which, though it may be difpenfed with,
is moft acceptable to thofe who poffefs it, I
have determined to undertake the charge of
a pupil, to receive him into my houfe, and
fuperintend his morals and education. I am
particularly anxious, however, that he mould
be of your country, not only becaufe the
fyftem of private education is little known or
followed here, but becaufe it would be more
agreeable to me to part with my liberty to an
Englishman, (you fee how openly I fpeak,)
from whom I might expect a more fubftan-
tial recompence. My paper will not allow
266
me to fay much more. Oblige me with a
few lines in reply ; I am certain you will
willingly aflift me as far as you can, and you
may depend upon the ftricteft attention on
my part, to any requeft from you which I
can poiiibly execute. My wife fends her ben:
compliments to your excellent mother and
filler. Farewell, my dear Jones; and con-
tinue to honour me with your efteem.
H. A. SchultEns.
******
At an interval of more than twenty-five
years from the date of this letter, I cannot
but acknowledge a difpofition to fympathize
with the feelings of the learned writer, and
participate the regret which he exprefTes, at
the deprivation of the fociety of his friend*
from his want of means to defray the ex-
pence of a journey to England. At this pe-
riod, Schultens enjoyed an extenfive repu-
tation, and was perhaps the object of envy
to many, who, without any claim to diftinc-
tion, pofTeiTed that opulence, which, with
all his indefatigable labours in cultivating and
267
promoting literature, he had not been able to
procure. We feel the more for him, becaufe
his complaints, (if the confidential commu-
nication of his eircumftances authorize the
expreffion,) are neither deficient in dignity,
nor refignation. In truth, the tract of lite-
rature which he had chofen to cultivate, was
more calculated to produce a harveft of cele-
brity than profit.
* Mr. JONES to H. A. SCHULTENS.
July 1777.
I mould have great pleafure
in complying with your kind and friendly
requeft, by furnifhing my contribution *o
the new work which is foon to appear
amongft you, and would exert myfelf for
this purpofe, but the abfolute want of leifure
makes it impoffible. My law employments,
attendance in the courts, inceflant fludies,
the arrangement of pleadings, trials of caufes,
and opinions to clients, fcarcely allow me a
few moments for eating and fleeping. I
thank you fmcerely for your very entertain-
* Appendix, No. 3-1.
268
ing account of your own occupations, and of
what is going on in your country. If I
fhould hear of any wealthy Englifh gentle-
man, who wifhes to fend his fon as a pupil
to Holland, to fludy literature, you may rely
upon my recommendation of your merits,
as well as upon my afliftance on all occafions.
I muft however at the fame time tell you,
that an opportunity of this nature is very
uncertain.
Mr. JONES to Lord ALTHORP.
MY DEAR LORD, Bath, Dec. 28, 1777.
I told you, when I had the
pleafure of feeing you in London, that it
was doubtful whether I fhould pafs my vaca-
tion at Amfterdam or at Bath ; the naiads of
the hot fprings have prevailed, you fee, over
the nymphs of the lakes, and I have been
drinking the waters for a month, with no
Iefs pleafure than advantage to my health ;
the improvement of which I afcribe, how-
ever, in great meafure, to my regular exer-
cife on the downs, and to abflinence from
any fludy that requires too much exertion of
the mind. I fhould have fcated indeed in
269
Holland from town to town, and a little
voyage would have diflipated my bile, if I
had any : but that fcheme I rauft poftpone
till another winter, and have fent an excufe
to my Dutch friend who expected me.
As I came hither entirely for the purpofe
of recreating my exhaufted fpirits and
ftrengthening my ftomach, I have abftained
with fome reluctance from dancing, an
amufement which I am as fond of as ever,
but which would be too heating for a water-
drinker ; and as for the idler diverfions of a
public place, they have not the recommend-
ation of novelty, without which they cannot
long pleafe. You, my dear friend, are in
the mean time relaxing yourfelf, from the
feverer purfuits of fcience and civil know-
ledge, with the healthy and manly exercife
of the field, from which you will return
with a keener appetite to the noble feaft
which the Mufes are again preparing for
you at Cambridge. And here, by way of
parenthefis, I mult tell you that I joined a
fmall party of hunters the other morning,
270
and was in at the death of a hare ; but I
muft confefs, that I think hare- hunting a
very dull exercife, and fit rather for a hun-
trefs than a mighty hunter, rather for Diana
than Orion. Had I the tafte and vigour of
Action, without his indifcreet curiofity, my
game would be the flag or the fox, and I
mould leave the hare in peace, without fend-
ing her to her many friends. This herefy of
mine may arife from my fondnefs for every
thing vaft, and my difdain for every thing
little, and for the fame reafon I mould prefer
the more violent fport of the Afiatics, who
inclofe a whole diftrict with toils, and then
attack the tigers and leopards with javelins,
to the found of trumpets and clarions. Of
mufic, I conclude, you have as much at A1-
thorp, as your heart can defire ; I might here
have more than my ears could bear, or my
mind conceive, for we have with us La
Motte, Fifcher, Rauzzini; but as I live in
the houfe of my old matter, Evans, whom
you remember, I am fatisfied with his harp,
which 1 prefer to the Theban lyre, as much
271
as I prefer Wales to ancient or modern
Egypt.
