other, but would have tendered to each other their assistance if called for. But a red coat or a blue coat, a tri-colored or a two-colored cockade, is their only introduction to each other, and the signal that they must kill, or be killed! If they think at all, they must feel that there is no personal alienation, or wrong, or variance between them. But they are paid so much for the job- and they go to work, as the day-laborer, to earn his shilling. Need I ask how could a Christian man thus volunteer his services, or hire himself out for so paltry a sum, or for any sum, to kill to order his own brother man who never offended him in word or deed? What an infatuation ! What consummate folly and wickedness! Well did Napoleon say" War is the trade of Barbarians;" and his conqueror, Wellington-" Men of nice scruples about religion have no business in the army or navy." The horrors of war only enhance the guilt of it; and these, alas! no one can depict in all their hideous forms. By the "horrors of war," I do not mean the lightning and the thunder of the battle-field-the blackness and darkness of those dismal clouds of smoke, which, like death's own pall, shroud the encounter; it is not the continual roar of its cannon, nor the agonizing shrieks and groans of fallen battalions of wounded and dying legions; nor is it, at the close of the day, the battle-field itself, covered with the gore and scattered limbs of butchered myriads, with here and there a pile, a mountain heap of slain heroes in the fatal pass, mingled with the wreck of broken arms, lances, helmets, swords, and shattered firearms, amidst the pavement of fallen balls that have completed the work of destruction, numerous as hailstones after the fury of the storm; nor, amidst these, the sight of the wounded lying upon one another, weltering in their blood, imploring assistance, importuning an end of their woes by the hand of a surviving soldier, invo king death as the only respite from excruciating torments. But this is not all, for the tidings are at length carried to their respective homes. Then come the enduring wail of widows and orphans-the screams and the anguish of mothers and sisters deprived for ever of the consolations and hopes that clustered round the return of those so dear to them, that have perished in the conflict. But even these are not the most fearful desolations of war. Where now are the 200,000 lost by England in our revolutionary war? - the 70,000 lost by her at Waterloo and Quatre Bras ?-the 80,000 at Borodino ?—the 300,000 at Arbela ?—or where the 15,000,000 Goths destroyed by Justinian in twenty years ?the 32,000,000 by Jenghiz Khan in forty-one years?the 60,000,000 slain by the Turks ?-the 80,000,000 by the Tartars, hurried away to judgment in a paroxysm of wrath, amid the fury of the passions? What can we think of their eternal destiny !* Besides all these, how many have died in captivity! How many an unfortunate exile or captive might, with a French prisoner, sing of woes like these, or even greater! "I dwelt upon the willowy banks of Loire: יין But these, multiplied by myriads, are but specimens of the countless "War, a Destroyer of Souls," a Tract of the Peace Society. millions slain, the solitary exiles, the lonely captives. They tell the least portion of the miseries of war. Yet even these all say to the Christian, how can you become a soldier ?how countenance and aid this horrible work of death? the halo of false glory thrown around these worshipped heroes! See them gazing with admiration on the "tinselled trappings," the "embroidered ensigns" of him whose profession it is to make widows and orphans by wholesale! Sometimes their hands For my own part, and I am not are withdrawn from works of charity alone in this opinion, I think that its to decorate the warrior's banners, moral desolations cap the climax of and to cater to these false notions of the horrors of war. And amongst human glory! Behold, too, the these, I do not assign the highest young mother arraying her proud boy place to the vulgar profanity, brutal-"with cap and feather, toyed with ity, and debauchery of the mere sol- a drum and sword, training him for dier, the professional and licensed the admired profession of a manbutcher of mankind, who, for his killer!" eight dollars a month, or his ten sous per day, hires himself to lay waste a country, to pillage, burn, and destroy the peaceful hamlet, the cheerful village, or the magnificent city; and to harrass, wound, and destroy his fellowman, for no other consideration than his paltry wages, his daily rations, and the infernal pleasure of doing it, anticipating hereafter "the stupid stares and loud huzzas" of monsters as inhuman and heartless as himself. And were it not for the infatuation of public opinion and popular applause, I would place not far from him, as no less to be condemned, though more admired, the vain and pompous volunteer, who for his country, right or wrong," hastens to the theatre of war for the mere plaudits of admiring multitudes, ready to cover himself with glory, because he has aided an aspirant to a throne, or paved the way to his own election to reign over an humbled and degraded people. 