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 Althorpe, 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 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 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

1

which he derived great satisfaction; his application to literature was pur sued without interruption, 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 concur rence of circumstances, a fellowship, which, in his estimation, gave him absolute independence, was be stowed 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 Bennet, on the 7th of August, 1766.

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, 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; and his disappointment made him regret his ignorance of the world in not accepting the proffered office, under a resolution to consign the entire emoluments of it to his Syrian friend.

During his summer residence at Wimbledon, he formed an acquaint ance to which he owed the future happiness of his life. He there

saw, for the first time, Anna Maria, the eldest daughter of Dr. Shipley, then dean of Winchester: but whatever impressions her person and conversation made upon the heart of Mr. Jones, his fixed ideas of an honourable independence, and a determined resolution never to owe his fortune to a wife, or her kindred, excluded all ideas of a matrimonial connexion. In different circumstances he might perhaps have then solicited an alliance, which he afterwards courted and obtained.

The family of Lord Spencer removed late in autumn to London; and Mr. Jones, with his usual avi dity to acquire the accomplishments of a gentleman, as well as those of a scholar, privately arranged a plan with Gallini, who attended the younger part of the family, for receiving instructions from him in dancing: at the same time he continued his morning attendance, without intermission, at the two schools of Angelo, with whose manners he was extremely pleased. Before he left London, he had an opportunity, which he did not neglect, of learn ing the use of the broad-sword from an old pensioner at Chelsea, who had been active, as his scars proved, in many engagements, and whose narrative propensity frequently a mused him.

The acquisition of his new accomplishment, by Gallini's assistance, had been made with secresy; and the display of it enabled him to participate with much satisfaction, in the evening amusements at Althorpe, where he passed the winter with his pupil. But his greatest delight was furnished by an excellent library, in which he found intellectual treasures of the highest value in his estimation; scarcely a single

book escaped his attention; and some of the most rare he perused with indefatigable application. It was at this period, in the 21st year of his age, that he began his commentaries on Asiatic poetry, in imitation of Dr. Lowth's prelections at Oxford, on the sacred poetry of the Hebrews.

The summer of 1767 opened a new scene to him: the indisposition of lord Spencer rendered a journey to Spa adviseable for the restoration of his health, and Mr. Jones attended the family: but his residence on the continent was too short to gratify his curiosity. At Spa he remained only three weeks, part of which he dedicated to the lessons of Janson, of Aix-la-Chapelle, a most incomparable dancing-master, and part to the acquisition of the German language, in which he so far succeeded, as to be able to read Gessner with delight, assisted only by an excellent German Grammar and Dictionary; the pronunciation he had formerly learnt from a fel, low-collegian, who had passed some years at Brunswick, He would gladly have availed himself of the instruction of a German master; but none was to be found at Spa, and his finances were unequal to the expence of procuring that assistance from Aix-la-Chapelle. Notwithstanding these occupations, he found leisure to participate in all the amusements of the place.

In the winter of 1767 Mr. Jones resided with his pupil at Althorpe : here his excursions into the regions of literature were unlimited, and as his application was directed with his usual perseverance, he nearly com pleted his commentaries, transcribed an Arabic manuscript on Egypt and the Nile, borrowed from Dr. Rus

sell,

sell, and copied the keys of the Chinese language, which he wished to learn.

From Althorpe he removed in the spring of 1768 to Wimbledon, where he received a proposal from Mr. Sutton, then under-secretary to the duke of Grafton, the account of which we shall relate nearly in his own words.

The king of Denmark, then upon a visit to this country, had brought with him an eastern manuscript, containing the life of Nadir Shah, which he was desirous of having translated in England. The secretary of state, with whom the Danish minister had conversed upon the subject, sent the volume to Mr. Jones, requesting him to give a literal translation of it in the French language; but he wholly declined the task, alledging for his excuse, the dryness of the subject, the difficulty of the style, and chiefly his want both of leisure and ability, to enter upon an undertaking so fruitless and laborious. He mentioned, however, a gentleman, with whom he was not then acquainted, but who had distinguished himself by the translation of a Persian history, and some popular tales from the Persic, as capable of gratifying the wishes of his Danish majesty. Major Dow, the writer alluded to, excused himself on account of his numerous engagements, and the application to Mr. Jones was renewed. It was hinted that his compliance would be of no small advantage to him, at his entrance into life; that it would procure him some mark of distinction, which would be pleasing to him; and, above all, that it would be a reflection upon this country, if the king should be obliged to carry his manuscript into France. Incited by

these motives, and principally the last, unwilling to be thought churlish or morose, and eager for repu tation, he undertook the work, and sent a specimen of it to his Danish majesty, who returned his approbation of the style and method, but desired that the whole translation might be perfectly literal, and the oriental images accurately preserved. The task would have been far easier to him if he had been directed to finish it in Latin; for the acquisition of a French style was infinitely more tedious, and it was necessary to have every chapter corrected by a native of France, before it could be offered to the discerning eye of the public, since in every language there are certain peculiarities of idiom, and nice shades of meaning, which a foreigner can never attain to perfection. The work, however arduous and unpleasant, was completed in a year, not without repeated hints from the secre tary's office, that it was expected with great impatience by the court of Denmark. The translation was not published until 1770. Forty copies, upon large paper, were sent to Copenhagen, one of them, bound with uncommon elegance, for the king himself, and the others as presents to his courtiers.

