ADDRESSE 
 ON 
 WAR 
 
 CHARLES SUMNER 
 
 i
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Dr. ERNEST C. MOORE
 
 ADDEESSES ON WAR 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES SUMNER 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 EDWm D. MEAD 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL UNION 
 GLNN & COMPANY, BOSTON 
 
 1904
 
 COPTRIOHT, 1871, 
 
 By CHARLES SUMNER, 
 
 AND 1882, 
 
 Bt FRANCIS V. BALCH, Executor.
 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction, by Edwin D. Mead . . . . v 
 
 The True Grandeur of Nations .... 1 
 
 The War System of the Commonwealth of Nations 133 
 
 The Duel between France and Germany . . 241 
 
 2150.90
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Charles Sumner began his public life by what 
 he himself called a declaration of war against war. 
 His great oration in Tremont Temple on " The True 
 Grandeur of Nations" marked, his biographer rightly 
 observes, the most important epoch in Sumner's life. 
 " Had he died before this event, his memory would 
 have been only a tradition with the few early friends 
 who survive him. The 4th of July, 1845, gave him 
 a national, and more than a national, fame." Epoch- 
 making in Sumner's own life, we think it may be 
 safely said that no oration which he ever gave has 
 greater intrinsic importance, and perhaps no other 
 will be read so long. Of all pleas made by Ameri- 
 can men for the rule of peace on earth, it is the 
 noblest and the most comprehensive, save Sumner's 
 own later address on " The War System of Nations." 
 There is almost no argument against war which 
 these orations and their successor do not somehow 
 make use of; and the advocate of peace in all the 
 years returns to them, and returns again, for support 
 and inspiration. The bringing together in a single 
 volume, as is now done for the first time, of all of 
 Sumner's three great addresses on war and peace is 
 a distinct public service ; and every philanthropist 
 and every true philo- American will wish the volume 
 the widest currency and influence. 
 
 V
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There was nothing upon which Sumner dwelt with 
 greater emphasis in his first famous oration than 
 upon the cost and waste of war and the incalculable 
 advantage that would result from the diversion of 
 these misapplied resources to purposes of education 
 and the real development and progress of society. 
 Passing from the fearful cost of war itself, he dis- 
 cussed the regular, permanent expense of the war 
 footing, — the preparations for war in time of peace. 
 His survey of the armies and navies and fortifica- 
 tions of Europe is interesting to-day chiefly as re- 
 vealing how startlingly the burden has increased in 
 the fifty years between then and now. In the United 
 States he found that the average annual appropria- 
 tion for military and naval purposes was eighty per 
 cent of the total annual expenses of the government. 
 " Yes, eighty cents in every dollar were applied in 
 this unproductive manner. The remaining twenty 
 cents sufficed to maintain the government in all its 
 branches, executive, legislative, and judicial, the ad- 
 ministration of justice, our relations with foreign 
 nations, the post-office, and all the light-houses, 
 which, in happy, useful contrast with the forts, shed 
 their cheerful signals over the rough waves beating 
 upon our long coast." In the years from the forma- 
 tion of our government, in 1789, down to the time 
 when Sumner spoke, almost twelve times as much 
 was sunk under tlie sanction of the national ofovern- 
 ment in mere peaceful preparatif)ns for Avar as was 
 dedicated l)y the government during the same period 
 to all other i)urposes whatever. Of the militar}'- 
 expenses of tlie United States from that time to this 
 all of us know something.
 
 INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 But " the passage which was most striking at the 
 time," says Sumner's biographer, " according to the 
 testimony of hearers still living, was the one where, 
 treating of the immense waste of war defences, he 
 compared the cost of the Oldo, a ship-of-the-line 
 lying in the harbor, and, on account of its decora- 
 tions, a marked spectacle of the day, with that of 
 Harvard College." He spoke of Harvard's library, 
 the oldest and most valuable in the country, its 
 museums, its schools of law, divinity, and medicine, 
 its body of professors and teachers, man}^ of them 
 known in every part of the globe, and its distin- 
 guished president, Josiah Quincy, who had rendered 
 such high public service in so many fields. " Such," 
 he said, " is Harvard University ; and it appears," 
 he added, " from the last report of the treasurer, 
 that the whole available property of the University, 
 the various accumulations of more than two cen- 
 turies of generosity, amounts " — 1845 was still the 
 day of small things at Harvard — "to i;703,175." 
 
 " Change the scene," said Sumner, " and cast your eyes upon 
 another object. There now swings idly at her moorings in this 
 harbor a ship-of-the-line, the Ohio, carrying ninety guns, finished 
 as late as 1836 at an expense of $547,888, repaired only two 
 years afterwards for $233,012, with an armament which has 
 cost $53,915, making an aggTegate of $834,845 " — 1845 was 
 still the day of small things in battle-ships — "as the actual 
 outlay at this moment for that single ship, more than $100,000 
 beyond all the available wealth of the richest and most ancient 
 seat of learning in the land." 
 
 He continued in that masterly array of compara- 
 tive statistics which is well known and which the 
 reader will study in the following pages. He did
 
 INTUOOUCTION. 
 
 not fail to urge tlie great moral arguments against 
 war ; no one has ever presented them, not only in 
 this early address, but in later ones, more sti'ongly. 
 But the argument that stays with us most influ- 
 entially is that for the generous constructive use of 
 national resources as the means of making destruc- 
 tiveness and war unnecessary and impossible. In 
 the powerful use of this argument Sumner was the 
 great forerunner of Jean de Bloch. In the line of 
 Sumner's thought lies the hope of the world ; and 
 those who think as Sumner thought should, without 
 recourse to generalities, to anything remote in time 
 or place, apply that principle to the situation through 
 which our Anglo-Saxon world has been passing. 
 
 We have spent $300,000,000 in the war with Spain 
 about Cuba. We have spent more than that in the 
 conquest of the Philippines. AVe are in the outer 
 circles of the maelstrom of a policy which means 
 larger armies, larger navies, costlier forts, and more 
 of them, and all the paraphernalia of the Old World 
 militarism which we have prided ourselves on being 
 free from, — with the corresponding burdens of taxa- 
 tion, the devotion to waste and destruction of the 
 immense resources which might otherwise go to 
 development and progress. The man who, seeing 
 this, has no forebodings, is not a student of history. 
 Is this way of spending money a wise way? Is it 
 protective, is it constructive, is it good business, is 
 it common sense, does it pave a good road into the 
 future, is it the economical and promising way to 
 secure the results we claim to aim at, will it make 
 us a truin- and safer democracy, and will it help the 
 world / Was Sunnier riglit, was Longfellow right,
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 or were they not, in claiming that, if half the wealth 
 bestowed on camps, given to maintain armies and 
 navies, were given to redeem the human mind, to 
 educate the human race, there would soon be no 
 need of armies and navies ? 
 
 We have spent $300,000,000 in a war with Spain. 
 Have we spent it well ? Have we done the most 
 that could be done with ^^300,000,000 to accomplish 
 what we claimed to want to accomplish ? Our object 
 in going to war with Spain was to make Cuba free, 
 to make it a better place to live in, to insure it better 
 government, and make its people comfortable and 
 happy. Have we got our money's worth ? Has our 
 way of spending our $300,000,000 been best, or 
 would Sumner's way have been best ? If in the 
 midst of our perplexities half a dozen years ago, the 
 senator who sits in Sumner's seat had addressed 
 words like the following to the Senate and the 
 nation, would they have been foolish or fallacious 
 words ? 
 
 'We are clearly drifting towards a war with Spain in behalf 
 of Cuba. Unless we show wisdom greater than the past has 
 shown, we shall soon be in the midst of war. That war will 
 cost us $300,000,000. Is there not a better way of spending 
 $300,000,000? Is there not a better way of achieving what we 
 aim at, — the freedom, good government, and development of 
 Cuba? I propose that we submit to Cuba and to Spain this 
 offer and request : Let us establish at Havana a university as 
 well equipped as Harvard University, with an endowment of 
 $10,000,000, free to every young man and woman of Cuba, with 
 the best professors who can be secured from America and Spain 
 and England and France and Germany. Let us establish at 
 Santiago and Matanzas and Puerto Principe colleges like Am- 
 herst and Williams, with a total endowment of $10,000,000 ; 
 and in each of the twenty largest towns a high school or
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 academy, at a cost of .f 10,000,000. Let us devote $-20,000,000 
 — §11,000,000 a year for twenty years — to the thorough planting 
 in Cuba of our American common-school system; $10,000,000 
 to the promotion of a system of free public libraries, making 
 books as accessible and common in each Cuban town and 
 village as in Barnstable or Berkshire; and $6,000,000 for the 
 maintenance in each of the six provinces of a newspaper con- 
 ducted by the best men who can be enlisted in the service, 
 bringing all Cuban men and women into touch with all the 
 world, giving them those things which will feed them, and not 
 giving them those things which would poison them. Let us 
 build a Cuban Central Railroad through the whole length of 
 the island, from ^lantua to INIaysi ; and let us devote the bal- 
 ance of $100,000,000 to the scientific organization, by proper 
 bureaus, of Cuban agriculture, industr}', and commerce. Let 
 there be a truce for ten years, till these things are done and 
 begin to show their fruits ; and then let the representatives 
 of the United States and Spain meet at Havana to settle 
 the " Cuban question " as it then exists. This seems to me 
 worth trying. If it succeeds, we should at least have saved 
 $200,000,000 ; and it would be, I think, a kind of success more 
 pregnant with good for Cuba and Spain and America and 
 humanity than the success which we may be celebrating next 
 year or the year after. There are those who will laugh and 
 scoff, and say this thought is all chimerical and fallacious ; but 
 I say that with those who do not think so lies the hope of the 
 world. I say that the kingdom of God can come in this world, 
 that peace and justice and fraternity can come among men, 
 tliat democracy itself has a safe future, only as some elect 
 people, with sublime abandon, in a great opportunity, does this 
 thing, — taking, in this world of undeniable and conflicting 
 risks, the heroic risk, the risk which alone has in it hope for 
 the world and relish of salvation. 
 
 But, it will be urged, this is to make the nation a 
 missionary ; and that is not to be expected. Unhap- 
 pily it is not to be expected ; but the time will come 
 when uotliing else is to be exjjected. The construe-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 tive way instead of the wasteful way will obtain 
 alike in national and international policies, — and in 
 the latter for the sake of the nation's own welfare. 
 The constructive way is in every aspect and in every 
 field the profitable way. 
 
 With vastly greater force than to our war with 
 Spain does this argument apply to our war in the 
 Philippines ; and 1 do not here discuss the aims of 
 our government or the politics of the situation, but 
 merely the question of method. What would the 
 hundreds of millions which we have spent there not 
 have accomplished if it had been applied, lovingly 
 and sympathetically, in simple cooperation with the 
 leaders of the Filipino people, to purposes of construc- 
 tion instead of destruction ? Compare the results 
 of the few millions lately spent in education with all 
 that war has done. Yet — how horrible the satire 
 — all the money spent for schools and roads and all 
 constructive purposes is money which we have forced 
 themselves to pay out of their own scant revenues ; 
 we have been generous and lavish only for slaughter 
 and destruction. 
 
 I shall not push this consideration into the recent 
 war in South Africa and ask how the billion dollars 
 wasted there could have been well spent, spent so as 
 to have advanced the true interests of England and 
 of humanity. The American instances suffice. The 
 consideration should sink deeply into the hearts of 
 all the educated youth of America and all the people 
 of America. If our republic is to be true to itself, 
 if we are to help civilization forward and not back- 
 ward, then the young men of our universities and 
 all those who look at war and national defence and
 
 Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 national grandeur in the old way have got to be 
 born again, — nothing less than that, — baptized with 
 the spirit wherewith Charles Sumner was baptized, 
 and have our eyes opened to see that his way is the 
 only right or sensible or efficient way, and that now 
 we are wasting our substance and defeating our- 
 selves. The revolution in the point of view is as 
 radical as the difference between Ptolemy and Co- 
 pernicus ; but, when we go through it, things fall 
 at once into order, we hnd ourselves in a rational 
 world with right means for right ends, and our old 
 notions of what is wise and prudent and necessary 
 for the defence and upbuilding and influence of the 
 nation instantly dissolve, stamped all as vicious and 
 fallacious. Our thoughts on what it is that makes a 
 nation strong need almost all of them to be turned 
 inside out. Our economics and generosities are all 
 Ptolemaic. We boast of public and private munifi- 
 cences in education and philanthropy. We need to 
 understand that we are yet in the kindergarten of 
 munificence as concerns all positive, constructive, 
 and real things. It would sometimes seem as if, 
 were the devil privileged to organize the world so as 
 to thwart struggling men most effectually, wasting 
 their accumulations and cutting forever the margin 
 of civilization, he would choose precisely what he 
 now sees, — the dominance of false political ideals 
 and of gross unintelligence as to how men and 
 nations should spend their money. If an eleventh 
 commandment were to be added to the decalogue, 
 it should be one addressed to nations, and should 
 be : Thou shalt not waste tliy substance. 
 
 Every war gives new life to that old notion which
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 died so hard, but which is responsible for so much 
 mischief in the world, that patriotism is somehow 
 bound up with war, — the patriotic man, the man 
 who fights or wants to fight for his country. Con- 
 gress, "in a great wave of patriotism," we read, 
 appropriates fifty million dollars for gun-boats and 
 torpedoes. No " wave of patriotism " is reported 
 when Massachusetts appropriates a million dollars 
 for good roads, when New York appropriates five 
 millions for new school-houses, or Chicago ten mill- 
 ions for an exposition, when Boston builds a library, 
 when the Adirondack forests are secured, when the 
 college is endowed, and when good Avages are paid 
 in the factory. There may be exigencies when the 
 appropriation of fifty million dollars or five hundred 
 millions for national defence or for national offence 
 is the duty imposed upon the patriot ; but the man 
 who votes for guns and gun-boats with a glow and 
 an excitement which he does not feel when he has 
 opportunity to help on the great interests of edu- 
 cation, science, art, and industry, may be very sure 
 that his glow is not the honest glow of patriotism, 
 but is very likely the excitement of the tiger and 
 the savage, which still lives on in good society and 
 dies so hard in half-civilized and even civilized men. 
 It happens every day that a council, a legislature, 
 or a congress will buoyantly, without computation, 
 without protest, and without debate, vote the peo- 
 ple's thousands or millions of money for some great 
 waste, some great destruction — new cruisers and 
 new forts — when some poor pittance is grudgingly 
 doled out or grudgingly denied, each dollar pinched 
 and challenged, for the measure of philanthropy,
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION, 
 
 of conservation, of construction, of education, of 
 relief, of encouragement or high emprise, whose 
 generous and bold advancement would do so much 
 to hasten the day when forts and cruisers shall be 
 unnecessary and obsolete. Society is zealous and 
 lavish on its displays and its defences, its dams 
 and sewers and police and armament, and blind and 
 niggardly a thousand times as to the things which 
 affect its fountains and its real vitality, the interests 
 of the discipline and the construction w^hich make 
 protection needless. 
 
 The lifelong position of Charles Sumner upon the 
 subject of armies and navies and forts and wars is 
 to be commended to the educated youth of Amer- 
 ica at this time as a position peculiarly worthy of 
 their adoption, imperatively worthy of their earnest 
 thought. Sumner was not a non-resistant, not a 
 man of "peace at any price." We know how warmly 
 and efficiently, in his place in the Senate, he sup- 
 ported the government in the Civil War ; and we 
 know how otherwise he appealed to force when that 
 appeal was necessary and just. We know how he 
 believed in strong government and hated imbecile 
 police, how he spoke of " the sword of the magis- 
 trate " in the very record of his services for peace. 
 But the great principles of his " True Grandeur of 
 Nations " were the principles of his whole life, from 
 a time long before that oration to the last hour, 
 when he bequeathed a thousand dollars to Harvard 
 University for an annual prize for the best essay 
 on Universal Peace. I do not remember any auto- 
 biographical passage in his writings so impressive 
 as that in which, replying to unfriendly criticism,
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 he gives an account of his devotion to the peace 
 movement. 
 
 "My name," he wrote, "is connected somewhat with two 
 questions, which may be described succinctly as those of peace 
 and slavery. That which earliest enlisted me, and which has 
 always occupied much of my thoughts, is the peace question. 
 AVhen scarcely nine years old, it was my fortune to listen to 
 President Quincy's address before the Peace Society, delivered 
 in the Old South Church. It made a deep and lasting impres- 
 sion on my mind ; and though, as a boy and youth, I surren- 
 dered myself to the illusions of battles and wars, still, as I 
 came to maturit}', I felt too keenly their wickedness and woe. 
 A lecture which I heard from AVilliam Ladd, in the old court- 
 house at Cambridge, shortly after I left college, confirmed 
 these impressions." He tells how he expressed his ripened 
 convictions to his friends, and how, going to Europe, he often 
 dwelt uj^on them there. In Paris, when M. Victor Foucher 
 submitted for his criticism the manuscript of his treatise upon 
 the law of nations, Sumner, observing that he had adopted, 
 among his fundamental principles, that war was recognized as 
 the necessary arbitrament between nations, ventured to discuss 
 this dogma, and, while admitting that it was accepted by every 
 publicist up to that time, suggested to him to be the first to 
 brand it as unchristian and barbarous and to declare that the 
 institution of war, defined and sanctioned by the law of nations 
 as a mode of determining justice between them, was but another 
 form of the ordeal by battle, which was once regarded as a 
 proper mode of determining justice between individuals. Re- 
 turning to Boston after his two yeai's and a half in Europe, he 
 tells of the little meeting of the American Peace Society to 
 which he found his way in the very month of his arrival. " The 
 Rev. Henry Ware was in the chair. I think there were not 
 more than twelve persons present. We met in a small room ' 
 under the Mai'lboro Chapel. On motion of Dr. Gannett, I was 
 placed on the executive committee." He tells of his humble 
 efforts for the cause in the next few years ; and then he comes 
 to the oration on the 4th of July, 1845. " The position taken 
 by me on this occasion has drawn upon me not a little criticism,
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 — perhaps I might use a stronger expression. Convinced of 
 its intrinsic propriety and importance, I have been drawn, on 
 subsequent occasions, by an inevitable necessity, to sustain and 
 fortify it. I hope that I shall always be willing to maintain it." 
 
 Universal peace, the methods by which war may 
 be permanently superseded, — these were ever the 
 burden of his thought and study, of addresses to 
 the public and letters to friends ; and ever the eco- 
 nomic argument is at the front. " I wish our coun- 
 try would cease to whet its tusks," he writes to 
 Doctor Howe in 1843. " Tlie appropriations of the 
 navy last year were nine million dollars. Imagine 
 half — nay, a tithe — of this sum given annually to 
 objects of humanity, education, and literature ! I 
 know of nothing in our government that troubles 
 me more than this thought." To his brother George 
 in 1844 : " I would not vote a dollar for any engine 
 of war. One war-steamer costs more than all the 
 endowments of Harvard College. Nations keep 
 standing armies and Paixhan guns — sharpen their 
 tusks — that they may be prepared for war. Far 
 better to be always prepared for peace." Again : 
 " What a boon to France, if her half million of sol- 
 diery were devoted to the building of railways and 
 other internal improvements, instead of passing the 
 day in carrying superfluous muskets ! What a boon 
 to Paris, if the immense sums absorbed in her forti- 
 fications were devoted to institutions of benevolence! 
 She has more to fear from the poverty and wretch- 
 edness of her people than from any foreign foe." 
 No crime was to him so great as that of the country 
 which " entered into war for tlie sordid purpose of 
 securing a few more acres of land." No letter that
 
 INTRODUCTION. XVli 
 
 came to him among the many drawn out by " The 
 True Grandeur of Nations " was more welcome thq,n 
 that from Theodore Parker, — his first letter to 
 Sumner, the beginning of their friendship, — defend- 
 ing him from the attacks of " men of low morals, 
 who can only swear by their party and live only in 
 public opinion," and exclaiming: "The Church and 
 State are both ready to engage in war, however 
 unjust, if a little territory can be added to the 
 national domain thereby. The great maxims of 
 Christianity — the very words of Christ — are almost 
 wholly forgotten." Full of faith in the republic, 
 confident in the influence its institutions were des- 
 tined to exert over the ancient establishments of 
 Europe, he prayed "that a race of men may be 
 reared among us competent to understand the des- 
 tinies of the country, to abjure war, and to give 
 extension and influence to our institutions by cul- 
 tivating the arts of peace, by honesty, and by dig- 
 nity of life and character." In the cause of peace 
 lay to him the hope of the world. " It is destined," 
 he said, " to a triumph much earlier than many 
 imagine. It is so necessary to meet the financial 
 embarrassments of Europe and the humane aspira- 
 tions of the age, that it must succeed. Let it be 
 presented carefully and clearly, let the incalculable 
 good it has in store be unfolded, and people must 
 feel its practicability. ... I have full faith in a 
 coming era of humanity ; but I believe it is to be 
 brought about by removing existing evils, by edu- 
 cation, and especially by removing the great evil 
 and expense of war preparations or the war system. 
 If the friends of progress in Europe would aim at
 
 Xvill INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the armies and navies, direct all their energies at 
 these monster evils, all else that can reasonably be 
 desired will soon follow. AVhy not sound the idea 
 in the ears of Europe ? " It was to his brother, then 
 in Europe, that he wrote, in 1849. His call was 
 heard, fifty years afterward, by Jean de Bloch and 
 the Czar of Russia. 
 
 In 1849, four years after the oration on " The 
 True Grandeur of Nations," he delivered an address 
 on " Tlie Abolition of the War System in the Com- 
 monwealth of Nations," advocating instead of the 
 arbitrament of arms a Congress of Nations with a 
 high court of judicature or arbitration. In many 
 respects this address is stronger than the earlier one. 
 No more powerful arraignment of the war system 
 exists in brief compass. Its survey of the history 
 of the peace movement shows the breadth of Sum- 
 ner's knowledge ; and its use of statistics in the 
 economic argument is masterly and most impressive. 
 
 The next j^'ear, 1850, as Chairman of the United 
 States Committee of the International Peace Con- 
 gress, which had held its sessions in Paris in 1849 
 under the presidency of Victor Hugo, Sumner issued 
 an address to the people of the United States, 
 with a view to securing a proper representation at 
 the next Congress, at Frankfort. This address was 
 so important an expression of Sumner's views that 
 it is here given entire. 
 
 " The month of August last witnessed at Paris a Congress 
 or Convention of persons from various countries, to consider 
 what could l)e done to promote the sacred cause of Universal 
 Peace. France, Germany, Belgium, England, and the United 
 States were represented by large numbers of men eminent in 
 business, politics, literature, religion, and philanthropy. The
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 Catholic Archbishop of Paris and the eloquent Protestant 
 preacher, M. Athanase Coquerel ; Michel Chevalier, Horace 
 Say, and Frederic Bastiat, distinguished political economists ; 
 fimile de Girardin, the most important political editor of 
 France ; Victor Hugo, illustrious in literature ; Lamartine, 
 whose glory it is to have turned the recent French Revolution, 
 at its beginning, into the path of peace ; and Richard Cobden, 
 the world-renowned British statesman, the unapproached model 
 of an earnest, humane, and practical reformer, — all these gave 
 to this august assembly the sanction of their presence or appro- 
 bation. Victor Hugo, on taking the chair as President, in an 
 address of persuasive eloquence, shed upon the occasion the 
 illumination of his genius ; while Mr. Cobden, participating 
 in all the proceedings, impressed upon them his characteristic 
 common sense. 
 
 " The Congress adopted, with entire unanimity, a series of 
 resolutions, asserting the duty of governments to submit all 
 differences between them to Arbitration, and to respect the 
 decisions of the Arbitrators ; also asserting the necessity of a 
 general and simultaneous disarming, not only as a means of 
 reducing the expenditure absorbed by armies and navies, but 
 also of removing a permanent cause of disquietude and irrita- 
 tion. The Congress condemned all loans and taxes for wars of 
 ambition or conquest. It earnestly recommended the friends 
 of Peace to prepare public opinion, in their respective countries, 
 for the formation of a Congress of Nations, to revise the exist- 
 ing International Law and to constitute a High Tribunal for 
 the decision of controversies among nations. In support of 
 these objects, the Congress solemnly invoked the representa- 
 tives of the press, so potent to diifuse truth, and also all minis- 
 ters of religion, whose holy office it is to encourage good-will 
 among men. 
 
 " The work thus begun has been continued since. In Eng- 
 land and the United States large public meetings have wel- 
 comed the returning delegates. Men have been touched by 
 the grandeur of the cause. Not in the aspirations of religion 
 and benevolence only, but in the general heart and mind, has 
 it found reception, filling all who embrace it with new confi- 
 dence in the triumph of Christian truth.
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Another Congress or Convention has been called to meet 
 at Frankfort-on-the-Main, in the month of August next, to do 
 ■what is possible, by mutual counsels and encouragement, to 
 influence public opinion, and to advance still further the cause 
 which has been so well commended by the Congress at Paris. 
 To promote the objects of this Congress generally, and par- 
 ticularly to secure the attendance of a delegation from the 
 United States, in number and character not unworthy of the 
 occasion, a Committee, representing friends of Peace throughout 
 the countrj'', various in opinion, has been appointed, under the 
 name of " Peace Congress Committee for the United States." 
 This Committee now appeal to thek fellow-citizens for coop- 
 eration in this work. The Committee hope, in the first place, 
 to interest our Government at Washington in the objects con- 
 templated by the proposed Congress. As this can be done 
 only through the prompting of the people, they recommend 
 petitions like the following : — 
 
 "Petitiox for Peace 
 
 " To the Honorable Senate (or H. of R.) of the United States. 
 " The undersigned, inhabitants (or citizens, or legal voters) 
 
 of , in the State of , deploring the manifold evils of 
 
 War, and believing it possible to supersede its alleged necessity, 
 as an Arbiter of Justice among Nations, by the timely adoption 
 of wise and feasible substitutes, respectfully request your hon- 
 orable body to take such action as you may deem best in favor 
 of Stipulated Arbitration, or a Congress of Nations, for the 
 accomplishment of this most desirable end. 
 
 " As the number of delegates to the proposed Congress is 
 not limited, the Committee hope to see States, Congressional 
 Districts, Towns, and other bodies represented. Every dele- 
 gate will be a link between the community, large or small, 
 from which he comes and the cause of Universal Peace. The 
 Committee recommend a State Convention in each State to 
 choose a State Committee, and also two delegates at large from 
 the State ; also a Convention in each Congressional District to 
 choose a delegate; also public meetings in towns and other 
 smaller localities to explain the objects of the Congress and to
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 choose local delegates. The Committee also recommend to the 
 religious and literary bodies of the country, as churches and 
 colleges, to send delegates to the Congress. 
 
 "In making this appeal, the Committee desire to impress 
 upon their fellow-citizens the practical character of the present 
 movement. Instead of the custom or institution of War, now 
 recognized by International Law, as the Arbiter of Justice 
 between Nations, they propose, by the consent of nations, to 
 substitute a System of Arbitration, or a permanent Congress 
 of Nations. AVith this change will necessarily follow a general 
 disarming down to that degree of force required for internal 
 police. The barbarous and incongruous War System, which 
 now encases our Christian civilization as with a cumbrous coat 
 of mail, will be destroyed. The enormous means thus released 
 from destructive industry and purposes of hate will be appro- 
 priated to productive industry and purposes of beneficence. 
 To help this consummation who will not labor ? The people 
 in every part of the country, East and West, North and South, 
 of all political parties and all religious sects, are now invited 
 to join in this endeavor. So doing, while confident of the 
 blessing of God, they will become fellow-laborers of wise and 
 good men in other lands, and will secure to themselves the 
 inexpressible satisfaction of aiding the advent of that happy 
 day when Peace shall be organized among nations." 
 
 This appeal, in its general features, our people 
 should regard as addressed to them to-day. There 
 has been a distinct falling-off in American attention 
 to the International Peace Congresses. At the Paris 
 Congress of 1849, of which Sumner speaks, a score of 
 American delegates were in attendance. At recent 
 Congresses there have not been half so many. Our 
 churches, universities, and scientific and political 
 societies should take this matter up with energy and 
 see to it that our representation and influence in the 
 coming Congresses be strong and worthy. There is 
 much talk nowadays about America as a " world
 
 XXll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 power." There is no place where she can make 
 herself a greater power for the real welfare of the 
 world than in these International Peace Congresses. 
 In 1870 Sumner was still enforcing the truths 
 which he enforced in 1845. He gave in many- 
 places, in the autumn of that year, a lecture on the 
 war between France and Prussia, the third address 
 printed in the present volume, pointing as its moral 
 that the war sj'stem should be discarded and the 
 nations should disarm themselves. In 1872 he in- 
 troduced in the Senate the following resolutions 
 concerning International Arbitration ; and he pre- 
 sented them once more a few days before his death : 
 
 " Whereas by International Law and existing custom War 
 is recognized as a form of Trial for the determination of 
 differences between nations; and 
 
 " Whereas for generations good men have protested against 
 the irrational character of this arbitrament, where foi'ce instead 
 of justice prevails, and have anxiously sought for a substitute 
 in the nature of a judicial tribunal, all of which was expressed 
 by Franklin in his exclamation, ' When will mankind be con- 
 vinced that all wars are follies, very expensive and very mis- 
 chievous, and agree to settle their differences by Arbitration?' 
 and 
 
 "Whereas war once prevailed in the determination of differ- 
 ences between individuals, between cities, between counties, 
 and between provinces, being recognized in all these cases as 
 the arbiter of justice, but at last yielded to a judicial tribunal, 
 and now, in the progress of civilization, the time has come for 
 the extension of this humane principle to nations, so that their 
 differences may be taken from the arbitrament of war, and, 
 in conformity with these examples, submitted to a judicial 
 tribunal ; and 
 
 "Whereas Arbitration has been formally recognized as a 
 substitute for war in tlie detf-rmination of differences between 
 nations, being especially recommended by the Congress of
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXlll 
 
 Paris, where were assembled the representatives of England, 
 France, Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sardinia, and Turkey, and 
 afterward adopted by the United States in formal treaty with 
 Great Britain for the determination of differences arising from 
 depredations of British cruisers, and also from opposing claims 
 with regard to the San Juan boundary ; and 
 
 " Whereas it becomes important to consider and settle the 
 true character of this beneficent tribunal, thus commended and 
 adopted, so that its authority and completeness as a substitute 
 for war may not be impaired, but strengthened and upheld, to 
 the end that civilization may be advanced and war be limited 
 in its sphere : Therefore, 
 
 " 1. Resolved, That in the determination of international 
 differences Arbitration should become a substitute for war in 
 reality as in name, and therefore coextensive with war in juris- 
 diction, so that any question or grievance which might be the 
 occasion of war or of misunderstanding between nations should 
 be considered by this tribunal. 
 
 "2. Resolved, That any withdrawal from a treaty recogniz- 
 ing Arbitration, or any refusal to abide the judgment of the 
 accepted tribunal, or any interposition of technicalities to 
 limit the proceedings, is to this extent a disparagement of the 
 tribunal as a substitute for war, and therefore hostile to 
 civilization. 
 
 " 3. Resolved, That the United States, having at heart the 
 cause of peace everywhere, and hoping to help its permanent 
 establishment between nations, hereby recommend the adop- 
 tion of Arbitration as a just and practical method for the deter- 
 mination of international differences, to be maintained sincerely 
 and in good faith, so that war may cease to be regarded as a 
 proper form of trial between nations." 
 
 In 1873 Sumner was invited to be one of the 
 speakers at the public meeting held at Steinway 
 Hall, New York, to stimulate a war spirit against 
 Spain at the time of the seizure of the Virginius, — - 
 a meeting at which Mr. Evarts presided, and made 
 an inflammatory speech ; but he declined, and in-
 
 XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Stead sent a letter of a spirit directly opposite to 
 tliat of the meeting, in which he insisted on waiting 
 for evidence and on considerate treatment of the 
 Spanish republic, and discountenanced the bellige- 
 rent preparations then under way in our navy yards, 
 wliieli involved burdensome expenditure and encour- 
 aged an unhealthy war fever. In 1873, also, in the 
 last summer of his life, he sent a letter of congratu- 
 lation to Henry Richard, who had succeeded in 
 carrying through the House of Commons a motion 
 in favor of international arbitration. " It marks an 
 epoch in a great cause. There is no question so 
 supremely practical ; for it concerns not merely one 
 nation, but every nation, and even its discussion 
 promises to diminish the terrible chances of war. 
 Its triumph would be the greatest reform of his- 
 tory." At the same time he wrote to his English 
 friend, Robert Ingham : — 
 
 I have been cheered by the vote of the House of Commons 
 on Mr. Richard's motion. ... It cannot fail to exert a pro- 
 digious influence. I know no reform which promises such 
 universal good as the release of any considerable portion of 
 present war expenditures or expenditure on armaments, so that 
 they can be applied to purposes of civilization. It is absurd to 
 call this Utopian. . . . Here is an open and incessant waste. 
 Why not stop it? Here is something which keeps humau 
 thoughts on bloodshed, and rears men to slay each other. Why 
 not turn their thoughts to things which contribute to humaii 
 happiness? Mr. Ricliard has done a great work, and so has 
 the House of Commons. . . . Such a presentation of tlie case 
 must have an effect on the continent as well as in England, 
 teaching reason. I shall not live to see the great cause tri- 
 umph. I often wish I had been born a few years later, and 
 one reason is because I long to witness the harmony of nations, 
 which I am sure is near. When an evil so great is recognized 
 and discussed, the remedy nmst be at hand.
 
 IXTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 But it was to Harvard University tliat Charles 
 Sumner addressed his first striking message and his 
 hist, in behalf of the rule of peace. The first mes- 
 sage was through Henry Ware. Mr. Ware, a gradu- 
 ate of Harvard of the Class of 1843, writes : — 
 
 I went with Professor Felton one day, just after our Com- 
 mencement parts had been assigned, into Sumner's office ; and 
 he, kindly asking what I had got, and being told that I had to 
 do a Latin oration, asked me what subject I had chosen. I 
 replied that I had not yet found a text to my mind. " Then," 
 said he, "I will give you one, — De imperio pads: talk about 
 that." And, says ]\Ir. Ware, I did. 
 
 His last message was through his will, the most 
 memorable provision of which was as follows : — 
 
 I bequeath to the President and Fellows of Harvard College 
 one thousand dollars in trust, for an annual prize for the best 
 dissertation by any student of the College, or any of its schools, 
 undergraduate or graduate, on Universal Peace and the methods 
 by which war may be permanently superseded. I do this in 
 the hope of drawing the attention of students to the practica- 
 bility of organizing peace among nations, which I sincerely 
 believe may be done. I cannot doubt that the same modes of 
 decision which now prevail between individuals, between towns, 
 and between smaller communities, may be extended to nations. 
 
 Who can doubt that more and more, as days go 
 on, the attention of the students of Harvard Uni- 
 versity will be drawn to Sumner's last solemn call 
 and charge, — that this " most ancient, most inter- 
 esting, and most important seat of learning in the 
 land," to which in the sweep of his great oration he 
 could not allude without pausing to pay his tribute 
 of filial affection, will more and more become a 
 centre where educated and aspiring youth, with 
 their hearts kindled by Sumner's gospel and with 
 great visions of a better future, will provoke each
 
 XXvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 other to high argument, and in times of war prepare 
 for peace ? Upon each student's desk shall lie, as a 
 book of each student's Bible, the great orations of 
 the greatest son of Harvard who in the memory of 
 men now living has gone forth from Harvard's halls 
 into the councils of the nation. And no page will 
 be pondered more than that which sets fortli how, 
 if we would transfer to the offices of education and 
 development the millions now appropriated so lav- 
 ishly for destruction and defence, the need of de- 
 struction and defence would quickly cease. 
 
 With two causes the name of the great Harvard 
 senator is identified, — the cause of freedom and the 
 cause of peace. From the wall of the memorial hall 
 which Harvard built to commemorate the services 
 of her sons in the cause of freedom, Sumner's face 
 looks down upon the hundreds of students gathering 
 daily in that most holy place, and upon the hun- 
 dreds of alumni who, " in the memories of a youth 
 nurtured in her classic retreats," come up to the 
 ancient University as each Commencement week 
 comes round. As that face looks down on them in 
 the years to come, may it not speak chiefly to them 
 of the past, of the victory of the cause of freedom, 
 whose fruits we enjoy to-day, but of the future, the 
 triumph, which he so longed to live to see and which 
 the educated youth of America can do so much to 
 hasten, of the cause of universal peace ! Ever and 
 ever may Harvard consider wherein the true gran- 
 deur of nations lies, and ever and ever hear the first 
 and last message of her great statesman, giving a 
 new burden and new power to her great singers 
 gospel : —
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXVIl 
 
 " Were half the power that fills the world with terror, 
 Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts, 
 Given to redeem the human mind from error, 
 There were no need of arsenals or forts." 
 
 May the message of Sumner to Harvard be heard 
 equally by every university and every school in the 
 broad land ! for it is in the educated youth of the 
 country that the hope of the republic lies. In this 
 day of generous benefactions, it would be well if 
 some rich man who loves his country and mankind 
 would endow every college in America as Sumner 
 endowed Harvard, and decree that the annual prizes 
 thus provided everywhere should be called the Sum- 
 ner prizes. But the thing of importance is that all 
 our people, young and old, should ponder ever and 
 ever the great prophet's words, and consecrate them- 
 selves ever anew to the high duty of making the 
 republic the greatest of world powers in the work 
 of their fulfilment. 
 
 EDWIN D. MEAD. 
 
 Boston, 1902.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 An Oration before the Authorities of the City 
 OF Boston, July 4, 1845. 
 
 0, yet a nobler task awaits thy hand, 
 
 (For what can war but endless war still breed?) 
 
 Till truth and right from violence be freed. 
 
 Milton, Sonnet to Fairfax.
 
 Pax optima remm 
 Quas homini novisse datum est; pax una triumphis 
 Innumeris potior; pax custodire salutem 
 Et cives sequare potens. 
 
 SiLius Italicus, Puttica, Lib. XI. vv. 592 - 595. 
 
 Sed majoris est gloriae ipsa bella verho orn'dere quam homines ferro, 
 et acquirere vel obtinere pacem pace, non bcUo. — Augustini Epislo/a 
 CCLXii., ad Darium Comitem. 
 
 Certainly, if all who look upon themselves as men, not so much from 
 the shape of their bodies as because they are endowed with reason, would 
 listen awhile unto Christ's wholesome and peaceable decrees, and not, 
 puffed up with arrogance and conceit, rather believe their own o])inions 
 than his admonitions, the whole world long ago (turning the use of 
 iron into milder works) should have lived in most quiet tranquillity, and 
 have met together in a firm and indissoluble league of most safe con- 
 cord. — Arnobius Afer, Adoersus Gentes, Lib. I. c. 6. 
 
