23 FEBRUARY 1884, Page 23

James Skinner : a Memoir. By the Author of "Charles

Lowder." (Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co.)—That this memoir is good of its kind might be concluded from the fact that it is written by the author of "Charles Lowder," who brings to her present task the qualification which was missing in the earlier work, a personal acquaintance with the subject. Mr. Skinner had a mind gentle, refined, and cultured. His letters are a faithful reflex of his character, sometimes quietly humorous, ever tinged with the pathos that patient suffering begets. The book will interest those who know him, and probably those also who are in theological agreement with him. But that it will command a much wider attention, We think hardly likely. Mr. Skinner, in his published letters or other- wise, evidences little or no capacity for dealing freely and liberally with the great subjects of the day. He lived in the utterances of ancient authorities, but that he thought profoundly for himself, his greatest admirer could not and perhaps would not desire to claim.