I was this morning with Wilkes, who
fhewed me a letter lately written to him from
Paris, by Diderot; as I have you know a
quick memory, I brought away the fubftance
of it, and give it to you in a translation al-
moft literal: — " Friend Wilkes, it delights
{l me to hear that you ftill have fufficient
** employment for your active mind, without
*' which you cannot long be happy. I have
" juft read the feveral fpeeches which you
** have delivered on the fubjecl: of your pre-
" fent war againft the provincials ; they are
" full of eloquence, force, and dignity. I
" too have compofed a fpeech on the fame
* l fubject, which I would deliver in your fe-
*' nate, had I a feat in it. I will wave for
rt the prefent, my countrymen, all confider-
*' ation of the juftice or injuftice of the mea-
*' fures you are purfuing ; I well know that
*' to be an improper topic at the time when
* ; the public welfare is immediately concerned.
'.' I will not even queftion at prefent your
" power to reduce an exafperated and defpe-
" rate people ; but confider, I entreat you,
u that you are furrounded by nations by
"whom you are detefted ; and fay, for
u Heaven's fake, how long you will give
" them reafon to laugh at the ridiculous
a figure you are making. This is my ha-
" rangue ; it is fhort in words, but extenfive
" in meaning." — So far, my dear Lord, we
have no reafon to cenfure the thoughts or ex-
preflions of the learned Encyclopedift ; what
follows is fo profligate, that I would not
tranferibe it, if I were not fare, that you
would join with me in condemning it. " As
" to yourfelf, (he adds,) be cheerful, drink
•' the beft wines, keep the gayefl company,
** and mould you be inclined to a tender
" paffion, addrefs yourfelf to fuch women as
<l make the lead refiftance ; they are as
" amufing and as interefting as others. One
" lives with them without anxiety, and quits
" them without regret." — I want words, Di-
derot, to exprefs the bafenefs, the folly, the
brutality of this fentiment. I am no cynic,
TVS
but as fend as anv man at Paris of cheerful
4
company, and of fuch pleafures as a man of
virtue need not blufh to enjoy; but if the
philofophy of the French academicians be
comprifed in your advice to your friend
Wilkes, keep it to yourfelf, and to fuch as
you. I am of a different fed. He con-
cludes his letter with fome profeffions of re-
gard, and with a recommendation of a young
Frenchman, who told Wilkes fome fpeeches
of Diderot, to the Emprefs of Ruffia, which
you fhall hear at fome other time. I am in-
terrupted, and muft leave you with reluc-
tance till the morning.
******
An apology, I truft, will not be thought
neceffary for introducing that paffage in Di-
derot's letter, which Mr. Jones reprobates hi
terms of afperity and indignation fuitable to
the rectitude of his own mind. His remarks
jfcpon it will ferve to explain, if it be at all
neceffary, certain expreflions in his letters,
which may be thought to border upon a
levity, that never entered into the compe-
ls— V. l. T
274
fition of his character. His mind was never
tainted with vice, nor w r as the morality of
his conduct ever impeached. He valued the
pleafures of fociety, and enjoyed them as
long as they were innocent, whilft he de-
tefted the principles and practice of the de-
bauchee and fenfualift, and, like his favourite
Hafez, could amufe his leifure hours with
poetical compofitions in praife of love or
beauty, without facrificing his health, his
time, or his virtue. His cenfure of Diderot
is equally a proof of his own abhorrence of
vice, and of his anxiety to imprefs it ftrongly
on the mind of his friend and late pupil *,
* Of Diderot, thus casually introduced to the notice
of the reader, it may not be irrelevant to give a short
account. His works I have never read, nor, from the
character of the man, have any wish to peruse them.
Diderot (I take my information from the Abbe Earruel)
was one of the gang of conspirators against the Christian
Religion. He not only professed Atheism, but made a
boast of it, and inculcated it in his writings. He was
invited to Russia, by the Empress Catharine, who atJirst
admired his genius, but soon found sufficient reason in
his conduct and principles to send him back to France.
