SIR WILLIAM JONES.

THIS extraordinary linguist and Oriental scholar was born in London in the year 1746. When only three years of age he had the misfortune to lose his father, a distinguished mathematician and scholar, and was left entirely to the guidance of a fond mother. Being a woman of strong mind, she determined that her son should have a good education, and devoted all her time, energies, and means to the accomplishment of this object. The boy early displayed an acuteness uncommon in one of his age; and to his questionings the mother invariably replied, Read, and you will know. To this admonition the great scholar admitted that he was mainly indebted for his subsequent attainments. When only seven years of age young William was placed at the celebrated school at Harrow, being accompanied there by his mother, who took a small place in the village in order that she might minister to his wants, and direct his mind as far as lay in her power. Under the routine of the school his precocity disappeared, and for two years he was more remarkable for diligence than quickness. In his ninth year he met with an accident by which his thigh bone was broken.

He was unable to attend school for a year, but his mother availed herself of the opportunity to initiate him into the glorious field of English literature, and he became acquainted with some of the best poets. On returning to school he was put into the same class which he had left, but found, to his dismay, that he was far behind his old classmates. What contributed to his pain, even more than this knowledge, was the fact that even the master mistook his necessary retrogression for dullness or laziness, and threatened to punish him, the ferrule being considered an excellent stimulant to mental activity in those days. The threat had no effect on poor young Jones; but his pride was touched, and he made up his mind that he would overtake his classmates. By hard study, he accomplished his purpose and took his place at the head of the class, gained the prize offered in every department, and carried his proficiency much beyond what was required of boys in hist form. In his twelfth year he entered the upper school, and soon after astonished teacher, scholars, and every body else by a remarkable display of memory. Theatrical representations took place among the scholars, and on one occasion it was determined to give Shakspeare's "Tempest." Unfortunately, there was not a copy to be had. To supply the deficiency, young Jones wrote it out from memory with sufficient correctness to enable the boys to act it with pleasure to themselves. About the same time he began the study of Greek, and prosecuted his Latin with more zeal than ever. He conquered many of the difficulties of Latin prosody before his teachers and schoolmates were aware that he had thought of the subject, and so with many other subjects. During the vacation he found time to perfect himself in French, and to study Italian and arithmetic. He also learned something of Arabic, and enough of Hebrew to enable him to read some of the Psalms in the original. He was now in his thirteenth year, and his inclination to study at this period was so earnest that it was thought proper to check it, lest it might injure his health. His attendance at school was therefore interdicted, and for a time he was prohibited all kind of study.

At the age of seventeen it was decided that he should go to one of the Universities, and in the spring of 1764 he was entered for University College, Oxford. It is characteristic of his elevated temperament that he was disappointed with the course of instruction provided here. He was astonished to find that he

could not receive the assistance he anticipated, and that the professors and tutors were not prepared for giant strides. He conceived very bitter sentiments against the establishment, unmindful apparently of the fact that it was intended for the average capacities of students, and not for the unusual ones of young men like Jones. In later days he modified the hasty impression of his youth. A testimony to his scholarship was soon given by his being elected one of the four scholars on the foundation of Sir Simon Bennett. His love for Oriental literature began to manifest itself, and he commenced studying Arabic from a native of Aleppo whom he discovered in the streets of London and transported to Oxford. From this individual he obtained a fluent knowledge of the vulgar Arabic. He then studied Persian. Nor did he, in the mean time, neglect his old friends, the Greeks and Latins. The Greek poets and historians, and especially the writings of Plato, he carefully perused. With the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, he had become so familiar that he could read their best authors with ease. While following these multitudinous studies, he did not neglect the requirements of the body. He knew that a healthy mind could only be secured by a healthy body, and never neglected to take a systematic course of exercise in connection with his studies. In this way he was able to preserve a high tone of health, and, "with the fortune of a peasant, to give himself the education of a prince." Without these precautions it would have been impossible for a feeble constitution to resist the intense labor and application imposed on it.

