were loud in its praise. "This is a work of great power. Before Dr. Brown wrote we were confusedly all in the dark about causation. If ever there was a system which deserved the appellation of intelligible, compact, consistent, simple, this is the one." - N. Am. Review. "His first tract on Causation appeared to me the finest model of discussion in Mental Philosophy since Berkeley and Hume."— Mackintosh.

Dr. Brown, in connection with his extraordinary acuteness as a metaphysician, had a rich and glowing imagination, as one can see at a glance in reading a page anywhere in his works; it is no wonder, then, to find him a frequenter of the haunts of the muses. His poetical works are numerous, though it is probable they would have passed into oblivion but for the splendor of his abilities in other respects. He wrote The Paradise of Coquettes; The War Fiend; The Wanderer in Norway, a Poem; Agnes, a Poem; Emily and other Poems. After Brown's death, his Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind appeared. They constitute the leading monument of his fame.

"It would be unjust to censure severely the declamatory parts of these Lectures; they are excusable in the first warmth of composition. They might even be justifiable allurements in attracting young learners to abstract speculations. The prose of Dr. Brown is brilliant to excess. It is darkened by excessive brightness; it loses ease and liveliness by over-dress; and, in the midst of its luxurious sweetness, we wish for the striking and homely illustrations of Tucker, and for the pithy and sinMackintosh. ewy sense of Paley.".

Abercrombie.

JOHN ABERCROMBIE, M. D., 1781-1844, who was at his death at the head of his profession in Scotland as a physician, was equally eminent as a writer of medical works, and as a writer on metaphysics.

Abercrombie's principal medical works are Researches on Diseases of the Spinal Cord, and Researches on the Diseases of the Intestinal Cord, etc. His works of the other class are The Philosophy of the Moral Feelings, and the Intellectual Powers. The work last named has had an extended and general popularity. Though not profound, it is clear and easily understood; it contains much curious and useful information, and it is particularly valuable on those points in which the mind is affected by the body. The author's medical experience and knowledge gave him special facilities for treating intelligently this class of subjects. A truly Christian spirit pervades all his writings.

JONATHAN DYMOND, 1796-1828, a member of the Society of Friends, wrote two works of great value: Inquiry into the Accordancy of War with the Principles of Christianity; Essays on the Principles of Morality, and on the Private and Political Rights and Obligations of Mankind. The former was one of the most effective weapons of the Peace Society. The latter has been republished in the United States, and has been made a text-book on Moral Science in many institutions of learning.

SAMUEL DREW, 1765–1833, is chiefly and most favorably known by his work on The Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul.

Drew was without any advantages of early education, but being converted from infidelity, he became greatly interested in religious topics and applied himself zealously to study. He was editor of the Imperial Magazine, and wrote several works which

were in high repute: The Immateriality and Immortality of the Human Soul; Remarks on Paine's Age of Reason; Identity and General Resurrection of the Human Body; Being and Attributes of God; Life of Dr. Coke, etc. "His work on the Soul is truly wonderful; nothing like it was ever published."— Prof. Kidd. "His masterpiece of metaphysical argument is contained in his Essay on the Soul, for which he has been styled the English Plato."- Lond. Christ. Remembrancer. Under the preaching of Adam Clarke, in 1785, Drew became a Methodist; and in 1788 he became a local preacher.

John Mason Good.

JOHN MASON GOOD, M. D., 1764–1827, though eminent in his profession, and the author of several works on medicine of high authority, was almost equally distinguished in linguistic and theological pursuits. Good had no advantages of a University education, but was placed at fifteen as apprentice to a surgeon, and worked his way up in the profession by private study and dauntless perseverance. He was related on the mother's side to Dr. John Mason.

Good's principal works, omitting those exclusively professional, are the following: The Book of Nature, 3 vols., 8vo; Pantalogia, or an Encyclopædia of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, 12 vols. (written jointly by Dr. Good, Olinthus Gregory, and Newton Bosworth); Maria, an Elegiac Ode; Triumph of Britain, an Ode; The Nature of Things, translated from the Latin of Lucretius, with notes philosophical and explanatory, 2 vols., 4to; The Song of Songs, with notes critical and explanatory; The Book of Job, translated literally, with notes critical and illustrative. These two works, on Job and Solomon's Song, displayed immense erudition, and gave the author a high rank as a biblical scholar. The work on Lucretius likewise showed him to be wonderfully at home in the deepest problems of classical scholarship.

