1822, and obtained the decided approbation of the most eminent men in the profession.

At about this period we find the first intimation of Dr. Good's declining health. His constitution appears to have suffered materially from an over-anxious attention to his multiplied avocations; and although he many times rallied between this period and his death, he never, it seems, entirely recovered his strength, or remained free from gout or other disorders. In August 1826 he went for some time to Leamington, but returned without having received any material benefit; and having gone down to Shepperton, to spend the Christmas with his daughter, Mrs. Neale, he died there, on the 22d of January 1827.

We have thus endeavoured to give our readers a tolerably correct account of the life of the excellent man whose memoirs

are before us. Dr. Gregory has certainly done his duty, so far as collecting materials goes, with admirable fidelity and care: before, however, giving our general opinion of his work, we shall offer a few remarks on the literary character of Dr. Good himself; and we cannot, perhaps, do this better than by a brief review of one or two of his principal works,

With the publications of this author which are merely scientific, we have, of course, no concern, as they belong to his professional rather than his literary character. We may, however, observe, that, from what specimens we have seen of them, they appear to be distinguished by great research, and an extensive knowledge both of the history and all the collateral branches of the medical science. But from his translation of Lucretius, his Miscellaneous Poems, and his Book of Nature, a pretty accurate idea may be formed of his claims to the title of a man of genius, or that of one of respectable natural ability, heightened by great industry, a most happy temperature of constitution, and a memory of extraordinary strength. We must confess we incline greatly to the latter opinion; and our ideas on the subject are the result of no hastily formed judgment on the subject. With respect to Dr. Good's greatest work-and his translation of Lucretius may be justly so termed-whoever examines it will at once perceive that it is the production of a man embued with great learning; but a much better scholar than poet; and far more at home in collecting parallel passages, or collecting illustrations, than in giving utterance to the deep and flowing thoughts of a lofty imagination. We may here also observe, that, among the many pieces of fugitive poetry with which his biographer has rather injudiciously crowded his pages, we have not been able to find one that rises at all above

common-place mediocrity. Yet Dr. Good wrote verses at every period of his life, and upon every occasion that offered itself: we cannot but think, therefore, that if he had possessed any degree of poetical ability, beyond the power of smooth versification, that it would have discovered itself more prominently than we can any where find it to have done: but there is the same tameness and want of fervour in the verses he wrote when a young and successful lover, as in those he wrote on the most common occurrence of life; and, if it were a fit place for such a kind of criticism, we should not have much difficulty, we think, in proving that his ear for metrical harmony was not very refined or delicate. But this, we may assure our readers, is said without the smallest idea of detracting from the generat merits of the talented man of whom we are speaking. Dr. Good is not the first man of learning and ability who has been mistaken in thinking himself a poet, or whose friends have known as little about the matter, and thought him one too.

Of the prose works of our author, the most closely reasoned, and evidencing the most originality of thought, are one or two of the essays on moral or religious subjects, from which his biographer has given copious extracts. But his best known and most popular work, the Book of Nature, is the one in which his abilities in general are most clearly shewn. In that publication, which contains a mixture of original matter with the fruits of very extensive research, the knowledge of a philosopher with the taste of a man of letters, almost all the peculiar qualities of his mind were called into action, and are very clearly developed. Had Dr. Good written nothing else, it would have ensured him a lasting reputation as a scholar, a man of science, a clear reasoner, and a tasteful writer: whatever he has written besides contains nothing which could produce any addition to such a reputation, except that which results from additional useful

ness.

To the private character of Dr. Good the strongest testimony has been borne, from all quarters, respecting its spotlessness and excellence. His religious opinions appear to have undergone two or three revolutions, but to have settled at last in a pure and evangelical faith. That he was exposed to many temptations, and had to encounter obstacles in his progress which men in different situations are free from, few, who are acquainted either with science or men of science, will be inclined to dispute; and we regret that we are not able to transcribe, without any abridgment, the whole of Dr. Gregory's excellent observations on the religious character of his friend. As, however, we have not yet given a specimen of his style in the original parts of the

volume, we extract the following short passage, which will serve the double purpose of completing our duty to the writer, and enabling our readers to judge of his manner in one of the most laboured parts of his production. The reflections which our extract contains are those of an experienced and a thinking

man.

