CHARACTERS. 



727 



tempfatloTi Avould have seduced him 

 from the university; but at the pe- 

 riod M hen he began to despair of 

 obtaining it, he received, through 

 Mr. Ardeu, whose sister was mar- 

 ried to his friend Sumner, an oiler 

 to be the private tutor of Lord Al- 

 thorpe, 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 ap- 

 proved his compositions at Harrow, 

 and particularly a Greek oration in 

 praise of Lyon, an honest yeo- 

 man, who founded the school at 

 that place in the reign of Elizabeth. 

 The proposal was cheerfully accept- 

 ed by Mr. Jones, and in his nine- 

 teenth 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 de- 

 vote himself to the faithful discharge 

 of tiic important duties of his new 

 .^itnadon. Ife had the satisfaction 

 to hnd that this determination would 

 probi;i)ly restore him to the society 

 of his best and most respe^ed 

 friend, Dr. Sumner, as he under- 

 stood from Mr. Arden, that his pu- 

 pil, after some preliminary instruc- 

 tion, would be hxed at Harrow. 



He was now placed in a sphere 

 perfectly new to him: if he quitted 

 the university with a regret propor- 

 tioned to his increasing attachment 

 to it, his change of situation ollVr- 

 ed other advantages, amongst which 

 lie 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 objcCfs to engage his 

 observation, and an interesting oc- 

 eujiafion, from the discharge of 

 X 



which he derived great satisfaction; 

 his application to literature was pur- 

 sued without interruption, for al- 

 thougli he resided at Wimbledon 

 until the approach of the winter 

 only, he found sufficient leisure to 

 compose many of his English po. 

 ems, 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, h« 

 "was flattered by an offer from the 

 duke of Grafton, then at the head 

 of the treasury, of the place of in- 

 terpreter for Eastern languages: 

 but, although the acceptance of it 

 might not have interfered with his 

 other pursuits, he declined it po- 

 litely, but without hesitation, ear- 

 nestly requesting that it might be 

 conferred upon Mirza, whose cha- 

 racter he wrote. This disinterested 

 solicitation v.'as unnoticed ; and his 

 disappointment made him regret his 

 ignorance of the world in not ac- 

 cepting the proftered oHice, under 

 a resolution to consign the entire 

 emoluments of it ta his Syrian 

 friend. 



During his summer residence at 

 Wimbledon, he formed an acquaint- 

 ance to which he owed the future 

 ha])piness of his life. He thera 



3 A 4 saw 



