ship, sympathy, and encouragement, and his place will be vacant for ever more, in all our social and religious gatherings. But above all, he is missed in the family circle where he was greatly revered and loved. His beloved wife and children in loneliness and sorrow, mourn his loss and all that the world can offer will not alleviate their grief. It is God only that can comfort them.

It was an additional element of sorrow to the family and the church that his sister, Mrs. R. D. Jones, was very ill at the time, and that his only brother, Mr. John Lewis, had gone on a short visit to Wales without anticipating that his beloved brother's dissolution was near at hand.

Mr. Lewis's unexpected death created profound sorrow in every circle where he was known. We tender to the family and all their relatives our sincere sympathy in their deep sorrow and bereavement, and our prayer in their behalf that the God of all grace may supply all their wants from his own never-failing fulness.

SIR WILLIAM JONES, THE
GREAT ORIENTAL
SCHOLAR.

An Inaugural Address delivered at Bangor University College, Oct. 2, 1891, by Prof. E. V. Arnold, M. A.

(Continued from page 39.)

In due course Jones entered University College, Oxford, and was at first indignant at the formal and meaningless lectures on logic and ethics, which formed the conventional college course; but fortunately his tutors soon discovered his merits, and released him from attendance. He now came upon a native of Aleppo in the streets of London, whom he engaged to teach him Arabic, and undertook to support at Oxford, a burden which, he soon found, pressed heavily upon him, but could not be

easily shaken off. He now found how much modern Persian has in common with Arabic, and determined to study the former language as well, with the help of the very imperfect grammar which alone was in existence at that time. At the same time Milton's Essay on Education induced him to study Italian, Spanish, and Portugese. Thus he boasted that with the fortune of a peasant, he was giving himself the education of a prince.

Such wide acquirements could not have been obtained without a very systematic use of his time. Of his methods we have an illustration in a plan which he calls an Anthropometer in which work is assigned for every year of hls life up to 70.

On leaving Oxford it was in the ordinary course that he sought and obtained a tutorship with Earl Spenser to his son Lord Althorpe. Those who have visited Althorpe Park, near Rugby, will recognise how great an attraction the splendid library of the Spensers must have been to him. About the same time he was elected Bennet Fellow at University College, and the income (£100 a year) made him independent. Now he met Anna Maria Shipley, daughter of the Dean of Winchester, later Bishop of St. Asaph; but it was not till many years afterwards that he felt himself justified in giving the expression to the feelings he entertained for the young lady, who became later Lady Jones. It was about this time, however, that he learnt to play the Welsh harp, and perhaps the motive for this accomplishment may now be guessed. His first serious literary work was now accomplished, being a translation from the modern Persian of the life of Nadir Shah. This was executed at the wish of King Christian VII. of Denmark, and was a translation into the French. William Jones could only be induced by great pressure to

the

his

undertake this work, but no one else in the country was qualified, and the honor of England was concerned in granting the King's request. In 1770, he was admitted to Inner Temple, but continued Persian studies; at this time, he expresses great delight in Yami's love poem, Yusef and Zuleika. He was now called upon to defend the University of Oxford from an attack by a French adventurer, Anquetil du Perron, who claimed to have discovered the ancient Persian of Zoroaster's sacred books, and to have unmasked an Oxford scholar who had boastfully pretended to the same knowledge. William Jones replied, in a letter to his opponent in French, "written," he says, "in that language solely be cause you have a slight acquaintance with it;" in which he denounces the Frenchman's discoveries as impostures and attacks him with not less vigor, but I think with more wit, than we find now in a scientific controversy between French and German. In one one point Du Perron had certainly laid himself to attack: he had told of himself an anecdote savoring of French vanity; when he boasted that he had received a ducking in consequence of being mistaken for the handsomest, but most conceited man of the ship's company. It is, however, necessary to remark that in the sub stantial points in dispute, William Jones was entirely in the wrong.

In 1772, Jones was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and soon afterwards published his commentaries on Asiatic poetry. In spite of the approbation won by this work, he now resolved to abandon literature entire ly for the profession of law, and he gives his reason in an interesting letter to a learned Dutch correspondent, part of which I will read :—

"I acknowledge the kindness of your friendly and polite expostula

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tion in telling me that you cannot bear to see me desert the cause of literature. But, my friend, the die is casi, and I have no longer a choice. All my books and manuscripts, with an exception of those only which relate to law and oratory, are locked up at Oxford, and I have determined, for the next twenty years at least, to renounce all studies but those which are connected with my profession. As to this determination, I will only say that if I had lived at Rome or Athens I should have preferred the labors, studies, and dangers of their orators and illustrious citizens, connected as they were with banishment and even death, to the groves of the poet or the gardens of the philosophers. The Constitution of England is in no respect inferior to that of Rome or Athens. This is my fixed opinion, which I formed in my earliest years and shall ever retain. Can we conceive any study more important than the single one of the laws of our own country? Is there a man existing who would not rather resemble Cicero (whom I wish absolutely to make my model, both in the course of his life and studies) than be like Varro, however, learned, or Lucretius, however ingenious a poet."

In 1779, he had begun to look forward to a post in which all his attainments would be of service to him, a Judgeship in India. At this time, a Polish correspondent addresses him the problem, how it should be that European words are found in Persian. From the answer given, it appears that the relationship of the languages we now know as Aryan or Indo-European was already beginning to be recognised, for Jones writes, "Many learned investigators of antiquity are fully persuaded that a very old and almost primæval language was in use among the northern nations, from which not only the Celtic dialects,

but even the Greek and Latin are derived, in fact we find pater and meter in Persian, nor is thugater as far removed from Tochter, or even onoma and nomen from nam, as to make it ridiculous to suppose that they sprang from the same root. We must confess that these researches are very obscure and uncertain; and, you will allow, not so agreeable as an ode of Hafez, or an elegy of Amr' Alkeis." The study of the relationship of languages had not yet received the impulse given to it by placing the old Indian within the circle of family union.

