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TWO ANGELSAuthor(s): FRANCIS WOODSource: Advocate of Peace (1847-1884), New Series, Vol. 3, No. 47 (NOVEMBER, 1872), pp. 226-227Published by: World Affairs InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27905440 .

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826 THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE,

THE BARBARISM OF THE NATIONS. BT RET. G. 0. VINCENT, D.D., BROOKVILLE, PA.

The experience of six thousand )rears should be worth some

thing. That policy which is conducive to prosperity, peace and

honor, should continue and prevail. That course of conduct which has entailed misery and ruin should be discarded.

The destruction of life and property by war has not pro moted the happiness and prosperity of the human race, yet it has held a field wide enough, and occupied it long enough to make full proof of its claims.

Fair fields of promise laid waste testify against war. The

bleaching bones of a thousand battle-fields, testify against it. "The profusion of widows' and orphans' tears, and broken hearts concealed under habiliments of mourning demand that the pageantry be stripped from this Moloch, and its hatefulness

exposed. War is, this day, a legitimate institution. Tt is recognized

and provided for by the "laws of nations." Every separate nation claims the right of declaring war, and provides in de tail for its prosecution. It is as legitimate as trial by jury, voting by ballot, or legislating by majorities, among all civilized nations. This right we do now, in the audience of all to whom these presents may come, call in question.

The visible manifestation of the curse put upon Cain in con

sequence of shedding his brother's blood has not availed to

prevent the recurrence of his crime. The world has seldom been at peace. From generation to generation the work of

slaughter goes on, yet the profusion of blood with which the earth has been deluged, has not given peace to the nations.

Contrarywise, a thirst for blood is increased in proportion to the freedom with which it has been shed. By a well ascer tained law of action and reaction it perpetuates itself, verify ing the words of the Saviour, "They that take the sword shall

perish with the sword." In a state of nature, where there is no political organism,

every individual does what is right in his own eyes ; he judges of his own grievances, also of the manner and measure of re

dress, he is the sole arbiter. But this state of society we call barbarism. Be it so ; it is not merely descriptive of .tribes in the interior of Africa, as related to each other, but of all civil ized nations.

Each one judges of its own grievances, and if in the redress of them, any one sees proper to declare war there is no power on earth to prevent its occurrence. The nations are barbari ans in relation to each other. We are now moving against this relic of barbarism, determined to banish it from the world. In the name of humanity, and in the name of the pure and

peaceful religion of Jesus Christ, we have a right to demand it.

It has been sagely remarked by those "at ease in Zion," that certain evils would work out their own remedy, but if it were true of war, it is time to expect a change.

This theory we brand with falsehood, as witnessed by the

history of all moral reforms. The exulting shout of the victor is the degradation and dis

honor of the vanquished. Wounded pride becomes vindictive, and vindictive feelings become more imperious and insatiate

by their gratification. Such are "the spirits of princes," and such is the history of the world.

One nation is raised up to chastise another, but sets about it with so much relish, and prosecutes it with such manifest

good-will, as to contract deepest guilt in the fulfilment of its mission. The galled and grieved spirit of the party vanquished exclaims oracularly, "Blessed shall he be, who thee rewards, as thou to us hast done." So the cup passes from Jerusalem to Babylon, from Babylon to Persia, and from Persia to Mace donia, till the great movement culminates in the sudden demise of the universal conqueror. Intoxicated with pride, with

glory, and with wine, "died Alexander as a fool dieth." If the experience of the centuries is worth anything, the

world ought now to be prepared to part with this excess of folly and crime. In every properly organized society brute force has yielded to the supremacy of reason and law. Men in pri vate life who resort to force as an arbiter of right between

themselves, are subject to arrest, to. fine and imprisonment. We are laboring to bring the exercise of peace among the na

tions, under the domain of reason and law: "to establish

peace on earth, and good-will among men," in order that the nation which shall so trample on the principles of Christianity, and so outrage the claims of our common humanity as to de clare war, shall be shunned and hated, and scorned, as is now the murderous bully who butchers his neighbor in the street.

PEACE ON EARTH.

BT W. B. WRIGHT, BOSTON.

We live in an age of improvement, on every hand we be hold prosperity, industry and progress. There is to-day but little war among the nations. Let us hope that this peace

which mankind now enjoys, will be a lasting one. The two foremost nations of the earth have chosen to settle

their differences in a peaceful and satisfactory manner. Let us

hope that the example set at Geneva by England and the United States will be followed by the other nations of Europe.

