the quasi-vowels le and re. The writing runs from left to right, each letter being connected with the others in words, and these following one another without any space left between them. Tradition assigns the introduction of writing as well as of Brahminism and political institutions to Aji Saya Baya.-Palæography finds a rich harvest in Java, its subjects being distributed in four classes: 1, inscriptions in ancient Devanagari near the ruins of Brambanan and Sinagasari; 2, those in square Kavi letters, from which the cursive are derived, mostly on stone and metal; 3, those in a dialect resembling the language of Sunda; 4, the Chandra-Sangkala (light of royal times or dates), which consist in selecting such words, symbolic of numbers, as may also express a fact that is to be recorded. Thus, for instance, the date of the destruction of Majapahit, a fact most important in Javanese history, is thus inscribed (1400, reading from right to left):

thus written:

Kaya (3)

vùlan (1) putri (8) iku (1).

princess (that) was.

Like (to the) moon -The literature, which is in Kavi, dates from about the commencement of our era, and is rich, especially in legends concerning cosmogony. The subjects of the works are mostly either of a mythical or ethical character. Prominent among the former are: the Kända (Sans. Khandata, fragment, section) Pepakem (book), or Sejarah (history); Manek-Maya, a mythical genesis, in which Buddhism predominates; VivahaKavi (matrimonial poem), about a Rasaksa (evil spirit) who courts a Vidaduri (nymph); RamaKavi, the Javanese Ramayana; Parikespit, "Arjuna's Grandson;" Mintaraga, a poem on Arjuna in the Indra mountain. This kind of compositions comes down to the time of Aji Saya Baya. Of the ethical order are the Niti Sastra Kavi, in the purest style, of about the 13th century; and Sruti, which already alludes to Islam. But the Brata-Yudha ("Holy War") is an epos mostly on the deeds of Arjuna; being an episode of the Mahabharata, in 712 stanzas, with varying rhymes. The Sastra Menava is a Javanese imitation of the ordinances of the Indian Menu. Indeed, most of the Kavi works are such imitations. Whether mere versions of Sanscrit works have been made or still exist is not precisely known; but there are many Javanese versions from the Kavi. Javanese literature abounds in romantic compositions, mostly of an elegiac form. Among these, the adventures of the popular hero Pandji are most prominent. Dramas, and especially puppet shows, called vayang (shadows), and with figures of either leather or wood personating heroes, are popular.-See Gottl. Brückner, Proeve eener Javaansche Spraakkunst (Serampore, 1830); Sir T. S. Raffles, "History of Java" (London, 1830); J. F. C. Gericke, Eerste Gron

den der Javaansche Taal, benevens Leer- en Leesboek, met eene Woordenlyst (Batavia, 1831-'40); A. D. Cornet de Groot, Javaansch Spraakkunst (Batavia, 1833); P. P. Roorda, Algemene Javaansch en Nederduytsch en Nederduytsch-Javaansch Woordenboek (Kampen, 1834); Roorda van Egsinga, Javaansch Spraakkunst, to egelicht door autographische Tafelen (Amsterdam, 1835); W. von Humboldt, Ueber die Kavi-Sprache (vol. iii., Berlin, 1836-'9); A. de Wilde, NederlandschMaleisch en Soendasch Woordenboek (Amsterdam, 1841); E. Dulaurier, Mémoires, lettres, &ca., relatifs au cours des langues Malaie et Javanaise (Paris, 1843); J. T. Crawfurd, in the "Asiatic Researches" (vol. xiii., Calcutta).

JAXARTES, SIHON, SIR, or SIR-DARIA, a river of Asia, forming in the latter part of its course the boundary between Independent Tartary and western Siberia. It is formed by a number of head streams on the borders of Turkestan, its two principal constituent branches rising one on the S. side of the Kinder-tau, or W. continuation of the Alak-tagh, in lat. 42° 21' N., long. 70° E., the other on the crest of the

Bolor. The stream flows W., N., and N. W., through the Khokan and Kirgheez dominions, nearly parallel to the Jihoon or Oxus, whose course is about 400 m. S. of the Jaxartes, both rivers falling into the sea of Aral, the Jihoon at its S. extremity and the Jaxartes at the N. The Jaxartes receives numerous tributaries. length is about 900 m.; its banks are low and subject to inundation, and it is broad and deep, but after entering the desert of Aral it gradually diminishes in bulk. A deltoid branch which it sends off, known as the Kuwan-Daria, is generally absorbed by the arid sands.

