Europe; and surely the crisis of England had come! but let us quote from "The Hand of God." "For this purpose he" Philip, "fitted out the most formidable naval armament ever launched on the ocean, and surely the crisis of Protestantism had come! Should England-should the rising colonies of the new world,should all Europe and Asia smile under the benign auspices of the cross, or groan beneath the usurpations of Rome? The vast empire of Philip was roused to strike a fatal blow. The noise of preparation sounded in every part of his dominions. "In all the ports of Sicily, Naples, and Portugal, artizans were employed in building vessels of uncommon size and force," naval war stores collected, provisions amassed, armies levied, and plans laid for such a fleet as had never before been seen in Europe. Ministers, Generals, Admirals, men of every craft and name were employed in forwarding the grand design. Three years elapsed in the stupendous preparations. Who could doubt that such preparations, conducted by officers of such consummate skill, would finally be successful? Confident of success, and ostentatious of their power, they had denominated this armament "the invincible armada."

The time for the invasion drew near, troops from quarters were assembling, from Italy, Spain, Flanders, Austria, the Netherlands, and the shores of the Baltic. Enthusiasm pervaded every nook and corner of the Empire. Princes, dukes, nobles, men of all ranks and conditions embarked their fortunes, lives, and honours in an enterprize so promising of wealth and glory, and so calculated to engage their religious enthusiasm. And further to cherish the general infatuation, the pope had fulminated a fresh bull of excommunication against Elizabeth, which declared her deposed, absolved her subjects from their oath of allegiance, and granted a plenary indulgence to all who should engage in the invasion. It seemed vain to doubt that in a few short weeks English power would be prostrate and English protestantism no more.

This formidable armament had been consigned to the command of Santa Croce, a sea officer of great reputation and experience. Such an armament, under such a commander, seemed well fitted to accomplish the triumph of papal Rome and the annihilation of the reformed religion from the face of the earth. But mark its progress. The moment the

"invincible armada' is ready for sea, the admiral is seized with fever and dies; and by a singular concurrence the viceadmiral meets the same fate. The fleet is delay. England gains time. An inexperienced admiral is appointed. The fleet sails (1588), the next day meets a violent tempest which scatters the ships --some are sunk, and others compelled to put back into port. Again they are at sea, and are descried approaching the shores of England, with fresh hope, in the prosecution of their enterprise. The English admiral sees the armada "coming full sail towards him, disposed in the form of a crescent, and stretching the distance of seven miles from the extremity of one division to that of the other."

Never had so mighty a fleet rode the ocean before, and never perhaps was the confidence of man so positive of success. Protestantism was, in anticipation, annihilated. These vessels brought the instruments of torture by which the stern heretics of England were to pay the price of their defection from Rome. The writer has seen in Queen Elizabeth's armoury in the tower of London, the thumb screws, fetters, battle axes, boarding pikes, and the invincible banner, which were taken as spoils from the armada.

But behold the Hand of God here. Just as the lion, sure of his prey, was about to pounce on the lamb, heaven interposes. The Lord of armies fought for his own cause. The firmness and courage of the English were even less remarkable than the temerity and confusion of the enemy. The elements fought for the righteous cause. The fire, the wind, and tempest, were so many angels of deat to the boasted invincibility of the Spaniards. The destruction of this vast and formidable amament was effected almost without human agency. Deus flavit et dissipantur. God blew and they were scattered! The visionary schemes of Philip vanished like the summer's cloud. Never was a project more deeply planned. Never preparations more ample, or hopes of success raised higher. Very slight obstacles were anticipated to the landing of the entire invading army on the coasts of England; and it was confidently expected that a single battle would decide the fate of England and of Protestantism for ever. Yet Heaven did not permit a single Spaniard to put foot on English soil. The invaded sustained but little damage or loss in any way, while in a very little

time the ocean was strewed with the mangled corpses of their proud invaders and with the wrecks of their noblest vessels."