It is often asserted, that medical men are more inclined to indifference in religion, and, in fact, to infidelity, than any other class of men. It would, of course, be difficult, if not impossible, to institute an actual computation; but if there could, I suspect the result would be, that lawyers, civil engineers, chemists, mathematicians, astronomers, commercial men, and, in Germany at least, even theologians, would supply as great a proportion of persons either professedly infidels, or totally indifferent to all religion, as the medical profession. The principal reason in each and all is the same. The mind, while left to itself, is so completely absorbed in its selected pursuit, whether it be of literature, science, or business, as to have neither time nor inclination to turn to so serious a concern as that of religion. If a few short intervals of leisure can be stolen from such incessant occupation, what can be so salutary, and what so harmless, as in those brief moments to avoid every thing gloomy, and allow the intellect and soul to expatiate in the regions of conviviality and pleasure? Thus, amid the uninterrupted alternations of employment and hilarity, no space being appropriated to the most interesting as well as elevated of all topics, it is altogether neglected; a fleeting consciousness of the neglect, intermingled too often, we may fear, with a persuasion (which cannot with the utmost effort be entirely shut out) that sin has been actually committed, as well as a binding duty omitted, by a natural process renders the mind eager to escape from itself into the regions of uncertainty, indifference, and, it may be, scepticism. Slight modifications in the causes will produce commensurate variations in the effects; but the general result will, I apprehend, be nearly the same with regard to all the specified classes. Literary and scientific men will evidently be tempted more often to announce their scepticism, where it exists, than men engrossed in commercial pursuits; and thus it may incorrectly be inferred to prevail more in those classes than in the latter. Medical men, intermingling more with general society, from their professional vocation, will again, on that account, be farther exposed to the charge than even others who have enjoyed a scientific education: yet I apprehend scarcely any real difference will be found; or, if there should, that it is at once imputable to the dissolute habits indulged by many young persons of that profession during their attendance at the hospitals, remote from parental watchfulness, and free from the restraints of moral discipline. The latter source of evil will, it is hoped, be nearly extinguished in a few years, in consequence of the great improvements rapidly making in every department of medical education, and the strong desire evinced by several eminent men, that there should be incorporated with the habits of study such rules as shall best ensure the professional benefits, while they most effectually check the contamination of loose principles.

In regard to the merits of this publication as a work of biography, we are inclined to consider it as presenting many, and those very serious, blemishes. The principal of these are, that it is so defective in arrangement, that its effect, as to any impression it might make on the reader, is entirely destroyed, and its different parts as distinct and disconnected as if they

belonged to works of an entirely different nature. Thus, we have a long, and not very well composed, detail of facts, mixed up with poetry, from which nobody but the biographer would think of describing the writer's character; and succeeding to this, a ong and formal dissertation on that character, which, though excellent, as we have said it is, in itself, is a proof of utter want of skill in the biographer, who should have known how to make his materials and facts appear in close union with his own reflections, and as actually giving rise to them; whereas by the method of our author, the writer of the memoirs and the moral philosopher seem to be two separate persons. We might also ask Dr. Gregory, whether he thinks any one but himself would have composed the life of such a man as his friend, and carried him from his youth through manhood and old age, without once mentioning the changes which were progressively taking place in his religious character, or informing the reader of the circumstance that tended to produce those changes. But this Dr. Gregory has done: and then, to make amends for this most egregious error, we find him having recourse to the expedient we have mentioned; and the most interesting facts and documents, illustrative of character where it is most worthy of illustration, are thrust into a corner by themselves; and, instead of having taught the reader the important truths they would have taught him, are huddled up together like isolated quotations, without appealing, standing naked as they do, either to the head or the heart.

Another fault we would find with Dr. Gregory is, that hẹ has shewn no discrimination in judging of the literary character of his friend; nor taken pains to mark out the various excellencies and defects, which, in different modifications, are to be found distinguishing the mind of every individual, and which, consequently, it is the office of a biographer to make himself perfectly acquainted with. But Dr. Good was a poet, and philosopher, and every thing, in their best degrees, to his friend; and a sameness is therefore spread over the pages of the memoir, which renders them far less likely to instruct than they would otherwise have been.

We must mention, lastly, that so respectable a man as the author of this work would have done well to have been more careful in avoiding the charge of being a mere bookmaker, than he has been in the present instance. The overcharged quotations which are made from the more useful of Dr. Good's works, are sometimes of questionable value; and the sickening quantity of indifferent poetry is unquestionably useless: but what are we to say to the author,

when, after all this useless waste of paper and print, and this swelling out of the volume beyond its fair proportions, he is not satisfied to end it without devoting additional pages to the account of a person incidentally mentioned in one of its paragraphs?

Notwithstanding, however, these blemishes, we thank Dr. Gregory for his publication. He has collected together a great variety of facts respecting a man whose memory deserves the highest respect, and whose works ought to be circulated whereever science is taught or knowledge is valued. He has also the farther merit of having made his volume the vehicle of sound moral instruction; and, though we cannot commend it as a biography, we can pronounce it to contain as much varied information as most that have hitherto come before us.

Sermons and Letters by John Richards, A. M., late Vicar of Wedmore, Somerset, and Curate of St. Michael's, Bath. To which is prefixed a Memoir of the Author. London: Hatchard. 1827. Pastoral Memorials, selected from the Manuscript of the late Rev. John Ryland, D. D., of Bristol; with a Memoir of the Author. 2 vols. London: Holdsworth. 1828.

"BLESSED are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." In the preceding article, we have called the attention of our readers to an interesting piece of biography, in our notice of Dr. Olinthus Gregory's Life of his friend (and we are happy to add, our friend) Dr. Good. Remembering, however, the clerical character of our publication, we feel anxious to introduce to our readers the instructive works at the top of the page. One of the excellent men whose life and writings we are about to notice, was the Minister of a Baptist congregation in Bristol; the other was an attached Clergyman of our own church. They will both be long gratefully remembered in the scenes of their respective labours. It is possible that ere this they may have met as disembodied spirits in a better world. Here they saw some things through different media. Variation in opinion produced diversity of action, but did not cause alienation of heart. They confessed God's holy name: they agreed, as to fundamental points, in the truth of his holy word and they shall dwell for ever in that church in the