n
the days of that approaching contest which shall bring the powers of
good and evil front to front, in strength and hostility unknown
before, and consummate the wars of the world.

Yet with those tranquil and retired pursuits, I still took my share in
the activity of public life. I was still minister, and bore my part in
the discussions of the legislature. But the great questions which had
once sounded in my ear, like the call to battle in the ear of the
warrior, had passed away. The minds that "rode in the whirlwind, and
ruled the storm," had vanished with the storm. The surge had gone
down; and neither the dangers of my earlier day, nor the powers which
were summoned to resist them, were to be found in the living
generation. Yet, let it not be thought that I regard the mind of
England as exhausted, or even as exhaustible. The only distinction
between the periods is, that one gave the impulse, and that the other
only continues it. When peril comes again, we shall again see the
development of power. We might as well doubt the existence of
lightning, because the day is serene, the sun shining, and no cloud
rolls across the heaven. But when the balance of the elements demands
to be restored, we shall again be dazzled by the flash, and awed by
the thunder.

But time has taught me additional lessons. I have learned to see a
hand, in all its clouds, which guides man and kingdoms with more than
human power. In these remembrances, I have spoken but little of
religion. It belongs to the chamber more than to the council; and it
is less honoured than humiliated by being brought idly before men. But
by that light I have been able to see, where subtler minds have been
blind. The man may be bewildered by the glare of the torch in his
hand, who would have found his way by trusting to the milder lustre of
the stars. In the great war of our time, the greatest since the fall
of the Roman empire--the war of the French Revolution--I think, that I
can trace a divine protection, distinctly given to England as the
champion of justice, honour, and religion. I offer but the outline of
this view; but to me the proof is demonstrative.--In every instance in
which France aimed an especial blow at England, that blow was retorted
by an especial retribution; while her assaults on the continental
kingdoms were made with triumphant impunity.

I give the examples.--The French expedition to Egypt was formed with
the express object of breaking down t