305 



sides good principles. Mr. Hastings purchased for me a piece 

 of land, which at first yielded twelve hundred rupees a year; but 

 lately, either through my inattention or through accident, it has 

 produced only one thousand. This would be sufficient for me 

 and my family; but the duty of brahmins is not only to teach 

 the youths of their sect, but to relieve those who are poor. I 

 made many presents to poor scholars, and others in distress; and 

 for this purpose I anticipated my income. I was then obliged to 

 borrow for my famity expenses, and I now owe about three thou- 

 sand rupees. This debt is my only cause of uneasiness in this world. 

 I would have mentioned it to Mr. Shore, but I was ashamed/' 



The introduction of this little anecdote is a proof of that kind- 

 ness and sensibility which Sir William Jones ever felt for distressed 

 merit. It is superfluous to add, what the reader will have antici- 

 pated, that the disposition to relieve his wants was not suffered to 

 evaporate in mere profession. 



"When I visited the Hindoo villages in the Concan, and enjoyed 

 the pleasant interview with Ragojee Angria and Govindsett, men- 

 tioned on my journey through that district, I was charmed with 

 the simple manners of the brahmins, the liberal sentiments of the 

 prince and his philanthropic vizier, the venerable Mahomedan 

 at Ram-Rajah, and many other amiable characters, replete with 

 novelty and interest. I wrote from first impressions, in the same 

 manner as I afterwards pourtrayed the natives of Malabar, and 

 the inhabitants of Surat and the northern cities, where I occasion- 

 ally resided; especially while sojourning in the Mahralta camp, 

 and travelling to Ahmedabad, through the delightful province of 



VOL. IV. 2 R 



