On the other hand here is an English minister who is looked upon with an aversion and dread which it is not easy for Englishmen to conceive of, by all the corps diplomatiqe of the principal European courts. They will tell you that his espionage is equal to that of Fouché; that his ubiquity is greater than that of Talleyrand; that his iron will is stronger than that of the first Napoleon; and that his morality is no better than that of Barérre! But the poor oppressed peoplesthe Hungarians for example-have long been taught to regard him

of the postulates of Euclid; to hint a doubt at it would only bring on one the contemptuous reproach of knowing nothing about politics. What everybody says must be repeated by everybody. Nevertheless, we cannot assert that we have ever heard any perfectly satisfactory reason assigned for such a conclusion. It cannot be the supreme importance of public principle; for the man who has been a member of almost every Government for more than half a century-who has been the colleague of Lord Liverpool, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Grey, and Lord John Russell, must unquestionably possess great pliancy of temper and opinion; and if he is not a monument of constancy, he must at least be a distinguished illustration of progress. His name and career are associated with no single doctrine; and his epitaph will be unable to commemorate a single great service rendered to the commonwealth. Neither is it the fascination or the might of his oratory which has made Lord Palmerston so great-for he has never ranked among the first class of speakers, and has always been surrounded by men indisputably his superiors in eloquence. Nor is it a pre-eminent success on any one occasion. He was a long time master of the Foreign Office, and for no brief space Prime Minister; he has tried his hand at many things in these offices, and has made his name felt in every corner of Europe; yet it would puzzle his most ardent admirer to specify what deed he has done which shall entitle him to fame rather than notoriety; or even what line of policy he has prescribed to himself, and has handed down as a tradition to succeeding Ministers. Every one is acquainted with the constitutional theories of Lord John Russell. He brought them out in books, has been faithful to them in Parliament, and is reproducing them (with what amount of discretion we do not say) in despatches for the instruction of Europe; but what doctrine, what policy, what view of the foreign relations of England has Lord Palmerston taught her to adopt? We know of none.

"But yet, it must be acknowledged, that no man could have been so powerful in free England, and for so long a period, without great qualities. It would be a stigma on our character and our institutions if it were otherwise. The highest dexterity and tact; peculiar cleverness and appositeness of speech, if not actual eloquence; unruffled temper, and yet firmness of will and purpose in carrying his point, when necessary; extreme quickness in perceiving and falling in with the changeable moods of the House of Commons; great courage and resolution, coupled with an exquisite art of yielding gracefully to necessity; wonderful familiarity with the instincts and character of his countrymen, and imperturbable good humour, are merits which are freely allowed him. Lord Palmerston is emphatically a gentleman among gentlemen in the House of Commons, and an Englishman among Englishmen; and it is hardly necessary to say more to explain his influence. No man probably ever understood the House of Commons so well. These qualities are immensely enhanced now by his wonderful vigour in old age. His pluck is as fresh and as unquailing as in his most youthful days; and there is no virtue so thoroughly felt and admired in England as pluck. Experience has so

the solitary star of political liberty which they see afar off. Those who have travelled in the lower provinces of Russia, in Poland or in Lithuania, will know better than we can tell them, the profound admiration which the educated portion of the people there entertain for Lord Palmerston. But we could not have believed it unless we had been eye-witness to the fact, the extraordinary sensation which was created in all the cafés of Paris when the news arrived on the last change of government, that Derby had fallen and that Palmerston completely taught him the art of dealing with the peculiarities of the House of Commons, that no one has ever rivalled him in the power of evading a question by a jest, turning a debate by a humorous sally, silencing an inconvenient opponent by a facetious phrase, and diverting the House from the right scent by refined pleasantry and affected candour. He instantly and instinctively seizes upon the point which will amuse or interest the House, and draw it off from a dangerous topic; and when the danger is past, and the House has recovered from the fascination, it feels surprised, and even ready to laugh at itself for having been so pleasantly, but so completely, cajoled. Punishment is impossible; for what can earnestness avail against a brave and good humoured old man, who has charmed the House whilst misleading it? His grace and tact in society have also done much for Lord Palmerston; and equally so the actual position of the leaders of the various sections of the Liberal party and the Conservative chiefs. Yet all these forces combined would not keep Lord Palmerston in office one day longer, but for the persuasion of a large number of Conservatives that it is for the interest of the country and of the Conservative cause that Lord Palmerston should retain power. It is this feeling which disarms opposition, or gives him victories over his adherents; and we are bound to suppose that this belief of so many men, otherwise interested to dislodge him, is well-founded.

