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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):

[blocks in formation]

thus written:

Kaya (8)

vulan (1) putri (8) iku (1).

Like (to the) moon princess (that) was. -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 Kanda (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' Bolor. The stream flows W., N., and N. W., N., long. 70° E., the other on the crest of the 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. Its 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.

JAY, the popular name of many conirostral birds of the crow family, and sub-family garruline, inhabiting Europe, Asia and its archipelago, 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

which may come to its ears. The eggs, from 5 to 7, are 1X 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.

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

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 (nOW 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 popul lawyer, the revolutionary movement against the aggressions of the British government called hir 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

a committee of 51 formed to correspond with the other colonies. Jay was appointed a member of this committee, and at their first meeting, May 23, a sub-committee of 4 was nominated to draft an answer to the Boston committee, who had recommended the general adoption of a non-importation and non-exportation agreement until the act for blocking up their harbor was repealed. He was a member also of this subcommittee, and is supposed to have been the author of the reply to the Boston address, in which the proposition to enter into an agreement of non-intercourse was pronounced premature and inexpedient, and a general congress of the colonies recommended. Though the moderation of this document gave much offence to the more ardent patriots, the suggestion of a congress was concurred in, and Philip Livingston, Isaac Low, John Alsop, and John Jay were unanimously elected delegates to it, and were soon afterward adopted as their delegates by the city of Albany and by some towns in Westchester and Dutchess counties. The congress met on Monday, Sept. 5, 1774, at the Carpenters' hall in Philadelphia. Jay, though the youngest member but one, took a leading part in its proceedings. He was at this time strongly opposed to any attempt at independence, but desired to see the difficulties between the colonies and the mother country adjusted on terms satisfactory to both parties, and on a basis that might preclude future difficulties. When convinced, however, by the course of events, that independence had become a necessity, he embraced the measure with zeal and lent it hearty and efficient support. He participated in most of the debates that arose, and made his first speech upon the question of the mode of voting in the congress, the settlement of which upon a satisfactory basis was exceedingly difficult. The proposition that measures should be determined by the majority of votes given by individual members was met by the objection that some of the colonies had sent more than their proportion of delegates, while others had sent less. To vote by colonies was to give the 5 small colonies more power than the 4 large ones of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, which contained 3 times as many inhabitants. This latter proposition received Jay's support, and it was finally decided that each colony should have one voice. On the same day, Sept. 6, it was agreed that a committee should be appointed of two from each colony to state the rights of the colonies in general, the violations of those rights, and the proper mode of redress. Jay was one of the members from New York. On Oct. 11 he was appointed one of a committee of three to prepare a memorial to the people of British America and an address to the people of Great Britain. The latter document, written by Jay, was universally admired for its grave, manly, yet fervid eloquence, and it immediately gave its author a great reputation throughout the country. The address was adopted, Oct. 21, together with a memorial to the people of

British America drawn up by Richard Henry Lee; and after a busy session of 8 weeks the congress adjourned, Oct. 26. To the second continental congress, which met at Philadelphia May 10, 1775, Jay was also a delegate. He was one of a committee of three appointed to draw up an address to the people of Canada soliciting their cooperation in the contest which had now become inevitable, and the eloquent and forcible paper reported by the committee was from his pen. He also wrote an address to the people of Ireland for his father-in-law, Gov. Livingston, chairman of the committee instructed to prepare it, of which committee, however, Jay was not a member. On Sept. 22 he was appointed on a committee with Franklin, Rutledge, Randolph, and others, to consider the state of the trade of America. Their_report led to an animated debate, in which Jay advocated the policy of continuing the trade with Great Britain and the British West Indies from New York, North Carolina, and Georgia, in opposition to those who maintained that, as the rest of the colonies had been excluded from this trade by the "restraining act" of parliament, the three colonies excepted should voluntarily relinquish it. Upon the question respecting the appointment of field officers for the troops to be raised in New Jersey, he was earnestly in favor of retaining the appointment in the hands of congress, instead of giving it to the provincial congress of New Jersey. The union, he said, depended much upon breaking down provincial conventions. On Dec. 4, Jay, Dickinson, and Wythe were appointed a committee to confer with the assembly of New Jersey, then in session at Burlington, and endeavor to dissuade that body from sending a petition to the king of Great Britain, a dangerously discouraging step to the cause of freedom, which the assembly had already determined upon taking. In his address to the house Jay said they had nothing to expect from the mercy or justice of Britain; that petitions were not now the means to be used, but vigor and unanimity were the only means. The petition of united America, presented by congress, ought to be relied on as sufficient, and no other was necessary. The remonstrances of the congressional committee prevailed with the assembly, and the design of petitioning the king was abandoned. As the revolutionary war advanced, congress began to look abroad for allies, and on Nov. 29, 1775, it appointed Harrison, Franklin, Johnson, Dickinson, and Jay a committee to correspond with the European friends of American liberty. A secret agent of the French government had shortly before given to a committee, consisting of Jay, Franklin, and Jefferson, certain indirect assurances that the revolted colonies might rely on receiving aid from France. The committee of correspondence at once entered into negotiations with friends of the American cause in England, France, and Holland, the result of which was that in the spring of 1776 Silas Deane was privately sent

