Annals of industry and genius . of steady industrious applica-tion, highly creditable to the man, anddeserving of respect and imitation, a noticeof Robert Gooch may suitably find a place in thesesketches. The circumstances of his bojdiood were byno means of the most promising nature. He wasborn at Yarmouth, in Norfolk, in 1784. His father,who commanded a vessel in the merchant service,possessed very limited means; and his son was deniedthe advantages of a classical education. He wassent to a day-school, kept by a Mr. Nicholls, wherehe learned writing and arithmetic. It does notappear there was
Annals of industry and genius . of steady industrious applica-tion, highly creditable to the man, anddeserving of respect and imitation, a noticeof Robert Gooch may suitably find a place in thesesketches. The circumstances of his bojdiood were byno means of the most promising nature. He wasborn at Yarmouth, in Norfolk, in 1784. His father,who commanded a vessel in the merchant service,possessed very limited means; and his son was deniedthe advantages of a classical education. He wassent to a day-school, kept by a Mr. Nicholls, wherehe learned writing and arithmetic. It does notappear there was anything remarkable about him, orindicative of unusual ability; he was a kind-heartedactive boy, rather feeble in health, and (a proof ofhis amiable disposition) a great favourite with theassociates of his school-days. It was determined by his friends that he shouldadopt the medical profession; and, when aboutfifteen years old, he was apprenticed to a surgeonand apothecary of his native town. It was about STUDYING ANATOMY. 203. THE STlTIlBfT AND THE SKELETON. this time that he commenced the study of Latin;and, without any assistance, he taught himself toread that lano-uao-e with tolerable ease. We catch aninteresting glimpse of him at this period of his life,in a private paper written by his own hand. Fromthe age of fifteen to twenty-one, he says, I wasapprenticed to a countr} surgeon ; and when I hadnothing else to do, no pills to roll, nor mixture tocompose, I used, by the advice of my master, to goup into my bed-room, and there, with Cheseklen* ? of an ailtnirable work on the Bones. 204 AN AIRY STUDY. Lefore me, learn the anatomy of the bones, by theaid of some loose ones, together with a whole articu-lated skeleton, which hung up in a box at the foot ofmy bed. It was some time before 1 overcame theawe with which I used to approach this formidablepersonage. At first, even by daylight, I liked tohave some one in the room with me during my inter-views with him ; and a
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