 And so for the first time [three hundred years after the Christian era] 
 the meek and peaceful Jesus became a God of Battle, and the cross, the 
 holy sign of Christian redemption, a banner of bloody strife. This ir- 
 reconcilable incongruity between the symbol of universal peace and the 
 horrors of war, in my judgment, is conclusive against the miraculous 
 or supernatural character of the transaction [the vision of Constantine). 
 
 — I was agreeably surprised to find that Mosheim concurred in these 
 sentiments, for which I will readily encounter the charge of Quakerism. 
 
 — Mi LMAN, ^/story of Christ ia nit I/, Book III. chap. 1. 
 
 When you see fighting, be peaceable ; for a peaceable disposition shuts 
 the door of contention. Oppose kindness to perverseness ; the sharp 
 sword will not cut soft silk. By using sweet words and gentleness you 
 may lead an elephant with a hair. — Saadi, The Gulistan, translated by 
 Francis Glad\vin, Chap. III. Tale 28. 
 
 Si Ton vous disait que tons les chats d'un grand pays se sont assem- 
 bles par milliers dans une plaine, et qu'apres avoir miaule' tout leur 
 saoul, ils se sont jetes avec fureur les uns sur les autres, et ont joue en- 
 semble de la dent et de la griffe, que de cette melee il est demeure' de 
 part et d'autre neuf a dix mille chats sur la place, qui ont infecte I'air 
 a dix lieues de la par leur puanteur, ne diriez-vous pas, " Voili le plus 
 abominable sabbat dont on ait jamais oui parler " ? Et si les loups 
 en faisaient de meme, quels hurlements ! quelle boucherie ! Et si les uns 
 ou les autres vous disaient qii'ils aiment la gloire, . . . . ne ririez-vous 
 pas de tout votre cceur de I'inge'nuite de ces pauvres betes? — La 
 BRUYfeRE, Les Caracteres : Des Jugements.
 
 He was disposed to dissent from the maxim, which had of late years 
 received very general assent, that the best security for the continuance 
 of peace was to be pre])ared for war. That was a maxim which might 
 have been applied to the nations of antiquity, and to society in a com- 
 paratively barbarous and uncivilized state Men, when they adopted 
 
 such a maxim, and made large preparations in time of peace that would 
 be sufficient in time of war, were apt to be influenced by the desire to 
 put their efficiency to the test, that all their great preparations and the 
 result of their toil and expense might not be tlirown away. — Earl of 
 Aberdeen, Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, July 20, 1849. 
 
 Bellum para, si pacem velis, was a maxim regarded by many as con- 
 taining an incontestable truth. It was one, in his o|)inion, to be received 
 
 with great caution, and admitting of much qualification We 
 
 should best consult the true interests of the country by husbanding our 
 resources in a time of peace, and, instead of a lavish exjjcnditure on all 
 the means of defence, by j)lacii)g some trust in the latent and dormant 
 energies of the nation. — Sir Robert Peel, Hansard's Parltamentary 
 Debater, March 12, 1850. 
 
 Let us terminate this disastrous system of rival expenditure, and mu- 
 tually agree, with no hypocrisy, but in a manner and under circum- 
 stances which can admit of no doubt, — by a reduction of armaments, — 
 that peace is really our policy. — Mr. D'Israeli, Hansard's Parlia- 
 mentary Debates, July 21, 1859. 
 
 All high titles of honor come hitherto from fighting. Your Herzog 
 (Duke, Dux) is Leader of Armies; your Earl (Jarl) is Strong Man; 
 your Marshal, Cavalry Horseshoer A Millennium, or Reign of Peace 
 and Wisdom, having from of old been prophesied, and becoming now 
 daily more and more indubitable, may it not be apprehended that such 
 fighting titles will cease to be palatable, and new and higher need to 
 be devLsed ' — Carlyle, Sartor liesurtus, Book III. chap. 7. 
 
 After the memorable conflict of June, 1848, in which, as Chefde Ba- 
 taillon, he | Ary Scheffer] had shown a capacity for military conduct not 
 less remarked than his cool courage. General Changarnier, then com- 
 manding the National Guard of Paris, tendered to Schcffer's accept- 
 ance the cross of Commandcur. IIo replied, " Had this honorable dis- 
 tinction been offered to me in my quality of Artist, and as a recognition 
 of the merit of my works, I should receive it with deference and sat- 
 isfaction. But to carry about me a decoration reminding me only 
 of the horrors of civil war is what I cannot consent to do." — Ary 
 ScuEFFER, Lije by Airs. (Jrota, Appendix.
 
 ORATION. 
 
 IN accordance with uninterrupted usage, on this Sab- 
 bath of the Nation, we have put aside our daily 
 cares, and seized a respite from the never-ending toils 
 of life, to meet in gladness and congratulation, mindful 
 of the blessings transmitted from the Past, mindful also, 
 I trust, of our duties to the Present and the Future. 
 
 All hearts turn first to the Fathers of the Republic 
 Their venerable forms rise before us, in the procession 
 of successive generations. They come from the frozen 
 rock of Plymouth, from the wasted bands of Paleigh, 
 from the heavenly companionship of Penn, from the 
 anxious councils of the Revolution, — from all those 
 fields of sacrifice, where, in obedience to the spirit of 
 their age, they sealed their devotion to duty with their 
 blood. They say to us, their children, " Cease to vaunt 
 what you do, and what has been done for you. Learn 
 to w\alk meekly and to think humbly. Cultivate habits 
 of self-sacrifice. Never aim at what is not right, per- 
 suaded that without this every possession and all knowl- 
 edge will become an evil and a shame. And may these 
 words of ours be ever in your minds ! Strive to increase 
 the inheritance we have bequeathed to you, — bearing in 
 mind always, that, if we excel you in virtue, such a vic- 
 
 5
 
 6 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 tory -will be to us a mortification, while defeat will bring 
 happiness. In tliis way you may conquer us. Xotli- 
 iiig is more shameful for a man than a claim to esteem, 
 not on his own merits, but on the fame of his ancestors. 
 The glory of the fathers is doubtless to their children a 
 most precious treasure; but to enjoy it without trans- 
 mission to the next generation, and without addition, is 
 the extreme of ignominy. Following these counsels, 
 when your days on earth are finished, you will come 
 to join us, and we shall receive you as friend receives 
 friend ; but if you neglect our words, expect no happy 
 greeting from us." ^ 
 
 Honor to the memory of our fathers ! May the turf 
 lie liglitly on their sacred graves ! Not in words only, 
 but in deeds also, let us testify our reverence for their 
 name, imitating what in them was lofty, pure, and 
 good, learning from them to bear hardship and priva- 
 tion. May we, who now reaj) in strength what they 
 sowed in weakness, augment the inheritance we have 
 received ! To this end, we must not fold our hands in 
 slumber, nor abide content with the past. To each 
 generation is appointed its peculiar task ; nor does the 
 heart which responds to the call of duty find rest ex- 
 cept in the grave. 
 
 Be ours the task now in the order of Providence cast 
 upon us. And what is this duty ? What can we do to 
 make our coming welcome to our fathers in the skies, 
 and draw to our memory hereafter the homage of a 
 grateful posterity ? How add to the inheritance re- 
 ceived ? The answer must interest all, particularly on 
 
 1 This is borrowed almost literally from the words attributed by Plato 
 to the Fathers of Athens, in the beautiful funeral discourse of the Me- 
 nexenus.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 7 
 
 this festival, when we celebrate the Nativity of the Re- 
 ' public. It well becomes the patriot citizen, on this 
 anniversary, to consider the national character, and how 
 it may be advanced, — as the good man dedicates his 
 birthday to meditation on his life, and to resolutions 
 of improvement. Avoiding, then, all exultation in the 
 abounding prosperity of the land, and in that free- 
 dom whose influence is widening to the uttermost cir- 
 cles of the earth, I would turn attention to the char- 
 acter of our country, and humbly endeavor to learn 
 what must be done that the Republic may best secure 
 the welfare of the people committed to its care, — that 
 it may perform its part in the world's history, — that it 
 may fvdfil the aspirations of generous hearts, — and, 
 practising that righteousness which exalteth a nation, 
 attain to the elevation of True Grandeur. 
 
 With this aim, and believing that I can in no other 
 way so fitly fulfil the trust reposed in me to-day, I pur- 
 pose to consider what, in our age, are the true objects of 
 national ambition, — lohat is truly National Honor, 
 National Glory, — what IS THE true grandeur of 
 NATIONS. T would not depart from the modesty that 
 becomes me, yet I am not without hope that I may do 
 something to rescue these terms, now so powerful over 
 the minds of men, from mistaken objects, especially 
 from deeds of war, and the extension of empire, that 
 they may be applied to works of justice and benefi- 
 cence, which are better than war or empire. 
 
 The subject may be novel, on an occasion like the 
 present ; but it is comprehensive, and of transcendent 
 importance. It raises us to the contemplation of things 
 not temporary or local, but belonging to all ages and
 
 8 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 countries, — things lofty as Truth, universal as Hu- 
 manity. Nay, more ; it practically concerns the gen- , 
 eral welfare, not only of our own cherished Repub- 
 lic, but of the whole Federation of Nations. It has 
 an uraent interest from transactions in which we are 
 now imhappily involved. By an act of unjust legis- 
 lation, extending our power over Texas, peace with 
 Mexico is endangered, — wliile, by petulant assertion 
 of a disputed claim to a remote territory beyond the 
 Kocky Mountains, ancient fires of hostile strife are 
 kindled anew on the hearth of our mother country. 
 Mexico and England both avow the determination to 
 vindicate what is called the National Honor ; and our 
 Government calmly contemplates the dread Ai'bitra- 
 ment of "War, provided it cannot obtain what is called 
 an honorable peace. 
 
 Far from our nation and our age be the sin and 
 shame of contests hateful in the sight of God and all 
 good men, having their origin in no righteous sentiment, 
 no true love of country, no generous thirst for fame, 
 " that last infirmity of noble mind," but springing mani- 
 festly from an ignorant and ignoble passion for new ter- 
 ritory, strengthened, in our case, in a republic whose 
 star is Liberty, by unnatural desire to add new links 
 in chains destined yet to fall from the limbs of the 
 unhappy slave ! In such contests God has no attribute 
 whicli can join with us. Who believes that the na- 
 tional honor would be promoted by a war with IMexico 
 or a war with England ? What just man would sacri- 
 fice a single human life to bring under our rule both 
 Texas and Oregon ? An ancient Roman, ignorant of 
 Christian truth, touched only l)y the relation of fellow- 
 countryman, and not of fellow-man, said, as he turned
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 9 
 
 aside from a career of Asiatic conquest, that he would 
 rather save the life of a single citizen than win to his 
 power all the dominions of Mithridates.^ 
 
 A war with Mexico would be mean and cowardly; 
 with England it would be bold at least, though parrici- 
 dal. The heart sickens at the murderous attack upon 
 an enemy distracted by civil feud, weak at home, impo- 
 tent abroad ; but it recoils in horror from the deadly shock 
 between children of a common ancestry, speaking the 
 same language, soothed in infancy by the same words 
 of love and tenderness, and hardened into vigorous man- 
 hood under the bracing influence of institutions instinct 
 with the same vital breath of freedom. The Eoman his- 
 torian has aptly pictured this unnatural combat. Earely 
 do words of the past so justly describe the present. Cu- 
 raiii acuebat, quod advcrsus Latinos bellandum erat, lin- 
 gua, moribus, armoruTn ganere, institutis ante omnia 
 militaribus congruentes : milites militibus, centurioni- 
 bits ccnturioncs, tribuni tribunis compares collegceque, 
 iisdcm proisidiis, swpc iisdcni manipidis permixti f lie- 
 rant? 
 
 Can there be in our age any peace that is not hon- 
 orable, any war that is not dishonorable ? The true 
 honor of a nation is conspicuous only in deeds of 
 justice and beneficence, securing and advancing hu- 
 man happiness. In the clear eye of^ that Christian 
 judgment which must yet prevail, vain are the victo- 
 ries of War, infamous its spoils. He is the benefactor, 
 ami worthy of honor, wTio~~carries com_fort to wretched- 
 ness, dries the tear of sorrow, relieves the unfortu- 
 nate, feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, does jus- 
 tice, enlightens the ignorant, unfastens the fetters of 
 
 1 Plutarch, Luadlns, Cnp. VIII. 2 Li%7'. Hist., Lib. VIII. c. 6.
 
 10 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 the slave, and finally, by virtuous genius, in art, lit- 
 erature, science, enlivens and exalts the hours of life, 
 or, by generous example, inspires a love for God and 
 man. This is the Christian hero ; this is the man of 
 honor in a Christian land. He is no benefactor, nor 
 worthy of honor, whatever his worldly renown, whose 
 life is absorbed in feats of brute force, who renounces 
 the great law of Christian brotherhood, whose vocation 
 is blood. Well may the modern poet exclaim, "The 
 world knows nothing of its greatest men ! " — for thus 
 far it has chiefly honored the violent brood of Battle, 
 armed men springing up from the dragon's teeth sown 
 by Hate, and cared little for the truly good men, chil- 
 dren of Love, guiltless of their country's blood, whose 
 steps on earth are noiseless as an angel's wing. 
 
 It will not be disguised that tliis standard diflcrs from 
 that of the world even in our day. Tlie voice of man 
 is yet given to martial praise, and the honors of victory 
 are chanted even by the lips of woman. The mother, 
 rocking the infimt on her knee, stamps the images of 
 "War upon his tender mind, at that age more im- 
 pressible than wax ; she nurses his slumber with its 
 music, pleases his waking hours with its stories, and 
 selects for his playtliings the plume and the sword. 
 From the chikl is formed the man ; and who can weigh 
 the influence of a mother's spirit on the o])inions of his 
 life ? The mind which trains the child is like a liand 
 at the end of a long lever ; a gentle effort suffices to 
 heave the enormous weight of succeeding years. As the 
 boy advances to youth, he is fed like Achilles, not on 
 honey and milk only, but on bears' marrow and lions' 
 hearts. He draws tlie nutriment of his soul from a lit- 
 erature whose beautiful fields are moistened by human
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 11 
 
 blood. Fain would I offer my tribute to tbe Father of 
 Poetry, standing with harp of immortal melody on the 
 misty mountain-top of distant Antiquity, — to those 
 stories of courage and sacrifice which emblazon the an- 
 nals of Greece and Kome, — to the fulminations of De- 
 mosthenes and the splendors of Tully, — to the sweet 
 verse of Virgil and the poetic prose of Livy ; fain would 
 I offer my tribute to the new Hterature, which shot up 
 in modern times as a vigorous forest from the burnt site 
 of ancient woods, — to the passionate song of the Trou- 
 badour in France and the Minnesinger in Germany, — 
 to the thrilling ballad of Spain and the delicate music 
 of the Italian lyre : but from all these has breathed the 
 breath of War, that has swept the heart-strings of men 
 in all the thronging generations. 
 
 And when the youth becomes a man, his country in- 
 vites his service in war, and holds before his bewildered 
 imagination the prizes of worldly honor. For him the 
 pen of the historian and the verse of the jDoet. His 
 soul is taught to swell at the thought that he, too, is a 
 soldier, — that his name shall be entered on the list of 
 those who have borne arms for their country ; and per- 
 haps he dreams that he, too, may sleep, like the Great 
 Captain of Spain, with a hundred trophies over his 
 grave. The law of the land tlirows its sanction over 
 this frenzy. The contagion spreads beyond those sub- 
 ject to positive obligation. Peaceful citizens volunteer 
 to appear as soldiers, and affect, in dress, arms, and de- 
 portment, wliat is called the " pride, pomp, and circum- 
 stance of glorious war." The ear-piercing fife has to- 
 day filled our streets, and we have come to this churcli, 
 on this National Sabbath, by the thump of drum and 
 with the parade of bristling bayonets.
 
 12 THE TRUE GRANDEUli OF NATIONS. 
 
 It is not strange, then, that the Spirit of War still 
 finds a home among us, nor that its honors continue to 
 be regarded. All this may seem to illustrate the bitter 
 philosophy of Hobbes, declaring that the natural state 
 of mankind is War, and to sustain the exulting language 
 of tlie soldier in our own day, when he wrote, " War is the 
 condition of this world. From man to the smallest in- 
 sect, all are at strife ; and the glory of arms, which can- 
 not be obtained without the exercise of honor, fortitude, 
 courage, obedience, modesty, and temperance, excites 
 the brave man's patriotism, and is a chastening correc- 
 tive for the rich man's pride." ^ This is broad and bold. 
 In madder mood, another British general is reported as 
 saying, " ^Vhy, man, do you know that a grenadier is 
 the greatest character in this world," — and after a mo- 
 ment's pause, with the added emphasis of an oath, " and, 
 I believe, in the next, too." ^ All these spoke in har- 
 mony. If one is true, all are true. A French voice has 
 struck another note, chantino- nothing less than the di- 
 vinity of war, liailing it as " divine " in itself, — " di- 
 vine" in its consequences, — "divine" in mysterious glory 
 and seductive attraction, — " divine " in the manner of 
 its declaration, — " divine " in tlie results obtained, — 
 " divine " in the undefinal)le force by which its tri- 
 umph is determined ; ^ and the whole earth, continually 
 imbibing blood, is nothing bnt an immense altar, where 
 life is immolated without end, without measure, with- 
 out respite. But this oracle is not saved from rejec- 
 tion e\en Ity tlie magistral style in which it is deliv- 
 ered. 
 
 1 Najjior, Peninsular War, Book XXIV. ch. 6, Vol. VI. p. 688. 
 
 2 Soiitlicy, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Societj% Coll. VIII., 
 Vol. I. p. 211. 
 
 8 Joseph de Maistre, Soir(5es de Saint-Pi-tersbourg, Tom. II. pp. 27, 32 - 35.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 13 
 
 Alas ! in the existing attitude of nations, the infidel 
 philosopher and the rlietorical soldier, to say nothing 
 of the giddy general and the French priest of Mars, find 
 too much support for a theory which degrades human 
 nature and insults the goodness of God. It is true that 
 in us are impulses unhappily tending to strife. Pro- 
 pensities possessed in common with the beast, if not 
 subordinated to what in man is human, almost divine, 
 will break forth in outrage. This is the predominance 
 of the animal. Hence wars and fightings, with the 
 false glory which crowns such barbarism. But the 
 true civilization of nations, as of individuals, is deter- 
 mined by the extent to wdiich these evil dispositions are 
 restrained. Nor does the teacher ever more truly per-' 
 form liis high office than when, recognizing the suprem- 
 acy of the moral and intellectual, he calls upon nations, 
 as upon individuals, to declare independence of the bes- 
 tial, to abandon practices founded on tliis part of our 
 nature, and in every way to beat down that brutal spirit 
 which is the Genius of War. In making this appeal, he 
 will be startled as he learns, that, while the municipal 
 law of each Christian nation, discarding the Arbitra- 
 ment of Force, provides a judicial tribunal for the 
 determination of controversies between individuals. In- 
 ternational Law expressly establishes the Arbitrament of 
 War for the determination of controversies between 
 nations. 
 
 Here, then, in unfolding the True Grandeur of Na- 
 tions, w^e encounter a practice, or custom, sanctioned by 
 the Law of Nations, and constituting a part of that law, 
 which exists in defiance of principles such as no indi- 
 viduals can disown. If it is wTong and inglorious when 
 individuals consent and agree to determine their petty
 
 14 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 coutroversies by combat, it must be equally wTong and 
 inglorious when nations consent and agree to determine 
 their vaster controversies by combat. Here is a positive, 
 precise, and specific evil, of gigantic proportions, incon- 
 sistent with what is tridy honorable, making within the 
 sphere of its influence all true grandeur impossible, 
 which, instead of proceeding from some uncontrollable 
 impulse of our nature, is expressly established and organ- 
 ized hy law. 
 
 As all citizens are parties to Municipal Law, and re- 
 sponsible for its institutions, so are all the Christian 
 nations parties to International Law, and responsible for 
 its provisions. By recognizing these provisions, nations 
 consent and agree beforehand to the Arbitrament of War, 
 precisely as citizens, by recognizing Trial by Jury, con- 
 sent and agree beforehand to the latter tribunal. As, to 
 comprehend the true nature of Trial by Jury, we first 
 repair to the Municipal Law by wliich it is established, 
 so, to comprehend the true nature of the Arbitrament 
 of War, we must first repair to the Law of Nations. 
 
 Writers of genius and learning have defined this ar- 
 bitrament, and laid down the rules by which it is gov- 
 erned, constituting a complex code, with innumerable 
 subtile provisions regulating the resort to it and the 
 manner in which it must be conducted, called the 
 Laws of War. In these quarters we catch our first au- 
 thentic glimpses of its folly and wickedness. Accord- 
 ing to Lord Bacon, whose authority is always great, 
 " Wars are no massacres and confusions, but they are 
 the highest Trials of Right, when princes and states, that 
 acknowledge no superior upon earth, shall ])ut them- 
 selves upon the justice of God for the deciding of their
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 15 
 
 controversies by such success as it shall please him to 
 give on either side." ^ This definition of the English 
 philosopher is adopted by the American jurist, Chancel- 
 lor Kent, in his Commentaries on American Law.^ The 
 Swiss publicist, Vattel, whose work is accepted as an 
 important repository of the Law of Nations, defines 
 War as "that state in which a nation prosecutes its 
 right hy forcer ^ In this he very nearly follows the 
 eminent Dutch authority, Bynkershoek, who says, " Bel- 
 lum est eorum, qui suae potestatis sunt, juris sui jjcr- 
 sequcndi ergo, concertatio per vim vel dolum." * Mr. 
 Wliewell, who has done so much to illustrate philoso- 
 phy in all its departments, says, in his recent work on 
 the Elements of Morality and Polity, " Though war is 
 appealed to, because there is no other ultimate tribu- 
 nal to which states can have recourse, it is appealed to 
 for justice^ ^ And in our country. Dr. Lieber says, in 
 a work of learning and sagacious thought, that war is 
 undertaken " in order to obtain right," ^ — a definition 
 which hardly differs in form from those of Vattel and 
 Bjmkershoek. 
 
 In accordance with these texts, I would now define 
 the evil which I arraign. War is a public armed contest 
 between nations, under the sanction of International Law, 
 to establish justice between them : as, for instance, to de- 
 terrnine a disputed boundary, the title to territory, or a 
 claim for damages. 
 
 This definition is confined to contests between nations. 
 
 ^ Observations upon a Libel, etc., Work^, Vol. III. p. 40. 
 - Lecture III., Vol. I. p. 45. 
 
 3 Book III. ch. 1, sec. 1. 
 
 4 Quaest. Jur. Pub., Lib. I. cap. 1. 
 
 5 Book VI. ch. 2. art. 1146. 
 
 6 Political Ethics, Book VIL sec. 19, Vol. II. p. 643.
 
 16 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 It is restricted to International War, carefully excluding 
 the question, often agitated, concerning the right of 
 revolution, and that other question, on which friends 
 of peace sometimes differ, the right of personal self- 
 defence. It does not in any way throw doubt on the 
 employment of force in the administration of justice 
 or the conservation of domestic quiet. 
 
 It is true that the term defensive is always applied 
 to M'ars in our day. And it is creditable to the moral 
 sense that nations are constrained to allege this seem- 
 ing excuse, although its absurdity is apparent in the 
 equal pretensions of the two belligerents, each claim- 
 ing to act on the defensive. It is unreasonable to sup- 
 pose that war can arise in the present age, under the 
 sanctions of International Law, except to determine an 
 asserted right. Wliatever its character in periods of 
 barbarism, or when invoked to repel an incursion of 
 robbers or pirates, " enemies of the human race," war 
 becomes in our day, among all the nations 2)arties to ex- 
 isting International Law, simply a mode of litigation, 
 or of deciding a lis pendens. It is a mere trial of 
 RIGHT, an a])peal for justice to force. The wars now 
 lowering from j\Iexico and England are of this char- 
 acter. On tlie one side, we assert a title to Texas, 
 which is disputed; on the other, we assert a title to 
 Oregon, which is disputed. Only according to " mar- 
 tial logic," or the " flasli language " of a dislionest 
 patriotism, can the Ordeal by Battle be regarded in 
 these causes, on either side, as Defensive War. Nor 
 did the threatened war with France in 1834 prom- 
 ise to assume any different character. Its professed 
 o1)ject was to obtain tlie payment of five million dol- 
 lars, — in otlier words, to determine by this Ultimate
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 17 
 
 Tribunal a simple question of justice. And going back 
 still farther in our history, the avowed purpose of the 
 ■war against Great Britain in 1812 was to obtain from 
 the latter power an abandonment of the claim to search 
 American vessels. Unrighteous as was this claim, it 
 is plain that war here was invoked only as a Trial of 
 Rigid. 
 
 It forms no part of my purpose to consider individ- 
 ual wars in the past, except so far as necessary by way 
 of example. My aim is higher. I wish to expose an 
 irrational, cruel, and impious custom, sanctioned by the 
 Law of Nations. On this account I resort to that 
 svipreme law for the definition on which I plant my- 
 self in the effort I now make. 
 
 Aftex considering, in succession, first, the character 
 of war, secondly, the miseries it pjroduces, and, thirdly, 
 its 'utter and pitiful insufficiency, as a mode of de- 
 terihming justice, we shall be able to decide, strictly 
 and logically, whether it must not be ranked as crime, 
 from which no true honor can spring to individuals or 
 
 ^natibnsT To appreciate this evil, and the necessity for 
 its overthrow, it will be our duty, fourthly, to consider 
 in succession the various prejudices by which it is sus- 
 tained, ending with that prejudice, so gigantic and_ all- 
 embracing, at whose command uncounted sums are 
 madly diverted from purposes of peace to preparations 
 for war. The whole subject is infinitely practical, 
 
 "while lEEe concluding division shows how the public 
 treasury may be relieved, and new means secured for 
 human advancement.
 
 18 THE TRUE GRANDEUll OF NATIONS. 
 
 First, as to the essential character and root of war, 
 or that part of our nature whence it proceeds. Listen 
 to the voice from the ancient poet of Boeotian Ascra : — 
 
 " This is the law for mortals, ordained by the Ruler of Heaven: 
 Fishes and beasts and birds of the air devour each other; 
 Justice dwells not among them: only to man has he given 
 Justice the Highest and Best.'" ^ 
 
 These words of old Hesiod exhibit the distinction be- 
 tween man and beast; but this very distinction be- 
 longs to the present discussion. The idea rises to the 
 mind at once, that war is a resort to brute force, where 
 nations strive to overpower each other. Eeason, and 
 the divine part of our nature, where alone we differ 
 from the beast, where alone we approach the Divinity, 
 where alone are the elements of that justice which is 
 the professed object of war, are rudely dethroned. For 
 tlie time men adopt the nature of beasts, emulating 
 their ferocity, like them rejoicing in blood, and with 
 lion's paw clutching an asserted right. Though in more 
 recent days this character is somewhat disguised by 
 tlie skill and knowledge employed, war is still the same, 
 only more destructive from the genius and intellect 
 which have become its servants. The primitive poets, 
 in the unconscious simplicity of the world's childhood, 
 make this boldly apparent. Tlie lieroes of Homer are 
 likened to animals in ungovernable fury, or to things 
 devoid of reason or affection. Menelaus presses his 
 
 ' Hesiod, Works and Days, w. 276-279. Cicero also says, " Neque ulla 
 re lonpius absumus a natura ferarum, in quibus inesse fortitudinem saepe 
 dicimus, ut in equis, in leoinbus; justitiam, aequitatem, bonitatem non 
 dicimus." — De OlBc., Lib. 1. cap. 16.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 19 
 
 way through the crowd " like a wild beast." Sarpedon 
 is aroused against the Argives, " as a lipn against the 
 crooked-horned oxen," and afterwards rushes forward 
 "like a lion nurtured on the mountains, for a long 
 time famished for want of flesh, but whose courage 
 impels him to attack even the well-guarded sheep- 
 fold." In one and the same passage, the great Tela- 
 monian Ajax is " wild beast," " tawny lion," and " dull 
 ass " ; and all the Greek chiefs, the flower of the camp, 
 are ranged about Diomed, " like raw-eating lions, or wild- 
 boars, whose strength is irresistible." Even Hector, the 
 model hero, with all the virtues of war, is praised as 
 " tamer of horses " ; and one of his renowned feats in 
 battle, indicating brute strength only, is where he takes 
 up and hurls a stone which two of our strongest men 
 could not easily lift into a wagon ; and he drives over 
 dead bodies and shields, while the axle is defiled by 
 gore, and the guard about the seat is sprinkled from the 
 horses' hoofs and the tires of the wheels ; ^ and in that 
 most admired passage of ancient literature, before re- 
 turning his child, the young Astyanax, to the arms of 
 the wife he is about to leave, this liero of war invokes 
 the gods for a single blessing on the boy's head, — " tliat 
 he may excel his father, and bring home Moody spoils, 
 his enemy being slain, and so make glad the heart of his 
 mother ! " 
 
 From early fields of modern literature, as from those 
 of antiquity, might be gathered similar illustrations, 
 showing the unconscious degradation of tlie soldier, in 
 vain pursuit of justice, renouncing the human character, 
 
 1 Little better than Trojan Hector was the " great" Cond^ raniring over 
 t!ie field and exulting in the blood of the enemy, which defiled his sword- 
 arm to the elbow. — Mahou, Essai sur la Vie du Grand Cond^, p. 60.
 
 20 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 to assume that of brute. Bayard, the exemplar of chiv- 
 alry, with a name always on the lips of its votaries, 
 was described by the qualities of beasts, being, accord- 
 ing to his admirers, ram in attack, ivilcl-hoar in defence, 
 and wolf in flifjht. Henry the Fifth, as represented by 
 our own Shakespeare, in the spirit-stirring appeal to his 
 troops exclaims, — 
 
 " When the blast of war blows in our ears, 
 Then imitate the action of the tiger." 
 
 This is plain and frank, revealing the true character of 
 war. 
 
 I need not dwell on the moral debasement that must 
 ensue. Passions, like so many bloodhounds, are un- 
 leashed and suffered to rage. Crimes filling our pris- 
 ons stalk abroad in the soldier's garb, unwhipped of 
 justice. Murder, robbery, rape, arson, are the sports 
 of this fiendish Saturnalia, when 
 
 " The gates of mercy shdl be all shut up, 
 And the fleshed soldier, rough and hard of heart, 
 In liberty of bloody hand shall range 
 With conscience wide as hell.'' 
 
 By a bold, l)ut truthful toucli, Shakespeare thus pic- 
 tures the foul disfigurement which war produces in man, 
 whose native capacities lie describes in those beautiful 
 w(jrds : " How noljle in reason ! how infinite in faculties ! 
 in form and moving how express and admirable ! in ac- 
 tion how like an angel ! in apprehension how like a 
 god ! " And yet this nobility of reason, this infinitude 
 of faculties, this marvel of form and motion, tliis nature 
 so angelic, so godlike, are all, under the transforming 
 power of War, lost in the action of tlie beast, or the 
 license of the fleshed soldier with bloody hand and 
 conscience wide as hell.
 
 THE TRUE GKANDEUR OF NATIONS. 21 
 
 TI. 
 
 The immediate effect of war is to sever all relations 
 of friendship and commerce between the belligerent na- 
 tions, and every individual thereof, impressing upon each 
 citizen or subject the character of enemy. Imagine this 
 instant change between England and the United States. 
 The innumerable ships of the two countries, the white 
 doves of commerce, bearing the olive of peace, are 
 driven from the sea, or turned from peaceful purposes 
 to be ministers of destruction ; the threads of social 
 and business intercourse, so carefully woven into a 
 thick web, are suddenly snapped asunder ; friend can 
 no longer communicate with friend ; the twenty thou- 
 sand letters speeded each fortnight from this port alone 
 are arrested, and the human affections, of which they 
 are the precious expression, seek in vain for utterance. 
 Tell me, you with friends and kindred abroad, or you 
 bound to other lands only by relations of commerce, are 
 you ready for this rude separation ? 
 
 This is little compared with what must follow. It is 
 but the first portentous shadow of disastrous eclipse, 
 twilight usher of thick darkness, covering the whole 
 heavens with a pall, broken only by the lightnings of 
 battle and siege. 
 
 Such horrors redden the historic page, while, to the 
 scandal of humanity, they never want historians with 
 feelings kindred to those by which they are inspired. 
 The demon that draws the sword also guides the pen. 
 The favorite chronicler of modern Europe, Froissart, dis- 
 covers his sympathies in his Prologue, where, with
 
 22 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 something of apostleship, he announces his purpose, 
 "that the honomble enterprises and noble adventures 
 and feats of arms M'hich happened in the wars of Fiance 
 and England be notably registered and put in perpetual 
 memory," and then proceeds to bestow his equal admi- 
 ration upon bravery and cunning, upon the courtesy 
 which pardoned as upon the rage which caused the flow 
 of blood in torrents, dwelling with especial delight on 
 " beautiful incursions, beautiful rescues, beautiful feats 
 of arms, and beautiful prowesses " ; and wantoning in 
 pictures of cities assaulted, " which, being soon gained 
 by force, were robbed, and men and women and children 
 put to the sword without mercy, while the churches were 
 burnt and violated." ^ This was in a barbarous age. 
 But popular writers in our own day, dazzled by false 
 ideas of greatness, at which reason and humanity 
 blush, do not hesitate to dwell on similar scenes even 
 "sWth rapture and eulogy. The humane soul of Wilber- 
 force, which sighed that England's " bloody laws sent 
 many unprepared into another world," could hail the 
 slaughter of Waterloo, by which thousands were hurried 
 into eternity on the Sabbath he held so holy, as a 
 " splendid victory." ^ 
 
 My present purpose is less to judge the historian than 
 to expose the horrors on horrors which he ajiplauds. 
 At Tarragona, above six thousand human beings, almost 
 all defenceless, men and women, gray hairs and infant 
 innocence, attractive youth and \mnkled age, were 
 butchered by the infuriate troops in one night, and the 
 morning sun rose uj)on a city whose streets and houses 
 
 1 Froissart, Les Chroniques, Ch. 177, 179, Collection de Ruchon, Tom. II. 
 pp. 87, 92. 
 
 2 Life of Willhun Wilberforce, by his Sons, Ch. 30, Vol. IV. j.p 25G, 261.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 23 
 
 were inundated with blood : and yet this is called a 
 "glorious exploit." ^ Here was a conquest by the 
 French. At a later day, Ciudad Rodrigo was stormed by 
 the British, when, in the Kcense of victory, there ensued 
 a savage scene of plunder and violence, while shouts 
 and screams on all sides mingled fearfully with the 
 groans of the wounded. Churches were desecrated, cel- 
 lars of wine and spirits were pillaged, fire was wantonly 
 applied to the city, and brutal intoxication spread in 
 every direction. Only when the drunken dropped from 
 excess, or fell asleep, was any degree of order restored : 
 and yet the storming of Ciudad Kodrigo is pronounced 
 " one of the most brilliant exploits of the British army." ^ 
 This " beautiful feat of arms " was followed by the 
 storming of Badajoz, where the same scenes were en- 
 acted again, with accumulated atrocities. The story shall 
 be told in the words of a partial historian, who himself 
 saw what he eloquently describes. " Shameless rapacity, 
 brutal intemperance, savage lust, cruelty, and murder, 
 shrieks and piteous lamentations, groans, shouts, impre- 
 cations, the hissing of fires bursting from the houses, the 
 crashing of doors and windows, and the reports of mus- 
 kets used in violence, resounded for two days and nights 
 in the streets of Badajoz. On the third, when the city 
 was sacked, when the soldiers were exhausted by their 
 own excesses, the tumult rather subsided than was 
 quelled. The wounded men were then looked to, the 
 dead disposed of." ^ All this is in the nature of confes- 
 sion, for the historian is a partisan of battle. 
 
 The same terrible war affords another instance of 
 atrocities at a siege crying to Heaven. For weeks be- 
 
 1 Alison, Hist, of Europe, Ch. 61, Vol. VHI. p. 237. 
 
 2 Ibid., Ch. 64, Vol. VIII. p. 482. 
 
 8 Napier, Hist. Peninsular War, Book XVI. ch. 5, Vol. IV. p. 431.
 
 24 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 fore the surrender of Saragossa, the deaths daily were 
 from four to tive hundred ; and as the living could not 
 bury the increasing mass, thousands of carcasses, scat- 
 tered in streets and court-yards, or piled in heaps at the 
 doors of churches, were left to dissolve in their own 
 corruption, or be licked up by the flames of burning 
 houses. The city was shaken to its foundations by six- 
 teen thousand shells, and the explosion of forty-live 
 thousand pounds of powder in the mines, — while the 
 bones of forty thousand victims, of every age and both 
 sexes, bore dreadful testimony to the unutterable cruelty 
 of War.i 
 
 These might seem pictures from the life of Alaric, 
 who led the Goths to Eome, or of Attila, general of 
 the Huns, called the Scourge of God, and who boasted 
 that the grass did not grow where his horse had set 
 his foot ; but no ! they belong to our own times. They 
 are portions of the wonderful, but wicked, career of 
 him who stands forth the foremost representative of 
 worldly grandeur. The heart aches, as we follow him 
 and his marshals from field to field of Satanic glory ,2 
 finding everywhere, from Spain to Russia, the same 
 carnival of woe. The picture is various, yet the same. 
 Suffering, wounds, and death, in every form, fill the 
 ten-ible canvas. What scene more dismal than that 
 of Albuera, with its horrid piles of corpses, while all 
 night the rain pours down, and river, hill, and forest, 
 
 1 Napier, Book V. ch. 3, Vol. II. p. 46. 
 
 2 A living poet of Italy, who will be placed by his prose among the great 
 names of his country's literature, in a remarkable ode which he has thrown 
 on the uni of Napoleon invites posterity to judge whether his career of 
 battle was True Glory. 
 
