THE LATE REV. JOHN ROSS.

MR. Ross was born at Guildford, Oct. 13, 1808. Early left an orphan, and placed under the care of an uncle, at Reading, he attended the ministry of the Rev. J. Sherman, which was blessed to his conversion when he was in his seventeenth year. After rendering service as a teacher in the Sunday-school, at Mr. Sherman's request, he preached in the villages around Reading, until at length he was persuaded to give himself entirely to the ministry of the Gospel. Attracted by the condition of the heathen world, he resolved to devote himself to this service, and became a student of the London Missionary Society, first under R. Cecil, at Turvey, and afterwards under Dr. Pye - Smith, at Homerton College.

In 1834, several missionaries were ent out to prepare the people for emancipation. Among these Mr. Ross went to Berbice, and laboured there with much acceptance; but while on a voyage to Demerara to preach an anniversary missionary sermon, he fell during a violent storm, and received an injury to the brain, which compelled him to return to England. After many months he was permitted gradually to resume labour, and for two years assisted the Rev. J. Dennant, of Halesworth, Suffolk.

In 1839 he succeeded Dr. W. J. Unwin (now of Homerton) at Beaumont Chapel, Woodbridge. A remarkable blessing attended this connection from the beginning-more than one hundred members being added to the fellowship in twelve months. A new chapel was built and opened in October, 1841. Here he originated the plan of "weekly offering," with which his name has so long been associated. At this time he contributed "The Christian Weekly Offering" to the volume of prize essays,

"Gold and the Gospel." So urgent were the claims then made upon him that he was compelled to resign his pastorate and enter upon what he then regarded as a temporary service-a serIvice which has, however, extended to twenty years, embracing journeys of full 13,000 miles and 240 engagements per annum.

Mr. Ross left Woodbridge for Hackney in 1855, and, becoming a widower in 1874, removed to Bedford.

In September, of last year, he left home for Scotland, to make a seven weeks' visitation of the United Presbyterian Churches. While at Alloa, he was seized with the illness which proved fatal. With great difficulty he was enabled to reach home. At first he seemed to revive, but alarming symp. toms gradually set in, and on Friday morning, November 26, he entered into rest. On Sunday morning, December 5th, his funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Frank Soden, at Lower Clapton Congregational Church, with which he and his family had been associated during their residence in London

THE LATE DAVID THOMAS, ESQ. DAVID THOMAS, Esq., of Royston House, Llandovery, expired on Saturday, February 12th, in the 84th year of his age, and was buried at Pentretygwyn on the following Friday in the presence of a large company of friends, including the senior M.P. for the county of Carmarthen, and the leading men of the neighbourhood. The Revs. Professor Morris and Professor Rowlands, of the Memorial College, Brecon ; Mr. Gibbon, pastor of the deceased; and E. Jones, Crugybar, officiated on the occasion. Mr. Thomas occupied a very conspicuous position among the Congregationalists of South Wales. He was held in high esteem in his own town, where he was three times elected

chief magistrate, and was deacon of the Congregational Church for upwards of half a century. He was also treasurer of the Memorial College, Brecon, for a long period, and at the time of his death was chairman of the committee of that college. He has left behind him an honoured name. He was an pright, honourable, kind, and devoted man, much loved by all who knew him. He will be greatly missed by the church of which he was a member, and the denomination of which he was an adherent.

THE LATE REV. SAMUEL LEWIN.

SAMUEL LEWIN was born in 1809, at Cotgrave, near Nottingham, and was the third son of Mr. George Lewin, farmer, of that place. He attended Friar Lane Independent Chapel, Nottingham, and a sermon of the late Rev. Joseph Gilbert's led to his conversion. In January, 1837, he was received into Rotherham College as a student for the ministry, and in 1841 accepted the call to be the first minister of the Congregational Church at Hartlepool. After eleven years' successful labour there he removed in 1852 to the St. George Street Independent Chapel, Chorley, Lancashire, where he remained till 1856, when he accepted the call to be pastor of Tipping Street Church, Manchester. This post he retained for nearly twelve years, and it was while living in Man

chester that his health first gave way. He was a great sufferer from bronchial affection, and it seemed at last, impossible for him to continue his work. At this juncture, and under the providence of God, he was invited in 1838 to the pas torate of the Congregational Church at Ilfracombe, North Devon. The change of air and scenery al nost completely restored him to health, and he continued to discharge his ministerial duties with diligence for some six years. In 1874, owing to a cold caught in London while attending the May meetings, his old disease reasserted itself in so serious a form as to necessitate his resignation and retirement from active work. He recovered to some extent, and gradually seemed to be regaining some of his old vigour, when he was on Christmas-day last once more laid on a bed of sickness. The indisposition was, however, regarded as only a passing one, and so little was danger apprehended that his son, who had been home for Christmas, left for the North on the Monday morning, and never saw his father again alive. The illness increased very rapidly, and on Wednesday night, the 29th December last, the sufferer was called to his eternal home. Whether Mr. Lewin ever realized the nearness of his death it is impossible to say; but a day or two before the last he said: "I do not know, I cannot tell why I should have to suffer this, but I can say, 'Thy will be done.'"

spirit of Protestantism there, although not the name. Then his exegesis, by which he attempts to eliminate all Calvinistic doctrine from the Scriptures and consequently all Protestantism, is of the shallowest and most defective description. On the principle of ne sutor supra crepidam Mr. Cox would have acted more wisely if he had confined himself to Blackstone and Coke upon Littleton.

