His docility was remarkable, especially as it existed in connexion with so much genius and ardor. Bold and ardent genius is usually ungovernable. It will not learn from others, however much it may learn of itself. This is an unfortunate fact. Most bold and mighty geniuses are ruined by self-will. When the will is pliant, and the unind docile, in connexion with a strong and regular genius, there is then, a rare combination of qualities, and a most happy result may be anticipated. The following is a specimen of the docility of Dr. Good. "Such was the delight with which he pursued his studies of every kind, that it occasioned an entire absorption of thought; so that when he was little more than twelve years of age, his habit of hanging over his books had produced a curvature in his back, equally unfavorable to his growth and his health. His father, anxious to remove this evil, earnestly besought him to join with his fellow students in their various games and sports; and ere long he engaged in these also with his characteristic ardor, and became as healthful, agile, and erect as any of his youthful associates." This should serve as a valuable hint to all pupils. It is one of many instances, in which the docility of young Good preserved his life, and secured his final greatness. He never presumed that there were no others wiser than he. This docility of temper was maintained through life, and proved of immense advantage to him, not only by enlarging his compass of professional and liberal knowledge, but by recovering him from erroneous and dangerous principles respecting the most momentous of all subjects, and conducting him to a saving knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. He was in the true and proper sense, liberal-always willing to learn. Obstinacy was no part of his intellectual or moral habit. His diligence was almost unparalleled. Never did a man act more fully up to the spirit of his motto, "The measure of life is not the number of its days and years, but the amount of its virtues and duties performed." The following is a specimen of his diligence. "He was finishing his translation of Solomon's' Song of Songs,' carrying on his life of Dr. Geddes, and walking from twelve to fourteen miles a day, to see his numerous patients: nor was this all. In a letter to Dr. Drake, after speaking of these engagements, and adverting with thankfuness to the state of his business as a surgeon (which then produced more than 14001. per annum,) he proceeds thus: I have edited the Critical Review, besides writing several of its most elaborate articles. I have every week supplied a column of matter for the Sunday Review-and have for some days had the great weight of the British Press upon my hands.' 'So great a variety of occupations would have thrown most men into confusion; but such was the energy of Mr. Good's mind, such his habits of activity and order, that he carried them all forward simultaneously, suffering none to be neglected, left in arrear, or inadequately executed." His love of order is said to have been his " ruling passion," and his habits of order were perfectly formed, and universally applied. "These habits of order, the foundation of which constituted a part of his education, and the consolidation of which was so greatly aided by the circumstances of his apprenticeship, were evinced through life. The arrangements of his wardrobe, his books, his accounts, his papers, his manuscripts, his time, all bore the stamp of this peculiarity." As the Memoir of Dr. Good will undoubtedly be read by the more intelligent members of the community, we shall not anticipate their judgment respecting the amount and value of his intellectual habits and attainments. To us they are astonishing. That a man, in the period of a life not unusually long, should have become a master in so many entirely distinct departments of knowledge ;-that he should have ranged through the whole field of oriental, and classical, and modern literature, and made himself familiar, not only with the Hebrew, Syriack, Persian, Greek, Latin, German, Italian, French, Spanish, and English languages, but also with the contents of most of the principal works in each;-that he should also have become a thorough scholar in various departments of natural and moral science, as his ' Book of Nature' and other similar productions evince him to have been ;-that he should also have gained the highest rank in the profession of medicine and surgery, both in theory and practice, and have contributed one of the most valuable works (The Study of Medicine,') to that profession, which it has ever received;-that he should also have enlarged his mind with copious practical knowledge, on almost all subjects of interest or utility that he should be engaged in making translations of the Book of Job, and the Psalms, and Solomon's Song, from the Hebrew-in executing his great work,' his translation of Lucretius, from the Latin-in publishing notes and practical commentaries on the Scriptures-in writing poetry-in delivering lectures on physical and moral science and general knowledge-in preparing memoirs-in furnishing matter for two or three distinguished periodicals and all with such success, as completely to confront the adage, that the man of all pursuits is good at none,'—and besides all this, walking twelve or fourteen miles a day, to attend upon so many patients as to yield him fourteen hundred pounds a year,this truly is more than surprising, it is astonishing to us, who have yet so much to learn respecting the