dicated to its service, with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, I anticipate, with pleasing expectation, that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws, under a free government, the ever-favourite object of my heart, and the happy reward as, I trust, of our mutual cares, and labours, and dangers."

In witnessing such a resignation after such a life, without doubt we see a man, in this his retirement, far greater than the mightiest conqueror at the very summit of his ambition, since it requires much less magnanimity to win the conquest, than to refuse the spoil.

Now, in tracing this character to its origin and infancy, it is certain that his Parents enjoy the honour of having so far formed it; and, but for maternal tenderness, it is probable that we should scarcely have known of such a man. Under the eye of his parents he was reared up from infancy. His father died when he was about ten years old; and from the language employed, his watchfulness over his son may be inferred; for we are informed that “the care of his education then devolved on his mother." It was, however, but a few years after this, when he discovered a strong predilection for the sea; and an inferior situation on board of ship was in prospect, when the influence of a Mother, who had paid such judicious attention to this her child, was not exerted in vain. The place was actually procured, and, but for her, at the age of fifteen, he had become merely a

midshipman in the British navy! She alone prevented a step which would probably have changed the whole course of his future life; and thus, as far as Washington's influence is granted, to the judgment and bosom of a single parent, and that a Mother and a Widow, may the present political enjoyments, and the future usefulness of America be traced!

The course of Divine Providence has often been compared to a chain; but there is one peculiarity in this chain, on which the careful observer, in every age, has gazed with pleasing astonishment,-the almost imperceptible minuteness of some of its links, compared with the vast magnitude of others. So it has been supposed, if a private country gentleman, about the year 1730, had not been overturned in his carriage, that America, instead of being as at this moment, might have continued a dependent colony of England. This country gentleman happened to be Augustine Washington, Esq., who was 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

The system of a world's concerns,

From mere minutiæ can educe

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 twenty-eight! 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 areGreek, 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 connexion 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 candour 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;

He lives with pleasure, and he dies with pain.

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