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Mr. JONES to Mr. CARTWRIGHT.

DEAR SIR,

May 1, 1781.

I take the liberty to send you (as my Arabian poets are not yet ready to wait upon you) a paraphrase of a Greek fragment, which came into my head this spring in my way to Wales*. I make no doubt of your continuing to cultivate the Muses, by whom

* In his journey through life, Mr. Jones seldom overlooked the opportunities of gathering the flowers which chance presented, or of displaying, for the entertainment of his friends, the stores which he had collected. A variety of poetical compositions was produced by him during his circuits, to enliven the intervals of legal labour. Of these a few have been preserved, and amongst them the following elegant song, the offspring of genius and innocent gaity. It was written by Mr. Jones, some years before the period of his life at which I am now arrived, when he was a very young man, during one of his first circuits, for the express purpose of being sung at a kind of fête champêtre, which the barristers held on the banks of the Wye.

Fair Tivy, how sweet are thy waves gently flowing,

Thy wild oaken woods, and green eglantine bow'rs,
Thy banks with the blush-rose and amaranth glowing,
While friendship and mirth claim these labourless hours!
Yet weak is our vaunt, while something we want,
More sweet than the pleasure which prospects can give;
Come, smile, damsels of Cardigan,

Love can alone make it blissful to live.

How sweet is the odour of jasmine and roses,

That Zephyr around us so lavishly flings!
Perhaps for Bleanpant* fresh perfume he composes,

Or tidings from Bronwith+ auspiciously brings;

Yet weak is our vaunt, while something we want,
More sweet than the pleasure which odours can give :
Come, smile, damsels of Cardigan,

Love can alone make it blissful to live.

How sweet was the strain that enliven'd the spirit,
And cheer'd us with numbers so frolic and free!

The seat of W. Brigstocke, Esq.

+ The seat of Thos. Lloyd, Esq.

The

whom you are so highly favoured, and hope you will from time to time transmit the fruit of their favours to, &c.

The poet is absent; be just to his merit;

WILLIAM JONES.

Ah! may he in love be more happy than we;
For weak is our vaunt, while something we want,
More sweet than the pleasure the muses can give:
Come, smile, damsels of Cardigan,

Love can alone make it blissful to live.

How gay is the circle of friends round a table,

Where stately Kilgarran* o'erhangs the brown dale;
Where none are unwilling, and few are unable,
To sing a wild song, or repeat a wild tale!
Yet weak is our vaunt, while something we want,
More sweet than the pleasure that friendship can give :.
Come, smile, damsels of Cardigan,

Love can alone make it blissful to live.

No longer then pore over dark gothic pages,

To cull a rude gibberish from Neatham or Brooke;
Leave year-books and parchments to grey-bearded sages;.
Be nature and love, and fair woman, our book;
For weak is our vaunt, while something we want,
More sweet than the pleasure that learning can give :.
Come, smile, damsels of Cardigan,

Love can alone make it blissful to live.

Admit that our labours were crown'd with full measure,
And gold were the fruit of rhetorical flow'rs,
That India supplied us with long-hoarded treasure,
That Dinevort, Slebeckt, and Coidsmore || were ours;,
Yet weak is our vaunt, while something we want,
More sweet than the pleasure that riches can give :
Come, smile, damsels of Cardigan,

Love can alone make it blissful to live.

* A ruin of a castle on the banks of the Tivey.

+ Seat of Lord Dinevor's,. near Landelo, in Carmarthen,

↑ Seat of

Philips, Esq. near Haverford West.

| Seat of Thomas Lloyd, Esq, near Cardigan.

Or

From the Bishop of St. ASAPH to Mr. JONES.

DEAR SIR,

May 28, 1781. You have my best and earliest thanks for your ode in the true Grecian taste and spirit. I remember to have seen a fragment of Alcæus, but I cannot find it in Aristides, of whom I have only Cantern's small edition. The seed you found there you have quickened by the warmth of true genius into a noble production. I cannot help observing that Alcæus, like other good poets and patriots, was condemned for life to be in the minority.

I am, &c.