true value and improvement of time. We are almost ready to lay down our books, in despair of ever knowing or doing any thing. We shall now briefly notice the religious character of Dr. Good. The compiler remarks, "The distinction between the faculties of man as an accountable being, and his attributes as an intellectual being, is as palpable, and as difficult to be evaded by inquirers who deal fairly with themselves and with their species, as the distinction between mind and matter, or the active energy of thought, and the inertia of a stone." That man is constituted to be a religious being,' no less than an intellectual being-that he is capable of sustaining an accountable, not less than an intellectual relation, to God and his creatures -is what every one knows, or may know. It is in vain for us to attempt to be atheists, or to throw off our moral responsibility; for there is a principle in every man's nature, which makes him know that he is responsible for his conduct. That principle was implanted by God, the Creator and Governor of the universe, who formed man to be a subject of his moral kingdom. Man is constitutionally a physical, an intellectual, and a moral being. In a barbarous state of society, his physical nature is considered the most important. A man is estimated by the size and strength of his body. In a state of partial cultivation, one degree above barbarism, his intellectual nature is most regarded. Pedantry and pride of learning prevail, and a man is estimated principally by the supposed strength of his intellect. The question is not, is he morally good, but is he intellectually great. In a state of highest cultivation, when man is found in his most perfect and happy condition, his moral nature is first regarded. The first inquiry respecting him is, does he sustain his accountable relations to God and all his fellow beings? His moral principle, more than his intellectual attainments or his physical power, constitutes the standard of excellence. In this view, how much of barbarism still remains, even in this day of self-styled intelligence and refinement! Society will not have reached its highest, purest, happiest state of cultivation, till the love of God, ruling the heart and swaying the character, is regarded as the chief excellence of man. Knowledge then ceases to produce pedantry and conceit. Pure and humble piety, combining with sound and modest intelligence, constitutes a basis of character, beloved on earth and approved in heaven. Relevant to this point, the following passage is full of truth and wisdom. "In this age of intellectual and religious illumination, the scales of moral judgement are, too often, equally defective. I need not attempt to sketch the characters of the successful commercial man, the able barrister, the skilful physician, the man of deep and fortunate research, and many others in every profession and every rank, who have passed through the world without raising a serious thought towards their Creator and Preserver, or prescribing to themselves any code of morals except that which accorded most with the modes and fashions of their respective classes, and kept God and his will most out of sight. Yet, who dare censure? nay, who must not commend? For whom have they injured? What law have they broken? If the case is to be decided by the law of courtesy, or of worldly reputation, who but must praise? If by the laws of their country, they must stand unimpeached. Still, a thoughtful man may venture, notwithstanding, to hint that there is a law, less fleeting, awfully binding, nobly universal, the law of Him who is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,' who demands a surrender of all our faculties and affections to his service, in whose sight even the heavens are not clean,' and before whom something is required which a conformity to the laws of honor, courtesy and reputation cannot alone supply." It has surprised some, that men of distinguished success in their respective professions and callings, should have often failed to discover the sublime features of religious truth, and the real glory of the Gospel. But our Saviour has informed us that not many wise and noble are called; and for this undeniable fact the following remark suggests a reason. "The principal reason in all and each is the same. The mind, while left to itself, is so absorbed in its selected pursuit, whether it be of literature, science, or business, as to have neither time nor inclination to turn to sr serious a concern as that of religion." It is practically assumed by many, that a man's judgement in religious subjects is valuable, in proportion to his eminence in his own particular calling. Hence the spirit of the inquiry in all ages, Have any of the rulers and pharisees believed on him?' But the truth is, that men most eminent in their particular calling, usually know but little out of it. They are "totus in illis, absorbed in their profession. Their minds are engrossed with secular pursuits, and they have little time or inclination to think of religion. An intelligent farmer, of sound common sense, who devotes his evenings to reading on religious subjects, has frequently a degree of knowledge and judgement in theology far superior to theirs. Dr. Good, however, was an exception to the general fact. Distinguished as he was in his profession, his mind did not consent to expatiate alone in that; for he was scarcely less distinguished as a philosopher, and as a classical and biblical scholar. He was at first a materialist and a Unitarian; and