We are very glad to recognise the moral, religious, and
even political earnestness of Mr. Samuel Fothergill, as shown in his Essays on Popular Subjects (Digby and Long), which include " Gladstone, Ritualism, and Ritual," " The Fallacies of Darwinian Evolution," " The Modern Strafford and his Policies of Consolida- tion," and " Socialism in the North." When, moreover, Mr. Fothergill dwells upon the benign influences of Christianity, he becomes almost eloquent. But he is rather an independent talker than an independent thinker; his essays seem not unfitted for the platform of a Young Men's Christian Association or of a democratic club ; but they need not have been published. When Mr. Fothergill writes of Lord Salisbury as the modern Strafford, and says that " the present Government have only to persist in their oppressive and dastardly conduct a little longer, to awaken such a feeling in this country as will cause an indignant people to rise in their might, hurl the arrogant oppressors from power, and insist on speedy justice being done to this long-suffering victim of English mis-rule," he simply shows his complete ignorance of English politics.
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