The minister of Cannon-street chapel is the Rev. H. J. Martyn, who
has had a good stay with "the brethren," considering that their
fighting weight is pretty heavy, and that some of them were made to
"have their way." Frequently Independents are in hot water
concerning their pastors. In Preston they are very exemplary in this
respect. The Grimshaw street folk have had a storm in a tea pot with
one of their ministers; so have the Lancaster-road Christians; and
so have the Cannon-street believers; and the beauty of it is, they
generally win. Born to have their own way in sacred matters, they
can turn off a parson, if they can't defeat him in argument. And
that is a great thing. They hold the purse strings; and no parson
can live unless he has a "call" to some other "vineyard," if they
are closed against him. On the whole, the present minister of
Cannon-street Chapel has got on pretty evenly with his flock. He has
had odd skirmishes in his spiritual fold; and will have if he stays
in it for ever; but the sheep have a very fair respect for the
shepherd, and can "paint the lily" gracefully. A while since they
gave him leave of absence--paying his salary, of course, whilst
away--and on his return some of them got up a tea party on his
behalf and made him a presentation. There might be party spirit or
there might be absolute generosity in such a move; but the parson
was no loser--he enjoyed the out, and accepted with Christian
fortitude the gift. The Rev. H. J. Martyn is a small gentleman--
considerably below the average of parsons in physical proportion;
but he consoles himself with the thought that he is all right in
quality, if not in quantity. Diminutive men have generally very fair
notions of themselves; small men as a rule are smarter than those of
the bulky and adipose school; and, harmonising with this regulation,
Mr. Martyn is both sharp and kindly disposed towards himself. He is