I O N 



pofitions he readily praifed, though tiicir authors were not 

 equally candid in fpeaking of him. 



" Jomelli had acquired coiinderablc knowledge in other 

 arts than mufic : his poetry was full of tafic, and there is a 

 fine ode of his writing, in the collection publilhed at Rome, 

 on the fnbjeft of the reconciliation between the pope and 

 king of Portugal. 



" He was ambitious of diflinguiHiing himfelf from other 

 compofers in a way peculiar to himfelf. His invention 

 was always fertile, his ftyle lyrical and Pindaric ; andjiill 

 as Pindar darted from one fuhjeiSt to another, Joniilli 

 changed his tones and themes in a way wholly new, and 

 learnedly irregular." 



This account is terminated with many excellent rcfleftions 

 on the ftyle of Jomelli, and the cabals and frivolous tafte 

 of the Neapolitans at the time of his death. All we fhall 

 add is, that the latter works of Jonielii will be ever re- 

 g;irded with reverence by real judges of compofition, as 

 there is no mixture of trivial or fantaftical movements or 

 palfages in his truly clalTical, and often fublime works. 



JON, m Natural Hyiory, the name of a gem dcfcribed 

 by Pliny, and faid to be brought fro.m the Eail Indies ; he 

 defcribes it as being of a purple or violet colour, but rarely 

 very deep in the tinge. It feems to have been a fpecies of 

 amethyft. 



Jon of Chios, in Biography, a tragic and lyric poet and phi- 

 lofopher, who ti'll recited his poems in the 82d Olympiad, 

 4)2 years B.C., mentions in fome verfes quoted by Euclid, 

 the ten-ftringed lyre, ^sxa^^ofL' >.-j(x ; a proof that the con- 

 joint tetrachord was added to the i'cale in his time, which 

 was about fifty years after Pythagoras is fuppofed to have 

 conftrufted the oclacliord. Jon died, according to Fabri- 

 cius, vol. i. p. 68l. 419 B. C, and 78 years after Pytha- 

 goras. Bcfides tragcdi-js and dithyrambics, Jon compofed 

 odes, pxans, hymn>', and fcoiia, '.r convivial fongs. 



ZONA, I, Hll, or I-Colum-hi.l, in Geography, one of 

 the weiicrn liiands of Scotland, in the tlaniic ocean, is 

 feparated from the weftern point of Mull by a narrow chan- 

 nel, call d the found of I. It meafires about three miles 

 in length, by three quarters of a mile in breadth. It is a 

 place of much note in the early annals of the country, as the 

 retreat of learning, during the ageof barbarifm and illiteracy 

 which pervaded Europe after the overthrow of the Roman 

 empire. Dr Johnfon calls this place " the luminary of the 

 Caledonian regions, wlience favage clans and roving bar- 

 barians derived the benefits of knowledge, and the bl-. flings 

 of rchgion.'' The monkifh writers called this ifland lona, 

 which fignifies the ifland of waves ; Bede calls it Hii ; but 

 the proper name is I, (founded like the Engliili ce,) which 

 in the Gaelic figniP.es ifland, this being called lo by way of 

 eminence. In more modern times, this iiif.ilar dillrict ob- 

 tained the name of I-Colum-kill, that is, the ifland of Co- 

 lumb's-cell. The name lona is now difufed, and the ifland 

 is generally called I, except when thefpeaker would wifli to 

 mark it with peculiar emphafis, and then it is expreffed I- 

 Colum-kill. The Druids were undoubtedly in pofieflion of 

 this ifland prior to the introduction of Chrifiianity : a green 

 eminence, clofe to the faund of I, is to this day called the 

 Druid's burial place ; and here are ftill extant the remains 

 of a fmall Druidical temple, or circular row of upright 

 ftones, in a farm called Roffal, where, as the name imports, 

 the courts of juflice were held. The ifland feems to have 

 been early the feat of a religious fociety of Chrillians, or 

 erder of monks, nam.ed Culdees, who fettled here about 

 the begin:iing of the fixth century. The foundation of a 

 circular building or houfe, called the Culdees cell, ftill re- 

 mains. The hiilory of the Druids in litis ifland is wholly 



JON 



unknown ; but that of the Culdees has been amply and 

 learnedly narrated by Dr. Jamiefon, in a quarto volume,. 