Its

JAY, the popular name of many conirostral birds of the crow family, and sub-family garruline, inhabiting Europe, Asia and its archipel ago, and America. One of the handsomest of the genera is cyanurus (Swains.), of which the type is the blue jay, and all the species, about 20 in number, belong to America; in this genus the head is crested, the bill rather slender and curved at the tip, which is slightly notched, the wings and tail blue with transverse black bars; the circular nostrils are concealed by bristles; the wings are rounded, with the 4th, 5th, and 6th quills the longest; tail about as long as the wings, lengthened, and graduated; the toes strong, with the hind claw large and longer than the toe. The blue jay (C. cristatus, Swains.) is too well known to need description; it will be sufficient to say that the general color above is light purplish blue, with the wings and tail ultramarine; the under parts are whitish, with a black crescent connected with a half collar on the neck above; beside the black bands on the wings and tail, the lateral feathers of the latter are tipped with white. This lively, impertinent, and noisy bird is one of the most graceful and beautiful inhabitants of our woods; it is found all over the United States, as far west as the Missouri, and as far north as Canada, remaining often through the winter in

New England. It has a very mischievous disposition, robbing the farmer's corn crib, sucking eggs of other birds, and tearing the young to pieces; it possesses considerable imitative power, and seems to take delight in uttering the cry of the sparrow hawk to terrify the small birds and make them rush to cover; it is very quarrelsome, and in an aviary will soon destroy other birds of its size. When eggs and tender birds fail, they eat nuts, fruits, grain, and insects; they breed in all parts of the United States, though in Florida they are in a great measure replaced by the cyanocitta Floridana. Their usual note is a harsh scream, uttered by all in the neighborhood at the approach of any rapacious bird or quadruped or human enemy, and on this account a jay is often a nuisance to the sportsman in quest of nobler game. The length is about 12 inches, and the extent of wings 14. In C. Stelleri (Swains.), of the Pacific coast of North America, the bill is longer, the body blue, with head, neck, and upper part of back dull sooty black; occipital crest rather short, and with no white about the eyes.-The genus cyanocitta (Swains.) includes the jays without a crest, with no bands on the wings and tail, and with shorter wings. In the C. Californica (Strickl.) the belly and under tail coverts are dull white; in C. Floridana (Bonap.) the belly is brownish ash; in C. ultramarina (Strickl.) the blue color is very rich, with the under tail coverts white. The prevailing color is blue in all these jays. The Canada jay (perisoreus Canadensis, Bonap.) is about an inch less than the blue jay, of a general cinereous color above, smoky gray below, with a whitish_breast and neck and brown nucleal patch. It is found throughout the northern parts of America, even into New York and New England. The habits are much the same as the blue jay, its common name of carrion bird indicating its carnivorous propensities; the young are sooty brown, and are often called "whiskey-jacks." The jay of Europe (garrulus glandarius, Linn.) is a handsome bird, about as long but not so thick as a pigeon, of a light reddish brown color, the fore part of the head whitish with black spots, and the feathers elongated so as to form an erectile crest; the blue wing coverts are banded with black; the quills of the wings and tail, and broad band from the base of the bill under the eye, black; the female differs but little from the male. It is common in England, southern Scotland, and temperate Europe; shy and suspicious like all the crow family, it frequents wooded districts, feeding principally on nuts, worms, and insects, in summer visiting gardens for the sake of their fruits and leguminous vegetables; it also plunders the nests of other species, and sometimes pounces on field mice and small birds. The flight is direct and quick, and performed with great dexterity through the thickets; the ordinary notes are harsh and loud; its power of imitation, especially in captivity, is considerable, embracing the sounds of birds, of domestic mammals, and of any noise

