enjoyment of this gratification was incompatible with his attention to literary pursuits. He determined therefore to seek some retirement at no great distance from Calcutta, where he might have the benefit of air and exercise, and prosecute his studies without interruption, during the vacations of the supreme court. For this purpose, he made choice of a residence at Chrishnagur, which had a particular attraction to him, from its vincinity to a Hindu college. In 1785, a periodical work was undertaken at Calcutta, under the title of Asiatic Miscellany, which has been ignorantly ascribed to the Asiatic society, with whose researches it had no connexion. The title of the work indicates the nature of its contents, which consisted chiefly of extracts from books published in Europe, relating to India, of translations from Oriental authors, and of poems and essays. The editor was occasionally assisted by the literary talents of gentlemen in India, and we find in the two first volumes, which were published in the years 1785 and 86, the following compositons of sir William Jones, who never neglected any op portunity of contributing to the advancement of oriental literature:-The tale of the enchanted fruit; six hymns, addressed to as many Hindu deities; a literal translation of twenty tales and fables of Nizami, expressly intended to assist the students of the Persian language; besides often smaller pieces, from which I quote with pleasure the following beautiful tetrastick, which is a literal translation from the Persian:~ On parent knees, a naked new-born child, Calm thou may'st smile, when all around thee weep. The uniformity which marked the remainingperiod of his alot. ted existence, admits of little variety of delineation. The largest portion of each year was devoted to his professional duties and studies; and all the time that could be sayed from these important avocations, was dedicated to the cultivation of science and literature. Some periods were chequered by illness, the consequence of intense application; and others were embittered by the frequent and severe indispositions of the partner of his cares and the object of his affections. The climate of India, (as he had already found occasion to remark, in a letter to a friend), had been unpropitious to the delicate constitution of his beloved wife; and so apprehensive was he of the consequences, that he intended, unless some favorable alteration should take place, to urge her return to her native country, preferring the pang of separation for five or six years, to the anguish, which he should hardly survive, of losing her. While business required the daily attendance of sir William Jones in Calcutta, his usual residence was on the banks of the Ganges, at the distance of five miles from the court; to this spot he returned every evening after sun-set, and in the morning rose so early, as to reach his apartments in town by walking, at the first appearance of the dawn. Having severely suffered from the heat. of the sun, he ever afterwards dreaded and avoided an exposure to it; and in his hymn to Surya, he alludes to its effect upon him, and to his moon-light rambles, in the following lines Then roves thy poet free, Who with no borrow'd art, Dares hymn thy power and durst provoke thy blaze, And now on lowly knee From him who gave the wound the balsam prays. The intervening period of each morning until the opening of the court, was regularly allotted and applied to distinct studies, He passed the months of vacations at his retirement to Chrishna-nagur in his usual pursuits. Among other literary occupations, in which he employed himself during the two last years, (1788 and 89), it is to be noticed, that he undertook the office of editor of the elegant poem of Hatefi, or the unfortunate lovers of Laili and Mujnoon, an Arabian youth and princess. The benevolent object of his labours renders them interesting, as the book was published at his own expence, with a declared appropriation of the produce of the sale to the re lief of insolvent debtors in the gaol at Calcutta, The manner in which he mentions the travels of Mr. Bruce, shews, that he was not one of those sceptics who doubted of his veracity. In a paper which he presented to the society in Calcutta, he recites a conversation with a native of Abyssinia, who had seen and known Mr. Bruce at Gondar, and who spoke of him in very honorable terms. The constitution of lady Jones, which was naturally delicate, had suffered so much from repeated attacks of indisposition, that a change of climate had long been prescribed by the physicians, as the only means of preserving her life; but her affectionate attachment to her husband, had hitherto induced her to remain in India, In opposition to this advice, though with the full conviction, that the recovery of her health, in any considerable degree, was impossible. At an earlier period, when the extent of the field of investigation appeared boundless, sir William Jones had declared his determination to remain in India until the close of the century, if it should please God to prolong his life. But affection set limits to his zeal for knowledge, and when it was finally settled, that