 P'.ihliliied in iSli. It was refcrved for Columba to raife 

 the fame of the ifland to the great height it attained to in 

 his own and after ages. This eminent man left his native 

 country, Ireland, in the year 56^?, to preach the gofpcl to 

 the Northern Picts ; and having "converted the Pictilli mo- 

 narch, obtained from him the grant of this fequeliercd ifle, 

 where he founded an abbey for canons regular. Havi-ig 

 fuccefsfully prcfided here upwards of thirty years, he died 

 June 9th, jy; ; leaving his abbey firmly fcttkd, a people 

 converted by his labours from Paganifm to Chriftianity, and 

 a name renowned for fanitity, piety, and " good works '* 

 The abbey acquired very extenfive jurifdiflions ; held, for 

 many ages, the chief fway among the Scottifli and Pictifli 

 monafteries ; and was liberally endowed by the piety and 

 munificence of the kings and great men of Scotland. The 

 Danes diflodged the monks in 807, and the abbey remaiiiL-d 

 for feveral years depopulated ; but on the retreat of the hi- 

 vaders, it received a new order of inhabitants, the Cluniacs, 

 who continued to occupy it till the difTolution of monadic 

 inihtutions, when the revenues were united to the fee of 

 Argyle ; and, on the abolition of epifcopacy, became the 

 property of the duke of A rgyle. Tiie remains of the abbey, 

 and its appendages, though much dilapidated, are, by the 

 care and attention of the Argyle family, kept in better pre- 

 fervation than moft ruins of the kind in Scotland. The kite 

 dukes built a wall round the whole abbey, to prevent further 

 depredations ; and prohibited their tenants from ren-.oving 

 any fallen ftones Time has levelled fome of the buildings 

 with the ground ; but the greater part is ftill flanding. 

 The cathedral, or St. Mary's church, is almoft entire : it is 

 built in the form of a crofs, Ti^ feet in length, and 23 in 

 width ; the lenglh of the tranfept 70 feet. In the church- 

 yard is a crofs of a fingle piece of red granite, 14 feet high, 

 22 broad, and lo inches thick. St. Oran's chajcl, faid to 

 be the firll buildiiig begun by Columba, is Hill (landing, but 

 in a ruinous condition. The Virgin's chapel was entire till 

 within a few years, when part of it fell. Mofl of the cloif- 

 ters and the bilhop's houfe are alfo ftanding. There is ftill 

 remaining of the abbey, I'ufScient to give a tolerable idea of 

 what it was. Of the nunnery, an eftablifliment nearly coeval 

 with the abbey, there are fewer remains: the church be- 

 longing to it is deprived of the roof. Here alfo ftands what 

 was called the parifti church, yet entire, but verging to de- 

 cay. Near the chapel of St. Gran is a large enclofure, 

 called the " burying. place of Oran,'' in which are depofited 

 the remains of forty-eight Scottilh kings, four kings of Ire- 

 land, eight Norwegian monarchs, and one king of France^ 

 who were ambitious of repoling in this hallowed ground. In. 

 the fame fanftuary, at a refpedful diltauce, lie moil of the 

 lords of the ifles. 



The ifland of I is included in the imited parifliesof Kil- 

 finchen and Kilviceuen. It abounds with many valuable 

 miiK'rals. Here is but one fmall village, containing about 

 60 houfes and ^50 inhabitants. The parifh miaifter of KiU 

 viccucn vifits this ifland every quarter of a year, which is the 

 only opportunity of public worfliip and religious inftruflion 

 which the people now enjoy. Strange reverie ! that divine 

 fervice ftiould be performed but four times in the year, in a 

 place where it was formerly celebrated as many times in a 

 day. Sincl.iir's Statiftical Account of Scotland, vol. xiv. 

 Pennant's Tour in Scotland. Johnfon's Journey to the 

 Weftern Iflands. Chalmers's Caledonia. Jamicfon's Hif- 

 torical Account of the ancient Culdees, &c. 4to. iSii. 



loNA, a town of Hindooflan, in the country o£ Delhi ; 

 2? miles 6. of Delhi. 



JONiE 