by them as a political agent of America to the work. The convention, just before its dissolu court of France. His letters from Paris were tion, May 13, appointed a council of safety, conaddressed to Jay, and to prevent exposure in the sisting of 15 members, of whom Jay was one. event of their falling into the hands of the Eng- This council was invested with dictatorial pow lish, they were written in invisible ink which ers, such as were demanded by the perilous conwas made legible by some chemical application. dition of the state, of which the whole southern -In addition to his labors in congress, Jay was part was in possession of the enemy, while Burat this time much occupied with the affairs of goyne with a large army was invading it from New York, which were in a confused and un- the north. The convention also appointed Jay satisfactory condition, the tories being numer- chief justice of the state until the legislature ous, and the provincial congress suspected of should meet, and the constitutional power of being lukewarm in the cause of freedom. The appointment be organized. The supreme court tory newspaper, Rivington's "Gazette," was the held its first term at Kingston, Sept. 9. The cause of much mischief and more annoyance to chief justice presided, and delivered a charge in the patriots; and on Nov. 23, 1775, its types which he eloquently depicted the character of were carried off by a mob of troops from Con- the contest in which the state was engaged. On necticut. Jay was always opposed to lawless the next day the legislature met, and Jay was violence, and wrote to the New York congress: duly reappointed chief justice under the consti"I don't approve of the feat, and I think it tution. No account has been preserved of the neither argues much wisdom nor much bravery; nature of the causes that came before his court, at any rate, if it was to have been done, I wish nor of his decisions. In a letter written from our own people and not strangers had taken Albany in the spring of 1778 he says: "I am the liberty of doing it." It was difficult at this now engaged in the most disagreeable part of time to induce men of standing and character to my duty, trying criminals. They multiply er accept commissions in the militia of the state. ceedingly. Robberies become frequent; the Jay, as an example to others, allowed himself woods afford them shelter, and the tories food. to be commissioned as colonel of the second re- Punishments must of course become certain, giment of foot in the city of New York, though and mercy dormant-a harsh system, repugnant his duties in congress kept him from the field. to my feelings, but nevertheless necessary. In In April, 1776, he was chosen a member of the such circumstances lenity would be cruelty, and provincial congress of New York, and at the severity is found on the side of humanity."—On special request of that body he returned from Nov. 4 he was elected by the legislature a dele Philadelphia to assist in its deliberations. He gate to the national congress, on the ground was thus prevented from becoming a signer of that the withdrawal of Vermont from the juris the declaration of independence, which passed diction of New York furnished a special occa the continental congress while he was serving sion for requiring his services at Philadelphia. in the congress of New York. He however He took his seat, Dec. 7, 1778. Three days later gave that great measure his cordial approval, he was elected president of congress, Laurens, and ever earnestly and steadily supported it. the former president, having resigned the day be Of the next New York congress, or convention fore. Jay filled this important post in a manner as it was called, he was a member, and took that won universal esteem for his moderation, throughout a leading part. He served on the prudence, and impartiality. On Sept. 27, 1779, most important committees, and was actively he was appointed minister to Spain, and conse engaged in taking measures to repel the incur- quently resigned the presidency of congress and sions of the enemy up the Hudson, and to sup- the chief justiceship of New York, which until press the conspiracies of the tories, who were then he had retained. He embarked, Oct. 26, numerous in the southern part of the state, and in the frigate Confederacy, which was obliged who were greatly encouraged by the disastrous by stress of weather to make for Martinique in aspect of affairs on the American side. He dis- the West Indies, whence he sailed in the French played in this crisis eminent vigor, energy, and frigate Aurora, and reached Cadiz Jan. 22, 1780, firmness. To arouse the people from the gloom and Madrid on April 4. His mission had two occasioned by the reverses of the army, he drew objects, to obtain a loan of $5,000,000, and to up an address which was issued by the conven- secure the right to the free navigation of the Mis tion, Dec. 23, 1776. This admirable document, sissippi. The Spanish court received him coldy, one of the ablest productions of his pen, was and many months passed in fruitless negotis deemed of such importance that the continental tions. Congress, without waiting to hear even congress specially recommended it to the perusal of his arrival in Spain, had, in desperate want of the people of the United States, and order- of money, directed its treasurer to draw on him ed it to be translated into German and printed at Madrid for $500,000. When these bills ar and circulated at the national expense. When rived, rather than let the credit of the co the convention undertook, in Aug. 1776, to form try be damaged by their going to protest, be a government for the state of New York, he was accepted them at his own risk. He afterward appointed one of the committee to frame a con- was enabled to meet them when due, partly by stitution and bill of rights. The report of the remittances from Franklin at Paris, and partly committee, made March 12, 1777, was written by some smaller sums reluctantly given by the by him, and the constitution was chiefly his Spanish government, which paltered and vacil

lated throughout the whole affair in a way that greatly displeased the straightforward American. "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

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