J. ST. ASAPH.

I hope you will not forget, that when you have leisure, your friends at Twyford will be very happy to see you.

Mr. BURKE to Mr. JONES.

I do not know how I can justify myself in the liberty I take with you, but confiding in your humanity and condescension, I beg, if you have leisure for it, that you would be so kind as to breakfast with me, and assist me with your opinion and advice on the conduct of the Bengal Bill. The natives of the East, to whose literature you have done so much justice, are particularly under

Or say, that, preferring fair Thames to fair Tivy,
We gain'd the bright ermine robes, purple and red;
And peep'd thro' long perukes, like owlets thro' ivy,
Or say, that bright coronets blaz'd on our head;
Yet weak is our vaunt, while something we want,
More sweet than the pleasure that honours can give :
Come, smile, damsels of Cardigan,

Love can alone make it blissful to live.

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your protection for their rights. I have the honour to be, with the highest esteem and regard, dear Sir,

Your most faithful and obedient humble servant,

EDMUND BURKE.

* Mr. JONES to H. A. SCHULTENS.

June, 1781.

You are not ignorant of my sentiments on this most abominable war; the enclosed imitation of an ode of Alcæus will clearly prove my detestation of tyranny, my zeal and exertions in the cause of liberty. Literature, which is, and ought to be, ever connected with humanity, will never, I trust, be degraded by a fratricidal war between the learned, particularly those who pursue the same studies. Do you therefore, though a native of Holland, preserve that affection for me, which I, an Englishman, have, and shall ever retain for you.

I have translated into English, without the omission of a single line, the seven suspended poems of our Arabs, and mean to publish the whole with notes, and a dissertation on the ancient monuments of Arabia, in the next summer vacation.

I possess the Commentary of Tabrizi; and I have been obligingly furnished from Trinity College, Cambridge, with the Paraphrase of Zouzini, and his short and excellent notes. At Oxford, we have the notes and Persic version of Sadi, the Scholia of Ansari, and the fine edition of Obeidolla; but I am anxious to inspect all editions and commentaries. Your illustrious grandfather, for whose memory, as in duty bound, I preserve the greatest respect, pronounces these poems worthy of immortality, and says, if I do not mistake, that he transcribed the manuscript of Nahasi, * Appendix, No. 37.

at

at Leyden, for his own use. I also observed in the copious catalogue of the Schultensian library, (one copy of which I delivered to my friend Hunter) these words, 6990. The seven Moallakat "Arabic, most beautifully written." Has this been purchased by

66

any one? at what price will it be disposed of? I lament that I did not buy it, but being tied up at that time myself, by various important occupations, I could not bestow a thought on the suspended poems.

Assist me, I beseech you, in the name of the Muses, with materials for perfecting my work; collect from your stores any notes, or various readings which you may possess, and communicate them to me. I have mentioned in my preliminary discourse, your Philarabic family*, and have more to say about it both true and honourable. I wish particularly to know whether any of the seven poems, excepting those of Amr'olkais and Tarafa, will be published in Holland. You shall receive my book, which will be elegantly bound by Baumgarten.

Albert Schultens the grandfather, and J. J. Schultens, the father of the person to whom this letter is addressed, were both distinguished for their knowledge of Oriental, particularly Arabic, literature. The former was a German divine, born at Groningen, and taught Hebrew and the Oriental languages at Leyden, with great reputation for many years before his death, which happened in 1741. He composed many works which shew profound learning and just criticism. Biog. Brit. He translated and explained the fifty dissertations of Hariri, although he sent abroad but few of them, and published Ancient Memorials of Arabia, which Sir William Jones notices in an anniversary discourse delivered before the Asiatic Society, in Calcutta, as the most pleasing of all his works. Of J. J. Schultens his son, I have little information. In Reiske's correspondence, published by his widow, there is one letter from him dated Herborn, 1748, which manifests no ordinary zeal in the writer for the promotion of Arabic literature. I have no account of any publications by him, excepting two academical dissertations. The learning and labours of H. A. Schultens, are sufficiently apparent from his own letters and those of Mr. Jones.

My

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