If the nations which love military glory, and the leaders who

gloat in bloody victory, would pause and do as the civilization of this late day demands, who can estimate the extent of the benefits which must follow from such a doing? Manki.id would be 'made more brotherly, more happy, more contented, and better prepared to enter heaven.

Behold the prosperous country in the time of peace! The

people are busy in the pursuits of daily life. Busy in the

gathering together of the fruits of their labors, and providing for their children.' Many occupied in the search of knowledge through science and discovery, and all moving forward to a better condition, and doing their portion of the work of civil ization.

Let us glance at the same people in time of war. The ene

my, perhaps, have invaded and overrun the country, burned the towns, killed many of the inhabitants, and destroyed the collections and harvests of years of peaceful accumulation.

Every family is broken up and scattered. The tenderest ties of kindred are snapped asunder in the great confusion.

The wildest acts of barbarity are committed, there is nothing but fire, famine, and bloodshed all around. The nation and

people plunged into debt, and groaning under an oppressive taxation. We need no further evidence that these are true statements.

The world has experienced the painfnl truth that war is the most appalling calamity that ever afflicted mankind.

Now what can we do, how can we prevent all this murder and destruction ? I would answer, let every one who loves his country, family and humanity, become an apostle of peace. Let every man and woman set himself and herself directly in

opposition to every war measure and principle. The increase of the army or navy should be always opposed.

In the absence of the soldiers and cannon and swords, men will be more easily taught to love each other, and to work for the common all.

Let us, therefore, every one, lend our influence to cry down the war-cry, and to bring about that time so ardently longed for, when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any mor?."

TWO ANGELS.

BY REV. FRANCIS WOOD, IOWA.

I would like to place before your view two angels. One* beautiful as the flowers of Paradise ; the other, dark and dismal as the bottomless pit. The one is the angel of peace ; the other is the demon of war.

But oh ! where shall I find contrasted colors suitable for the exhibition ? The rainbow in its seven-fold splendor is not beautiful enough for the garments of the one, nor the gloom of midnight dark enough to cover the deformity of the other !

See them standing now before you ! One is the daughter of heaven ; the other is the offspring of hell !

Listen to that captivating and mellifluous voice. It says to the turbulent passions of our race, "Peace, be still. Peace be multiplied unto you. Peace on earth. My peace I give unto you,?abundance of peace as long as the sun and moon

shall endure." Blessed Spirit !

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THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE.

But what says the ferocious angel of war? "Blood, sulphur, smoke, devastation, havoc and death ! Let slip the dogs of

war, and send vengeance and desolation, famine, pestilence, and poverty through the earth ! " It says,

" Burn those build

ings, cut down those trees, poison those wells, sink those ships, scatter those families, destroy those bridges, demolish those

splendid triumphs of art and peaceful industry. Throw bomb shells and chain-shot into the crowded streets. Send

* Greek fire' among them! Make a wilderness of the cultivated land, and a pool of blood of the beautiful river ; and murder, with out pity, both small and great ! Spare neither age, nor rank, nor character, nor sex ! Hew them down with fury, and turn the green earth into one vast and gory aceldama ! "

To which of these spirits will you listen ? * * * * Oh thou execrable and accursed demon of war, begone! Retire to the

prison house of hell from whence thou didst escape ! The Prince of Peace shall be my acknowledged leader, and the

Angel of Peace my guide.

HASTE, AN ENEMY TO REFORM. BY L. H. PILLSBURY, ESQ., KANSAS.

44 Without haste, without rest, Bind this motto to thy breast."

" Hurry

" is a favorite word with us Americans and to be in haste is apparently our normal condition. It is presumed, by the writer, from some little attention paid the matter, that a

larger portion of our private correspondence, and indeed not a little of that which is presented to the public, is subscribed, "

Yours, in haste, &c." This prominent national trait is the most serious obstacle en

countered by the advocates of Reform. The ministers of reli

gion have long ago ceased to be surprised at finding that men,

most rational upon other matters, claim to have no time for the consideration of topics so far transcending in importance all else that may demand their attention.

The advocates of the temperance cause and of the labor re

form, matters of such vital importance to mankind, are ever

finding the public mind preoccupied and to the exclusion of

topics of such vast import. Jn my advocacy of the **

Peace Reform," while I can by no means say that my experience is wholly at variance with the above, yet I make mention of it rather as a caution than as a

complaint. Indeed, my surprise has been unbounded at find

ing so many intelligent persons who, with great fairness and

judicial candor, weighing the arguments for the abolition of war, estimating the value of its realization, and computing its chances of failure in this over-busy world, have then taken final and favorable action upon it?arraying themselves among the advocates of that Reform in the full triumph of which all else that is* valuable to man or well pleasing to God may find full

scope and a fair field. Yet, even upon this question the plea '* too hurried," " no time," is frequently put in by men learned

enough and wise enough to understand with Red Jacket 44 they

hive all the time there is." In conversation with a clergyman, I one day pressed upon

him the duty of inculcating the Peace Doctrines ; his reply was that he 44 had not time to think of it." "But," continued I, '*

you must admit that it is one of the fundamental doctrines of the Bible."

