be couched and framed in the highest moral interest of the whole; and when the policy of nations shall conform to the beneficent policy of Divine providence. When that shall take place, there will be universal peace; and this peace will turn the resources of nations into wealth-producing channels.

From the very terms that are employed here, we may say that this will be done, when it is done, by the laborers of the world-by the artisans and by the husbandmen. For, when it is declared that "they shall beat their swords into ploughshares," it is the people that shall do it. When it is declared that their spears shall be beaten into pruning-hooks, it is the spears of the people of which the writer speaks. "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

To-day, the supreme business of nations in European Christendom is teaching the whole people how to war; but when the equity of the Gospel shall come, as it is declared that it shall come, that whole system of military instruction shall be done away. All the resources that are swallowed up now in military affairs shall be turned toward the civilization, the education and the comfort of the people; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away, and poverty shall be well-nigh unknown, and God shall reign from the rising of the sun until the going down of the same, and fill the earth with his glory.

The greatest obstruction, to-day, to the progress of civilization and of religion, applied to human affairs, is in the unnatural potency of the war-making faculties of the human mind.

something to be racketed in the shops, and discussed in the village debating societies? Is it not something for the anvil to ring out to the saw, and for the saw to speak of to the plane, and for the plane to talk to the sickle about? Should it not be understood by laborers everywhere that there is this infernal dynasty of cruelty and violence which will hold men down as long as it is permitted to exist?

What have the wars of the last two hundred years gained for Europe that might not have been more certainly gained by the intelligence of the common people? Two nations will fight about a map. For that which is worth perhaps $ 40,000,000, they will go to war; and when they have suffered the loss of 200,000 men, and $200,000,000, they settle the war, but not the question. That goes over for the next generation to play with again. There has hardly been a dispute that could not have been easily settled by the payment of a few million dollars. I do not believe in bribery; but I think nations might be willing to settle with money many and many a question about which they fight, involving a few feet of ground here, or a small strip of land there. But, oh! it is a question of honor! Honor? It is the devil's honor. It is the honor of passion. It is the honor of pride. It is the honor of combativeness. It is the honor of destructiveness. It is the honor of the dragon that lies coiled up in the base of every man's brain!

We have seen duelling go out of practice almost entirely. It has been thought that two men might go out and settle their differences by the use of deadly weapons; but that idea is fast going out of date. It is thought that two nations have a right to fight national duels to settle their difficulties; but this sort of duelling is just as wrong as the other, and just as really and as easily vincible. There should be therefore, such steps taken as, for instance, the organization of a national congress, for enacting international law, and administering that law between nation and nation. At present the law of nations is crude, and a large part of the ground between nation and nation is not covered by national enactments. But we have come to a time when I think we might begin, at last, to form a national connations, and by which all nations alike shall be bound. There are some international laws, which pertain more largely to commerce than to anything else; but I think the time has come for a more thorough work through the organization of a national congress.

It does not follow, because we do not any longer make war upon each other, that the armed hand will go out of use. No, swords are not to be thrown away; they are to be beaten into pruning-hooks. The spear is not to be wasted; it is to be made into an instrument of industry. So the crushing power, the organized physical force that men now form into armies, and by which they sweep fellow nations, is to be directed against nature-against the soil, against the rock, against metal. We are to pierce mountains; we are to tunnel hills; we are to cut ways for industry; we are to rear up fleets; and we are to battle storms. We are to be warriors still, but war-gress, that shall enact laws which shall be for the good of all riors for peace; warriors against the forces of nature that resist us, until we subdue the nations to the blessed condition of industry, as well as social and civil conquest. And the ratio of civilization will be found to be just in proportion to the difference that exists between the use of physical force for managing men, and the use of physical force for controlling nature.

The time has come, or at least is now near, when there shall be an organization of nations for the peace of the world. We have an organization in every town or village in this land by which no one man is allowed to let loose his passions as he pleases. The good of every citizen in the town requires that the lawless forces of men shall be regulated. The law undertakes to do for men what in a savage or barbarous condition they undertake to do for themselves. But the time is coming when nations shall organize for the same purposes that villages and towns do now, and when it shall be as unlawful for a nation to let loose its avaricious and vindictive desires in the community of nations, without their leave, as it is for a man to let loose his personal passions in the midst of civilized men, without law, and without the leave of a magistrate.

I think the time is coming when men are going to make a stand, from which they are not going to retreat; and that from that point, step by step, onward and upward, we are going to gain, at last, ascendency over one of the direst evils that ever afflicted mankind.

