a certain Essay respecting "a Congress of Nations for the amicable adjustment of national differences.". He acknowledges that "the argu. ment is well arranged, and well supported"—that "the quotations from the New Testament, are directly applicable”—that "the whole spirit of the sacred volume inculcates peace," that "the human race would be eminently benefitted by the principles advanced," and that "the religious man and the philanthropist must equally pray for its establishment;" and yet he concludes his remarks upon the essay, by saying "I must avow my belief that it (the project) is impracticable."

Now if that admirable man does not know, we all do, and can assure him, that every opinion of his falls with great weight upon the public mind. The sentiment which he has uttered upon this subject, will there. fore operate unfavorably to the efforts of the friends of Peace. That so profound a reasoner as our Chief Justice should pronounce that to be impracticable which he at the same time allows to be well sustained by argument, and apt quotations from Scripture, most desirable for the human race, and that for which every religious man and philanthropist ought to pray; what is it but to pronounce, that the amelioration of the human condition can be effected only to a very limited extent-nay more, that the fulfilment of prophecy is a hopeless expectation? We cannot believe he will hold himself responsible for such an opinion as this. We beg of him to reconsider what he has said. Surely this is a subject of surpassing interest.

Our confidence, in the final accomplishment of the object pursued by Peace Societies, has come to be entire, from these very considerations to which Judge Marshall alludes. The principles on which we rely are distinctly promulgated in the New Testament-the spirit of them pervades the whole sacred volume-nothing can be more desirable for the human race than the abolition of the custom of war, and no truly benevolent man can help praying for its abolition. Now we appeal to all who believe in an overruling and kind providence, can there be stronger reasons than these for believing that any good is attainable?. We have long since settled down in the conclusion, that whatever ought to be done for the benefit of mankind can be done, and will be done in process of time. And nothing would awaken and keep alive our determination, in behalf of any project, so much as the distinct perception that "the human race would be eminently benefitted by its accomplishment."

SAMUEL J. MAY, Cor. Sec'y.

PRINCIPLES OF PEACE.

At what does the Peace Society aim ?-Just to have men in their social, national, and international relations, keep the law of God-to obey God where man cannot be obeyed without disobeying Him--in a word, to follow, at all times and in all circumstances, this direction, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."--Eph. iv. 31, 32.

LAVALLETTE'S WAR-DREAM.

For the Calumet.

Count Lavallette, Bonaparte's aid-de-camp in Italy and in Egypt, and Post Master General under the Emperor, was born in 1769. He married Eugenie Beauharnais, niece of the Empress Josephine. On the second return of Louis, he and Marshall Ney were sentenced to death; Ney was shot, but he escaped from prison in his wife's clothes, was concealed several days, and then carried from Paris to the frontiers by General Sir Robert Wilson. After six years, i. e. in 1822, he was permitted to return to Paris, where, in 1830, he died. His Memoirs were published in 1831. He relates that, while in prison, he had the following dream. It presents a very correct image of War:

"I dreamed that I was standing in the Rue St. Honore, at the corner of the Rue de l'Echelle. A melancholy darkness spread around me; all was still, nevertheless a low and uncertain sound soon arose. All of a sudden, I perceived at the bottom of the street, and advancing towards me, a troop of cavalry, the men and horses, however, all flayed. The men held torches in their hands, the red flames of which illumined faces without skin and bloody muscles. Their hollow eyes rolled fearfully in their vast sockets; their mouths opened from ear to ear, and helmets of hanging flesh covered their hideous heads. The horses dragged along their own skins in the kennels, which overflowed with blood on both sides. Pale and dishevelled women appeared and disappeared alternately at the windows in dismal silence; low, inarticulate groans filled the air; and I remained in the street alone, petrified with horror and deprived of strength sufficient to seek my safety by flight. This horrible troop continued passing in a rapid gallop, and casting frightful looks on me. Their murch, I thought, continued for five hours; and they were followed by an immense number of artillery, wagons, full of bleeding corpses, whose limbs still quivered; a disgusting smell of blood and bitumen almost choked me."

