Appendix A.1 NOTE 1. STANZA IV.
"Echoing the liberal voice of friendly Shore."

THE honourable Sir JOHN SHORE, who ſucceeded Sir WIL⯑LIAM JONES as preſident of the Aſiatic ſociety, delivered, in his firſt addreſs to that aſſembly, a very juſt and eloquent eulogium on his accompliſhed predeceſſor.—Some lines in the preceding ſtanza allude to the following paſſage in the diſcourſe of Sir JOHN SHORE.

‘The Pandits, who were in the habit of attending him (Sir WM. JONES) when I ſaw them after his death, at a public Durbar, could neither ſuppreſs their tears for his loſs, nor find terms to expreſs their admiration at the wonderful progreſs he had made in their ſciences.’

I ſhall embrace with pleaſure every opportunity of illuſtrating this poem, and of honouring the juſtly lamented perſonage, whom it aſpires to celebrate, by unreſerved quotation of the manly and graceful panegyric, from which I have tranſcribed the preceding paragraph.

Appendix A.2 NOTE 2. STANZA VIII.
"Early to thee obedient Language brought."

THE erudition of Sir WILLIAM JONES was admirable not only from its extraordinary extent, but from having been acquired, to an aſtoniſhing degree, at a very early period of life. ‘Before the expiration of his twenty-ſecond year (ſays his friend and eulo⯑giſt) he had compleated his Commentaries on the Poetry of the Aſiatics, although a conſiderable time afterwards elapſed before their publication.’ Sir JOHN proceeds to commend this work very juſtly, as a compleat proof of the Author's conſummate ſkill in a variety of languages, and as a juvenile monument of taſte, ta⯑lents, and application, without example. Let me add, that this early production diſcovers alſo a heart full of gentle affections, and a mind that already conceived and expreſſed its ideas with ſingular energy and freedom. I allude particularly to the very pathetic tri⯑bute of gratitude and praiſe, which the Author paid, in his Prooe⯑mium, to his friend and inſtructor, then recently deceaſed, (RO⯑BERT SUMNER, the maſter of Harrow ſchool) and to the two fol⯑lowing paſſages of the book; in the firſt he is ſpeaking of ſatire, in the ſecond of heroic poetry. ‘Atqui ut aperte dicam quod ſentio, valde invitus in poetarum chorum ſatyricos, ut vocan⯑tur, aſcribo. Nolo manſuetiarum muſarum deſiderari bene⯑volentiam.’ Poeſeos Aſiat. Comment. cap. 17.

‘Quid de legibus poeticis ſentiam, quibuſque cauſis adductus eas pro nihilo putem, commodiorem inveniam exponendi lo⯑cum.’ cap. 12.

Appendix A.3 NOTE 3. STANZA XI.
"The pride of joy in Gama's gallant frame."

WHEN the Portugueze Admiral, VASCO DE GAMA, was pro⯑ceeding on his great enterprize, the diſcovery of the Eaſt Indies, after he had weathered the tremendous ſtorms, that aſſailed him [25] near the Cape, he is ſaid to have exulted in that omen and aſſur⯑ance of ſucceſs, which he found in the odours wafted to him from an inviſible ſhore; odours thus finely deſcribed by Milton with local exactitude:

Appendix A.4 NOTE IV. STANZA 14.
"A Perſian caſket for a Northern Prince."

THE life of NADER SHAH, an Eaſtern Manuſcript, brought to England by the King of Denmark. It was tranſlated into French, at the requeſt of that monarch, by Sir WILLIAM JONES, who at firſt declined the taſk, ‘alledging for his excuſe the length of the book, the dryneſs of the ſubject, the difficulty of the ſtyle, &c.:’ but he was at laſt induced to undertake it by the moſt liberal motives; and chiefly by the following conſideration, expreſſed in his own words, ‘That it would be a reflection upon this country, if the King ſhould be obliged to carry the manu⯑ſcript into France.’ The French verſion, executed by our in⯑comparable linguiſt, was publiſhed in 1770, when the tranſlator had attained only his 24th year.

Appendix A.5 NOTE V. STANZA 15.
"What generous plaints of indignation burſt."