which may come to its ears. The eggs, from 5 to 7, are 1×3 inch, pale bluish green, with faint freckles of purplish and yellowish brown. JAY, an E. co. of Ind., bordering on Ohio, and drained by the head waters of Salamonie and Wabash rivers; area, 370 sq. m.; pop. in 1850, 7,047. The surface is undulating, and the soil of various qualities, but mostly fertile. The productions in 1850 were 170,455 bushels of Indian corn, 47,290 of wheat, 40,193 of oats, and 16,925 lbs. of wool. There were 5 grist mills, 3 saw mills, 9 churches, and 810 pupils attending public schools. Capital, Portland.

JAY, JOHN, an American statesman and jurist, the first chief justice of the United States, born in New York city, Dec. 12, 1745, died in Bedford, Westchester co., N. Y., May 17, 1829. He was descended from Augustus Jay, a Huguenot merchant of Rochelle in France, of the Poitiers branch of the Jay family, who after the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685 emigrated to America, and settled first in Charleston, S. C., and afterward in New York. Peter Jay, the father of John, was a merchant, and Mary Jay, his mother, the daughter of Jacobus Van Cort landt, was descended through her grandfather Frederic Philipse from a Bohemian family whom religious persecution had driven from home to seek refuge in Holland and afterward in America. While still an infant John Jay was removed with the rest of the family to a country seat which his father had purchased at Rye on the shore of Long Island sound. He received his early education at the grammar school of New Rochelle, and at King's (Dow Columbia) college, where he was graduated in 1764. Two weeks after leaving college he began to study law in the office of Benjamin Kissam. Lindley Murray, the celebrated grammarian, was at the same time studying in Mr. Kissam's office, and in his autobiography thus describes his fellow student: "His talents and virtues gave, at that period, pleasing indications of future eminence; he was remarkable for strong reasoning powers, comprehensive views, indefatigable application, and uncommon firmness of mind." In 1768 Jay was admitted to the bar, and formed a partnership with Robert R. Livingston, afterward chancellor of the state of New York. In May, 1774, he was married to Sally Livingston, daughter of William Liv ingston, afterward for many years governor of New Jersey. About the same time, while in the full tide of practice as a successful and popula lawyer, the revolutionary movement against the aggressions of the British government called hi actively into the field of politics. Though # ardent and inflexible patriot, he was opposed to precipitate measures. While deeming the course of the British ministry unconstitutional and dangerous to the rights and liberties of his countrymen, his sentiments as to the mode of resistance and redress were of the most moderate tone. When intelligence of the passage of the Boston port bill reached New York, a meeting of the citizens was held, May 16, 1774, sod

by them as a political agent of America to the court of France. His letters from Paris were addressed to Jay, and to prevent exposure in the event of their falling into the hands of the English, they were written in invisible ink which was made legible by some chemical application. -In addition to his labors in congress, Jay was at this time much occupied with the affairs of New York, which were in a confused and unsatisfactory condition, the tories being numerous, and the provincial congress suspected of being lukewarm in the cause of freedom. The tory newspaper, Rivington's "Gazette," was the cause of much mischief and more annoyance to the patriots; and on Nov. 23, 1775, its types were carried off by a mob of troops from Connecticut. Jay was always opposed to lawless violence, and wrote to the New York congress: "I don't approve of the feat, and I think it neither argues much wisdom nor much bravery; at any rate, if it was to have been done, I wish our own people and not strangers had taken the liberty of doing it." It was difficult at this time to induce men of standing and character to accept commissions in the militia of the state. Jay, as an example to others, allowed himself to be commissioned as colonel of the second regiment of foot in the city of New York, though his duties in congress kept him from the field. In April, 1776, he was chosen a member of the provincial congress of New York, and at the special request of that body he returned from Philadelphia to assist in its deliberations. He was thus prevented from becoming a signer of the declaration of independence, which passed the continental congress while he was serving in the congress of New York. He however gave that great measure his cordial approval, and ever earnestly and steadily supported it. Of the next New York congress, or convention as it was called, he was a member, and took throughout a leading part. He served on the most important committees, and was actively engaged in taking measures to repel the incursions of the enemy up the Hudson, and to suppress the conspiracies of the tories, who were numerous in the southern part of the state, and who were greatly encouraged by the disastrous aspect of affairs on the American side. He displayed in this crisis eminent vigor, energy, and firmness. To arouse the people from the gloom occasioned by the reverses of the army, he drew up an address which was issued by the convention, Dec. 23, 1776. This admirable document, one of the ablest productions of his pen, was deemed of such importance that the continental congress specially recommended it to the perusal of the people of the United States, and ordered it to be translated into German and printed and circulated at the national expense. When the convention undertook, in Aug. 1776, to form a government for the state of New York, he was appointed one of the committee to frame a constitution and bill of rights. The report of the committee, made March 12, 1777, was written by him, and the constitution was chiefly his

