Biographical compositions, therefore, possessing all the essential characteristics of that class of literature to which they belong, and being at the same time free from affectations and excrescences, are extremely rare. They require in an author a union of qualities not often found together: a quick apprehension of every moral quality, in its different degrees of strength or weakness; a power of quickly discriminating the various kinds of human character; a talent for narrating facts and displaying the circumstances of human existence in their proper depth and distinctness of light and shade; and, with all these qualities, disposing their possessor to luxuriate in a diffuse moral application, a sufficient knowledge of the proper style of biography to restrain him from every attempt to invade the rights and office of the reader. Without, however, possessing all the qualities we have mentioned as among those necessary to a perfect biographer, a writer of this class may be both useful, and deserving of considerable praise, by attending to the plain and obvious duties of the office he has taken. It is hardly necessary to say, that the first of all is a most strict adherence to truth; and that not merely in respect to facts themselves, but to the manner of stating those facts, so that neither friendship nor prejudice, shall have any share in influencing their appearance to the reader. But the one which we are most inclined to insist on as the 'principal duty of the biographer, after that of strict integrity, is the collecting of every attainable information on the subject of the memoir, and the leaving this information in the hands of the reader, not merely ungarbled by falsehood, but so distinctly presented, and so unmixed with any dictates of the author's judgment, that the student may have, as we have said, to gather instruction from it himself, and be satisfied, when he has gathered it, that it is the proper inference of facts, and not mere opinions. How far the work before us answers to these ideas on biography we shall by and by consider. We shall first, however, endeavour to give our readers an account of the respected individual whose life forms the subject of its pages.

John Mason Good was born May 25, 1764. He was the second son of the Rev. Peter Good, a Dissenting minister, and of the niece of the celebrated John Mason, author of the "Essay on Self-Knowledge." At that time they were residing at Epping, but, Mrs. Good dying, and the father having again married, the family removed to Wellingborough, in Northamptonshire. From this place they shortly after went into Hampshire, where Mr. Good, in consequence of his brother's death, became possess ed of some property. While residing here, he was persuaded to take pupils; and it was under his care that his son early imbibed that taste for classical literature which afterwards so eminently distinguished him. Mason continued under the care of his father till he was about fifteen, when he was apprenticed to Mr. Johnson, a surgeon, at Gosport. While here, amid the studies of his profession and many varied pursuits, he found leisure to gratify the growing propensities of his mind for literary employment; and it is curious to see, from the subjects which it appears engaged his attention,

how early that character for method and research was developed, which formed the most distinguished feature in Dr. Good's mind. Thus, we find him engaged in taking a view of the principal tropes and figures of rhetoric, in their origin and powers; in illustrating it with notes of the most varied description; in selecting and arranging passages from Italian and other authors, and, lastly, in making a dictionary of poetical endings-all which works were manifestations of that patient and persevering disposition of mind to which, rather than to genius, Dr. Good owed his subsequent celebrity, and his power of being extensively useful.

While with Mr. Johnson at Gosport, he became acquainted with Mr., afterwards Doctor, Babington, who was engaged as the assistant of the former gentleman. This connexion gave a new impetus to his mind, and would probably have been of important benefit to him, had it not been speedily interrupted by the death of Mr. Johnson, at whose decease he removed to Harvant, where his father then resided. Shortly after this event, an opportunity having offered of his getting into immediate practice, he hastened to London to complete his professional education, and on his return entered into partnership with a gentleman of the name of Decks, residing at Sudbury in Suffolk. Mr. Good was here so successful in his exertions, that his partner shortly entrusted him with the whole of the practice: soon after which he married. His happiness, however, in this state was of short continuance, his wife dying in six months after their union. In the course of four or five years he again married; his second wife being the daughter of Mr. Fenn, a banker, at Sudbury. It was a few years after this that the events occurred which greatly influenced the future course of Mr. Good's life, and to which may be ascribed the popularity which he enjoyed as a professional, as well as a literary man. Having become embarrassed by some unfortunate pecuniary engagements, and determining to free himself from them by his own increased exertions, he set diligently to work with his pen; wrote plays, pamphlets, and poems; and watched every avenue that might open a prospect into the literary world. His success, however, was not sufficient to lure him too far on this dangerous track; and, an opportunity having offered of his entering into partnership with a London surgeon, he removed thither in the early part of 1793. Unfortunately the associates were either unfitted for each other by great contrariety of disposition; or, as appears to have been the case, the elder partner became jealous of Mr. Good's growing reputation; and the consequence was an irregularity of attention in the practice, which soon ended in a total loss of business. Again thrown upon his own private exertions, he again redoubled his efforts, which were at length rewarded with considerable success." He obtained connexions; practice flowed in upon him; and he in a little time began to be regarded by his fellow-practitioners as a rapidly rising member of the profession. He had the satisfaction also about this time, to obtain a prize, offered by Dr. Lettsom, for an essay on the question "What are the diseases most frequent in work.

houses, poor-houses, and similar institutions; and what are the best means of cure and of prevention?" About the same period, also, he was made a member of the Pharmaceutic Society, and at its request drew up a History of Medicine, which was published in 1795. All these circumstances contributed to make him generally known; and as he was still anxious after literary reputation, although thus deeply immersed in professional pursuits, he had the pleasure to find himself welcomed into the society of the most celebrated men of the day. Among his intimate acquaintances he shortly numbered Drs. Disney, Rees, Hunter, Geddes, Messrs. Maurice (the author of the Indian Antiquities), Fuzeli (the Royal Academician), Charles Butler, Gilbert Wakefield, and other literary men of the day.

