on Egypt and the Nile, and started on a fresh literary enterprise, by copying the keys of the Chinese language, which he was now very anxious to learn. The 'read and know' of his mother never seems to have been forgotten; and, indeed, Jones was always remarkable for thinking that he never had done enough. Vocabularies and grammars were neither so plentiful, nor did they afford the aid to the student of languages then that they do in the present day. When Jones's means did not allow him to purchase a grammar or dictionary, he deemed that to be no impediment to the acquisition of a new language. Borrowing from a friend, or hiring from a book-stall, he would teach himself by copying the whole book, were such a task necessary, in order that he might be perfect in any new tongue.

An example of this determination, in the pursuit of knowledge, occurred in the summer of 1767. Lord Spencer, having fallen into bad health, was advised by his physicians to make a tour to the German Spas. He was accompanied by his son and Jones. The latter knew scarcely anything of German. A college chum, it is true, had taught him the pronunciation of a few words; but that was all. He was only three weeks at Spa, at which place no German master could be procured. He could not afford to send over for one to Aix-la-Chapelle-the nearest town-particularly as he was indulging himself with a few more dancing lessons from Janson, a famous dancing-master at Aix. Not the less, nothing daunted, he set to work, and with grammar and dictionary alone, in three weeks, knew sufficient of German to translate Gesner with pleasure to himself.

At a later date, Jones added the study of music to that of dancing. Why he should have wished to play the Welsh harp, in preference to any other instrument, it is difficult for any lover of sweet sounds to understand; but, however, he took lessons on that instrument, and studied the theory of music with as much diligence as he had devoted to acquiring Hebrew and Arabic.

It was at this time that a little book fell into Jones's hands, which seems to have exercised an imperceptible influence on his future career. It was the treatise by Fortescue, in praise of the laws of England, written in Latin, and with great simplicity of style; it had first attracted the student's attention more from the manner of its composition than from the matter contained in it. But it was, perhaps, the first thing which turned Jones's attention to law-a study of which he always speaks so enthusiastically; and settled in his mind that affection for the constitution of his native land, for which, as a great lawyer, he was afterwards remarkable.

It was in the spring of 1768, while Jones was still tutor to Lord Althorpe, that an event occurred, which at once opened a public and literary career to him, and placed his name amongst the first oriental scholars of the day. The King of Denmark, Christian VII., was then on a visit to England, and had brought with him a curious Eastern manuscript, relating to the life of Nadir Shah. His Majesty was extremely anxious to get this literary curiosity translated from the original into good French; but this was no easy matter. The study of Asiatic languages was, at that time, very rare; and, owing to the want

of good dictionaries and grammars, the enthusiasm of the most eager student frequently received a check at the very outset. It was, therefore, no small mark of distinction to William Jones, that an offer was made to him of translating the memoir of Nadir Shah into a European tongue, not his own. His hesitation in accepting this proposal, at first arose from a fear of its being too great an interruption of the course of study already laid down for himself.

But an honest ambition to distinguish himself in the literary world, had taken the place of the boyish emulation which had urged his solitary study at Harrow. Add to this the fear, that were the manuscript placed in the hand of some French savant, his country would lose the glory of succeeding in what many continental learned men had failed to do; and Jones gave his consent to undertake his hard, dry task. It was completed in a year-many delays occurring, owing to the necessity of submitting his French composition to a native of France, competent to judge of his correctness and elegance of diction; but when it reached the hands of the Danish king, its merits were at once recognised, and William Jones, scarcely emerged from boyhood, received a diploma from the Danish king, and was elected a member of the Royal Society of Copenhagen-one of the most learned bodies in Europe.

The sketch of Nadir Shah was accompanied by an original Treatise on Oriental Poetry,' written, like the memoir, in French; and it is certainly remarkable, that in two foreign languages-one an Eastern tongue known to few Europeans at that time-Jones, a young man scarcely twenty-three, should have been

so eminently successful. It had required twelve months' hard labour to complete the task; but Jones had been rewarded by being able to send forth an almost faultless translation, as his first introduction to a literary career. He was not a man to be satisfied with mediocrity in anything. Like the great. Sir Isaac Newton, who asserted, that if he had done. the world any service, it was alone due to industry and patient thought, Jones had begun life, by not supposing himself gifted above other men in any peculiar manner. All were born with the same capacity of improvement, he believed. And this idea of the possibility of self-culture and self-dependence, often induced him to attempt what many men would have shrunk from, as too hard for human intelligence.

The same spirit characterised his entry into the legal profession in 1770, when he was released from his duties at Wimbledon, by Lord Althorpe becoming a pupil at Harrow. His capability of hard work, his love and talent for oratory, as well as his general knowledge, admirably fitted him for a barrister. The profession was one of his own choice; and he therefore determined it should lead him surely and speedily to fame. However reluctant he was to give up his oriental studies, he yet felt they might interfere with the study of the less interesting law-books on his shelf. So he resolved, after devoting a few weeks longer to the completion of a work he had in hand, to put all lighter reading aside, in order to make himself a good lawyer.

Writing to a friend, in 1771, about a volume of youthful poems which he wished to publish, he says:

As to the years in which the poems were written, they are certainly of no consequence to the public; but (unless it be very absurd) I would wish to specify them; for it would hurt me as a student at the bar, to have it thought that I continue to apply myself to poetry; and I mean to insinuate that I have given it up for several years; which I must explain more fully in the preface. For, a man who wishes to rise in the law, must be supposed to have no other object.'

His views, however, on this point seem to have been modified during the succeeding eight years, in which time he published his Commentaries on Asiatic Poetry,' and a translation of the 'Orations of Isæus ;' besides other treatises on different subjects. The Commentaries' were written in Latin; and on the principle that what was worth doing at all was worth doing well, Jones had submitted them to the criticism and correction of all his learned friends, before he ventured to present them to the public.

Although begun in 1776, the Commentaries' did not appear till eight years later; and had gone through, almost unscathed, the ordeal of the learned Dr. Parr's inspection; that testy personage condescended to call his Commentaries' a curious and learned performance;' but under the judgement of the whole learned world of Europe, they excited universal admiration; nay, almost enthusiasm. It was nearly the first work of the kind that had been published, and to the learning displayed, was added great elegance of style and purity of diction. Though Jones had received, in his election, as a Fellow of the Royal Society, in 1772, an acknowledgement in his own country of his