There were moments in which this professed friend
and admirer of Voltaire, r 'withstanding his avowed
impiety, seems to have been compelled by the force of
2/o
In 1773, Mr. Jones publifhed a tranflatiort
of the fpeeches of Ifreus, in caufes concern-
ing the law of fucceffion to property at
Athens, with a prefatory difcourfe, notes
critical and hiftorical, and a commentary.
The works of Ifaeus had long been neglect-
ed ; the fubject of them was dry, and his
technical language, as Mr. Jones obferves,
was unintelligible to the herd of gramma-
rians and philologers, by whom the old mo-
numents of Grecian learning were fared
truth to pay homage to the New Testament. An ac-
quaintance found him one day explaining a chapter of it
to his daughter, with all the apparent seriousness and
energy of a believer. On expressing his surprise, Dide-
rot replied, " I understand your meaning ; but after all,
" where is it possible to find better lessons for her in-
" struction ?" The devils believe, and tremWe.
At the close of a life of profligacy and impie f y, con-
sistent with the sentiments expressed in his letter to
Wilkes, Diderot shewed some signs of contrition, and
even went so far as to declare an intention of publicly
recanting his errors. But the barbarity of his philosophic
friends interfered to prevent it, and they resolved as far
as they could, that he should die without reDentanee.
Under the pretence that a change of air would promote
his restoration to health, they secretly removed him into
the country, and never left him until he expired, ia
Julv 178 1.
T 2
276
from dertrudtion. To refcue them from ob-
fcurity, and to prefent them to the Undent of
our Englifn laws in his native language, was
a talk which required the united qualifica-
tions of claiTical erudition and legal know-
ledge, and which he difcharged with equal
pleafure and fuccefs.
44 There is no branch of learning, from
44 which a ftudent of the law may receive
44 a more rational pleafure, or which feems
" more likely to prevent his being difgufted
44 with the dry elements of a very compli-
44 cated fcience, than the hiltory of the rules
*' and ordinances by which nations, eminent
* 4 for wifdom, and illuftrious in arts, have
44 regulated their civil polity : nor is this the
14 only fruit that he may expect to reap from
46 a general knowledge of foreign laws, both
44 ancient and modern ; for whilft he indulges
* f the liberal curionty of a fcholar in examin-
vC ing the cuftoms and inftitutions of men,
" whofe works have yielded hirn the higheft
4i delight, and whole actions have raifc-d his
i( admiration, he will feel the fatisfaiftion of
277
" a patriot, in obferving the preference due
4t in moft inftances to the laws of his own
" country above thofe of all other ftates ; or,
" if his juft profpects in life give him hopes
" of becoming a legiflator, he may colled
11 many ufeful hints, for the improvement
" even of that fabric, which his anceftors have
" erected with infinite exertions of virtue and
" genius, but which, like all human fyftems,
" will ever advance nearer to perfection, and
" ever fall fhort of it. 1 *
I quote the preceding obfervations from
his prefatory difcourfe, which is written with
uncommon elegance, and particularly intereft-
ing, not only from the information which
it contains refpecting the author whofe works
he illuftrated, but for its critical remarks on
the comparative merits of the Grecian ora-
tors, and for his difTertation on the Attic
laws of fucceffion, and the forms of pleading
in the Athenian courts. It was no fmall
credit to Mr. Jones to have fuccefsfully ac-
complifhed what Sir Mathew Hale, " to
■• whofe learning and diligence the prefent
278
" age is no lefs indebted, than his contempo-
tf raries were to his wifdom and virtue,"
had unfuccefsfully attempted.
The works of Ifseus are dedicated to Earl
Bathurft ; and Mr. Jones takes occafion in
the epiftle dedicatory to inform the public,
that, although he had received many fignal
marks of friendfhip from a number of illuf-
trious perfons, Lord Bathurft had been his
greateft, his only benefaclor; that, without
any fblicitation, or even requeft on his part,
his Lordfhip gave him a fubflantial and per-
manent token of regard, rendered ftili more
valuable by the obliging manner of giving it,
and literally the fole fruit which he had ga-
thered from an inceilant courfe of very pain-
ful labour. He adds his further acknow-
ledgements for the more extended intentions
of his Lordfhip, although he had not then
derived any benefit from them.
This was the only publication of Mr.
Jones, in 1778; which, however it might
tend to increafe his reputation, did not per-
haps much advance his profeihonal fuccefs.