OBJECTIONS TO ARBITRATION.

The London Daily Telegraph, in a leading article, remarks: "But many independent journalists and some public men, of high standing have implied that the failure of our advocates at Geneva and at Berlin supplies clear proof that Arbitration is not a good thing-is not that valuable invention which is to reconcile conflicting States and bring back the Age of Gold. Since, it is argued, we have lost through Arbitration three millions sterling which we could have saved, and since we shall have to cede an island which we might have retained, where is the advantage of this new mode of settling disputes? It is also pointed out, and with some force, that the process has aroused angry recriminations and revived the memory of diplomatic passages that had been well-nigh forgotten; and that thus one of the main objects we had in view when we assented to the plan was actually imperilled in the execution. We believe the discouragement thus recently expressed is not just; that the criticism we have quoted is not fair; and that the Awards of Geneva and Berlin leave the question of the suitability of Arbitration exactly where it was.

Do you believe there is any such thing as religion in the world? Was there ever a Christ? Did the Orient dawn lighter, as, hanging in the east, angels sang," Peace on earth, good "The position of objectors would be quite strong if Arbiwill to men?" And now for nearly two thousand years under tration had been invented as a cheap and easy method of having Christian crowns and priestly mitres, there stand embattled in our own way. But whoever said it was? Arbitration is Europe nearly 10,000,000 men, and $2,500,000,000 annually simply a method of deciding a dispute between two nations wrung out by taxation from the people. And of the sum total which, having rival claims, have striven, by dispatches and of all the money raised by taxation in Europe for the support verbal pleas, to convince each other and have signally failed. of the governments, from 83 to 90 per cent. is paid for military When both parties have thus recognized the obstinate irreconpurposes to-day. There are more than ninety dollars paid in cilability of each other's views, what is next to be done? Of Christendom for war to every one dollar that is paid for preach-course, if the matter does not press, it might remain harming and spreading the Gospel. lessly suspended for years; but, as a great statesman has said, That is the state of things in the present day. Have men Unsettled questions have no pity for the repose of nations,' had their eyes open? Have they thought about this? Is it not and the diplomatic quarrels between us and America might

have been revived at an awkward time-when we were engaged in suppressing rebellion, or mutiny, or in grappling with a formidable foe. An Arbitration that ends in our payment of £3,000,000 and our cession of an island is not a good thing in itself; but the question remains, is it not better than a suspended strife with the United States on two ticklish points, or is it not better than actual war? Let us suppose that the spirit and precedents of the last century had guided both nations, and that we had engaged in hostilities rather than assent to the Treaty of Washington. There can be no doubt whatever that, to save the three millions, we should have to spend at least fifty millions, even if we were thoroughly victorious. We might also have secured San Juan forever at probably an equal price; but whether, with many millions square miles of unoccupied territory, an island eleven miles long would be worth such purchase money is certainly open to doubt. Of course these arguments would be inapplicable if national honor compelled us to refuse a demand. It would be better-and even cheaper in the long run-to spend half the National Debt than to be bullied by the United States, or any other Power, into an unjust concession. As regards the Alabama compensation, however, it must be remembered that not only did three distinguished gentlemen, subjects of neutral Powers, decide against us, but even the Arbitrator nominated by England agreed to the main amount of the Award. It may be urged that Sir Alexander Cockburn's decision rested on the celebrated "Three Rules," and that our assent to these as guiding maxims for the Court was an unworthy concession. The reply is that it was a concession, and intended as such; but that the equivalent for it was the acceptance by America herself of those very rules as binding on her when she should be a neutral and we engaged in war. Considering the vast extent of our commerce-vast beyond all precedents of former times, and even beyond the increase that might have been expected-it is a great thing that we have bound over to keep the peace the only Power whose subjects, if not restrained by due diligence, could seriously vex our mercantile marine.

SOUTH CAROLINA PEACE SOCIETY.

We are indebted to Rev. Sidi H. Browne for report of the State Peace Convention held at Columbia, October last, and the formation of this young and vigorous society. The convention was composed of Christian men in sober earnest in the grandest reform of the age-to abolish the barbarism of war and to hasten the reign of permanent and universal peace. We quote from Preamble and Constitution adopted:

We, the subscribers, knowing that war causes a vast amount of expense, cruelty, suffering, destruction of property and life, vice and crime, and believing war to be directly contrary to the gentle, meek, compassionate and peaceful spirit and gospel of our Divine Saviour, the Prince of Peace, and that it is His will that war should cease throughout the world, and also believing that it is the immediate duty of all men to be co-workers with God in extending the kingdom of peace among men, do, therefore, form ourselves into a Society for the promotion of Peace, and accept the following:

This Society shall be called "The South Carolina Peace Society."