"Then it is said, 'No one can preserve the peace of Europe and keep England out of war but Lord Palmerston.' Strange vicissitude of reputation!—that the man who for many years long was accounted the Archpriest of Bellona, whom no foreign Court could endure, who was incriminated by Mr Gladstone in 1850 as stirring up strife in every corner of Europe, should now be vaunted as the Angel of Peace and the guardian of repose! Pacifico, Compiègne, Orisini, are forgotten; the cannon forged to repel France, arsenals crowded with British fleets, solemn warnings spoken to France, are alone remembered. These are good things-we uphold, we applaud them; but is Lord Palmerston the only man who is capable of accomplishing them? Looking at the Liberal ranks only, is Lord John Russell less high-spirited, less the lofty defender of peace, than Lord Palmerston? Do his despatches breathe a lower tone? Is he more slow to vindicate the honour, influence, and greatness of England?

"And what is the fruit that England reaps, what the example that she gathers, from Lord Palmerston? Is the object itself of Conservative forbearance attained? Was the Reform Bill of last year inspired with a principle by Lord Palmerston? Did it contain the faintest security that an arbitrary franchise would not speedily descend to manhood suffrage. Ever indifferent to principle himself, he is robbing the youth of England of all earnestness by his example; he is training them into the belief that dexterity of House of Commons' manipulation is true statesmanship, and into sneering at attachment to principle as the empty folly of silly enthusiasts. He shows them nothing to reverence, and will leave them no glorious tradition to emulate."

was once more in power. In the Boulevard dés Italiéns, the furore was something approaching to rapture.

But even to his own supporters, even to his colleagues, even, we understand, to his most intimate friends, this vivacious viscount is still more or less a paradox. His actions, to say the least of it, are so dramatic; at once so obvious and so inexplicable-now tinctured by the most transparent hypocrisy, and now pervaded by the most incontrovertible truth. This clever, complacent stage-manager, who stands within a yard of the footlights, bowing, smirking, and pirouetting, with such inimitable bonhomie, is upon the whole a strange fish. A quiet signal to the prompter, up goes the curtain, and here we have the ghost of a FRENCH INVASION, sprawling over John Bull's chest like a nightmare when he is asleep, disturbing his dreams and impairing his digestion. The clown and pantaloon now enter with a deal box, upon which is painted in black letters, £2,000,000 FORTIFICATION!!! Another signal from the manager and up through the cross stage trap door starts a VOLUNTEER ARMY, 150,000 strong, with all the proper equipments, uniforms, batallion drill, ball cartridge, the usual presentations at court, and the customary squabbles at the War Office. The ghost of the French invasion disappears, of course, in a shower of red fire, amidst the loud and long-continued plaudits of the audience. And so the play proceeds. Sometimes Pam. takes the part of "the disobedient boy" in Tom Taylor's celebrated comedy of Deal House. He has been naughty to mamma; and his eldest brother Johnny gives him a thrashing and turns him out of doors. But Pam. waits till Johnny goes out with the militia, slyly gets in at the back door; makes up with mamma; and finally shuts the front door in Johnny's face. Again, like all good dramatic artists, our manager has three divisions in his bill. In the first place he has Tragedy, which is usually acted in some continental scene, the banks of the Ticino or the shores of the Crimea; secondly, he has high Comedy, which may be seen any night during the season at Westminster; and lastly, he has Farce, which is commonly a favourite village piece, "The Tiverton Election," or "The Galway Contract."

