Born, in Westminster, 28 Sept. 1746. At Harrow School, 1753–64. Matric., Univ. Coll., Oxford, 15 March 1764; Scholar, 31 Oct. 1764; Fellow, 1766; B.A., 1768; M.A., 1773. Private tutor to Lord Althorp, 1765–70. F.R.S., 1772. Mem. of Literary Club, 1773. Called to Bar at Middle Temple, 1774. Commissioner of Bankruptcy, 1776. Judge of High Court at Calcutta, 1783–94. Knighted, 19 March 1783. Married Anna Maria Shipley, April 1783. Arrived at Calcutta, Dec. 1783. Founded Bengal Asiatic Soc., Jan. 1784. Edited “The Asiatic Miscellany,” 1787. Wife returned to Europe, owing to ill-health, Dec. 1793. He died, at Calcutta, 27 April 1794. Buried there. Works: “Traité sur la Poésie Orientale,” 1770; “Dissertation sur la littérature Orientale” (anon.), 1771; “Grammar of the Persian Language,” 1771; “Lettre à Monsieur A * * * du P. * * *” (anon.), 1771; “Poems, consisting chiefly of translations from the Asiatick Languages” (anon.), 1772; “Poeseos Asiaticæ Commentariorum libri sex,” 1774; “A Dialogue between a Country Farmer and a Gentleman” (anon.), 1778; “A Speech,” 1780; “An Inquiry into the Legal Mode of Suppressing Riots” (anon.), 1780; “An Essay on the Law of Bailments,” 1781; “The Muse Recalled,” 1781; “An Ode in imitation of Alcæus” (anon.) (1782); “The Principles of Government” (anon.), 1782; “A Letter to a Patriot Senator” (anon.), 1783; “On the Orthography of Asiatick Words,” 1784; “On the Gods of Greece, Italy and India,” 1785; “On the Hindus,” 1786; “On the Arabs,” 1787; “On the Tartars,” 1788; “On the Persians,” 1789; “On the Chinese,” 1790; “On the Borderers, Mountaineers and Islanders of Asia,” 1791; “On the Origin and Families of Nations,” 1792; “On Asiatick History,” 1793; “On the Philosophy of the Asiaticks,” 1794. He translated: “Life of Nader Shah” (into French), 1770 (English version, 1773); “The Moallakat,” 1782; “The Mahomedan Law of Succession,” 1782; “Sacontalá,” 1789; “Al-Sirájiyyah, or Mahomedan Law of Inheritance,” 1792; Manu’s “Institutes,” 1796. Collected Works: “Works,” ed. by A. M. Jones (6 vols.), 1799; two supplemental vols., 1801; “Poetical Works,” 1810; “Discourses, etc.,” 1821. Life: “Memoirs,” by Lord Teignmouth, 1804.

Personal

  I knew him from the early age of eight or nine, and he was always an uncommon boy. Great abilities, great particularity of thinking, fondness for writing verses and plays of various kinds, and a degree of integrity and manly courage, of which I remember many instances, distinguished him even at that period. I loved him and revered him, and, though one or two years older than he was, was always instructed by him from my earliest age. In a word, I can only say of this amiable and wonderful man, that he had more virtues, and less faults, than I ever yet saw in any human being; and that the goodness of his head, admirable as it was, was exceeded by that of his heart. I have never ceased to admire him from the moment I first saw him; and my esteem for his great qualities, and regret for his loss, will only end with my life.

  His intercourse with the Indian natives of character and abilities was extensive: he liberally rewarded those by whom he was served and assisted, and his dependents 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 refrain 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.

  The name of Sir William Jones is associated, not only with the splendour of a great reputation, but with almost all the amiable and exemplary virtues; and the gentler affections, which were a little chilled by the aspect of his vast literary attainments, are won sweetly back, and rest with delight upon the view, which is here exhibited, of the purity, the integrity, and the mildness, of his private manners. His life, indeed, seems, from his earliest youth, not only to have been undefined by those coarser blemishes of excess and debauchery, which are generally excluded by an addiction to letters, but to have been distinguished for all that manly exertion, and varied activity, which so rarely escapes unimpaired from the langour of an academical retirement; while it was adorned by the polished manners and elegant accomplishments which are still more frequently neglected by the man of business and the scholar. The most remarkable features in his character, indeed, seem to have resulted from the union of this gentleness and modesty of disposition, with a very lofty conception of his own capability and destination. Without ever appearing to presume upon the force of his genius or the vigour of his understanding, he seems to have thought nothing beyond the reach of his industry and perseverance.