66 I make great allowance for false education, for bad taste, for the contagion of vicious example; still I cannot view those deluded by such sophistry, however good their motives, as deserving anything from contemporaries or posterity, except their compassion and forgiveness. Yet behold its influence on mothers, sisters, and relatives-note its contagion, its corruption of public taste. See the softer sex allured, fascinated with This is not all. It is not only at home, in the nursery and infant school, that this false spirit is inspired. Our schools, our academies, our colleges echo and re-echo with the fame of an Alexander, a Cæsar, a Napoleon, a Wellington. Forensic eloquence is also full of the fame of great heroes, of military chieftains, of patriotic deliverers, whose memory must be kept for ever verdant in the affections of a grateful posterity, redeemed by their patriotism, or rescued from oppression by their valour. The pulpit, too, must lend its aid in cherishing the delusion. There is not unfrequently heard a eulogium on some fallen hero-some church service for the mighty dead, thus desecrating the religion of the Prince of Peace, by causing it to minister as the handmaid of war. Not only prayers are offered up by pensioned chaplains on both sides of the field, even amid the din of arms; but, Sabbath after Sabbath, for years and years, have the pulpits on one side of a sea or river, and those on the other side, resounded with prayers for the success of rival armies, as if God could hear them both, and make each triumphant over the other, guiding and commissioning swords and bullets to the heads and hearts of their repective enemies! And not only this; but even the churches in the Old World, and some times in the New, are ornamented with | mies, turns the connsels and wishes of more military heroes than saintsGenerals, Admirals, and Captains, who "gallantly fought" and "gloriously expired" in the service of their country. It is not only in Westminster Abbey or in St. Paul's that we read their glory, and see their statues; but even in some of our own cities we find St. Paul driven out of the church to make room for Generals and Commodores renowned in fight. And last of all, in consummation of the moral desolation of war, we sometimes have an illumination-even a thanksgiving, rejoicing that God has caused ten or twenty thousand of our enemies to be sent down to Tartarus-and has made myriads of widows and orphans at the bidding of some chieftain, or of some aspirant to a throne. But it would be long to tell the inconsistencies of the present Christian world on this single subject of war, or to trace to their proper fountains the general misconceptions of the people on their political duties, and that of governments. This would be the work of volumes-not of a single address. The most enlightened of our ecclesiastic leaders seem to think that Jesus Christ governs the nations as God governed the Jews. They cannot separate, even in this land, the Church and State. For yet they ask for a Christian national code. If the world were under a politicoecclesiastic King or President, it would, indeed, be hard to find a model for him in the New Testament. Suffice it to remark, that the church, and the church only, is under the special government and guardianship of our Christian King. The nation, or those not in the church, not owning Jesus Christ, he owns not them; he leaves them to themselves to make their own institutions, as God anciently did all nations but the Jews. He holds them in abeyance; and, as in Providence, so in government, he makes all things work together for the good of his people, restrains the wrath of their ene kings as he turns the rivers; but "War is a game that, were their subjects wise, For, were both kings and people wise, wars would cease, and nations would learn war no more. But how are all national disputes to be settled? Philosophy, history, the Bible teach-that all disputes, misunderstandings, alienations, are to be settled, heard, tried, adjudicated by impartial, that is, by disinterested umpires. No man is admitted to be a proper judge in his own case. Wars never make amicable settlements, and seldom, if ever, just decisions of points at issue. We are obliged to offer preliminaries of peace at last. Nations must meet by their representatives, stipulate and re-stipulate, hear and answer, compare and decide. In modern times we terminate hos tilities by a treaty of peace. We do not make peace with powder and lead. It is done by reason, reflection, and negociation. Why not employ these first? But it is alleged that war has long been, and must always be, the ultima ratio regium—the last resort of those in power. For ages a Father Inquisitor was the strong argument for orthodoxy ; but light has gone abroad, and he has lost his power. Illuminate the human mind on this subject also, create a more rational and humane public opinion; and wars, too, will cease. But it is alleged all will not yield to reason or justice. There must be compulsion. Is war the only compulsory measure? Is there no legal compulsion? Must all personal misunderstandings be settled by the sword? Why not have a by-law-established Umpire? Could not a united National Court be