"We have here another proof of those pivots on which the destiny of evangelical religion has so often turned. In all human probability, from this time forward, English greatness, and English influence and power in her vast empire over the world, was to have been engaged in upholding Rome and the Inquisitionher coal and iron, and her skill were to have forged chains to fetter the human mind over one half of the globe, and her vast enterprise was to be employed in the traffic of the souls of men. But Heaven had not so decreed. The eternal King had not yet yielded his right of empire on earth. A thrill of joy and thanksgiving now pervaded every resting place of Protestantism throughout the world. God had gotten the victory. They "sing unto the Lord a new song; for the Lord hath done marvellous things for them; His right hand, and His holy arm hath gotten him the victory." The well-concerted schemes of man were confounded; his presumptuous expectations disappointed, and the impenetrable decrees of Divine Providence in the progress of his church, established.

IRISH CONSPIRACY.

A Romish Coalition of the Irish and French against England in 1796, was a very similar instance of a remarkable interposition of Providence in behalf of the reformed religion. A vast conspiracy had been formed in Ireland against the British government, 200,000 men were in readiness for the revolt. Overtures were made to the French republic for their assistance, and assurances given on the part of the Irish that 500,000 fighting men could be brought into the field on the arrival of the French. Hoche, the French general at the head of 100,000 troops, burned with the desire to gratify his ambition in humbling the ancient foe of France. With 25,000 of his troops he embarked for Ireland, flushed with the idea of a splendid victory. But not a Frenchman was permitted to set foot in Ireland. "A violent tempest arose immediately after the departure of the fleet; one ship of the line struck on a rock and perished several were damaged, and the fleet totally dispersed. Tempestuous whether continued the whole time the

fleet was at sea." What escaped the violence of the elements and the attacks of the English, returned, broken and dispirited, to France; and the God of Hosts again made the winds and the waters His army by which to protect his cause from a Romish conspiracy, and to save from dismemberment a great Protestant nation, which, as designed by providence, has been used more effectually than any other nation to bring to all the tribes and kindreds of the earth, a knowledge of the gospel."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

When

Rev. Sir,-Some years ago, I happened to meet with the "Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon." I need hardly say that I was delighted with the work, and have ever since, in consequence, felt a warm attachment to the Connexion, although I have never heard but four of your ministers, one in Warrington and three in Manchester, namely, J. K. Foster, the late J. J. Coles, and the late B. Parsons, (and would I had had the privilege of hearing him oftener,) he "was,' as you justly observe in the Preface to the last vol. "no common man.' the "New Magazine" commenced I was glad to subscribe to it, seeing especially that B. Parsons was editor. I admired him much for his Peace Principles, &c., and while the magazine was under his care, I took two copies of it, one to keep and one to give away. I still, however, subscribe, and intend doing so. I like it too well to give it up, although I regret to say that it panders to the worst of all idols, the god of war. I was much pained to meet with the following heathenish and unchrist-like sentence, on pages 9 and 10 of the January number: "Our whole regiment, officers and men, are delighted at the prospect of soon measuring their strength with the Russians." When will christian men like the late Capt. Vicars learn the new commandment, given by the Prince of Peace, to love one another, and that in the case of the late Captain Vicars, that they that take the sword, shall perish by the sword, &c.? But Í must beg you to excuse the liberty of an uneducated and poor working man in thus addressing you, but I do it con

REVISED PRAYER BOOK.

Dear Sir, I am happy to find that the committee appointed year after year at the annual conference have at last produced this Revised Book of Prayer. I cannot but think that those who have seen it will approve of it. The type is good and the price extremely moderate. Although not a minister, yet in my humble opinion, this is the best of the kind which has appeared. The book of Common Prayer, it is well known, was published some two or three centuries ago, just when the reformation was dawning upon this kingdom, and protestantism was breathing for scriptural light.

It was a dark time when those six young men were excluded, for their piety, from the University of Oxford, but then God raised up that excellent "Mother in Israel," the late Countess of Huntingdon, who took compassion on these outcasts, founded a college for their reception -built places of worship for them-and sent them forth with many others to preach the everlasting gospel.

But a dark cloud is still hovering over us. Many of the ministers of our established church are still boasting that the doctrine of baptismal regeneration and the efficacy of the sacraments are recognized in the book of Common Prayer, all of which are wisely excluded from this new book, which, I hope, will circulate throughout the protestant world. Yours respectfully,

March 25th, 1856.

Review of Books.

