should be secure, and powerful, and respected by foreign nations, she should first possess at home all those safeguards for constitutional sovereigns and free-born subjects which constitutes the life and power of liberal existence. Practical Liberalism, he contends, when applied to her institutions, can alone win for her that unrestricted confidence which is the sine quâ non of durable and effectual alliances. He is obliged to confess that the Opposition in the Chamber of Deputies has alone the power or the right to speak freely on the connection which should exist between the home and foreign policy of France. "The members of the Corps Législatif enjoy a freedom of speech which we are denied," he observes; and he expresses a confident hope that they will not fail to seize the opportunity, in the forthcoming debate on the budget, of treating foreign questions with the breadth and depth which they deserve. And he adds, with a firm conviction in the force of the saying of Plautus, rem acu tetigisti, "We do not think we are mistaken in directing attention to the fact, that the system of alliances is the point on which the foreign question may be discussed with advantage. To undertake a discussion on the merits of various solutions of the Danish dispute can only lead to barren and wearisome confusion. Let the Conference clear up that chaos, if it can.”

A rumour was afloat, some time ago, that the Conference would meet without a basis to guide it through the mazes of diplomacy. M. Forçade thinks there is no apprehension now on that score, but rather a danger of having too many-a surfeit of proposals to begin upon. Every plenipotentiary will probably come fully armed with a separate proposal of his own. England, with that inherent love of justice which is her chief characteristic, naturally supports the principle of independence, and the complete integrity of the Danish monarchy. Earl Russell, England's Foreign Secretary, vainly imagines (the wish being father of the thought) that similar principles of justice will actuate the two great German powers, Austria and Prussia. Denmark will necessarily side with England, and will demand that the stipulations of 1851 should be added to those set forth in the treaty of 1852. The smaller German powers will be satisfied with nothing less than the union of Schleswig and Holstein, and will uphold the claims of the pretender, the Duke of Augustenburg. Austria, who employed Prince Felix of Schwartzenberg to draw up the arrangements included in the treaty of 1851, will find it difficult to give a clear and reasonable interpretation of that ambiguous compromise. France, if she attempts to introduce the principle of universal suffrage, so congenial to the mind of the emperor, and so unpalatable to Europe, will only make confusion worse confounded. Prussia will act very differently— tout au contraire. Whatever estimate the world may give to the character and policy of the Prussian premier, M. Forçade considers that it would be unfair not to admit that he is in reality master of the situation far more so in this crisis than my Lord Palmerston, whose admirers have usually attributed to him such a rôle. He is assuredly free from the "captious distrust and the flimsy scruples" which by turns seem to trouble the minds of both Lord Russell and M. Drouyn de Lhuys. He has not bewildered himself, as some more distinguished statesmen have done, with "European questions" of

the past, and he appears perfectly willing to bear with equanimity the responsibility of a refusal. Of all the ministers who are mixed up in this diplomatic contest, he alone seems to possess something like impulse; he has succeeded in forcing Austria into action, while at the same time he has retained the grateful alliance of Russia-a feat of statesmanship in the present day, of which so great a defender of the ancien régime may well be proud. Whether he belongs to the school of Alberoni or Machiavelli, or whether he has a spark of the "diabolical genius" of Frederick, termed by his admirers "the Great," time alone will show; but it would be foolish in the extreme to overlook the fact, that at this present moment he is a personage of considerable importance, and that he will be the real adversary against whom France will have to contend in the approaching Conference; and if the proposal put forth in behalf of the old trick of universal suffrage be not one of those "Platonic moves," which involve no greater responsibility than arises from a plain negative, we must confess to having strong misgivings as to the part which will devolve upon France at the London Conference.

Such is the view which M. Forçade takes of the chief performers in general, and of France in particular, at the diplomatic meeting which has now commenced its proceedings. The peace of Europe may possibly depend upon what M. Forçade, with a tinge of sarcasm, terms a mere Platonic device." For if the proposal be seriously made on the part of France, and if England be induced, in a moment of weakness, to give her consent, the Conference is likely to be attended with all the disastrous consequences which Lord Russell apprehended, as he told the world not long ago, with more bluntness than tact, from the original Congress, which emanated from the mind of Louis Napoleon, and which appears to be now as completely forgotten as if it had never been proposed. For our own part, we can only express our earnest hope that He, in whose hands are the issues of life and death, may so dispose the hearts of those responsible ministers who are now sitting in the Conference, that "peace and happiness, truth and justice," may take the place of one of the most unjustifiable and unnecessary wars recorded in the history of mankind.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

AN EVANGELICAL LAYMAN &c. has not given his name. When facts are asserted or called in question, of course we cannot pay attention to anonymous Correspondents.

It is impossible to doubt the great practical importance of this question. It has frequently been asked, with more or less of sadness and dissatisfaction, especially by those who are ministers themselves. Our present purpose will not be to discuss how far the ministry of God's appointed servants is successful in the attainment of its professed objects; but admitting, as we think all persons must do, that it is less effectual than might be expected or desired, we propose to examine the causes of failure, and especially such as may be found within ourselves. The remarks which follow have been suggested by a careful discussion of the subject among several clerical brethren, of whom the writer was one.