 " Fu vera gloria ? Ai posteri 
 L' ardua sentenza." — Manzoni, II Cinque Maggio. 
 When men learn to appreciate moral grandeur, the easy sentence will be 
 rendered.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 25 
 
 OD each side, resound with the cries and groans of the 
 dying ? ^ What scene more awfully monumental than 
 Salamanca, where, long after the great battle, the 
 ground, strewn with fragments of casques and cui- 
 rasses, was still white with the skeletons of those who 
 fell ? ^ What catalogue of liorrors more complete than 
 the Eussian campaign ? At every step is war, and 
 this is enough : soldiers black with powder ; bayonets 
 bent with the violence of the encounter; the earth 
 ploughed with cannon-shot ; trees torn and mutilated ; 
 the dead and dying ; wounds and agony ; fields cov- 
 ered with broken carriages, outstretched horses, and. 
 mangled bodies ; while disease, sad attendant on mili- 
 tary suffering, sweeps thousands from the great hos- 
 pitals, and the multitude of amputated limbs, which 
 there is no time to destroy, accumulate in bloody heaps, 
 filling the air with corruption. What tongue, what pen, 
 can describe the bloody havoc at Borodino, where, 
 between rise and set of a single sun, one hundred 
 thousand of our fellow-men, equalling in number the 
 whole population of this city, sank to earth, dead or 
 wounded ? ^ Fifty days after the battle, no less than 
 thirty thousand are found stretched where tlieir last 
 convulsions ended, and the whole plain is strewn with 
 haK-buried carcasses of men and horses, intermingled 
 with garments dyed in blood, and bones gnawed by 
 dogs and vultures."* Who can follow the French army 
 in dismal retreat, avoiding the spear of the pursuing 
 Cossack only to sink beneath the sharper frost and ice, 
 
 1 Napier, Book XII. ch. 7, Vol. III. p 543. 
 
 2 Alison, Ch. 64, Vol. VIII. p. 589. 
 
 3 Ibid., Ch. 67, Vol. VIII. p. 871. 
 
 4 Ibid., Ch. 68, Vol. VIII. p. 930. S^gur, Hist, de Napoleon, Liv. IX. ch. 7, 
 Tom. II. p. 153. Labaume, Rel. de la Campagne de Russie, Liv. VII.
 
 26 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 in a temperature below zero, on foot, without shelter for 
 the body, famishing on horse-ilesh and a miserable com- 
 pound of rye and snow-water ? With a fresh array, the 
 war is upheld against new forces under the walls of 
 Dresden ; and as the Emperor rides over the field of 
 battle — after indulging the night before in royal 
 supper with the Saxon king — he sees ghastly new- 
 made graves, with hands and arms projecting, stark 
 and stiff, above the ground ; and shortly afterwards, 
 when shelter is needed for the troops, the order to 
 occupy the Hospitals for the Insane is given, with the 
 words, " Turn out the mad." ^ 
 
 Here I might close this scene of blood. But there 
 is one other picture of the atrocious, though natural, 
 consequences of war, occurring almost within our own 
 day, that I would not omit. Let me bring to your 
 mind Genoa, called the Superb, City of Palaces, dear 
 to the memory of American childhood as the birth- 
 place of Christopher Columbus, and one of the spots 
 first enlightened by the morning beams of civilization, 
 whose merchants were princes, and whose rich argosies, 
 in those early days, introduced to Europe the choicest 
 products of the East, the linen of Egypt, the spices of 
 Arabia, and the silks of Samarcand. She still sits in. 
 queenly pride, as she sat then, — her mural crown stud- 
 ded with towers, — her churches rich with marble floors 
 and rarest pictures, — her palaces of ancient doges and 
 admirals yet spared by the hand of Time, — her close 
 streets thronged by a hundred thousand inhabitants, 
 — at the foot of the Apennines, as they approach 
 the blue and tideless wateys of the Mediterranean Sea, 
 
 ' Alison, Ch. 72, Vol. IX. pp. 469, 553.
 
 THE TEUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 27 
 
 — leaning her back against their strong mountain-sides, 
 overshadowed by the foliage of the fig-tree and the 
 olive, while the orange and the lemon with pleasant 
 perfume scent the air where reigns perpetual spring. 
 Who can contemplate such a city without delight ? Who 
 can listen to the story of her sorrows without a pang ? 
 
 At the opening of the present century, the armies of 
 the French Republic, after dominating over Italy, were 
 driven from their conquests, and compelled, with 
 shrunken forces, to find shelter under Massena, within 
 the walls of Genoa. Various efforts were made by the 
 Austrian general, aided by bombardment from the Brit- 
 ish fleet, to force the strong defences by assault. At 
 length the city was invested by a strict blockade. All 
 communication with the country was cut off, while the 
 harbor was closed by the ever-wakeful British watch- 
 dogs of war. Besides the French troops, wathin the 
 beleaguered and unfortunate city are the peaceful, un- 
 offending inhabitants. Provisions soon become scarce ; 
 scarcity sharpens into want, till fell Famine, bringing 
 blindness and madness in her train, rages like an Erin- 
 nys. Picture to yourselves this large population, not 
 pouring out their lives in the exulting rush of battle, 
 but wasting at noonday, daughter by the side of moth- 
 er, husband by the side of wife. When grain and 
 rice fail, flaxseed, millet, cocoa, and almonds are ground 
 by hand-mills into flour, and even bran, baked with 
 honey, is eaten, less to satisfy than to deaden hunger. 
 Before the last extremities, a pound of horse-flesh is 
 sold for thirty-two cents, a pound of bran for thirty 
 cents, a pound of flour for one dollar and seventy-five 
 cents. A single bean is soon sold for two cents, and 
 a biscuit of three ounces for two dollars and a quarter,
 
 28 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 till finally none can be had at any price. The wretch- 
 ed soldiers, after devouring tlie horses, are reduced to 
 the degradation of feeding on dogs, cats, rats, and 
 worms, which are eagerly hunted in cellars and 
 sewers. "Happy were now," exclaims an Italian 
 historian, " not those who lived, but those who died ! " 
 The day is dreary from hunger, — the night more 
 dreary still, from hunger with delirious fancies. They 
 now turn to herbs, — dock, sorrel, mallows, wild 
 succory. People of every condition, witli women of 
 noble birth and beauty, seek upon the slope of the 
 mountain within the defences those aliments which 
 Nature designed solely for beasts. Scanty vegetables, 
 with a scrap of clieese, are all that can be afforded to 
 the sick and wounded, those sacred stipendiaries of 
 human charity. In the last anguish of despair, men 
 and women fill the air with groans and shrieks, some 
 in spasms, convulsions, and contortions, yielding their 
 expiring breath on the unpitying stones of the street, — 
 alas ! not more unpitying than man. Children, whom 
 a dead mother's arms had ceased to protect, orphans 
 of an hour, with piercing cries, supplicate in vain 
 the compassion of the passing stranger : none pity or 
 aid. The sweet fountains of sympathy are all closed 
 by tlie selfishness of individual distress. In the gen- 
 eral agony, some precipitate tliemselves into the sea, 
 wliile the more impetuous rush from the gates, and 
 impale their bodies on the Austrian bayonets. Oth- 
 ers still are driven to devour tlieir shoes and the 
 leather of their pouches ; and the horror of Imman flesh 
 . so far abates, that numbers feed like cannibals on the 
 corpses about them.^ 
 
 1 This account is drawn from the animated sketches of Botta (Storia
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 29 
 
 At this stage the French general capitulated, claiming 
 and receiving ^vhat are called " the honors of war," — 
 but not before twenty thousand innocent persons, old 
 and young, women and children, ha\dng no part or in- 
 terest in the contest, had died the most horrible of 
 deaths. The Austrian flag floated over captured Genoa 
 but a brief span of time ; for Bonaparte had already 
 descended like an eagle from the Alps, and in nine days 
 afterwards, on the plains of Marengo, shattered the 
 Austrian empire in Italy. 
 
 But wasted lands, famished cities, and slaughtered 
 armies are not all that is contained in " the purple tes- 
 tament of bleeding war." Every soldier is connected 
 with others, as all of you, by dear ties of kindred, love, 
 and friendship. He has been sternly summoned from 
 the embrace of family. To him there is perhaps an 
 aged mother, who fondly hoped to lean her bend- 
 ing years on his more youthful form ; perhaps a wife, 
 whose life is just entwined inseparably with his, now 
 condemned to wasting despair ; perhaps sisters, brothers. 
 As he falls on the field of war, must not all these rush 
 with his blood ? But who can measure the distress that 
 
 d' Italia dal 1789 al 1814, Tom. HI. Lib. 19), Alison (History of Europe, 
 Vol. IV. ch. 30), and Arnold (Modem History, Lect. IV.). The humanity 
 of the last is particularly aroused to condemn this most atrocious murder of 
 innocent people, and, as a sufficient remedy, he suggests a modification of 
 the Laws of War, pemiitting non-combatants to withdraw from a block- 
 aded town ! In this way, indeed, they may be spared a languishing death by 
 starvation; but they must desert firesides, pursuits, all that makes life dear, 
 and become homeless exiles, — a fate little better than the former. It is 
 strange that Arnold's pure soul and clear judgment did not recognize the 
 truth, that the whole custom of war is unrighteous and unlawful, and that 
 the horrors of this siege are its natural consequence. Laws of War! Laws 
 in what is lawless ! rules of wrong! There can be only one Law of War, — 
 that is, the great law which pronounces it unwise, unjust, and unclu'istian.
 
 30 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATION'S. 
 
 radiates as from a bloody sun, penetrating innumerable 
 homes ? Who can give the gauge and dimensions of 
 this infinite sorrow ? Tell me, ye who feel the bitter- 
 ness of parting with dear friends and kindred, whom you 
 watch tenderly till the last golden sands are run out and 
 the great hour-glass is turned, what is the measure of 
 your anguish ? Your friend departs, soothed by kind- 
 ness and in the arms of Love : the soldier gasps out his 
 life with no friend near, while the scowl of Hate dark- 
 ens all that he beholds, darkens his own departing soul. 
 Who can forget the anguish that fills the bosom and 
 crazes the brain of Lenore, in the matchless ballad of 
 Biirger, when seeking in vain among returning squad- 
 rons for her lover left dead on Prague's ensanguined 
 plain ? But every field of blood has many Lenores. All 
 war is full of desolate homes, as is vividly pictured by 
 a master poet of antiquity, whose verse is an argument. 
 
 " But through the bounds of Grecia's land. 
 Who sent her sons for Troy to part, 
 See mourning, with much suffering heart. 
 On each man's threshold stand, 
 On each sad hearth in Grecia's land. 
 Well may her soul with grief be rent; 
 She well remembers whom she sent. 
 She sees them uot return : 
 Instead of men, to each man's home 
 Urns and ashes only come. 
 And the armor which thev wore, — 
 Sad relics to their native shore 
 For Mars, the barterer of the lifeless clay, 
 Who ^ells for gold the slam, 
 And liohh the scale, in battle's doubtful day, 
 JJifjh balanced o'er the plain. 
 From Ilium's walls for men returns 
 Ashes and sepulchral urns, — 
 Ashes wet with many a tear. 
 Sad relics of the fiery bier. 
 Round the full urns the general groan 
 Goes, as each their kindred own:
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 31 
 
 One they tnourn in battle strong, 
 And one that 'mid the armed throng 
 He sunk in glory's slaughtering tide, 
 And for another's consort died. 
 
 Others they mourn whose monuments stand 
 By Ilium's walls on foreign strand ; 
 Where they fell in beauty's bloom, 
 There they lie in hated tomb, 
 Sunk beneath the massy mound, 
 In eternal chambers bound." ^ 
 
 III. 
 
 ^But all t hese miseries a re to do purpose^_ War is 
 .utterlyTneffbctual_^to secure or advance its professed 
 pb[e ct! The wretchedness it entails contributes to no 
 end, helps to establish no right, and therefore in no re- 
 "spect determines justice between the contending nations. 
 The fruitlessness and vanity of war appear in the 
 great conflicts by which the world has been lacerated. 
 After long struggle, where each nation inflicts and re- 
 ceives incalculable injury, peace is gladly obtained on 
 the basis of the condition before the war, known as the 
 status ante helium. I cannot illustrate this futility bet- 
 ter than by the familiar example — humiliating to both 
 countries — of our last war with Great Britain, where 
 the professed object was to obtain a renunciation of 
 the British claim, so defiantly asserted, to impress our 
 seamen. To overturn this injustice the Arbitrament 
 of War was invoked, and for nearly three years the 
 Avhole country was under its terrible ban. Ameri- 
 can commerce was driven from the seas ; the re- 
 
 1 Agamemnon of .Eschylus: Cliorus. This is from the bf?a,utifiAl transla- 
 tion bv John Symmous.
 
 32 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 sources of the land were drained by taxation ; villages 
 on the Canadian frontier were laid in ashes ; the me- 
 tropolis of the Eepublic was captured ; while distress 
 was everywhere within our borders. Weary at last 
 with this rude trial, the National Government appointed 
 commissioners to treat for peace, with these specific in- 
 structions : " Your first duty will be to conclude a peace 
 with Great Britain ; and you are authorized to do it, in 
 case you obtain a satisfactory stipulation against im- 
 pressment, one which shall secure under our flag protec- 
 tion to the crew If this encroachment of Great 
 
 Britain is not provided against, t/ie United States have 
 appealed to arms in vain." ^ Afterwards, finding small 
 chance of extorting from Great Britain a relinquishment 
 of the unrighteous claim, and foreseeing from the invet- 
 erate prosecution of the war only an accumulation of 
 calamities, the National Government directed the nego- 
 tiators, in concluding a treaty, to " omit any stipulation 
 on the subject of impressment." ^ These instructions were 
 obeyed, and the treaty that restored to us once more 
 the blessings of peace, so rashly cast away, but now 
 hailed with intoxication of joy, contained no allusion 
 to impressment, nor did it provide for the surrender 
 of a single American sailor detained in the British 
 navj. Thus, by the confession of our own Govern- 
 ment, "the United States had appealed to arms IN 
 VAIN." ^ These important words are not mine ; they 
 are words of the country. 
 
 1 Mr. Monroe to Commissioners, April 15, 1813: American State Papers, 
 Vol. Vm. pp. 577,578. 
 
 2 Mr. Monroe to Commissioners, Juno 27, 1814 : Ibid., Vol. VIII. p. 593. 
 
 3 Mr. Jefferson, in more than one letter, declares the peace an armistice 
 only, " because no security is provided against the impressment of our 
 seamen." — Letter to Crawford, Feb. 11, 1815; to Lafayette, Feb. 14, 1815; 
 Works, Vol. VI. pp. 420, 427.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 33 
 
 All this is the natural result of an appeal to war for 
 the determination of justice. Justice implies the exer- 
 cise of the judgment. Now war not only supersedes 
 the judgment, but delivers over the pending question to 
 superiority of force, or to chance. 
 
 Superior force may end in conquest ; this is the nat- 
 ural consequence ; but it cannot adjudicate any right. 
 We expose the absurdity of its arbitrament, when, by a 
 familiar phrase of sarcasm, we deride the right of the 
 strongest, — excluding, of course, all idea of right, ex- 
 cept that of the lion as he springs upon a weaker beast, 
 of the wolf as he tears in pieces the lamb, of the vul- 
 ture as he devours the dove. The grossest sj)irits must 
 admit that this is not justice. 
 
 But the battle is not always to the strong. Superior- 
 ity of force is often checked by the proverbial contin- 
 gencies of war. Esj^ecially are such contingencies re- 
 vealed in rankest absurdity, where nations, as is the 
 acknowledged custom, without regard to their respective 
 forces, whether weaker or stronger, voluntarily appeal 
 to this mad umpirage. Who beforehand can measure 
 the currents of the heady fight ? In common language, 
 we confess the " chances " of battle ; and soldiers devoted 
 to this harsh vocation yet call it a " game." The Great 
 Captain of our age, who seemed to drag victory at his 
 chariot-wheels, in a formal address to his officers, on 
 entering Eussia, says, " In war, fortune has an equal 
 share with ability in success." ^ The famous victory of 
 Marengo, accident of an accident, wrested unexpectedly 
 at close of day from a foe at an earlier hour success- 
 ful, taught him the uncertainty of war. Afterwards, 
 in bitterness of spirit, when his immense forces were 
 
 1 Alison, Ch. 67, Vol. VIII. p. 815.
 
 34 THE TKUE GKANDEUli OF NATIONS. 
 
 shivered, and his triumphant eagles driven back with 
 broken wing, lie exclaimed, in that remarkable con- 
 versation recorded by his secretary. Fain, — " ^^'ell, this 
 is War ! High in the morning, — low enough at night ! 
 From a triumph to a fall is often but a step." ^ The 
 same sentiment is repeated by the military historian of 
 the Peninsular campaigns, when he says, " Fortune al- 
 ways asserts her supremacy in war; and often from 
 a sliglit mistake such disastrous consequences tluw, 
 that, in every age and every nation, the tmcertainty 
 of arms has been proverbial." ^ And again, in another 
 place, considering the conduct of Wellington, the same 
 military historian, wlio is an unquestionable authority, 
 confesses, " A few liours' delay, an accident, a turn of 
 fortune, and he would have been foiled. Ay ! but this 
 is War, always dangerous and vnccrtain, an ever-rolling 
 wheel, and armed with scythes." ^ And will intelligent 
 man look for justice to an e\'er-rolliug wheel armed 
 with scythes ? 
 
 Chance is A\Titten on every liattle-field. Discerned 
 less in tlie conflict of large masses tlian in that of in- 
 dividuals, it is equally present in l)otli. How capri- 
 ciously the wlieel turned when the fortunes of Rome 
 were staked on the combat between the Horatii and 
 Curiatii ! — and wlio, at one time, augured that tlie 
 single Horatius, with two slain brothers on the held, 
 would o^•erpower the three living enemies ? But this 
 is not alone. In all the combats of history, involving 
 the fate of individuals or nations, we learn to revolt at 
 the frenzy which carries questions of property, freedom, 
 or life to a judgment so uncertain and senseless. The 
 liumorous poet fitly exposes its hazards, when he says, — 
 
 1 Alison, Ch. 72, Vol. IX. p. 497. 
 
 2 Niipier, Book XXIV. ch. 6, Vol. VI. p. 687. 
 
 3 Ibid.. Book XVI ch. 7, Vol. IV p. 476.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 35 
 
 " that a turnstile is more certain 
 Than, in events of war, Dame Fortune." ^ 
 
 During the early modern centuries, and especially in 
 the moral night of the Dark Ages, the practice prevailed 
 extensively throughout Europe of invoking this adju- 
 dication for controversies, wliether of individuals or 
 communities. I do not dwell on the custom of Private 
 War, though it aptly illustrates the subject, stopping 
 merely to echo that joy which, in a time of igno- 
 rance, before this arbitrament yielded gradually to the 
 ordinances of monarchs and an advancing civiliza- 
 tion, hailed its temporary suspension as The Truce of 
 God. But this beautiful term, most suggestive, and his- 
 torically important, cannot pass without the attention 
 which belongs to it. Such a truce is still an example, 
 and also an argument ; but it is for nations. Here is 
 something to be imitated ; and here also is an appeal to 
 the reason. If individuals or communities once rec- 
 ognized the Truce of God, why not again ? And why 
 may not its benediction descend upon nations also ? Its 
 origin goes back to the darkest night. It was in 1032 
 that the Bishop of Aquitaine announced the appear- 
 ance of an angel with a message from Heaven, engag- 
 ing men to cease from war and be reconciled. The 
 people, already softened by calamity and disposed to 
 supernatural impressions, hearkened to the sublime mes- 
 sage, and consented. From sunset Thursday to sunrise 
 Monday each week, also during Advent and Lent, and 
 at the great festivals, all effusion of blood was inter- 
 dicted, and no man could molest his adversary. Women, 
 children, travellers, merchants, laborers, were assured 
 perpetual peace. Every church was made an asylum, 
 
 1 Hudibras, Part I. Canto 3, vv. 23, 24.
 
 36 THE TEUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 and, by liaj)py association, the plough also sheltered 
 from peril all who came to it. This respite, justly 
 regarded as marvellous, was hailed as the Truce of God. 
 Beginning in one neighborhood, it was piously extended 
 until it embraced the wliole kingdom, and then, by the 
 authority of the Pope, became coextensive with Chris- 
 tendom, while those who violated it were put under 
 solemn ban. As these things passed, bishops lifted their 
 crosses, and the people in their gladness cried. Peace ! 
 Peace. ! ^ Originally too limited in operation and too 
 short in duration, the Truce of God must again be pro- 
 claimed for all places and all times, — proclaimed to all 
 mankind and all nations, without distinction of person 
 or calling, on all days of the week, without distinction 
 of sacred days or festivals, and with one universal 
 asylum, not merely the church and the plough, but 
 every place and thing. 
 
 From Private "Wars, wliose best lesson is the Truce of 
 God, by which for a time tliey were hushed, I come to 
 the Judicial Combat, or Trial by Battle, where, as in a 
 mirror, we behold the barbarism of War, without truce 
 of any kind. Trial by Battle was a formal and legiti- 
 mate mode of deciding controversies, principally be- 
 tween individuals. Like other ordeals, by walking 
 barefoot and blindfold among burning ploiiglishares, 
 by holding hot iron, ])y dipping the liand in hot water 
 or liot oil, and like the great Ordeal of War, it wiis 
 a presumptuous appeal to Providence, under the ap- 
 prehension and liope that Heaven would give the vic- 
 tory to liim wlio had tlie riglit. Its object was the 
 
 1 Robertson, Hist, of Charles V., Vol. I. note 21. Semichon, La Paix et 
 la Treve de Dieu, Tom. H. pp. 35, 53.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 37 
 
 very object of War, — the determination of Justice. 
 It was sanctioned by Municipal Law as an arbitrament 
 for individuals, as War, to the scandal of civiKzation 
 is still sanctioned by International Law as an arbitra- 
 ment for nations. "Men," says the brilliant French- 
 man, Montesquieu, " subject even their prejudices to 
 rules " ; and Trial by Battle, which he does not hesitate 
 to denounce as a "monstrous usage," was surrounded by 
 artificial regulations of multifarious detail, constituting 
 an extensive system, determining how and when it 
 should be waged, as War is surrounded by a complex 
 code, known as the Laws of War. " Nothing," says 
 Montesquieu again, " could be more contrary to good 
 sense, but, once established, it was executed with a cer- 
 tain prudence," — which is equally true of War. No 
 battle-field for an army is selected with more care than 
 was the field for Trial by Battle. An open space in the 
 neighborhood of a church was often reserved for this 
 purpose. At the famous Abbey of Saint-Germain-des- 
 Pres, in Paris, there was a tribune for the judges, over- 
 looking the adjoining meadow, which served for the 
 field.i The combat was inaugurated by a solemn mass, 
 according to a form stiU preserved, Missa pro Duello, so 
 that, in ceremonial and sanction, as in the field, the 
 Church was constantly present. Champions were hired, 
 as soldiers now.^ 
 
 No question was too sacred, grave, or recondite for this 
 
 1 Sismondi, Hist, des FranQais, Part. V. ch. 9, Tom. X. p. 514. 
 
 2 The pivotal character of Trial by Rattle, as an illustration of War, will 
 justify a reference to the modern authorities, among which are Robertson, 
 who treats it with perspicuity and fulness (History of Charles V., Vol. I. 
 note 22), — Hallam, always instructive (Middle Ages, Vol. I. Chap. II. pt. 2), 
 — Blackstone. always clear (Commentaries, Book III. ch. 22, sec. 5, and 
 Book IV. ch. 27, sec. 3), — Montesquieu, who casts upon it a flood of 
 
 o>fi r<i:\Vkf\
 
 38 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 tril )unal. In France, the title of an Abbey to a neigh- 
 boring church was decided by it; and an Emperor of 
 Germany, accorcUng to a faithful ecclesiastic, "desir- 
 ous of dealing honorahly with his people and nobles " 
 (mark here the standard of honor !), waived the judgment 
 of the court on a grave question of law concerning the 
 descent of property, and referred it to champions. Hu- 
 man folly did not stop here. In Spain, a subtile point 
 of theology was submitted to the same determination.^ 
 But Trial by Battle was not confined to particular coun- 
 tries or to rare occasions. It prevailed everywhere in 
 Europe, superseding in many places all other ordeals, 
 and even Trials hy Proofs, while it extended not only to 
 criminal matters, but to questions of property. In Or- 
 leans it had an exceptional limitation, being denied in 
 civil matters where the amount did not exceed five sous.^ 
 Like AVar in our day, its justice and fitness as an 
 arbitrament were early doubted or condemned. Liut- 
 prand, a king of the Lombards, during that middle period 
 neither ancient nor modern, in a law bearinfj date A. D. 
 
 light (Esprit des Lois, Liv. XXVIII. ch. 18-23),— Sismon<li, humane and 
 interesting (Histoire des Fninvais, Part. IV. ch. 11, Tom. VIII. pp. 
 72 - 78), — Guizot, HI a work of remarkable historic beauty, more grave than 
 Montesquieu, and enlightened by a better philosophy (Histoire de la Civili- 
 sation en France depuis la Chute dc I'Empire Romani, Tom. IV. pp. 89, 149 - 
 166), — Whcaton, our learned countryman (History of the Northmen, Chap. 
 111. and XII.), — also the two volumes of MUlingen's History of Duelling, if 
 so loose a compend deserves a place in this list. All these, describing 
 I rial by Battle, testify against War. I cainiot conceal that so great an au- 
 thority as Selden, a most enlightened jurist of the Long Parliament, argues 
 the lawfulness of the Duel from the lawfulness of War. After setting 
 forth that " a duel may be granted in some cases by the law of England," 
 he asks, " But whether is this lawful?" and then answers, "//" »/f)?< firnnt 
 nny war lawful, I make no doubt but to convince it." (Table-Talk: Duel.) 
 But if the Duel be unlawful, how then with War? 
 
 1 Robertson, Hist. Charles V., Vol. I note 22. 
 
 •^ Montesquieu, Esprit des Lois, Liv. XXVIII. ch. 19.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 39 
 
 724, declares his distrust of it as a mode of determin- 
 ing justice ; but the monarch is compelled to add, that, 
 considering the custom of his Lombard people, he can- 
 not forbid the iinpious law. His words deserve em- 
 phatic mention : " Proioter consuetudinem gentis nostrce 
 Langobardorum LEGEM IMPIAM vetare non i^ossumus.." ^ 
 The appropriate epithet by which he branded Trial by 
 Battle is the important bequest of the royal Lombard to 
 a distant posterity. For this the lawgiver will be cher- 
 ished with grateful regard in the annals of civilization. 
 
 This custom received another blow from Rome. In 
 the latter part of the thirteenth century, Don Pedro 
 of Aragon, after exchanging letters of defiance with 
 Charles of Anjou, proposed a personal combat, which 
 was accepted, on condition that Sicily should be the 
 prize of success. Each called down upon himself all 
 the vengeance of Heaven, and the last dishonor, if, at 
 the appointed time, he failed to appear before the Sen- 
 eschal of Aquitaine, or, in case of defeat, refused to 
 consign Sicily undisturbed to the victor. While they 
 were preparing for the lists, the Pope, Martin the 
 Fourth, protested with all his might against this new 
 Trial by Battle, which staked tlie sovereignty of a 
 kingdom, a feudatory of the Holy See, on a wild stroke 
 of chance. By a papal bull, dated at Civita Vecchia, 
 April 5th, 1283, he threatened excommunication to 
 either of the princes who should proceed to a combat 
 which he pronounced criminal and abominable. By a 
 letter of the same date, the Pope announced to Edward 
 the First of England, Duke of Aquitaine, the agreement 
 of the two princes, which he most earnestly declared to 
 
 1 Liutprandi Leges, Lib. VI. cap. 65 : Muratori, Reruiii Italic. Script., 
 Tom. I. pars 2, p. 74.
 
 40 THE TRUE GR.VNDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 be full of indecency and rashness, hostile to the con- 
 cord of Christendom, and reckless of Christian blood ; 
 and he urged upon the English monarch all possible 
 effort to prevent the combat, — menacing him with ex- 
 communication, and his territories with interdict, if it 
 should take place. Edward rei'using to guaranty the 
 safety of the combatants in Aquitaine, the parties re- 
 tired without consunnnating their duel.^ The judgment 
 of the Holy See, which thus accomplished its immedi- 
 ate object, though not in teiins directed to the suppres- 
 sion of the custom, remains, nevertheless, from its peculiar 
 energy, a perpetual testimony against Trial by Battle. 
 
 To a monarch of France belongs the honor of first 
 interposing the royal authority for the entire suppres- 
 sion within his jurisdiction of this ijiipious custom, so 
 universally adopted, so dear to the nobility, and so pro- 
 foundly rooted in the institutions of the Feudal Age. 
 And here let me pause with reverence as I pronounce the 
 name of St. Louis, a prince whose unenlightened errors 
 may find easy condemnation in an age of larger tolera- 
 tion and wider knowledge, but whose firm and upright 
 soul, exalted sense of justice, fatherly regard for the 
 happiness of his people, respect for the rights of others, 
 conscience void of offence toward God or man, make 
 him foremost among Christian rulers, and tlie highest 
 example for Christian prince or Christian people, — in 
 one word, a model of True Greatness. He was of 
 angelic conscience, subjecting whatever lie did to the 
 single and exclusive test of moral rectitude, disregard- 
 ing every consideration of worldly advantage, all fear 
 of worldly consequences. 
 
 1 Sismondi, Hist, ties Fran9ais, Part. IV. ch. 15, Tom. VHI. pp. 338-347.
 
 THE TKUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 41 
 
 His soul, thus tremblingly sensitive to right, was 
 shocked at the judicial combat. It was a sin, in his 
 sight, thus to tem2ot God, by demanding of him a mira- 
 cle, whenever judgment was pronounced. From these 
 intimate convictions sprang a royal ordinance, promul- 
 gated first at a Parliament assembled in 1260 : " We 
 forbid to all persons throughout our dominions the Trial 
 BY Battle; .... and instead of battles, %oe establish 
 
 proofs bjj witnesses And these battles we 
 
 abolish in our dominions forever." 1 
 
 Such were the restraints on the royal authority, that 
 this beneficent ordinance was confined in operation to 
 the demesnes of the king, not embracing those of the 
 barons and feudatories. But where the power of the 
 sovereign did not reach, there he labored by example, 
 influence, and express intercession, — treating with the 
 great vassals, and inducing many to renounce this un- 
 natural usage. Though for years later it continued to 
 vex parts of France, its overthrow commenced with the 
 Ordinance of St. Louis. 
 
 Honor and blessings attend this truly Christian king, 
 who submitted all his actions to the Heaven-descended 
 sentiment of Duty, — who began a long and illustrious 
 reign by renouncing and restoring conquests of his pre- 
 decessor, saying to those about him, whose souls did not 
 ascend to his heights, " I know that the predecessors of 
 the King of England lost altogether by right the con- 
 quest which I hold ; and the land which I give him 
 I do not give because I am bound to him or his heirs, 
 but to put love betioecn my children and his children, who 
 are cousins-german ; and it seems to me that what I 
 
 1 Guizot, Hist, de la Civilisation en France, Lecjon 14, Vol. IV. pp. 
 162 - 164.
 
 42 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 thus give I employ to good purpose." ^ Honor to him 
 who never by force or cunning grasped what was not 
 his own, — who sought no advantage from the tm-moil 
 and dissension of his neighbors, — who, first of Chris- 
 tian princes, rebuked the Spirit of War, saying to those 
 who would have him profit by the strifes of others, 
 " Blessed are the peacemakers," ^ — who, by an immor- 
 tal ordinance, abolished Trial by Battle throughout his 
 dominions, — who extended equal justice to all, whether 
 his own people or his neighbors, and in the extremity of 
 his last illness, before the walls of Tunis, under a burn- 
 ing African sun, among the bequests of his spirit, en- 
 joined on his son and successor, "in maintaining justice, 
 to be inflexible and loyal, turning neither to the right 
 hand nor to the left."^ 
 
 To condemn Trial by Battle no longer requires the 
 sagacity above his age of the Lom])ard monarch, or 
 the intrepid judgment of the Sovereign Pontiff, or the 
 ecstatic soul of St. Louis. An incident of history, as 
 curious as it is authentic, illustrates this point, and 
 shows the certain progress of opinion ; and this brings 
 me to England, where this trial was an undoubted part of 
 the early Common Law, with peculiar ceremonies sanc- 
 tioned by the judges robed in scarlet. The learned 
 Selden, not content with tracing its origin, and exhib- 
 iting its forms, with the oath of the duellist, " As God me 
 help, and his saints of Paradise," shows also the copart- 
 nership of the Church through its liturgy appointing 
 prayers for the occasion.* For some time it was the 
 
 ^ Guizot, Hist, de la Civilisation en France, Le^on 14, Vol. IV. p. 151. 
 
 2 " Btnuisl soitul tuU it apaistur. " — .loinville, p. 143. 
 
 *> Sismondi, Hi^^t. des Francais, Part. IV. oh. 12, Tom. VIII. p. 196. 
 
 ^ Selden, The Duello, or Single Combat, from Antiquity derived into this
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 43 
 
 only mode of trying a writ of right, by wliicli the title 
 to real property was determined, and the fines from 
 the numerous cases formed no inconsiderable portion of 
 the King's revenue.^ It was partially restrained by 
 Henry the Second, under the advice of his cliief jus- 
 ticiary, the ancient law-writer, Glanville, substituting 
 the Grand Assize as an alternative, on the trial of a 
 writ of right ; and the reason assigned for this substitu- 
 tion was the uncertainty of the Duel, so that after many 
 and long delays justice was scarcely obtained, in con- 
 trast with the other trial, which was more convenient 
 and swift.2 At a later day. Trial by Battle was re- 
 buked by Elizabeth, who interposed to compel the par- 
 ties to a composition, — although, for the sake of their 
 lionor, as it was called, the lists were marked out and 
 all the preliminary forms observed with much cere- 
 mony.^ It was awarded under Charles the First, and 
 the proceeding went so far that a day was proclaimed 
 for the combatants to appear with spear, long sword, 
 short sword, and dagger, when the duel was adjourned 
 from time to time, and at last the king compelled 
 an accommodation without bloodshed.'^ Though fallen 
 
 Kingdom of England; also, Table Talk, Duel: Works, Vol. III. col. 49-84, 
 2027. 
 
 1 Madox, Hist, of Exchequer, Vol. I. p. 349. 
 
 2 " PLst autem magna Assisa regale quoddam beneficium, .... quo vitse 
 hominura et status integritati tam salubriter consulitur, ut in jure quod quis 
 in libero soli tenemento possidet retinendo, duelli casum declinare possunt 
 
 honiinas ambiguum Jus enim, qiml post multns et longas dilatkmes vix 
 
 evincitur per chiellum, per beneficium istius coiistitutionis commodius et ac- 
 celeratius expeditur." (Glanville, Tractatus de Leglbus et Consuetudinibus 
 Regni Anglise, Lib. II. cap. 7.) These pointed words are precisely applica- 
 ble to our Arbitrament of War, with its many and long delays, so little 
 productive of justice. 
 
 3 Robertson, Hist. Charles V., Vol. I. note 22. 
 
 * Proceedings in the Court of Chivalry, on an Appeal of High Treason by
 
 44 THE TKUE GEANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 into desuetude, quietly overruled by the enlightened 
 sense of successive generations, yet, to the disgrace of 
 English jurisprudence, it was not legislatively abol- 
 ished till near our own day, — as late as 1819, — 
 the right to it having been openly claimed in West- 
 minster Hall only two years previous. An ignorant 
 man, charged with murder, — whose name, Abraham 
 Thornton, is necessarily connected with the history of 
 this monstrous usage, — being proceeded against by 
 the ancient process of appeal, pleaded, when brought 
 into court, as follows : " Not gudty ; and I am ready to 
 defend the same by my body " : and thereupon taking 
 off his glove, he threw it upon the floor. The appellant, 
 not choosing to accept this challenge, abandoned his 
 proceedings. The bench, the bar, and the whole king- 
 dom were startled by the infamy ; and at the next ses- 
 sion of Parliament Trial by Battle was abolished in 
 England. In the debate on this subject, the Attorney- 
 General remarked, in appropriate terms, that, " if the 
 appellant had persevered in the Trial by Battle, he 
 had no doubt the legislature would have felt it their 
 imperious duty at once to interfere, and pass an ex post 
 facto law to prevent so degrading a spectacle from taking 
 place." ^ 
 
 These words evince the disgust which Trial by Bat- 
 tle excites in our day. Its folly and wickedness are con- 
 spicuous to all. Reverting to tliat early period in wiiich 
 it prevailed, our minds are impressed by the general bar- 
 barism ; we recoil with horror from the awful subjection 
 of justice to brute force, — from the impious profanation 
 
 Donald Lord Rea against Mr. David Ramsay, 7 Cha. I., 1631 : Hargrave's 
 State Trials, Vol. XI. pp. 124-131. 
 
 ' Hansard, Pari. Debates, XXXIX. 1104. Blackstone, Com., III. 33r 
 Chitty's note.
 
 THE TKUE GEANDEUR OF NATIONS. 45 
 
 of God in deeming him present at these outrages, — 
 from the moral degradation out of wliich they sprang, 
 and which tliey perpetuated; we enrobe ourselves in 
 self-complacent vii^tue, and thank God that we are not 
 as these men, — that ours is an age of light, while theirs 
 was an age of darkness ! 
 
 But remember, fellow-citizens, that this criminal and 
 impious custom, which all condenui in the case of in- 
 dividuals, is openly avowed by our own country, and 
 by other countries of the great Christian Federation, 
 nay, that it is expressly established by International 
 Law, as the proper mode of determining justice between 
 nations, — while the feats of hardihood by which it is 
 wag^'d, and the triumphs of its fields, are exalted be- 
 yond aU. other labors, whether of learning, industry, or 
 benevolence, as the well-spring of Glory. ,^Jas-Hi]pon 
 our mvn lieads be the judgment of barbarism which we 
 pronqimce upon thosetliat' have gone before ! At this 
 moment, in this period of light, wliile to the contented 
 ^..-soulsToFinanjMihe noonday sun of civilization seems to 
 be standing still in the heavens, as upon Gibeon, the 
 dealings between nations are still governed by the odious 
 rules of brute violence which once predominated be- 
 tween individuals. The Dark Ages have not passed 
 away ; Erebus and_3-la.ck Night, born of Chaos, still 
 brO(5d"bver the earth; nor can we hail the clear day, 
 until the hearts of nations are touched, as the hearts of 
 individual men, and all acknowledge one and the same 
 Lav: of Right. 
 
 What has taught you, man ! thus to find glory in 
 an act, performed by a nation, which you condemn as a 
 crime or a barbarism, when committed by an individual ?
 