T. W.

of the service, to have stated that they had not heard for a long time a discourse they so much approved. We have thus an opportunity of judging the character of the sermon which the Queen has commended. It is, taken as a whole, an admirable discourse. We have read many far more brilliant and oratoricalfar more profound and logical; but we have seldom perused a more thoroughly practical and useful sermon than that preached by Mr. Caird. He points out the great difficulty in bringing religion to bear upon common life, and notices the method pursued by the ancients of fleeing from the world-its engagements and its charms, that they might, in some cloistered retreat, foster religion in the soul; while the plan pursued by the men of these times is to confine religion to the Sabbath, and the entire six days to the practical affairs of life. Taking Rom. xii. 11, "Not slothful in business: fervent in spirit, serving the Lord," as his text, the preacher shows that religion, as set forth in Scripture, "is not so much a duty as a something that has to do with all duties, and that piety is not for Sundays only, but for all days; that spirituality of mind is not appropriate to one set of actions and an impertinence and intrusion with reference to others, but, like the act of breathing, like the circulation of the blood, like the silent growth of the stature, a process that may be going on simultaneously with all our actions, when we are busiest as when we are idlest; in the church, in the world; in solitude, in society; in our grief, and in our sadness, in our toil, and in our rest; sleeping, waking, by day, by night; amidst all the engagements and exigencies of life."

In proving the compatibility of religion with the business of common life, he shows the impossibility of life being carried on if it be necessary to give up daily avocations; for the importance of religion demands the surrender, if it be not compatible; and that thus we have presumptive evidence that the two, religion and active life, can and ought to be blended in the career of all. He proposes to consider religion under two aspects, as a science and as an art. As a science, it is adapted to the capacity of all; and as an art, it is "the art of being and doing good." It appears to us that this part is the weakest point in the sermon, and that he has failed to show that peculiarity in the religion of Christ which at once

lifts it beyond all science and all art. There is also a slight confusion in the use of the terms "science and art," strictly speaking religion is not a science, though it may and does involve the science of theology; and it is only by using the term "art" in a very wide and lax manner that religion can be classed as an art. We can understand what he intends, and his observations, as far as they go, are just and appropriate.

His remarks on the next topic, "that religion consists not so much in doing spiritual or sacred acts, as in doing secular acts from a sacred or spiritual motive," are very forcible. Many go through the routine of religious exercises with worldly motives; and public worship is by them degraded into most unholy work; but a christ-like spirit christianizes every thing it touches. "Marble or coarse clay, it matters not much with which of these the artist works, the touch of genius transforms the coarser material into beauty, and lends to the finer a value it never had before, lofty or lowly, rude or refined, as our earthly work may be, it will become to a holy mind only the material for an infinitely nobler than all the creations of genius-a pure and god-like life. To spiritualise what is material, to christianise what is secular-this is the noble achievement of christian principle." He illustrates the possibility of blending religion with the business of common life by directing attention to the power of the mind in acting on latent principles. We cannot amid every engagement have a distinct recognition of religious thought, yet we may ever be insensibly under its control. We have no conscious recognition of many of nature's laws, yet we act entirely in dependence upon them; and we may have many thoughts and feelings which insensibly blend with other thoughts, and compose the experience of life. The speaker or preacher, while engrossed with his subject, has the latent thought of his audience; and the christian his latent thoughts of God and heaven mingling with all his activities, springing up to eternal life. In concluding, Mr. Caird enters into a topic which, it appears to us, should have been considered first, that to blend the religious with the practical, we must be religious; and he closes with an earnest faithful appeal to his hearers. We had marked several passages for quotation, but must forbear. We cannot, however, resist the tempta

tion to place the following before our readers, in the hope that it may induce them to read the whole of this excellent sermon. Speaking of constant prayer, he says, "Whenever anything vexes youwhenever, from the rude and selfish ways of men, any trials of temper cross your path-when your spirits are ruffled, or your christian forbearance put to the test, be this your instant resource. Haste away, if only for a moment, to the serene and peace-breathing presence of Jesus, and you will not fail to return with a spirit soothed and calmed. Or when the impure and low minded surround you, when, in the path of duty, the high tone of your christian purity is apt to suffer from baser contacts, oh, what relief to lift the heart to Christ! to rise on the wings of faith, even for one instant to breathe the air of that region where the Infinite Purity dwells, and then return with a mind steeled against temptation, ready to recoil, with the instinctive abhorrence of a spirit that has been beside the throne, from all that is impure and vile. Say not, then, with such aid at your command, that religion cannot be brought down to common life."