  “Know him, sir!” exclaimed the friend of his boyhood, Samuel Parr,—who, with all his pompous affectation, had a warm heart under his Roman mail,—“Know him, sir! Who did not know him? Who did not bend in devout respect at the variety and depth of his learning, the integrity of his principles, and the benevolence of his heart?”

  When I entered the Temple [1782], Sir William Jones was in high fame as a commentator and translator of Oriental poetry, and as a classical scholar; but the lawyers, rightly or wrongly, held him in little estimation for his skill in their own profession; nor was he considered then to have the talents of an original writer. I had not the good luck to be acquainted with him, nor even to know his person.

  His acquaintance with the history, philosophy, laws, religion, science, and manners of nations, was most extensive and profound. As a linguist, he has scarcely, if ever, been surpassed; he had made himself acquainted with no fewer than twenty-eight different languages, and was studying the grammars of several of the Oriental dialects up to within a week of his lamented death. In accordance with a determination to which we have already referred, he perfected himself in Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, German and English; made himself master of Sanscrit, and less completely of Hindostanee and Bengalee, and also of the dialects called the Tibetian, the Pali, the Phalavi, and the Deri. The other languages which he studied more or less completely were the Chinese, Russian, Runic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Coptic, Dutch, Swedish, and Welsh.

General

	He too, whom Indus and the Ganges mourn,
	The glory of their banks, from Isis torn,
	In learning’s strength is fled, in judgment’s prime,
	In science temp’rate, various, and sublime;
	To him familiar every legal doom,
	The courts of Athens, or the halls of Rome,
	Or Hindoo Vedas taught; for him the Muse
	Distill’d from every flow’r Hyblæan dews;
	Firm, when exalted, in demeanour grave,
	Mercy and truth were his, he lov’d to save.
	His mind collected; at opinion’s shock
	Jones stood unmov’d, and from the Christian rock,
	Cœlestial brightness beaming on his breast,
	He saw the STAR, and worshipp’d in the East.

  The death of this great man is an irreparable loss to Christianity, to science, and to literature.

  I close with a retrospect of the works of Sir William Jones, who, by establishing the affinity between the Indian language and the Latin, Greek, German, and Persian, first threw a light on this obscure study, and consequently on the earliest popular history which before his time was everywhere dark and confused. Yet he has extended the affinity to some other instances infinitely less important, tracing back the exhaustless abundance of language to three chief families—the Indian, Arabic, and Tartar; and, finally, after having himself so finely exhibited the total difference of the Arabic and Indian languages, seeking, from a love of unity, to derive all from one common source: I have, therefore, been unable to adhere closely in every particular to this excellent and learned man, since his arguments being directed to support an opposite theory, would unquestionably militate against my own opinions.

  The doctrine of bailments (which lies at the foundation of the law of shipments) was almost struck out at a single heat by Lord Holt who had the good sense to incorporate into the English code that system which the text and the commentaries of the civil law had already built up on the continent of Europe. What remained to give perfect symmetry and connexion to all the parts of that system, and to refer it to its principles, has been accomplished in our times by the incomparable essay of Sir William Jones, a man, of whom it is difficult to say, which is most worthy of admiration, the splendour of his genius, the rareness and extent of his acquirements, or the unspotted purity of his life. Had he never written anything but his “Essay on Bailments,” he would have left a name unrivalled in the common law, for philosophical accuracy, elegant learning, and finished analysis. Even cold and cautious as is the habit, if not the structure, of a professional mind, it is impossible to suppress enthusiasm, when we contemplate such a man.

