418 Defence of Sir Wm. Jones agalnjl M. Du Perron. [Dec. 1, 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR., 

 O virtutis comes invidia, quae bonos infe- 

 i^ueiis pltrumque, atque adto infedlaris ! 



CiCEK. ad Hcren. lib. iv. 



IN the Number for OSober 1804 of 

 your v.ry uieful Mifcellany, you in- 

 ferted my Defence of the literary charac- 

 ter of Wil'iam Hunter, Efq. of Ber.gal, 

 againft the il'.iberil attack oi Mr- Anque- 

 til du Perron, 



As 1 have no doubt Mr. Hunter ap- 

 pears completely vindicated in the opinion 

 of your readers in general, peiiriit me 

 now to appear in beha'f of tliat far famed 

 litenry and amiable character, Sir Wil- 

 liam Jones, whom the fame Mr. Du Per. 

 ron has moft ouirageoudy afpeiTed m the 

 lecond volume of tht Oi:piiek' hat.* I am 

 forry, Sir, that in the prelent cafe even 

 candour will not fuffer me to make the 

 fame excufe for Mr. Du Perron w.iiich I 

 felt myfelf gratified in makingon tile former 

 oecafiun. In his attack u; on Mr. Hunter 

 I corjeftured tliat an inexcu'ahly corrupt 

 Engl fh edition of the Afinic Rel'earchts 

 might have milled him, though the exer. 

 cife of a little candour would havecareft- 

 ed his miltake ; yet as this is not always 

 in every man's power, and Mr. Du P. had 

 found himlVif gncvoufly provoked by the 

 caltigation he bad received from bir W. 

 Jones, I made the iiecelfary allowance for 

 a little reciimination, knowing tliat even 

 a chaftifcd child may claim the right tj 

 complain of the fmart occafioned by the 

 rod. but in the prefent cafe lamo'liJed 

 to complain of the moft wanton an. I (ap- 

 parently) piemedit^ ed mil'reprerentunon, 

 which in my opinion calis loudly for more 

 than fimple reprehcnfion. 



In the Ouf>ick'hat, vol. i., p- 733, Mr. 

 Du Perron promifes to produce in the fuc- 

 ceeding volume a fpecimeo of Sir W. 

 Jones's ignormce, in millaking a few 

 fentcnces of mere Perlian, wtiiten in Zend 

 letters, for Zend iiftlf. Thi. promile he 

 attempts to fulfil, and endeavours to lub. 

 ftantiate the charge, vol. ii., p. 846, 8.^7, 

 by producmg a j;afl"ige from th^' Aliatic 

 Refeaiches, vol, i., p, 4.5, which is wril 



• Oufn(k''hat (id ell", Secretiim TegenJiim), 

 concinens' Anitquam ft Avcanam, (cuTheo- 

 logicam et Phii..l'opliic.im Doftrinam, e qua 

 tuor facris Inaorum Liliris, Rak Beid, Djedir 

 EeiJ, S.ini Bcid, .'ithrban Bcid, excerptam. 

 Ad Verbum, e Pcrfico iitiomate, Samfcreticis 

 Vocabulis intennjxto, in Lstinuni coi.vcr- 

 fum, Arc. Stuaio eC opera Anquetil Du Per- 



roii, 2 vols. 4to. Argent. iBoi-a. 



known to moft readers of that elegant 

 mifcellany. The piece referred to u the 

 fourth article in the" DifTsrtation ou the 

 Ortliography of A ha re Words in Roman 

 Letters," which Sir William thus intro- 

 duces : — " As a fpccimcn of the old Per- 

 fian language and charartcr. 1 fuhjoin a 

 curious paffage from the Zend, which 

 was communicated to rnc by Bahman, the 

 Ton of Bahrain, a native of Yezd, and,, as 

 his name indicatits, a Parfee, Hewiote 

 the pafTage from memory, fmce hi- i'O ks 

 in Palilavi and Deri are not yet bioughi to 

 Eeng il. It is a luppofed anlwer cf Izaf, 

 or God, to Zeraturti;, who hid sfked by 

 what means mankind could attain hanpi. 

 nef>." Then foUoVvi an engraved plate 

 of the paflTage in the Zmd chaiactcrs, and 

 the fame text in Italic letters, wi;h Sir 

 W.'s tra; fiati.-in, both of which mull be 

 prcduce.f here, becaufe of the u'e, or ra- 

 ther tie abjfe, which Mr. Du Perron 

 makes ol them. 



" Azpidu 7iiad che ce pi J u mad ne 

 khcjhnud bid hargl;:, bihifnt ne 'yinld j be 

 jf^.yi cirfah bizah i/inid : mehan ra be 

 czarm )iic u'and cehan ra he hich gunah 

 7najazarid : aj khijiavenji deruijh ncng 

 mc'darid : dad u veiidadi khcdiki ycHa 

 beh car darid az riftakhi zi ten pafin en- 

 difieh nefiiayid ; mahada ce '^Jhu ten kbi/h 

 ra duzakhi cunid nja anche be khiflen nu- 

 jliahadhe cafan mapafeiidid'va ma atnid: 

 her che begiti cunid be mainu az aueh pa.- 

 zirah ayedy 



THE TR.'iNSLATION. 



" If you do that wih which your fa- 

 ther and mother are not pleal'ed, you (hall 

 never fee heaven 5 inflead . f good fpirits, 

 you fiial) fee evil beings : behave with ho- 

 tieftv and rel'peft to the great ; and on no 

 acwunt injurs the mean ; hold not your 

 po. r reations a reproach 10 you : imiia:e 

 the jiiftice and goodnefs of the only Cre- 

 ator: meditate on the reiuireftion of the 

 future body, iell }ou make your Ibuls and 

 bodies ihe inhabi'.ants • f Ijell ; and what- 

 ever would be Hijpleafjiig to yourftlves, 

 tjui.k not th.it ple.uing to others, and do 

 it not : wh tever gojil you do n e?.rlh, 

 for that yotj fiiall receive a ie:ribution iit 

 heaven." 



Ti.ls M.. Du Perron afll-.ts Sir W. 

 Jones picduces as a Ipccimcii of the Zend 

 language, though it i» n.ithi' g but j^eifian 

 iu Zciid charafttrs :— " Te-^tum quem- 

 dam ut Zcndicum produc ',qui nihil aliud 

 eli quam Paifi ch.iracleribus Z^ndicisex- 

 prcff-is," p. 8.^6. Then having given 

 w: at he call? a copy of it, taken from the 

 Afiatic R>fe~.rches, he adds, " Hunc tex- 

 tum liHeris Ztndicis nimts refte Icnptum, 