lady Jones should return to England, he determined himself to follow the ensuing spring, hoping by this period to have discharged his engagements with the government of India. She embarked in December, 1793. NATUR The few months allotted to s I now turn to the last scene of the life of sir William Jones. to his existence after the departure of lady Jones, were devoted to his usual occupations, and more particularly to the discharge of that duty which alone detained him in India, the completion of the digest of the Hindoo and Mahomed n law. But neither the consciousness of acquitting himself of an obligation which he had voluntarily contracted, nor his incessant assiduity, could fill the vacuity occasioned by the absence of her, whose society had sweetened the toils of application, and charred his hours of telaxation. After her departure, he mixed more in promiscuous society; but his affections were transported with her to his native country. On the evening of the 20th of April, or nearly about that date, after prolonging his walk to a late hour, during which he had imprudently remained in conversation in an unwholesome situation, he called upon lord Teignmouth, and complained of agueish symptoms, mentioning his intention to take some medecine, and repeating jocularly an old proverb, that "an ague in the spring, is medicine for a king." He had no suspicions, at the time, of the real nature of his indisposition, which proved, in fact, to be a complaint common in Bengal, an inflamation in the liver. The disorder was, however, soon discovered by the penetration of the physician, who after two or three days was called into his assistance; but it had then advanced too far to yield to the efficacy of the medicines usually prescribed, and they were administered in vain. The progress of the complaint was uncommonly rapid, and terminated fatally on the 27th of April, 1794. "On the morning of that day, his attendants, alarmed at the evident symptoms of approaching dissolution, came precipitately to call the friend who has now the melancholy task of recording the mournful event: not a moment was lost in repairing to his house. He was lying on his bed in a posture of meditation, and the only symptom of remaining life was a small degree of motion in the heart, which after a few seconds ceased, and he expired without a pang or groan. His bodily sufferings, from the complacency of his features, and the ease of his attitude, could not have been severe; and his mind must have derived consolation from those sources where he had been in the habit of seeking it, and where alone, in our last moments, it can ever be found." An anecdote of sir William Jones, upon what authority we know not, has been recorded, that immediately before his dissolution, he retired to his closet, and expired in the act of adoration to his Creator. Such a circumstance would have been conformable to his prevailing habits of thinking and reflection, but it is not founded on fact. The funeral ceremony was performed on the following day, with the honors due to his public station; and the numerous attendance of the most respectable British inhabitants of Calcutta evinced their sorrow for his loss, and their respect for his me mory, In the short space of forty-seven years, by the exertion of rare intellectual talents, he acquired a knowledge of arts, science, and languages, which has seldom been equalled, and perhaps never surpassed. A mere catalogue of the writings of sir William Jones would shew the extent and variety of his erudition: a perusal of them would prove, that it was no less deep than miscellaneous. Whatever topic he discusses, his ideas flow with ease and perspicuity; his style is always clear and polished; animated and forcible when his subject requires it. His philological, botanical, philosophical, and chronological disquisitions; his historical researches, and even his Persian grammar, whilst they fix the curiosity and attention of the reader, by the novelty, depth, or importance of the knowledge displayed in them, always delight by elegance of diction. His compositions are never dry, tedious, nor disgusting; and literature and science come from his hands adorned with all their grace and beauty. **Authorities. Dodsley's Annual Register for 1804, vol XLIV. THE LIFE OF HORATIO, LORD VISCOUNT NELSON, K.B. [A. D. 1758, to 1805.] SINCE the foundation of Britain's maritime greatness, no name has blazed forth with such glory in her annals as the immortal name of Nelson, one of the most illustrious warriors of the eighteenth century; whose memory will ever be dear to the British navy, and whose zeal for the honor of his king, and for the interest of his country, will ever be held up as a shining example to British seamen. Horatio was the fourth son of the rev. Edmund Nelson, rector of Burnham Thorpe, in the [county of Norfolk, and Catherine, daughter of Maurice Suckling, D.D. incumbent of two preferments in the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, and one of the prebendaries of Westminster. He was born on the 29th of September, 1758, and received the first rudiments of his education at the high school at Norwich, from whence he was removed |