In the year 1797, Mr. Good commenced his translation of Lucretius, his greatest work, but of which we shall speak when we come to consider his literary character. To this undertaking he was invited, it appears, by the encouragements of his friends, among whom was Gilbert Wakefield, then employed on his edition of the same author. If this undertaking had produced no other good, it would have been of no little value to the author as it concentrated his exertions, and gave a spur to his desire of distinction, which might otherwise have been satisfied with a more ephemeral object on which to support its claims. Another important use that it was of to him, was the inducement it presented for the extensive study of languages, modern as well as ancient;-a pursuit in which Dr. Good was eminently successful, and which, by the use he made of his acquirements, was of great benefit to others as well as himself. The author of the Memoir has rightly observed, that it is well worth inquiring what means our linguist took to make those extensive acquisitions in this branch of learning for which he

distinguished himself. The whole passage

which contains a solution of the question is so curious and instructive that we shall extract it.

"Whenever an individual distinguishes himself by acquiring a correct knowledge of seve ral languages, we cannot but feel desirous to ascertain at least the outlines of the plan which he pursued. Elementary instruction in languages has hitherto been made almost entirely to depend upon the faculty of memory, without an adequate regard to the reflective and the associating principles of the mind; and yet nothing can be more obvious than the essential difference between a series of positive unconnected efforts of memory, and another series which shall be connected by some law of association. If, for example, a student of natural philosophy be informed that the hydrostatic pressure of rain or river water upon a square inch at the depth of five feet is equal to two pounds and three-fifths avoirdupois, the truth, however important, can only be fixed in the mind by a frequent repetition of both numbers; and even then, there is risk of their sliding from the thoughts after a short time, from the want of an obvious connexion between the numbers 5 and 2 3-5ths. But if the student be informed that at the depth of thirty feet the pressure upon a square inch is equivalent to

thirteen pounds, and it be, at the same time, impressed upon his mind that the first syllable of the words thirty and thirteen is the same, the law of association tends to render the impression permanent, and the scientific truth will recur to his thoughts whenever it is needed. So again, the numbers 1 and 3.141593, which express the relation of the diameter to the circumference of a circle, having no natural connexion, can only be remembered positively after frequent repetition; and this would also be the case with the numbers 113 and 355, which express the same relation, unless it should be explained to the student, that these numbers are together constituted of repetitions in pairs of the first three odd numbers, 1, 1; 3,3; 5, 5; when it will really become as difficult to forget the ratio of 113 to 355, as, without a marked reference to this peculiarity in the sequence of the figures, it would be found to remember it. Now, if this universal attribute of intellect had been understood by our standard grammarians, would they compel the youths who study their works to get by rote five very bad hexameter verses, in an unknown language, in order that they might learn, what all but the veriest dunces knew before, that the names of gods and men are masculine, while those of goddesses and women are of the feminine gender? Or would they, for the purpose of teaching that the nouns funus and sponsalia are seldom used in the singular number, compel them to learn, Funus justa petit, petit et sponsalia virgo?" to learn, that is, in plain English, that 'a funeral requires solemnities, and a virgin requires espousals;' to learn seven Latin words in order that he may recollect two? Certainly, no man who understands many languages ever acquired them thus.

"When that extraordinary youth, Barretier, learned the French, German, and Latin, at a very early age, he was not, says Dr. Johnson, 'taught in the common way, by a multitude of definitions, rules, and exceptions, which fatigue the attention, and burden the memory, without any use proportionate to the time which they require, and the disgust which they create;' but he learned them all in the same manner, and almost at the same time, by conversing in them indifferently with his father. The other languages of which he was master, he learned by a method yet more uncommon. The only book which he made use of was the Bible, which his father laid before him, in the language that he then proposed to learn, accompanied with a translation, being taught by degrees the inflections of nouns and verbs. This latter method, although open to objection, has the advantage of being founded upon the principle of association.

"Mr. Good seems early to have caught, and steadily to have pursued and applied, the same principle. Before he was twenty-four years of age, I have every reason to believe that he had attentively studied, and reduced to an intellectual classification, the results collected by Chamberlayne in his 'Oratio Dominica in Omnium fere gentium linguas versa.' From the perusal of the first volumes of the Asiatic Researches,' he derived a confirmation of his own conjecture, that all languages have a common origin. It was but natural, to a spirit so

·

Another medical work succeeded this, "On the Study of Medicine," which was published in 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

Rel. Mag.-VOL. II.

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 general merits of the talented man of whom we are speaking. Dr. Good is not the first taken in thinking himself a poet, or whose man of learning and ability who has been misfriends 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 shown. 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 which results from additional usefulness. any addition to such a reputation, except that

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 tempta tions, 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 reflec

tions 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 profesNo. 7.-C