2(iO 



.JONES. 



preferred npninst Iiim for sedition. Upon thte event, 

 M sent a letter to lord Kenyon, Uien chief-justice of 

 Chester, owning himself tJie aullior, and defending 

 his positions. On the accession of the Shelburne ao- 

 miiii-tr. linn, through the influence of lord Ashbiirton, 

 he obtained, what had long been the object of his 

 ambition, the appointment of judge in the supreme 

 court of judicature, Bengal, to which he was nomi- 

 nated in March, 1783, and knighted. He arrived at 

 Calcutta in September, 1783. Here a new field of 

 action opened to him, and he planned a society in 

 that capital, similar to the royal society in London, 

 of which new institution he was chosen the first pre- 

 sident. He then applied himself with ardour to the 

 study of the Sanscrit, and, his health soon suffering 

 from the climate, he took a journey through the dis- 

 trict of Benares, during which cessation of public 

 duties, he composed a tale in verse called the 

 Enchanted Fruit, or the Hindoo Wife, and a 

 Treatise on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India. 

 In 1785, a periodical work, entitled the Asiatic 

 Miscellany, was begun at Calcutta, to which he com- 

 municated several poetical compositions of the minor 

 kind ; among which were nine hymns, addressed to 

 as many Hindoo deities. He next employed his 

 active mind in planning the compilation of a com- 

 plete digest of the Hindoo and Mohammedan laws, 

 with a view to the better administration of justice 

 among the natives. This work he did not live to 

 finish, out its subsequent accomplishment was entirely 

 owing to his recommendation and primary labours. 

 His object in this instance was, to secure a due 

 attention to the rights of the natives ; and he showed 

 himself equally jealous of those of the British inhabi- 

 tants, by opposing an attempt to supersede the trial 

 by jury. The publication of the Asiatic Researches, 

 or memoirs of the society to which he had given 

 birth, also engrossed much of his attention ; and he 

 enriched them himself with a number of curious and 

 interesting papers. In 1789, he gave to the world 

 the translation of an ancient Indian drama, entitled 

 Sacontala, or the Fatal ring. His translation of the 

 Ordinances of Menu, the famous Indian legislator, 

 appeared early in 1794, and is very interesting to the 

 student of ancient manners and opinions. Unhap- 

 pily, he was seized, in April, 1794, at Calcutta, 

 with an inflammation of the liver, which terminated 

 his life on the 27th of the same month, in the forty- 

 eighth year of his age. Few men have died more 

 respected and regretted than this amiable man and 

 eminent scholar, who, as a linguist, has scarcely ever 

 been surpassed. His acquaintance with the history, 

 philosophy, laws, religion, science, and manners of 

 nations, was most extensive and profound. As a 

 poet, too, he would probably have risen to great 

 eminence, if his ardour to transplant foreign beauties, 

 and his professional and multifarious pursuits, had 

 allowed him to cultivate his own invention with 

 sufficient intensity. His private character was 

 estimable in all the domestic relations, and he was 

 equally liberal and spirited in public life. The 

 memory of Sir William Jones received many testi- 

 monies of respect, both in England and India. The 

 directors of the East India company voted him a 

 monument in St Paul's cathedral, and a statue in 

 Bengal; but the most effectual monument of his 

 fame was raised by his widow, who published a 

 splendid edition of his works, in 6 vols. 4to, 1799, 

 and also, at her own expense, placed a fine marble 

 statue of him, executed by Flaxman, in the anti- 

 chamber of University college, Oxford. 



JONES, JOHN PAUL, a distinguished commander 

 in the American naval service, was born at Arbigland, 

 Kircudbright, in Scotland, July 6, 1747. His father 

 was a gardener whose name was John Paul; but the 



son assumed that of Paul Jones in subsequent life, 

 for what reason is not known. He early evinced a 

 predilection for the sea, and, at the age of twelve, 

 was bound apprentice to a respectable mercliunt of 

 Whitehaven, in the American trade. His first 

 voyage was to America, where his elder brother was 

 established as a planter. He was then engaged for 

 some time in the slave-trade, but quitted it in 

 disgust, and returned to Scotland, in 1768, as pas- 

 senger in a vessel, the captain and mate of which 

 died on the passage. Jones assumed the command, 

 at the request of those on board, and brought the 

 vessel safe into port. For this service, lie was 

 appointed by the owners master and supercargo. 

 While in command of this vessel, he punished a 

 sailor who afterwards died of a fever at the island of 

 Tobago a circumstance which gave rise to an 

 accusation against Jones, of having caused his death, 

 by the severity of the punishment upon him ; but 

 this has been completely refuted. Jones was after- 

 wards in command of the Betsy, of London, and 

 remained some time in the West Indies, engaged in 

 commercial pursuits and speculations, by which it is 

 said he realized a handsome fortune. In 1773, he 

 was residing in Virginia, arranging the affairs of his 

 brother, who had died intestate and childless, and 

 about this time took the name of Jones. In Virginia 

 he continued to live until the commencement of the 

 struggle between the colonies and mother country. 

 He offered his services to the former, and was 

 appointed first of the first lieutenants, and designated 

 to the Alfred, on board of which ship, to use his own 

 language in one of his letters, " he had the honour to 

 hoist, with his own hands, the flag of freedom, the 

 first time it was displayed on the Delaware." Soon 

 after this, we find Jones in command of the Provi- 

 dence, mounting twelve four-pounders, with a com- 

 plement of seventy men, cruising from the Bermudas 

 to the Gut of Canso, and making sixteen prizes 

 in little more than six weeks. In May, 1777, lie 

 was ordered to proceed to France, where the 

 American commissioners. Franklin, Deane, and Lee, 

 were directed to invest him with the command of a 

 fine ship, as a reward of his signal services. On his 

 arrival in France, he was immediately summoned to 

 Paris by the commissioners. The object of this 

 summons was to concert a plan of operations for the 

 force preparing to act against the British in the 

 West Indies, and on the coast of America. This 

 plan, which certainly did great honour to the 

 projector, though untoward delays and accidents 

 prevented its immediate success, was afterwards 

 openly claimed by Jones as his own, without 

 acknowledging the assistance or participation of 

 the American commissioners or the French ministry. 

 The Ranger was then placed under his orders, with 

 discretion to cruise where he pleased, with this 

 restriction, however, that he was not to return to 

 France immediately after making attempts upon the 

 coast of Britain, as the French government had not 

 yet declared itself openly as the ally of the United 

 States. April 10, 1778, he sailed on a cruise, 

 during which he laid open the weakness of the 

 British coast. With a single ship, he kept the 

 whole coast of Scotland, and part of that of England, 

 for some time, in a state of alarm, and made a descent 

 at Whitehaven, where he surprised and took two 

 forts, with thirty pieces of cannon, and set fire to the 

 shipping. In this attack upon Whitehaven, the 

 house of the earl of Selkirk, in whose service the 

 father of Jones had been gardener, was plundered, 

 and the family plate carried off. But the act was 

 committed without his knowledge, and he afterwards 

 made the best atonement in his power. After his 

 return to Brest with 200 prisoners of war, he became 