The British Quarterly Review.

No. CXXVI. April, 1876. (London:
Hodder and Stoughton.)

The present number of the British Quarterly will yield in interest to but few of its predecessors. It begins with an admirable critique on the first volume of Forster's Life of Jonathan Swift. The volume was published shortly before the lamented death of its author, and we are sorry to learn that it will remain a solitary fragment, being the only portion he was able to complete. Among other articles, all of them good, we have one on the recent Congregational lecture on the Atonement, which in our judgment is most able and opportune. The reviewer has carefully pondered the views put forth in this work, but while he does full justice to the ability and eloquence which it displays, is of opinion that Mr. Dale, "with all his independence and selfreliance as a thinker, has not quite escaped the fog which rises from the sea of German speculations." The points which he discusses are of vast importance towards a right settlement of this great question, and his criticism will doubtless have careful attention.

it meets the objections of modern infidelity. These volumes should find a place in the libraries of young men's institutions, and would be a valuable gift to any who are perplexed with doubts. It is of no use to put into the hands of inquirers after truth text-books which, however valuable in their day, have become obsolete, because they do not meet the altered phase which scepticism has assumed. Neither Lardner nor Paley answer Professor Tyndall, Mr. Darwin, nor Mr. Mill. This series, therefore, has met a real want, and we think will prove to be very useful.

The Two Angels; and other Poems. By ALEXANDER ANDERSON. (London Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.)

His

Talk of learning and culture in the presence of genius! Why, here is a "Surfaceman," as he used to call himself, that is a worker on railways, a "navvy," as he would be named in England, who has written poems that would do honour to the finest scholar that ever left the classic halls of Oxford or Cambridge. Moreover, this Scotch hero of the pick and shovel is a scholar. English is beautifully pure, his Scotch pieces are charming, and he can read French, German, and Italian, his teacher being himself. Apart from these interesting facts, to which thoughtful men will attach much importance, the book sparkles with poetry which could not possibly have been written by anyone except a poet born. Mr. Anderson's poems will speedily have thousands of delighted readers, and should bring substantial reward to the gifted author.

The Wonders of Creation; and Poems. By MATTHEW JOSEPHS. (London : F. E. Longley, 39, Warwick-lane.)

The author of these very respectable pieces is a man of colour, a native of

Jamaica. His soul burns with righteous hatred to slavery. His grandfather was a prince of the Ebal tribes, and was stolen about the year 1780. His poems are full of references to suffering and sorrow, but there is a blessed confidence in God, which once more illustrates the value of the Christian faith. We wish the "Introduction by the Rev. Robert Gordon" had never seen the light. It is a bit of contemptible pedantry. The idea of airing a lot of Greek and Latin quotations in a preface to a book by a poor ex-slave, deserves nothing but

scorn.

The Bible in Rome, with a Record of Protestant Missions. By ELLEN BARKER. (London: Hatchard and Co.)

The frontispiece to this interesting volume exhibits the "dog-cart" with its load of Bibles entering Rome, with Victor Emmanuel's army, September 20th, 1870. We commend this interesting book to those who would learn the glorious results that follow the circulation of the Word of God, especially in the land from which it was excluded so long.

Christian Confidence in the Truth

and Salvation of the Gospel. By JOHN B. FISH. (London: S. W. Partridge and Co.)

The idea of this little book is good, and wrought out with great clearness. Its teaching is evangelical and practical, and will be found eminently suited to persons who have neither time nor opportunity for reading larger works.

Philosophy of the Atonement;

and other Sermons. By WADE ROBINSON. (London: Hodder and Stoughton.)

The author has secured for these instructive discourses a wider range of influence than they could have when delivered to one congregation. A consider

able portion of the book is made up of "Fragments of Discourses," but they are instructive and suggestive.

BRIEFER NOTICES OF BOOKS.

The Judgment of Babylon the Great and the Introduction of the Glorious Millennium. By Amariah, a member of the Free Church of Scotland. (London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.) Amariah, whoever he may be, is intensely earnest, and writes with clearness and considerable force. Although we could not subscribe to all his views, yet there is throughout his little book much wholesome scriptural truth.-Evangelical Principles. A Series of Doctrinal Papers Explanatory of the Positive Principles of Evangelical Churchmanship. Edited by the Rev. Edward Garbett, M.A. With Introduction. (London: W. Hunt and Co.) The papers contained in this volume are a clear and faithful exposition of the views held by Evangelical Churchmen. They are written by some of the ablest men of that section of the Episcopal Church, and may be taken as a fair and honest exhibition of the wide and inconceivable differences separating them from the Ritualistic party.-Foun dation Stones. By the Rev. Hely H. A. Smith, Rector of Tansley, Matlock. (London: W. Hunt and Co.) This is a clear, ably written, evangelical little book. Its seven chapters contain a considerable amount of valuable teaching illustrative of the great doctrines of the Gospel. We cannot, however, accept the typology of the last chapter. It is strained, unnatural, and not in accordance with the general character of Scripture types.-Food for Faith; or, Remarkable Answers to Prayer. (London: The Religious Book Society, 28, Paternoster-row.) If this record of spiritual experience be read with attention to the author's caution about testing subjective impulses by the principles of