work. The convention, just before its dissolution, May 13, appointed a council of safety, consisting of 15 members, of whom Jay was one. This council was invested with dictatorial pow ers, such as were demanded by the perilous condition of the state, of which the whole southern part was in possession of the enemy, while Burgoyne with a large army was invading it from the north. The convention also appointed Jay chief justice of the state until the legislature should meet, and the constitutional power of appointment be organized. The supreme court held its first term at Kingston, Sept. 9. The chief justice presided, and delivered a charge in which he eloquently depicted the character of the contest in which the state was engaged. On the next day the legislature met, and Jay was duly reappointed chief justice under the constitution. No account has been preserved of the nature of the causes that came before his court, nor of his decisions. In a letter written from Albany in the spring of 1778 he says: "I am now engaged in the most disagreeable part of my duty, trying criminals. They multiply erceedingly. Robberies become frequent; the woods afford them shelter, and the tories food. Punishments must of course become certain, and mercy dormant—a harsh system, repugnant to my feelings, but nevertheless necessary. In such circumstances lenity would be cruelty, and severity is found on the side of humanity."-On Nov. 4 he was elected by the legislature a dele gate to the national congress, on the ground that the withdrawal of Vermont from the jurisdiction of New York furnished a special occssion for requiring his services at Philadelphia. He took his seat, Dec. 7, 1778. Three days later he was elected president of congress, Laurens, the former president, having resigned the day before. Jay filled this important post in a manner that won universal esteem for his moderation, prudence, and impartiality. On Sept. 27, 1779, he was appointed minister to Spain, and conse quently resigned the presidency of congress and the chief justiceship of New York, which until then he had retained. He embarked, Oct. 26, in the frigate Confederacy, which was obliged by stress of weather to make for Martinique the West Indies, whence he sailed in the French frigate Aurora, and reached Cadiz Jan. 22, 1780, and Madrid on April 4. His mission had two objects, to obtain a loan of $5,000,000, and to secure the right to the free navigation of the Mis sissippi. The Spanish court received him coldly, and many months passed in fruitless negotis tions. Congress, without waiting to hear even of his arrival in Spain, had, in desperate want of money, directed its treasurer to draw on him at Madrid for $500,000. When these bills a rived, rather than let the credit of the co try be damaged by their going to protest, he accepted them at his own risk. He afterward was enabled to meet them when due, partly by remittances from Franklin at Paris, and partly by some smaller sums reluctantly given by the Spanish government, which paltered and vacil

can.