279
He had however every reafon to be fatisfied
with the proportion of bufinefs that fell to
his mare, during the circuits which he re-
gularly attended.
Mr. Jones had tranfmitted a copy of his
tranflation to Edmund Burke ; and the fol-
lowing letter contains his acknowledgement
of the favour. The opinion of a great orator
on any fubject connected with that of his
conftant meditations, will not be read with-
out intereft.
MY DEAR SIR, March 12, 1779.
I give you many thanks for
your moil obliging and valuable prefent, and
feel myfelf extremely honoured by this mark
of your friendship. My firft leifure will be
employed in an attentive perufal of an author,
who had merit enough to fill up a part of
yours, and whom you have made accefhble
to me with an eafe and advantage, which one
fo many years difufed to Greek literature as
I have been, could not otherwife have.
Ifx-us is an author of whom I know nothing
280
but by fame ; I am fure that any idea I had
from thence conceived of him, will not be at
all leflened by feeing him in your tranflation.
I do not know how it has happened, that
orators have hitherto fared worfe in the hands
of the tranflators, than even the poets ; I
never could bear to read a tranflation of
Cicero. Demofthenes fuffers I think fome-
what lefs; — but he fuffers greatly; fo much,
that I muft fay, that no Engliih. reader could
well conceive from whence he had acquired
the reputation of the firft of orators. I am
fatisfled that there is now an eminent excep-
tion to this rule, and I fmcerely congratulate
the public on that acquifition. I am, with
the greateft truth and regard, my dear Sir,
Your molt faithful and obliged
humble fervant,
Edmund Burke.
Of the incidents in the life of Mr. Jones
daring the years 1778 and 1779, I have no
particular information ; we may fuppofe his
time and attention to have been principally
281
engrofTed by his profeffional duties and ilu-
dies, and the political circumftances of the
times. His own letters, always interefting,
and often inftruclive, with thofe of his cor-
refpondents, contain all that I know of him
during this period ; the latter afford addi-
tional evidence of the efteem in which his
learning, abilities, and principles were held
by men of high reputation in the rank of
literature.
Mr. SWINNEY to Mr. JONES.
Per a of Constantinople, January 1, 1178.
SIR ;
So high an opinion do I en-
tertain of your humanity and politenefs, as
to perfuade myielf you will readily pardon
the liberty I have taken, of fending you a
Perfian and Grecian manufcript. If, on pe~
rufal of one or the other book, you mail
meet with a fingle paiTage that may contri-
bute either to your inftru&ion or amufemenf,
my purpofe will be fully anfwered.
Among the real curiofities I have feen at
282
Conftantinople, is a public mufeum, erected
at the fole expend: cf a mod learned Grand
Vifir, whofe name and title was Rajib Pacha.
This collection contains about two thoufand
Arabian, Perilan, and Turkifh manufcripts,
which, the learned fay, contain vaft ftores of
erudition. It is not improbable but I may be
able, on fome favourable occaiion, to procure
you a copy cf the catalogue; and then, mould
you be difpofed to have any of the manu-
fcripts copied, I intreat you will confer the
honour upon me, of executing the commif-
iion. People affure me, but I dare not fay
whether with good authority or no, that the
entire Decades of Livy, and the complete
Hiflory of Curtius, are contained in that very
precious repofitory: if fo, who knows but
majefty itfelf (lb fuperlatively happy are we
in a monarch who favours the arts and
fciences!; may graciouily condefcend to com-
mand a copy of them?
Be pleafed to accept of my warmeft willies
for your health, profperity, and very long
life: and believe me to be (what I fmcerely
233
am) a lading admirer of your abilities; and at
the fame time, dear Sir, &c.
Sidney Swinney.
Dr. STUART to Mr. JONES.
MY DEAR SIR; 3d October, 1778.
I have to acknowledge the re-
ceipt of your moft obliging letter. It is im-
poffible for me to exprefs the value in which
I hold the favourable fentiments you have
conveyed to me; and above all, th atftrain of
cordiality and friendfhip which accompany
them. The lofs of that long letter, or difler-
tation, into which my performance was about
to entice you, is a matter of infinite regret to
me: but I hope that the object which then
engaged more particularly your attention,
and which was fo worthy of it, is now within
your reach ; that the fates are to comply with
your defires, and to place you in a fcene
where fo much honour and fo many lai rels
are to be won and gathered.
It affects me with a lively pleafure, that
your tafte has turned with a peculiar fondnefs
284
to the fludies of law and government on the
great fcale of hiftory and manners. They have
been too long in the management of en -
quirers, who were merely metaphyficians, or
merely the retainers of courts. Their gene-
rous and liberal nature has been wounded and
debafed by the minutenefs of an acute but
ufelefs philofophy, and by a mean and fluvifli
appetite for praClice and wealth. It is now fit
that we fhould have lawyers who are orators,
philofopliers, and hillorians.
