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 sceptic 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 equally interesting to see him at another time with the records of unbelieving nations in

his hand, trace back, to the very spot to which the Scriptures refer, the origin of diverging tribes and discordant languages; to see him correcting their contradictory and absurd chronology, by the light of divine revelation ; and with especial reference to those Scriptures, at which other men, though eminent, but of inferior attainment, have sneered, to hear him, after one of the largest surveys which has perhaps ever been taken by one man, pronounce them to be the very "Key of Knowledge."

At the same time, while the learning of Sir William Jones certainly gave some improper tincture to his religion; on the other hand, his views on that subject had such great power as even to sway him in the direction of all his learned investigations. After the elucidation and confirmation of divine truth, he was therefore, in mature life especially, often in pursuit; nay, amidst these very researches, one can see, at the same time, that the state and the destiny of his own immortal soul, occupied the grave attention of his retired moments. Nearly ten years before his dissolution, in 1784, we find him, during indisposition, using the following prayer:-"O thou Bestower of all good! if it please thee to continue my easy tasks in this life, grant me strength to perform them as a faithful servant; but if thy wisdom hath willed to end them by this thy visitation, admit me, not weighing my unworthiness, but through thy mercy declared in Christ, into thy heavenly mansions, that I' may continually advance in happiness, by advancing in true knowledge and awful love of thee. Thy will be done!"

These, as well as other expressions, uttered in pri

vate, certainly give additional weight to his avowed opinions; while, as an appropriate conclusion to this very imperfect sketch, in the following epitaph it will be seen that he is modestly silent upon all his intellectual attainments:

"Here was deposited

the mortal part of a man,
who feared God, but not death;
and maintained independence,

but sought not riches;
who thought

none below him, but the base and unjust,
none above him, but the wise and virtuous;

who loved

his parents, kindred, friends, country,
with an ardour

which was the chief source of

all his pleasures and all his pains;

and who, having devoted

his life to their service,
and to

the improvement of his mind,

resigned it calmly,

giving glory to his Creator,

wishing peace on earth,
and with

good-will to all creatures,

on the [twenty-seventh] day of [April,]

in the year of our blessed Redeemer,

one thousand seven hundred [and ninety-four.]*

Now, to whom was Sir William Jones almost exclusively indebted, in his most important, because his earliest years, for all his future eminence? Who

See the Life of Sir William Jones, by Lord Teignmouth, and the Christian Observer for 1804, vol. iii.

H

was it that bent the twig, or taught the young idea how to shoot? Who was it, that, to his incessant importunities for information on casual topics of conversation, and which were so watchfully stimulated, used then kindly and constantly to reply, " Read, and you will know ?" Who was it that cultivated his mind, so that, in his fourth year, he was able to read any English book, and stored his mind from his birth to his ninth and tenth years? When, in his ninth year, he had the misfortune to break his thigh-bone, which detained him at home more than a year, who was it that was his constant companion, and amused him daily with the perusal of such English books as were adapted to his taste and capacity? For all this, and much more than this, we are referred to only one individual, and that was his dear Mother; an extraordinary woman, then a solitary widow, his father having died when William was only three years old! By nature Mrs Jones possessed a strong understanding, which had been improved by her husband's conversation and instruction,-an eminent mathematician, who had raised himself, by his own industry, till he was the intimate friend of Sir Isaac Newton and others. Under the tuition of her husband, Mrs Jones became a considerable proficient in algebra; and, with a view to qualify herself for the office of preceptor to her sister's son, who was destined to a maritime profession, made herself perfect in trigonometry, and the theory of navigation. After the death of her husband, she was urgently and repeatedly solicited, by the Countess of Macclesfield, to remain at Sherborn Castle; but having formed a plan for the education