THIS verſe alludes to the following paſſage, towards the cloſe of an admirable Preface to the Life of NADER SHAH, new modelled for the benefit of the Engliſh reader, and publiſhed in 1773:

Theſe reflections can hardly be ſuggeſted too frequently to the conſideration of thoſe ingenuous youths, who happen to have con⯑ceived a very ardent paſſion for literature. It was happy for our great Orientaliſt, that his own peculiar energy of mind enabled him to form ſuch reflections at an early period of life, before the gates of profeſſional proſperity were barred againſt his laudable ambition; otherwiſe it is but too probable, that with unexampled hoards of erudition, united to a moſt benevolent temper, he might have pined in a ſtate of neglect and mortification, inſtead of riſing to be one of the moſt conſpicuous and moſt uſeful characters in the poliſhed age, which his writings have contributed to enlighten and adorn.

I cannot cloſe this note without remarking, that the Preface to the Engliſh Life of NADER SHAH, which gave riſe to it, contains many excellent remarks on hiſtorical writing. It was the cuſtom of our univerſal ſcholar to delineate, in a philoſophic and maſterly ſurvey, the province of literature, to which the object of his im⯑mediate labour belonged. Thus to his volume of Aſiatic Poems he has added two admirable Eſſays on Poetry; and his tranſlation of ISAEUS is elucidated by a prefatory diſcourſe, and a commentary [27] replete with legal and claſſical information. As a writer, both of verſe and proſe, his conſummate knowledge of languages enabled him to vary and adapt his ſtyle to his ſubject with all the graces of exquiſite propriety.

Appendix A.6 NOTE 6. STANZA XVIII.
"Proclaiming Law thy life's acknowledg'd Queen."

AN alluſion to the following elegant Latin verſes, in which Sir WILLIAM JONES bade adieu to the Muſe, and devoted himſelf to his profeſſion.

An intereſting addreſs! which proved, as Sir JOHN SHORE affec⯑tionately obſerves, moſt truly prophetic!

Appendix A.7 NOTE 7. STANZA XIX.
"Her throne the boſom of her parent, God."

THE ideas and language of this ſtanza are partly borrowed from the ſublime panegyric on law, with which the celebrated HOOKER concludes the firſt book of his Eccleſiaſtical Polity.

Appendix A.8 NOTE 8. STANZA XXII.
"With penſive zeal, and exultation juſt."

THESE lines allude to the following very pleaſing deſcription, which Sir WILLIAM JONES has given of his approach to India, in his firſt public diſcourſe as Preſident of the Aſiatic Society.

[28] "When I was at ſea laſt Auguſt, on my voyage to this country, which I had long and ardently deſired to viſit, I found one even⯑ing, on inſpecting the obſervations of the day, that India lay be⯑fore us, and Perſia on our left, while a breeze from Arabia blew nearly on our ſtern. A ſituation ſo pleaſing in itſelf, and to me ſo new, could not fail to awaken a train of reflections in a mind, which had early been accuſtomed to contemplate with delight the eventful hiſtories, and agreeable fictions of this Eaſtern world. It gave me inexpreſſible pleaſure to find myſelf in the midſt of ſo noble an amphitheatre, almoſt encircled by the vaſt regions of Aſia, which has ever been eſteemed the nurſe of ſciences, the in⯑ventreſs of delightful and uſeful arts, the ſcene of glorious actions, fertile in the productions of human genius, abounding in natural wonders, and infinitely diverſified in the forms of religion and go⯑vernment, in the laws, manners, cuſtoms, and languages, as well as in the features and complexions of men; I could not help remark⯑ing how important and extenſive a field was yet unexplored, and how many ſolid advantages unimproved."—Aſiatick Reſearches, vol. i. p. 9.

Theſe reflections led Sir WILLIAM, by degrees, to the founda⯑tion of the Aſiatic Society, and never was a man more happily qualified, by nature and education, to be the founder and the guide of ſuch a reſpectable inſtitution; ſince, in addition to his own ſin⯑gular talents for the rapid acquiſition and ready communication of knowledge, he was diſtinguiſhed by ſuch engaging manners as en⯑abled him moſt happily to call forth and encourage the faculties of all around him. His unrivalled erudition was ſo far from ren⯑dering him dogmatical or repulſive, that no man ever ſpoke with more genuine modeſty of his own merit; no man could exert more candour and liberality in eſtimating the merit of others. In his writings, the rare extent of his knowledge is always accom⯑panied by an equally rare ſweetneſs and generoſity of ſpirit, which give a peculiar charm to his compoſition, whenever he has occa⯑ſion [29] to mention an author diſtinguiſhed in the branch of literature immediately before him. A ſtriking inſtance of this ſpirit occurs to my recollection in his Eſſay on the Law of Bailments, where he deſcribes the legal treatiſes of a venerable French profeſſor and judge, M. Pothier, in a ſtrain of applauſe uncommonly animated and graceful.