Now this dream is scarcely more horrid,* than many real scenes of human slaughter, which he describes in his book, and of which he was the witness; as the massacre of 1200 prisoners in Paris "in the midst of the most cruel torments," and various battles in Europe, Egypt, and Syria. Of the battle of Aboukir, when Bonaparte with his cavalry drove the Turks into the sea, he says "It was a horrible sight to contemplate nearly ten thousand men, of whom nothing was to be seen but their heads covered with turbans, and who were seeking in vain to reach the English fleet anchored at more than half a league from the shore."-"There were two thousand men at the foot of a rock, who could not be made to comprehend, that they might lay down their arms. were obliged to kill them all to a man, but they sold dearly their lives."

Is it any more so? [ED.

We

A.

SCENES TENDING TO DISPLAY THE MISERIES AND HORRORS OF WAR.

(From the "Pictures of War," by IRENICUS, as quoted in the Herald of Peace.)

SCENE AT CANNE, FROM LIVY.

As soon as it was light, on the day after the battle, the Carthagenians began to gather the spoils, and the sight of the carnage shocked even the enemy. Thousands of Roman horse and foot lay promiscuously, according as they had been killed in the battle or in the flight. Some rising up all over blood, from among the slaughtered bodies, through the smart of their wounds by reason of the morning's frost, were killed by the enemy. Some, who were found lying with their hams and thighs cut off, made bare their necks and throats, and begged them to let out the rest of their blood. Others were found with their heads buried in the ground, where it appeared they had dug holes for the purpose, into which they had thrust their heads, and suffocated themselves by throwing the mould over them. But what principally attracted every one's attention. was, a Numidian still alive, lying upon a dead Roman. The nose and

ears of the former were miserably torn; for the Roman, having his hands so disabled that he could not use his arms, had rose from anger to fury, and expired tearing his enemy with his teeth.

A FIELD OF BATTLE.

A clergyman who went over the field of battle after the defeat of the Russians by the King of Prussia at Soldin, wrote and published the following account of it:

"At one o'clock the cannonading ceased, and I went out on foot to Soldin, in order to learn to whose advantage the battle turned out. Towards evening 700 of the Russian fugitives came to Soldin, a pitiful sight indeed some holding up their hands, cursing and swearing, cthers praying and praising the King of Prussia, without hats, without clothes, some on foot, others two on a horse, with their heads and arms tied up; some dragging along by the stirrups, and others by the horses tails. When the battle was decided, and victory shouted for the Prussian army, I ventured to the place where the cannonading was. After walking some way, a Cossack's horse came running full speed towards me. I mounted him, and on my way for seven miles and a half on this side the field of battle, I found the dead and wounded, lying on the ground, sadly cut in pieces. The further I advanced, the more these poor creatures lay heaped one upon another. This scene I shall never forget. The Cossacks, as soon as they saw me, cried out, Dear sir, water, water, water' Righteous God! what a sight. Men, women, children, Russians and Prussians, carriages and horses, oxen, chests, baggage, all ly ing one upon another, to the height of a man: seven villages around me in flames, and the inhabitants either massacred or thrown into the fire.

"The poor wounded were still firing at one another in the greatest ex asperation. The field of battle was a plain two miles and a half long,

wholly covered with dead and wounded: there was not even room to set my foot without treading on some of them. Several brooks were so filled up with Russians, that I do affirm it, they lay heaped up one upon another, as high as two men, and appeared like hills to the even ground; I could hardly recover myself from the fright occasioned by the great and miserable outcry of the wounded. A noble Prussian officer, who had lost both of his legs, cried out to me: " Sir, you are a priest, and preach mercy; pray show me some compassion, and despatch me at once."

CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO PEACE.

For some time past, we have furnished our readers with very little of this. We now make room for these specimens.

Extract of a letter from a Baptist Clergyman to the General Agent, dated at Augusta, Me.

"I know full well, that it will cheer your heart to hear any encouraging facts respecting the glorious enterprise of Peace. The progress of our sentimentsthe sentiments of the Prince of Peace-is obstructed, as you are well aware, by apathy-by prejudice, which has grown hoar with age--and by every thing, in fine, which stands in the way of genuine and primitive Christianity. But, my dear sir, obstacles shall be removed. The spell that binds men to the war-principles shall be broken. A voice is lifted up in the wilderness of this world, before the potency of which mountains shall sink and vallies rise, and the way shall be prepared for the peaceful reign of the Messiah over all the nations. Then shall the clangor of arms, and the voice of trumpets, and all the din of war, be forever hushed."

