JONES. 



who knew her hufband's dangerous fituation, addrefled him 

 with a letter of condolence, recommending acquiefcence 

 and relignalion from a due confideration of the brcvily of life. 

 Mrs. Jones, perceiving its purport, and probably dreading 

 its effects on the fpirits of her hufband, when flic was de- 

 fired by him to read it, compofed in the moment another 

 letter fo clearly and fo rapidly, that he had no fufpicion 

 of the deception ; and th.is (lie executed in a llyle fo chear- 

 ful and entertaining, that, inilead of being dcprelfed, he was 

 greatly exhilarated by it. His diforder at length terminated 

 in his death, which happened foon after the incident we 

 have ^ated, in July 1 749. The property of which he 

 died ^wTened was moderate ; but his reputation was uni- 

 verfally acknowledged. After his death, the widow was 

 favoured with many offers of fervice by tliofc who refpefted 

 her deceafed hufband ; and flie was under peculiar obliga- 

 tions to Mr. Baker, author of a trcatife on the microfcope, 

 &c. for affillance in arranging the collcdtion of fliells, foffils, 

 and other curiofities left by Mr. Jones, and difpofing of 

 them to the greatell advantage. His library was bequeathed 

 to lord Macclesfield. It has been faid by the compilers of 

 the Biographical Dictionary, that Mr. Jones had completed 

 a very important mathematical work, and had adually fcnt 

 the firll fheet to the prefs, but that the progrefs of his dif- 

 order obliged him to difcontinue the impreffion. It is 

 moreover faid, that the MS. fairly tranfcribed, was entruited, 

 a few days before his demife, to the c ire of lord Maccles- 

 field, who promifed to publiHi it for the honour of the 

 author, and the benefit of his family. If this account be 

 true, and a work, which was to have been entitled, " The 

 Introduction to the Mathematics," had been aftually pre- 

 pared, the MS. n-,u(l have been lofl, as it could not be 

 found among the books and papers of lord Macclesfield, 

 who furvived his friend many years. Among the memoranda 

 of Ik William Jones there is no document that ferves to 

 confirm or difprovc this account. The mathematical works 

 of Mr. Jones, that have been publiflied, are much admired 

 for neatnefs, brevity, and accuracy ; and they afford ample 

 evidence, telliSed alfo by his correfpondence with Mr. Cotes 

 of Cambridge, that he was a very eminent mathematician. 

 We have already mentioned his " New Compendium of the 

 whole .•\rt of Navij^ation," 8vo. 1702 ; and his " Synopfis 

 Palmariorum Mathefeos ; or, a new Introdudion to the 

 Mathematics, containing the Principles of Arithmetic and 

 Geometry, demondrated in a (liort and eafy Method," 8vo. 

 1706. In the Philofbphical Tranfaftions, we have feveral 

 papers on logarithms, on the properties of conic feilions, 

 on the difpofition of equations for exhibiting the relations 

 of geometrical luies, &c. communicated to the Royal 

 Society, of which he was a member. He was alfo the 

 editor of fome mathematical works of fir Ifaac Newton, 

 under the title of " Analyfis per quantitatum feries, 

 Huxiones, ac differentias ; cum enumeratione linearum tertii 

 ordinis." Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Correfpond- 

 ence of fir William Jones, by lord Teignmouth. 



JoMES, Sir William, the fon of the fubjed of the pre- 

 ceding article, was defcended, by tl-e maternal fide, from 

 fome of the ancient princes and chieftains of North Wales ; 

 but he is entitled to notice in this place on account ©f much 

 more important and valuable dlflin&ion^ ; tliofe of talents, 

 acquirements, and character, which raifed him to a r^nk of 

 pre-en inence, that has been attained by few either m an- 

 cient or modern times. From the materials fupjjKed by 

 lord Teignmouth, in his ample and excellent " Memoirs of 

 the Life, Writings, and Correfpondence of fir William 

 .Tones," in addition to thofe which our own recolledtion will 

 luruifh, v.-e flt.iU be able to give an account of this dif- 

 4 



tinguifhed perfon, which, however imperfcd it may be, and 

 however inadequate to our fentiments of perfonal refpect, 

 and feelings of hvely gratitude, cannot fail of being interell- 

 ing to our readers ; nor will they need any apology if we 

 exceed our ufual limits on this occafion. 



