251 
JONES., 
rally produced, as it did in young Jones, a diftafte for thofe 
rudiments of grammatical learning, the acquifition of which 
is indifpenfable for an accurate knowledge of languages. 
At the clofe of his feventh year, he was lent to the public 
fchool at Harrow, then under the fuperintendence of Dr. 
Thackeray. The accident of breaking his thigh caufed 
liim to lofe a whole year in his progrefs ; and upon his 
return to fchool he found himfelf much behind his clafs- 
fellows in elementary ftudies. But that ambition to excel 
■which ever marked his *.haraCter, (purred him to fuch ex¬ 
ertions, that he not only recovered his loft ground, but 
i'oon furpafled all his competitors of the fame age. He 
was not one of thofe happy geniufes (if fuch there are) 
who can make brilliant acquifitions without pains; on the 
contrary, it was by th? moll fedulous induftry, and the 
renunciation of all the ufual diverfions of a fchool-boy, 
joined with the natural gift of a very retentive memory, 
that he was enabled to lay in thofe ample (tores of know¬ 
ledge by which he became fo highly diftinguiftied. An 
extraordinary facility in compofition, and readinefs of in¬ 
vention, attended his progrefs in learning; and fuch was 
the activity of powers which he difplayed, that, his mailer 
gave it as his private opinion, that, were Jones left naked 
and friendlefs upon Salifbury-plain, he would infallibly 
find the road to fame and riches. Dr. Sumner, the fuc- 
ceeding mailer of Harrow, regarded him with equal admi¬ 
ration, and did not fcruple to declare, “ that Jones knew 
more Greek than himfelf.” He finally left that feminary 
in his feventeenth year, when he was its boaft and 'won¬ 
der. His attachment to itudy had produced no fingula- 
,rity in his temper or manners, which conciliated the af¬ 
fliction of his companions by their mildnefs and cheerful- 
.nefs ; while a manly firmnefs of character, drift integrity, 
and the love of Liberty, infpired general efteem. 
In 1764 he was entered of Univerfity college, Oxford; 
and his excellent mother, who devoted herfelf entirely to 
him, fixed her refidence in the fame city. The fcholaftic- 
ftudies which at that time took the lead in the academical 
education of Oxford, were ill fuited to the elegant and 
liberal tafte in literature which he had acquired ; nor 
could he readily find a . among the college-tutors, perfons 
qualified to forward him in his favourite purfuits, which 
were thofe of eloquence, poetry, claffical erudition, and 
the oriental languages. To the acquifition of the latter 
he had, even at fchool, (hown a (trong propenfity; and 
his ardour for improvement led him to carry down to 
Oxford, and maintain at his own expence, a native of 
Aleppo qualified to inftruCt him in the pronunciation of 
the Arabic. As it could not but be loon perceived that 
fuch a young man as Jones was not likely to mifpend his 
lime, the college tutors indulged him with a difpenfation 
from attendance on their lectures, and buffered him to 
purfue his own plans of inltruflion. Thenceforth he be¬ 
came highly fatisfied with his fituation, and enjoyed all 
the advantages it afforded of accefs to libraries, and con- 
verfation with men of cultivated minds. His vacations 
were puffed in London, where he did not difdain to at¬ 
tend to the acquifition of the ornamental accomplifhments 
<of riding, fencing, and dancing; wifely confidering, that 
a man deftined to live in the world ought to neglect no 
innocent means of appearing in it with credit. He like- 
wife employed his fingula-r talents for acquiring languages 
upon feveral of the principal modern European tongues, 
at the fame time enlarging his literary (tores by acquain¬ 
tance with the works of their molt diftinguiftied writers. 
The defire of relieving his mother (whom he ever re¬ 
garded with true filial affection and gratitude) from the 
burden of his education, rendered a fellowfhip in his col¬ 
lege the great objeft of his prefent wifhes ; but, as there 
was no profpect of fpeeuily obtaining it, he accepted, in 
1765, an offer to undertake the private tuition of young 
lord Althorpe, now earl Spencer. This fituation intro¬ 
duced him to much good company, and alfo left him lei- 
fure enough to purfue his own improvement, which lie 
did not negleCt. In the following year the defired fel¬ 
lowfhip fell unexpectedly into his poffeflion, and rendered 
him, in his own idea, independent. A refidence with 
his pupil at Spa, in 1767, was partly employed by him in 
the acquifition of the German language. In 1768 he un¬ 
dertook, at the requeft of the under-fecretary of the duke 
of Grafton, to tranflate into French a Perfian manufeript 
of the Life of Nadir Shah, which the king of Denmark 
had brought into England, and of which he was defirous 
to obtain a verfion. By his afiiduity he overcame the dif¬ 
ficulty of the tafk, which was enhanced by the neceflity 
of ufing a foreign language as the medium of transfufion. 