lated throughout the whole affair in a way that greatly displeased the straightforward Ameri"The conduct of this court bears few marks of wisdom," he wrote to Franklin; "the fact is, they have little money, less credit, and very moderate talents." He quitted Madrid, May 20, 1782, and proceeded to Paris to assist in the negotiation of a treaty of peace with Great Britain, congress in 1781 having appointed him a commissioner for that purpose, together with Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, and Laurens. He arrived in Paris, June 23. Of his colleagues, Franklin alone was there, Jefferson being detained in America by the delicate health of his wife, Laurens a prisoner in the tower of London, and Adams in Holland negotiating a loan. On Franklin and Jay therefore the primary formation of the treaty devolved. Jay's share in these negotiations was marked by a resolute vigilance in maintaining the honor and interests of his country, and by an astute suspicion of the intentions of the French court in regard to the fisheries and to the boundaries of the United States, which led him to resist with firmness every attempt to induce the commissioners to accept terms less favorable to America than those finally agreed upon. To the value of his services in this important negotiation we have the testimony of Adams, who says that all his colleagues were very able and attentive, "especially Mr. Jay, to whom the French, if they knew as much of his negotiations as they do of mine, would very justly give the title with which they have inconsiderately decorated me, that of le Washington de la négociation; a very flattering compliment indeed, to which I have not a right, but sincerely think it belongs to Mr. Jay." Lord St. Helen's, one of the English negotiators, said long afterward, speaking of John Jay: "It was not only chiefly, but solely through his means that the negotiations of that period between England and the United States were brought to a successful conclusion."-Jay quitted Paris in May, 1784, and arrived in his native city, July 24, after an absence from it of 8 years. He was received by his fellow citizens with tokens of esteem and admiration. The freedom of the city was presented to him in a gold box, with an address by the corporation. He intended on leaving Europe to resume the practice of his profession, but on reaching New York he learned that congress had appointed him secretary for foreign affairs. He was also, in the succeeding autumn, elected by the state legislature a delegate to congress. He took his seat in congress, Dec. 6, and held it till Dec. 21, when, after some hesitation, he accepted the secretaryship for foreign affairs, and performed its duties for 5 years, till the adoption of the federal constitution in 1789. In the conflict of opinion with regard to the constitution that should be formed, Jay shared in Hamilton's preference for a strong central government. His first wish, he said in a letter to John Lowell of Massachusetts, May 16, 1785, was "to see the United States assume and merit the charac

ter of one great nation, whose territory is divided into different states merely for more convenient government and the more easy and prompt administration of justice, just as our several states are divided into counties and townships for the like purposes." When the constitution was formed, however, he urged its adoption with earnestness and ability. He wrote in its defence in "The Federalist," in conjunction with Hamilton and Madison. In April, 1788, occurred the riot in New York, known as the doctors' mob, occasioned by violations of the grave for the purpose of procuring subjects for dissection. Several physicians had been lodged in prison to protect them from the popular fury. The mob attempted to force the prison, and were resisted by Hamilton, Jay, and a body of citizens. In the conflict that ensued Jay received a deep and dangerous wound in the temple, which confined him for some time to his bed and interrupted his contributions to "The Federalist." About the same time he was elected by a nearly unanimous vote a delegate to the New York state convention called to adopt or reject the proposed federal constitution. The convention assembled at Poughkeepsie, June 17, 1788. Of its 57 members, 46 were opposed to the constitution; but its adoption was advocated with eminent ability by Jay, Hamilton, and Robert R. Livingston, and after a warm debate of more than 5 weeks, New York gave her assent to the Union by a vote of 30 to 27. Washington was inaugurated president, April 30, 1789, but it was not till September that the acts of congress necessary to constitute the executive and judicial departments of the government were passed. Washington manifested the opinion he entertained of Jay's character and abilities by tendering him a choice of the offices in his gift. He preferred the chief justiceship of the U. S. supreme court, and was therefore nominated, and confirmed by the senate, Sept. 26, 1789. The first term of the court was held at New York in Feb. 1790. His decisions, says Mr. Flanders in his "Lives and Times of the Chief Justices," "do not enable us to judge of the extent of his juridical acquirements; nevertheless they evince a juridical faculty, a power of analysis, an aptitude for logical processes, and a ready apprehension of principles." In 1792, at the April election, Jay was the federal candidate for governor of New York, in opposition to George Clinton, the democratic candidate. The contest was conducted with zeal and bitterness. Jay received a majority of the votes, but Clinton was declared elected, the legislative committee who counted the votes rejecting on frivolous technical grounds the returns of three counties where Jay had large majorities. The federalists were greatly exasperated, and at many public meetings Jay was declared to be the rightful governor of the state, and numbers were ready to assert his claims by force. He himself, as usual, counselled moderation and forbearance and submission to the letter of the law. To his wife