and tea parties, and
collections all over the north Lancashire portion of Congregational
Christendom. It is to be hoped that the sermons are not too dry,
that the tea saturnalias are neither too hot nor too wet, and that
the collections have more sixpenny than threepenny pieces in them.

The interior of Cannon-street Chapel has a spacious and somewhat
genteel appearance. A practical business air pervades it. There is
no "storied window," scarcely any "dim religious light," and not a
morsel of extra colouring in the whole establishment. At this place,
the worshippers have an idea that they are going to get to heaven in
a plain way, and if they succeed, all the better--we were going to
say that they would be so much the more into pocket by it. Freedom
of thought, sincerity of heart, and going as straight to the point
as possible, is what they aim at. There are many seats in Cannon-
street Chapel, and, as it is said that hardly any of them are to
let, the reverend gentleman who makes a stipulated descent upon the
pew rents ought to be happy. It is but seldom the pews are well
filled: they are not even crammed on collection Sundays; but they
are paid for, and if a congenial wrinkle does not lurk in that fact-
-for the minister--he will find neither the balm of Gilead nor a
doctor anywhere. The clerical notion is, that pew rents, as well as
texts; must be stuck to; and if those who pay and listen quietly
acquiesce, then it becomes a simple question of "so mote it be" for
outsiders.

The congregation at Cannon-street Chapel is made up of tolerably
respectable materials. It is no common Dissenting rendezvous for
ill-clad screamers and roaring enthusiasts. Neither fanatics nor
ejaculators find an abiding place in it. Not many poor people join
the charmed circle. A middle-class, shopkeeping halo largely
environs the assemblage. There is a good deal of pride, vanity,
scent, and silk-rustling astir in it every Sunday, just as there is
in every sacred throng; and the oriental, theory of caste is not
altogether ignored. The ordinary elements of every Christian
congregation are necessarily visible here--backsliders and newly-
caught communicants; ancient women duly converted and moderately
fond of tea, snuff, and charity; people who cough continually, and
will do so in their graves if not closely watched; parties, with the
Fates against them, who fly off periodically into fainting fits;
contented individuals, whose gastric juice