Memorial of the Late Reverend Henry Allon, D.D. (Hodder and
Stoughton.)—In a note which serves as a preface to this little volume, the reader is informed that it "aims simply at being as exact a record as possible of the services connected with the death and funeral of Dr. Allen." The record is not unworthy of him. Dr. Allen was not only one of the most popular of Non- conformist Ministers, but fully merited the affection and admira- tion he received. His intellectual gifts wore many, and were widely known and appreciated far beyond the range of his own community. A first-class literary organ has never yet, we believe, been commercially successful among Dissenters. If the British Quarterly Review, which Dr. Allen edited from 1865 to 1886, failed in this respect, its power as a literary journal was universally acknowledged. Dr. Allon's circle of friendship was a wide one. To strong convictions he united large sympathies ; his heart responded to all goodness, irre- spective of church or sect. Broad-minded in the best sense of the term, he was, at the same time, essentially orthodox ; and while familiar with all the negative criticism of the age, never lost his hold of Christian verities. In a sermon by Dr. Dale, the most interesting portion of this Memorial, he speaks in warm terms of his friend's intellectual energy, and of his power as a religious teacher. "The fire of his intellect was firm and strong. He was always alert, eager, and keen. He was like an ancient Greek, and cared to know things, and to know all sorts of things, for the sake of knowing them." And while saying that Dr. Allon was a man of strong affections and of deep emotions, he adds :— "But in discussing great subjects on great occasions, his power- ful understanding seemed to resent the disturbing power of passion. It was there ; you felt its warmth ; and yet it was only rarely allowed to set his thoughts on fire ; it showed itself in the increased strenuousness of his purely intellectual activity."
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