"These vast volumes are more like the work of a learned German professor than of an ungraduated Englishman. They display extensive erudition, considerable judgment, and some taste; yet, upon the whole, they are extremely heavy and uninteresting, and the leading emotion they excite in the reader is that of sympathy with the fatigue the author must have undergone in the compilation. The truth is, that Mr. Good, though very intelligent, is very indiscriminate in the selection of his information; and though, for the most part, sufficiently candid and judicious in his remarks, is at the same time intolerably dull and tedious. He has no vivacity; no delicacy of taste or fancy; very little originality; and a gift of extreme prolixity. His prose is better than his poetry; his reasonings are more to be trusted than his criticism; and his statements and explanations are of more value than his argument."-Jeffrey.

"No work of criticism in the language affords such a display of acquaintance with ancient and modern languages. Dr. Good is a firm believer in the antiquity of the book [Job], contends that Moses was the writer of it, and that it contains the great principles of the patriarchal faith. His translation is the most valuable work on Job in the English language, and must materially assist any individual in the interpreta tion of that difficult book."-Orme.

OLINTHUS GREGORY, LL. D., 1774-1841, a mathematician of great eminence, was Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, yet had a taste for literary pursuits.

Among Gregory's works of a popular character are: Lessons Astronomical and Philosophical, for the Amusement and Instruction of British Youth; Letters to

Friend on the Evidences, Doctrines, and Duties of the Christian Religion, published
by the Religious Tract Society; Memoirs of Dr. John Mason Good. He edited also
The Pantalogia, or General Encyclopædia, in connection with John Mason Good and
Bosworth.

Jeremy Bentham.

Jeremy Bentham, 1747-1832, attained great celebrity as a writer on political reform.

Mr. Bentham began authorship as early as 1776, by a sharp critique on Blackstone's view of the origin of Government. From that time on, for a period of more than half a century, he continued to write and publish on almost every subject connected with legislative and political reform. His works were published, after his death, in 11 vols., 8vo.

A striking peculiarity of Bentham's works is that those written first were much better as to style than those written late in life. His early writings are marked by compactness, clearness, and general attractiveness of style. As he advanced in life, he grew careless in this respect, and concerned himself only with the substance of what he had to say. His matter was always weighty, and he always provoked discussion.

Most of the ameliorations in English law have sprung from the discussions to which Bentham gave rise. He was indeed a bold, vigorous, and original thinker, but not a safe guide; and in his religious opinions was decidedly of an infidel character. The cardinal doctrines of his whole system were, that "utility is the test and measure of virtue;" and that "the object of legislation is the greatest happiness of the greatest number."

Bentham's chief works are the following: A Fragment on Government, being the critique on Blackstone; A Defence of Usury; Principles of Morals and Legislation; Panopticon, containing a plan for utilizing the labor of convicts; The Rationale of Indirect Evidence; The Rationale of Punishment; The Rationale of Reward; The Book of Fallacies; Church of Englandism and its Catechism examined.

Of the Defence of Usury, 1787, Sir James Mackintosh says, it is “perhaps the best specimen [extant] of the exhaustive discussion of a moral or political question, leaving no objection, however feeble, unanswered, and no difficulty, however small, unexplained; remarkable, also, for the clearness and spirit of the style, for the full exposition which suits them to all intelligent readers, for the tender and skilful hand with which prejudice is touched, and for the urbanity of his admirable apology for projectors." "A work unanswered and unanswerable; and not less admirably reasoned than happily expressed."- Edinburgh Review.

Of the Book of Fallacies, twenty-seven years later, 1824, Sidney Smith says: "Whether it is necessary that there should be a middleman between the cultivator and the possessor, learned economists doubted; but neither gods, nor men, nor booksellers can doubt the necessity of a middleman between Mr. Bentham and the public. Mr. Bentham is long; Mr. Bentham is occasionally involved and obscure; Mr. Bentham invents new

and alarming expressions; Mr. Bentham loves division and subdivision — and he loves method itself, more than its consequences. Those only, therefore, who know his originality, his knowledge, his vigor, and his boldness, will recur to the works themselves. The great mass of readers will not purchase improvement at so dear a rate, but will choose rather to become acquainted with Mr. Bentham through the Reviews - after that eminent philosopher has been washed, trimmed, shorn, and forced into cleanliness."

Of the Church of Englandism, etc., 1818, the London Quarterly Review says: "It is fortunate that this book (as we have said) is not attractive; it is too obscure to be generally understood, and too ridiculous to be admired; and however mischievous the intention, the tendency will be very innoxious. Of its worst part, the indecent levity with which all that is sacred is treated in it, we have not spoken. Those offences must be answered for at a higher tribunal; but we would seriously recommend it to the author to consider whether the decline of life cannot be better spent than in captiously cavilling at the doctrines of religion, and in profane ridicule of its most holy rites."