44 To tell the truth," said he, 441 have not time for even .these." Whether the sheep of so hurried a shepherd will be enabled to feed peacefully in- " green pastures and be side still waters," or find themselves 44 as sheep having no shep herd "

starving upon the dark mountain, may be left to con

jecture. In conclusion, no man has a right to say

*' I have no time to solve the deep problems of life?no time to make careful weight in the scales of eternal justice, that I may

4 render to Caesar the things that be Caesar's and to God the things that be

God's.1"

PEACE. BY GEORGE W. HOSS, A. M.,

President State Normal School, Emporta, Kansas,

As J sit in my room this quiet afternoon, in this far-off West, there is a sense of peace in all nature about me. There is a smile of peace on' the soft blue sky, and a breath of peace in

the gentle prairie breeze, and a dreamy peacefulness in the

hazy belt that girdles the distant horizon. As these gentle in fluences float in upon the heart, the ejaculation spontaneously arises ;

" O, sweet Peace, why not reign forever!

"

Whereas, Christianity is the only true source of peace, whether personal or national* it has occurred to me to look into the Bible to ascertain how many times the word peace occurs.

find it and its derivatives fully two hundred times. The fol

lowing are some of the beautiful sentiments or doctrines of

peace there proclaimed : " I (the Lord) will make with them a covenant of peace." " The Lord will bless his people with peace." " The mountains shall bring peace to the people." "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and

peace have kissed each other." (These last two passages are

beautifully figurative, yet encouraging and impressive.) ".Have peace one with another." " Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds

of peace." " As much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men."

Says the Saviour, "

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." When prophecy proclaimed the coming Saviour it gave him

as one of his crowning titles, the royal name Prince of Peace.

Says the prophet, his name shall be called " Wonderful,

Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Regarding this as a rhetorical climax, ?he.

crowning attribute in the character of the Saviour is peace. Surely his life and teachings give this attribute great promi nence. He was pre-eminently the teacher of peace, and through his spirit and teaching is to be ushered in the promised reign of peace.

With even these few passages before us, it would seem that no Christian should hesitate to adopt the doctrine of peace. I

suppose that one of the sweetest fruits of Christianity is peace, and I suppose one of the sweetest joys of heaven is peace* An unpeaceful heaven would not be the heaven described in the Bible, nor the heaven which the weary soul longs for.

Rest and peace are essential and cardinal qualities in the Christian's heaven. They should be coveted qualities in his

earth, i. e. in the earth in which he dwells. If I may be allow ed to fix a measure for my brother, I would say, so earnestly ought he to covet this peace, that he will advocate it and labor for it.

I close with the hope that all Christians will, ere long, in the spirit of the Master, unite in the advocacy and promotion of

peace. May the time soon come when we can say, "

Peace on

earth, good will to men." As for me, I am for peace. May the Lord prosper you and the cause, and your excel

lent paper. I read your paper with great interest. Other

papers remain on my table unread, but yours never. My heart is with you and the cause of peace.

Fraternally yours. Geo. W. Hoss.

A Napoleonic Idea.?During the captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena, Capt. Basil Hall of the British Navy, stopped there upon his return from the Loo Choo Islands. The great peace disturber of Europe entered into conversation with him

regarding the manners and customs o? their inhabitants. Capt. H. informed him that they were a very simple people, and had but few wants. For instance they had no foreign*, and but

very little internal commerce ; therefore they had no money in circulation. They had no courts of justice, therefore they had no lawyers. Moreover they had no wars, therefore they had no army or navy. "No wars!" said Napoleon, "no wars!"

Every day you are growing older, and you will often have an

opportunity to show to others what is called humanity. Perhaps this is a hard word for some of you ; but I will tell you what it is. If you ever see or hear of any one suffering from sick ness or want, do not run away from him but do all that you can for him. That is acting with humanity. True humanity means a kind heart followed by kind actions.

It is not enough that we swallow truth ; we must feed upon it, as insects do upon the leaf, till the whole heart be colored by its qualities, and shows its food in every fibre.?Coleridge.

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