Sir William Jojies was born in London on the eve of the 

 feftival of St. Michael, in the year 1746; but having loil 

 his father when lie was three years old, the care of his edu- 

 cation devolved upon his mother, who appears to have been 

 eminently qualified to direft and fuperintend it, more par- 

 ticularly' in his infant years. Her character has been de- 

 lineated by her hufband in the following terms : " She was 

 virtuous without blemidi, generous without extravagance, 

 frugal but not niggard, cheerful but not giddy, clofe but not 

 fuUen, ingenious but not conceited, of fpirit but not paf- 

 fionate, of her company cautious, in her friendlliip trufty, 

 to her parents dutiful, and to her hufband ever faithful, 

 loving and obedient." Mrs. Jones took great pains, by th.c 

 ftudy of algebra, trigonometry, and navigation, to qirjliiy her- 

 felf for being the preceptrefs of her filter's fon ; and to tliele 

 fciences, rather remote from a lady's province, Ihe paid par- 

 ticular attention, becaufe he was deftined to a maritune 

 profellion. Her fohcitude for the improvement of her own 

 fon induced her to decline accepting the kind invitation of 

 the countefs of Macclesfield to reni.iin at Sherborne callle, 

 after her hufband's death ; and her difcriminating judgment 

 led her, in her plan for his inftruftion, to rejeft the feverity 

 of difcipline, and to conduit his mind infenfibly to know- 

 ledge and exertion, by exciting his curiofity and directing 

 it to ufeful objeiSs. In confequence of her attention, he 

 was, in his fourth year, able to read diltinClly and rapidly- 

 any Englilh book ; and with a view to the cultivation of 

 his memory, fhe caufed him to learn and repeat iome of, 

 tlie moil popular fpeeches in Shakfpeare, and the bell of- 

 Gay's fables. His propenfity to reading was fignally inani- 

 fefted in his fifth year ; and in his fixth he was initiiitcd 

 by the afllftance of a friend in the rudiments of the Latin 

 grammar. At Michaelmas 1753, in the clofe of his iVventli 

 year, he was placed at Harrow fchool, of which Dr. 

 Thackeray was the head mafler. During the two firfl 

 years of his refidence in this feminary, he was diftinguifhed 

 more by diligence than by fuperiority of talents ; but his 

 faculties gained flrength by exercife, and the profpedt of 

 the eminence to which he afterwards attained gradually 

 brightened. His mother, who anxioufly watched over his 

 progrefs, improved the opportunities which his vacations, 

 and the abfence of 1 2 months from fchool, in confequence 

 of the fracture of his thigh-bone, afforded, of increafing his 

 acquaintance with his native tongue, and with Enghfti 

 author?, and of teaching him alfo the rudiments of drawing, 

 in which (lie herfelf excelled. During this interval, the 

 progrefs of his clafGcal fludies was interrupted. However, 

 on his return to fchool, he was placed in the clafs to which 

 he would have attained, if no interruption had occurred. 

 This error of judgment, on the part of his mafler, though, 

 it fubje£ted him to corporal pir.iilhment and degradation 

 for non-performance of exercifes which fhould not have 

 been required, and though it produced in his mind an in- 

 vincible abhorrence of his matter's condudt, ferved to roufe 

 his emulation, and to call forth the exertion of his native 

 pow-crs ; fo that in a little while he was advanced to the 

 head of his clafs, and might, if he had been fo difpofed, 

 have retorted on his dafs-fellows their former reproaches 

 of his indolence or dulnefs. In his 12th year, he was re- 

 moved to tlie upper fchool. At this time a circumilance 

 occurred, which afi'orded fignal evidence of tlie itrewgth and 

 tcnacioufncfs of his memory. His fthool-ftUows propofod 