It shall be the duty of this Society, according to its opportunities and ability, to obtain and circulate tracts and books in favor of peace and against war, among the people at large; to hold meetings from time to time, as often as the President may think desirable, for prayers, singing and sermons, or speeches, addresses or discussions, for the purpose of showing that peace is agreeable to Christianity and war not; and it shall be the duty of this Society as a body, and its members as individuals, to endeavor to promote peace in, between and among nations and all mankind.

The Convention then proceeded to ballot for officers, which resulted as follows:

President-Rev. Sidi H. Browne.

1st Vice President-John H. Kinsler.
2d Vice President-Rev. E. A. Bolles.
Rec. Secretary-John A. Elkins.
Cor. Secretary-H. Bascom Browne.
Treasurer-Charles D. Stanley.

"The cavils against the Award of the Emperor of Germany have taken the unfair shape of attributing the whole decision to him. The critics who take this tone forget that the judgment is based on the report of three eminent Germans, who concluded that we were wrong. If we possessed the audacity We hail with joy this hopeful movement of our brethren in and enterprise of the New York press we could easily trace the southern portion of our great and good land, and bid a American dollars into the pockets of these distinguished

A GLORIOUS CHANGE.

BY F. WARD, OXFORD, 10WA.

When the promised triumphs of Christianity shall be completed, and "Peace on earth" established, the grand transformation will surpass our most exalted conceptions. Angels and men will alike marvel at the astonishing transition.

War will then be exchanged for tranquillity; swords for ploughshares: spears for pruning-hooks; cannons for Bibles; forts for churches; gun-boats for colleges; war-ships for universities; arsenals for libraries; military parades and musters for Christian assemblies; bellowing artillery for the songs of Zion; famine for plenty; grinding taxation for social abundance and enjoyment, and the arrogant "laws of war" for the inspired and all-conquering gospel of Peace!

scholars, or impute to them a diabolical hatred of English hearty God Speed.
power. Our deficiency in this respect induces us to accept the
humble and commonplace conclusion that the referees honestly
thought our claim was not consistent with the true interpreta-
tion of the treaty. Let us suppose, however, that the question
had been decided not by the Emperor of Germany, but by
another arbiter-the God of War. Might not the decision in
that case also have gone against us? It is, of course, very un-
patriotic to anticipate that British soldiers or British sailors can
ever be defeated the French on their side had a corresponding.
self-confidence before the late war. Yet, as it is within the
bounds of possibility that England might be worsted in a great
war, we have to consider that the Island of San Juan might
have been ceded under a treaty dictated by the sword, instead
of a quiet renunciation following the Award of impartial men.
In the supposititious case, however, as our critics will say,
'England's honor would have been saved.' That is, a man
who insists upon being judge in his own case, and who fights
and gets well beaten, has 'saved his honor;' while an unsuc-
cessful suitor in a court of justice is covered with disgrace!
Probably when kings first began to do justice between quarrel-
some men the earlier litigants who departed lamented the
disuse of single combat as the test of right. Yet in our own
days we should laugh at a man who, because he was defeated
in a court, inmediately condemned all judicature and objected
to all law. Therefore, in spite of what has now occurred, we
maintain that Arbitration is better than war; that the Treaty
of Washington was a happy example of a 'way out' of na-
tional disputes; and that in years to come it will be an instruc-
tive precedent with which to test the love of justice and desire
for peace which so many rulers and nations profess, but up to
which so few are ready to act."

The brute creation will follow the example of regenerated man, and the "lion will dwell with the lamb; the leopard lie down with the kid ;" and the earth, scourged and desolated by fifty centuries of war, will put on robes of beauty and loveliness. Peace like a golden girdle will encircle the globe; the stars will shine on another Paradise; man will be once more resplendent with the glory of his Maker, and Jesus, "The Prince of Peace," will ascend and forever occupy the throne of Universal Power; while angels, wondering at the glorious change, will "fall on their faces and worship God: saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power and hast reigned. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever."

