Being sensible that the expence of his education, with the utmost economy upon his pal t, made a very material deduction from the moderate income of his mother, Jones anxiously looked forward to the period when a fellowship would relieve her from the pressure. But while that ad vantage seemed remote in prospect, he received, through Mr. Arden, whose sister was married to his friend Dr. Sumner..an offer of the situation of private tutor to Lord A lthorpe, eldest sun of the Earl of Spencer. Jones cheer fully entertained the proposal, and, in his nineteenth year, was introduced to the family at their splendid town man sion. Ile returned for a few months to Oxford ; whence, in the summer of 1765, he removed to Wimbledon Park, and assumed the charge of his pupil's education.
In the following summer, an unexpected concurrence of circumstances conferred a fellowship, to which he was elected, on the foundation of Sir Simon Bennet, in the month of August 1766. 11aving visited Oxford, in order to go through the forms of admission, on his return to Wimbledon he received from the Duke of Grafton an offer of the situation of interpreter for Eastern languages, which he however declined. In his 21st year, he began his Com mentaries on Asiatic Poetry, in imitation of 1)r. Lowth's Prelections. But the summer of 1767 opened to him a new scene. Lord Spencer made an excursion to Spa, for the recovery of his health, and was accompanied by Mr. Jones as part of the family. Here he devoted a part of his time to the acquisition of the German language, the pronuncia tion of which he had formerly learned from a fellow colle gian. During the following winter, he resided with his pupil at Althurpe. At the close of that year, curiosity prompted him w peruse the little treatise of Fortesque in praise of the laws of England ; a work front which he ap pears to have imbibed much more correct ideas, and an increased veneration for the legal institutions of his native country. From Althorpe he removed to Wimbledon, in the spring of 1768. The king of Denmark, who was at that time upon a visit to England, had brought with him an eastern manuscript, containing the Life of Nadir Shah, of which he was anxious to procure a translation. An ap plication to this purpose was made to Mr. Jones, whose re putation as an oriental scholar then stood high. At first, however, he declined the task ; but afterwards, Upon a re newal of the application, and finding that no other individu al in this country seemed willing to undertake it, he agreed to execute the work. He completed the translation, in French, in the course of a year, with a wonderful degree of elegance and correctnesss. The work, however, was not
published until 1770. Forty copies, in large paper, were sent to Copenhagen, among which was one splendidly bound for the royal library. A few months after the receipt of the work, his Danish Majesty sent publicly to London a diploma, constituting Mr. Jones a member of the Royal So ciety of Copenhagen ; and, at the same time, in a particular communication, strongly recommended hint to the favour his own sovereign. To the Life of Xudir Shah, Mr. Jones added a Treatise on Oriental Poetry, also in French; 3 work which, in an eminent degree, combines taste with 2rndition.
In the beginning of the year 1768, he formed an ac quaintance with Reviczki, afterwards the imperial minister at Warsaw, and ambassador at the court of England, with -.he title of Count. Both were deeply captivated with the charms of Oriental literature, and their pursuits being thus in a great measure congenial, their acquaintance ripened Into an intimacy. After their separation, they commenced a correspondence, which was cultivated for ma ny years. They generally wrote in Latin, occasionally in French, chiefly on literary subjects, but more particularly on Oriental literature. Of this correspondence much has been lest ; hot a part of it has been fortunately preset ved, and published by Lord Teignmouth in the Appendix to his Life of Sir W. Jones.
Towards the end of year 1769, Mr. Jones accompa nied the family of Lord Spencer to the continent. After spending some time at Pat is, the party proceeded rapidly down the Rhone to Lyons, and from thence by Marseilles, &c. to Nice. From Nice, Mr. Jones made an excursion to Geneva, but was disappointed in his expectation of seeins, Voltaire. About. this time, he appears to have been em ployed in writing a small tract on education, and had com menced a tragedy on the story of Soliman, whose son pe rished by the treachery of a step mother. Of the former, however, nothing has been preserved but the plan ; and of the latter, not even a fragment remains. In 1771, he printed a letter, in French, addressed to M. Anquetil du Perron, who, in a discourse prefixed to the Account of his Travels in India, &c. had spoken with ridicule and disre spect of the university of Oxford, and some of its learned members, including some of Mr. Jones' personal friends. In this anonymous letter, he vindicated his friends with much asperity indeed, but at the same time with such flu ency and correctness of style, that the attack on Du Per ron was generally ascribed to some bel-csfirit of Paris.