This work, his firft publication, appeared in 1770, with 
the addition of a treatife on Oriental Poetry, alfo in French; 
and much admiration was excited, not only by the accu¬ 
racy of his tranflation, but by the elegance and correCt - 
nels of his French ltyle. He received as a reward from 
his Danifh majefty a diploma conflituting him a mem¬ 
ber of the Royal Society of Copenhagen, with a warm re¬ 
commendation to the favour of his own fovereign. A 
tour to the continent with his pupil and the family occu¬ 
pied the principal part of the year 1770; and to a minu fo 
furnilhed as that of Mr. Jones could not fail to be a fource 
equally of amufement and inftruttion. 
It vtas now time for him to fix his thoughts upon fome 
profeflion which might give fcope to that laudable ambi¬ 
tion, of obtaining a llation in fociety adequate to his en¬ 
dowments, by which he was actuated. The law, for the 
Itudy of which he had already acquired a predilection, was 
the objett of his choice; and, after refigning his charge as 
tutor, he entered at the Temple in September 1770. He 
did not however facrifice to profeflional lludies all thofe 
literary purfuits which had hitherto fo delightfully oc¬ 
cupied him. Oriental learning, in particular, (till attracted 
his notice; and, upon the appearance of the Life and 
Works of Zoroafter, by Anquetil du Perron, he vindi¬ 
cated the honour of the univerfity of Oxford, which had 
been attacked in the preliminary dilcourfe, by a pamphlet 
in French, written with equal elegance and feverity. In 
1772 he publilhed a fmall volume of poems, long com- 
po.fed, confiding chiefly of tranilations from the poets of 
Afia, to which two profe differtations were annexed. 
That grace and brilliancy of ltyle by which he animated 
and adorned every thing he touched, were confpicuous in 
this publication, which ranked him, at lealt in point of dic¬ 
tion and verfification, with the firft poets of the age. He 
was in the fame year eleCted a fellow of the Royal Society. 
In 1774 he gratified the learned with his work Be Par/I Ajia- 
tica , containing commentaries on Afiatic poetry in general, 
with metrical verfions of feveral i’eleCt pieces. The beauty 
and purity cf his Latin ltyle, and the extenfive know¬ 
ledge he difplayed of oriental literature, attracted the no¬ 
tice and admiration of fcholars both at home and abroad. 
At the end of this performance, in an Addrefs to the 
Mufe, he declared his intention of renouncing the belles- 
lettres, and devoting himfelf to profeflional ftudies. He 
was called to the bar in the beginning of 1774; how¬ 
ever, declined pradice till he Ihould have acquired the 
necelfary knowledge in the actual bufinefs of the profef- 
fion. In 1776 he was appointed a commiffioner of bank¬ 
rupts. About this period, he wrote a letter to his late 
pupil, lord Althorpe, which contains a palfage (trikingly 
declaratory of his political fentiments. He (ays, “As to 
the Tj-ssAiyjEvsc-ia of our noble conftitution, which has hap¬ 
pily presented itfelf to your imagination, the very idea 
fires me with rapture. No, my dear lord, never believe 
that any thing is impoflible to virtue : no, if ten fuch as 
you conceive fuch fentiments as your letter contains, and 
exprels them as forcibly, if you retain thefe fentiments, 
as you certainly will, when yon take your place in parlia¬ 
ment, I will not defpair of feeing the mo it glorious of 
fights, a nation freely governed by its own laws ;. This I pro- 
mife, that, if fuch a decemvirate (hould ever attempt to 
reitore our conftitutional liberty by conftitutionai means,, 
I would exert in their caule fuch talents as I have ; and* 
even if I were- opprefled with ficknefs, and torn with pain, 
would 