This dramatic idea of Lord Palmerston's policy is so clear, so unmistakeable, and so easily recognised, that it has become a general and tolerably deep-rooted opinion in this country, that the Premier is nothing better than an expert performer of political stage trick. Like all good members of "the profession," he is fond of points d'appui, situations, high colouring, exaggeration-in one word of effect. And if we are not mistaken, he is supposed to have a prodigious leaning to the line of tragedy. He is "the Arch-priest of Bellona." Louis Napoleon is the first villain. Kossuth, Mazzini, Orsini, are the 1st, 2d, and 3d conspirators. Cavour does the Mephistopheles business. Garabaldi is a patriot. Victor Emmanuel is a virtuous king; and so forth. If, upon this popular hypothesis, Lord Palmerston is not an actor, he is a phenomenon. But the English people detest both actors and phenomenæ-an actor, because he is generally untruthful; and a phenomenon, because it is usually incomprehensible. For some

years since the days of a certain Dr Adam Smith-it has been a growing conviction in this country, that the highest of all political philosophy is that which is based on the highest and most indisputable truth. Some old men still exist in our generation, who cannot be made to comprehend a joke about Don Pacifico, which eventually costs the nation 20 millions or so for a war with Russia. And to be serious, it is no joke that the fate of a Government upon which rests, to a large extent, the liberty of Europe, should depend upon such tactics, however skilful.

The truth is, we suspect that Lord Palmerston stands in neither of these categories. He is not an actor. He is not a phenomenon. He is neither a mere tactician nor a mere adventurer. He possesses other qualities than mere pluck. He can do other things besides manage the House of Commons. In one word, we think him the greatest of English Ministers; the only minister perhaps in the history of our country who has thoroughly understood the character of the people over whose political destinies he presides, and whose power at this moment he controls.

In another article we shall produce our reasons upon which this opinion is based-reasons drawn from Lord Palmerston's policy both at home and abroad. In the meantime,—to show we have not forgotten our text,— —we must point out that, since Cavour's death, the kingdom of Italy has at length been RECOGNISED BY FRANCE.

ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Appointment.-The Rev. James Sym, who for three years back has laboured with much acceptance as missionary to the miners in the Bathgate district, has been appointed assistant to the Rev. Dr Boyd, Tron Parish, Glasgow.

Presentation. A meeting of the parishioners of New Greyfriars' was held in the Working Man's Church, Grassmarket, for the purpose of presenting Rev. Mr Wright, who is about to leave his charge in Edinburgh for the pastorate of Dairsie, in Fife, with a handsome inkstand, &c., as a testimonal of their esteem and appreciation of his services, and as a mark of their good wishes for his future welfare. The Rev. Wm. Robertson occupied the chair, and in an appropriate address presented Mr Wright with the testimonial. Mr Wright feelingly replied. Presentation.-James Sinclair Lockhart, Esq. of Castlehill, has presented the Rev. James Dunn, minister of the parish of Wishaw, to the vacant church and parish of Stonehouse, lying within the Presbytery of Hamilton, and county of Lanark.

Call. The Presbytery of Cupar met in the Established Church of Dairsie for the purpose of moderating in a call to the Rev. Robert Wright, presentee to the parish. The Moderator-the Rev. W. Reid of Kettle-preached on the occasion, and then invited the parishioners to come forward and sign the call and concurence. There appeared three heritors, one elder, forty-two members, and two adherents, who appended their names to the document. The call was then presented to Mr Wright, and having signified his intention of accepting the same, it was left in the hands of the session-clerk to receive additional signatures. There being no objectors, the Presbytery appointed Mr Wright to appear before them with his trial discourses on the 2d July next.

