CHARACTERS. 



739 



fbrmed oh the following day with 

 the honours due to his public sta- 

 tion ; and the numerous attendance 

 of the most respectable British in- 

 habitants of Calcutta evinced their 

 sorrow for his lossj and their re- 

 spedl for his memory. 



In the short space of forty seven 

 years, by the exertion of rare in- 

 telledtual talents, he acquired a 

 knowledge of arts, science, and 

 languages, which has seldom been 

 equalled, and perhaps never surpas- 

 sed. A mere catalogue of the writ- 

 ings of sir William Jones would 

 -shew the extent and variety of his 

 erudition : a perusal of them would 

 prove that it was no less deep than 

 miscellaneous. Whatever topic he 

 discusses, his ideas .flow with ease 

 and perspicuity ; his style is always 

 clear and polished ; animated and 

 forcible when his subjedt requires 

 it. His philological, botanical, phi- 

 losophical, and chronological dis- 

 quisitions ; his historical researches, 

 and even his Persian grammar, whilst 

 they fix the curiosity and attention 

 of the reader by the novelty, depth, 

 or importance of the knowledge 

 displayed in them, always delight 

 l)y elegance of diction. His com- 

 positions are never dry, tedious, 

 nor disgusting ; and literature and 

 science come from his hands adorn- 

 ed with all their grace and beauty. 



Particulars of (he JLife of IViUiam 

 EdzLardt, (he self-taught fVdsh 

 1irid;^('-biiil(lcr. — From AJalUn^s 

 Account of Soutli i Vales. 



William Edwards was the son of 

 a farmer, who had two other sons 

 and a daughter. The family lived 

 in the parish of Kghvysilan, in the 

 county of Gjaniorjjanj very near 



the spot wliich was hereafter to be 

 the foundation of its celebrity. — 

 William Edwards was born in thd 

 year 1719. His father died when 

 he was only two years old. He 

 was the youngest son. He, with 

 his other two brothers and sister^ 

 lived with their mother on the farm 

 till he was about sixteen or eighteen 

 years of age. When, lie had reach- 

 ed his fifteenth year he frequently- 

 repaired the walls, or stone fences, 

 of the farm. Every traveller who 

 is acquainted with ^Vales must have 

 remarked, that such fences are com- 

 mon in the mountain distridt. He 

 was observed to perform his work 

 in a style uncommonly neat and 

 firm, and with an expedition sur- 

 passing that of most others. Some 

 friends observing this, advised the 

 elder brother to encourage him in 

 this employment, not only on their 

 own farm, but in the service or any 

 neighbours who might wish to en- 

 gage him. William readily assented 

 to this proposal, and worked almost 

 continually at wall -building, for 

 which occupation his talents were in 

 eager request. He added his earn- 

 ings regularly to the common stock 

 of his mother and his brothers, who 

 carried on the business of the farm. 

 The fences in this j)art are called, in 

 technical phraseology, dry walls, 

 from the circumstance of their being 

 construfted without any mortar. 

 Some time after he had exercised 

 his ingenuity in this way, some ma- 

 sons, regularly brought up to the 

 trade, came to the neighbourhood 

 for the purpose of creeling a shed 

 for shoeing horses at a smith's and 

 farrier's shop. William lOdwards 

 admired the neatness with which 

 they constru('led the pillars and 

 ofher parts of the shed, and felt an 

 anxious wish for the ability to do 

 '6^2 Uia 



