could ill afford, being disappointed in the hopes which he had entertained, that some of his brother collegians might be inclined to avail themselves of the assistance of the Syrian, and participate with him in the expense of his maintenance.

The disgust expressed by Mr. Jones after his first introduction into the University socn subsided, and his time now passed with great satisfaction to himself. He found in it, all the means and opportunity of instruction which he could wish; and adopted that respectful attachment to it, which he ever after retained. His college tutors, who saw that all his hours were devoted to improvement, dispensed with his attendance on their lectures, alleging with equal truth and civility, that he could employ his time to more advantage. Their expectations were not disappointed: he perused with great assiduity all the Greek poets and historians of note, and the entire works of Plato and Lucian, with a vast apparatus of commentaries on them; constantly reading with a pen in his hand, making remarks, and composing in imitation of his favourite authors. Some portion of every morning he allotted to Mirza, whom he employed in translating the Arabian tales of Galland into Arabic, writing himself the translation from the mouth of the Syrian. He afterwards corrected the grammatical inaccuracies of the version, by the help of Erpenius and Golius.

In the course of his application to this ancient language, he discovered, what he never before suspected,

suspected, a near connection between the modern Persic and Arabic, and he immediately determined to acquire the former. He accordingly studied it with attention in the only Persian grammar then extant; and having laboured diligently at the Gulistan of Sadi, assisted by the accurate but inelegant version of Gentius, and at the wellchosen praxis at the close of Meninski's grammar, he found his exertions rewarded with rapid

success.

His vacations were passed in London, where he daily attended the schools of Angelo, for the purpose of acquiring the elegant accomplishments of riding and fencing. He was always a strenuous advocate for the practice of bodily exercises, as no less useful to invigorate his frame, than as a necessary qualification for any active exertions to which he might eventually be called. At home, his attention was directed to the modern languages; and he read the best authors in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, following in all respects the plan of education recommended by Milton, which he had by heart; and thus, to transcribe an observation of his own, with the fortune of a peasant, giving himself the education of a prince.

If the literary acquisitions of Mr. Jones at this period be compared with his years, few instances will be found, in the annals of biography, of a more successful application of time and talents, than he exhibits; and it is worthy of observation, that he was no less indebted to his uncommon industry

and

and method for his attainments, than to his superior capacity.

A mind thus occupied in the pursuit of universal literature, was little susceptible of the passions of avarice or ambition: but, as he was sensible that the charges attending his education, notwithstanding his habitual attention to economy, must 'occasion a considerable deduction from the moderate income which his mother possessed, he anxiously wished for a fellowship, that he might relieve her from a burthen which she could ill support. If the prospect of acquiring that advantage had not been remote, no temptation would have seduced him from the University; but at the period when he began to despair of obtaining it, he received through Mr. Arden, whose sister was married to his friend Sumner, an offer to be the private tutor of Lord Althorp, now Earl Spencer, He had been recommended to the family of this nobleman by Dr. Shipley, to whom he was not then personally known, but who had seen and approved his compositions at Harrow, and particularly a Greek oration in praise of Lyon, an honest yeoman, who founded the school at that place in the reign of Elizabeth. The proposal was cheerfully accepted by Mr. Jones; and in his nineteenth year he went to London, and was so delighted with the manners of his pupil, then just seven years old, that he abandoned all thoughts of a profession, and resolved to devote himself to the faithful discharge of the important duties of his

new

new situation. He had the satisfaction to find that this determination would probably restore him to the society of his best and most respected friend, Dr. Sumner, as he understood from Mr. Arden, that his pupil, after some preliminary instruction, would be fixed at Harrow.

He returned for the present to Oxford, where he remained for a few months, and, in the summer of 1765, went for the first time, as had been proposed, to Wimbledon Park, to take upon himself the charge of his pupil's education.

He was now placed in a sphere perfectly new to him. If he quitted the University with a regret proportioned to his increasing attachment to it, his change of situation offered other advantages, amongst which he justly esteemed his introduction into the first ranks of society, and a residence in one of the most agreeable places in the kingdom. He had new objects to engage his observation, and an interesting occupation, from the discharge of which he derived great satisfaction; his application to literature was pursued without intermission, for, although he resided at Wimbledon until the approach of the winter only, he found sufficient leisure to compose many of his English poems, and to read the greatest part of the Old Testament in Hebrew, particularly the Book of Job, and the Prophets, which he studied with great attention.

In the course of the following summer, by an unexpected concurrence of circumstances, a fellowship, which, in his estimation, gave him abso

lute

lute independence, was bestowed upon him, and he went for a short time to Oxford, that he might go through the regular forms of election and admission. He was accordingly elected fellow on the foundation of Sir Simon Bennett, on the 7th of August, 1766.

The idea of deriving an absolute independence from an annual income, one hundred pounds, may appear ridiculous when contrasted with the enlarged estimate of a competence in these times. But this sum, in fact, was more than the wise economy of a college life then made necessary for a single man, whose habits of prudence were formed, and Mr. Jones considered his fellowship as a freehold, in a place for which he had now contracted an enthusiastic fondness, where he had access to extensive libraries, rare manuscripts, the company of learned men, and all, as he expressed himself, that his heart could wish; and if he had obtained it a year sooner, he would probably have been induced to decline the delicate and responsible task of education.

On his return to Wimbledon, he was flattered by an offer from the Duke of Grafton, then at the head of the Treasury, of the place of Interpreter for Eastern languages; but, although the acceptance of it might not have interfered with his other pursuits, or engagements, he declined it politely, but without hesitation, earnestly requesting that it might be conferred upon Mirza, whose character he wrote. This disinterested solicitation was unnoticed;