their faults must be imputed to him only. The characters in the poem are no less imaginary than those in the episode; in which the invention of chess is poetically ascribed to OF armies on the chequer'd field array'd,* Then Delia thus: "Or rather, since we meet prepare To view the combat, and the sport to share; The champions burn'd their rivals to assail, In shape and station different, as in name, Who form'd the legions on the level field? Near yon cool stream, whose living waters play, And o'er the rest their pearly sceptres rear: One solemn step, majestically slow, If e'er they call, the watchful subjects spring, “The meads and lawns are tinged with beamy And wakeful larks begin their vocal flight; The queens exulting near their consorts stand; The valiant guards, their minds on havoc bent, Compact they move, the bulwark of the fight.‡ To right and left the martial wings display From varying hues renew the fierce attack, "A lovely Dryad ranged the Thracian wild, And through his breast a piercing arrow sent: on which the success of the game in great measure depends, though it seems to be omitted by the very accu. rate Vida. IMITATIONS. ⚫ Il cavallo leggier per dritta lista, Marino, Adone. 15. † Quæ quondam sub aquis gaudent spectacla tueri Nereides, vastique omnis gens accola ponti; Siquando placidum mare, et humida regna quierunt. Vida But e'en her frowns (ah, what might smiles have done!) Fired all his soul, and all his senses won. 46 "To whom the maid replied with smiling mien: | Love's brother dwells, a boy of graceful port, 66 Be swift, (he added) give my passion aid; Approved the play, and named it thoughtful Chess.) Ecco d'astuto ingegno, e pronta mano Garzon, che sempre scherza, e vola ratto, Gioco s'apella, ed e d'amor germano. Marino, Adone. 15. Then show'd his tablet; pleased, the nymph survey'd The lifeless troops, in glittering ranks display'd; strides ; Who from the plain the snowy king divides; Long time the war in equal balance hung; Whilst her lost castle leaves his threatening height, At this, pale fear oppress'd the drooping maid, Straight Daphnis leads his squadron to the field; before, He now assumes, and hurls the spear no more; Still Venus gleams, and last of all expires. IMITATIONS. -Medio rex æquore inermis Constitit amissis sociis: velut æthere in alto Expulit ardentes flammas ubi lutea bigis Luciferis Aurora, tuus pulcherrimus ignis Lucet adhuc, Venus, et cœlo inox ultimus exit. Vida, ver. 604. |