 46 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 In what vain conceit of wisdom and virtue do you find 
 this incongruous morality ? Where is it declared that 
 God, who is no respecter of persons, is a respecter of 
 multitudes ? Whence do you draw these partial laws 
 of an impartial God ? Man is immortal ; but Nations 
 are mortal. Man has a higher destiny than Nations. 
 Can Nations be less amenable to the supreme moral 
 law ? Each individual is an atom of the mass. Must 
 not the mass, in its conscience, be like the indi^dduals of 
 which it is composed ? Shall the mass, in relations with 
 other masses, do what individuals in relations with each 
 other may not do ? As in the physical creation, so in 
 the moral, there is but one rule for the individual and 
 the mass. It was the lofty discovery of Newton, that 
 the simple law which determines the fall of an ap- 
 ple prevails everywhere throughout the Universe, — 
 ruling each particle in reference to every other particle, 
 large or small, — reaching from earth to heaven, and con- 
 trolling the infinite motions of the spheres. So, with 
 equal scope, another simple law, the Law of Bight, 
 which binds the individual, binds also t\vo or three when 
 gathered together, — binds conventions and congrega- 
 tions of men, — binds villages, towns, and cities, — 
 binds states, nations, and races, — clasps the whole hu- 
 man family in its sevenfold embrace ; nay, more, beyond 
 
 " the flaming bounds of place and time, 
 The living throne, the sapphire blaze," 
 
 it binds the angels of Heaven, Cherubim, full of knowl- 
 edge. Seraphim, full of love ; above all, it binds, in self- 
 imposed bonds, a just and omnipotent God. This is the 
 law of which the ancient poet sings, as Queen alike of 
 mortals and immortals. It is of this, and not of any 
 cartldy law, that Hooker speaks in that magnificent j)e-
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 47 
 
 riod which sounds like an anthem : " Of Law there can 
 be no less acknowledged than that her seat is the bosom 
 of God, her voice the harmony of the world : all things 
 in heaven and earth do her homage, the very least as 
 feeling her care, and the greatest as not exempted from 
 her power : both angels and men, and creatures of what 
 condition soever, though each in different sort and man- 
 ner, yet all with uniform consent, admiring her as the 
 mother of their peace and joy." Often quoted, and 
 justly admired, sometimes as the finest sentence of our 
 English speech, this grand declaration cannot be more 
 fitly invoked tlian to condemn the pretence of one 
 law for the indi^'idual and another for the nation. 
 
 Stripped of all delusive apology, and tried by that 
 comprehensive law under which nations are set to the 
 bar like common men, War falls from glory into barbar- 
 ous guilt, taking its place among bloody transgressions, 
 wliile its flaming honors are turned into shame. Pain- 
 ful to existing prejudice as this may be, we must learn 
 to abhor it, as we abhor similar transgressions by vulgar 
 offender. Every word of reprol)ation which the enlight- 
 ened conscience now fastens upon the savage combatant 
 in Trial by Battle, or which it applies to the unhappy 
 being who in murderous duel takes the life of his 
 fellow-man, belongs also to the nation that appeals to 
 War. Amidst the thunders of Sinai God declared, 
 " Thou shalt not kill " ; and the voice of these thunders, 
 with this commandment, is prolonged to our own day in 
 the echoes of Christian churches. What mortal shall 
 restrict the application of these words ? Who on earth 
 is empowered to vary or abridge the commandments of 
 God ? Who shall presume to declare that this injunc- 
 tion was directed, not to nations, but to individuals
 
 48 TUE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 only, — not to many, but to one only, — that one man 
 shall not kill, but that many may, — that one man shall 
 not slay in Duel, but that a nation may slay a multi- 
 tude in tlie duel of War, — that each individual is 
 forbidden to destroy the life of a single human being, 
 but that a nation is not forbidden to cut off by the 
 sword a whole people ? We are struck with horror, and 
 our hair stands on end, at the report of a single murder ; 
 we think of the soul hurried to final account; we hunt 
 the murderer ; and Government puts forth its energies to 
 secure his punishment. Viewed in the unclouded light 
 of Truth, what is War but organized murder, — murder 
 of malice aforethought, — in cold blood, — unde r san c- 
 tions of impious law, — through the operation of an ex- 
 tensive machinery of crime, — with innumerable hands, 
 -^ at incalculable cost of money, — by subtle contriv- 
 ances of cunning and skill, — or amidst the fiendish 
 atrocities of the savage, brutal assault ? 
 
 By another commandment, not less solemn, it is de- 
 clared, " Thou shalt not steal " ; and then again there is 
 another forbidding to covet what belongs to others : 
 but all this is done by War, which is stealing and cove- 
 tousness organized by International Law.* The Scythian, 
 undistiu'bed by the illusion of military glory, snatched 
 a j)hrase of justice from an acknowledged criminal, when 
 he called Alexander " the greatest robber in the world." 
 And tlie Eoman satirist, filled with similar truth, in 
 pungent words touched to the quick that llagrant, un- 
 blushing injustice M-hich dooms to condign punishment 
 the very guilt tliat in anotlier sphere and on a grander 
 scale is hailed witli acclamation : — 
 
 " llle crucem sceleris jjrotiuin tiilit, liic (li;ulema."l 
 ^ .Juvenal, Sat. XIII. 105. The same judi^nient is i)ronoinicc<l by Fenclon
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUK OF NATIONS. 49 
 
 "Wliile condemning the ordinary malefactor, mankind, 
 blind to the real character of War, may yet a little 
 longer crown the giant actor with glory ; a generous 
 posterity may pardon to unconscious barbarism the 
 atrocities which have been waged ; but the custom, 
 as organized by existing law, cannot escape the un- 
 erring judgment of reason and religion. The outrages, 
 which, under most solemn sanctions, it permits and in- 
 vokes for professed purposes of justice, cannot be au- 
 thorized by any human power ; and they must rise in 
 overwhelming judgment, not only against those who 
 wield the weapons of Battle, but more still against all 
 who uphold its monstrous Arbitrament. 
 
 When, 0, when shall the St. Louis of the Nations 
 arise, — Christian ruler or Christian people, — who, in 
 the Spirit of True Greatness, shall proclaim, that hence- 
 forward forever the great Trial by Battle shall cease, — 
 that " these battles " shall be abolished throughout the 
 Commonwealth of Civilization, — that a spectacle so de- 
 grading shall never be allowed again to take place, — 
 and that it is the duty of nations, involving the high- 
 est and wisest policy, to establish love between each 
 other, and, in all respects, at all times, with all persons, 
 whether their own people or the people of other lands, 
 to be governed by the sacred Law of Might, as between 
 man and man ? 
 
 IV. 
 
 I am now brought to review the obstacles encountered 
 by those who, according to the injunction of St. Augus- 
 
 in his counsels to royalty, entitled, Exatnen de Conscience sur les Devoirs de 
 la Roy^iute.
 
 50 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 tine, would make war on War, and slay it with the 
 word. To some of these obstacles I alluded at the 
 beginning, especially the warlike literature, by which 
 the character ds formed. The world has supped so full 
 with battles, that its modes of thought and many of its 
 rules of conduct are incarnadined with blood, as the 
 bones of swine, feeding on madder, are said to become 
 red. Not to be tempted by this theme, I hasten on to 
 expose in succession those various prejudices so pow- 
 erful still in keeping alive the aistom of War, including 
 that greatest prejudice, mighty parent of an infinite 
 brood, at whose unreasoning behest untold sums are 
 absorbed in Preparations for War. 
 
 1. One of the most important is the prejudice from 
 belief in its necessitij. When War is called a necessity, 
 it is meant, of course, that its object can be attained in 
 no other way. Now I think it has already appeared, 
 with distinctness approaching demonstration, that the 
 professed object of AVar, which is justice between na- 
 tions, is in no respect promoted by War, — that force 
 is not justice, nor in any way conducive to justice, -^ 
 that tlie eagles of victory are tlie emblems of success- 
 ful force only, and not of established right. Justice is 
 obtained solely by the exercise of reason and judgment ; 
 but these are silent in the din of arms. Justice is with- 
 out passion ; but AVar lets loose all the worst passions, 
 while " Chance, high arbiter, more embroils the fray." 
 Tlie age is gone wlien a nation within the enchanted 
 circle of civilization could make M'ar upon its neigh- 
 bors for any declared purjjose of booty or A^engeance. 
 It does " nought in hate, but all in lionor." Such is the 
 present rule. Professions of tenderness mingle with
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS 51 
 
 the first mutterings of strife. As if conscience-struck 
 at tlie criminal abyss into which they are phmging, each 
 of the great litigants seeks to fix upon the otiier some 
 charge of hostile aggression, or to set up the excuse 
 of defending some asserted right, some Texas, some 
 Oregon. Each, like Pontius Pilate, vainly washes its 
 hands of innocent blood, and straightway allows a 
 crime at which the whole heavens are darkened, and 
 two kindred countries are severed, as the vail of the 
 Temple was rent in twain. 
 
 Proper modes for the determination of international 
 disputes are jSTegotiation, Mediation, Arbitration, and a 
 Congress of Nations, — all practicable, and calculated 
 to secure peaceful justice. Under existing Law of Na- 
 tions these may be employed at any time. But the very 
 law sanctioning War may he changed, as regards two or 
 more nations by treaty between tliem, and as regards 
 the body of nations by general consent. If nations 
 can agree in solemn provisions of International Law 
 to establish "War as Arl^iter of Justice, they can also 
 agree to aliolish this arbitrament, and to establish peace- 
 ful substitutes, — ]irecisely as similar sul tstitutes are 
 established by Municipal Law to determine contro- 
 versies among individuals. A system of Arl^itration 
 may be instituted, or a Congress of Nations, charged 
 with the high duty of organizing an Ultimate Trihnnal, 
 instead of " these battles." To do this, the will only is 
 required. 
 
 Let it not be said, then, that war is a necessity ; and 
 may our country aspire to the glory of taking the lead 
 in disowning the barbarous system of Lynch Law 
 among nations, while it proclaims peaceful snhstitvtcs ! 
 Such a glory, unlike the earthly fame of battle, will be
 
 52 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 immortal as the stars, dropping perpetual light upon 
 the souls of men. 
 
 2. Another prejudice is founded on tlie practice of 
 nations, past and present. There is no crime or enor- 
 mity in morals which may not find the support of hu- 
 man example, often on an extended scale. But it will 
 not be urged in our day that we are to look for a stand- 
 ard of duty in the conduct of vain, fallible, mistaken 
 man. Not by any subtile alchemy can man transmute 
 Wrong into Right. Because War is according to the 
 practice of the world, it does not follow that it is right. 
 For ages the world worshipped false gods, — not less 
 false because all bowed before them. At this moment 
 the prevailing numbers of mankind are heathen ; but 
 heathenism is not therefore true. Once it was the 
 practice of nations to slaughter prisoners of war; but 
 the Spirit of AVar recoils now from this bloody sacri- 
 fice. By a perverse morality in Sparta, theft, instead 
 of being a crime, was, like War, dignified into an art 
 and accomj^lishment ; like War, it was admitted into 
 the system of youthful education ; and, like War, it was 
 illustrated by an instance of unconcpierable firmness, 
 barbaric counterfeit of virtue. The Spartan youth, 
 witli tke stolen fox beneath liis robe eating into liis 
 bowels, is an example of fortitude not unlike tliat so 
 often admired in the soldier. Other illustrations crowd 
 upon the mind ; but I will not dwell upon tliem. We 
 turn witli disgust from Spartan cruelty and the wolves 
 of Taygetus, — from the awful cannibalism of the 
 Feejee Islands, — from the profane rites of innumer- 
 able savages, — from tlie crushing Juggernaut, — from 
 the Hindoo widow on her funeral pyre, — from the
 
 THE TRUE GEANDEUR OF NATIONS. 53 
 
 Indian dancing at the stake ; but had not all these, like 
 War, the sanction of established usage ? 
 
 Often is it said that we need not be wiser than our 
 fathers. Eather strive to excel our fathers. What in 
 them was good imitate ; but do not bind ourselves, as 
 in chains of Fate, by their imperfect example. In aU 
 modesty be it said, we have lived to little purpose, if we 
 are not wiser than the generations that have gone before. 
 It is the exalted distinction of man that he is progres- 
 sive, — that his reason is not merely the reason of a 
 single human being, but that of the whole human race, 
 in all ages from which knowledge has descended, in all 
 lands from which it has been borne away. We are the 
 heirs to an inheritance grandly accumulating from gen- 
 eration to generation, with the superadded products of 
 other lands. The child at his mother's knee is now 
 taught the orbits of the heavenly bodies, 
 
 " Where worlds on worlds compose one Universe," 
 
 the nature of this globe, the character of the tribes by 
 which it is covered, and the geography of countries, to 
 an extent far beyond the ken of the most learned in 
 other days. It is true, therefore, that antiquity is the 
 real infancy of man. Then is he immature, ignorant, 
 wayward, selfish, childish, finding his chief happiness in 
 lowest pleasures, unconscious of the higher. The ani- 
 mal reigns supreme, and he seeks contest, war, blood. 
 Already he has lived through infancy and childhood. 
 Reason and the kindlier virtues, repudiating and ab- 
 horring force, now bear sway. The time has come 
 for temperance, moderation, peace. We are the true 
 ancients. The single lock on the battered forehead of 
 old Time is thinner now than when our fathers at-
 
 54 THE TRUE GRAXDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 tempted to grasp it ; tlie hour-glass has been turned 
 often since ; the scythe is heavier laden with the work 
 of death. 
 
 Let us not, then, take for a lamp to our feet the 
 feeble taper that glimmers from the sepulchre of the 
 Past. Eather hail that ever-burning light above, in 
 whose beams is the brightness of noonday. 
 
 3. There is a topic which I approach with diffidence, 
 but in the spirit of frankness. It is the influence which 
 War, though condemned by Christ, has derived from 
 the Christian Church. When Constantine, on one of 
 his marches, at the head of his army, beheld the lumi- 
 nous trophy of the cross in the sky, right above the 
 meridian sun, inscribed wath the words. By this conquer, 
 had his soul been penetrated by the true spirit of Him 
 whose precious symbol it was, he would have found no 
 inspiration to the spear and the sword. He would have 
 received the lesson of self-sacrifice as from the lijDS of 
 the Saviour, and learned that hj no earthly weapon of 
 battle can true victory be won. The pride of conquest 
 would have been rebuked, and the bawble sceptre liave 
 fallen from his hands. By this conquer: by patience, 
 suffering, forgiveness of evil, liy all those virtues of 
 which the crr)ss is the affecting token, conquer, and the 
 victory shall be greater than any in the annals of Eo- 
 man conquest; it may not yet find a place in the 
 records of man, but it will appear in the register of 
 everlasting life. 
 
 The Cliristian Church, after the early centuries, failed 
 to discern the peculiar s])iritual beauty of the faith it 
 professed. Like Constantine, it found new incentive to 
 War in the religion of Peace ; and such is its character,
 
 THE TRUE GllANDEUK OF NATIONS. 55 
 
 even in our own day. Tlie Pope of Eome, the asserted 
 head of the Church, Vicegerent of Christ upon earth, 
 whose seal is a fisherman, on whose banner is a Lamb 
 before the Holy Cross, assumed tlie command of armies, 
 mingling the thunders of Battle with the thunders of 
 the Vatican. The dagger projecting from the sacred 
 vestments of De Eetz, while still an archbishop, was 
 justly derided by the Parisian crowd as " the Arch- 
 bishop's breviary." We read of mitred prelates in 
 armor of proof, and seem still to catch the clink of 
 the golden spurs of bishops in the streets of Co- 
 logne. The sword of knighthood was consecrated by 
 the Church, and priests were expert masters in mili- 
 tary exercises. I have seen at the gates of the Papal 
 Palace in Eome a constant guard of Swiss soldiers ; I 
 have seen, too, in our own streets, a show as incongru- 
 ous and inconsistent, — the pastor of a Christian church 
 swelling the pomp of a military parade. And some 
 have heard, within a few short weeks, in a Christian 
 pulpit, from the lips of an eminent Christian divine, a 
 sermon, where we are encouraged to serve the God of 
 Battles, and, as citizen soldiers, fight for Peace : ^ a senti- 
 ment in unhappy harmony with the profane language 
 of the British peer, who, in addressing the House of 
 Lords, said, " The best road to Peace, my Lords, is War, 
 and that in the manner we are taught to worship our 
 Creator, namely, by carrying it on with all our souls, 
 with all our minds, with all our hearts, and with all 
 our strength," 2 — but finding small support in a religion 
 that expressly enjoins, when one cheek is smitten, to 
 
 1 Discourse before the Ancient and Honorable Artiller\' Company, by 
 A. H. Vinton. 
 
 2 Earl of Abingdon, May 30, 1794: Hansard, Pari. Hist., XXXI. 680,
 
 56 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 turn the other, and which we hear with pain from 
 a minister of Christian truth, — alas ! thus made infe- 
 rior to that of the heathen who 'preferred the unjustest 
 peace to the justest war} 
 
 Well may we marvel that now, in an age of civiliza- 
 tion, the God of Battles should be invoked. " Deo im- 
 ferante, QUEM ADESSE bellantibus credunt," are the 
 appropriate words of surprise in which Tacitus de- 
 scribes a similar delusion of the ancient Germans.^ 
 The polite Eoman did not think God present with 
 fighting men. This ancient superstition must have lost 
 something of its hold even in Germany ; for, at a 
 recent period, her most renowned captain, — whose false 
 glory procured for him the title of Great, — Frederick 
 of Prussia, declared, with commendable frankness, that 
 he always found the God of Battles on the side of the 
 strongest regiments ; and when it was proposed to 
 place on his banner, soon to flout the ^ky of Silesia, 
 the inscription. For GOD and Country, he rejected the 
 first word, declaring it not proper to introduce the name 
 of the Deity in the quarrels of men. By this ele- 
 vated sentiment the warrior monarch may be remem- 
 bered, when his fame of battle has passed away. 
 
 The French priest of Mars, who proclaimed the 
 
 1 '^ Velimquissimam pacem justissimo bello ant cf err em,'" arc the words of 
 Cicero. (Epist. A. CtBciuce: Epp. tul Divcrsos, VI. 6.) Onlj' eight days after 
 Franklin had placed his name to the treaty of peace which acknowledged 
 the independence of his country, he wrote to a friend, " Jlay we never see 
 another war! for, in my opinion, there never was a good war or a bad peace." 
 (Letter to .Josiah Quincy: Works, ed. Sparks, Vol. X. p. 11.) It is with sin- 
 cere regret that I seem, by a particular allusion, to depart for a moment 
 from so great a theme ; but the person and the theme here become united. 
 I cannot refrain from the eftbrt to tear this iron branch of War from the 
 golden tree of Christian Truth, even though a voice come forth from the 
 breaking bough. 
 
 2 De Moribus German., Cap. 7.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 57 
 
 " divinity " of War, rivals the ancient Germans in faith 
 that God is the tutelary guardian of battle, and he finds 
 a new title, Mhich he says " shines " on all the pages 
 of Scripture, being none other than God of Armies} 
 Never was greater mistake. No theology, no theodicy, 
 has ever attributed to God this title. God is God of 
 Heaven, God of Hosts, the Living God, and he is God 
 of Peace, — so called by St. Paul, saying, " Now the God 
 of Peace be with you all," ^ and again, " The God of Peace 
 shall bruise Satan shortly," ^ — but God of Armies he is 
 not, as he is not God of Battles.* The title, whether of 
 Armies or of Hosts, thus invoked for War, has an oppo- 
 site import, even angelic, — the armies named being sim- 
 ply, according to authorities Ecclesiastical and Eabbinical, 
 the hosts of angels standing about the throne. Wlio, 
 then, is God of Battles ? It is ]\Iars, — man-slaying, 
 blood-polluted, city-smiting Mars ! ^ It is not He who 
 binds the sweet influences of the Pleiades and looses the 
 bands of Orion, who causes the sun to shine on the evil 
 and the good, who distils the oil of gladness upon every 
 upright heart, who tempers the wind to the shorn 
 lamb, — the Fountain of Mercy and Goodness, the God 
 of Justice and Love. Mars is not the God of Chris- 
 tians ; he is not Our Father in Heaven ; to him can 
 ascend no prayers of Christian thanksgiving, no words 
 of Christian worship, no pealing anthem to swell the 
 note of praise. 
 
 And yet Christ and ]\Iars are still brought into fel- 
 
 1 Joseph de Jlaistre, Soirees de Saint-P^tersbouvg, Tom. II. p. 27. 
 
 2 Romans, xv. 33. 
 
 3 Ibid., xvi. 20. 
 
 4 A volume so common as Cruden's Concordance shows the audacity of 
 the martial claim. 
 
 5 Iliad, V. 31.
 
 58 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 lowship, even interchanging pulpits. WHiat a picture 
 of contrasts ! A national ship of the line now floats 
 in tliis harbor. Many of you have pressed its deck, 
 and observed with admiration the completeness which 
 prevails in all its parts, — its lithe masts and complex 
 network of ropes, — its thick wooden walls, Avithin 
 which are more than the soldiers of Ulysses, — its 
 strong defeJnces, and its numerous dread and rude- 
 throated engines of War. There, each Sabbath, amidst 
 tliis armament of blood, while the wave comes gently 
 plashing against the frowning sides, from a pulpit sup- 
 ported by a cannon, in repose now, but ready to awake 
 its dormant thunder charged with death, a Christian 
 preacher addresses officers and ' crew. ]\Iay his in- 
 structions carry strength and succor to their souls ! 
 But, in such a place, those highest words of the Mas- 
 ter he professes, " Blessed are the peacemakers," " Love 
 your enemies," " Resist not evil," must, like Macbeth's 
 " Amen," stick in the throat. 
 
 It will not be doubted that this strange and unblessed 
 conjunction of the Church with War has no little in- 
 fluence in blinding the world to the truth, too slowly 
 recognized, that the whole custom of war is contranj to 
 Christianity. 
 
 Individual interests mingle with prevailing errors, 
 and are so far concerned in maintaining them tliat 
 military men yield reluctantly to this truth. Like law- 
 yers, as described by Voltaire, they are " conservators of 
 ancient barbarous usages." But tliat these usages should 
 obtain countenance in the Church is one of those anom- 
 alies which make us feel the weakness of our nature, 
 if not the elevation of Christian truth. To uphold the 
 Arbitrament of War requires no more than to uphold
 
 THE TEUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 59 
 
 the Trial by Battle ; for the two are identical, except in 
 proportion. One is a giant, the other a pygmy. Long 
 ago the Church condemned the pygmy, and this Chris- 
 tian judgment now awaits extension to the giant. 
 Meanwhile it is perpetual testimony ; nor should it 
 be forgotten, that, for some time after the Apostles, 
 when the message of peace and good-will was lirst re- 
 ceived, many yielded to it so completely as to reject 
 arms of all kinds. Such was tlie voice of Justin Mar- 
 tyr, Irena?us, TertiiUian, and Origen, while Augustine 
 pleads always for Peace. Gibbon coldly recounts, how 
 Maximilian, a youthful recruit from Africa, refused to 
 serve, insisting that his conscience would not permit 
 him to embrace the profession of soldier, and then 
 how Marcellus the Centurion, on the day of a public 
 festival, threw away his belt, his arms, and the ensigns 
 of command, exclaiming with a loud voice, that he 
 would obey none but Jesus Christ, the Eternal King.^ 
 Martyrdom ensued, and the Church has inscribed their 
 names on its everlasting rolls, thus forever commemo- 
 rating their testimony. These are early examples, not 
 without successors. But Mars, so potent, especially in 
 Eome, was not easily dislodged, and down to this day 
 holds his place at Christian altars. 
 
 " Thee to defend the Moloch priest prefers 
 The prayer of hate, and bellows to the herd, 
 That Deity, accomplice Deity, 
 In the fierce jealousy of wakened wrath, 
 Will go forth with our armies and our fleets 
 To scatter the red ruin on their foes ! 
 O, blasphemy ! to mingle fiendish deeds 
 With blessedness ! " 2 
 
 1 Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chap. XVI. Vol. I. p 
 680. 
 
 2 Coleridge, Religious Musings, written Cliristmas Eve, 1794.
 
 60 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 One of the beautiful pictures adorning the dome of a 
 churcli in Rome, by that master of Art, whose immortal 
 colors speak as with the voice of a poet, the Divine 
 Raphael, represents Mars in the attitude of War, with 
 a drawn sword uplifted and ready to strike, while an 
 unarmed angel from behind, with gentle, but irresist- 
 ible force, arrests and holds the descending hand. Such 
 is the true image of Christian duty ; nor can I readily 
 perceive any difference m principle between those min- 
 isters of the Gospel who themselves gird on the sword, 
 as in the olden time, and those others, unarmed, and in 
 customary suit of solemn black, who lend tlie sanction 
 of their presence to the martial array, or to any form of 
 preparation for War. The drummer, who pleaded that 
 he did not light, was held more responsible for the bat- 
 tle than the soldier, — as it was the sound of his drum 
 that inflamed the flagging courage of the troops. 
 
 4. From prejudices engendered by the Church I pass 
 to prejudices engendered by the army itself, having their 
 immediate origin in military life, but unfortunately dif- 
 fusing themselves throughout the community, in mden- 
 ing, though less apparent circles. I allude directly to 
 what is called the Point of Honor, early child of Chivalry, 
 living representative of its barbarism.^ It is difficult to 
 define what is so evanescent, so impalpal)lo, so chimeri- 
 cal, so unreal, and yet which exercises such fiendish 
 
 1 The Point of Tlonor has a literature of its own, illustrated by many vol- 
 umes, some idea of which may be obtained in Brunei, " Manuel du Libraire," 
 Tom. VI. col. 1636- 1638, under the head of Chevalerie au Mmjen Ar/e, com- 
 prenant les Tournois^ les Combats SinguUers, etc. One of these has a title 
 much in advance of the aj^e in which it appeared: " Chrestienne Confutation 
 du Point d'Honneur sur leciuel la Noblesse fonde aujourd'hui sos Querelles 
 et Monomaehies," par Christ, de ChilVontaine, Paris, 1579.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 61 
 
 power over many men, and controls the intercourse of na- 
 tions. As a little water, fallen into the crevice of a rock, 
 under the congelation of winter, swells till it bursts the 
 thick and stony fibres, so a w^ord or slender act, drop- 
 ping into the heart of man, under the hardening in- 
 tiuence of this pernicious sentiment, dilates till it rends 
 in pieces the sacred depository of human affection, and 
 the demons Hate and Strife are left to rage. The mus- 
 ing Hamlet saw this sentiment in its strange and unnat- 
 ural potency, when his soul pictured to his contempla- 
 tions an 
 
 " army of such mass and charge, 
 Led by a delicate and tender prince, .... 
 Exposing what is mortal and unsure 
 To all that fortune, death, and danger dare, 
 Even far an egg-shell " ; 
 
 and when, again, giving to the sentiment its strongest 
 and most popular expression, he exclaims, — 
 
 " Rightly to be great 
 Is not to stir without great argument, 
 But greatly to find quarrel in a straw, 
 When honor 's at the stake." 
 
 And when is honor at stake ? This inquiry opens 
 again the argument with which I commenced, and with 
 which I hope to close. Honor can be at stake only 
 where justice and beneficence are at stake ; it can never 
 depend on egg-shell or straw ; it can never depend on 
 any hasty word of anger or folly, not even if fol- 
 lowed by vulgar violence. True honor appears in the 
 dignity of the human soul, in that highest moral and 
 intellectual excellence which is the nearest approach to 
 qualities w'e reverence as attributes of God. Our com- 
 munity frowns with indignation upon the profaneness 
 of the duel, having its rise in this irrational poiyd of
 
 62 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 honor. Are you aware that you indulge the same senti- 
 ment on a gigantic scale, when you recognize this very 
 point of honor as a proper apology for War ? We have 
 already seen that justice is in no respect promoted by 
 War. Is True Honor promoted where justice is not ? 
 The very word Honor, as used by the world, fails to 
 express any elevated sentiment. How immeasurably 
 below the sentiment of iJuty ! It is a word of easy 
 virtue, that has been prostituted to the most opposite 
 characters and transactions. From the field of Pavia, 
 where France suffered one of tlie worst reverses in her 
 annals, the defeated king writes to his mother, " All 
 is lost, except lienor" At a later day, the renowned 
 French cook, Vatel, in a paroxysm of grief and mortifi- 
 cation at the failure of two dishes for the table, exclaims, 
 " I have lost my 1io7ior ! " and stabs himself to the heart. ^ 
 Montesquieu, whose writings are constellations of epi- 
 grams, calls honor a prejudice only, which he places in 
 direct contrast with virtue, — the former being the ani- 
 mating principle of monarchy, and the latter the ani- 
 mating principle of a republic ; but he reveals the inferi- 
 ority of honor, as a principle, Avhen he adds, that, in a 
 well-governed monarchy, almost everybody is a good 
 
 1 The death of the culinary martyr is described by Madame de S^vignd 
 with the accustomed coidiu^ss ami brilliancy of her fashionable pen (Lettres 
 L. and LI., Tom. I. pp. 164, 16.')). It was attributed, she saj-s, to the hi;/h 
 sense of honor he had afltr his own ivny. Tributes multiply. A French 
 vaudeville associates his name with that of this brilliant writer, saying, 
 " Madame de Sdvign(5 and Vatel are the people who honored the afje of Louis 
 XIV." The Almannch des Gourmands, in the Epistle Dedicatory of its con-' 
 eluding volume, addresses the venerable shade of the heroic cook: "You 
 have proved that the Janniicism of honor can exist in the kitchen as well as 
 the camp." TJerchoux commemorates the dying exclamation in La Gastro- 
 twmie, Chant III.: — 
 
 "Ve suis perdu d'honntur, deux rotis ont manque''."
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 63 
 
 citizen, while it is rare to meet a really good man.^ The 
 man of honor is not the man of virtue. By an instinct 
 pointing to the truth, we do not apply this term to the 
 high columnar qualities which sustain and decorate life, 
 — parental affection, justice, benevolence, the attributes 
 of God. He would seem to borrow a feebler phrase, 
 showing a slight appreciation of the distinctive character 
 to whom reverence is accorded, who should speak of 
 father, mother, judge, angel, or finally of God, as persons 
 of honor. In such sacred connections, we feel, beyond 
 the force of any argument, the mundane character of 
 the sentiment which plays such a part in history and 
 even in common life. 
 
 The rule of honor is founded in the" imagined neces- 
 sity of resenting by force a supposed injury, whether of 
 word or act.^ Admit the injury received, seeming to 
 sully the character ; is it wiped away by any force, and 
 descent to the brutal level of its author ? " Could I 
 wipe your blood from my conscience as easily as this 
 insult from my face," said a Marshal of France, greater 
 on this occasion than on any field of fame, " I wovdd 
 lay you dead at my feet." Plato, reporting the angelic 
 wisdom of Socrates, declares, in one of those beautiful 
 dialogues shining with stellar light across the ages, 
 
 1 Esprit des Lois, Liv. III. ch. 3-7. 
 
 2 Tliis is well exposed in a comedy of Molifere. 
 
 " Don Pedre. Souhaitez-vous qtielquo chose de moi ? 
 
 " Bali. Qui, un conseil sur unfait d'honneur. ,Te sais qu'eii ces matiferes 
 il est mal-ais6 de trouver un cavalier plus consomm^ que vous 
 
 " Seigneur, /'ai requ un soufflet. Vous savez ce qu'est un soufflet, lorsqu'il 
 se donne a main ouverte sur le bean milieu de la joue. J'ni ce soufflet fort 
 sur le cosur ; etje suis dans incertitude, si, pour me venger de Vagrant, je dfiis 
 me bnttre avec nion homme, on bien le faire assassiner. 
 
 " Don Pedre. Assassiner, c'est le plus sur et le plus court chemin." 
 
 Le Sicilien, Sc. XIII.
 
 64 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 that to do a wrong is more shameful than to receive a 
 v:rong} And this benign sentiment conimends itself 
 alike to the Christian, who is bid to render good for 
 evil, and to the enlightened soul of man. But who con- 
 fessing its truth will resort to force on any point of 
 honor ? 
 
 In ancient Athens, as in unchristianized Christian 
 lands, there were sophists who urged that to suffer 
 was unbecoming a man, and would draw down incalcu- 
 lable evil. The following passage, which I translate 
 with scrupulous literalness, Avill show the manner in 
 which the moral cowardice of these persons of little 
 faith was rebuked by him whom the gods of Greece 
 pronounced Wisest of Men. 
 
 " These things being so, let us inquire what it is you 
 reproach, me with : whether it is well said, or not, that 
 I, forsooth, am not able to assist either myself or any of 
 my friends or my relations, or to save myself from the 
 greatest dangers, but that, like the infamous, I am at the 
 mercy of any one who may choose to smite me on the 
 face (for this was your juvenile expression), or take 
 away my property, or drive me out of the city, or (the 
 extreme case) kill me, and that to be so situated is, as 
 you say, the most shameful of all things. But my view 
 is, — a view many times expressed already, but there 
 is no objection to its being stated again, — my view, I 
 say, is, Callicles, that to he struck on the face unjustly 
 is not most shameful, nor to have ruiy hody mutilated, nor 
 my purse cut ; hut that to strike and cut me and mine 
 unjustly is more shameftd and worse — and stealing, too, 
 
 1 This proposition is enforced by Socrates, with unanswcnable reasoning 
 and illustration, throufihout the Gorr/ins, which Cicero read diligently while 
 studying at Athens (De Oratore, I. 11).
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. G5 
 
 and enslaving, and housebreaking, and, in geiicral, doing 
 any wrong ivhatevcr to nie and mine, is viore shameful and 
 worse — for him who does the wrong than for me who suffer 
 it. These tilings, which thus appeared to us in the for- 
 mer part of this discussion, are secured and bound 
 (even if the expression be somewhat rustical) with iron 
 and adamantine arguments, as indeed they would seem to 
 be ; and unless you, or some one stronger than you, can 
 break them, it is impossible for any one, saying other- 
 wise than as I now say, to speak correctly : since, for 
 my part, / always have the same thing to say, — that I 
 know not how these things are, hut that, of all tvhom I 
 have ever discoursed with as now, no one is able to say 
 othci'ivisc without being 7'idieulous." ^ 
 
 Such is the wisdom of Socrates, as reported by Plato ; 
 and it has found beautiful expression in the verse of an 
 English poet, who says, — 
 
 " Dear as freedom is, and in my heart's 
 Just estimation prized above all price, 
 I had much rather be myself (he slave 
 And wear the bonds than fasten them on him." 2 
 
 The modern 2Joint of honor did not obtain a place 
 in warlike antiquity. Themistocles at Salamis, when 
 threatened with a blow, did not send a cartel to the 
 Spartan commander. " Strike, but hear," was the re- 
 sponse of that firm nature, which felt that true honor is 
 gained only in the performance of duty. It was in 
 the depths of modern barbarism, in the age of chivalry, 
 that this sentiment shot up into wildest and rank- 
 est fancies. iS[ot a step Avas taken without it. No 
 act without reference to the " bewitching duel." And 
 every stage in the combat, from the ceremonial at its 
 
 1 Gorgias, Gap. LXIV. 
 
 a Cowper, The Task, Book II. w. 33-36.
 
 66 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 beginning to its deadly close, was measured by this fan- 
 tastic law. Nobody forgets As You Like It, with its 
 humorous picture of a quarrel in progress to a duel, 
 through the seven degrees of Touchstone. Nothing 
 more ridiculous, as nothing can be more disgusting, than 
 the degradation in which this whole fantasy of honor 
 had its origin, as fully appears from an authentic inci- 
 dent in the life of its most brilliant ref)resentative. The 
 Chevalier Bayard, cynosure of chivalry, the good knight 
 without fear and without reproach, battling with the 
 Spaniard Senor Don Alonso de Soto Mayor, succeeded 
 by a feint in striking him such a blow, that the weapon, 
 despite the gorget, penetrated the throat four fingers 
 deep. The wounded Spaniard grappled with his antago- 
 nist until they both rolled on the ground, when Bayard, 
 drawing his dagger, and thrusting the point directly into 
 the nostrils of his foe, exclaimed, " Seiior Don Alonso, 
 surrender, or you are a dead man ! " — a speech which ap- 
 peared superfluous, as the second of the Spaniard cried 
 out, " Senor Bayard, he is dead already ; you have con- 
 quered." The French knight " would gladly have given 
 a hundred thousand crowns, if he had liad them, to have 
 van(piished him alive," says the Chronicle ; but now 
 falling upon his knees, he kissed the eartli three times, 
 then rose and drew his dead enemy from the field, 
 saying to the second, " Senor Don Diego, have I done 
 enough ? " To which the other piteously replied, " Too 
 much, Senor Bayard, ibr tlie honor of Spain !" when the 
 latter very generously i)resenled liim with the corpse, 
 it being his right, by the Law of Honor, to dispose of it 
 as lie thought proper : an act higldy commended by 
 the chivalrous BrantAme, who thinks it difficult to say 
 which did most lionor to tlie faultless knight, — not
 
 THE TEUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 67 
 
 dragging the dead body by a leg ignominiously from 
 the field, like the carcass of a do<>:, or condescending to 
 fio-ht while suffering under an a^ue ! ^ 
 
 In such a transaction, conferring honor upon the 
 brightest son of chivalry, we learn the real character of 
 an age whose departure has been lamented with such 
 touching, but inappropriate eloquence. Thank God ! 
 the age of chivalry is gone ; but it cannot be allowed 
 to prolong its fanaticism of honor into our day. This 
 must remain with the lances, swords, and daggers by 
 which it was guarded, or appear, if it insists, only with 
 its inseparable American companions, bowie-knife, pis- 
 tol, and rifle. 
 
 A true standard of conduct is found only in the 
 highest civilization, with those two inspirations, justice 
 and benevolence, — never in any barbarism, though af- 
 fecting the semblance of sensibility and refinement. 
 But this standard, while governing the relations of the 
 individual, must be recognized by nations also. Alas ! 
 alas ! how long ? We still wait that happy day, now 
 beginning to dawn, harbinger of infinite happiness be- 
 yond, when nations, like men, shall confess that it is 
 better to receive a wTong than do a wrong. 
 
 5. There is still another influence stimulating War, 
 and interfering with the natural attractions of Peace : I 
 refer to a selfish and exaggerated prejudice of country, 
 leading to physical aggrandizement and political exal- 
 tation at the expense of other countries, and in disre- 
 
 1 La Tresjoyeiise, Plaisante et Recreative H^'stoire, composee par le Loyal 
 Serviteur, des Faiz, Gestes, Triumphes et Prouesses du Bon Chevalier sans 
 Paour et sans Reprouche, le Gentil Seigneur de Bayart, Chap. XXII.: 
 Petitot, Collection Complete des M^moires relatifs a I'Histoire de France, 
 Tom. XV. pp. 238-244. BrantGme, Discours sur les Duels: CEuvres, Tom 
 VIII. pp. 34, 35.
 
 68 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 gard of justice. Nursed by the literature of antiquity, 
 we imbibe the sentiment of heathen patriotism. Ex- 
 chisive love for the land of birth belonged to the re- 
 ligion of Greece and Eome. This sentiment was ma- 
 terial as well as exclusive. The Oracle directed the 
 returning Eoman to kiss his mother, and he kissed 
 Mother Earth. Agamemnon, according to iEschylus, 
 on regaining his home, after perilous separation for 
 more than ten years at the siege of Troy, before ad- 
 dressing family, friend, or countryman, salutes Argos : — 
 
 " By your leave, lords, first Argos I salute." 
 
