19 MARCH 1887, Page 24

Edwin Paxton Hood. By George H. Giddies. (J. Clarke and

Co.) —It is to be regretted that Mr. Giddies could not have contrived to make the biographer leas prominent than he is in this biography. We do not want, for instance, to know what he thinks of the best qualifications for ministerial work, and accordingly regard his specula- tions on pp. 48-51 as impertinent (not to use the term offensively) ; but we do want to hear about Mr. Hood. Mr. Giddies does not lack the power of picturing the man as he was, and we are obliged to him for what he gives us. Nevertheless, there is a somewhat irritating aggressiveness about him which does not conduce to a proper frame of mind in the reader.