During the American war of Inde pendence, William Jones espoused from the first the side of the colonists and so estranged himself from the Government. Still, in 1783, the appointment for which he had long waited, and which had for several years been vacant, was conferred upon him, and he was appointed a judge of the supreme court of Bengal. He now marrled, and left for India, never to return, in his 37th year.

The ten years that remain show us Sir William Jones combining the duties of legal administration with a keen interest in the literature of his new country. One of his first acts in India was the foundation of a society, named the Asiatic Society, to further research into the history, antiquities, natural productions, arts, sciences, and literature of Asia. Of this society Sir William Jones was the most active promoter and organizer: he was chosen its first president, and no one contributed more regularly to its publications. Now for the first time he studied Sansk it, and in a year or two could converse familiarly with the Brahams in their own language. He was at once struck with the resemblance between this language and both Greek and Latin, a resemblance which might well have

escaped his notice, but for his previous observations with regard especially to the Persian. In 1788, he sent to Oxford a copy of the four Vedas. In these earlier years in India, he commenced translations of various works of Indian literature, the most important of which is the Sakuntala, or Fatal Ring, a play of Kalidasa's, still the best known of Indian dramatic works. I will attempt, by a short extract from this translation, to give you an idea how, in works of this kind, the absence of dramatic force is largely compensated by a gracefulness of language, a genial appreciation of the beauties of nature and a wide philanthropy, which European literature can scarcely equal. The Emperor Dushmanta is hunting, he has hitched an arrow to a bowstring to aim to an antelope, when he is interrupted by two hermits, who forbid him to cause pain within the sacred forests. The elder speaks: "Slay not, O mighty sovereign, slay not a poor fawn. who has found a place of refuge. No, surely no, he must not be hurt; An arrow in the delicate body of a deer would be like fire in a bale of cotton. Compared with thy keen shafts, how weak must be the tender hide of an antelope. Replace quickly, oh, replace the arrow which thou hast aimed. The weapons of you kings and warriors are destined for the relief of the oppressed, not for the destruction of the guiltless." Dushmanta consents to replace his arrow, the hermits depart, and the emperor speaks to his companion: "That we are near the dwelling place of pious hermits, would clearly have appeared even if we had not been told." "By what marks?" "Do you not observe them? See under yon trees the hallowed grains which have been scattered on the ground, while the tender female parrots were feeding their unfledged

young in their pendent nests. Mark in other places the shining pieces of polished stone which have bruised the oily fruit of the sacred Ingudi. Look at ihe young fawns which, having acquired confidence in man, and accustomed themselves to the sound of his voice, frisk at pleasure, without varying their course. Even the surface of the river is reddened with lines of consecrated bark which float down its stream. Look again! the roots of yon trees are bathed in the waters of holy pools, which quiver as the breeze plays upon them, and the glowing lustre of yon fresh leaves is obscured for a time by smoke that rises from oblations of clarified butter. See, too! where the young roes graze, without apprehension from our approach, on the lawn before yonder garden, where the tops of the sacrificial grass, cut for some religious rite, are sprinkled around."

Sir William now again withdrew from the flowery path of literature, to devote himself to what he considered more useful pursuits. In his office of judge we find him addressing the grand jury on several occasions, and, in general, exhorting his hearers to bear with the interruption to their business implied by their being called upon to serve rather than to cry out for summary jurisdiction, with all the dangers implied to the liberty of the subject. A greater difficulty was found in the principle adopted by the East India Company, that in civil matters the law should be administered both to Hindoos and Mahommedans according to their own customs and institutions. The practice was to consult the native lawyers on each point as it arose, and it frequently happened that the answer given was influenced by bribes or intimidation. Sir William conceived the idea of publishing in English a complete code of Hindu and Mahommedan law,

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to be the work of a body of Pundits presided over by himself; he also undertook the whole burden of translation. For this task he found a model in antiquity in the pandects of Justinian; and he reminded the East India Board of the immense service the compilations of that lawyer had been to the civilized world, hastily and carelessly as they were executed.

It is satisfactory to find that Lord Cornwallis, then Governor-General of India, at once welcomed this proposal as likely to reflect the highest credit on his period of office, and accepted the proposals of Sir William Jones without alteration, whilst he freely authorized any expenditure that the editor might find necessary. At the same time, the natives welcomed eagerly a plan which promised them security in their property and traditions. In this work Sir William Jones was engaged till his death.

There is little to add: At the end of the year 1793 the weak health of Lady Jones made it necessary for her to embark for England. In the beginning of 1794, Sir William published a translation of the books of Manu, the most ancient and important of Hindu law books. Very shortly afterwards he was attacked by one of the dangerous illnesses to which Europeans are specially liable in India, and in a few days he lay dead, at the early age of 47. The great undertakings he had begun were carried to their completion by others.

When we consider at once the vast learning, the keen criticism, the literary taste, and the legal attainments of Sir William Jones, we can hardly deny him the name of great. But his greatness was not that of genius: the spark of divine fire is wanting in his works. Capacity and industry he had in an extraordinary degree. We cannot weigh in the balance gifts so different as talent and genius. It is