some apprehensions whether he should be able to carry his resolution at all, and plainly saw that it would not be done without a considerable struggle.

He, therefore, dexterously resorted to abuse, and raised the cry of False brethren,' and thus succeeded in raising a furious storm of invective and recrimination which drowned all argument, and in the conflict of angry passions, left no place for calm judgment or generous feelings. But even with the assistance of this artifice, it seemed very doubtful whether he would carry his point. However, poor Overbury's patience was worn out; wearied, hurt, and provoked at the persecution, of which he was made the object, anxious to fling back the office, with the possession of which by Jacobs' favour he was constantly taunted, and desirous no longer to be the cause of strife among the brethren, he stepped forward and voluntarily tendered his resignation. Several of his friends entreated him to withdraw it, but he continued immovable in his decision, and it was ultimately accepted. With what wounded feelings and conflicting reflections he retired from the meeting to his solitary lodging, may be more easily imagined than described.

From this period the history of Overbury's painful career is very brief. He heard that Jacobs, in the election of his successor, supported the cause of Broadbridge ; but, at the very moment when he thought his triumph complete, an unexpected and formidable impediment was interposed. Mr. Greene, with the concurrence of the minority, and as proprietor of the chapel, declared his determination to refuse Broadbridge admission, and by his own appointment to place Mr. Delving, the unsuccessful competitor, in the pulpit. This was a terrible blow to Jacob and his protégé Broadbridge, and enraged them beyond all bounds. On the first Sunday of Mr. Delving's appearance in the chapel, Broadbridge, supported by a large body of Jacobs' voters, endeavoured to take possession of the pulpit, claiming it as his right by the suffrages of the congregation. This was opposed by Mr. Greene and his friends, and a scene of the greatest tumult took place. Broadbridge, on the one hand, with the voice of a stentor, was haranguing his party, calling on them to testify against this invasion of the principles of the congregational system, and this attempt to tyrannise over the Lord's heritage.

Greene, on the other hand, protested against this intrusion on his property,' and loudly declared that his chapel should never be lent to the propagation of Socinian doctrines. At length the constables were compelled to settle the discussion by ejecting Broadbridge from the chapel, and informing him that, if he persisted, they would take him before a magistrate.1

Soon after this, the cholera made its appearance in B—— and poor Overbury was one of its earliest victims. His harassed mind and depressed spirits laid him open to its virulence, and unfitted him to contend with its power. He soon sank under it, and lived only long enough to see his friend Stirling, and receive his sorrowful and affectionate farewell. This worthy man, the moment he heard of his danger, flew to his bedside. A gleam of joy amidst his pain and weakness lighted up Overbury's countenance. His last breath was poured out in a feeble but heartfelt prayer, that they might meet again with all the saints in the Kingdom of their Redeemer.

1 In Maitland's Voluntary System is described, with more unhallowed circumstances, a real conflict between congregational managers and their rival claimants to the pulpit in the Tabernacle of Moorfields.

"THE DOMESTIC CHAPLAIN'

'THE Domestic Chaplain,' in two volumes, is, as its title denotes, a collection of short simple sermons for family use. The following sermon (xix.) gives a specimen of these:

GOD AS AN EXAMPLE TO MASTERS OF FAMILIES

We can adduce manifold instances of God Himself representing His own rule and superintendence over the world, by setting Himself before our imagination under the figure of the father of a family. By this figure He is pleased to picture to our feeble understanding His unwearied love, His universal providence, the dependence of all His creatures upon His wisdom and goodness. He places Himself before us in various offices; sometimes regulating, sometimes controlling, sometimes protecting, sometimes rewarding, and sometimes punishing. We have contemplated Him at large under the character of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.' At one time we have Him delineated as a Father dividing his patrimony, and giving His younger son a share; then receiving this foolish and prodigal, but penitent, wanderer back to the comforts of the home he has forsaken. We have also in that prodigal's return, a representation of the happiness which the servants of a good master of a family enjoy. The son, in his misery, remembers the abundance and comfort of which even his father's hired servants partake; he remembers that they have bread enough'; and he returns home to seek in that household the competence of that situation, which he finds, by sad experience, to be far preferable to the imaginary state of independence, by the weak visions of which he has been deluded to wander from his family. On another occasion we see Him committing, in the capacity of a master, talents to each of His servants, according to their respective powers and duties. These were to be usefully employed during His absence; and on His return He is represented as calling them to a strict reckoning for the manner in which they had executed His charge. Again, we have Him hearing the

complaint of the household against the hard-hearted servant, who, though himself just excused a heavy debt, exacted from his fellow servant, the utmost farthing of the hundred pence due to him. And, to cite no more cases, we read the gracious 'Well done, good and faithful servant,' with which He expresses His approbation of good service, and calls the doer of it to his reward. Here we see God representing His own providence and agency in the government and care of His people, under the various functions of a master of a family. Hence we may reasonably infer that the character and duties, from which these figurative representations of the great Master of the universal family are drawn, must, in some degree, resemble those things which they are chosen to set forth and shadow to our imaginations. Like in kind they must be, though infinitely less in power and extent. What God does to all mankind bears some resemblance to what a master is expected by God to do with respect to his family. He has not, of course, the powers and means which are at the disposal of the Almighty, nor can he act with the same unerring wisdom and unchangeable truth, according to his power, as does the Almighty. But according to that power, and under such merciful indulgences as God of His goodness, through Christ, may be pleased to make for our corrupt hearts and imperfect nature, we are bound to take heed, and watch, and labour for the temporal and spiritual welfare, for the souls as well as for the bodies, of those committed to our charge as masters of families.

THE PENNY SUNDAY READER

THE scope and character of The Penny Sunday Reader may be indicated by the following extracts from the prefaces to its volumes, which may also form some index to the views and opinions of their author:

This work was first published in January, 1835, to furnish not only the poor, but families and individuals of all classes, with matter adapted both to the prevailing taste for periodical literature, and to the sacred character of the Lord's Day.

The editor hoped that the original, but plain and practical, point of view in which he should exhibit the harmony of the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, would enable all to use them, with a clearer perception and an increased enjoyment of their beauties. Encouraged by an extensive circulation, and by numberless kind assurances that his efforts, by God's blessing, have not been vain, he purposes (if in mercy permitted, and relying on the same gracious Power), to continue The Penny Sunday Reader in 1836, and to endeavour to throw a similar practical light upon the proper lessons for Morning and Evening Prayer.' He has only to beg the continuance of the valuable favours of his correspondents, and the same indulgence from the public, which have hitherto cheered his labours. .

Our first and most pleasing duty is a grateful acknowledgment of the kind reception, and warm support, with which The Penny Sunday Reader has been greeted from its commencement to the present time. Our circulation has risen steadily, and besides many interesting and useful communications which we have inserted, and others which we purpose, please God, to insert in future numbers, we have been cheered and assisted in our progress, with many letters, some in commendation of the design and execution of our little tract, others offering to co-operate in spreading it in various quarters, and some suggesting defects and alterations, but all couched in language expressing the most friendly anxiety for our success. These establish fully the persuasion under which, with no prospect of pecuniary

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