such he might have continued, had he been entirely absorbed in his profession, and been satisfied, as many are, to take his religious views, upon trust, from the pulpit. He examined, reflected, and judged for himself; and he cherished a sincere respect for truth. Such a man is an intelligent and honest seeker, and he will ultimately find. Dr. Gregory remarks, in reference to the erroneous views of Dr. Good at this time, "Yet, happily, Mr. Good was to a great extent preserved from the worst tendencies of this system. He was too learned and too honest ever to affirm that the belief of the divinity and atonement of our Lord was unknown in the purest age of the church, but was engendered among other corruptions by false philosophy; and he had uniformly too great a regard for the scriptures of the New Testament, to assert that the apostles indulged in far-fetched reasoning, or made use of a Greek word, (oreeves,) which conveyed an erroneous notion, from want of knowledge of the term they ought to have employed he never contended that St. Paul did not mean to teach the doctrine of the resurrection of the body in the fifteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians; never sported the pernicious sophism, that where mystery begins religion ends.' Being buried alive' in occupations, and immersed in vexations of no ordinary occurrence, he did not commune frequently with his own heart, and too naturally sunk into a lamentable indifference to religion, at least, if that word correctly imply' converse with God; but he never evinced indifference to truth and rectitude, nor ever, I believe, became involved in the more awful perplexities of skepticism." As Dr. Good continued to search the Scriptures, and to extend his keen and practical observation of mankind, he became more and more convinced of the scriptural view of the character, condition, and moral relations and destinies of man; of the proper divinity and atonement of Christ, and of the way of salvation through him. His dissatisfaction, of course, increased with the erroneous views which he had adopted, until his mind and beart broke from their servitude, and ascended to God in sentiments of evangelical faith and love. He became a sound and consistent believer in Christ. The reader of this Memoir will be interested in the correspondence, which then ensued between him and the skeptical preacher, on whose ministry he had attended for many years. It resulted in his detaching himself from the preacher and the Unitarian sect, and attending at the Temple church, where the powerful reasoning of Dr. Rennell, often engaged in the discussion of topics which, at this period, occupied so much of Dr. Good's attention, seemed to confirm him in the propriety of the step he had taken. "Subsequently, at St. John's Chapel, he availed himself of the successive pastoral labors of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Jerram, until he passed from all worshipping assemblies here, to join the general assembly and church of the first-born in heaven." Dr. Gregory remarks, "It was in one of our confidential conversations on the most momentous of all topics, in the summer of 1815, that Mr. Good first distinctly announced to me his cordial persuasion that the evangelical representation of the doctrines of Scripture was that which alone accorded with the system of revealed truth. He said he had greatly hesitated as to the correctness of a proposition I had advanced a few years before, that there was no intermediate ground upon which a sound reasoner could make a fair stand, between that of pure deism and that of moderate orthodoxy, as held by the evangelical classes both of churchmen and dissenters; but that he now regarded that proposition as correct. At the same time he detailed several of the Socinian and Arian interpretations of passages usually brought forward in these disputes, and, with his accustomed frankness, explained how he had come, by degrees, to consider them all as unsatisfactory, and, for an accountable being, unsafe." "Rock of ages! here I build; That the religious views of Dr. Good had now become thoroughly sound and scriptural, will appear from the following passages from his pen, and numerous others of similar import. "The triumphant language of the apostle has been fulfilled; his prophetic vision has been realized; and Christ has proved most marvellously the power and the wisdom of God in every age of the world since his own era. Yet how incorrigible is the heart of man when perverted! how obstinate in its errors! how blind to the noon-day, the light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun,' that shines around it!-If the question be still asked, Where is the disputer of this world? Thousands will, even to the present hour, hold up their hands unabashed, and proudly accept the Scripture challenge. They go to Bethlehem, indeed, but they return as they go there: no heavenly music has sounded in their ears; they have scen neither angel nor Saviour; they went not to worship, and will not believe. The thing which has come to pass,' and which the Lord hath made known to mankind at large, they regard, not as matter of implicit faith and holy wonder, but as matter for the tribunal of their own reason. With insufferable arrogance, they arraign the Godhead before its impotent bar; they measure the plan of infinite wisdom, the energy of Almighty power, the great mystery of godliness, by their own standard; * In my "Letters on the Evidences, Doctrines and Duties of the Christian Religion." |