It is generally known that sir William Jones was the first who drew the attention of Orientalists to
the Dabistan. This happened live years after the beginning of a new era in Oriental literature, the
foundation of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta by that illustrious man. It may not appear inopportune here to revive the grateful remembrance of one who acquired the uncontested merit of not only exciting in Asia and Europe a new ardor for Oriental studies, but also of directing them to their great objects-—-MAN and NATURE; and of endeavoring, by word and deed, to render the attainment of languages conducive to the required knowledge equally easy and attractive.