But while I entreat you to accept my bed
thanks foryour excellent letter,and exprefs my
approbation of thofe liucU.es of which you are
enamoured, permit me, at the fame time, to
embrace the opportunity of making known to
you the bearer of thefe lines. Dr. Gillies,
of whom you may have heard as the tranf-
lator of Lyfias, has been long my warm
friend: and i have to recommend him to you
as the pofTefTor of qualities which are ftill
more to his honour than extend ve learning
and real genius. Men who leave their com-
patriots behind them in the purfuits of fcience
283
and true ambition, are of the fame familv*
and ought to be known to one another.
Do me the favour, my dear Sir, to con-
tinue to afford me a place in your memory,
and believe me that I ihall always hear of
your profperity, your reputation, and your
ftudiet, with a peculiar and entire fatisfac-
tion.
I am now, and ever, yours, &c.
Gilb. Stuart.
P. S. In January or February, I am to
fend into the world a new work, in which I
treat of the pthUc law, and the Co?iftiiutiona}
Hjftory ^'Scotland. And, wherever you
are, I am to tranfmic you one of the firft
copies, by Mr. Murray, cf Fleet-Street.
Dean TUCKER to Mr. JONES. .
DEAR SIR ;
GIoucc %ter s Sept em her 21, 1773.
When you firft honoured me
with your acquaintance, perhaps you was not
aware what a troublefome correfpondence
you was bringing yourfdf into. Be that as
286
it may, I will now beg leave to avail myfelf
of the permiflion which you kindly granted
me of confulting you on fome points. Se-
veral copies of my laft tract have been in the
Univerfity upwards of a fortnight ; and it is
probable that by this time fome have vouch-
fafed to read it. What therefore I wifh to
know is, whether, in the judgment of thofe
who have given it a perufal, I have confuted
Mr. Locke's fyftem in fuch a manner, that
they are convinced his muft be wrong, what-
ever elfe may happen to be right. If this is
not the, cafe, that is, if I have not totally
confuted Mr. Locke, I need proceed no far-
ther, for mine can have no chance to be true,
if his is ftill fuppofed to be the only true
one ; and I mall very willingly give up the
purfuit. But, if I have demolifhed his
fcheme, I have fo far cleared the way to
make room for my own ; and, in that cafe,
I have one or two points to confult you
about.
I am,
J. Tucker.
o
87
•r. JONES to Lord ALTKORP.
Tc'wp'c, Oct. 13, 1773.
My dear Lord, captain, and
friend, (of all which titles no man entertains
a jiifter idea than yourfelf,) how ihall I ex-
prefs tlie delight which your letter from
W arley camp has given me ? I cannot fuf-
ficiently regret, that I was fo long deprived
of that pleafure ; for, intending to be in Lon-
don foon after the circuit, I had neglected
to leave any directions here about my letters;
fo that yours has lain almofl a month moon
my table, w T here I found it yefterday on my
return from the country. I ought indeed to
have written firft to you, becaufe I was a
rambler, you itaticnary: and becaufe the pen
has been my peculiar inftrument, as the
fword has been yours this fummer : but the
agitation of forenfic bufmefs, and the fort of
fociety in which I have been forced to live,
afforded me few moments of leifure, except
thofe in which nature calls for perfect repofe,
â– and the fpirits exhauftod with fatigue require
2E8
immediate reparation. I rejoice to fee that
you are a votary, as Archilocus fays of him-
felf, both of the Mufes and of Mars ; nor
do I believe that a letter full of more manly
fentiments, or written with more unaffected
elegance, than yours, has often been fent
from a camp. You know I have fet my
mind on your being a fine fpeaker in next
parliament, in the caufe of true conflitutional
liberty, and your letters convince me that
I fhall not be diiappointed. To this great
object, both for your own glory and your
country's good, your prefent military ftation
will contribute not a little : for, a foldier's
life naturally infpires a certain fpirit and con-
fidence, without which the fineft elocution
will not have a full effect. Not to mention
Pericles, Xenophon, Ccefar, and a hundred
other eloquent foldiers among the ancients,
I am perfuaded that Pitt (whom by the way
I am far from comparing to Pericles) acquir-
ed his forcible manner in the field where he
carried the colours. This I mention in ad-
dition to the advantages of your prefent fitu-
289
atlon, which you very juftly point out : nor
can I think your fummer in any refpect