General Sutelligence.

SCENES IN PARIS.

France has been the scene of such un bounded rejoicings as have not been witnessed for many years-an heir has been given to the French empire; and all classes have rejoiced at an event which is likely to secure the Napoleon dynasty on the imperial throne. Never were the illuminations more brilliant, or more general;-deputations of all ranks and classes have waited on the emperor, and been most graciously received; pardons have been widely distributed among political offenders;-and the gratitude of the happy royal parents has led them to offer to stand sponsors for all the legitimate children born in Paris on the same day as the infant of France. The event must be hailed by all lovers of Peace and national prosperity. The talents of Napoleon may preserve France from anarchy and distress; the birth of an heir may defeat the plots of the royalists and republicans against the life of the emperor; and the union with England, which has commenced in war, will be

Still more strongly cemented in peace, | and produce the most happy results. The christian will delight to trace the hand of providence in this auspicious

event.

The Conferences appear to be satisfactorily progressing, as far as can be ascertained, and among persons highly informed there is no doubt but that peace will speedily be proclaimed. Perhaps before these lines reach the public eye the treaty may be signed, and the earnest hopes of millions be confirmed. Nothing would be more gratifying to the emperor than to associate his son and heir with the peace of Paris 1856.

REFORMS IN TURKEY.

It is an erroneous opinion to suppose that war is an unmitigated evil. It is a dreadful calamity, which should be avoided if at all possible; but when it is inevitable, it is consolatory to be able to trace much good indirectly arising out of war. Turkey will have reason to thank God for ages to come for the present war. It has broken down some of the barriers which confined Mohammedanism, and has excited a hope that even the crescent will ultimately fall before the cross. The reforms of the father of the present Sultan destroyed the prestige of the authority of the false Prophet, though they were confined to mere temporal affairs. The Sultan has listened to the earnest solicitations of the Allies, and accepted their recommendation to ameliorate the condition of the christian subjects under his sway. A firman was lately issued containing the plan of a most extensive system of reform, which gives to christians equality of sank, eligibility to posts of influence and dignity, and many other privileges. When the treaty of peace is signed, the condition of the Turkish provinces will be considered; and we may hope that such measures will be adopted as will secure the regeneration of the Ottoman dominions, by developing the resources of the country-promoting commerce and agriculture- gradually breaking up the old and worn-out system of Islamism, and introduciug the vigorous principles of the christian religion.

EDUCATION IN ENGLAND.

No question is more important than that respecting the education of the people of our country. Experiments have

been tried, bills have been framed, measures have been discussed; but still it is undecided how best to secure the education of the people. Two measures are now before the legislature. One lies on the table of the House of Lords, awaiting its second reading; the object of which is to empower Town Councils, or a selected Committee in rural districts, to establish schools, and defray the expenses by a rate. Lord John Russell has again introduced an education bill, which differs somewhat from those he has already brought before the attention of the House of Commons. He proposes to divide England and Wales into eighty divisions, which are to be visited by a host of inspectors; that, if they report to the Privy Council the deficiency of any district, the rate-payers are to raise a tax for educational purposes, or if they refuse, the magistrates are to enforce a tax; that in such schools the scriptures shall be read, and religious instruction be given, unless the parents object; and that employers of children under fifteen years of age are required to give a halfyearly certificate that the young persons have attended school, and to pay for their schooling. Such a measure is liable to many objections, which, no doubt, will throw out the bill. The government have recommended the appointment of a Minister of Public Instruction, and most likely have some ulterior movement in view.

It behoves the friends of sound religious education to be on the alert.

Connexion Intelligence.

TRUSTEES' REPORT.

KIDDERMINSTER.-The Rev. J. G. CARPENTER writes:- In reviewing the past year, we have to be thankful to Almighty God for the peace and harmony which have pervaded the church and congregation. Several members have been removed by death; they gave abundant evidence of the power of the Gospel in supporting and consoling their minds in their last moments, they have finished their earthly pilgrimage, and are now enjoying their reward. Other members have been added to the church during the past year, and I am happy to bear my testimony to their piety and usefulness. Our schools