 The schoolboy does not forget the victim of Verres, with 
 the memorable cry which was to stay the descending 
 fasces of the lictor, " I am a Roman citizen," — nor those 
 other words echoing through the dark Past, " How sweet 
 and becoming to die for country ! " Of little avail the 
 nobler cry, " I am a man," or the Christian ejaculation, 
 swelling the soul, " How sweet and becoming to die 
 for duty ! " The beautiful genius of Cicero, instinct at 
 times with truth ahnost divine, did not ascend to that 
 heaven where it is taught that all mankind are neighbors 
 and kmdred. To the love of universal man may be ap- 
 plied those words by which the great Roman elevated 
 his selfish patriotism to virtue, when he said that country 
 alone emhraced all the charities of all} Attach this ad- 
 mired phrase to the single idea of country, and you see 
 how contracted are its charities, compared with that 
 world-wide circle where our neig]il)or is the suffering 
 
 1 "Car! sunt parentes, can libori, propiiiqui. familiares ; sed omnes omni- 
 um caritates palria una compltxa est." (De Offic, Lib. I. cap. 17.) It is 
 curious to observe how Cicero puts aside that expression of true humanity 
 which fell from Terence, " Humani nihil a me, alienum puto.^' He says, "£j}i 
 enim dijicilis cura rerum alienarum.'^ Ibid., Lib. I. cap. 9.
 
 THE TRUE GKANDEUR OF NATIONS. 69 
 
 man, though at the farthest pole. Such a sentiment 
 would dry up those precious fountains now diffusing 
 themselves in distant unenlightened lands, from the icy- 
 mountains of Greenland to the coral islands of the 
 Pacific Sea. 
 
 It is the policy of rulers to encourage this exclusive 
 patriotism, and here they are aided by the examples 
 of antiquity. I do not know that any one nation is 
 permitted to reproach another with this selfishness. 
 All are selfish. Men are taught to live, not for man- 
 kind, but only for a small portion of mankind. The 
 pride, vanity, ambition, brutality even, which all rebuke 
 in the individual, are accounted virtues, if displayed in 
 the name of country. Among us the sentiment is ac- 
 tive, while it derives new force from the point with 
 which it has been expressed. An officer of our nnvj, 
 one of the heroes nurtured by War, whose name has 
 been praised in churches, going beyond all Greek, all 
 Roman example, exclaimed, " Our country, right or 
 wrong," — a sentiment dethroning God and enthroning 
 the Devil, whose flagitious character must be rebuked 
 by every honest heart. How different was virtuous 
 Andrew Fletcher, whose heroical uprightness, amidst 
 the trials of his time, has become immortal in the say- 
 ing, that he "would readily lose his life to serve his 
 country, but would not do a base thing to save it." ^ 
 Better words, or more truly patriotic, were never uttered. 
 " Our country, our whole country, and nothing hut our 
 country" are other delusive sounds, which, first falling 
 from the Kps of an eminent American orator, are often 
 painted on banners, and echoed by innumerable multi- 
 tudes. Cold and dreary, narrow and selfish would be 
 
 1 Character, prefixed to Political Works, p. viii.
 
 70 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 this life, if nothing but our country occupied the soul, — 
 if the thoughts that wander through eternity, if the 
 infinite aflections of our nature, were restrained to that 
 place where we find ourselves by the accident of birth. 
 By a natural sentiment we incline to the spot where 
 we were born, to the fields that witnessed the sports of 
 childhood, to the seat of youthful studies, and to the 
 institutions under which we have been trained. The 
 finger of God writes all these things indelibly upon the 
 heart of man, so that even in death he reverts with 
 fondness to early associations, and longs for a draught 
 of cold water from the bucket in his father's well. This 
 sentiment is independent of reflection : for it begins be- 
 fore reflection, grows with our growth, and strengthens 
 with our strength. It is the same in all countries hav- 
 ing the same degree of enlightenment, differing only 
 according to enlightenment, under whose genial in- 
 fluence it softens and refines. It is the strongest with 
 those least enlightened. The wretched Hottentot never 
 travels away from his melting sun ; the wretched Esqui- 
 mau never travels away from his freezing cold ; nor 
 does either know or care for other lands. This is his 
 patriotism. The same instinct belongs to animals. 
 There is no beast not instinctively a patriot, cherish- 
 ing his own country with all its traditions, which he 
 guards instinctively against all comers. Thus again, in 
 considering the origin of War, do we encounter the ani- 
 mal in man. But as human nature is elevated, as the 
 animal is subdued, that patriotism which is without rea- 
 son shares the generous change and gradually loses its 
 barbarous egotism. To the enlarged vision a new world 
 is disclosed, and we begin to discern the distant moun- 
 tain-peaks, all gilded by the beams of morning, reveal-
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 71 
 
 ing that God lias not placed us alone on this earth, but 
 that others, equally with ourselves, are children of his 
 care. 
 
 The curious spirit goes further, and, while recognizing 
 an inborn attachment to the place of birth, searches into 
 the nature of the allegiance required. According to the 
 old idea, still too prevalent, man is made for the State, 
 not the State for man. Far otherwise is the truth. The 
 State is an artificial body, for the security of the peo- 
 ple. How constantly do we find in human history that 
 the people are sacrificed for the State, — to build the 
 Eoman name, to secure for England the trident of the 
 sea, to carry abroad the conquering eagles of France ! 
 This is to barter the greater for the less, — to sacrifice 
 humanity, embracing more even than country all the 
 charities of all, for the sake of a mistaken grandeur. 
 
 Not that I love country less, but Humanity more, do 
 I now and here plead the cause of a higher and truer 
 patriotism. I cannot forget that we are men by a more 
 sacred bond than we are citizens, — that we are children 
 of a common Father more than we are Americans. 
 
 Thus do seeming diversities of nations — separated 
 by accident of language, mountain, river, or sea — all 
 disappear, and the multitudinous tribes of the globe 
 stand forth as members of one vast Human Family, 
 where strife is treason to Heaven, and all war is nothing 
 else than civil war. In vain restrict this odious term, 
 importing so much of horror, to the dissensions of a 
 single community. It belongs also to feuds between 
 nations. The soul trembles aghast in the contempla- 
 tion of fields drenched with fraternal gore, where the 
 happiness of homes is shivered by neighbors, and kins- 
 man sinks beneath the steel nerved by a kinsman's
 
 72 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 hand. This is civil M-ar, accursed forever in the calen- 
 dar of Time. In the faithful record of tlie future, rec- 
 ognizing tlie True Grandeur of Nations, tlie Muse of 
 History, insj^ired by a loftier justice and touched to finer 
 sensibilities, will extend to Universal ]\Ian the sympa- 
 thy now confined to country, and no M'ar will be waged 
 without arousing everlasting judgment. 
 
 G. I might here pause, feeling that those M'ho have 
 accompanied me to this stage will be ready to join in 
 condemnation of War, and to liail Peace as the only con- 
 dition becoming the dignity of human nature, wlide it 
 opens vistas of all kinds abundant with the most fruit- 
 ful promises. But there is one other consideration, 
 yielding to none in importance, — perhaps more impor- 
 tant than all, being at once cause and effect, — the cause 
 of strong prejudice in favor of War, and the effect of 
 this prejudice. I refer to Preparations for War in time 
 of Peace. Here is an immense practical evil, requiring 
 remedy. In exposing its character too much care can- 
 not be taken. 
 
 I shall not dw^ell upon the fearful cost of War itself. 
 That is present in the mountainous accumulations of 
 debt, piled like Ossa upon Pelion, with which civili- 
 zation is pressed to earth. According to the most recent 
 tables, the public debt of European nations, so far as 
 known, amounts to the terrific sum of $7,777,521,840, 
 — all tlie growth of War ! It is said that there are 
 throughout these nations 17,000,000 paupers, or persons 
 subsisting at the public expense, without contril)uting 
 to its resources. If these millions of public debt, form- 
 ing only a part of what has been wasted in War, could
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 73 
 
 be apportioned among these poor, it would give to each 
 $450, — a sum placing all above want, and about equal 
 to the average wealth of an inhabitant of Massachu- 
 setts. 
 
 The public debt of Great Britain in 1842 reached to 
 $3,827,833,102, the growth of War since 1688. This 
 amount is equal to two thirds of all the harvest of 
 gold and silver yielded by Spanish America, including 
 Mexico and Peru, from the discovery of our hemi- 
 sphere by Christopher Columbus to the beginning of 
 the present century, as calculated by Humboldt.^ It 
 is much larger than the mass of all the precious metals 
 constituting at this moment tlie circulating medium 
 of the world. Sometimes it is rashly said, by those 
 who have given little attention to the subject, that 
 all this expenditure has been widely distributed, and 
 therefore beneficial to the people ; but this apology for- 
 gets that it has not been bestowed on any produc- 
 tive industry or useful object. The magnitude of this 
 waste appears by contrast. For instance, the aggre- 
 gate capital of all the joint-stock companies in Eng- 
 land of which there was any known record in 1842, 
 embracing canals, docks, bridges, insurance, banks, gas- 
 lights, water, mines, railways, and other miscellaneous 
 objects, was about $ 800,000,000, — all devoted to the 
 welfare of the people, but how much less in amoimt 
 than the War Debt ! For the six years preceding 
 1842, the average payment for interest on this debt 
 was $ 141,645,157 annually. If we add to this sum 
 the further annual outlay of $ 66,780,817 for the army, 
 navy, and ordnance, we shall have $208,425,974 as 
 the annual tax of the English people, to pay for for- 
 
 1 New Spain, Vol. III. p. 431.
 
 74 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 mer wars and prepare for new. During this same 
 period, an annual appropriation of $ 24,858,442 was 
 sufficient for the entire civil service. Thus War con- 
 sumed ninety cents of every dollar pressed by heavy 
 taxation from the English people. What fabulous mon- 
 ster, what chimcera dire, ever raged with a maw so rav- 
 enous ? The remaining ten cents sufficed to maintain 
 the splendor of the throne, the administration of justice, 
 and diplomatic relations with foreign powers, — in short, 
 all the more legitimate objects of a nation.^ 
 
 Thus much for the general cost of War. Let us now 
 look exclusively at the Preparations for War in time of 
 Peace. It is one of the miseries of War, that even in 
 Peace its evils continue to be felt beyond any other 
 by which suffering humanity is oppressed. If Bellona 
 withdraws from the field, we only lose sight of her fiam- 
 ing torches; the baying of her dogs is heard on the 
 mountains, and civilized man thinks to find protection 
 from their sudden fury only by inclosing himself in the 
 barbarous armor of battle. At this moment, the Chris- 
 tian nations, worshipping a symbol of common brother- 
 hood, occupy intrenched camps, with armed watch, to 
 prevent surprise from each other. Eecognizing War 
 as Arbiter of Justice, they hold themselves perpetually 
 ready for the bloody umpirage. 
 
 It is difficult, if not impossible, to arrive at any exact 
 estimate of these Preparations, ranging under four dif- 
 ferent heads, — Standing Army, Navy, Fortifications, 
 and Militia, or irregular troops. 
 
 1 Here and in subsequent papes I have relifd upon tlio Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica, the Annual Register, McCulloch's Commercial Dictionary, Lau- 
 rie's Universal Geograjjliy, founded on the works of Malte-Brun and Balbi, 
 and the calculations of Hon. William .Tay, in War and Peace, p. 16, and 
 in his Address before the Peace Society, pp. 28, 29.
 
 THE TRUE GEANDEUR OF NATIONS. 75 
 
 The number of soldiers now affecting to keep the 
 peace of European Christendom, as a Standing Army, 
 without counting the Navy, is upwards of two millions : 
 some estimates place it as liigh as three millions. The 
 army of Great Britain, including the forces in India, 
 exceeds 300,000 men ; that of France, 350,000 ; that of 
 Russia, 730,000, and is reckoned by some as high as 
 1,000,000 ; that of Austria, 275,000 ; that of Prussia, 
 150,000. Taking the smaller number, and supposing 
 these two millions to require for their support an aver- 
 age annual sum of only $ 150 each, the result would 
 be $ 300,000,000 for sustenance alone ; and reckonins 
 one officer to ten soldiers, and allowing to each of the 
 latter an English shilling a day, or $ 88.33 a year, for 
 wages, and to the former an average annual salary of 
 $ 500, we have for the pay of the whole no less than 
 S 258,994,000, or an appalling sum-total, for both suste- 
 nance and pay, of $ 558,994,000 a year. If the same cal- 
 culation be made, supposing the force three millions, the 
 sum-total will be $ 838,491,000 ! But to this enormous 
 sum must be added another still more enormous, on 
 account of loss sustained by the withdrawal of these 
 hardy, healthy millions, in the bloom of life, from use- 
 ful, productive labor. It is supposed that it costs an 
 average sum of $500 to rear a soldier, and that the 
 value of his labor, if devoted to useful objects, would 
 be $ 150 a year. Therefore, in setting apart two mil- 
 lions of men as soldiers, the Christian powers sustain 
 a loss of $1,000,000,000 on account of training, 
 and $ 300,000,000 on account of labor, in addition 
 to the millions annually expended for sustenance and 
 pay. So much for the Standing Army of Christian 
 Europe in time of Peace.
 
 76 THE TRUE GRAJSfDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 Glance now at the Navy. The Eoyal Na\y of Great 
 Britain consists at present of 557 sliij^s ; but deducting 
 such as are used for convict ships, floating chapels, and 
 coal depots, the efficient Na\y comprises 88 ships of the 
 line, 109 frigates, 190 small frigates, corvettes, brigs, and 
 cutters, including packets, 65 steamers of various sizes, 
 3 troop-ships and yachts : in all, 455 ships. Of these, 
 in 1839, 190 were in commission, carrying in all 4,202 
 guns, with crews numbering 34,465 men. The Na\y of 
 France, though not comparable with that of England, 
 is of vast force. By royal ordinance of 1st January, 
 1837, it was fixed in time of peace at 40 ships of the line, 
 50 frigates, 40 steamers, and 19 smaller vessels, with 
 crews numbering, in 1839, 20,317 men. The Eussian 
 Na\y is coinposed of two large fleets, — one in tlie Gulf 
 of Finland, and the other in the Black Sea ; but the ex- 
 act amount of their force is a subject of dispute among 
 naval men and publicists. Some idea of the Navy may 
 be derived from the number of hands. The crews of 
 the Baltic amounted, in 1837, to not less than 30,800 
 men, and those of the Black Sea to 19,800, or altogether 
 50,600, — being nearly equal to those of England and 
 France combined. The Austrian Navy comprised, in 
 1837, 8 ships of the line, 8 frigates, 4 sloops, 6 brigs, 
 7 schooners or galleys, and smaller vessels : the num- 
 ber of men in its service, in 1839, was 4,547. The 
 Navy of Denmark comprised, at the close of 1837, 7 
 ships of the line, 7 frigates, 5 sloops, 6 brigs, 3 schoon- 
 ers, 5 cutters, 58 gunboats, 6 gun-rafts, and 3 bomb- 
 vessels, requiring about 6,500 men. The Navy of 
 Sweden and Norway consisted recently of 238 gun- 
 boats, 11 ships of the line, 8 frigates, 4 corvettes, and 
 6 brigs, with several smaller vessels. The Navy of
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF XATIOXS. 77 
 
 Greece has 32 ships of war, canymg 190 guns, with 
 2,400 men. The Navy of HoUand, in 1839, had 8 
 ships of the line, 21 frigates, 15 corvettes, 21 brigs, 
 and 95 gunboats. Of the untold cost absorbed in 
 these mighty Preparations it is impossible to form an 
 accurate idea. But we may lament that means so 
 gigantic are applied by Christian Europe, in time of 
 Peace, to the construction and maintenance of such su- 
 perfluous wooden walls. 
 
 In the Fortifications and Arsenals of Europe, crown- 
 ing every height, commanding every valley, fro^^ming 
 over every plain and every sea, wealth beyond calcu- 
 lation has been sunk. Who can tell the immense 
 sums expended in hollowing out the li'ving rock of 
 Gibraltar ? 'Who can calculate the cost of all the 
 Preparations at AVoolwdch, its 27,000 cannon, and its 
 small arms counted by hundreds of thousands ? France 
 alone contains more than one hundred and twenty for- 
 tified places ; and it is supposed that the yet unfinished 
 fortifications of Paris liave cost upward of fifty millions 
 of dollars. 
 
 The cost of the Militia, or irregular troops, the Yeo- 
 manry of England, the National Guard of Paris, and 
 the Landwchr and Landsturm of Prussia, must add 
 other incalculable sums to these enormous amounts. 
 
 Turn now to the United States, separated by a broad 
 ocean from immediate contact with the Great Powders 
 of Christendom, bound by treaties of amity and com- 
 merce with all the nations of the earth, connected with 
 all by strong ties of mutual interest, and professing a 
 devotion to the principles of Peace. Are Treaties of 
 Amity mere words ? Are relations of Commerce and 
 mutual interest mere things of a day ? Are professions
 
 78 THE TEUE GRAIN'DEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 of Peace vain ? Else why not repose in quiet, unvexed 
 by Preparations for War ? 
 
 Colossal as are European expenditures for these 
 purposes, they are still greater among us in proportion 
 to other expenses of the National Government. 
 
 It appears that the average annual expenses of 
 the National Government, for the six years ending 
 1840, exclusive of payments on account of debt, were 
 $26,474,892. Of this sum, the average appropriation 
 each year for military and naval pm'poses amounted 
 to $21,328,903, being eighty per cent. Yes, — of aU 
 the annual appropriations by the National Govern- 
 ment, eighty cents in every dollar were applied in this 
 unproductive manner. The remaining twenty cents suf- 
 ficed to maintain the Government in all its branches, 
 Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, — the administra- 
 tion of justice, our relations with foreign nations, the 
 j)Ost-office, and all the lighthouses, which, in happy, use- 
 ful contrast with the forts, shed their cheerful signals 
 over the rough waves beating upon our long and in- 
 dented coast, from the Bay of Fundy to the mouth of 
 the Mississippi. The relative expenditures of nations 
 for Military Preparations in time of Peace, exclusive 
 of payments on account of debts, when accurately un- 
 derstood, must surprise the advocates of economy in 
 our country. In proportion to the whole expenditure 
 of Government, they are, in Austria, as 33 per cent ; in 
 France, as 38 per cent ; in Prussia, as 44 per cent ; in 
 Great Britain, as 74 per cent ; in the United States, as 
 80 per cent ! i 
 
 1 I have verified these results, but do little more than follow ,Tudge .Taj', 
 who has illustrated this important point with his accustomed accuracy. — 
 Address be fort the Amur icon Peace Svcieiij, p. 30.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUK OF NATIONS. 79 
 
 To this stupendous waste may be added the still 
 larger and equally superfluous expenses of the Militia 
 throughout the country, placed recently hy a candid 
 and able writer at $50,000,000 a year I^ 
 
 By a table of the National expenditures,^ exclusive of 
 payments on account of the Pubhc Debt, it appears, 
 that, in fifty-four years from the formation of our 
 present Government, that is, from 1789 down to 1843, 
 % 155,282,217 were expended for civil purposes, com- 
 prehending the executive, the legislative, the judiciary, 
 the post-office, light-houses, and intercourse with foreign 
 governments. During this same period, $370,981,521 
 were devoted to the MiMtary establishment, and 
 $169,707,214 to the Naval establishment, — the two 
 forming an aggregate of $540,688,735. Deducting 
 from this amount appropriations during three years 
 of War, and we find that more than four hundred 
 and sixty millions were absorbed by vain Prejaarations 
 for War in time of Peace. Add to this amount a 
 moderate sum for the expenses of the Militia during 
 the same period, which, as we have seen, are placed 
 at $50,000,000 a year, — for the past years we may 
 take an average of $25,000,000, — and we have the 
 enormous sum-total of $1,350,000,000 piled upon the 
 $460,000,000, the whole amounting to eighteen hun- 
 dred and ten millions of dollars, a sum not easily con- 
 ceived by the human faculties, sunk, under the sanc- 
 tion of the National Government, in mere peacefid 
 Preparations for War : almost twelve times as much as 
 was dedicated by the National Government, during the 
 same period, to all other purposes whatsoever. 
 
 1 Jay, War and Peace, p. 13. 
 
 2 Executive Document No. 15, Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session, 
 pp 1018-19.
 
 80 THE TRUE GRANDEUK OF NATIONS. 
 
 From this serried array of figures tlie mind instinc- 
 tively recoils. If we examine them from a nearer point 
 of view, and, selecting some particular item, compare it 
 with the figures rejDresenting other interests in the com- 
 munity, they will present a front still more dread. 
 
 Within cannon-range of this city stands an institu- 
 tion of learning which wag one of the earliest cares of 
 our forefathers, the conscientious Puritans. Favored 
 child in an age of trial and struggle, — carefully nursed 
 through a period of hardship and anxiety, — endowed 
 at that time by the oblations of men like Harvard, — sus- 
 tained from its first foundation by the parental arm of the 
 Commonwealth, by a constant succession of munificent 
 bequests, and by the prayers of good men, — the Uni- 
 versity at Cambridge now invites our homage, as the 
 most ancient, most interesting, and most important seat 
 of learning in the land, — possessing the oldest and 
 most valuable library, — one of the largest museums 
 of mineralogy and natural history, — with a School of 
 Law which annually receives into its bosom more than 
 one hundred and fifty sons from all parts of the Union, 
 where they listen to instruction from professors whose 
 names are among the most valuable possessions of tlie 
 land, — also a School of Divinity, fount of true learning 
 and piety, — also one of the largest and most flourish- 
 ing Schools of Medicine in the country, — and besides 
 these, a general body of teachers, twenty-seven in num- 
 ber, many of whose names help to keep the name of 
 the country respectable in every part of the globe, 
 where science, learning, and taste are cherished, — the 
 whole presided over at tlds moment by a gentleman 
 early distinguished in public lil'e by unconquerable 
 energy and masculine elocpience, at a later period by
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 81 
 
 the unsurpassed ability with which he administered the 
 affairs of our city, and now, in a green old age, full of 
 years and honors, preparing to lay down his present 
 high trust.i Such is Harvard University; and as one 
 of the humblest of her children, hajDpy in the memories 
 of a youth nurtured in her classic retreats, I cannot 
 aUude to her without an expression of filial affection 
 and respect. 
 
 It appears from the last Eeport of the Treasurer, 
 that the wliole available property of the University, 
 the various accumulation of more than two centuries 
 of generosity, amounts to 8 703,175. 
 
 Change the scene, and cast your eyes upon another 
 object. There now swings idly at her moorings in this 
 harbor a ship of the line, the Ohio, carrying ninety 
 guns, finished as late as 1836 at an expense of 
 S 547,888, — repaired only two years afterwards, in 
 1838, for $233,012, — with an armament which has 
 cost $53,945, — making an aggregate of $834,845, 
 as the actual outlay at this moment for that single 
 ship,2 — more than $100,000 beyond all the available 
 wealth of the richest and most ancient seat of learning 
 in the land ! Choose ye, my fellows-citizens of a Chris- 
 tian state, between the two caskets, — that wherein is 
 the loveliness of truth, or that which contains the 
 carrion death. 
 
 I refer to the Ohio because this ship happens to be 
 in our waters ; but I do not take the strongest case 
 afforded by our Na\y. Other ships have absorbed 
 larger sums. The expense of the Delaware, in 1842, 
 had reached $1,051,000. 
 
 1 Hon. Josiah Quincy. 
 
 2 Executive Document No. 132, Twenty-Seventh Congress, Third Session.
 
 82 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 Pursue the comparison still further. The expendi- 
 tures of the University during tlie last year, for the 
 general purposes of the College, the instruction of the 
 Undergraduates, and for the Schools of Law and Divin- 
 ity, amounted to $47,935. The cost of the Ohio for 
 one year of service, in salaries, wages, and provisions, 
 is $ 220,000, — being $ 172,000 above the annual expen- 
 ditures of tlie University, and more tlian four times as 
 much as those expenditures. In other words, for the 
 annual sum lavished on a single ship of the line,/o?^r 
 institutions like Harvard University might be sup- 
 ported. 
 
 Furthermore, the pay of the Captain of a ship like 
 the Ohio is $ 4,500, when in service, — $ 3,500, when on 
 leave of absence, or off duty. The salary of the Presi- 
 dent of Harvard University is $2,235, without leave 
 of absence, and never off duty. 
 
 If the large endowments of Harvard University are 
 dwarfed by comparison with a single ship of the line, 
 how must it be with other institutions of learning and 
 beneficence, less favored by the boimty of many genera- 
 tions ? The average cost of a sloop of war is $ 3 15,000, — 
 more, probably, than all the endowments of those twin 
 stars of learning in the Western part of Massacliusetts, 
 the Colleges at AVilliamstown and Amherst, and of that 
 single star in the East, the guide to many ingenuous 
 youth, the Seminary at Andover. The yearly expense 
 of a sloop of war in service is about $50,000, — more 
 than the annual expenditures of these tliree institutions 
 combined. 
 
 I might press the comparison witli other institutions 
 of beneficence, — witli our annual appropriations for 
 the Blind, that noble and successful charity which
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 83 
 
 sheds true lustre upon the Commonwealth, amount- 
 ing to $ 12,000, and for the Insane, another charity 
 dear to humanity, amounting to $27,844. 
 
 Take all the institutions of Learning and Beneficence, 
 the crown jewels of the Commonwealth, schools, col- 
 leges, hospitals, asylums, and the sums by which they 
 have been purchased and preserved are trivial and 
 beggarly, compared with the treasures squandered with- 
 in the borders of Massachusetts in vain Preparations 
 for War, — upon the Navy Yard at Charlestown, with 
 its stores on hand, costing $4,741,000, — the fortifi- 
 cations in the harbors of Massachusetts, where untold 
 sums are already sunk, and it is now proposed to sink 
 $ 3,875,000 more,i — and the Arsenal at Springfield, con- 
 taining, in 1842, 175,118 muskets, valued at $ 2,099,998,2 
 and maintained by an annual appropriation of $ 200,000, 
 wliose highest value will ever be, in the judgment of all 
 lovers of truth, tliat it inspired a poem which in in- 
 fiuence will be mightier than a battle, and will endure 
 when arsenals and fortifications have crumbled to earth. 
 Some of the verses of this Psalm of Peace may relieve 
 the detail of statistics, Avhile they happily blend with 
 my argument. 
 
 " Were half the power that fills the world with terror, 
 Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts, 
 Given to redeem the human mind from error, 
 There were no need of arsenals or forts : 
 
 " The warrior's name would be a name abhorred, 
 And every nation that should lift again 
 Its hand against a brother on its forehead 
 
 Would wear foreverraore the curse of Cain." ^ 
 
 1 Report of Secretary of War, Senate Document No. 2, Twenty-Seventh 
 Congress, Second Session, — where we are asked to invest in a general sys- 
 tem of land defences $ 51 ,677,929. 
 
 2 Executive Document No. 3, Twenty-Seventh Congress, Third Session. 
 
 3 Longfellow, The Arsenal at Springfield.
 
 84 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATION'S. 
 
 Turn now to a high and peculiar interest of the 
 nation, the administration of justice. Perhaps no part 
 of our system is regarded with more pride and conti- 
 dence, especially by the enlightened sense of the coun- 
 tiy. To this, indeed, all other concerns of Government, 
 with all its complications of machinery, are in a man- 
 ner subordinate, since it is for the sake of justice that 
 men come togetlier in communities and establish laws. 
 What part of tlie Government can compare in impor- 
 tance with the National Judiciary, that great balance- 
 wheel of the Constitution, controlling the relations of 
 the several States to each other, the legislation of Con- 
 gress and of the States, besides private interests to an 
 incalculable amount ? Nor can the citizen who discerns 
 the true glory of his country fail to recognize in the im- 
 mortal judgments of IVIarshall, now departed, and of 
 Story, wlio is still spared to us — scrws iji cadum rcdcat ! 
 — a higher claim to admiration and gratitude than can 
 be found in any triumpli of battle. The expenses of 
 this great department under the National Govern- 
 ment, in 1842, embracing tlie cost of court-houses, the 
 salaries of judges, the pay of juries, and of all the law 
 officers throughout the United States, in short, all the 
 outlay by which justice, according to the requirement 
 of Magna Charta, is carried to every man's door, 
 amounted to $560,990, — a larger sum than is usually 
 appropriated for this purpose, but liow insignificant, 
 compared with the cormorant demands of Army and 
 Navy ! 
 
 Let me allude to one miore curiosity of waste. By a 
 calculation founded on the expenses of the Navy it 
 appears that the average cost of eacli gun carried over 
 the ocean for oue year amounts to about fifteen thou-
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF KATIUNS. 85 
 
 sand dollars, — a sum sufficient to maintain ten or even 
 twenty professors of Colleges, and equal to the salaries 
 of all the Judges of the Supreme Court of Massachu- 
 setts and the Governor combined ! 
 
 Such are illustrations of that tax which nations con- 
 stituting the great Federation of Civilization, including 
 our o^vn country, impose on the people, in time of pro- 
 found peace, for no permanent productive work, for no 
 institution of learning, for no gentle charity, for no pur- 
 pose of good. Wearily climbing from expenditure to 
 expenditure, from waste to waste, we seem to pass be- 
 yond the region of ordinary measurement; Alps on 
 Alps arise, on whose crowning heights of everlasting 
 cold, far above the habitations of man, where no green 
 thing lives, where no creature draws breath, w^e behold 
 the sharp, icy, flashing glacier of War. 
 
 In the contemplation of this spectacle the soul swells 
 with alternate despair and hope : with despair, at the 
 thought of such wealth, capable of such service to Hu- 
 manity, not merely wasted, but bestowed to perpetuate 
 Hate ; with hope, as the blessed vision arises of all 
 these incalculable means secured to purposes of Peace. 
 The whole w^orld labors with poverty and distress ; and 
 the painful question occurs in Europe more than here. 
 What shall become of the poor, — the increasing 
 Standing Army of the poor ? Could the voice that now 
 addresses you penetrate those distant councils, or coun- 
 cils nearer home, it would say. Disband your Standing 
 Armies of soldiers, employ your Navies in peaceful and 
 enriching commerce, abandon Fortifications and Arse- 
 nals, or dedicate them to works of Beneficence, as the 
 statue of Jupiter Capitolinus was changed to the image
 
 8G THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 of a Christian saint ; in fine, utterly renounce the pres- 
 ent incongruous system of Armed Peace. 
 
 That I may not seem to accept this conchision too 
 hastily, at least as regards our own coimtry, I shaU con- 
 sider the asserted usefidness of the national arma- 
 ments, — and then expose the fallacy, at least in the 
 present age and among Christian nations, of the maxim, 
 that in time of Peace vre must prepare for "War. 
 
 For what use is the Standing Army of the United 
 States .? For many generations it has been a principle 
 of freedom to avoid a standing army ; and one of the 
 complaints in the Declaration of Independence was, 
 that George the Third had quartered large bodies of 
 troops in the Colonies. For the first years after the 
 adoption of the National Constitution, during our period 
 of weakness, before our power was assured, before our 
 name had become respected in the family of nations, 
 under the administration of "Washington, a small simi 
 was ample for the military estal)lishment of the United 
 States. It was at a later day that the country', touched 
 by martial insanity, abandoned the true economy of a 
 Eepublic, and, in imitation of monarchical powers, 
 lavished means, grudged to Peace, in vain preparation 
 for "War. It may now be said of our Army, as Dimning 
 said of the influence of the Cro%\Ti, it has increased, is 
 increasing, and ousfht to be diminished. At this mo- 
 ment there are in the countrj^ more than sixty milita- 
 ry posts. For any of these it would be difficult to pre- 
 sent a reasonaljle apology, — unless, perhaps, on some 
 distant Indian frontier. Of what use is the detach- 
 ment of the Second Artillery at the quiet town of Xew 
 London, in Connecticut ? Of what use is the detach-
 
 THE TRUE GRA>"DErE OF XATIOXS. 87 
 
 ment of the First Artillerv in that pleasant resort of 
 fashion, Xe"«~port -? By exhilarating music and showy 
 parade they may amuse an idle hour; but is it not 
 equally true that emotions of a difierent character will 
 be aroused in thoughtful bosoms ? He must have 
 lost something of sensibility' to the dignity of human 
 nature who can observe, without at least a passing 
 regret, all the details of discipline — drill, marching, 
 countermarching — which fill the life of the soldier, and 
 prepare him to become the rude, inanimate part of that 
 machine to which an aiTQV is likened by the great liv- 
 ing master of the Art of War.^ And this sensibility 
 may be more disturbed by the spectacle of ingenuous 
 youth, in chosen numbers, under the auspices of the 
 Government, amidst the bewitching scenery of West 
 Point, painfully trained to these same exercises, — at a 
 cost to the country, since the establishment of this 
 Academy, of above four millions of dollars. 
 
 In Europe, Standing Armies are supposed to be 
 needed in support of Gk)vemment : but this exctise can- 
 not prevail here. The monarchs of the Old World, like 
 the chiefs of the ancient Grerman tribes, are upborne on 
 the shields of the soldiery. Happily, witih tis, Govern- 
 ment needs no janizaries. The hearts of the people are 
 a sufficient support. 
 
 I hear a voice from some defender of this abuse, some 
 upholder of this " rotten borough," crying. The Army is 
 needed for defence ! As well might you say that the 
 shadow is needed for defence. For what is the Army 
 of the United States, but the feeble shadow of the Amer- 
 ican people ? In placing the Array on its present footing, 
 so small in numbers, compared tcith the forces of great 
 
 1 The Duke of Weningtcn.
 
 88 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 European States, our Government tacitly adm its its super- 
 Jluousness for defence. It only remains to declare that 
 the country will repose in the consciousness of right, 
 without the extravagance of soldiers, unproductive con- 
 sumers of the fruits of the earth, who might do the 
 country good service in the various departments of 
 useful industry. 
 
 For what itse is the Navy of the United States ? 
 The annual expense of our Navy, during recent years, 
 has been upwards of six millions of dollars. For what 
 purpose ? Not for the apprehension of pirates, since 
 frigates and ships of the line are of too great bulk for 
 this service. Not for the suppression of the Slave 
 Trade ; for, under the stipulations with Great Britain, 
 we employ only eighty guns in this holy alliance. Not 
 to protect our coasts ; for aU agree that our few ships 
 would form an unavailing defence against any serious 
 attack. Not for these purposes, you admit ; hut for the 
 protection of our Navigation. This is not the occasion 
 for minute estimates. Suffice it to say, that an intelli- 
 gent merchant, extensively engaged in commerce for the 
 last twenty years, and who speaks, therefore, with the 
 authority of knowledge, has demonstrated, in a tract of 
 perfect clearness,^ that the annual profits of the whole 
 mercantile marine of the country do not equal the an- 
 nual expenditure of our Navy. Admitting the profit 
 of a merchant ship to be four thousand dollars a year, 
 which is a large allowance, it will take the earnings of 
 one hundred ships to b\iild and employ for one year a 
 single sloop of war, of one hundred and fifty ships to 
 build and employ a frigate, and of nearly three hundred 
 
 1 I refer to the puiuplilet of S. E. Coues, " United States Navy: What is 
 its Use? "
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 89 
 
 ships to build and employ a ship of the line. Thus 
 more than five hundred ships nmst do a profitable 
 business to earn a sufficient sum for the support of 
 this little fleet. Still further, taking a received esti- 
 mate putting the mercantile marine of the United States 
 at forty millions of dollars, we find that it is only a 
 little more than six times the annual cost of the Na\y ; 
 so that this interest is protected at a charge of more than 
 fifteen ])cr cent of its whole value ! Protection at such 
 price is not less ruinous than one of Pyrrhus's victories. 
 
 It is to the Xavy as an unnecessary arm of national 
 defence, and part of the War establishment, that I con- 
 fine my objection. So far as it is required for science, 
 or for the jtolice of the seas, — to scour them of pirates, 
 and, above all, to defeat the hateful traffic in human 
 flesh, — it is a fit engine of Government, and cannot be 
 obnoxious as a portion of the machinery of War. But, 
 surely, a most costly na\y to protect navigation in time 
 of Peace against assaults from civilized nations is ab- 
 surdly superfluous. The free cities of Hamburg and 
 Bremen, survivors of the powerful Hanseatic League, 
 with a commerce whitening the most distant seas, are 
 without a single ship of war. Following this prudent 
 example, the United States might be willing to abandon 
 an institution already become a vain and expensive 
 toy. 
 
 For ivlmt use are the Fortifications of the United 
 States ? We have already seen the enormous sums 
 locked in the odious mortmain of their everlasting 
 masonry. Like the Pyramids, they seem by mass and 
 solidity to defy Time. Nor can I doubt that hereafter, 
 like these same monuments, they will be looked upon 
 with wonder, as the types of an extinct superstition, not
 
 90 THE TRUE GRAXDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 less degrading than that of Ancient Egj^t. Under the 
 pretence of saving the country from conquest and blood- 
 shed they are reared. But whence the danger ? On 
 what side ? What people to fear ? Xo civilized na- 
 tion threatens our borders with rapine or trespass. 
 None will. Xor, in the existing state of civilization, 
 and under existing International Law, is it possible to 
 suppose any war with such a nation, unless, renoun- 
 cing the peaceful Tribunal of Arbitration, v:e volun- 
 tarily appeal to Trial by Battle. The fortifications 
 might be of service then. But perhaps they would 
 invite the attack they might be inadequate to defeat. 
 According to a modern rule, illustrated with admirable 
 ability in the diplomatic correspondence of j\Ir. Web- 
 ster, non-combatants and their property on land are 
 not molested. So firmly did the Duke of Wellington 
 act upon this rule, that, throughout the revengeful cam- 
 paigns of Spain, and afterwards entering France, Hushed 
 with the victory of Waterloo, he directed his army to 
 pay for all provisions, even the forage of their horses. 
 War is carried on against public property, — against 
 fortifications, navy-yards, and arsenals. If these do not 
 exist, where is its aliment, where the fuel for the 
 flame ? Paradoxical as it seems, and disparaging to the 
 whole trade of War, it may be proper to inquire, wheth- 
 er, according to acknowledjjed laws, now <:rovernin«]r this 
 bloody arbitrament, every new fortification and every 
 additional gun in our harbor is not less a safeguard than 
 a danger. Do they not draw the lightning of battle 
 upon our homes, without, alas ! any conductor to hurry 
 its terrors innocently beneath the concealing bosom of 
 the earth ? 
 