Induction.-The Presbytery of Auchterarder met within the church of Dunning, and inducted the Rev. John Wilson, lately minister of Forgandenny, in the Presbytery of Perth, to the pastoral charge of the parish and church of Dunning, vacant by the death, last year, of the Rev. James Russell, D.D. The church was well filled. Rev. John Taylor was moderator, and the Rev. J. R. Campbell, of Ardoch, preached on the occasion. We understand that the heritors of the parish have intimated to the Presbytery their desire to erect a new manse for their newly-ordained pastor, whose presentation to the church has given great satisfaction.

Army Chaplains.-A published return accounts in detail for the expenditure of the sum of £19,694, which was required during the year ending March 1861, for commissioned chaplains in the army. Of this sum, £16,345 were for sixtyfour Protestant chaplains; the greater number received pay at rates varying from £182 to £292 per annum. The highest amount of pay given is £400 a-year; the remaining sum, £3348, was distributed among eighteen Roman Catholic chaplains. The return also explains in detail the expenditure of £19,754 on behalf of officiating clergymen at home and abroad. This sum was divided as follows:-In Great Britain, £7161 to Protestant, and £2025 to Roman Catholic clergymen; in Ireland, £2442 to Protestants, and £1491 to Catholics. Abroad, £5406 to Protestants, and £1229 to Catholics. A third division of the return shows how the £3000 voted in the Army Estimates last year for religious books was expended. £1907 of this only have as yet been spent for 12,210 Bibles, 13,571 Prayer-Books, 7753 Roman Catholic Testaments and Prayer-Books, 3628 Presbyterian Bibles, and tracts, (miscellaneous.) The increased magnitude of the sum required last year than in the year preceding, under the head of "Divine Service," is explained partly by the increase in the allowance to Church of England, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic clergymen officiating to the troops, and partly by the over-estimate of £1000 for the item Religious Books.

Innovations in Public Worship.-The Rev. Mr Scott, of the East Church, Perth, has lately introduced several changes in the form of Divine service. Chaunting of the psalmody (almost literally) by the choir, with the accompaniment of an accordion or some such instrument, announcing the tunes from the pulpit, &c., are among the alterations.

Bathgate-Death of the Rev. John Byers.-Our obituary to-day announces the death of this clergyman, a native of Ecclefechan, and for sixteen years parish minister of Bathgate. Though far advanced in life, he continued to the last actively and acceptably to discharge his duties in this large and populous parish. Since the great increase of population, he has regularly had a licentiate of the Church labouring among the miners, and though the stipend of Bathgate is a small one, the funds for this missionary work were provided partly from his own means. With him the fulfilment of the duties of his sacred office was really a "labour of love," and he may be said to have "died in harness.' Sunday last was the communion Sabbath at Bathgate, and the rev. gentleman preached the "action" sermon with even more than his wonted fervour; but while conducting the services preparatory to the first table, he was seized with a sudden faintness, which compelled him to retire. The Rev. Mr Drummond, of Boston, who then undertook the duties of the day, announced to the congregation, after a short interval, that though their minister could not again appear that day, nothing serious was apprehended. On Monday evening, however, the rev. gentleman was again attacked by illness, under which he sank, rallying at intervals till he expired on Wednesday evening. As a preacher Mr Byers was earnest and fervid. He was always full of his subject, and his discourses were remarkable for wealth of thought, and continuous, equal force of reasoning. The parish minister of Bathgate is a trustee of its Academy, and also guardian of considerable sums which have been mortified for behoof of the poor. The duties attendant on these offices entail no small amount of labour, and require no ordinary amount of business capacity. In every office, Mr Byers exhibited the dignity of a man and the charity of a sincere Christian. In the private circle which he adorned he was loved, and he will be long and deeply regretted in his parish. The Earl of Hopetoun is patron of the church.

Death of the Rev. Dr Adie, of Dundee. This venerable and respected clergyman