What marks of distinction he received, or what fruits he reaped from his labours, he thought it would i

become him to mention at the head of a work, in which he professed to be the historian of others, and not of himself; but to repel the false assertions which appeared in an advertisement on this subject in the public papers, containing a most unjust reflection on the king of Denmark, he considered it as a duty imposed upon him by the laws of

justice

justice and gratitude, to print at the beginning of his translation the honourable testimony of regard, which his majesty, Christian VII. sent publicly to London a few months after the receipt of the work, together with the letter of thanks which he returned for so signal a token of his favour. From these documents it appears that his Danish majesty sent to him a diploma, constituting him a member of the royal society of Copenhagen, and recommended him in the strongest terms to the favour and benevolence of his own sovereign.

In detailing the circumstances attending the first publication of Mr. Jones, we have carried the narrative to its conclusion, with some anticipation of the order of time. Part of the summer of 1768 he passed at Tunbridge, where his private studies formed his chief occupation; and the winter of that year in London. In the beginning of this year Mr. Jones formed an acquaintance with Reviczki, afterwards the imperial minister at Warsaw, and ambassador at the court of England, with the title of count. This learned and accomplished nobleman was deeply captivated with the charms of oriental literature; and the reputation of Mr. Jones as an oriental scholar attracted his advances towards an intimacy, which were eagerly received. After their separation they commenced a correspondence, which was cultivated with attention for many years. Of this correspondence much has been lost, and many of the remaining letters are defaced and mutilated., They generally wrote in Latin, and occasionally in French, on literary subjects chiefly, but more particularly

on oriental literature.

In this year lord Althorpe was settled at Harrow, and Mr. Jones, who accompanied him there, had the satisfaction of seeing himself restored to the society of Dr. Sumner. Their enthusiasm for literature was equal: the master contemplated with delight, unmixed with envy, a rival of his own erudition in his scholar, who acknowledged with gratitude his obligations to his preceptor. Their intercourse, although interrupted, had never been discontinued; and Mr. Jones seldom suffered any considerable time to clapse without visiting Harrow. During his residence there, at this period, he transcribed a Persian grammar, which he had three years before composed for the use of a schoolfellow who had been designed for India, but had since relinquished that object for a commission in the army.

The plan of the epic poem which he mentions in letters to his Polish friend, was sketched during his residence at Spa, in July 1770. The subject of the poem was the supposed discovery of our island by Tyrian adventurers, and he propos ed to exhibit under the character of the prince of Tyre, that of a perfect king of this country; a character which he pronounces the most glorious and beneficial of any that the warmest imagination can form. It represents (to quote his own words) the dangers to which a king of England is necessarily exposed, the vices which he must avoid, and the virtues and great qualities with which he must be adorned. On the whole, Britain Discovered" is intended as a poetical penegyric on our excellent constitution, and as a pledge of the author's attachment to it: as a national epic poem, like

those

those of Homer, Virgil, Tasso, and Camöens, designed to celebrate the honours of his country, to display in a striking light the most important principles of politics and morality, and to inculcate these grand maxims that nothing can shake our state, while the true liberty of the subject remains united with the dignity of the sovereign, and that in all states virtue is the only sure basis of public and private happiness. He reserved the completion of the poem to a period of leisure and independence which never arrived: and although, after an interval of some years, he resumed the idea of composing an epic poem on the same subject, but with considerable alterations, he never extended the execution of it beyond a few lines.

The anticipation of future prospects, suggested by the fervor of youthful imagination, is too common to all, but particularly to men of genius, to excite much surprise; and of them it has been generally and justly remarked, that what has been performed by them bears little proportion to what has been projected. In their progress thro' life, impediments occur to the execution of their plans, which the mind at first eagerly overlooks; whilst time, imperceptibly advancing, deprives them of the power, and even of the inclination, to complete what has been designed with so much ardour. They find, what experience daily proves, that the duties of life can only be properly performed when they are the primary objects of our regard and attention,

On the 30th of April, 1772, Mr. Jones was elected a fellow of the

royal society, and admitted on May the 14th of the same year.

The kindness of a contemporary student has furnished an anecdote in proof of his particular aversion to the logic of the schools, that in an oration which he pronounced in University hall, he declaimed violently against Burgersdicius, Cracanthorpius, and the whole body of logicians in the college of queen Phillippa, his opposite neighbour. Of his uncommon industry, many proofs might be enumerated, and among others, the copying of several Arabic manuscripts, of which one was the entertaining romance of Bedreddin Hassan, or Aladdin's lamp, from a most elegant specimen of Arabian calligraphy.

Nor was he less remarked for an affectionate attention to his mother and sister, who resided at Oxford; such portion of his time as he could spare from his studies was given to their society; and during his occasional absence from the university, he was regular in his correspondence with his mother.

In the commencement of 1774 he published his Commentaries on Asiatic Poetry. This work was received with admiration and applause by the oriental scholars of Europe in general, as well as by the learned of his own country. It was perhaps the first publication on eastern literature, which had an equal claim to elegance and erudition. work was begun by Mr. Jones in 1766, and finished in 1769, when he was in his twenty-third year; but with the same solicitude which he had exhibited on other occasions, to lay his compositions before the public in the greatest possible perfection, he had repeatedly submit.

This

ted