Appendix A.9 NOTE 9. STANZA XXVIII.
"But from thy toil's variety and weight."

A YOUNG Student may find a moſt pleaſing incentive to mental exertion, in contemplating the very wonderful literary acquiſitions and atchievements of Sir WILLIAM JONES; a regular and minute enumeration and eſtimate of theſe we may hope to ſee from the leiſure of ſome accompliſhed individual among his many Aſiatic friends, whom an intimate acquaintance with his extenſive labours, and an equal affection for his endearing virtues, may engage in the office of his Biographer. The Memorial of Sir JOHN SHORE is an excellent prelude to ſuch a work. Sir JOHN, after mention⯑ing his predeceſſor's moſt remarkable productions, inſerts in his diſcourſe a paper entitled "Deſiderata," a liſt of 23 curious and important projected works, relating to India, Arabia, China, and Tartary. On this paper of his departed friend he makes the fol⯑lowing obſervation:

"We are not authorized to conclude, that he had himſelf form⯑ed a determination to compleat the works which his genius and knowledge had thus ſketched; the taſk ſeems to require a period beyond the probable duration of any human life; but we, who had the happineſs to know Sir WILLIAM JONES, who were wit⯑neſſes of his indefatigable perſeverance in the purſuit of know⯑ledge, and of his ardour to accompliſh whatever he deemed im⯑portant: who ſaw the extent of his intellectual powers, his won⯑derful attainments in literature and ſcience, and the facility with [30] which all his compoſitions were made, cannot doubt, if it had pleaſed Providence to protract the date of his exiſtence, that he would have ably executed much of what he had ſo extenſively planned.

It cannot be deemed uſeleſs or ſuperfluous to enquire, by what arts or method he was enabled to attain to a degree of know⯑ledge almoſt univerſal, and apparently beyond the powers of man, during a liſe little exceeding forty-ſeven years.

"The faculties of his mind, by nature vigorous, were improved by conſtant exerciſe, and his memory, by habitual practice, had acquired a capacity of retaining whatever had been once impreſſed upon it. To an unextinguiſhed ardour for univerſal knowledge, he joined a perſeverance in the purſuit of it, which ſubdued all obſtacles; his ſtudies began with the dawn, and during the inter⯑miſſion of profeſſional duties, were continued throughout the day. Reflection and meditation ſtrengthened and confirmed what induſ⯑try and inveſtigation had accumulated. It was a fixt principle with him, from which he never voluntarily deviated, not to be deterred, by any difficulties that were ſurmountable, from proſe⯑cuting to a ſucceſsful termination, what he had once deliberately undertaken.

"But what appears to me to have enabled him to employ his ta⯑lents ſo much to his own and the public advantage, was the regu⯑lar allotment of his time to particular occupations, and a ſcrupu⯑lous adherence to the diſtribution which he had fixed; hence all his ſtudies were purſued without interruption or confuſion. Nor can I here omit remarking, what may probably have attracted your obſervation as well as mine, the candour and complacency with which he gave his attention to all perſons, of whatſoever quality, talent, or education: he juſtly concluded, that curious or important information might be gained from the illiterate; and wherever it was to be obtained, he ſought and ſeized it."

[31] In the very brief liſt of eminent men, who have compleatly united the oppoſite advantages ariſing from a life of buſineſs and a life of meditation, perhaps Cicero is the perſonage, who may be moſt properly compared with Sir WILLIAM JONES. The great Roman has been often conſidered as without a parallel in the di⯑verſity and magnitude of his mental accompliſhments; yet who will now heſitate to declare, that, in extent of erudition, in elegance and energy of mind, and above all in the tenderneſs and integrity of his private and public life, he was far from being ſuperior to our accompliſhed countryman.

Appendix A.10 NOTE 10. STANZA XXXII.
"Thine the loud torrent of her Epic ſong."