  In the course of a short life, Sir William Jones acquired a degree of knowledge which the ordinary faculties of men, if they were blest with antediluvian longevity, could scarcely hope to surpass. His learning threw light on the laws of Greece and India, on the general literature of Asia, and on the history of the family of nations. He carried philosophy, eloquence, and philanthropy into his character of a lawyer and a judge. Amid the driest toils of erudition, he retained a sensibility to the beauties of poetry, and a talent for transfusing them into his own language, which has seldom been united with the same degree of industry. Had he written nothing but the delightful ode from Hafiz,

“Sweet maid, if thou wouldst charm my sight,”

it would alone testify the harmony of his ear, and the elegance of his taste. When he went abroad, it was not to enrich himself with the spoils of avarice or ambition; but to search, amid the ruins of Oriental literature, for treasures which he would not have exchanged

	“For all Bokhara’s gold,
	Or all the gems of Samarcand.”

It is, nevertheless, impossible to avoid supposing, that the activity of his mind spread itself in too many directions to be always employed to the best advantage. The impulse that carried him through so many pursuits, has a look of something restless, inordinate, and ostentatious. Useful as he was, he would in all probability have been still more so, had his powers been concentrated to fewer objects. His poetry is sometimes elegant; but altogether, it has too much of the florid luxury of the East.

  To the name of poet, as it implies the possession of an inventive faculty, Sir William Jones has but little pretension. He borrows much; and what he takes he seldom makes better. Yet some portion of sweetness and elegance must be allowed him. In the hymns to the Hindu deities, the imagery which is derived chiefly from Eastern sources, is novel and attractive.

  Need I dwell a moment on the recommendation of the works of Sir William Jones?… A scholar, a critic, philosopher, lawyer, and poet,—where shall we find, in the work of the same man, greater demonstration of pure and correct feelings, and cultivated and classical taste, than in the volumes here noticed and recommended? The piety of Sir William Jones was not inferior to his learning. A thoroughly good and great-minded man,—his caution, humility, and diffidence were equal to his learning and multifarious attainments; and there is a vigour and raciness in his translations of Persian poetry which give them the enchanting air of original productions.

  The professional acquirements of Sir William Jones were undoubtedly of a very high order. He commenced the study of the law at a later period of life than is usual; and he brought with him to the task powers of mind polished to the finest brilliancy by unremitting exercise, and tempered and proved in a variety of pursuits. With these advantages, he applied himself to the study of his profession as to that of a science, resting upon principles, and to be mastered, like other sciences, by an exact and orderly method. His “Essay on the Law of Bailments” affords an instance of the logical manner in which his mind was accustomed to deal with legal subjects; and it has been already stated that he had treated several other branches of the law upon the same model. His acquaintance with legal writers was doubtless very extensive; and his admirable memory enabled him to preserve the greater portion of whatever he pursued. As a judge his character stood stainless and unreproached.

  There are few authors to whom Oriental literature is under more deep obligations than to Sir William Jones; few who, like him, have not merely pointed out original and important sources of knowledge, but contributed in no inconsiderable degree to render them accessible. He was equally remarkable for his ardour and industry in philological pursuits, from a very early period of his life, until its premature and lamented close.

  The Admirable Crichton of his day…. The poetry of Sir William Jones is very sonorous and imposing; and in his happiest efforts there is not wanting nobleness of thought, or glow of passion, as well as pomp of words. He cannot, however, be called a poet of an original genius; any peculiarity, of inspiration that may seem to distinguish some of his compositions is for the most part only the Orientalism of the subject, and of the figures and images. He is a brilliant translator and imitator rather than a poet in any higher sense.

  Many Englishmen, notably Warren Hastings, who had spent long years in India, had become profoundly versed in the languages and literature of the country; but they were too much occupied with the practical work of administration to embody their knowledge and researches in literary and scientific form. Jones, on the other hand, came to India with a mind imbued not only with enthusiasm for oriental studies, but with a wider knowledge of classical and other literatures than men sent to India in their early manhood ordinarily possessed. Moreover, he could express himself in writing with rapidity and elegance. No subject was too abstruse or too trifling for Jones to investigate. Hindu chronology, music, and chess were all studied and described by him. He planned an exhaustive work on the botany of India, and paid attention to the local zoology. The famous asoka tree of Indian mythology and poetry is known to botanists as Jonesia asoka and was so named by Dr. William Roxburgh (1759–1815) in honor of Sir William Jones.