never neglected nor overlooked any opportunity of improving his intellectual faculties, or of acquiring esteemed accomplishments.

"To an unextinguished ardour for universal knowledge he joined a perseverance in the pursuit of it, which subdued all obstacles. His studies in India began with the dawn, and, during the intermissions of professional duties, were continued throughout the day: reflection and meditation strengthened and confirmed what industry and investigation had accumulated. It was also a fixed principle with him, from which he never voluntarily deviated, not to be deterred by any difficulties that were surmountable, from prosecuting to a successful termination what he had once deliberately undertaken.

"But what appears to me more particularly to have enabled him to employ his talents so much to his own and the public advantage, was the regular allotment of his time to particular occupations, and a scrupulous adherence to the distribution which he had fixed; hence all his studies were pursued with out interruption or confusion. Nor can I omit remarking the candour and complacency with which he gave his attention to all persons of whatever quality, talents, or education; he justly concluded, that curious or important information might be gained even from the illiterate; and, wherever it was to be obtained, he sought and seized it.

"The literary designs which he still meditated, seem to have been as ample as those which he executed; and if it had pleased Providence to extend the years of his existence, he would in a great measure have exhausted whatever was curious, important, and attainable, in the arts, sciences, and histories

of India, Arabia, Persia, China, and Tartary. His collections on these subjects were extensive, and his ardour and industry we know were unlimited. It is to be hoped that the progressive labour of the society will in part supply what he had so extensively planned.

"Of his private and social vir tues it still remains to speak: and I could with pleasure expatiate on the independence of his integrity, his humanity and probity, as well as his benevolence, which every living creature participated.

"Could the figure (I quote with pleasure his own words), instincts, and qualities of birds, beasts, insects, reptiles, and fish, be ascertained, either on the plan of Buf fon, 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 Ferdausi, for which Sadi, who eites 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

would suffer the cocila, whose wild native woodnotes announce the approach of spring, to be caught in my garden, for the sake of conparing 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 wish, 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.

"I have noticed his cheerful and assiduous performance of his filial and fraternal duty to the other virtues of Mr. Jones (I quote the testimony and words of professor Bjornshal, who visited Oxford whilst sir William Jones resided there, obligingly communicated to me by Dr. Ford of Mag. Hall) I ought to add that of filial duty, which he displays at all times in the most exemplary manner. I am not singular in ⚫ the observation here made. Every one acquainted with Mr. Jones makes it likewise. I feel a. pleasure in dwelling upon a cha*racter that does such high honour to human nature.' The unceasing regret of lady Jones is a proof of his claim upon her conjugal affections; and I could dwell with rapture on the affability of his conversation and manners, on his modest unassuming deportment, nor can I refrain from remarking, that he was totally free from pe dantry, as well as from that arrogance and self-sufficiency which sometimes accompany and disgrace the greatest abilities; his presence was the delight of every society,

which his conversation exhilarated and improved.

"His intercourse with the Indian natives of character and abili ties was extensive: he liberally rewarded those by whom he was served and assisted; and his dependants were treated by him as friends. Under this denomination he has frequently mentioned in his works the name of Bahman, a native of Yezd, and follower of the doctrines of Zoroaster, whom he retained in his pay, and whose death he often adverted to with regret. Nor can I resist the impulse which I feel to repeat an anecdote of what occurred after his demise; the pundits who were in the habit of attending him, when I saw them at a public durbar, a few days after that melancholy event, could neither restrain their tears for his loss, nor find terms to express their admiration at the wonderful progress which he had made in the sciences which they professed.

"If this character of sir William Jones be not exaggerated by the partiality of friendship, we shall all apply to him his own words, it is happy for us that this man was born.' I have borrowed the application of them from Dr. Parr, and who more competent can be found to estimate the merit of the great scholar whom he deems worthy of this eulogium?

"In the pleasing office of delineating his virtues, my regret for his loss has been suspended, but will never be obliterated; and whilst I cherish with pride the recollection that he honoured me with his esteem, I cannot cease to feel and lament, that the voice to which I listened with rapture and improvement, is heard no more.

As far as happiness may be

considered

considered dependent upon the attainment of our wishes, he possessed it. At the period of his death, by a prudent attention to economy, which never encroached upon his liberality, he had acquired a competency, and was in a situation to enjoy dignity with independence. For this acquisition he was indebted to the exertion of his talents and abilities, of energies well directed, and usefully applied to the benefit of his country and mankind. He had obtained a reputation which might gratisfy the highest ambition; and as far as human happiness is also connected with expec. tation, he had in prospect a variety of employments, the execution of

which depended only on the continuance of his health and intellectual powers. I shall not here enlarge upon the common topic of the vanity of human wishes, prospects, and enjoyments, which my subject naturally suggests; but if my reader should not participate that admiration which the memory of sir William Jones excites in my mind, I must submit to the mortification of having depreciated a character, which I had fondly hoped would be effectually emblazoned by its own excellence, if I did but simply recite the talents and virtues which conspired to dig nify and adorn it.”