THE commentaries on Aſiatic poetry contain a very ſpirited Latin verſion of a paſſage from the Perſian Heroic Poem of FER⯑DUSI, whom the poetical Commentator deſcribes as a rival of Homer. ‘Nullum eſt ab Europaeis ſcriptum poema, quod ad Homeri dignitatem et quaſi caeleſtem ardorem proprius acce⯑dat.’ A large portion of FERDUSI has ſince appeared in an Engliſh dreſs, but, I fear, without obtaining in England, either for the Perſian Homer, or the Engliſh Poet his tranſlator, the admi⯑ration due to original genius, or the juſt recompence of elegant labour. Let me add, however, that JONES'S ſpecimen of the Per⯑ſian Epic Poetry attracted the notice, and obtained the praiſe of learned foreigners: it is inſerted by the Abate TODERINI, in his copious and entertaining work, entitled, Letteratura Turcheſea, with the following commendation:

"Ferduſi maraviglioſo poeta epico, onor della Perſiana poeſia, nel ſuo libro Sha Nama eroicamente deſcrive le geſte degli eroi [...] dei re Perſiani. Il Jones ne traduſſe un lungo tratto Omeriano [...] belliſſimo in verſi Latini, che ſentono della maniera Virgiliana; con cui adorno queſto mio libro."—Toderini, tome 1, p. 213.

Appendix A.11 NOTE 11. STANZA XXXIII.
"Uſher'd young Althorp into Hymen's fane."

A SPRIGHTLY and graceful ode, entitled "The Muſe recalled," occaſioned by the nuptials of Lord Viſcount ALTHORP (the pre⯑ſent Earl SPENCER) and Miſs LAVINIA BINGHAM, eldeſt daughter of CHARLES Lord LUCAN, was printed at Strawberry Hill 1781.

Appendix A.12 NOTE 12. STANZA XXXV.
"Thy well train'd youth atteſted all his worth."

IN addreſſing his noble young friend on the moſt joyous occa⯑ſion, the high toned ſpirit of the Poet led him to blend indignant ſentiments of public virtue with the gaiety of a nuptial ſong. The ode contains a manly ſtrain of freedom, united to the ele⯑gance and delicacy with which it celebrates the peculiar talents of the lovely bride—

May I be allowed to expreſs a wiſh, that the pencil ſo juſtly praiſed may employ itſelf in honouring the memory of him, who ſpoke in theſe friendly verſes his perfect ſenſe of its power?

Appendix A.13 NOTE 13. STANZA XLII.
"The daring hand of Aeſchylus pourtray'd."

Appendix A.14 NOTE 14. STANZA XLVIII.
"Who raiſed to new renown their ſocial band."

THE ſeven Arabian Poems, which were ſuſpended on the Tem⯑ple at Mecca, were tranſlated and publiſhed by our Author in 1783, with an argument to each poem, and the original annexed in Roman letters. This publication is peculiarly endeared to thoſe who love the memory of Sir WILLIAM JONES, by contain⯑ing his portrait, well engraved by HALL, from a picture of REY⯑NOLDS.

Appendix A.15 NOTE 15. STANZA XLIX.
"Pierc'd the deep moral of their myſtic ſong."

IN the third volume of the Aſiatic Reſearches, the Preſident inſerted an admirable Diſſertation on the Myſtical Poetry of the Perſians and Hindus.

Appendix A.16 NOTE XVI. STANZA 50.
"Menu and Calidaſa, grace the ſcene."

FROM an ardent and truly noble deſire to befriend the natives of that country, where he was appointed to adminiſter juſtice, Sir WILLIAM JONES was led "to ſuggeſt to government a work of national utility and importance, the compilation of a copious digeſt of Hindu and Mahommedan laws, from Sanſcrit and Arabic originals, with an offer of his ſervices to ſuperintend the compi⯑lation, and with a promiſe to tranſlate it.—To the ſuperinten⯑dance of this work, which was immediately undertaken at his ſuggeſtion, he aſſiduouſly devoted thoſe hours, which he could ſpare from his profeſſional duties.

"During the courſe of this compilation, and as auxiliary to it, he was led to ſtudy the works of MENU, reputed by the Hindus to be the oldeſt and holieſt of legiſlators, and finding them to com⯑prize a ſyſtem of religious and civil duties, and of law in all its branches, ſo comprehenſive and minutely exact, that it might be conſidered as the inſtitutes of Hindu law, he preſented a tranſla⯑tion of them to the government of Bengal."—Sir John Shore's Diſ⯑courſe.

When Sir WILLIAM JONES enquired of "a very ſenſible Brah⯑man which of the Indian dramas was moſt univerſally eſteemed, he anſwered without heſitation Sacontala, ſupporting his opinion, as uſual among the Pandits, by a couplet to this effect:

"The Ring of Sacontala, in which the 4th act, and four ſtanzas of that act are eminently brilliant, diſplays all the rich ex⯑uberance of Calidaſa's genius."