Having stated that he addressed the Bowdoinham (Baptist) Association, convened at Jay, the week before, proposed the ministers' preaching on the subject of peace, and the having prayer-meetings on the 25th of December, with contributions for the A. P. S., the gentleman continues,

"When I made the statements, it was a moment of deep-felt anxiety. I knew the former sentiments, prejudices, and apathy of many present, as to the subject, and feared much that, if my proposals were not met with opposition, they would be turned away from with utter inattention and neglect. But I was agreeably disappointed. The remarks, to all appearance, were well received. Fourteen clergymen from different parts of this state, and two from the British provinces, at the east, pledged themselves, on the spot, to preach on the subject. Some of them promised to use their influence with their churches to observe the proposed prayer-meeting with a contribution. The cause, sir, is God's, and it will prevail. All I can do, in my humble way, to promote this cause, I shall do."

A Congregational Clergyman in New Hampshire, writes to the General Agent from Portsmouth,

"I think the Peace enterprise is doing well now. It has gotten a powerful momentum. Public attention is gained. The prayer-meetings, and the preaching that may be expected, will by the blessing of God do much.

You have probably seen that our Association took up the subject at Keene. I was not present, but I rejoice that this business was not forgotten by Dr. Church, to whom I spoke about it.

Almost all our Association agreed to preach on the subject of Peace. I think there would be but little difficulty in enlisting half, or two-thirds, of the clergy in the land; if it should be taken up in the meetings of the smaller bodies."

Extract of a letter from a Clergyman to the General Agent.

"I am much obliged to you for the books you sent. I thought myself a friend of peace long ago, but I find I had never given the subject a thorough investigation, and the more I read, and reflect, and reason about it, the more deeply do I feel interested in the movements of your society. My conscience will hardly let me refrain, henceforth, from discussing the subject in the pulpit. I expect that a proper examination of the New Testament, will land me on the conclusion that all war is wrong. If you will furnish me with any more books, and let me keep for some time those which I now have with me, I should be much obliged. The whole subject is sadly overlooked by most persons, even in the ministry, but it must eventually occupy a large share of attention throughout all Christendom."

Another Minister, writing to one of the Secretaries, says:

"In the spring of 1832, I, for the first time, attended the anniversary of the A. P. S. I then engaged to preach on the subject once a year to my people, which I have done and still mean to do. I bless God for that engagement. I have turned my attention particularly to the subject, and am convinced of the immense importance of your Society. The principles of the gospel must be applied directly to the subject of war. Without this, men will attempt to justify war by the gospel of peace: without this, the Millennium might come, aud still men would be advocating the system of National Dueling. To state the objections, fears, obstacles, lions, mountains, which some pretend to see, would perhaps be useless. The conquest is gained if we can only get men of intelligence and piety to THINK upon the subject. They can no more apply the principles of the gospel to the support of war, than to the promotion of slavery or intemperance."

The extracts following are from a letter written to the General Agent, by
a gentleman in Brooklyn, Conn.

Your information relative to the special Prayer-Meetings for asking the divine blessing on the A. P. S., that many ministers have pledged themselves to preach once a year or oftener on the subject, that contributions have been made, and that the number of Life Members of the Society is increasing all this should induce us devoutly to "thank Gor, and take courage."

Should the preaching in behalf of Peace be only once in a year? The tremendous and matchless crimes and horrors of war, have been augmenting for countless ages. In order, therefore, to counteract this multifarious "legion" of evils, it appears, to me, to be the imperious duty of the clergy to " be instant in season and out of season" in their denunciations against this anti-christian practice, constantly exposing (if exposure were possible,) all the appalling features of this

monster.

In your allusion to the "benevolent operations of the day," you observe, “The principles of Peace are not forgotten, though I fear not very much understood.” I think this remark is verified by an article published in the Calumet nearly a year ago. The writer had said, pages 321-2, "I come not to condemn military preparations &c. ;" and the editorial sanction is given to the sentiment, (in a note.)*

*These circumstances all friends of Peace will regret. The error in the text was admitted into the Calumet, doubtless, by an oversight of the gentlemen who conducted it then. The fault as to the note is of the same origination. This may be seen, by remarking the word (I) with which the note, like the text, begins. This periodical at that time had two Editors.-[ED.