 ^or vjhat use is the Jflilitia of the United States ?
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 91 
 
 This immense system spreads, with innumerable suck- 
 ers, over the whole country, draining its best life-blood, 
 the unbought energies of our youth. The same painful 
 discipline which we observe in the soldier absorbs their 
 time, though to a less degree than in the Eegular Army. 
 Theirs also is the savage pomp of AVar. We read with 
 astonishment of the painted flesh and uncouth vest- 
 ments of our progenitors, the ancient Britons. But the 
 generation will come, that must regard with equal won- 
 der the pictures of their ancestors closely dressed in 
 padded and well-buttoned coats of blue " besmeared 
 with gold," surmounted by a huge mountain-cap of 
 shaggy bear-skin, and with a barbarous device, t}qucal 
 of brute force, a tiger, painted on oil-skin tied with 
 leather to their backs ! In the streets of Pisa the 
 galley-slaves are compelled to wear dresses stamped 
 with the name of the crime for which they are suffering 
 punishment, — as theft, robbery, murder. Is it not a 
 little strange that Christians, li\"ing in a land " where 
 bells have tolled to church," should voluntarily adopt 
 devices which, if they have any meaning, recognize 
 the example of beasts as worthy of imitation by man ? 
 
 The general considerations belonging to Preparations 
 for War illustrate the inanity of the Militia for pur- 
 poses of national defence. I do not know, indeed, that 
 it is now strongly urged on this ground. It is oftener 
 approved as an important part of the 'police. I would 
 not undervalue the advantage of an active, efficient, 
 ever-wakeful police ; and I believe that such a police 
 has been long required. But the Militia, where youth 
 and character are without the strength of experience, is 
 inadequate for this purpose. No person who has seen 
 this arm of the police in an actual riot can hesitate in
 
 92 THE TI^UE GEANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 this judgment. A very small portion of the means 
 absorbed by the Militia would provide a substantial 
 police, competent to all the domestic emergencies of 
 disorder and violence. The city of Boston has discarded 
 a Fire Department composed of accidental volunteers. 
 Wliy not do the same with the police, and set another 
 example to the country ? 
 
 I am well aware that efforts to reduce the Militia 
 are encountered by some of the dearest prejudices of the 
 common mind, — not only by the War Spirit, but by 
 that other, which first animates childhood, and, at a 
 later day, " children of a larger growth," inviting to 
 finery of dress and parade, — the same wliich fantasti- 
 cally bedecks the dusky feather-cinctured chief of the 
 soft regions warmed by the tropical sun, — which in- 
 serts a ring in the nose of the North American Indian, 
 — which slits the ears of the Australian savage, and 
 tattoos the New Zealand cannibal. 
 
 Such are the national armaments, in their true char- 
 acter and value. Thus far I have regarded them in 
 the plainest light of ordinary worldly economy, without 
 reference to those higher considerations, drawn from 
 the nature and history of man and the truths of Chris- 
 tianity, which pronounce thcni vain. It is grateful to 
 know, that, though having yet the support of wliat 
 Jeremy Taylor calls " popular noises," the other more 
 economical, more humane, more wise, more Christian 
 system is daily commending itself to good people. On 
 its side are all the virtues tliat truly elevate a state. 
 Economy, sick of pygmy efforts to stanch the smallest 
 fountain and rill of exuberant exjienditure, pleads that 
 here is a measureless, fathomless, endless river, an
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 93 
 
 Amazon of waste, rolling its prodigal waters tiirhidly, 
 ruinously, hatefully, to the sea. It chides us with 
 unnatural inconsistency, when we strain at a little 
 twine and paper, and swallow the monstrous cables 
 and armaments of War. Humanity pleads for the 
 surpassing interests of Knowledge and Benevolence, 
 from which such miglity means are withdrawn. Wis- 
 dom frowns on these Preparations, as nursing senti- 
 ments inconsistent with Peace ; Christianity calmly 
 rebukes the spirit in which they have their origin, as 
 of little faith, and treaclierous to her high behests : 
 while History, exhibiting the sure, though gradual. 
 Progress of Man, points with unerring finger to that 
 destiny of True Grandeur, when nations, like individu- 
 als, disowning War as a proper Arbiter of Justice, shall 
 abandon the oppressive apparatus of Armies, Navies, 
 and Fortifications, by Avhich it is waged. 
 
 Before considering the familiar injunction, In time of 
 Peace preimre for War, I hope I shall not seem to de- 
 scend from the proper sphere of this discussion, if I 
 refer to the parade of larlarous mottoes, and of emblems 
 from beasts, as another impediment to the proper ap- 
 preciation of these Preparations. These mottoes and 
 emblems, prompting to War, are obtruded on the very 
 ensigns of power and honor, and, careless of their dis- 
 creditable import, men learn to regard them with 
 patriotic pride. In the armorial bearings of nations 
 and individuals, beasts and birds* of prey are the ex- 
 emplars of True Grandeur. The lion appears on the 
 flag of England ; the leopard on the flag of Scotland ; 
 a double-headed eagle spreads its wings on the imperial 
 standard of Austria, and again on that of Eussia ; while
 
 94 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 a single-headed eagle was adopted on the Napoleonic 
 seal, and thus far the same singlc-lieaded bird is enougli 
 for Prussia. The pennons of knights, after exhausting 
 the laiown kingdom of Nature, were disfigured by 
 imaginary and impossible monsters, grilfins, hippogriffs, 
 unicorns, all intended to represent the exaggeration of 
 brute force. The people of Massachusetts unconsciously 
 adopt this early standard. The escutcheon used as the 
 seal of the State has an unfortunate combination, to 
 which I refer briefly by way of example. On that part 
 in the language of heraldry termed the shield stands 
 an Indian with a bow in his liand, — certainly no 
 agreeable memento, except to those wlio find honor in 
 the disgraceful wars where our fathers robbed and 
 murdered King Philip of Pokanoket, and his tribe, 
 rightful possessors of the soil. The crest is a raised 
 arm holding a drawn scchre in a threatening attitude, — 
 being precisely the emblem once borne on the flag of 
 Algiers. The scroll, or legend, is the latter of two 
 favorite verses, in modern Latin, which are not traced 
 to any origin more remote than Algernon Sidney, by 
 wdiom they were inscribed in an album at Copen- 
 hagen : — 
 
 " Manns liaic inimica tjTannis 
 Ense petit placidam sub Ubertate quietem.'" l 
 
 1 The Earl of Leicester, father of Sidney, in an anxious letter, August 30, 
 1660, writes his son : " It is said tliat the University of Copenhagen hrouglit 
 their Album unto you, desiring you to write somctliing therein, and that you 
 did scribere in Albo these words [setting forth the verses], and put your 
 name to it"; and then he .adds, " This cannot but be pul)licly known, if it 
 
 be true Either you must live in exile or very privately here, and 
 
 perhaps not safely." The restoration of Charles the Second had just taken 
 place. (Meadley, Memoirs of Algernon Sidney, pp. 84, 323-325.) Lord 
 Molesworth, in a work which first appeared in 1G94, mentions the verses as 
 ■written by Sidney in " the Book of Jlottoes in the King's Library," and then 
 tells the story, that the French Ambassador, who did not know a word of
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 95 
 
 With singular unanimity, the Legislature of Massa- 
 chusetts has expressed an earnest desire for the estab- 
 lishment of a High Court of Nations to adjudge inter- 
 national controversies, and thus supersede the Arbitra- 
 ment of War. It would be an act of moral dignity- 
 consistent with these professions, and becoming the 
 character it vaunts before the world, if it abandoned 
 the bellicose escutcheon, — at least, that Algerinc em- 
 blem, fit only for corsairs, if not also the Latin motto 
 with its menace of the sword. If a Latin substi- 
 tute for the latter be needed, it might be those words 
 of Virgil, " Pacisque imponere morem," ^ or that sen- 
 tence of noble truth from Cicero, " Sine summa justitia 
 rempublicam geri nuUo modo posse " : ^ the first a hom- 
 age to Peace, and the second a consecration to Justice. 
 Where such a spirit prevailed, there would be little 
 occasion to consider the question of War Prepara- 
 tions. 
 
 Massachusetts is not alone in the bellicose anachro- 
 nism of her banner. The nation is in the same cate- 
 gory. Our fathers would have hesitated long before 
 accepting the eagle for the national escutcheon, had 
 they recalled the pungent words of Erasmus on this 
 most unrepublican bird. " Let any physiognomist, not 
 a blunderer in his trade," says this most learned 
 scholar, " consider the look and features of an eagle, 
 those rapacious and wicked eyes, that menacing curve of 
 the beak, those cruel cheeks, that stern front, — will he 
 
 Latin, on learning their meaning, tore them from the book, as a libel on the 
 French government, and its influence in Deninark. (Moles worth. Account 
 of Denmark, Preface.) The inference from this narrative would seem to be 
 that the verses were by Sidney himself. 
 
 1 iEneid, VI. 852. 
 
 2 De Republica, Lib. II. cap. 43.
 
 06 THE TRUE GRAXDEUPv OF NATIONS. 
 
 not at once recognize the image of a king, a magnificent 
 and majestic king? Add to these a dark, ill-omened 
 color, an mipleasing, dreadful, appalling voice, and that 
 threatening scream at which every kind of animal trem- 
 bles." Proceeding with his indictment, lie describes 
 the eagle in old age as satisfied with nothing but blood, 
 with which he prolongs his liateful life, the upper man- 
 dible growing so that he cannot feed on fiesh, wliile the 
 natural rapacity continues, — all of which typifies the 
 wicked prince. But the scholar becomes orator, when, 
 after mentioning that there are innumerable species of 
 birds, some admirable for ricliness of plumage, some 
 remarkable for snowy whiteness, some shining with 
 befitting blackness, some pre-eminent in bodily stature, 
 some notable for fecundity, some grateful at the rich 
 banquet, some pleasant from loquacity, some captivating 
 in song, some distinguished for courage, some created 
 for the entertainment of man, — he proceeds to say: 
 " Of all birds, the eagle alone has seemed to wise men 
 the apt type of royalty : not beautiful, not musical, not 
 fit for food, — but carnivorous, ravenous, plundering, 
 destroying, fighting, solitary, hateful to all, the curse 
 of all, and though able to do tlie greatest harm, yet 
 wishing to do more than he can." ^ Erasmus, who says 
 this and much more, is no mean authority. Briglitest 
 and best among the scholars who illustrated the modern 
 revival of letters, loving peace, and detesting kings, he 
 acquired a contemporary power and fame such as letters 
 never bestowed before, if since, — at least until Voltaire, 
 kindred in versatile genius, UKninted the throne. In 
 all the homage profusely offered to the latter there was 
 
 1 Erasmi Adagia, Cliil. III. Cent. VII. Prov. 1: Scarabceu$ aquilam. quoBrit, 
 Ilullam, Literature of Europe, Part I. eh. 4. sec. 43, 44. •*
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 97 
 
 nothing stronger tlian that of Luther to Erasmns, when 
 the great Eeformer asked, " Who is the man whose soul 
 Erasmus does not occupy, whom Erasmus does not in- 
 struct, over whom Erasmus does not reign ? " His face 
 is still familiar from the devotion of two great artists, 
 Albert Dtirer and Hans Holbein, each of whom has left 
 to us his portrait, — while he is commemorated by a 
 bronze statue in Rotterdam, his birthplace, and by a 
 monument in the ancient cathedral at Basel, where 
 he died. It is this renowned scholar who castigates 
 our eagle. Doubtless for fighting qualities this royal 
 bird was transferred to the coin and seal of a Eepublic. 
 His presence there shows the spirit which unconsciously 
 prevailed ; and this same presence, beyond all question, 
 exercises a certain influence, especially with the young, 
 nursing a pride in that beak and those pounces which 
 are the menace of War. 
 
 The maxim, In time of Peace 'prepare for War} is 
 transmitted from distant ages, when brute force was 
 the general law. It is the terrible inheritance which 
 painfully reminds present generations of their connec- 
 tion w^ith the Past. It belongs to the dogmas of bar- 
 barism. It is the companion of harsh, tyrannical rules 
 by which the happiness of the many is offered up to 
 the few. It is the child of suspicion, and the forerun- 
 
 1 If countenance were needed in thus exposing a pernicious maxim, I 
 might find it in the German philosopher Kant, whose work on Perpetual 
 Peace treats it with very little respect. (Kant, Siimmtliche Werke, Band 
 VII., Zum Eteigen Frieden, § 1.) Since this Oration, Sir Robert Peel and 
 the Earl of Aberdeen, each Prime Minister of England, and practically con- 
 versant with the question, have given their valuable testimony in the same 
 direction. Life has its surprises; and I confess one in my own, when the 
 latter, in conversation on this maxim, most kindly thanked me for what I 
 had said against it.
 
 98 
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 ner of violence. Having in its favor almost uninter- 
 rupted usage, it possesses a hold on popular opinion not 
 easily unloosed. And yet no conscientious man can 
 fail, on careful observation, to detect its mischievous 
 fallacy, — at hast among Christian nations in the 2^'rcsent 
 age, — a fallacy the most costly the world has wit- 
 nessed, dooming nations to annual tribute in com- 
 parison with which the extortions of conquest are as 
 the widow's mite. So true is what Rousseau said, and 
 Guizot has since repeated, that " a bad principle is far 
 worse than a bad fact " ; for the operations of the 
 latter are finite, while those of the former are infi- 
 nite. 
 
 I speak of this principle with earnestness ; for I 
 believe it erroneous and false, founded in ignorance 
 and A\Tong, unworthy of civilization, and disgraceful to 
 Christians. I call it a principle ; but it is a mere pre- 
 judice, — sustained by vulgar example only, and not by 
 enlightened truth, — obeying which, we imitate the early 
 mariners, who, steering from headland to lieadland, 
 hugged the shore, unwilling to venture upon the broad 
 ocean, with the luminaries of heaven for their guide. 
 If not yet discerned in its true character, it is because 
 the clear light of trutli is discolored and refracted by an 
 atmosphere where the cloud of War covers all. 
 
 Dismissing the actual usage on the one side, and con- 
 siderations of economy on the other, I would regard 
 these Preparations in the simple light of reason, in a 
 just appreciation of the nature of man, and in tlie in- 
 junctions of the highest truth. Our conclusion will 
 be very easy. They are twice pernicious, and whoso 
 would vindicate them must satisfactorily answer these 
 two objections : first, that they inflame the people, ex-
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 99 
 
 citing to deeds of violence, otherwise alien to the mind; 
 and, secondly, that, having their origin in the low motives 
 of distrust and hate, inevitably, by a sure law of the hu- 
 man mind, they excite to corresponding action in other 
 nations. Thus, in fact, are they lyromoters of War, 
 rather than "preservers of Peaee. 
 
 In illustration of the first objection, it will occur at 
 once to every inquirer that the possession of power is 
 in itself dangerous, tempting the purest and highest, 
 and too rarely enjoyed without abuse. Nor is the 
 power to employ force in War an exception. Nations 
 possessing the greatest armaments are the most bellige- 
 rent. It is the feebler powers which enjoy eras of 
 Peace. Throughout more than seven hundred years of 
 Roman history resounds the din of War, with only two 
 short lulls of Peace ; and in modern times this din has 
 been echoed from France. But Switzerland has had no 
 din. Less prepared, this Eepublic had less incentive to 
 War. Not only in nations do we find this law. It ap- 
 plies to individuals also. The same din which resounded 
 in Rome and was echoed from France has filled common 
 Hfe, and from the same cause. The wearing of arms has 
 been a provocative, too often exciting, as it furnished the 
 weapon of strife. The odious system of private quar- 
 rels, with altercation and hostile meetings even in the 
 street, disgracing the social life of modern Europe, con- 
 tinued with this habit. This was its origin. But who 
 can measure the extent of its influence ? Dead bodies 
 stretched on the pavements, and vacant chairs at home, 
 were the contemporary witnesses. If death w^as hasty 
 and unpremeditated, it was only according to the law 
 of such encounter. Poets and authors, wearing arms, 
 were exposed to the rude chances. The dramatist Mar-
 
 100 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 lowe, in some respects almost Shakespearian, " renowned 
 for his rare art and Mit," perished ignominiously under 
 the weapon of a vulgar adversary ; and Savage, whose 
 genius and misfortune inspired the friendship and praise 
 of Samuel Johnson, was tried at the Old Bailey for 
 murder committed in a sudden broil. Nothing of this 
 could have occurred without the habit of Avearing arms, 
 which was a fashion. Out of this came the Dance of 
 Death. 
 
 This pernicious influence is illustrated by Judge Jay 
 with admirable plainness. He shows the individual as 
 an example to nations. Listen, a moment, to what he 
 says so well "The expert swordsman, the practised 
 marksman, is ever more ready to engage in personal 
 combats than the man who is unaccustomed to the use of 
 deadly weapons. In those portions of our country wliere 
 it is supposed essential to personal safety to go armed 
 with pistols and bowie-knives mortal aflrays are so fre- 
 quent as to excite but little attention, and to secure, with 
 exceedingly rare exceptions, perfect impunity to the 
 murderer ; whereas at the North and East, where we are 
 unprovided with such facilities for taking life, compara- 
 tively few murders of the kind are perpetrated. We 
 miglit, indeed, safely submit the decision of the princi- 
 ple we are discussing to the calculations of pecuniary 
 interest. Let two men, ecpial in age and health, apply 
 for an insurance on their lives, — one known to be ever 
 armed to defend his lionor and his life against every 
 assailant, and the other a meek, unresisting Quaker : can 
 we doubt for a moment whicli of these men would be 
 deemed by an Insurance Company most likely to reach 
 a good old age ? " ^ 
 
 1 Address before the American Peace Society, pp. 23, 24.
 
 THE TEUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 101 
 
 With this practical statement and its strong sense I 
 leave this objection to AVar Preparations, adding a sin- 
 gle supplementary remark, — What is good for the in- 
 dividual is good for nations. 
 
 The second objection, thougli different in cliaracter, is 
 not less operative. It is founded on that law of hu- 
 man nature according to which the very hate or dis- 
 trust to which these Preparations testify excites in 
 others a corresponding sentiment. This law is general 
 and fundamental. Though rarely recognized by nations 
 as a rule of conduct, it was never without its influence 
 on individuals. Indeed, it is little more than a practi- 
 cal illustration of the Horatian adage, Si vis me Jlere, 
 dolendum est primum ipsi tibi : If you wish me to weep, 
 you must yourself first grieve. Nobody questions its 
 truth or applicability. But does it not' proclaim that 
 War Preparations in a period of professed Peace must 
 naturally prompt adverse Preparations, and everywhere 
 within the circle of their influence quicken the Spirit 
 of War ? So are we all knit together that the feelings 
 in our own bosoms awaken corresponding feelings in 
 the bosoms of others, — as harp answers to harp in its 
 softest vibration, as deep responds to deep in the might 
 of its power. What in us is good invites the good in 
 our brother ; generosity begets generosity ; love wins 
 love ; Peace secures Peace ; — while all in us that is bad 
 challenges the bad in our brother; distrust engenders 
 distrust ; hate provokes hate ; AVar arouses AVar. There- 
 fore are we admonished to avoid such appeal, and this 
 is the voice of Nature itself. 
 
 This beautiful law is everywhere. The wretched 
 maniac, in whose mind the common principles of con- 
 duct are overthrown, confesses its overruling power;
 
 102 THE TRUE GKAJ^DEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 and the vacant stare of madness is illumined by a word 
 of love. The wild Leasts confess it : and what is the 
 story of Orpheus, whose music drew in listening rapture 
 the lions and panthers of the forest, or of St. Jerome, 
 whose kindness soothed the lion to lie down at his feet, 
 but expressions of its prevailing power ? ^ 
 
 Even a fable may testify. I would not be tempted 
 too far, but, at the risk of protracting this discussion, I 
 cannot forget illustrations which show how poetry at 
 least, if not history, has interpreted the heart of man. 
 
 Looking back to the liistoric dawn, one of the most 
 touching scenes illumined by that auroral light is the 
 peaceful visit of the aged Priam to the tent of Achilles, 
 entreating the body of his son. The fierce combat end- 
 ed in the death of Hector, whose unhonored corse the 
 bloody Greek ' has trailed l)cliind his chariot. After 
 twelve days of grief, the veneraljle father is moved to 
 seek the remains of the son he has so dearly loved. 
 He leaves his lofty cedarn chamber, and with a single 
 aged attendant, unarmed, repairs to the Grecian camp 
 beside the distant sounding sea. Entering alone, he 
 finds Achilles in his tent, with two of his chiefs. Grasp- 
 ing his knees, the father kisses those terrible homicidal 
 liands which had taken the life of his son. Touched by 
 the sight which he beholds, the heart of the inflamed, 
 the angry, the inflexil)le Achilles responds to the feelings 
 
 1 Scholars will remember the incident recorded by Homer in the Odys- 
 sej' (XIV. 30, 31), where Uh'sses, on reaching his loved Ithaca, is beset by 
 dogs, described as wild beasts in ferocity, who rush towards him barking; 
 but he, with croft (tliat is the word of Homer), seats himself upon the 
 ground and Ids his staff f nil from his hand. A similar incident is noticed by 
 Mr. Mure, in his entertaining travels in Greece, and also by Mr. Borrow, in 
 his " Bible in Spain." Pliny remarks, that all dogs may be appeased in the 
 same way : ^'■Impetus eorum et stevilia mitiyatur ab homine ccmsidenle hunu,''^ 
 Nat. Hist., Lib. Vlll. cap. 40.
 
 THE TEUE GKAiS'DEUE OF NATIONS. 103 
 
 of Priam. He takes the suppliant by the hand, seats 
 hini by his side, consoles his grief, refreshes his weary 
 body, and concedes to the prayers of a weak, unarmed 
 old man what all Troy in arms could not win. In this 
 scene, which fills a large space in the Iliad,^ the master 
 poet, with unconscious power, has presented a picture 
 of the omnipotence of that law, making all mankind 
 of kin, in obedience to which no word of kindness, no 
 act of confidence, falls idly to the earth. 
 
 Among the early passages of Eoman history, per- 
 haps none makes a deeper impression than that scene, 
 after the Eoman youth were consumed at the Allia, and 
 the invading Gauls under Brennus had entered the city, 
 where in a temple were seated the venerable Senators 
 of the Eepublic, too old to flee, and careless of surviv- 
 ing the Eoman name, each on his curule chair, unarmed, 
 looking, as Livy says, more august than mortal, and 
 with the majesty of the gods. Tlie Gauls gaze as upon 
 sacred images ; and the hand of slaughter, which had 
 raged through the streets of Eome, is stayed by the 
 sight of an unarmed assembly. This continued until 
 one of the invaders standing nearest reached his hand 
 to stroke gently the silver beard of a Senator, who, in- 
 dignant at the license, smote the barbarian with his 
 ivory staff, which was the signal for general vengeance. 
 Think you that a band of savages could have slain these 
 Senators, if the airijcal to Force had not been made first 
 by one of their own number ? This story, though re- 
 counted by Livy, and also by Plutarch,^ is repudiated 
 by Niebuhr; but it is none the less interesting as a 
 legend, attesting the law by which hostile feelings are 
 aroused or subdued. 
 
 1 Book XXIV. 2 Liv., Lib. V. cap. 41. Plutarch, Life of Camillus.
 
 104 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 This great scene, in its essential parts, has been re- 
 peated in another age and country. The theatre was 
 an African wilderness, with Christian converts for Ro- 
 man Senators. The little band, with their pastor, who 
 was a local chief, assembled on a Sabbath morning for 
 prayer, when suddenly robbers came upon them, as the 
 Gauls upon Eome, and demanded cattle. The pastor, 
 asking his people to sit still, calmly pointed to the cat- 
 tle, and then turned back to unite with the rest in 
 prayer. The robbers, like the Gauls, looked on in 
 silence, awed into forbearance, until they quietly with- 
 drew, injuring nobody and touching nothing. Such 
 an instance, wliich is derived from the report of mis- 
 sionaries,^ testifies again to the might of meekness, 
 and proves that the Eoman story, though reduced 
 to the condition of a legend, is in harmony with actual 
 Hfe. 
 
 An admired picture by Virgil, in his melodious epic, 
 furnishes similar testimony. The Trojan Heet, beaten 
 by tempest on the raging waves, is about to succumb, 
 when the God of the Sea, suddenly appearing in tran- 
 quil power, stills the hostile elements, as a man vener- 
 able for piety and deserts by a gentle word assuages a 
 furious populace just breaking into sedition and out- 
 rage.^ The sea and the populace were equally appeased. 
 Alike in the god and the man was the same peaceful 
 presence. Elsewhere is this same influence. Guizot, 
 illustrates this same influence, when, describing the 
 development of mediaeval civilization^ he exhibits an 
 angry multitude subdued by an unarmed man, em- 
 
 1 'MofTut, 'Missionary T.iibors aiid Scenes in Soutliorn Africa, Ch. 32. 
 8 " llle regit dictis animos et pectoru mulcet." 
 
 jEneid, I. 146- 154.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 105 
 
 ploying the word instead of the sivorcl} And surely 
 no reader of that noble historical romance, the Pro- 
 messi Sposi, can forget that finest scene, where Era 
 Cristoforo, in an age of violence, after slaying his 
 comrade in a broil, presents himself unarmed and peni- 
 tent before the family and retainers of his victim, and 
 by dignified gentleness awakens the admiration of 
 men raging against him. Both hemispheres are at 
 this moment occupied with the popular romance, Ze 
 Jidf Errant, by Eugene Sue, where is an interesting 
 picture of Christian courage superior to the trained vio- 
 lence of the soldier. Another example, made familiar 
 by recent translations of Frithiof's Saga, the Swedish 
 epic,^ is more emphatic. The scene is a battle. Frithiof 
 is in deadly combat with Atle, when the falchion of the 
 latter breaks. Throwing away liis own weapon, Fritliiof 
 says, — 
 
 " Swordless foemari' s life 
 Ne'er dyed this gallant blade." 
 
 The two champions now close in mutual clutch ; they 
 hug like bears, says the poet. 
 
 " 'T is o'er ; for Frithiof s matchless strength 
 
 Has felled his ponderous size, 
 And 'neath that knee, a giant length, 
 
 Supine the Viking lies. 
 ' But fails my sword, thou Berserk swart,' 
 
 The voice rang far and wide, 
 'Its point should pierce thy inmost heart, 
 
 Its hilt should drink the tide.' 
 ' Be fi-ee to lift the weaponed hand,' 
 
 Undaunted Atle spoke ; 
 Hence, fearless, quest thy distant brand: 
 
 Thus I abide the stroke.' " 
 
 Frithiof regains his sword, intent to close the dread de- 
 
 1 Guizot, Histoire de la Civilisation en France, Tom. IT. p. 36. 
 
 2 Longfellow, Poets and Poetry of Europe, p. 161 : Tegn^r.
 
 106 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 bate, while his adversary awaits the stroke ; but his heart 
 responds to the generous courage of his foe ; he cannot 
 injure one who has shown such confidence in him. 
 
 " This quelled his ire, (his checked his arm, 
 Outstretched the hand of peace." 
 
 I cannot leave these illustrations without alluding 
 again to the treatment of the insane, teaching, by con- 
 clusive example, how strong in Nature must be the 
 responsive principle. On proposing to remove the heavy 
 chains from the raving maniacs of the Paris hospitals, 
 the benevolent Pinel was regarded as one wdio saw 
 visions or dreamed dreams. At last his wishes were 
 gratified. The change in the patients was immediate ; 
 the wrinkled front of warring passion was smoothed into 
 the serene countenance of Peace. The treatment by 
 Force is now universally abandoned ; the law of kind- 
 ness .takes its j)lace; and these unfortunates mingle to- 
 gether, unvexed by restraints implying suspicion, and 
 therefore arousing opposition. What an example to 
 nations, who are little better than insane ! The an- 
 cient hospitals, with their violent madness, making con- 
 fusion and strife, are a dark, but feeble, type of the 
 Christian nations, obliged to wear the intolerable chains 
 of War, assimilating the world to one great madhouse ; 
 while the peace and good-will now abounding in these 
 retreats are the happy emblems of what awaits man- 
 kind when at last we practically recognize the sujDrem- 
 acy of those higher sentiments whicli are at once a 
 strength and a charm, — 
 
 " making their future might 
 Magnetic o'er the fixed, untrembling heart." 
 
 I might dwell also on recent experience, so full of 
 delightful wisdom, in the treatment of the distant, de-
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 107 
 
 graded convict of 'New South Wales, showing how con- 
 fidence and kindness on the part of overseers awaken a 
 corresponding sentiment even in outcasts, from whose 
 souls virtue seems blotted out. 
 
 Thus, from all quarters and sources — the far-off 
 Past, the far-away Pacific, tlie verse of the poet, the 
 legend of history, the cell of the mad-house, the con- 
 gregation of transported criminals, the experience of 
 daily life, the universal heart of man — ascends spon- 
 taneous tribute to that law according to which we 
 respond to the sentiments by which we are addressed, 
 whether of love or hate, of confidence or distrust. 
 
 If it be urged that these instances are exceptional, 
 I reply at once, that it is not so. They are indubitable 
 evidence of the real man, revealing the divinity of 
 Humanity, out of wliich goodness, happiness, true great- 
 ness can alone proceed. They disclose susceptibilities 
 confined to no particular race, no special period of time, 
 no narrow circle of knowledge or refinement, but pres- 
 ent wherever two or more human beings come together, 
 and strong in proportion to their virtue and intelli- 
 gence. Therefore on the nature of man, as impregnable 
 ground, do I place the fallacy of this most costly and 
 pernicious prejudice. 
 
 Nor is Human Nature the only witness : Christianity 
 testifies in familiar texts, and then again by holiest lips. 
 Augustine, in one of his persuasive letters, protests, 
 with proverbial heart of flame, against turning Peace 
 into a Preparation for War, and then tells the soldier 
 whom he addresses to be pacific even in war} From 
 
 1 " Non enim pax quteritur ut bellum excitetur Esto ergo etiam bel- 
 
 lando pacificus." — Augustini Epistola GOV., ad Bonifacium Gomitem: 
 Opera, Tom. II. p. 318.
 
 108 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 the religion of liis Master the great Christian saint had 
 learned that Love is more puissant than Force. To the 
 reflecting mind, the Omnipotence of God himseK is 
 less discernible in earthquake and storm than in the 
 gentle, but quickening, rays of the sun, and the sweet 
 descending dews. He is a careless observer who does 
 not recognize the superiority of gentleness and kindness 
 in exercising influence or securing rights among men. 
 As the storms of violence beat upon us, we hug man- 
 tles gladly thrown aside under the warmth of a genial 
 sun. 
 
 Christianity not only teaches the superiority of Love 
 to Force, it positively enjoins the practice of the for- 
 mer, as a constant, primal duty. It says, " Love your 
 neighbors " ; but it does not say, " In time of Peace 
 rear the massive fortification, Ijuild the man-of-war, en- 
 list standing armies, train militia, and accumulate mili- 
 tary stores, to overawe and menace your neighbor." 
 It directs that .we should do to others as we would 
 have them do to us, — a golden rule for all ; but how 
 inconsistent is that distrust in obedience to which 
 nations professing peace sleep like soldiers on their 
 arms ! Nor is this all. Its precepts inculcate patience, 
 forbearance, forgiveness of evil, even the duty of benefit- 
 ing a destroyer, " as the sandal- wood, in the instant 
 of its overthrow, sheds perfume on the axe which fells 
 it." Can a people in whom tliis faith is more than an 
 idle word authorize such enormous sacrifices to pamper 
 the Spirit of War ? Thus far nations liave drawn their 
 weapons from earthly armories, unmindful that there 
 are others of celestial temper. 
 
 Tlie injunction, " Love one another," is as applicable 
 to nations as to individuals. It is one of the areat laws
 
 THE TEUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 109 
 
 of Heaven. And nations, like individuals, may well 
 measure their nearness to God and to his glory by the 
 conformity of their conduct to this duty. 
 
 In response to arguments founded on economy, the 
 true nature of man, and Christianity, I hear the skepti- 
 cal note of some advocate of the transmitted order of 
 things, some one among the " fire-worshippers " of War, 
 saying, All this is beautiful, but visionary ; it is in ad- 
 vance of the age, which is not yet prepared for the great 
 change. To such I answer : Nothing can be beautiful 
 that is not true ; but all this is true, and the time has 
 come for its acceptance. Now is the dawning day, and 
 now the fitting hour. 
 
 The name of Washington is invoked as authority for 
 a prejudice which Economy, Human Nature, and Chris- 
 tianity repudiate. Mighty and reverend as is his name, 
 more mighty and more reverend is Truth. The words 
 of counsel which he gave were in accordance with the 
 spirit of his age, — wliich M^as not shocked by the 
 slave-trade. But his great soul, which loved virtue 
 and inculcated justice and benevolence, frowns upon 
 those who would use his authority as an incentive 
 to War. God forbid that his sacred character should 
 be profanely stretched, like the skin of John Ziska, on 
 a militia-drum, to arouse the martial ardor of the Ameri- 
 can people ! 
 
 The practice of Washington, during the eight years 
 of his administration, compared with that of the last 
 eight years for which we have the returns, may explain 
 his real opinions. His condemnation of the present 
 wasteful system speaks to us from the following table.^ 
 
 1 Executive Document No. 15, Twenty-eighth Congress, First Session.
 
 no 
 
 THE TKUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 Tears. 
 
 Military 
 Establishment. 
 
 Naval 
 Establishment. 
 
 1789-91 
 1792 
 1793 
 1794 
 1795 
 1796 
 Total, during eight 
 years of Washington, 
 
 1835 
 1836 
 1837 
 1838 
 1839 
 1840 
 1841 
 1842 
 Total, during eight 
 recent years, 
 
 $835,618 
 1,223,594 
 1,237,620 
 2,733,539 
 2,573,059 
 1,474,672 
 1 $70,078,102 
 
 $9,420,313 
 19,667,166 
 20,702,929 
 20,557,473 
 14,588.664 
 12,0.30,624 
 13,704,882 
 9,188,469 
 1 $119,860,520 
 
 $570 
 53! 
 
 61,409 
 
 4I0,.562 
 
 274,784 
 
 $747,378 
 
 $3,864,939 
 5,807,718 
 6,646,915 
 6,131,581 
 6,182,294 
 6,113,897 
 6,001,077 
 8,397,243 
 
 $49,145,664 
 
 Thus the expenditures for the national armaments un- 
 der the sanction of Washington "were less than eleven 
 million dollars, while during a recent similar period of 
 eight years they amounted to upwards of one hundred 
 and sixty-nine millions, — an increase of nearly fifteen 
 hundred per cent ! To him who quotes the precept of 
 Washington I commend the example. He must be 
 strongly possessed by the martial mania who will not 
 confess, that, in this age, when the whole world is at 
 peace, and our national power is assured, there is less 
 need of these Pre})arations than in an age convulsed 
 with War, when our national power was little respected. 
 The only semblance of argument in their favor is the 
 increased wealth of the country ; but the capacity to 
 endure taxation is no criterion of its justice, or even of 
 its expediency.- 
 
 Anotlier fallacy is also invoked, tliat whatever is is 
 right. A barbaro\is practice is elevated above all those
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. Ill 
 
 authorities by which these Preparations are condemned. 
 We are made to count principles as nothing, because 
 not yet recognized by nations. But they are practically 
 applied in the relations of individuals, towns, counties, 
 and states in our Union. All these have disarmed. It 
 remains only that they should be extended to the 
 grander sphere of nations. Be it our duty to proclaim 
 the principles, whatever the practice. Through us let 
 Truth speak. 
 
 From the past and the present auspicious omens 
 cheer us for the future. The terrible wars of the 
 French Revolution were the violent rending of the 
 body preceding the exorcism of the fiend. Since the 
 morning stars first sang together, the world has not wit- 
 nessed a peace so harmonious and enduring as that 
 which now blesses the Christian nations. Great ques- 
 tions, fraught with strife, and in another age heralds 
 of War, are now determined by Mediation or Arbitra- 
 tion. Great political movements, which a few short 
 years ago must have led to bloody encounter, are now 
 conducted by peaceful discussion. Literature, the press, 
 and innumerable societies, all join in the work of incul- 
 cating good-will to man. The Spirit of Humanity per- 
 vades the best writings, whether the elevated philo- 
 sophical inquiries of the " Vestiges of the Creation," the 
 ingenious, but melancholy, moralizings of the " Story of 
 a Feather," or the overflowing raillery of " Punch." Nor 
 can the breathing thought and burning word of poet or 
 orator have a higher inspiration. Genius is never so 
 Promethean as when it bears the heavenly fire to the 
 hearths of men. 
 
 In the last age, Dr. Johnson uttered the detestable
 
 112 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 sentiment, that he liked " a good Hater." The man of 
 this age will say that he likes " a good Lover." Thus 
 reversing the objects of regard, he follows a higher wis- 
 dom and a purer religion than the renowned moralist 
 knew. He recognizes that peculiar Heaven-born senti- 
 ment, the Brotherhood of Man, soon to become the de- 
 cisive touchstone of human institutions. He confesses 
 the power of Love, destined to enter more and more 
 into the concerns of life. And as Love is more heaven- 
 ly than Hate, so must its influence redound more to the 
 true glory of man and the approval of God. A Chris- 
 tian poet — whose few verses bear him with unflagging 
 wing in immortal flight — has joined this sentiment 
 with Prayer. Thus he speaks, in ^^'ords of uncommon 
 pathos and power : — 
 
 " He prayeth well who lovetli well 
 Both man and bird and beast. 
 
 " He prayeth best who loveth best 
 All things, both great and small; 
 For the dear God who loveth us, 
 He made and loveth all." i 
 
 The ancient Law of Hate is yielding to the Law of 
 Love. It is seen in manifold labors of philanthropy 
 and in missions of charity. It is seen in institutions 
 for the insane, the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the poor, 
 the outcast, — in generous efforts to relieve those who 
 are in prison, — in public schools, opening the gates of 
 knowledge to all the children of the land. It is seen in 
 the diffusive amenities of social life, and in the increas- 
 ing fellowship of nations ; also in the rising opposition 
 to Slavery and to War. 
 
 There are yet other special auguries of this great 
 
 1 Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Part VH.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 113 
 
 change, auspicating, in the natural progress of man, the 
 abandonment of all international Preparations for War. 
 To these I allude briefly, but with a deep conviction of 
 their significance. 
 
 Look at the Past, and see how AVar itself is changed, 
 so that its oldest " fire-worshipper " would hardly know 
 it. At first nothing but savagery, with disgusting rites, 
 whether in the North American Indian with Powhatan 
 as chief, or the earlier Assyrian with Nebuchadnezzar as 
 king, but yielding gradually to the influence of civiliza- 
 tion. With the Greeks it was less savage, but always 
 barbarous, — also with Eome always barbarous. Too 
 slowly Christianity exerted a humanizing power. Ra- 
 belais relates how the friar Jean des Entommeures 
 clubbed twelve thousand and more enemies, " without 
 mentioning women and children, which is understood 
 always." But this was War, as seen by that great ge- 
 nius in his day. This can be no longer. AVomen and 
 children are safe now. The divine metamorphosis has 
 begun. 
 