In the summer of 1766 he was unexpectedly elected to a fellowship at Oxford. The appointment was very acceptable in many ways. In the first place, it was a recognition of his attainments, and, in the second, it furnished him with an income, with which he might, if he felt so disposed, pursue his studies to any extent he pleased, and remain within the classic precincts of the University city. He had felt the want of money so much previous to this event, that in the preceding year he had accepted an invitation to become the private tutor of Lord Althorpe (afterward Earl Spencer). In the family of this nobleman he passed some years, and appears to have been treated with kindness and consideration. In 1767 he accompanied his lordship on a tour of the Continent, and availed himself of the opportunity of learning German. On his return he devoted himself largely to the

preparation of his "Commentaries on Asiatic Poetry”—a learned work which he had in progress-and also found time to learn the Chinese.

In 1768, the King of Denmark was on a visit to England, and brought with him an Eastern manuscript containing the life of Nadir Shah. This manuscript had puzzled the savans of the Continent, and he brought it to England, hoping that Jones would undertake to translate it into French. As might be expected, Mr. Jones declined; but the king pressed his request so earnestly that he was afraid of being misunderstood if he refused any longer. He performed the task, and in less than a year laid the work before his majesty-the work of a young man of twenty-four years of age, critically exact in two totally opposite languages.

During the performance of this very laborious undertaking, which, it is unnecessary to say, required the greatest concentration of his faculties, he was not unmindful of his invariable rule of preserving his physical health. At various times, when he was pursuing a study with more than ordinary devotion, he took lessons in horsemanship, fencing, etc., in order to utterly relax his mind at certain periods of the day. While applying himself to the King of Denmark's serious task, he found time to study music, a study which, be it observed, should belong more especially to literary men, relieving as it does the pressure of severer studies with one which is at once delicious and refreshing. He went into society, also, and made the acquaintance of many eminent men.

During the summer of 1769 he accompanied his pupil to Harrow, and left him there in charge of his old preceptors. During his temporary stay he completed a Persian grammar, and commenced a Persian dictionary. His mind, too, became seriously directed toward the truths of Christianity, and he resolved, for his own satisfaction, to peruse carefully the Scriptures in the original. The result was transcribed on the fly-leaf of his own Bible, and ran as follows: "I have carefully and regularly perused these Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion that the volume, independently of its divine origin, contains more sublimity, purer morality, more important history, and finer strains of eloquence, than can be collected from all other books, in whatever language they may have been written."

After his return from Harrow he determined to commence the study of the law, with the view of following it as a profession.

He did not at first think it necessary to forsake entirely his Oriental pursuits, nor would it have been possible for him to do so in a moment. Literature (especially that of Eastern countries) had become a part of his life. Still, he was capable of devoting himself with great assiduity to the study of jurisprudence. "I have just begun," he writes, "to contemplate the stately edifice of the laws of England, 'The gathered wisdom of a thousand years,' if you will allow me to parody a line of Pope.

I do not see why the study of the law is called dry and unpleasant; and I very much suspect that it seems so to those only who would think any study unpleasant which requires great application of the mind and exertion of the memory. *** I have opened two commonplace books, the one of the law, the other of oratory, which is surely too much neglected by our modern speakers. But I must lay aside my studies for about six weeks, while I am printing my grammar, from which a good deal is expected, and which I must endeavor to make as perfect as a human work can be. When that is finished, I shall attend the Court of King's Bench very constantly."

***

Honors began to reward the industrious scholar. In 1772 Mr. Jones was elected Fellow of the Royal Society, and, two years later, published his Commentaries on Asiatic Poetry. They had been finished for some years, but he delayed the printing, in order to submit them to the criticism of scholars. They were written in Latin, and commanded the attention of savans throughout the world. In 1778 he published a translation of a part of the orations of Isæus. During all this period he pursued the study of the law with his usual avidity.

In 1780 he lost his mother, a calamity which fell heavily on him, but which was not unexpected. That estimable woman had lived to see her proudest hopes realized, and left the world with the conviction that her son would be, if he was not already, the most distinguished man of the century. The event seems to have awakened thoughts in the mind of Jones which had heretofore been crowded out by the hurry and excitement of continual study, namely, that there was a limit to his own life. The apprehension that he might die imperfect in some matters which afforded him great mortal interest nerved him with new determination. He now laid down a plan for his future studies. The memorandum is in his own handwriting, and reads as follows: