“Without going so far as the late Sir Robert Peel, and saying that there are three ways of viewing this as well as every other subject, it will be allowed that the clerical body may be contemplated either from within one of their special folds, and under the influence of peculiar religious views, or in a purely lay historical manner, and, so we suppose we ought to say, from the ‘platform of humanity’ at large. The latter is the idea developed in Mr. Ritchie’s volume, and cleverly and amusingly it is done. One great merit is, that his characters are not unnecessarily spun out. We have a few rapid dashes of the pencil, and then the mind is relieved by a change of scene and person . . . He displays considerable discrimination of judgment, and a good deal of humour.”—_The Inquirer_. “There is considerable verisimilitude in these sketches, though they are much too brief to be regarded as more than mere outlines. It is possible however to throw character even into an outline, and this is done with good effect in several of these smart and off-hand compositions.”—_Tait_. “It is lively, freshly written, at times powerful, and its facts carefully put together. It bears the stamp of an earnest spirit, eager in its search after truth, and strongly set against affectation and pretence of every sort.”—_Globe_. “Some of the sketches are very good.”—_Literary Gazette_. “They are penned in a just spirit, and are of a character to afford all the information that may be needed on the subjects to which they refer. The author’s criticisms on preachers and preaching are candid, and for the most part truthful. This book ought therefore to be popular.”—_Observer_. “They are written with vigour and freedom, and are marked by a spirit of fairness and justice—an admirable trait, if we recollect how much the spirit of partisanship governs such strictures as a rule.”—_Weekly Dispatch_. “A sketch of the comparative force of the religious denominations in London, and notes upon the chief popular preachers, orthodox or dissentient, republished from a newspaper—we think the Weekly News and Chronicle. The book, which is written in a sufficiently impartial spirit, will interest many people and offend few.”—_Examiner_. “In this volume we have within a moderate space pen-and-ink sketches of most of the popular preachers of the metropolis. We are bound to say that they are drawn with fidelity, and that the admirers of each Sabbath orator whose mental lineaments are placed before us will easily recognise the prominent features of the original. Although brief, they evince discrimination and talent; a fluent style being one of their chief recommendations, not much space is devoted to each. The writer only reviews the most striking characteristics, and his sympathies are manifestly with those who display most liberal and manly tendencies in their religious expositions.”—_Sunday Times_.