 Look again at the Past, and observe the change in 
 dress. Down to a period quite recent the sword was the 
 indispensable companion of the gentleman, wherever he 
 appeared, whether in street or society ; but he would be 
 deemed madman or bully who should wear it now. At 
 an earlier period the armor of complete steel was the 
 habiliment of the knight. From the picturesque sketch 
 by Sir Walter Scott, in the " Lay of the Last Minstrel," 
 we learn the barbarous constraint of this custom. 
 
 " Ten of them were sheathed in steel, 
 With belted sword, and spur on heel; 
 They quitted not their harness bright, 
 Neither by day nor yet by night:
 
 114 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 They lay down to rest 
 
 With corslet laced, 
 Pillowed on buckler cold and hard; 
 
 The}' carved at the meal 
 
 With gloves of steel, 
 And they drank the red wine through the helmet barred." 
 
 But all this is changed now. 
 
 Observe the change in architecture and in domestic 
 life. Places once chosen for castles or houses were 
 savage, inaccessible retreats, where the massive struc- 
 ture was reared to repel attack and to enclose its in- 
 habitants. Even monasteries and churches were forti- 
 fied, and girdled by towers, ramparts, and ditches, — 
 while a child was stationed as watchman, to observe 
 what passed at a distance, and announce the approach of 
 an enemy. Homes of peaceful citizens in towns were cas- 
 tellated, often without so much as an aperture for light 
 near the ground, but with loopholes through which the 
 shafts of the crossbow were aimed. The colored plates 
 now so common, from mediteval illustrations, especially 
 of Froissart, exhibit these Ijclligercnt armaments, always 
 so burdensome. From a letter of jMargaret Paston, in 
 the time of Henry the Sixtli, of England, I draw sup- 
 plementary testimony. Addressing in dutiful phrase 
 her " right worshipful husband," she asks him to pro- 
 cure for her " some crossbows, and wj'ndacs [grappling- 
 irons] to bind them with, and quarrels [arrows with 
 square heads]," also "two or three short pole-axes to 
 keep within doors " ; and she tells her absent lord of 
 apparent preparations by a neighbor, — " great ord- 
 nance Mithin the house," " bars to bar the door cross- 
 wise," and " wickets on every quarter of the house to 
 shoot out at, both witlt bows and with hand-guns." ^ 
 
 1 Paston Letters, CXIII. (LXXVII. Vol. III. p. 316.)
 
 THE TKUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 115 
 
 Savages could hardly live in greater distrust. Let now 
 the Poet of Chivalry describe another scene : — 
 
 " Ten squires, ten yeomen, mail-clad men, 
 Waited the beck of the warders ten; 
 Thirty steeds, both fleet and wight, 
 Stood saddled in stable day and night, 
 Barbed with frontlet of steel, I trow, 
 And with Jed wood axe at saddle-bow; 
 A hundred more fed free in stall : 
 Such was the custom of Branksome Hall." 
 
 This also is all changed now. 
 
 The principles causing this change are not only ac- 
 tive still, but increasing in activity ; nor can they be 
 confined to individuals. Nations must soon declare 
 them, and, abandoning martial habiliments and forti- 
 fications, enter upon peaceful, unarmed life. With 
 shame let it be said, that they continue to live in the 
 very relations of distrust towards neighbors which 
 shock us in the knights of Branksome Hall, and in the 
 house of jMargaret Paston. They pillow themselves on 
 " buckler cold and hard," while tlieir highest anxiety 
 and largest expenditure are for the accumulation of new 
 munitions of War. The barbarism which individuals 
 have renounced nations still cherish. So doing, they take 
 counsel of the wild-boar in the fable, who whetted his 
 tusks on a tree of the forest when no enemy was near, 
 saying, that in time of Peace he must prepare for War. 
 Has not the time come, when man, whom God created 
 in his own image, and to whom he gave the Heaven- 
 directed countenance, shall cease to look down to the 
 beast for an example of conduct ? Nay, let me not 
 dishonor the beasts by the comparison. The superior 
 animals, at least, prey not, like men, upon their o\\'n 
 species. The kingly lion turns from liis brother lion ;
 
 116 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 the ferocious tiger will not raven upon his kindred 
 tiger ; the wild-boar of the forest does not glut his 
 sharpened tusks upon a kindred boar. 
 
 " Sed jam serpentuin major concordia: parcit 
 Cogiiatis maculis similis fera: quando leoni 
 Fortior eripuit vitam leo? quo nemore uiiquam 
 Exspiravit aper majoris dentilms apri ? 
 Indica tigris agit rabida cum tigride /»acem 
 Peiyetuamy i 
 
 To an early monarch of France just homage has been 
 offered for effort in the cause of Peace, particularly in 
 abolishing the Trial by Battle. To another monarch of 
 France, in our own day, descendant of St. Louis, and 
 lover of Peace worthy of the illustrious lineage, Louis 
 Philippe, belongs the honest fame of first from the 
 throne publishing the trutli that Peace is endangered 
 by Preparations for War. " The sentiment, or rather 
 the principle," he says, in reply to an address from the 
 London Peace Convention in 1843, " that in Peace you 
 must prepare for War, is one of difficulty and danger- ; 
 for while we keep armies on land to preserve peace, they 
 are at the same time incentives and instruments of war. 
 He rejoiced in all efforts to preserve peace, for that was 
 what all needed. He thought the time was coming when 
 we should get rid entirely of war in all civilized coun- 
 tries." This time has been hailed by a generous voice 
 from the Army itself, by a Marshal of France, — Bu- 
 geaud, the Governor of Algiers, — who, at a public dinner 
 in Paris, gave as a toast these words of salutation to a 
 new and approaching era of happiness : " To the pacific 
 union of the great human family, by the association of 
 individuals, nations, and races ! To the annihilation of 
 War ! To the transformation of destructive armies into 
 
 1 Juvenal, Sat. XV. 159-164.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 117 
 
 corps of industrious laborers, who will consecrate their 
 lives to the cultivation and embellishment of the 
 world ! " Be it our duty to speed this consummation ! 
 And may other soldiers emulate the pacific aspiration 
 of this veteran chief, until the trade of JVa?' ceases from 
 the earth ! ^ 
 
 To William Penn belongs the distinction, destined to 
 brighten as men advance in virtue, of first in human 
 history establishing the Latu of Love as a rule of conduct 
 in file" intercourse of nations. While recognizing the 
 duty " to support power in reverence with the people, 
 and to secure the people from the abuse of power," ^ as a 
 great end of government, he declined the superfluous 
 protection of arms against foreign force, and aimed to 
 " reduce the savage nations by just and gentle manners 
 to the love of civil society and the Christian religion." 
 His serene countenance, as he stands with his followers 
 in what he called the sweet and clear air of Pennsyl- 
 vania, all unarmed, beneath the spreading elm, forming 
 the great treaty of friendship with the untutored Indi- 
 ans, — whose savage display fills the surrounding forest 
 as far as the eye can reach, — not to wrest their lands 
 by violence, but to obtain them by peaceful purchase, 
 — is to my mind the proudest picture in the history of 
 
 1 There was a moment when the aspiration of the French marshal 
 seemed fulfilled even in France, if we may credit the early Madame de 
 Lafayette, who, in the first sentence of her Memoirs, announces perfect 
 tranquillity, where " no other arms were known than instruments for the 
 cultivation of the earth and for building, and the troops were employed on 
 these things." Part of their work was to divert the waters of the Eure, so 
 that the fountains at Versailles should have a perpetual supply : but this 
 was better than War. — Madame de Lafayette, Memoires de la Cour de 
 France pour les Annees 1688 et 1689, p. 1. 
 
 2 Preface to Penn's Frame of Government of the Province of Penn- 
 sylvania : Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, Vol. L p. 3.38. See also Clark- 
 son's Memoirs of Penn, Vol. L p. 238, Philadelphia, 1814.
 
 118 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 our country. " The great God," said the ilhistrious 
 Quaker, in words of sincerity and truth addressed to 
 the Sachems, " hath written his law in our hearts, by 
 which we are taught and commanded to love and help 
 and do good to one another. It is not our custom to 
 use hostile weapons against our fellow-creatures, for 
 which reason we come unarmed. Our object is not to 
 do injury, but to do good. "We are now met on the 
 broad pathway of good faith and good will, so that no 
 advantage is to be taken on either side, but all is to be 
 openness, brotherhood, and love, while all are to be 
 treated as of the same flesh and blood." ^ These are 
 words of True Greatness. " Without any carnal weapons," 
 says one of his companions, " we entered the land, and 
 inhabited therein, as safe as if there had been thousands 
 of garrisons." What a sublime attestation ! " This 
 little State," says Oldmixon, " subsisted in the midst 
 of six Indian nations without so much as a militia 
 for its defence." A great man worthy of the mantle of 
 Penn, the veneral^le iohilanthro2:)ist, Clarkson, in his life 
 of the founder, pictures the people of Pennsylvania as 
 armed, though without arms, — strong, though without 
 strength, — safe, without the ordinary means of safety. 
 According to him, the constalile's staff was the only in- 
 strument of authority for the greater part of a cen- 
 tury ; and never, during tlie administration of Penn, or 
 that of liis proper successors, was there a quarrel or a 
 war.2 
 
 Greater than the divinity tliat doth hedge a king is 
 the divinity that encompasses the righteous man and 
 the righteous people. The flowers of prosperity smiled 
 
 1 Clarkson's Memoirs of Penn, Vol. I. Ch. 18. 
 
 2 Ibid., Vol. II. Ch. 2.3.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 119 
 
 in the footprints of William Penn. His people were 
 immolested and happy, while (sad, but true contrast ! ) 
 other colonies, acting upon the policy of the world, 
 building forts, and showing themselves in arms, were 
 harassed by perpetual alarm, and pierced by the sharp 
 arrows of savage war. 
 
 This pattern of a Christian commonwealth never fails 
 to arrest the admiration of all who contemplate its 
 beauties. It drew an epigram of eulogy from the caus- 
 tic pen of Voltaire, and has been fondly painted by sym- 
 pathetic historians. Every ingenuous soul in our day 
 offers willing tribute to those graces of justice and hu- 
 manity, by the side of which contemporary life on this 
 continent seems coarse and earthy. 
 
 Not to barren words can we confine ourselves in recog- 
 nition of virtue. While we see the right, and approve it 
 too, we must dare to pursue it. Now, in this age of civ- 
 ilization, surrounded by Cliristian nations, it is easy to 
 follow the successful example of William Penn encom- 
 passed by savages. Recognizing those two transcend- 
 ent ordinances of God, the Law of Rigid and the Law 
 of Love, — twin suns which illumine the moral universe, 
 — why not aspire to the true glory, and, what is higher 
 than glory, the great good, of taking the lead in the dis- 
 arming of the nations ? Let us abandon, the system of 
 Preparations for War in time of Peace, as irrational, un- 
 chTristian, vainly prodigal of expense, and having a direct 
 tendency^ to excite the evil against which it professes to 
 guard. Let the enormous means thus released from 
 iron hands be devoted to labors of beneficence. Our 
 battlements shall be schools, hospitals, colleges, and 
 churches; our arsenals shall be libraries ; our navy shall 
 be peaceful sliips, on errands of perpetual commerce ;
 
 120 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 our army shall be the teachers of youth and the minis- 
 ters of religion. This is the clieap defence of nations. 
 In such intreuchmeuts what Christian soul can be 
 touched with fear ? Angels of the Lord will throw 
 over the land an invisible, but impenetrable panoply : — 
 
 " Or if Virtue feeble were, 
 Heaven itself would stoop to her." l 
 
 At the thought of such a change, the imagination 
 loses itself in vain effort to follow the midtitudinous 
 streams of happiness which gush forth from a thou- 
 sand hills. Then shall the naked be clothed and the 
 hungry fed ; institutions of science and learning shall 
 crown every hdl-top ; hospitals for the sick, and other 
 retreats for the unfortunate children of the world, ^ for 
 all who suffer in any way, in mind, body, or estate, 
 shall nestle in every valley; while the spires of new 
 churches leap exulting to the skies. The whole land 
 shall testify to the change. Art shall confess it in the 
 new inspiration of the canvas and the marble. Tlie 
 
 1 These are the concluding words of that most exquisite creation of early 
 genius, the " Comus." Beyond their intrinsic value, they have authority from 
 the circumstance that they were adopted by Milton as a motto, and uiscribed 
 by him in an album at Geneva, while on his foreign travels. This album is 
 now in my hands. The truth thus embalmed by the grandest poet of mod- 
 em times is also illustrated in familiar words by the most graceful poet of 
 antiquity : — 
 
 " Integer vitre scelerisque purus 
 Non eget Mauris jaculis, neque arcu, 
 Nee vencnatis gravida sagittis. 
 
 Fusee, pharetra." 
 
 HoR., Carm. I. xxii. 1-4. 
 
 Dryden pictures the same in some of his most magical lines: — 
 
 " A milk-white hind, immortal and unchanged, 
 Fed on the lawns, and in the forest ranged; 
 Without unspotted, innocent within, 
 Sht feared no danger, for she knew no sin." 
 
 The Bind and the Panther, Part I. 1-4.
 
 THE TEUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 121 
 
 harp of the poet shall proclaim it in a loftier rhyme. 
 Above all, the heart of man shall bear witness to it, in 
 the elevation of his sentiments, in the expansion of his 
 affections, in his devotion to the highe.st truth, in his 
 appreciation of true greatness. The eagle of our coun- 
 try, without the terror of his beak, and dropping the 
 forceful thunderbolt from liis pounces, shall soar, with 
 the olive of Peace, into untried realms of ether, nearer 
 to the sun. 
 
 I pause to review^ the field over which we have 
 passed. We have beheld War, sanctioned by Inter- 
 national Law as a mode of determining justice between 
 nations, elevated into an established custom, defined and 
 guarded by a complex code known as the Laws of War ; 
 we have detected its origin in an appeal, not to the 
 moral and intellectual part of man's nature, in which 
 alone is Justice, but to that low part which he has in 
 common with the beast ; we have contemplated its in- 
 finite miseries to the human race ; we have weighed its 
 sufficiency as a mode of determining justice between 
 nations, and found that it is a rude invocation to force, 
 or a gigantic game of chance, in which God's children 
 are profanely treated as a pack of cards, while, in un- 
 natural wickedness, it is justly likened to the monstrous 
 and impious custom of Trial by Battle, which disgraced 
 the Dark Ages, — thus showing, that, in this day of 
 boastful civilization, justice between nations is deter- 
 mined by the same rules of barbarous, brutal violence 
 which once controlled the relations between individuals. 
 We have next considered the various prejudices by 
 which War is sustained, founded on a false belief in its 
 necessity, — the practice of nations, past and present, —
 
 122 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 the infidelity of the Christian Church, — a mistaken 
 sentiment of honor, — an exaggerated idea of the duties 
 of patriotism, — and finally, that monster prejudice 
 which draws its vampire life from the vast Prepara- 
 tions for War in time of Peace ; — e'ipecially dwelling, 
 at this stage, upon the thriftless, irrational, and un- 
 christian character of these Preparations, — hailing also 
 the auguries of their overthrow, — and catching a vision 
 of the surpassing good that will be achieved, when the 
 boundless means thus barbarously employed are dedi- 
 cated to works of Peace, opening the serene path to 
 that righteousness which exalteth a nation. 
 
 And now, if it be asked why, in considering the true 
 GRANDEUR OF NATIONS, I dwell thus singly and exclu- 
 sively on War, it is because War is utterly and irrecon- 
 cilably inconsistent with True Greatness. Thus far, man 
 has worshipped in Military Glory a phantom idol, com- 
 pared with which the colossal images of ancient Baby- 
 lon or modern Hindostan are but toys ; and we, in this 
 favored land of freedom, in this blessed day of light, 
 are among the idolaters. The Heaven-descended in- 
 junction. Know thyself, still speaks to an unheeding 
 world from the far-off letters of gold at Delphi : Know 
 thyself ; knoio that the moral is the noblest iiart of man, 
 transcending far that which is the seat of passion, strife, 
 and War, — nobler than the intellect itself And tlie 
 human heart, in its untutored, spontaneous homage 
 to the virtues of Peace, declares the same truth, — 
 admonishing the military idolater that it is not the 
 bloody combats, even of bravest chiefs, even of gods 
 themselves, as they echo fr(jm the resounding lines of 
 the great Poet of War, which receive the warmest ad-
 
 THE TRUE GEANDEUR OF NATIONS. 123 
 
 miration, but those two scenes where are painted the 
 gentle, iinwarlike affections of our nature, the Parting 
 of Hector from Andromache, and the Supplication of 
 Priam. In the definitive election of these j)eaceful 
 pictures, the sovd of man, inspired by a better wisdom 
 than that of books, and drawn unconsciously by the 
 heavenly attraction of what is truly great, acknowl- 
 edges, in touching instances, the vanity of Military 
 Glory. The Beatitudes of Christ, which shrink from 
 saying, " Blessed are the War-makers," inculcate the 
 same lesson. Eeason affirms and repeats what the 
 heart has prompted and Christianity proclaimed. Sup- 
 pose War decided by Force, where is the glory ? Sup- 
 pose it decided by Cliancc, where is the glory ? Surely, 
 in other ways True Greatness lies. Nor is it difficult 
 to tell where. 
 
 True Greatness consists in imitating, as nearly as pos- 
 sible for finite man, the perfections of an Infinite Crea- 
 tor, — above all, in cultivating those highest perfections. 
 Justice and Love : Justice, which, like that of St. Louis, 
 does not swerve to the right hand or to the left ; Love, 
 which, like that of William Penn, regards all mankind 
 as of kin. " God is angry," says Plato, " when any one 
 censures a man like Himself, or praises a man of an 
 ojJjwsite character: and the godlike man is the good 
 man." ^ Again, in another of those lovely dialogues 
 precious with immortal truth : " Nothing resembles God 
 more than that man among us who has attained to the 
 highest degree of justice." ^ The True Greatness of 
 Nations is in those qualities wdiich constitute the true 
 greatness of the individual. It is not in extent of ter- 
 ritory, or vastness of population, or accumulation of 
 
 1 Minos, § 12. 2 Theaetetus, § 85.
 
 124 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 wealth, — not in fortifications, or armies, or navies, — 
 not in the sulphurous blaze of battle, — not in Golgothas, 
 though covered by monuments that kiss the clouds; 
 for all these are creatures and representatives of those 
 qualities in our nature which are unlike anything in 
 God's nature. Nor is it in triumphs of the intellect 
 alone, — in literature, learning, science, or art. The 
 polished Greeks, our masters in the delights of art, and 
 the commanding Romans, overawing the earth wdth 
 their power, were little more than splendid savages. 
 And the age of Louis the Fourteenth, of France, span- 
 ning so long a period of ordinary worldly magnificence, 
 thronged by marshals bending under military laurels, 
 enlivened by the unsurpassed comedy of Moliere, dig- 
 nified by the tragic genius of Corneille, illumined by 
 the splendors of Bossuet, is degraded by immoralities 
 that cannot be mentioned without a blush, by a heart- 
 lessness in comparison with which the ice of Nova 
 Zembla is warm, and by a succession of deeds of in- 
 justice not to be washed out by the tears of all tlie re- 
 cording angels of Heaven. 
 
 The True Greatness of a Nation cannot be in tri- 
 umphs of the intellect alone. Literature and art may 
 enlarge the sphere of its influence ; they may adorn 
 it ; but in their nature they are but accessaries. The 
 True Grandeur of Humanity is in moral elevation, sus- 
 tained, enlightened, and decorated hy the intellect of 
 man. The surest tokens of this grandeur in a na- 
 tion are that Christian Beneficence which diffuses the 
 greatest happiness among all, and that passionless, 
 godlike Justice which controls the relations of the 
 nation to other nations, and to all the people committed 
 to its charge.
 
 THE TEUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 125 
 
 But War crushes with bloody heel all 1 jeueficence, all 
 happiness, all justice, all that is godlike in man, — sus- 
 pending every commandment of tlie Decalogue, setting 
 at naught every principle of the Gospel, and silencing 
 all law, human as well as divine, except only that im- 
 pious code of its own, the Laws of War. If in its dis- 
 mal annals there is any cheerful passage, be assured it 
 is not inspired by a martial Fury. Let it not be for- 
 gotten, let it be ever borne in mind, as you ponder this 
 theme, that the virtues which shed their charm over its 
 horrors are all borrowed of Peace, — that they are 
 emanations from the Spirit of Love, which is so strong 
 in the heart of man that it survives the rudest assault. 
 The flowers of gentleness, kindliness, fidelity, humani- 
 ty, which flourish unregarded in the rich meadows of 
 Peace, receive unwonted admiration when we discern 
 them in War, — like violets shedding their perfume on 
 the perilous edge of the precipice, beyond the smiling 
 borders of civilization. God be praised for all the ex- 
 amples of magnanimous virtue which he has vouch- 
 safed to mankind ! God be praised, that the Eoman 
 Emperor, about to start on a distant expedition of War, 
 encompassed by squadrons of cavalry, and by golden 
 eagles swaying in the wind, stooped from his saddle to 
 hear the prayer of a humble widow, demanding justice 
 for the death of her son ! ^ God be praised, that Sid- 
 ney, on the field of battle, gave with dying hand the cup 
 of cold water to the dying soldier ! That single act of 
 
 1 According to the legends of the Catholic Church, this most admired in- 
 stance of justice opened to Trajan, although a heathen, the gates of salva- 
 tion. Dante found the scene and the " visible speech " of the widow and 
 Emperor storied on the walls of Purgatory, and has transmitted them in a 
 passage which commends itself hardly less than any in the divuie poem. — 
 See Purgatorio, Canto X.
 
 126 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 self-forgetful sacrifice has consecrated the deadly field 
 of Zutphen, far, oh, far beyond its battle ; it has conse- 
 crated thy name, gallant Sidney, beyond any feat of thy 
 sword, beyond any triumph of thy pen ! But there are 
 lowly suppliants in other places than the camp ; there 
 are hands outstretched elsewhere than on fields of blood. 
 Everywhere is opportunity for deeds of like charity. 
 Know well that these are not the product of War. 
 They do not spring from enmity, hatred, and strife, but 
 from those benign sentiments whose natural and ripened 
 fruit of joy and blessing are found only in Peace. If at 
 any time they appear in the soldier, it is less because 
 than notwithstanding he is the hireling of battle. Let 
 me not be told, then, of the virtues of War. Let not 
 the acts of generosity and sacrifice sometimes blossom- 
 ing on its fields be invoked in its defence. From such 
 a giant root of bitterness no true good can spring. The 
 poisonous tree, in Oriental imagery, though watered 
 by nectar and covered witli roses, produces only the 
 fruit of death. 
 
 Casting our eyes over the history of nations, with 
 horror we discern the succession of murderous slaugh- 
 ters by which their progress is marked. Even as the 
 hunter follows the wild beast to his lair by the drops 
 of blood on tlie ground, so we follow Man, faint, weary, 
 staggering with wounds, tlirough the Black Forest of 
 the Past, which he has reddened with his gore. Oh, let 
 it not be in the future ages as in tliose we now contem- 
 plate ! Let the grandeur of man l)e discerned, not in 
 bloody victory or ravenous conquest, but in the bless- 
 ings he has secured, in tlie good he has accomplished, 
 in the triumplis of Justice and Beneficence, in the 
 establishment of Perpetual Peace !
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 127 
 
 As ocean washes every shore, and with all-em- 
 bracing arms clasps every land, while on its heaving 
 bosom it bears the products of various climes, so Peace 
 surrounds, protects, and upholds all other blessings. 
 Without it, commerce is vain, the ardor of industry is 
 restrained, justice is arrested, happiness is blasted, vir- 
 tue sickens and dies. 
 
 Peace, too, has its own peculiar victories, in compari- 
 son with which Marathon and Bannockburn and Bunker 
 HiU, fields sacred in the history of human freedom, lose 
 their lustre. Our own Washington rises to a truly 
 heavenly stature, not when we follow him through the 
 ice of the Delaware to the capture of Trenton, not when 
 we behold him victorious over Cornwallis at Yorktown, 
 but when we regard him, in noble deference to Justice, 
 refusing the kingly crown which a faithless soldiery 
 proffered, and at a later day upholding the peaceful 
 neutrality of the country, while he met unmoved the 
 clamor of the people wickedly crying for War. What 
 glory of battle in England's annals will not fade by the 
 side of that great act of justice, when her Parliament, at 
 a cost of one hundred million dollars, gave freedom to 
 eight hundred thousand slaves ? And when the day 
 shaU come (may these eyes be gladdened by its beams ! ) 
 that shall witness an act of larger justice still, — the 
 peaceful emancipation of three million fellow-men 
 " guilty of a skin not colored as our own," now, in this 
 land of jubilant freedom, bound in gloomy bondage, — 
 then will there be a victory by the side of which that 
 of Bunker Hill will be as the farthing candle held 
 up to the sun. That victory will need no monument 
 of stone. It will be written on the grateftil hearts of 
 countless multitudes that shall proclaim it to tlie
 
 128 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 latest generation. It will he one of tlie famed land- 
 marks of civilization, — or, better still, a link in the 
 golden chain by which Humanity connects itself with 
 the throne of God. 
 
 As man is higher tlian the l)casts of the field, as the 
 angels are higher than man, as Christ is higher than 
 Mars, as he tliat ruleth his spirit is higher tlian lie that 
 taketh a city, — so are the victories of Peace higher than 
 the victories of War. 
 
 Far be from us, fellow-citizens, on this festival, the 
 pride of national victory, and tlie illusion of national 
 freedom, in which we are too prone to indulge ! None 
 of you make rude boast of individual prosperity or 
 prowess. And here I end as I began. Our country 
 cannot do wliat an individual cannot do. Therefore it 
 must not vaunt or be puffed up. IJather bend to un- 
 performed duties. Independence is not all. We have 
 but half done, when we have made ourselves free. The 
 scornful taunt wTung from l)itte'r experience of the great 
 Revolution in France must not be levelled at us : " They 
 wish to be free, but know not how to be iustr ^ Nor 
 is priceless Freedom an end in itself, but rather the 
 means of Justice and Beneficence, where alone is en- 
 during concord, with that attendant happiness which 
 is the final end and aim of Nations, as of every human 
 heart. It is not enough to be free. There must l)e 
 Peace which cannot fail, and other nations must share 
 the great possession. For tliis good must we labor, bear- 
 ing ever in mind two special objects, complements of 
 each other : first, the Arbitrament of War must end ; and, 
 
 1 " Ih veulent ctre libres, et tie savent pas Ctre justes,'" was the fomous ex- 
 clamation of Siey6s.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 129 
 
 secondly, Disarmament must begin. With this ending ' 
 and thisHSeginniug the great gates of the Future will be 
 opened, and the guardian virtues will assert a new 
 empire. Alas ! until this is done, National Honor and 
 National Glory will yet longer flaunt in blood, and there 
 can be no True Grandeur of Nations. 
 
 To this great work let me summon you. That Fu- 
 ture, which filled the lofty vision of sages and bards in 
 Greece and Eome, which was foretold by Prophets and 
 heralded by Evangelists, when man, in Happy Isles, or 
 in a new Paradise, shall confess the loveliness of Peace, 
 may you secure, if not for yourselves, at least for your 
 children ! Believe that you can do it, and you can do it. 
 The true Golden Age is before, not behind. If man has 
 once been driven from Paradise, while an angel with 
 flaming sword forbade his return, there is another Para- 
 dise, even on earth, which he may make for himself, 
 by the cultivation of knowledge, religion, and the kindly 
 virtues of life, — where the confusion of tongues shall 
 be dissolved in the union of hearts, and joyous Nature, 
 borrowing prolific charms from prevailing Harmony, 
 shall spread her lap with unimagined bounty, and 
 there shall be perpetual jocund Spring, and sweet strains 
 borne on " the odoriferous win^ of gentle gales," through 
 valleys of delight more pleasant than the Vale of Tempe, 
 richer than the Garden of the Hesperides, with no dragon 
 to guard its golden fruit. 
 
 Is it said that the age does not demand this work ? 
 The robber conqueror of the Past, from fiery sepulchre, 
 demands it ; the precious blood of millions unjustly 
 shed in War, crying from the ground, demands it ; the 
 heart of the good man demands it ; the conscience, 
 even of the soldier, whispers, " Peace ! " There are
 
 130 THE TRUE GRANDEUll OF NATIONS. 
 
 considerations springing from o\;r situation and con- 
 dition which fervently invite ns to take the lead. 
 Here should join the patriotic ardor of the land, the 
 ambition of tlie statesman, the effort of the scholar, the 
 pervasive influence of the press, the mild persuasion of 
 the sanctuary, the early teaching of the school. Here, 
 in ampler ether and diviner air, are untried fields 
 for exalted triumph, more truly worthy the American 
 name than any snatched from rivers of blood. War 
 is known as the Last Reason of Kings. Let it be no 
 reason of our Eepublic. Let us renounce and throw 
 off forever the yoke of a tyranny most oppressive 
 of all in the world's annals. As those standing on 
 the mountain-top first discern the coming beams of 
 morning, so may we, from the vantage-ground of lib- 
 eral institutions, first recognize the ascending sun of 
 a new era ! Lift high the gates, and let the King 
 of Glory in, — the King of True Glory, — of Peace ! 
 I catch the last words of music from the lips of in- 
 nocence and beauty ,1 — 
 
 " And let the whole earth be filled with His Glory! " 
 
 It is a beautiful picture in Grecian story, that there 
 was at least one spot, the small island of Delos, dedi- 
 cated to the gods, and kept at all times sacred from 
 War. No hostile foot ever pressed this kindly soil, 
 and citizens of all countries met here, in common 
 worship, beneath the segis of inviolable Peace. So let 
 us dedicate our beloved country ; and may the blessed 
 consecration be felt in all its parts, everywliere through- 
 out its ample domain ! The Temple of Honor shall 
 
 1 The services of th2 choir on this occasion were performed by the youth- 
 ful daughters of the public schools of Boston.
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 131 
 
 be enclosed- by the Temple of Concord, that it may 
 never more be entered through any portal of War; 
 the horn of Abundance shall overflow at its gates ; 
 the angel of Eeligion shall be the guide over its steps 
 of flashing adamant ; while within its happy courts, 
 purged of Violence and Wrong, Justice, returned to 
 the earth from long exile in the skies, with equal 
 scales for nations as for men, shall rear her serene 
 and majestic front ; and by her side, greatest of all, 
 Charity, sublime in meekness, hoping all and en- 
 during all, shall divinely temper every righteous 
 decree, and with words of infinite cheer inspire 
 to those deeds that cannot vanish away. And the 
 future chief of the Eepublic, destined to uphold the 
 glories of a new era, unspotted by human blood, 
 shall be first in Peace, first in the hearts of his coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 While seeking these fruitful glories for ourselves, let 
 us strive for their extension to other lands. Let the 
 bugles sound the Truce of God to the whole world for- 
 ever. Not to one people, but to every people, let the 
 glad tidings go. The selfish boast of the Spartan women, 
 that they never saw the smoke of an enemy's camp, 
 must become the universal chorus of mankind, while 
 the iron belt of War, now encompassing the globe, is 
 exchanged for the golden cestus of Peace, clothing all 
 with celestial beauty. History dwells with fondness on 
 the reverent homage bestowed by massacring soldiers 
 upon the spot occupied by the sepulchre of the Lord. 
 Vain man ! why confine regard to a few feet of sa- 
 cred mould ? The whole earth is the sepulchre of the 
 Lord ; nor can any righteous man profane any part 
 thereof. Confessing this truth, let us now, on this Sab-
 
 132 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF NATIONS. 
 
 bath of the Nation, lay a new and living stone in the 
 grand Temple of Universal Peace, whose dome shall be 
 lofty as the firmament of heaven, broad and compre- 
 hensive as earth itseK.
 
 WAR SYSTEM OF THE COMMONWEALTH 
 OF NATIONS. 
 
 Address before the American Peace Society, at its Anniversary 
 
 Meeting in the Park Street Church, 
 
 Boston, May 28, 1849. 
 
 That it may please Thee to give to all nations unity, peace, and con- 
 cord. — The Litany. 
 
 What angel shall descend to reconcile 
 
 The Christian states, and end their guilty toil ? 
 
 Waller. 
 
 133
 
 i
 
 Quas harmonia a muf?icis dicitur in cantu, ea est in civitate concordia 
 
 CiCiRO, De Republica, Lib. II. Cap. 42. 
 
 Una dies Fabios ad bellum miserat omnes, 
 Ad bellum missos perdidit una dies. 
 
 Ovid, Fasti, Lib. II. 235, 236. 
 
 Cum hac persuasione vivendumest: Non sum uni angulo uatus; patria 
 mea totus hie mundus est. — Seneca, Epislola XXVIII. 
 
 lUi enim exorsi sunt non ab observandis telis aut armis auttubis; id 
 enim invisum illis est propter Deum quem in conscientia sua gestant. — 
 Marcus Aurelius, Epislola ad Senatum : S. Justini Apologia I. pro Chris- 
 tianis, Cap. 71. 
 
 War is one of the greatest plagues that can afflict humanity: it destroys 
 religion, it destroys states, it destroj's families. Any scourge, in fact, is 
 preferable to it. Famine and pestilence become as nothing in comparison 
 
 with it Cannons and fire-arms are cruel and damnable machines. I 
 
 believe them to have been the direct suggestion of the Devil If Adam 
 
 had seen in a vision the horrible instruments his children were to invent, 
 he would have died of grief. — Martin Luther, Table- Talk, tr. Hazlitt, pp. 
 331 - 332. 
 
 Mulei Abdelummi, assaulted by his brother and wounded in the church, 
 1577, would not stirre till sala, or prayer, was done. — Purchas, Pilgrims, 
 Part n. Book IX. Chap. 12, § 6, p. 1564. 
 
 A duel may still be granted in some cases by the law of England, and 
 only there. That the Church allowed it anciently appears by this: In their 
 public liturgies there were prayers appointed for the duellists to say; the 
 judge used to bid them go to such a church and pray, etc. But whether is 
 this lawful ? If you grant any war lawful, I make no doubt but to convince 
 it. — Selden, Table- Talk : Duel. 
 
 I look upon the way of Treaties as a retiring from fighting like beasts to 
 arguing like men, whose strength should be more in their understandings 
 than in their limbs. — Eikon Basilike, XVIII. 
 
 Se peut-il rien de plus plaisant qu'un homme ait droit de me tuer parce 
 qu'il demeure au dela de I'eau, et que son prince a querelle avec le mien, 
 quoique je n'en aie aucune avec lui? — Pascal, Pensees, Part. I. Art, VI. 9. 
 
 Pourquoi me tuez-vous? Eh quoi! ne demeurez-vous pas de I'autre c6t6 
 de I'eau? Mon ami, si vous demeuriez de ce c6t6, je serais un assassin; 
 cela serait in juste de vous tuer de la sorte: mais puisque vous demeurez 
 de I'autre cot^, je suis un brave, et cela est juste. — Ibid., Part. I. Art. IX. 3. 
 
 De tout temps les hommes, pour quelque morceau de terre de plus ou de 
 moins, scmt convenus entre eux de se d^pouiller, se bruler, se tuer, s'^gorger 
 les uns les autres ; et pour le faire plus ing^nieusement et avec plus de siiret^, 
 
 135
 
 136 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 ilsont iuvente de belles regies qu'on appelle Fart militaire: ils ont attach^ a 
 la pratique de ces regies la gluire, ou la plus solide r(?putation ; et ils ont 
 depuis ench^ri de siecle en siecle sur la maniere de se detruire r^ciproque- 
 ment. — La Bruyeke, Du Suuverahi ou de la Republique. 
 
 La calamita esser innamorata del ferro. — Vico, Scienza Nuova, Lib. L, 
 Degli Ekmenti, XXXIL 
 
 Unlistening, barbarous Force, to whom the sword 
 Is reason, honor, law. 
 
 Thomson, Liberty, Part IV. 45, 46. 
 
 Enfin, tandis que les deux rois faisaient chanter des Te Deum, chacun 
 dans son camp, il prit le parti d'aller raisonner ailleurs des efl'ets et des 
 causes. II passa par-dessus des tas de morts et de mourants, et gagna 
 d'abord un village voisin; il ctait en cendres : c'etait un village Abare, que 
 les Bulgares avaient brul6, selon les lois du droit public. — Voltaire, Can- 
 dide ou V Optimiste, Chap. III. 
 
 The rage and violence of public war, what is it but a suspension of 
 justice among the warring parties ? — Hujie, Essays: Inquiry concerning the 
 Principles of Morals, Section III., Of Justice, Part I. 
 
 A single robber or a few associates are branded with their genuine name ; 
 but the exploits of a numerous band assume the character of lawful and 
 honorable war. — Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chap. 50. 
 
 The glory of a warrior prince can only be written in letters of blood, 
 and he can only be immortalized by the remembrance of the devastation of 
 provinces and the desolation of nations. A warrior king depends for his 
 reputation on the vulgar crowd, and must address himself to prejudice and 
 ignorance to obtain the applause of a day, which the pen of the philoso- 
 pher, the page of the historian, often aimul, even before death comes to en- 
 shroud the mortal facvdties in the nothingness from which they came. Con- 
 sult, Sire, the laws of the King of Kings, and acknowledge that the God of 
 the Universe is a God of Peace. — Kight Hon. Hugh Elliot, British Min- 
 ister in Sweden, to Guslavus 111., November 10, 1788: Memoir, by the Coun- 
 tess of Minto, p. 324. 
 
 C'est un usage re^u en Europe, qu'un gentilhomme vende, h une querelle 
 ^trangtirc, le sang qui appartient ii sa patrie; qu'il s'engage a assassiner, en 
 bataille rang(5e, qui il plaira an prince qui le soudoie; et ce metier est re- 
 gard^ comme honorable. — Condorcet, Note 109 aux Pensees de Pascal. 
 
 C'etait un affreux spectacle que cette' d^route. Les blesses, qui ne pou- 
 vaient se trainer, se couchaient sur le chemin; on les foulait aux pieds; les 
 femmes poussaient des cris, les enfans jjleuraient, les officiers frappaient 
 les fuyards. An milieu de tout ce dt^sordre, ma mere avaitpass«3 sans que 
 )c la reconnusse. Un enfant avait voulu TarrC'tcr et la tuer, parce qu'elle 
 fnyait. — Madame de la KociieJaqlelein, Mcmoires, Chap. XVII. p. 301. 
 
 Let the soldier be abroad, if he will; he caq do nothing in this age. There 
 is another personage, a personage less imposing in the eyes of some, per- 
 haps insignificant. The schoolmaster is abroad, and I trust to bim, armed
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 137 
 
 with his primer, against the soldier in full military array. — Brougham, 
 Speech in the Bouse of Commons, Januai-y 29, 1828. 
 
