MEMORIALS OF THE REV. CHARLES WICKSTEE D.* THE position of

a Dissenting minister is not, one would say, a position to excite ambition or gratify self-love. Unlike that of the poorest curate, there is often little hope that it may lead to anything better, and it gives no social importance, and admits into no charmed circle of the upper ten thousand ; indeed, it too often cuts him off from these good things, and in the large majority of cases leaves him who adopts it to a very useful, no doubt, but to a very humble and unnoticed life. But little attraction as the life of a Dissenting minister would seem to have for any but those rare, spiritual-minded beings whose only desire is to do all the good they can in any position or place in which they find themselves, there is one incentive to ambition which he has, and which the clergyman of the Church of England does not feel in equal degree,—the hope of making his personalinfluence felt as a Church clergyman's influence is seldom felt within the limits of the society in which he has been reared. The Dissenter has to appeal to the suffrages of the congrega- tions, to preach as a candidate, to pit his talents against a number of other men, presumably his equals, and possibly his superiors ; and he cannot be blamed if he is fired with a desire to surpass them, when a wider sphere of usefulness is to be attained. Of course, the inevitable result often is that the intellect is stimulated at some coat to the heart and moral nature ; and we find too many Dissenting ministers labouring rather to be effective preachers than devoted pastora,—a tendency increased by the fact that they have no miscellaneous parish to look after, where men of every class put in a claim to attention, and where so much organisation of detail is required, that a parish clergyman, perforce, spends comparatively little time in his study. We often regret on the Sunday this comparative deficiency of culture and study, and might well envy our Dissenting neighbours ; but the causes which militate against good preaching cultivate the Christian sympathies, civilise the lower classes, and give the clergy a humbler and less self-conscious estimate of themselves.

• Memorials of the Ben. Charles Wickdeed, B.A. Edited by his Bon, Philip Henry. London : Williams and Norgete.

These thoughts have been suggested by the memoir before us, rather because Charles Wicksteed appears, from his son's story, not to have been a typical Dissenting minister, than because he exemplifies our remarks. In the first place, he was a Unitarian,—one of a sect remarkable for high education and culture, and not, therefore, to be won by the florid and sensational style of preaching sometimes affected by orthodox Dissenters. Then there can be no doubt that his mental powers were of a high order, or he would not have been associated with such men as Dr. Martineau, the Rev. John Hamilton Thom, and the Rev. John James Tayler in the joint editorship of the Prospective Review, a periodical that required and exhibited not only great theological and philosophical learning, but a power of profound thinking. This deservedly high position amongst the ministers of his sect exempted Mr. Wicksteed from the necessity of striving for precedence. His reputation went before him, and he never had to sue forthe suffrages of congregations. But the eagernessto excelin the pulpit was not absent even in Mr. Wicketeed's successful career; it was but pushed back to his early and student days, when he must have known that in a life-work of so unambitious a character, first-rate excellence alone could secure him a place that would satisfy him. Another circumstance that relieved Mr. Wicksteed of the urgency of the Dissenting minister's temptation to shine as a preacher was his intensely social nature, which would have pined in a study for want of human sympathy and companion- ship. And yet, with all these safeguards against a desire for popular favour, we come away from this memoir and these " memorials " with a distinct impression that if Mr. Wicksteed had a weak point in his character, it was a love of effect and admiration, no doubt inherent in all loving and sympathetic natures, and fostered by the necessity we have been dwelling on of gaining a good place in the Unitarian ministry. The other characteristic that forces itself upon us, is a certain self- consciousness, and a tendency rather to express the phase of thought or feeling which his intellect recognised as the appro- priate one for the occasion, than to follow without self-analysis the direction of his unbiassed mind. A passage in his son's memoir seems to warrant this impression, though he would, no doubt, give a different explanation of his meaning. He says

(p. 43) :- " In theology, my father was regarded by some of the older ministers as a dangerous man; but his perception of the practical aspects of every question, and his sympathy with the practical needs of the heart, enabled him generally to present even those conceptions that were most likely to excite opposition in such a way that they were felt as a development and vindication of some loved and acknowledged principle, or a relief from some felt encumbrance, rather than as an attack upon a cherished belief."

