thus providentially thrown into the company of a lady, who afterwards became his wife, and the envied mother of George Washington! "Just so, th' Omnipotent who turns Events of most important use." In conclusion, however, I cannot help remarking, that one secret of this great man's successful career seems to have been owing to his tracing, throughout his whole life, in such an exemplary manner, so distinctly and so frequently, all the incidents in the American struggle, not to human instrumentality, but to the finger of Providence. SIR WILLIAM JONES.-In point of talent and variety of acquirements, Sir William Jones is generally allowed to have possessed the attributes of a great mind. In the short space of forty-seven years, he had acquired a knowledge of arts, sciences, and languages, which has seldom been equalled, and scarcely, if ever, surpassed. As a philologist, especially, he had no rival. Among eight languages which he had studied critically, are found the first of Eastern as well as Western tongues. Eight more, though he had studied them less perfectly, were quite intelligible with a dictionary; and twelve more, though studied least perfectly, were to him all attainable. He might be acquainted with others, but the number here distinctly specified, in a private memorandum of his own, is twentyeight! At so early an age as that of eighteen, we find him, when at home, of which he was very fond, reading the best authors in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, following, in all respects, the plan of education recommended by Milton, which he had by heart; and thus, to use his own words, "with the fortune of a peasant, giving himself the education of a prince." This wonderful man, however, actually disdained the character of a mere linguist; regarding languages as nothing more than the keys of learning, which qualified him to unlock the literary hoards of ancient and modern times. His profound learning he therefore employed in elucidating the laws, the philosophy, and opinions of most nations. He died at the early age of forty-seven: but fourteen years before this, the following memorandum, in his own handwriting, will explain the purposes to which he intended to apply his learning; "Anno Etat. 33. Resolved to learn no more rudiments of any kind, but to perfect myself in first 12 languages, as the means of acquiring accurate knowledge of, I. The HISTORY, 1. of Man; 2. Nature. II. ARTS, 1. Rhetoric; 2. Poetry; 3. Painting; 4. Music. III.-1. Law; 2. Mathematics; 3. Dialectick.-N. B. Every species of human knowledge may be reduced to one or other of these divisions. Even law belongs partly to the history of man; partly as a science to dialectick. The twelve languages are-Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, German, English." Many disquisitions, since published, were the fruit of this resolution; and it is remarkable, that whether they are philological or philosophical, chronological or botanical, they, as well as all his historical researches, not only fix the attention by their novelty, their depth, and their importance, but uniformly delight by their elegance of diction. Viewed in connection with these uncommon literary acquirements, there were several moral qualities which have not failed to raise the man as much as the scholar in public esteem. Humility or condescension, modesty, humanity, and unbending integrity, were distinguishing traits in his character. The first of these was displayed, we are informed, in "the candor and complacency with which he gave his attention to all persons of whatever quality, talents, or education; for it was a conclusion and a principle with him, that curious and important information might be gained even from the illiterate; and wherever it was to be found, he sought and seized it." For his modesty, I would only refer to the epitaph, in a subsequent page, which he wrote for himself but a short time before his premature dissolution; and for his fine constitutional humanity one proof will be amply sufficient. One day, when addressing the Asiatic Society in Bengal, of which he was the origin and the president, when he came to their researches into the animal kingdom, he began in the following style: "Could the figure, instincts, and qualities of birds, beasts, insects, reptiles, and fish, be ascertained, either on the plan of Buffon, or on that of Linnæus, without giving pain to the objects of our examination, few studies would afford us more solid instruction, or more exquisite delight; but I never could learn by what right, nor conceive with what feelings, a naturalist can occasion the misery of an innocent bird, and leave its young, perhaps, to perish in a cold nest, because it has gay plumage, and has never been accurately delineated; or deprive even a butterfly of its natural enjoyments, because it has the misfortune to be rare or beautiful: nor shall I ever forget the couplet of Fordausi, for which Sadi, who cites it with applause, pours blessings on his departed spirit: Ah! spare yon emmet, rich in hoarded grain; This may be only a confession of weakness, and it certainly is not meant as a boast of peculiar sensibility; but whatever name may be given to my opinion, it has such an effect on my conduct, that I never would suffer the cocila, whose wild native wood-notes announce the approach of spring, to be caught in my garden, for the sake of comparing it with Buffon's description; though I have often examined the domestic and engaging Mayana, which 'bids us good morrow' at our windows, and expects, as its reward, little more than security. Even when a fine young Manis or Pangolin was brought to me, against my wishes, from the mountains, I solicited his restoration to his beloved rocks, because I found it impossible to preserve him in comfort at a distance from them." Eleven years of his short life Sir William Jones spent in the capacity of a judge at Calcutta, where "the inflexible integrity with which he discharged the solemn duties of this station, will be long remembered both by Europeans and natives. So cautious was he to guard the independence of his character from any possibility of violation or imputation, that no solicitation could prevail upon him, to use his personal influence with the members of administration in India, to advance the private interests of friends whom he esteemed, and which he would have been happy to promote." All that has already been said, though it might place this individual far above most other men, would, alas! avail but little or nothing, could we not add something more. But surely our esteem for such a man cannot fail to rise much higher, when we see him, after a dispassionate and careful examination of the Sacred Volume, record his sentiments in the following terms, written with his own hand, on the leaf at the end of his Bible: "I have carefully and regularly perused these Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion, that the volume, independently of its divine origin, contains more sublimity, purer morality, more important history, and finer strains of eloquence, than can be collected from all other books, in whatever language they may have been written." Nor did he confine these sentiments to his own bosom, or record them only in his closet. Upon another occasion, in 1791, when addressing the Asiatic Society of Bengal, though theological subjects formed no part of the subject immediately before him, we hear him saying, "I cannot refrain from adding, that the collection of tracts, which we call, from their excellence, the Scriptures, contain, independently of a divine origin, more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, purer morality, more important history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence, than could be collected, within the same compass, from all other books that were composed in any age, or in any idiom. The two parts of which the Scriptures consist, are connected by a chain of compositions, which bear no resemblance, in form or style, to any that can be produced from the stores of Grecian, Indian, Persian, or even Arabian learning; the antiquity of those compositions no man doubts; and the unstrained application of them to events long subsequent to their publication, is a solid ground of belief that they were genuine compositions, and consequently inspired." In matters of eternal concern, the authority of the highest human opinions has no claim to be admitted, except as it may be opposed to that of men of inferior learning and penetration; and even after these sentiments, so finely expressed, I by no means represent him as equally eminent for Christianity, in the proper sense of the word, as he was for other attainments. As he might have been so, so I wish he had; but in early life, at least, he was inclined to form his character too much after some of the ancient Romans, especially Cicero; and his researches, too, so far as revealed religion is concerned, bring him forward mainly as a witness of profound acquirements against the unbeliever. Few men in our world can examine, and analyze, and meet the learned, though frivolous, objections of the skeptic as he could: "A man who could foil, at their own play, A thousand would-be's of the modern day.' It is, however, truly gratifying, and in no common degree, to see such a man thus explore so vastly, and then subscribe with his hand to the truth of the sacred record, as well as publicly attest it in the presence of men so eminent for learning, both Asiatic and European. It is |