Who sees, where'er his sight extends, In culture, then, of heart and mind To thee, my friend, whose ardent toil, And pledge once more the social heart; I must not brook the best excuse: "Tis friendship calls, and who delays The generous breast when friendship sways? Sudbury Saturday Morning, 1791. Almost three years previously to the date of this poem, Mr. Good had rendered his home "cheerful" by a second marriage. The object of his choice was a daughter of Thomas Fenn, Esq. of Ballingdon Hall, an opulent and highly respectable banker at Sudbury. The experience of thirty-eight years amply proved with what success the refined friendship of domestic life "redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in sunder." Here, however, I must, though with reluctance, check my pen. Of the six children who were the result of this marriage, only two survive, both daughters; and I am conscious that I cannot more fully accord with the wishes and feelings of these my esteemed friends, (each of whom evinces as great a solicitude to avoid praise as to deserve it) than by mentioning their names as little as possible during the progress of this narrative. Some time in the year 1792, Mr. Good, either by becoming legally bound for some friends, or by lending them a large sum of money, under the expectation that it would be soon returned, but which they were unable to repay, was brought into circumstances of considerable pecuniary embarrassment. Mr. Fenn most cheerfully stepped forward to remove his difficulties, and lent him partial aid, an aid, indeed, which would have been rendered completely effectual, had not Mr. Good resolved that perplexities, springing from what he regarded as his own want of caution, (though in no other respect open to censure,) should be removed principally by his own exertions. Thus it happened that a pecuniary loss, from the pressure of which men with minds of an ordinary cast would have gladly escaped as soon as assistance was offered, became with him the permanent incentive to a course of literary activity, which, though it was intercepted repeatedly by the most extraordinary failures and disappointments, issued at length in their complete removal, and in the establishment of a high and richly deserved reputation. And thus, by the sombrous vicissitude of his providential dispensations, the heavenly "Husbandman Prepar'd the soil;-and silver-tongued Hope Mr. Good's exertions, on this occasion, were most persevering and diversified. He wrote plays; he made translations from the French, Italian, &c.; he composed poems; he prepared a series of philosophical essays but all these efforts, though they soothed his mind and occupied his leisure, were unproductive cf the kind of benefit which he sought. Having no acquaintance with the managers of the London theatres, or with influential men connected with them, he could not get any of his tragedies or comedies brought forward; and being totally unknown to the London booksellers, he could obtain no purchasers for his literary works: so that the manuscript copies of these productions, which in the course of two or three years had become really numerous, remained upon his hands. Yet nothing damped his ardour. He at length opened a correspondence with the editor of a London newspaper, and became a regular contributor to one of the Reviews: and though these, together, brought him no adequate remuneration, they served as incentives to hope and perseverance.* Several of the manuscripts are still in existence, and 1 shall throw into this note the titles of such of them as I have read Ꭰ Mr. Good's newspaper connexion was with "THE WORLD," the Morning Post of that day, conducted by Captain Topham, a man whose character was too notoriously marked to need any delineation now. The communications of our "Rural Bard," as he was usually denominated in "The World," ornamented its poet's corner: two of them alone are inserted here, as specimens. ODE TO HOPE. O gentle HOPE! whose lovely form If yet thy smile can chase the sighs O view this lifted hand! "History of Alcidalis and Zelida," translated from a fragment of Voiture. "Ethelbert, a Tragedy;" some portions of it written with great spirit. "The Revolution, a Comedy;" composed in lively, easy dialogue; but not possessing enough of ludircous incident to excite the 'broad grin,' which seems essential to the success of modern comedy. "The Female Mirror, a Didactic Poem; to which are added, a Translation of two Odes of Horace, lately discovered in the Palatine Library at Rome; and an Elegy on Sensibility of Mind." Some passages in this latter poem are truly elegant and expressive. "A Poetical Epistle on the Slave-trade." This, I believe, received some corrections from the hand of Dr. Drake; but was never published. "The Summer Recess, or, a View of the World at a Distance." This poem is in three books, and was evidently composed with Virgil's Georgics in the author's eye. Several of its descriptions of rural scenery, and of rustic occupations and amusements, are highly picturesque. Ten Essays. 1. On the Being of a God. 2. On the Origin of Evil. 3. On Liberty and Necessity. 4. On Providence. 5. On a Future State. 6. On the Credibility of Revelation. 7. On the Homogeneity of Animal Life. 8 and 9. On the Social Offices and Affections. 10. On Happiness. Most of these Essays are well written; but the subjects are treated more in the strain of philosophy than of theology, and several of them are tinged with sentiments which their author, in maturer life, most cordially disapproved. One, however, which I think Mr. Good would have preserved, will be inserted in the text. Thro' dire despair's tremendous shade, The troubled spirit flies. Thy sight sustains his drooping pow'rs, Then haste thee, HOPE, and o'er my head, O give me, ere gay youth decline, And I'll despise the storm. HYMN REHEARSED AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE FUNERAL OF GENERAL LA HOCHE. Les Femmes. Du haut de la voûte éternelle, Les Viellards. Aspirez à ses destinées, Guerriers, défenseurs de nos lois, Tous ses jours furent années; |