James Adams (1737 – 7 December 1802) was an English

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and philologist.

Life

Adams joined the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in exile at their

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

of Watten (France), on 7 September 1756. Afterwards Adams taught

belles-lettres () is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pej ...

at the English College of St. Omer. Having exercised his functions as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

for many years, he retired to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, August, 1802, and died there in the following month of December.

Works

Adams was the author of the following works. *''Early Rules for Taking a Likeness''. with plates, London, 1792; translated from Bonamici. *''Oratio Academica Anglice et Latine''. London, 1793. *''Euphonologia Linguae Anglicanae, Latine et Gallice'', London, 1794; for which he received the thanks of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. *''Rule Britannia, or the Flattery of Free Subjects Expounded; to which is added an Academical Discourse''. London, 1798. *''A Sermon preached at the Catholic Chapel of St. Patrick, Sutton-street, on Wednesday, March 7, the Day of Public Fast''. London, 1798. *''The Pronunciation of the English Language Vindicated''. Edinburgh 1799.

References

* 1737 births 1802 deaths English Roman Catholic missionaries 18th-century English Jesuits 19th-century English Jesuits English philologists English non-fiction writers Clergy from Bury St Edmunds English male non-fiction writers 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century English male writers 18th-century English writers English expatriates in France Jesuit missionaries British missionary linguists {{UK-linguist-stub