Successful Preachers. By the Rev. George J. Davies. (Bell and
Sons.)—The preachers described and discussed in this volume are all deceased, with the exception of some briefly noticed in the last chapter, —" American Preachers of the Protestant Episcopal Church." There are twenty-two in all, and, though some of the names have become somewhat dim to this generation, not one who may not fairly claim the description of the title. Bishop Wilberforce, Canon Melvill, Charles Bradley, Robertson, Kingsley, Stanley, Pasey, Guthrie, and Chalmers are, perhaps, the greatest of the list ; and Mr. Davies describes and criticises their oratory with much liveliness and acuteness. His sympathies are large, leaning, as far as his personal views are concerned, we should suppose, to the Broad Church. Altogether the book is certainly a good one, though:we note one carious omission. F. D. Maurice had the success not of filling large charches with overflowing congregations, but of profoundly affecting the religious thought of his time, and he did it all by preaching. All his books, except his "Manual of Philosophy," were sermons.
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