237 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



fed the manuscript to the examina- 

 tion and critical remarks of his 

 learned friends. 



At the conclusion of the Com. 

 mcntaries we find an elegant address 

 to the Muse, in wliich Mr. Jones 

 expresses his determination to re- 

 nounce polite literature, andderote 

 himself entirely to the study of the 

 law. He was called to the bar in 

 January 1774, and had discovered, 

 as he writes to an intimate friend, 

 that the law was a jealous science, 

 and would admit no partnership 

 ■\rith the Eastern muses. To this 

 determination he appears to have 

 inflexibly adhered for some years, 

 notwithstanding the friendly remon- 

 strances and flattering invitations of 

 his learned correspondents. He had 

 about this time an intention of pub- 

 lishing the mathematical works of 

 his father; and Mith this view <ir- 

 culated proposals, but, for what 

 reason we know not, he abandoned it. 



The ambition of obtaining distinc. 

 tion in his j)rofession could not fnil 

 to animate a mind always ardent in 

 the pursuit of the objects which it had 

 in view, nor was he of a temper to 

 be satisfied with mediocrity where 

 perfettion was attainable. His re- 

 searches and studies were not con- 

 fined to any one branch of jurispru- 

 dence, but embraced the whole in 

 its fullest extent. He compared the 

 dortrincs and principles of ancient 

 legislature with the later improve- 

 ments in the science of law ; he col- 

 lated the various codes of the differ- 

 ent states of Europe ; and coUcrted 

 professional knowledge wherever it 

 was to be found. If the reader re- 

 collect the enthusiasm displayed by 

 Mr. Jones in the prosecution of his 

 oriental studies, the extent and depth 

 of his attainments in the literature 

 of Asia, and the high reputation 



which he had acquired for them, fic 

 will readily applaud his resolution 

 and perseverance in renouncing Iiis 

 favourite pursuits. That lie acted 

 wisely will be admitted ; but the 

 sacrifice of inclination to duty, af- 

 fords an example of too great use 

 and importance to pass without par- 

 ticular observation. 



In 1775, for the first time, he 

 attended the spring circuit and 

 session'^ at Oxford, but whether as a 

 spectator or a6tor, on that occasion, 

 wc are not informed. In the fol- 

 lowing year he was regular in his 

 attendance at Westminster Hail. 



In 1778 Mr. Jones published a 

 translation of the speeches of Isieus, 

 in causes concerning the law of 

 succession to property at Athens, 

 with a prefatory discourse, notes 

 critical and historical, and a com- 

 mentary. 



The works of Iskus had long 

 been neglected ; the subjc6l of them 

 was dry, and his technical language, 

 as Mr. Jones observes, was unin- 

 telligible to the herd of grammarians 

 and philologers by whom the old 

 monuments of Grecian learning 

 were saved from destruction. To 

 rescue them from obscurity, and to 

 ])resent them to the student of our 

 English laws in his native language, 

 was a task which required the united 

 qualifications of classical erudition 

 and legal knowledge, and which he 

 discharged with equal pleasure and 

 success. 



From the public occurrences in 

 w-hich Mr. Jones was engaged, we now 

 turn to adomcstic calamity, the death 

 of his mother, Avhich involved him 

 in the deepest aflliciion. If, as a 

 parent, she had the strongest claims 

 upon the gratitude and aflledion 

 of her son, the obligations of filial 

 duty were never more cheerfully 



auit 