This circumſtance induced our great Orientaliſt to peruſe and tranſlate Sacontala, which he has given to the public, to uſe his own very juſt expreſſions, "as a moſt pleaſing and authentic pic⯑ture of old Hindu manners, and one of the greateſt curioſities that [35] the literature of Aſia has yet brought to light." I preſume moſt Engliſh readers are familiar with the merits of this ſingular and admirable drama, as it has lately been reprinted in a pocket volume.

Appendix A.17 NOTE XVII. STANZA 56.
"Soon to its parent ſhell the gem reſtored."

THIS ſtanza is a free tranſlation of an Aſiatic eulogy on a cele⯑brated Vizir, of whoſe benevolent and philoſophic character the reader may find a pleaſing anecdote in POCOCK'S edition of ABUL FEREGE.—In the Commentaries on Aſiatic Poetry this little ſpe⯑cimen of Eaſtern elegy is thus rendered in Latin verſe:

THERE is, I truſt, no impropriety in applying to Sir WILLIAM JONES an Oriental encomium, which he particularly admired, and which, I believe, no individual, in any quarter of the globe, could more truly deſerve.

Appendix A.18 NOTE XVIII. STANZA 62.
"He drew, and faſhion'd for the public uſe."

I HAVE preſumed, without the knowledge of my friend, to al⯑lude in this ſtanza to a monumental drawing of Mr. FLAXMAN, in which he has repreſented Sir WILLIAM JONES collecting informa⯑tion from the Pandits to ſettle the Digeſt of Hindu and Mahom⯑medan Law.

Appendix A.19 NOTE XIX. STANZA 66.
"Claſp'd a new ſcience with a lever's zeal."

"HIS laſt and favourite purſuit (ſays Sir JOHN SHORE) was the ſtudy of Botany, which he originally began under the confine⯑ment of a ſevere and lingering diſorder, which with moſt minds would have proved a diſqualification from any application. It conſtituted the principal amuſement of his leiſure hours. In the arrangement of Linnaeus he diſcovered ſyſtem, truth, and ſcience, which never failed to captivate and engage his attention, and from the proofs, which he has exhibited of his progreſs in Bo⯑tany, we may conclude that he would have extended the diſco⯑veries in that ſcience. The laſt compoſition, which he read to this Society, was a deſcription of ſelect Indian plants."

Appendix A.20 NOTE XX. STANZA 69.
"On a drear confine betwixt life and death."

A WRITER, who has experienced great favour from the public, may be thought, I hope, to diſcover more of gratitude than of vanity in thus touching upon a perſonal misfortune, that con⯑demned him to a long period of mental inactivity.

Appendix A.21 NOTE XXI. STANZA 72.
"I fondly greeted with fraternal praiſe."

MAY I be permitted to remark, that the Eſſay on Epic Poetry, firſt publiſhed in 1782, contains the lines relating to the ever eſteemed ſubject of this publication:

Appendix A.22 NOTE XXII. STANZA 74.
"Temper'd the judge, and dignified the bard."

A MILD and rational piety may be regarded as the crowning excellence of a character compleatly accompliſhed. This excel⯑lence was poſſeſſed, in a very happy degree, by the incomparable perſonage, to whoſe honour this imperfect memorial is affection⯑ately devoted. I cite with peculiar pleaſure, on this article, the teſ⯑timony of his intelligent and worthy eulogiſt (Sir JOHN SHORE) who, having mentioned the marvellous variety and extent of his predeceſſor's mental powers, obſerves, that "from the moſt renowned poets and philoſophers of Greece, Rome, and Aſia, he could turn, with equal delight and knowledge, to the ſublime ſpe⯑culations of BARROW and NEWTON. With them alſo he profeſſed his conviction of the truth of the Chriſtian religion; and he juſtly deemed it no inconſiderable advantage, that his reſearches had cor⯑roborated the multiplied evidence of revelation, by confirming the Moſaic account of the primitive world."

Let me add, that it is poſſible he may have rendered infinitely greater ſervices to religion by the admirable ſuggeſtion in the cloſe of his Diſcourſe on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India. He [38] there points out what occurred to him as the only promiſing mode of converting the Muſulmans and Hindus to Chriſtianity; and perhaps the moſt worthy honour, which the Aſiatic Society could pay to the memory of Sir WILLIAM JONES, would be to reſume and realize his idea: the experiment is eaſy, and ſhould it ſucceed in any degree, that ſucceſs will form the nobleſt eulogy of the beneficent ſpirit, by whom it was ſuggeſted.