“. . . . . I have lost in Dr. Gooch one of the men in the world for whom I had the greatest regard. He saved this country from having the plague imported, by a paper some years ago upon the subject in the Quarterly Review. That paper upon Anatomy in the last number is his, and the forthcoming one I believe will contain one upon Mad-houses, the last subject that occupied him. Never was man more desirous of doing all in his power towards diminishing the sum of human misery.
“The article on the Internal Situation of the Country is not mine, nor do I know whose it is. You may be sure that I shall not be found complimenting the present Ministry, nor even excusing them, farther than by saying that they know not what they do. If I wish that they may keep their station, it is because I do not wish any other set of men so ill as to wish them in their place, and because I do not see any good which could be hoped for from such a change. Even the Swiss are looking with exultation for the downfall of British prosperity and power, which they believe to be fast approaching. But in this the enemies of England will be woefully deceived, whatever may happen to us at home.
“I am inclined to think that the Church is in more
danger from the so-called Evangelical party among its own clergy than it would
be from lay-
| 94 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 56. |
“Like you, I both dislike and distrust those who call themselves professors. They are just what the Pharisees were before them; but I want to embody in the service of the Church some of that honest enthusiasm which will otherwise be employed against it. I want field preachers while we have an ignorant and brutal population: there can be no other means of reclaiming them. They will not go to church—the preacher must go to them.
“Have you seen the Last Days of Sir Humphrey Davy? I knew him intimately in his best days: he would have been a happier and a greater man than he was if he had been less successful in his fortunes. No man was ever yet the better for living in what is called the world. God bless you!