His son adds, too, that he was content to observe a deliberate silence on many theological questions, because the attitude of

his mind was one of suspense ; and we hear again, on p. 68 and elsewhere, of his "complete reticence" on most important theological questions. And yet, "all his life, he felt impatient with attempts to show the spiritual meaning and the hidden truth of orthodox opinions. ' They are not the confused and imperfect expression of spiritual truths,' he would say ; they are the clear, logical, and appropriate expression of spiritual falsehoods.' " We suspect that his wide sympathies and affec- tionate nature found such pain in differing from or wounding others, that he unconsciously dwelt habitually more on points of agreement than on those of disagreement ; for that he did hold very strong opinions, this assertion that orthodox views were "spiritual falsehoods," and also his inability to " bring himself to endure the morning service of the Church of England," are sufficient proofs. It is manly and candid in Mr. Wicksteed to draw attention to these dogmatic utterances of his father ; though, of course, we shall not be expected to agree with their drift. But we should have been glad to have beard more of the grounds on which this strong expression of disapprobation was founded. Though we are not told much on this head, the memoir is of considerable interest, for it enables us to admire his active, useful, laborious, and self-sacrificing life; his genial, kindly, and affectionate nature ; his wide and profound sympathy, not only with suffering humanity or with every public movement that had for its object the amelioration of the condition of the poor and oppressed—for it is easy and pleasant for an able and sociable man to join in public movements—but with every individual man, woman, child, or animal that was in pain or trouble. Still, we should have felt great interest in having the grounds of defence of so dis- tinct and vigorous an expression of theological opinion. Mr. Wicksteed was born at Shrewsbury, and we must give one amusing anecdote of his childhood, related by himself with

a good deal of humour :- "I recollect well preaching in the dining-room to the assembled nurses and children, when my elder brother, Tom, was to be my clerk. He sat below me. But no sooner had I announced my text, which was the hospitable one of Masters, give good coffee to your servants,' than my clerk burst out into a most irreverent laugh ; on which, in mingled grief, mortification, and anger at this reception of what was a very genuine and sincere matter with me, I stooped over my pulpit, pulled my clerk's hair, burst into tears, descended, and the congregation was left in great confusion and disorder."

Mr. Wicksteed was a pupil of the eminent Dr. Butler who made Shrewsbury School so famous ; but the subject of this memoir did not much admire him, though he recognises his services in the

thorough classical drill to which he was subjected there. He rejoiced to change Shrewsbury for Glasgow, and appreciated highly the lectures of the Greek Professor, Sandford. It is

worthy of note that the young student felt so keenly forhis father's pecuniary straits—which, indeed, be unintentionally exaggerated —that after his first college session, he returned £10 to his father, having lived, and paid all college and personal expenses, with £50, his income from scholarships, which he had himself earned, being £60. He obtained, early, a pulpit in Liverpool ; but being very soon offered one in Leeds, where the opportunities for use- fulness were much greater and the salary larger, he only held the former for a year or two. In Leeds be remained for eighteen years, organising and helping largely to conduct useful associa- tions—both connected with his own congregation, and in the town—building a chapel which was one of the earliest success- ful attempts to introduce architectural beauty into Nonconformist places of worship, taking a lead in movements for the intellectual improvement of the people, adding largely to the number of worshippers attending his services, and endearing himself not only to his own people, but to his fellow-townsmen generally.

From Leeds, failing health—attributable to overwork—compelled him, in 1854, to retire to Wales, where he farmed at a great loss, but compensated himself by a much closer acquaintance with,

and enjoyment of, his children, friends, and the beauties of Nature, in which he intensely delighted. In 1863, though still residing

in Wales, he undertook some work in Liverpool; but in 1874 he felt that he must give up regular ministerial work altogether.

He became a lecturer for an Association formed to disseminate a knowledge of Unitarian tenets, and delivered, in all parte of England, lectures for that purpose, one of which, entitled " Why am I a Unitarian P " his son tells as that he expressed a desire to deliver till every one in England had heard it. His letters are not often on general topics, but they prove his affectionate

nature, his desire to forward every good work that came in his way, his keen delight in beauty, and his quick apprehension and appreciation of everything that illustrated human nature, or suggested new means of improving its physical, moral, or spiritual condition. The extracts from his discourses discover the same characteristics, and are full of sympathy and help in spiritual need, but are somewhat rhetorical in style.

His son has shown in these memoirs modesty and simplicity, and has done his work well on the whole. But we wish he had told us more of the controversial side of his father's mind. No doubt Mr. Wicksteed's sympathies were too strong to let him enjoy controversy; but it becomes evident, both by the opinion referred to as to the true ground of orthodoxy, and by the pleasure which he took in delivering his careful apology for Unitarianism, that the logical side of his mind was really one of its stronger sides, and that he threw into the attitude of attack and defence some of the most vigorous elements of his nature.