Malthus.

THOMAS ROBERT MALTHUS, 1766-1834, was the author of a large number of works on Political Economy.

Malthus was a native of Surrey; he was educated at Cambridge, and took orders in the Church of England; from 1805 until his death, he was Professor of Modern History and Political Economy in Haileybury College.

The principal works of Malthus are: An Essay on the Principle of Population, etc.; An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent; and Principles of Political Economy. His Essay on Population excited great attention when it first appeared; and the principles which it lays down have not ceased to engage the attention of philosophers ever since. He controverts the theory of Godwin and others upon the progress and perfectibility of human nature, and endeavors to establish, as a fundamental principle, that population tends to increase in geometrical ratio, while the supply of food and other necessaries can be increased only in arithmetical. The corollary is, of course, that at some future day the supply of food will not suffice the population. This theory has lately received fresh impulse by its relation to the so-called struggle for existence underlying Darwin's Origin of Species.

Ricardo.

DAVID RICARDO, 1772-1823, is another prominent writer on Political Economy.

Ricardo accumulated a large fortune in the stock-brokerage business, and was a Member of Parliament for the four years preceding his death. Ricardo's Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, 1817, belongs to the same class with Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Malthus on Population, and Mill's Principles, leading works on the subject. Several of the principles laid down by Ricardo have been controverted or shown to be erroneous, but the work still retains its value as an able treatise.

Besides the Principles, Ricardo was the author of several minor works and pamphlets, prominent among which are the pamphlet on The High Price of Bullion a Proof of the Depreciation of Bank Notes, and a Reply to Bosanquet's Observations on the Report of the Bullion Committee. This Report, it will be remembered, was the celebrated one in which Francis Horner took so distinguished a part. Ricardo's Tract

on Protection to Agriculture has been pronounced his best by McCulloch. His chief error, as a theorizer, seems to have been his view of rent, which he assumes to be the value of the difference between the best and the worst lands in cultivation.

JOHANN GASPAR SPURZHEIM, 1776-1832, acquired great notoriety by his writings on Phrenology.

Spurzheim was a native of what is now Rhenish Prussia. While studying medicine in Vienna, Spurzheim became acquainted with Gall, then professor. The two were thenceforth for many years intimately associated in investigating and lecturing upon the functions of the brain. In 1813 they parted company. From that time until his death in 1832, Spurzheim lived chiefly in England, lecturing and writing. He also visited the United States. He died here, and is buried at Mt. Auburn, near Boston. Spurzheim's claims to distinction as a physiologist are unmistakable. He is generally regarded as the discoverer of the fibrous structure of the brain. Unfortunately, he was led away by phrenological speculations. Many of his works were published in French. Of those published in English the best known are: The Physiological System of Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, a treatise on Insanity, Phrenology, Anatomy of the Brain, etc.

JOHN PLAYFAIR, 1748-1819, was one of the scientific writers of the period.

Playfair was a native of Scotland. He studied at St. Andrew's; was at one time a minister in the Church of Scotland, and afterwards Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. To young students, Playfair is principally known by his edition of Euclid. As a man of science he is known by numerous contributions to the transactions of the Edinburgh Royal Society and to the Edinburgh Review. Among such contributions are the review of La Place's Mecanique Celeste, Remarks on the Astronomy of the Brahmins, and on Physical Astronomy (in the Encyclopædia Britannica). A celebrated dissertation, left unfinished, and published in the supplement to the Encyclopædia, is on a General View of the Progress of Mathematical and Physical Science since the Revival of Letters. Professor Playfair was a clear thinker and a clear writer, and in personal manners appears to have been extremely affable and popular.

Sir Humphry Davy.

SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, 1778–1829, is considered the greatest of English chemists and discoverers.

Davy was born in Cornwall. He began as apprentice to an apothecary, and at the age of forty-two was President of the Royal Society, and the first man in the world in his own department of research. His discoveries, besides advancing theoretical science, led directly to many practical results of the greatest importance in mechanics and the useful arts.

His works, which have been published in 9 vols., 8vo, are for the most part purely scientific. He occasionally, however, enlivened his leisure hours, or usefully occupied those in which his strength was not sufficient for severe studies, with works of a lighter kind, sufficient to show that he might have made himself a great man in letters if he had not chosen rather to be supreme in science. "Had not Davy been the first chemist,