made as feasible and practicable as a United States Court? Why not, as often proposed, and as eloquently, ably, and humanely argued by the advocates of peace, have a Congress of Nations and a High Court of Nations, for adjudicating and terminating all international misunderstandings and complaints, redressing and remedying all wrongs and grievances? There is not, as it appears to me, a physical or a rational difficulty in the way. But I do not now argue the case; I merely suggest this expedient, and will always vote correspondingly, for reasons as good and as relevant, as I conceive them to be humane and beneficial. To sum up the whole, we argue— I. The right to take away the life of the murderer does not of itself warrant war, inasmuch as in that case none but the guilty suffer; whereas in war the innocent suffer not only with, but often without the guilty. The guilty generally make war and the innocent suffer the consequences. II. The right given to the Jews to wage war is not vouchsafed to any other nation; for they were under a theocracy, and were God's sheriff to punish nations : consequently no Christian can argue from the wars of the Jews in justification or in ex IV. The gospel, as first announced by the angels, is a message which results in producing "peace on earth and good will among men.” V. The precepts of Christianity positively inhibit war-by showing that" wars and fightings come from men's lusts" and evil passions, and by commanding Chris tians to "follow peace with all men." VI. The beatitudes of Christ are not pronounced on patriots, heroes, and conquerors; but on "peace makers," on whom is conferred the highest rank and title in the universe-" Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS, for they shall be called THE SONS OF GOD." : VII. The folly of war is manifest in the following particulars :tice or a proof of right. 1st. It never can be the criterion of jus 2nd. It can never be a satisfactory end of the controversy. 3rd. Peace is always the result of negociation, and treaties are its guarantee and pledge. VIII. The wickedness of war is demon : strated in the following particulars : 1st. Those who are engaged in killing their brethren, for the most part, have no personal cause of provocation whatever. 2nd. They seldom, or ever, comprehend the right or the wrong of the war. They, therefore, act without the approbation of conscience. 3rd. In all wars, the innocent are punished with the guilty. 4th. They constrain the soldier to do for the state that, which, were he to do in his own case, the state would condemn him to death. 66 5th. They are the pioneers of all other evils of society, both moral and physical. In the language of Lord Brougham'Peace, peace, PEACE! I abominate war as unchristian. I hold it the greatest of human curses. I deem it to include all others violence, blood, rapine, fraud, everything that can deform the character, alter the nature, and debase the name of man." Or, with Joseph Bonaparte "War is but organized barbarism—an inheritance of the savage state." With Franklin I, therefore, conclude, "There never was a good war, or a bad peace." No wonder, then, that for two or three centuries after Christ, all Chris tians refused to bear arms. So depose Justin Martyr, Tatian, Clemens of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, &c. In addition to all these considerations, I farther say, were I not a Christian, as a political economist I would plead this cause. Apart from the mere claims of humanity, I would urge it on the ground of political economy. Give me the money, I would say, that has been spent in wars, and I will clear up every acre of land in the world that ought to be cleared-drain every marsh-subdue every desertfertilize every mountain and hill and convert the whole earth into a continuous series of fruitful fields, verdant meadows, beautiful villas, hamlets, towns, cities, standing along smooth and comfortable highways and canals, in the midst of luxuriant and fruitful orchards, vineyards, and gardens, full of all fruits and flowers, redolent, and rich, and beautiful, with all that pleases the eye and regales the senses of man. I would found, furnish, and endow as many schools, academies, and colleges, as would educate the whole human race-build meeting-houses, public halls, lyceums, and furnish them with libraries adequate to the wants of a thousand millions of human beings. with the comparatively few facts that "Whose limbs, unburied on the shore. Beat your swords into ploughshares, your spears into pruning-question-we can all do something in hooks convert your war-ships into missionary packets your arsenals and munitions of war into Bibles, school-books, teachers, and professors of literature, science, and art; and then ask-What would be wanting on the part of man to "make the wilderness and solitary place glad "-to cause "the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose"-to make our hills" like Carmel and Sharon," and our valleys as the "garden of God?" All this being done, I would doubtless have a surplus for some new enterprise. On reviewing the subject, only in the few points that I have made, and it, and it is every one's duty to do all It creates HH |