Two preliminary questions lie at the threshold of the proposed inquiry, and must therefore be noticed first. The first is this: Admitting a certain amount of failure in our ministry, is the reason to be sought for entirely in the sovereignty of God? Is our ministry unsuccessful because God so wills it? He could make it otherwise, if He thought good; and are we therefore to relieve ourselves of all responsibility, or strive to reconcile that responsibility with God's decrees? The true answer to these questions is, that we ought to combine both truths, without vainly endeavouring to reconcile them. remember the sovereignty of God, produces comfort to remember the responsibility of man, supplies a stimulus; but we must not so apply the consideration of God's absolute will and power, as to close the subject there, and shut out all view of the effect of man's exertions.

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The second preliminary point is this: How far is success a test of faithfulness? Certainly not altogether; for was not the ministry of our Lord and His Apostles in some respects a failure? How often were the prophet's words fulfilled, “All

day long I have stretched out my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." There were places visited by the Apostles, in which they could only shake off the dust of their feet, and pass on to another city. Ministers ought not, therefore, to be discouraged when they find their labours unsuccessful. Often, too, there is apparent failure, at the very time when great good is working secretly, of which they are not aware. Adam, the author of the "Private Thoughts," said upon his deathbed that he was hardly aware of one conversion during his ministry; but when his successor came to fill the same post, a glorious harvest of souls was gathered from the very seed which Adam had sown. The pastor must always make allowance for a great deal of quiet good work going on unseen in the hearts of his people, through the influence of the Church's services. Perhaps his expectations are pitched too high; for a very large number of converted persons is not to be looked for. The Scriptures generally speak of "a remnant" that are brought to God. At any rate, the pastor must be contented to work in faith, and leave results to God. Further, he must not underrate what has actually been done. It was stated at the Liverpool Conference on Missions, and the statement has been repeated by high authorities upon subsequent occasions, that "in the past sixty years a larger degree of success has followed missionary efforts than in the age immediately succeeding the Apostles." This remark can hardly be accepted without reserve, especially in view of the argument for the truth of Christianity derived from its rapid propagation in the 2nd century; but it may serve to suggest to us the necessity of not shutting our eyes to the manifest tokens of good which are discoverable in the present age.

These preliminary considerations having been disposed of, we may approach the subject of the present paper, and consider the causes of comparative failure in the ministry of the Word-first, as they arise from the external hindrances which beset their work, and over which the ministers have no control; and secondly, as they proceed from inward difficulties, deficiencies within themselves. To discover this latter class of difficulties by personal heart-searching inquiry; to acknowledge their existence and power of obstructing ministerial usefulness; above all, to seek and to apply a remedy, may be rendered, by God's blessing, a valuable task; and it is the special object of the following remarks to throw out a few suggestive hints to the pastor upon this personal and individual scrutiny of self.

1. Among the external hindrances which beset the ministerial work, we may enumerate—

The peculiar character of the population in the centres of manufacturing industry and crowded districts of England. The number of the people is overpowering; they are continually migrating from place to place; the poor are exhausted by

fatiguing labour, and unfitted to use the pastor's office profitably; the rich, and especially the gentlemen, are absorbed in business, and from constant engagements, as well as from their disposition, peculiarly inaccessible to that personal dealing with their souls which is so valuable. Even the oldest and most experienced ministers declare how almost impossible it is to reach the gentlemen of their congregation in this personal spiritual intercourse. Some clergymen are able to effect much with ladies, and with working men; but generally the class with whom they can sit down and talk is made up of poor women and their children. The men are at work, or, if at home, asleep; they see them, perhaps, in their places in church, but seldom get much private conversation with them. Often they wish, but are unable, to say to the men under their charge, whether working men or gentlemen, "Are you prepared for eternity—in a state of acceptance and peace? If not, why not? Let us take your difficulty on our knees before God, and seek a solution of it."

The public-houses in populous parishes are in number excessive, and frequently so conducted as to present many temptations to vice. Much good that the clergy try to do is too successfully counteracted there.

The secular engagements of the minister are no small hindrance to his spiritual work. It is doubtful how far these can be entirely avoided; certainly the circumstances of our times, or the apathy of those to whom these tasks might more properly be entrusted, cause secular work to press unduly on the minister, taxing his physical and mental powers severely, occupying his time and thoughts, and unfitting his mind for the spiritual duties committed to him. Many a faithful man struggles hard, but vainly, to deliver himself from this bondage. Without attempting to exonerate the Church of England from her full share of blame in creating Dissent, it must still be allowed that the evils of Nonconformity are painfully apparent in the parishes of England, not only in respect of division, strife, emulation, unholy competition, and the display of party spirit; but also in regard to other feelings which it fosters, such as love of change, desire of novelty, love of pre-eminence, unwillingness to receive instruction, and a prevalent idea that knowledge is not needed, but only the experience of a change of heart, in a Christian teacher, for which reason the ministry of the ignorant is frequently preferred.

In connexion with this, we may notice the great difficulty in the way of the exercise of ministerial influence which arises from the premature emancipation of young persons from parental authority. At fourteen years of age they may frequently earn their own wages, and begin to disregard the wishes of their parents. At their work, they hear bad language and