Thomas Ken. By F. A. Clarke, M.A. (Methuen.)—We are glad
to have a life of Bishop Ken so well written and of so con- venient a form. Dean Plumptre's work gives all that has to be said, and gives it excellently well, but its magnitude puts it out of the reach of many readers, and this volume will do very well as a substitute. We may question whether Ken was really a "Leader of Religion," for this is the series to which Mr. Clarke has contributed his biography. Ken was a most admirable person, one who approached, as Macaulay put it, "as near as human in- firmity permits, to the ideal perfection of Christian virtue." But he was not a leader. His position and character made him prominent among the non-jurors, but even here he did not actually lead. But this matters little. No one can question his title to be remembered. And if one regards, not strength and originality of mind, but the charity which is the greatest of gifts, Ken was indeed princeps in his generation. This quality Mr. Clarke's biography well sets forth, while it discusses the polemical questions of theology and Church order, with which the Bishop was concerned, in a lucid and moderate essay.
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