JONES, SIR WILLIAM, the celebrated orientalist, was born in London on the 28th of September, 1746. ills fa ther Mr. William Jones, was an eminent mathematician, and the cotemporary of Sir Isaac Newton.t IIis mother was the youngest daughter of Mr. George Nix, a respecta ble cabinet-maker in London.
Having lost his father when only three years old, the care of his education devolved upon his mother—a lady whose uncommon attainments eminently qualified her for the task. At the close of his seventh year he was placed at Harrow school, of which Dr. Thackeray, and afterwards Dr. Sumner, were head masters. During his residence at school, Jones greatly distinguished himself by his diligence and application ; although the progress of his classical stu dies was suspended in his ninth year, in consequence of his having the misfortune to break his thigh-bone, which detained him at home twelve months. He soon, however, recovered his lost ground, and rapidly rose to the first in fluence and distinction among his school-fellows. In his twelfth year, he was moved into the upper school ; and his active genius now began to display itself in spontaneous compositions. He translated into English verse several epistles of Ovid, and all Virgil's pastorals ; and he com posed a dramatic piece on the story of Meleager, which was acted during the vacation, and in which he himself performed the part of the hero. For two years he wrote the exercises of various boys in the superior classes. Dur ing the holidays, he turned his attention to other branches of study, and learned the rudiments of French and arith metic.
Jones had attained his fifteenth year when Dr. Thackeray retired from the superintendance of the school at Harrow. This respectable tutor, who never applauded the composi tions of his scholars upon any occasion, is said to have ex pressed his opinion of his distinguished pupil in private ; that he was a boy of so active a mind, that if he were left naked and friendless on Salisbury Plain, he would find the way to fame and riches. Dr. Thackeray was succeeded by Dr. Sumner ; and, in order that the new master might see at a glance the course of study at Harrow, Jones, at the suggestion of the principal assistant, drew up a plan of the lectures and exercises in the upper school, to which he annexed a collection of his own compositions, including translations of Virgil's pastorals. Dr. Sumner soon per ceived the talents of his pupil ; who, during the two com plete years which he passed under that excellent instruc tor, read and imitated the best ancient authors. But his studies were not confined to the Greek and Roman clas sics. His attention having been directed to the eastern lan
guages, he learned the Arabic characters, and acquired a sufficient knowledge of the Hebrew to enable him to read some of the psalms in the original. His zeal for the ac quisition of learning, indeed, was, at this period, so ardent, that he frequently consumed the night in study, taking tea or coffee to repel sleep. His reputation spread even be yond the precincts of the school, and strangers often in quired for him under the title of the Great Scholar.
When he had reached his seventeenth year, his friends thought it time to remove him to one of the universities. The law had been proposed to his mother as a profession, in which the talents of her son were likely to be rewarded with brilliant success. But he had, at this time, imbibed a distaste for forensic pursuits; and this, combined with other considerations, induced her to relinquish the plan, and to adopt the suggestion of Dr. Sumner, that he should complete his education at the university. Accordingly, in the spring of 1764, he was matriculated at University College, Oxford ; and in the following term, he fixed his residence at that seat of learning. Here he had resided but a few months, when lie was unanimously elected one of the four scholars on the foundation of Sir Simon Bennet. From this period he began to devote a great deal of his at tention to oriental literature ; and his application to the stu dy of Arabic was encouraged by the example and the li berality of a fellow-student, who offered him the use of the best books. In acquiring the pronunciation, lie was as sisted by Mirza, a native of Aleppo, whom he had accident ally discovered in London, and carried with him to Ox ford ; and who, although without pretensions to the cha racter of a scholar, spoke and wrote the vulgar Arabic with fluency. At the same time his classical studies were not neglected. He assiduously perused all the Greek po ets and historians of note, and travelled through the entire works of Plato and Lucian, with their vast appendages of commentary. Having discovered the intimate connection between the Arabic and the dialect of modern Persia, he resolved to acquire the latter ; in which, with such helps as were then extant, he made a rapid progress. His va cations were passed in London ; and during each recess, he regularly attended the schools of Angelo, in order to culti vate the elegant accomplishments of riding and fencing. When at home, he was constant in his attentions to the modern Enguages, and read the best Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese authors.