Our esteemed fellow countryman, Mr. Cyrus W. Field, did The Chairman next proposed "The Treaty of Washington." very fine thing in giving a grand banquet at the Buckingham About eighteen months ago, he said, there was signed in the Palace Hotel on Thanksgiving evening. The company inCity of Washington a treaty, which he ventured to say would be hereafter looked back upon as the greatest triumph of diplocluded the British Premier, Mr. Gladstone, and many distin-macy in this century. [Cheers.] With the toast he would conguished Englishmen and Americans. It was an occasion of the happiest influence in cementing the friendship of the two great kindred nations. We give brief extracts from the speeches made at the dinner. The spirit manifested by both Englishmen and Americans was most magnanimous.

BY REV. PHEBE A. HANAFORD.

66

No. 2.

"The story is related of Michael Angelo, that while walking through one of the obscure streets of the city of Florence, he discovered a fine block of marble lying neglected in a yard, "How beautiful it was!" exclaimed Mary Burleigh, "I am and half buried in dirt and rubbish. Regardless of his holiday glad Aunt Ellen thought of it." Thought of what?" asked attire, he at once fell to work upon it, clearing away its filth her mother, as she looked up from her sewing, and saw Mary and striving to lift it up from the slime and mire in which it coming in with her brother George, who was carrying the sled lay. His companions asked him, in astonishment, what he was doing, and what he wanted with that worthless piece of rock. upon which he had kindly dragged his sister home from school. 'Oh, there's an angel in the stone,' was the answer, and I" I'll tell you, mother," answered Mary, "as soon as I've

must cut it out.

"Oh, there's an angel in the stone!"
Faithless, deriding, passed they by;
Yet was the angel there to him,

Who saw it with the sculptor's eye.

And his the sculptor's task to free
The wings in stony casement lay;
The statue was within the stone,

As once the man within the clay.

Pierce to the core of common things,
Chisel and mallet patient wield,
Thou knowest not what glorious forms
The shapeless masses yet may yield.

Seemeth thy life a common thing?
Thou hast not let the angel out,
The stony bars still hold it fast,

The stony doors still close about.

Work with the Christian's trained eye,
The Christian sculptor chisels deep;
Work with divinely strengthened hand,
Thine angel soon shall wake from sleep.

And lo! it shall Christ's image bear;

How canst thou fail with hope so dear?
O, sculptor, time thy strokes to prayer,
The likeness shall grow strong and clear.

་

-Advocate and Guardian.

helped George put the sled away." So she held the door open, and the sled was placed in the closet under the stairs, and then Mary came back to her mother, and said, "Why, mother, we passed by Aunt Ellen's and she called us in, and showed us the white dove she has had stuffed for the Sabbath School. It is to be placed under a glass case, and put up over the banner, and when we have concerts and celebrations in the church, it is to be used there among the decorations. Aunt Ellen said it was an emblem of peace."

Mary's mother was much pleased, and next Sabbath day when they all went to the Sabbath School, lo! there was the white dove, and everybody thought it was very pretty. Then the Superintendent told the school that the dove was a present to them all from a class of little children who had worked with their little fingers and made small articles, such as pincushions, needle-books, and the like, and at a fair which the Sabbath School had, they sold their things, and with that money they purchased the white dove. The little bright eyes in that infant class sparkled with pleasure as the Superintendent told of their labor and their success, and thanked them for the pretty gift in behalf of the whole school. For," as the pastor afterward said, "they could all enjoy the pretty dove and the lesson it taught." And that lesson was the lesson of peace. Doves are very gentle, and are often mentioned as emblems of that peace which comes from gentleness and good will. And the pastor told the children about the Saviour's baptism in the river Jordan, and then one of the scholars

66

recited Willis' beautiful poem about the baptism of Jesus, clos- feeling was at work in their hearts. They could not laugh at ing with these words :

During the late war between France and Germany, the German army defeated the soldiers of France, drove them before In his alarm and terror, the trembling doctor answered that them from point to point, and at last captured Paris, the proud he had given them every coin in his possession; and on receiv-seat of government of a proud people. It was a glorious war ing this assurance, he was allowed to proceed on his journey.

One of the battles in France raged around a little village. Its inhabitants, terrified by the horrid fray, fled from their homes. When the fight was over, some German soldiers found two little French children sleeping on the ground, and beside them their faithful dog. Deserted by their friends, their dog never left them. The soldiers were touched by the sight, and cared for the poor little things as well as they could until some of the French people returned to look after them. Whether they were restored to their parents we do not know, but we hope that they were. Let us give thanks to God that we now have peace in our own dear land, and let us pray that peace may prevail throughout the world. Jesus is the Prince of Peace; when all men love Him, war will cease.-Pres. S. S. Visitor.