CHARACTERS. 



735 



earnest and sincere ; being m itli 

 great truth, dear sir, 



Your att'eftionatc friend, 



And most obwlieut servant, 

 Benjainiu Franklin." 



yVo have mentioned the literary 

 produrtions ot sir W illiam Jones in 

 the order in which they were pub- 

 lished. We observe however, two 

 compositions which had escaped our 

 attention : — an abridged history of 

 the life of Nadir Shah, in English, 

 and a history of the Persian lan- 

 guage, intended to be prefixed to the 

 first edition of his Persian grammar. 



The reader will peruse with plea- 

 sure the following lines from the 

 Arabic, written by sir William 

 Jones, in 1783, and addressed to 

 lady Jones : — 



While sad suspense and chill delay 

 Bereave my wounded soul of rest, 



New hopes, new fears, from day to day 

 By turns assuil my lab'ring breast. 



My lieartwitli tudent love consumes, 

 Throbs witii each agonizing thought; 



So flutters, with cntanfjled plumes, 

 'J'lic lark in wily meshes caught. 



There she witli unavailing strain 



Pours through the night her warLl'd 

 grief; 



The gloom retires, but not her pain. 

 The dawn appears, but not relief. 



Two younsrlings wait the parent bird, 

 Their thrilling sorrows t(j appease : 



She come-, — ah no ! the sound they 

 heard 

 AVas but a whisper of the breeze. 



Sir William Jones embarked for 

 India in the Crocodile frigate, 

 and in April 1783 left his native 

 country, lo which he was never to 

 return, with the unavailing regret 

 and alfe(^tiotiate wishes ol his nume- 

 rous fri»ndt> und adijiircr«. 



In the course of the voyage he 

 stopped at Madeira, and in ten ad- 

 ditional weeks of prosperous sailing 

 from the rugged islands of Cape 

 Verd, arrived at Ilinzuan or Joan- 

 na. Of this island, where he re- 

 mained a few days only, he has 

 published an interesting and amus- 

 ing description. lie expatiates with 

 rapture on his apjjroach to it, de- 

 lineates with the skill of an artist 

 the beauties of the scenery, and 

 sketches with the discriminating 

 pen of a philosopher, the characters 

 and manners of the unpolished but 

 hospitable natives. The novelty of 

 the scene was attractive, and its 

 impression upon his mind is strongly 

 marked by the following just and 

 elegant refledtion, which in sub- 

 stance is more than once repeated 

 in his writings : — " If life were not 

 too short for the complete discharge 

 of all our respective duties, public 

 and private, and for the acquisition 

 even of necessary knowledge in any 

 degree of perfection, with how 

 much pleasure and improvement 

 might a great part of it be spent ia 

 admiring the beauties of this won- 

 derful orb, and contemplating, the 

 nature of man in all its varieties !" 



From Hinztian to the Ganges 

 nothing material occurred, and he 

 landed at Calcutta in September, 

 1783. Ilis reputation had preceded 

 his arrival, which was anxiously 

 expedted, and he had the liapjilness 

 to find, that his a])pointment had 

 diffused a general satisfaction, which 

 his presence now rendered com- 

 plete. The students of the Oriental 

 languages were, eager to welcome a 

 scholar, whose erudition in that 

 branch of literature was unrivalled, 

 and whose labours and genius had 

 assisted their progress ; while the 

 public rejoiced ir the possession of 