MANNERS

ments.

"Tin Chinst, and a few succeed. HE first of the new year ing days, are the only holidays, properly speaking, that are observed by the working part of the community. On these days the poorest peasant makes a point of procuring new clothing for himself and his family; they pay their visits to friends and relations, interchange civilities and compliments, make and receive presents; and the officers of government and the higher ranks give feasts and entertainBut even in those feasts there is nothing that bears the resemblance of conviviality. The guests never partake together of the same service of dishes, but each has frequently his separate table; sometimes two, but never more than four, sit at the same table; and their eyes must constantly be kept upon the master of the feast, to watch all his motions, and to observe every morsel he puts into his mouth, and every time he lifts the cup to his lips; for a Chinese of good-breeding can neither eat nor drink without a particular ceremony, to which the guests must pay attention. If a person invited, should, from sickness or any accident, be prevented from fulfilling

dinner that was intended to be his engagement, the portion of the placed on his table is sent in procession to his own house; a custom that strongly points out the very little notion they entertain of the social pleasures of the table. It is customary to send after each guest the remains even of his dinner. Whenever in the course of our journey we visited a governor or viceroy of a province, we generally found him at the head of a range of tables, covered with a multitude of dishes, which invariably were marched after us to the yachts. Martial, if I mistake not, has some allusion to a similar custom among the Romans. Each carried his own napkin to a feast, which, being filled with the remains of the entertainment, was sent home by a slave; but this appears to have been done more out of compliment to the host, to show the great esteem in which they held his cheer, than for the sake of the viands; for the Romans loved conviviality.

"The Chinese also, like the antient Egyptians, as exemplified in the enormous mess which Joseph gave to little Benjamin above the rest of his brothers, testify, on all occasions, that they consider the measure of a

man's

man's stomach to depend more upon the rank of its owner than either his bulk or appetite. The embassador's allowance was at least five times as great as that of any person in his suite. In this particular, however, these nations are not singular, neither in antient nor in modern times. The kings of Sparta, and indeed every Grecian hero, were always supposed to eat twice the quantity of a common soldier; and the only difference with regard to our heroes of the present day consists in their being enabled to convert quantity into quality, an advantage for which they are not a little indebted to the invention of money, into which all other articles can be commuted.

"Whatever may be the occasion of bringing together a few idlers, they seldom part without trying their luck at some game of chance, for which a Chinese is never unprepared. He rarely goes abroad without a pack of cards in his pocket, or a pair of dice. Both of these, like almost every thing else in the country, are different from similar articles elsewhere. Their cards are much more numerous than ours, and their games much more complicated. Nor are they at any loss, even if none of the party should happen to be furnished with cards or dice; on such an emergency their fingers are employed to answer the purpose, which are all that is required to play the game of Tsoi-moi, a game of which the lower class of people is particularly fond. Two persons, sitting directly opposite to each other, raise their hands at the same moment, when each calls out the number he guesses to be the sum of the fingers expanded by himself and his adversary. The closed fist is none, the thumb one, the thumb

and forefinger two, &c. so that the chances lie between 0 and 5, as each must know the number held out by himself. The middling class of people likewise play at this game when they give entertainments where wine is served, and the loser is always obliged to drink off a cup of wine. At this childish game two persons will sometimes play to a very late hour, till he who has had the worst of the game has been obliged to drink so much wine that he can no longer see either to count his own or his adversary's fingers. 1 have thus particularly noticed the Chinese Tsoimoi, on account of the extraordinary coincidence between it and a game in use among the Romans, to which frequent allusion is made by Cicero. In a note by Melanchthon on Cicero's Offices it is thus described: • Micare digitis, ludi genus est. Sic ⚫ludentes, simul digitos alterius 'manus quot volunt citissime eri'gunt, et simul ambo divinant quot simul erecti sint; quod qui definivit, lucratus est: unde acri visu opus, et multa fide, ut cum ali· quo in tenebris mices.' • Micare digitis, is a kind of game. Those who play at it stretch out, with great quickness, as many fingers of one hand each, as they please, and at the same instant both guess how many are held up by the two together; and he who guesses right wins the game: hence a sharp sight is necessary, and also great confidence when it is played in the dark.'

"The Chinese have certainly the acer visus, but I doubt much whether they have faith enough in each other's integrity to play at the game of fingers in the dark, which, in the opinion of Cicero, was a strong test of a truly honest man. The same game is said to be still

played