Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/675

J E S J E S G45 hackney coaches, and not long afterwards he became deputy surveyor-general of the royal parks and palaces. On the abolition of this office he retired on a pen sion, and he died at Brighton 28th March 1868. The office which Mr Jesse filled in connexion with the royal parks induced him to take a considerable interest in the habits and characteristics of animals, the result of which was seen in a series of pleasant and popular books on natural history, the principal of which are Gleanings in Natural History, 3 vols., 1832-35; An Angler s Rambles, 1836; Anecdotes of Dojs, 1846; and Lectures on Natural History, 1863. He also edited Walton s Complete Angler, White s Selborne, and Ritchie s Windsor Castle, and wrote a number of handbooks to places of interest, including Windsor and Hampton Court. JESSE, JOHN HENEAGE (1808-1874), son of Edward Jesse noticed above, was born in 1808. From his early manhood he held an office in the secretary s department of the Admiralty at Whitehall. His first contribution to literature, a poem on Mary Queen of Scots, which he dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, was published in 1829, and this was followed in 1830 by a collection of poems entitled Tales of the Dead. Among his other efforts in verse were a drama (Richard III.} and a fragmentary poem entitled London, dedicated to Mr Rogers the poet. None of these ventures achieved any success, but his series of historical works, which together form a continuous narrative from the reign of Richard III. to that of George III. inclusive, are written with vivacity and interest, and in their own style are a not unimportant contribution to the history of England. His Memoirs of the Court of England daring the Reign of the Stuarts was published in 1839-40, Memoirs of the Court of London from the Revolution oj 1688 to the Death of George II. in 1843, George Selwyn and his Contemporaries in 1844, Memoirs of the Pre tenders and their Adherents in 1845, Richard the Third and his Contemporaries in 1861, and Memoirs of the Life and Reign of King George the Third in 1867. The titles of thess works are sufficiently indicative of their character. They are sketches of the principal personages and of the social details of various periods in the history of England rather than complete and comprehensive historical narra tives. In addition to these works, Mr Jesse wrote Literary and Historical Memoirs of London, 1847., and London and its Celebrities, 1871. His Memoirs of Celebrated Etonians appeared in 1875. He died July 7, 1874. JESSELMERE, a form of JAISALMIR (q.v.). JESSOR, or JESSORE, a British district in the lieutenant- governorship of Bengal, lying between 22 25 50" and 23 47 N. lat., and between 88 57 33" and 90 13" E. long., with an area (1878) of 3658 square miles, forms the eastern portion of the presidency division. It is bounded on the N. and W. by Nadiya district, on the S. by the Sundarbans, and on the E. by the district of Faridpur. Jessor forms the central portion of the delta between the [looghly and the united Ganges and Brahmaputra. It is a vast alluvial plain intersected by rivers and watercourses, which at places in the southern portion of the district spread out into large marshes. The northern part of the district is verdant, with extensive groves of date-palms ; villages are numarous and large ; and the people are prosperous. In the central portion the population is sparse, the only part of the tract suitable for dwellings being the high land in the banks of rivers. The principal rivers of Jessor are the Madhumati (which forms the eastern boundary of the district), with its tributaries the Nabaganga, Chitra, and Bhairab ; the Kumar, Kabadak, Katki, Harihar, Bhadra, and AthardbankA. Within the last century the rivers in the interior of Jessor have ceased to be true deltaic rivers ; and, whereas the northern portion of the district formerly lay under water for several months every year, -it is now reached only by unusual inundations. The tide reaches as far north as the latitude of Jessor town. The population of Jessor in 1872 numbered 2,075,021, of whom 1,051,126 -eremalesand 1,023,895 females. The inhabitants of the district are all Bengalis ; the better classes are Hindus, the lower orders being principally Mahometans. The Hindus number 915,413, the Musalmans 1,151,936, and the Christians 1142. The Brahma Samaj has a few adherents. Among the lower ranks, the fishing and boating castes deserve attention, the fisheries in the rivers and deeper swamps being very valuable, and the right to fish being a regular tenure paid for like the right to cultivate land. Jessor is noted for a colony of pure Kulin Brahmans, who live at Lakshmipiisa, a village on the Nabaganga. These Kulins trace their origin to Kamanand Chakrabartti, who five generations ago emigrated from Sannangal in Bakarganj, a great Kulin settlement. The only place with a population exceeding 5000 is Jessor town, which has 8152. The principal staple in Jessor is rice; among otlier cro.ps are barley, Indian corn, pease, mustard, jute, tobacco, potatoes, sugar cane, indigo, pan, dates, &c. The total cultivated area is about 1,381,800 acres, more than a million of which are said to be under rice. The estimated area covered by date-palms for the manufac ture of sugar is 17,500 acres. The area under indigo is 31,333 acres. The total produce in 1872-73 was 203 tons, valued at 114,400. There are about fifty-five European factories, besides fifty worked in the interest of native proprietors under European or native management. Blights occur occasionally. The district is subject to heavy floods, which have sometimes been immediately followed by disastrous cyclones. Several inundations have taken place, causing famine. The trade of Jessor is carried on chiefly by means of permanent markets, but there is also a considerable traffic at the numerous fairs and religious gatherings held throughout the district. The chief exports are sugar, indigo, rice, pulse, timber, honey, shells, &c. ; the chief imports are salt, English goods, and cloth. The principal manufactures are date-sugar and indigo. The police-force consisted in 1871 of 590 officers and men, maintained at a cost of 13,548. In 1871 the number of Government and aided schools was 390, with 12,349 pupils. The climate does not differ from that of the other districts of Lower Bengal. April, May, and June are very trying, their average mean temperature being 83 6 Fahr. The average rainfall is about 65 inches. Malarious diseases are very prevalent, intermittent fever being common throughout the year. Cholera breaks out every hot season. British administration was completely established in the district in 1781, when the governor-general ordered the opening of a court at Murali near Jessor. Before that, however, the fiscal administra tion of the district had been in the hands of the English, having been transferred to the East India Company with that of the rest of Bengal in 1765. The changes in jurisdiction in Jessor have been very numerous. After many transfers and rectifications, the dis trict was in 1863 finally constituted as it at present stands. The rajas of Jessor or Chanchra trace their origin to Bhabeswar Rai, a soldier in the army of Khan-i-Azam, an imperial general, who de prived Raja Fratapaditya, the popular hero of the Sundarbans, of several fiscal divisions, and conferred them on Bhabeswar. But Manohar R;ii (1649-1705) is regarded as the principal founder of the family. The estate when he inherited it was of moderate size, but he acquired one pargana after another, until, at his death, the pro perty was by far the largest in the neighbourhood. JESUITS. The " Company of Jesus," in its original conception, and in its avowed or ostensible objects, does not at the first glance appear as more than one of many similar communities which have grown up in the bosom of Latin Christianity. Like several of them, it is a congre gation of ecclesiastics living in accordance with a definite rule, whence technically called " Clerks Regular "; like the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights, military ideas have entered largely into its plans ; like Benedictines, Dominicans, and Franciscans, its spiritual labours have been those of teaching the young by schools and catechiz- ings, conducting home missions by such agencies as sermons, retreats, and the like, combating heresy with the pulpit and the pen, and converting the heathen. In each and all of these peculiarities and occupations it comes late into a field where its precursors had been busy for centuries, and it might seem to differ from them merely by a more careful selection of instruments, a more skilful organization, and a more perfect discipline. But such a view is entirely misleading. On closer