 Was it possible for me to avoid the reflections which crowded into my 
 mind, .... when I reflected that this peaceful and guiltless and useful tri- 
 umph over the elements and over Nature herself had cost a million only of 
 money, whilst fifteen hundred millions had been squandered on cruelty and 
 crime, in naturalizing barbarism over the world, shrouding the nations in 
 darkness, making bloodshed tinge the earth of every country under the sun, 
 
 — in one horrid and comprehensive word, squandered on War, the greatest 
 curse of the human race, and the gi-eatest crime, because it involves every 
 other crime within its execrable name V .... I look backwards with shame, 
 with regret unspeakable, with indignation to which I should in vain attempt 
 to give utterance, .... when I think, that, if one hundred, and but one hun- 
 dred, of those fifteen hundred millions, had been emploj'ed in promoting the 
 arts of peace and the progress of civilization and of wealth and prosperity 
 amongst us, instead of that other employment which is too hateful to think 
 of, and almost nowadays too disgusting to speak of (and I hope to live to 
 see the day when such things will be incredible, when, looking back, we 
 shall find it impossible to believe they ever happened), instead of being 
 burdened with eight hundred millions of debt, borrowed after spending 
 seven hundred millions, borrowed when we had no more to spend, we should 
 have seen the whole country covered with such works as now unite Man- 
 chester and Liverpool, and should have enjoyed peace uninterrupted dur- 
 ing the last forty years, with all the blessings which an industrious and a 
 virtuous people desei-ve, and which peace profusely sheds upon their lot. 
 
 — Ibid., Speech at Liverpool, July 20, 1835. 
 
 Who can read these, and such passages as these [from Plato], without 
 wishing that some who call themselves Christians, some Christian Principal- 
 ities and Powers, had taken a lesson from the Heathen sage, and, if their 
 nature forbade them to abstain from massacres and injustice, at least had 
 not committed the scandalous impiety, as he calls it, of singing in places 
 of Christian worship, and for the accomplishment of their enormous crimes, 
 Te Deums, which in Plato's Republic would have been punished as blas- 
 phemy? Who, indeed, can refrain from lamenting another pernicious kind 
 of sacrilege, an anthropomorphism, yet more frequent, — that of making 
 Christian temples resound with prayers for victory over our enemies, and 
 thanksgiving for their defeat? Assuredly such a ritual as this is not taken 
 from the New Testament. — Ibid., Discourse of Natural Theology, Note VIII. 
 
 War is on its last legs ; and a universal peace is as sure as is the preva- 
 lence of civilization over barbarism, of liberal governments over feudal 
 forms. The question for us is only, Hoiv soon f — Emerson, War: Esthetic 
 Papers, ed. E. P. Peabody, p. 42. 
 
 A day will come when the only battle-field will be the market open to 
 commerce and the mind opening to new ideas. A day will come when bul- 
 lets and bomb-shells will be replaced by votes, by the universal suffrage of 
 nations, by the venerable arbitration of a great Sovereign Senate, which
 
 138 "^VAR SYSTEM OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 
 
 will be to Europe what the Parliament is to England, what the Diet is to 
 Germany, what the Legislative Assembly is to France. A day will come 
 when a cannon will be exhibited in public museums, just as an instrument 
 of torture is now, and people will be astonished how such a thing could have 
 been. A day will come when those two immense groups, the United States 
 of America and the United States of Europe, shall be seen placed in pres- 
 ence of each other, extending the hand of fellowship across the ocean. — 
 Victor Hugo, Inaugural Address at the Peace Congress of Paris, August 
 22, 1849. 
 
 Clearly, beyond question, whatsoever be our theories about human na- 
 ture and its capabilities and outcomes, the less war and cutting of throats 
 we have among us, it will be better for us all. One rejoices much to see 
 that immeasurable tendencies of this time are already pointing towards the 
 results you aim at, — that, to all appearance, as men no longer wear swords 
 in the streets, so neither by-and-by will nations. — Carlyle, Letter to 
 the Peace Congress at London, July, 1851. 
 
 The longer I live, the more I am convinced of the necessity of a powerful 
 association to plead the cause of Universal Peace and International Arbitra- 
 tion ; and I feel contident that the time is not far distant when war will be as 
 impossible among civilized nations as duelling is among civilized men. — Sir 
 David Brewster, Letter to the Peace Conference at Edinburgh, October, 1853. 
 
 Aujourd'hui encore on b^nit les drapeaux qui conduisent les hommes a 
 de mutuels ^gorgements. En donnant a un Dieu de paix le nom de Dieu 
 des Armees. on fait de I'Etre infini en bont^ le complice de ceux qui s'ab- 
 reuvent des larmes de leurs semblables. Aujourd'hui encore on chante 
 d'impies Te Deum pour le remercier de ces victoires obtenues au prix 
 dV'pouvantables massacres, victoires qu'il faudrait ou expier comme des 
 crimes lorsqu'elles ont ^t^ remport(5es dans des guerres offensives ou de- 
 plorer comme la plus triste des n^cessitt^'s quand elles ont ^te obtenues dans 
 des guerres defensives. — Larroque, De la Guerre et des Armees Perma- 
 nentes. Part. III. § 4. 
 
 La monarchic, sous les formes memes les plus temperees, tiendra toujours 
 a avoir a. sa d(?votion des annexes permanentes. Or avec les armees en per- 
 manence Tabolition de la guerre est impossible. Par consequent la grande 
 f(5d(5ration des peuples, au moins de tous les peuples Europeens, dans le but 
 d'arriver a I'abolition de la guerre par Tinstitution d'un droit international 
 et d'un tribunal sup^rieur charge de le faire observer, ne sera realisable 
 que le jour oil ces peuples seront organises sous la forme r^publicaiue. 
 Quand luira ce jour? — Ibid., Avant-propos, p. 6. 
 
 Sir J. Lubbock quotes the case of a tribe in Baffin's Bay who " could 
 not be made to understand what was meant by war, nor had they any war- 
 like weapons." No wonder, poor people! They had been driven into re- 
 gions where no stronger race could desire to follow them. — Duke of Ar- 
 gyll, Primeval Man, p. 177.
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN, — We 
 are assembled in what may be called the Holy 
 Week of our community, — not occupied by pomps of 
 a complex ceremonial, swelling in tides of music, be- 
 neath time-honored arches, but set apart, with the 
 unadorned simplicity of early custom, to anniversary 
 meetings of those charitable and religious associations 
 from whose good works our country derives such true 
 honor. Each association is distinct. Gathered within 
 the folds of each are its own members, devoted to 
 its chosen objects : and yet all are harmonious to- 
 gether; for all are inspired by one sentiment, — the 
 welfare of the united Human Family. Each has its 
 own separate orbit, a pathway of light ; while all to- 
 gether constitute a system which moves in a still 
 grander orbit. 
 
 Among all these associations, none is so truly compre- 
 hensive as ours. The prisoner in his cell, the 'slave in 
 his chains, the sailor on ocean wanderings, the Pagan 
 on far off continent or island, and the ignorant here 
 at home, will all be commended by eloquent voices. I 
 need not say that you should listen to these voices, and 
 answer to their appeal. But, while mindful of these in- 
 terests, justly claiming your care, it is my present and
 
 140 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 most grateful duty to commend that other cause, the 
 great cause of Peace, which in its wider embrace en- 
 folds prisoner, slave, sailor, the ignorant, all mankind, 
 — which to each of these charities is the source of 
 strength and light, I may say of life itself, as the sun 
 in the heavens. 
 
 Peace is the grand Christian charity, fountain and 
 parent of all other charities. Let Peace be removed, 
 and all other charities sicken and die. Let Peace exert 
 her gladsome sway, and all other charities quicken into 
 life. Peace is the distinctive promise and possession of 
 Christianity, — so much so, that, where Peace is not, 
 Christianity cannot be. It is also the promise of Heav- 
 en, being the beautiful consummation of that rest and 
 felicity which the saints above are said to enjoy. There 
 is nothing elevated which is not exalted by Peace. 
 There is nothing valuable which does not gain from 
 Peace. Of Wisdom herself it is said, that all her ways 
 are pleasantness, and all her paths are Peace. And 
 these golden words are refined by the saying of the 
 Christian Father, that the perfection of joy is Peace. 
 Naturally Peace is the longing and aspiration of the 
 noblest souls, whether for themselves or for country. 
 In the bitterness of exile, away from the Florence im- 
 mortalized by his divine poem, and pacing the cloisters 
 of a convent, where a sympathetic monk inquired, 
 " Wliat do you seek ? " Dante answered, in accents 
 distilled from the heart, " Peace V^ In the memora- 
 ble English struggles, while King and Parliament were 
 rending tlie land, a gallant supporter of monarchy, the 
 chivalrous Falkland, touched by the intoleral)le woes of 
 
 1 Longfellow's Poets and Poetry of Europe, p. 513.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 141 
 
 War, cried, in words which consecrate his memory more 
 than any feat of arms, " Peace ! peace ! " ^ Not in as- 
 piration only, but in benediction, is this word uttered. 
 As the Apostle went forth on his errand, as the son for- 
 sook his father's roof, the choicest blessing was, " Peace 
 he with you ! " When the Saviour was born, angels from 
 heaven, amidst choiring melodies, let fall that supreme 
 benediction, never before vouchsafed to the children of 
 the Human Family, " Peace on earth, and good-will to- 
 wards men f" 
 
 To maintain this charity, to promote these aspira- 
 tions, to welcome these benedictions, is the object of our 
 Society. To fill men in private with all those senti- 
 ments which make for Peace, to lead men in public to 
 the recognition of those paramount principles which 
 are the safeguard of Peace, above all, to teach the True 
 Grandeur of Peace, and to unfold the folly and wicked- 
 ness of the Institution of War and of the War System, 
 now recognized and established by the Commonwealth 
 of Nations as the mode of determining international 
 controversies, — such is the object of our Society. 
 
 There are persons who allow themselves sometimes 
 to speak of associations like ours, if not with disappro- 
 bation, at least with levity and distrust. A A^Titer so 
 humane and genial as Eobert Southey left on record 
 a gibe at the " Society for the Abolition of War," say- 
 ing that it had " not obtained sufficient notice even 
 to be in disrepute." ^ It is not uncommon to hear our 
 aims characterized as visionary, impracticable, Utopian. 
 Sometimes it is hastily said that they are contrary to 
 
 1 Clarendon, History of the Rebellion, Book VH. Vol. IV. p. 255. 
 
 2 Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society, Vol. I. p. 224.
 
 142 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 the nature of man, that they require for success a com- 
 plete reconstruction of human character, and that they 
 necessarily assume in man qualities, capacities, and 
 virtues which do not belong to his nature. This mis- 
 taken idea was once strongly expressed in the taunt, 
 that "an Anti-War Society is as little practicable as 
 an Anti-Thunder-and-Lightning Society." ^ 
 
 Never a moment when this beautiful cause was not 
 the occasion of jest, varying with the character of the 
 objector. More than a century ago there was some- 
 thing of this kind, which arrested the attention of no 
 less a person than Leibnitz, and afterwards of Fonte- 
 nelle. It was where an elegant Dutch trifler, as de- 
 scribed by Leibnitz, following the custom of his country, 
 placed as a sign over his door the motto. To Perpetual 
 Peace, with the picture of a cemetery, — meaning to sug- 
 gest that only with the dead could this desire of good 
 men be fulfilled. Not with the living, so the elegant 
 Dutch trifler proclaimed over his door. A different 
 person, also of Holland, who was both diplomatist and 
 historian, the scholarly Aitzema, caught the jest, and 
 illustrated it by a Latin couplet : — 
 
 " Qui pacem quaeris libertatemque, viator, 
 
 Aut nusquam aut isto sub tumulo invenies " ; — 
 
 which, being translated, means, "Traveller, who seekest 
 Peace and Liberty, either nowhere or under that mound 
 thou wilt find them." ^ Do not fail to observe that Lib- 
 erty is here doomed to the same grave as Peace. Alas, 
 that there should be such despair ! At length Liberty 
 is rising. May not Peace rise also ? 
 
 1 Hon. Jeremiah Mason, of Boston, to Mr. Sumner. 
 
 2 Leibnitz, Codex Juris Gentium Diplomaticus, Dissert. I. § 1 : Opera 
 (ed. Dutens), Tom. IV. Pars 3, pp. 287, 288. Fontenelle, Eloge de Leibnitz: 
 Qi)uvres, Tom. V. p. 456.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 143 
 
 Doubtless objections, to say nothing of jests, striking at 
 the heart of our cause, exert a certain influence over the 
 public mind. They often proceed from persons of sin- 
 cerity and goodness, who would rejoice to see the truth 
 as we see it. But, plausible as they appear to those 
 who have not properly meditated this subject, I cannot 
 but regard them — I believe that all who candidly lis- 
 ten to me must hereafter regard them — as prejudices, 
 without foundation in sense or reason, which must yield 
 to a plain and careful examination of the precise objects 
 proposed. 
 
 Let me not content myself, in response to these crit- 
 ics, with the easy answer, that, if our aims are visionary, 
 impracticable, Utopian, then the unfulfilled promises of 
 the Scriptures are vain, — then the Lord's Prayer, in 
 which we ask that God's kingdom may come on earth, 
 is a mockery, — then Christianity is no better than the 
 statutes of L'topia. Let me not content myself with re- 
 minding you that all the great reforms by which man- 
 kind have been advanced encountered similar objec- 
 tions, — that the abolition of the punishment of death 
 for theft, so long delayed, was first suggested in the 
 " Utopia " of Sir Thomas ]\Iore, — that the efforts to 
 abolish the slave-trade were opposed, almost in our day, 
 as visionary, — in short, that all endeavors for human 
 improvement, for knowledge, for freedom, for virtue, all 
 the great causes which dignify human history, and save 
 it from being a mere protracted War Bulletin, a com- 
 mon sewer, a Cloaca Maxima, flooded with perpetual un- 
 cleanness, have been pronounced Utopian, — while, in 
 spite of distrust, prejudice, and enmity, all these causes 
 gradually found acceptance, as they gradually came to 
 be understood, and the aspirations of one age became 
 the acquisitions of the next.
 
 144 WAE SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 Satisfactory to some as this answer might be, I can- 
 not content myself with leaving our cause in this way. 
 I shall meet all assaults, and show, by careful exposi- 
 tion, that our objects are in no respect visionary, — that 
 the cause of Peace does not depend upon any recon- 
 struction of the human character, or upon holding in 
 check the general laws of man's being, — but that it 
 deals with man as he is, according to the experience of 
 history, — and, above all, that our immediate and par- 
 ticular aim, the abolition of the Institution of War, and 
 of the whole War System, as established Arbiter of Right 
 in the Commonwealth of Nations, is as practicable as it 
 would be beneficent. 
 
 I begin by putting aside questions, often pushed for- 
 ward, which an accurate analysis shows to be inde- 
 pendent of the true issue. Their introduction has 
 perplexed the discussion, by transferring to the great 
 cause of International Peace doubts which do not be- 
 long to it. 
 
 One of these is the declared right, inherent in each 
 individual, to take the life of an assailant in order to 
 save his own life, — compendiously called the Right of 
 Self-Defencc, usually recognized by philosophers and pub- 
 licists as founded in Nature and the instincts of men. 
 The exercise of this right is carefully restricted to cases 
 where life itself is in actual jeopardy. No defence 
 of property, no vindication of what is called personal 
 honor, justifies this extreme resort. Nor does this right 
 imply the right of attack ; for, instead of attacking 
 one another, on account of injuries past or impending, 
 men need only resort to the proper tribunals of justice. 
 There are, however, many most respectable persons,
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. I45 
 
 particularly of the denomination of Friends, some of 
 whom I may now have the Iionor of addressing, who 
 believe that the exercise of this right, even thus limited, 
 is in direct contravention of Christian precepts. Their 
 views find faithful utterance in the writings of Jonathan 
 Dymond, of which at least this may be said, that they 
 strengthen and elevate, even if they do not always 
 satisfy, the understanding. " We shall be asked," says 
 Dymond, " ' Suppose a ruffian breaks into your house, 
 and rushes into your room with his arm lifted to mur- 
 der you ; do you not believe that Christianity allows 
 you to kill him ? ' This is the last refuge of the cause. 
 Our answer to it is explicit, — We do not believe it." ^ 
 While thus candidly and openly avowing an extreme 
 sentiment of non-resistance, this excellent person is care- 
 ful to remind the reader that the case of the ruffian 
 does not practically illustrate the true character of 
 War, unless it appears that war is undertaken simply 
 for the preservation of life, when no other alternative 
 remains to a people than to kill or be killed. Accord- 
 ing to this view, the robber on land who places his 
 pistol at the breast of the traveller, the pirate who 
 threatens life on the high seas, and the riotous dis- 
 turber of the public peace who puts life in jeopardy 
 at home, cannot be opposed by the sacrifice of life. 
 Of course all who subscribe to this renunciation of self- 
 defence must join in efforts to abolish the Arbitrament 
 of War. Our appeal is to the larger number who 
 make no such application of Christian precepts, wlio 
 recognize the right of self-defence as belonging to each 
 individual, and who believe in the necessity at times of 
 
 1 On the Applicability of the Pacific Principles of the New Testament to 
 the Conduct of States, p. 10.
 
 146 WAE SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 exercising this right, whether against a robber, a pirate, 
 or a mob. 
 
 Another question, closely connected with that of self- 
 defence, is the asserted Rigid of Revolt or Revolution. 
 Shall a people endure political oppression, or the denial 
 of freedom, without resistance ? The answer to this 
 question will necessarily affect the rights of three mil- 
 lion fellow-citizens held in slavery among us. If such 
 a right unqualifiedly exists, — and sympathy with our 
 fathers, and with the struggles for freedom now agitating 
 Europe, must make us hesitate to question its existence, 
 — then these three millions of fellow-men, into whose 
 souls we thrust the iron of the deadliest bondage the 
 world has yet witnessed, must be justified in resisting 
 to death the power that holds them. A popular writer 
 on ethics. Dr. Paley, has said : " It may be as much a 
 duty at one time to resist Government as it is at an- 
 other to obey it, — to wit, whenever more advantage will 
 in our opinion accrue to the community from resistance 
 than mischief The lawfulness of resistance, or the law- 
 fulness of a revolt, does not depend alone upon the 
 grievance which is sustained or feared, but also upon 
 the probable expense and event of the contest." ^ This 
 view distinctly recognizes the right of resistance, but 
 limits it by the chance of success, founding it on no 
 higher ground than expediency. A right thus vaguely 
 defined and bounded must be invoked with reluctance 
 and distrust. The lover of Peace, while admitting, that, 
 unhappily, in the present state of the world, an exi- 
 gency for its exercise may arise, must coni'ess the in- 
 lierent barbarism of such an agency, and admire, even 
 
 1 Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, Book VI. ch. 3.
 
 COiVIMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 147 
 
 if he cannot entirely adopt, tlie sentiment of Daniel 
 O'Connell : " Eemember that no poKtical change is 
 worth a single crime, or, above all, a single drop of 
 human blood." 
 
 These questions I put aside, not as unimportant, not as 
 unworthy of careful consideration, but as unessential to 
 the cause which I now present. If I am asked — as 
 advocates of Peace are often asked — whether a robber, 
 a pirate, a mob, may be resisted by the sacrifice of life, I 
 answer, that they may be so resisted, — mournfully, ne- 
 cessarily. If I am asked to sympathize with the efforts 
 for freedom now finding vent in rebellion and revolution, 
 I cannot hesitate to say, that, wherever Freedom strug- 
 gles, wherever Eight is, there my sympathies must be. 
 And I believe I speak not only for myself, but for 
 our Society, when I add, that, while it is our constant 
 aim to diffuse those sentiments which promote good-will 
 in all the relations of life, which exhibit the beauty 
 of Peace everywhere, in national affairs as well as inter- 
 national, and while especially recognizing that central 
 truth, the Brotherhood of Man, in whose noonday light 
 all violence among men is dismal and abhorred as among 
 brothers, it is nevertheless no part of our purpose to 
 impeach the right to take life in self-defence or when 
 the public necessity requires, nor to question the justi- 
 fiableness of resistance to outrage and oppression. On 
 these points there are diversities of opinion among the 
 friends of Peace, which this Society, confining itself to 
 efforts for the overthrow of War, is not constrained to 
 determine. 
 
 Waiving, then, these matters, with their perplexities 
 and difficulties, which do not in any respect belong to
 
 148 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 the cause, I come now to the precise object we hope 
 to accomplish, — Tlic Abolition of the Institution of 
 War, and of tJie ichole War System, as an established 
 Arbiter of Justice in the Commomvealth of Nations. In 
 the accurate statement of our aims you will at once 
 perceive the strength of our position. Much is always 
 gained by a clear understanding of the question in 
 issue; and the cause of Peace unquestionably suffers 
 often because it is misrepresented or not fully compre- 
 hended. In the hope of removing this difficulty, I shall 
 first unfold the true character of War and the War Sys- 
 tem, involving the question of Preparations for War, and 
 the question of a Militia. The way wiU then be open, in 
 the second branch of this Address, for a consideration 
 of the means by which this system can be overthrown. 
 Here I shall exhibit the examples of nations, and the 
 efforts of individuals, constituting the Peace Movement, 
 with the auguries of its triumph, briefly touching, at the 
 close, on our duties to this great cause, and the vanity 
 of Military Glory. In all that I say I cannot forget 
 that I am addressing a Christian association, for a 
 Christian charity, in a Christian churcli. 
 
 I. 
 
 AxD, first, of War and the War System in the Com- 
 monwealth of Nations. By the Commonwealth of Na- 
 tions I understand tlie Fraternity of Christian Nations 
 recognizing a Common Law in their relations with 
 each other, usually called the Law of Nations. This 
 law, being established by the consent of nations, is not 
 necessarily the law of all nations, but only of such as 
 recognize it. The Europeans and the Orientals often
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 149 
 
 differ with regard to its provisions ; nor would it be 
 proper to say, that, at this time, the Ottomans, or the 
 Mahometans in general, or the Chinese, have become 
 parties to it.^ The prevailing elements of tliis law are 
 the Law of Nature, tlie truths of Christianity, the usages 
 of nations, tlie opinions of publicists, and the written 
 texts or enactments found in diplomatic acts or treaties. 
 In origin and growth it is not unlike the various sys- 
 tems of municipal jurisprudence, all of which are refer- 
 red to kindred sources. 
 
 It is often said, in excuse for the allowance of War, 
 that nations are independent, and acknowledge no com- 
 mon superior. True, indeed, they are politically inde- 
 pendent, and acknowledge no common political sov- 
 ereign, witli power to enforce tlie law. But they do 
 acknowledge a common superior, of unquestioned influ- 
 ence and authority, whose rules they are bound to obey. 
 This common superior, acknowledged by all, is none 
 other than the Law of Nations, with the Law of Nature 
 as a controlling element. It were superfluous to dwell 
 at length upon opinions of publicists and jurists de- 
 claring this supremacy. "The Law of Nature," says 
 Vattel, a classic in this department, " is not less oUiga- 
 tory with respect to states, or to men united in political 
 society, than to individuals." ^ An eminent English au- 
 thority. Lord StoweU, so famous as Sir William Scott, 
 says, " The Conventional Lata of Mankind, which is 
 evidenced in their practice, alloivs some and prohibits 
 other modes of destruction." ^ A recent German jurist 
 says, " A nation associating itself with the general so- 
 
 1 Since the delivery of this Address, Turkey and China have accepted 
 our Law of Nations. 
 
 2 Law of Nations, Preface. 
 
 8 Robinson's, Chr., Admiralty Reports, Vol. L p. 140.
 
 150 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 ciety of nations thereby recognizes a law common to all 
 nations, by wliicli its international relations are to be 
 regulated ." ^ Lastly, a popular English moralist, whom 
 I have already quoted, and to whom I refer because his 
 name is so familiar. Dr. Paley, says, that the principal 
 part of what is called the Law of Nations derives its 
 obligatory character " simply from the fact of its being 
 established, and the general duty of conforming to estab- 
 lished rules upon questions and between parties wliere 
 nothing but positive regulations can prevent disputes, 
 and where disputes are followed by such destructive 
 consequences." ^ 
 
 The Law .of Nations is, then, the Supreme Law of the 
 Commonwealth of Nations, governing their relations 
 with each other, determining their reciprocal rights, and 
 sanctioning all remedies for the violation of these rights. 
 To the Commonw^ealth of Nations this law is what the 
 Constitution and Municipal Law of Massachusetts are 
 to the associate towns and counties composing the State, 
 or what, by apter illustration, the National Constitution 
 of our Union is to the thirty several States which now 
 recognize it as the sujoreme law. 
 
 But the Law of Nations, — and here is a point of in- 
 finite importance to the clear understanding of the sub- 
 ject, — while anticipating and providing for controversies 
 between nations, recognizes and establishes AVar as final 
 Arbiter. It distinctly says to nations, " If you cannot 
 agree together, then stake your cause upon Trial by 
 Battle." The mode of trial thus recognized and estab- 
 lished has its own procedure, with rules and regulations, 
 
 1 Heffter, Das Europaische Volkerreclit der Gegenwurt, § 2. 
 
 * Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, Book VI. ch. 12.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 151 
 
 under the name of Laws of War, constituting a branch 
 of International Law. " The Laws of War," says Dr. 
 Paley, " are part of the Law of Nations, and founded, as 
 to their authority, upon the same principle with the rest 
 of that code, namely, upon the fact of their being estab- 
 lished, no matter when or by whom." ^ Nobody doubts 
 that the Laws of War are established by nations. 
 
 It is not uncommon to speak of the j^'^ct'^^'i-c^^ of War, 
 or the custom of War, — a term adopted by that devoted 
 friend of Peace, the late Noah Worcester. Its apolo- 
 gists and expounders have called it " a judicial trial," 
 
 — " one of the highest trials of right," — "a process 
 of justice," — " an appeal for justice," — "a mode of ob- 
 taining rights," — "a prosecution of rights by force," 
 
 — "a mode of condign punishment." I prefer to char- 
 acterize it as an Institution, established by the Com- 
 monwealth of Nations as Arbiter of Justice. As Sla- 
 very is an Institution, growing out of local custom, 
 sanctioned, defined, and established by Municipal Law, 
 so War is an Institution, growing out of general custom, 
 sanctioned, defined, and established by the Law of Na- 
 tions. 
 
 Only when we contemplate War in this light can 
 we fully perceive its combined folly and wickedness. 
 Let me bring this home to your minds. Boston and 
 Cambridge are adjoining towns, separated by the Eiver 
 Charles. In the event of controversy between these 
 different jurisdictions, the Municipal Law establishes 
 a judicial tribunal, and not War, as arbiter. Ascend- 
 ing higher, in the event of controversy between two 
 different counties, as between Essex and Middlesex, 
 the same Municipal Law estabUshes a judicial tribunal, 
 
 1 Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, Book VI. ch. 12.
 
 152 "^^'^K SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 and not War, as arbiter. Ascending yet higher, in tlie 
 event of controversy between two difl'erent States of 
 our Union, the Constitution establishes a judicial tri- 
 bunal, the Supreme Court of the United States, and 
 not War, as arbiter. But now mark : at the next 
 stage there is a change of arbiter. In the event of 
 controversy between two different States of the Com- 
 monwealth of Nations, the supreme law establishes, not 
 a judicial tribunal, but War, as arbiter. War is the in- 
 stitution established for the determination of justice be- 
 tween nations. 
 
 Provisions of the Municipal Law of Massachusetts, 
 and of the National Constitution, are not vain words. 
 To all familiar with our courts it is well known that 
 suits between towns, and likewise between counties, are 
 often entertained and satisfactorily adjudicated. The 
 records of the Supreme Court of the United States 
 show also that States of the Union habitually refer 
 important controversies to this tribunal. Before this 
 high court is now pending an action of the State of 
 IVIissouri against the State of Iowa, founded on a ques- 
 tion of boundary, Mdiere the former claims a section of 
 territory — larger than many German principalities — 
 extending along the whole northern border of jMissouri, 
 with several miles of breadth, and comprising more than 
 two thousand s(piare miles. Within a short period this 
 same tribunal has decided a similar question between 
 our own State of Massachusetts and our neighbor, Ithode 
 Island, — the latter pertinaciously claiming a section of 
 territory, aljout three miles broad, on a portion of our 
 southern frontier. 
 
 Suppose that in these different cases between towns 
 counties, states, War had been established by the su-
 
 COMMO^'WEALTH OF NATIONS. 153 
 
 preme law as arbiter; imagine the disastrous conse- 
 quences ; picture the imperfect justice which must have 
 been the end and fruit of such a contest; and while 
 rejoicing that in these cases we are happily relieved 
 from an alternative so wretched and deplorable, reflect 
 that on a larger theatre, where grander interests are 
 staked, in the relations between nations, under the sol- 
 emn sanction of the Law of Nations, AVar is established 
 as Arbiter of Justice. Eeflect also that a complex and 
 subtile code, known as Laws of AVar, is established to 
 regulate the resort to this arbiter. 
 
 Eecognizing the irrational and unchristian character 
 of AVar as established arbiter between towns, counties, 
 and states, we learn to condemn it as established ar- 
 biter between nations. If wi'ong in one case, it must be 
 wrong in the other. But there is another parallel sup- 
 plied by history, from which we may form a yet clearer 
 idea : I refer to the system of Private Wars, or, more prop- 
 erly, Petty Wars, which darkened e^•en the Dark Ages. 
 This must not be confounded witli the Trial hy Battle, 
 although the two were alike in recognizing the sword as 
 Arbiter of Justice. The right to imge war {le droit de 
 guerroyer) was accorded by the early Municipal Law 
 of European States, particularly of the Continent, to all 
 independent chiefs, however petty, but not to vassals ; 
 precisely as the right to wage war is now accorded by 
 International Law to all independent states and princi- 
 paHties, however petty, but not to subjects. It was 
 mentioned often among the " liberties " to which inde- 
 pendent chiefs were entitled ; as it is still recognized 
 by International Law among the " liberties " of inde- 
 l endent nations. In proportion as any sovereignty was
 
 154 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 absorbed in some larger lordship, this offensive right 
 or " liberty " gradually disappeared. In France it pre- 
 vailed extensively, till at last King John, by an ordi- 
 nance dated 1361, expressly forbade Petty Wars through- 
 out his kingdom, saying, in excellent words, " We by 
 these presents ordain that all challenges and wars, and 
 all acts of violence against all persons, in aU parts what- 
 soever of our kingdom, shall henceforth cease ; and all 
 assemblies, musters, and raids of men-at-arms or archers ; 
 and also all pillages, seizures of goods and persons ille- 
 gally, vengeances and counter-vengeances, surprisals and 
 
 ambuscades All which things we will to be kept 
 
 and observed everywhere without infringement, on pain 
 of incurring our indignation, and of being reputed and 
 held disobedient and rebellious towards us and the 
 crown, and at our mercy in body and goods." ^ It was 
 reserved for that indefatigable king, Louis the Eleventh, 
 while Dauphin, as late as 1451, to make another effort 
 in the same direction, by expressly abrogating one of 
 the " liberties " of Dauphine, being none other than the 
 right of war, immemorially secured to the inhabitants 
 of this province.^ From these royal ordinances the 
 Commonwealth of Nations might borrow appropriate 
 words, in abrogating forever the Public Wars, or, more 
 properly, the Grand Wars, with their vengeances and 
 counter-vengeances, which are yet sanctioned by Inter- 
 national Law among the " liberties " of Christian na- 
 tions. 
 
 At a later day, in Germany, effective measures were 
 taken against the same prevailing evil. Contests there 
 
 1 Cauchy, Du Duel consid^rd dans ses Origines, Liv. I. Seconde Epoque, 
 Ch. V. Tom. I. pp. 91, 92. 
 
 2 Du Cunge, Dissertations sur THistoire de St. Louis, Diss. XXVII. 
 (XXIX.): Des Guerres Privees.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 155 
 
 were not confined to feudal lords. Associations of trades- 
 men, and even of domestics, sent defiance to each other, 
 and even to whole cities, on pretences trivial as those 
 sometimes the occasion of the Grand Wars between na- 
 tions. There are still extant Declarations of War by 
 a Lord of Frauenstein against the free city of Frank- 
 fort, because a young lady of the city refused to dance 
 with the uncle of the belligerent, — by the baker and 
 other domestics of the Margrave of Baden against Ess- 
 lingen, Eeutlingen, and other imperial cities, — by the 
 baker of the Count Palatine Louis against the cities 
 of Augsburg, Ulm, and Eottweil, — by the shoeblacks 
 of the University of Leipsic against the provost and 
 other members, — and, in 1477, by the cook of Ep- 
 penstein, with his scullions, dairy-maids, and disli-wash- 
 ers, against Otho, Count of Solms. Finally, in 1495, at 
 the Diet of Worms, so memorable in German annals, 
 the Emperor Maximilian sanctioned an ordinance which 
 proclaimed a permanent Peace throughout Germany, 
 abolished the right or " liberty " of Private War, and 
 instituted a Supreme Tribunal, under the ancient name 
 of Imperial Chamber, to which recourse might be had, 
 even by nobles, princes, and states, for the determina- 
 tion of disputes without appeal to the sword. ^ 
 
 Trial hy Battle, or "judicial combat," furnishes the 
 most vivid picture of the Arbitrament of War, beyond 
 even what is found in the system of Petty Wars. It 
 was at one period, particularly in France, the universal 
 umpire between private individuals. All causes, crimi- 
 nal and civil, with all the questions incident thereto, 
 were referred to this senseless trial. Not bodily in- 
 
 1 Coxe, History of the House of Austria, Ch. XIX. and XXI.
 
 156 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 firmity or old age could exempt a litigant from the 
 hazard of the Battle, even to determine diflerences of the 
 most trivial import. At last substitutes were allowed, 
 and, as in War, bravoes or champions were hired for 
 wages to enter the lists. The proceedings were con- 
 ducted gravely according to prescribed forms, which 
 w^ere digested into a system of peculiar subtilty and 
 minuteness, — as War in our day is according to an 
 established code, the Laws of War. Thus do violence, 
 lawlessness, and absurdity shelter themselves beneath 
 the Rule of Law ! Religion also lent her sanctions. 
 With presence and prayer the priest cheered the insen- 
 sate combatant, and appealed for aid to Jesus Christ, the 
 Prince of Peace. 
 
 The Church, to its honor, early perceived the wick- 
 edness of this system. By voices of pious bishops, by 
 ordinances of solemn councils, by anathemas of i)opes, 
 it condemned whosoever should slay another in a bat- 
 tle so impious and inimical to Christian peace, as "a 
 most wicked homicide and bloody robber " ^ ; while it 
 treated the unhappy victim as a volunteer, guilty of 
 his own death, and handed his remains to unhonored 
 burial without psalm or prayer. With sacerdotal sup- 
 plication it vainly souglit the withdrawal of all counte- 
 nance from this great evil, and the support of the civil 
 power in ecclesiastical censures. To these just efforts 
 let praise and gratitude be offered ! But, alas ! authen- 
 tic incidents, and the forms still on record in ancient 
 missals, attest the unhappy sanction which Trial by 
 
 1 " Statuimus, juxta nntiquum ccclesiasticEE ohservationis morem, ut qui- 
 cumque tam impia et Cliristianse paci inimica pugna alternm occiderit seu 
 vulneribus (Ie>)ilem reddUlerit, velut homicida neijuissimus et latro cruentus, ab 
 Ecclcsise et omnium fidelium coRtu rcddatur scparatus," etc. — Canon XII. 
 Concil. Valent., — quoted by Caucliy, Du Duel, Liv. I. Premiere Epoque, 
 Ch. III., Tom. I. p. 43, note.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 157 
 
 Battle succeeded in obtaining even from the Church, 
 — as in our day the English Liturgy, and the con- 
 duct of the Christian clergy in all countries, attest the 
 unhappy sanction which the Institution of War yet en- 
 joys. Admonitions of the Church and labors of good 
 men slowly prevailed. Proofs by witnesses and by titles 
 were gradually adopted, though opposed by the selfish- 
 ness of camp-followers, subaltern officers, and even of 
 lords, greedy for the fees or wages of combat. In Eng- 
 land Trial by Battle was attacked by Henry the Second, 
 striving to substitute Trial by Jury. In France it was 
 expressly forbidden by that illustrious monarch, St. Louis, 
 in an immortal ordinance. At last, this system, so waste- 
 ful of life, so barbarous in character, so vain and ineffi- 
 cient as Arbiter of Justice, yielded to judicial tribunals. 
 
 The Trial by Battle is not Eomau in origin. It may 
 be traced to tlie forests of Germany, where the rule pre- 
 vailed of referring to the sword what at Eome was re- 
 ferred to the praetor ; so that a judicial tribunal, when 
 urged upon these barbarians, was regarded as an inno- 
 vation.i The very words of surprise at the German cus- 
 tom are yet applicable to the Arbitrament of War. 
 
 The absurdity of Trial by Battle may be learned from 
 the instances where it was invoked. Though originally 
 permitted to determine questions of personal character, 
 it was extended so as to embrace criminal cases, and 
 even questions of property. In 961 the title to a 
 church was submitted to this ordeal.- Some time later 
 a grave point of law was submitted. The question was, 
 "Whether the sons of a son ought to be reckoned 
 
 ^ " Nunc agentes gratias, qnod ea Romana jiistitia finiret, feritasqne sua 
 novitate incognitse disciplinse mitesceret, et solita armis decerni jui"e tei- 
 minarentur." — Velleius Paterculus, Lib. IL c. 118. 
 
 2 Robertson, History of Charles V., Vol. L Note 22.
 
 158 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 among tlie claildren of the family, and succeed equally 
 with their uncles, if their father happened to die while 
 their grandfather was alive." The general opinion at 
 first was for reference of the question to the adjudication 
 of arbiters ; but we are informed by a contemporary 
 ecclesiastic, who reports the case, that the Emperor, 
 Otho the First, " taking better counsel, and unwilling 
 that nobles and elders of the people should be treated 
 dishonorably, ordered the matter to be decided by cham- 
 pions with the sword." The champion of the grand- 
 children prevailed, and they were enabled to share 
 with their uncles in the inheritance.^ Human folly 
 did not end here. A question of theology was sur- 
 rendered to the same arbitrament, being nothing less 
 than whether the Musarabic Liturgy, used in the 
 churches of Spain, or the Liturgy approved at Rome, 
 contained the form of worship most acceptable to the 
 Deity. The Spaniards contended zealously for the lit- 
 urgy of their ancestors. The Pope urged the liturgy 
 having his own infallible sanction. The controversy 
 was submitted to Trial by Battle. Two knights in com- 
 plete armor entered the lists. The champion of the 
 Musarabic Liturgy was victorious. But there was an 
 appeal to the ordeal of fire. A copy of each liturgy 
 was cast into the flames. The ]\Iusarabic Liturgy re- 
 mained unhurt, while the other vanished into ashes. 
 And yet this judgment, first by battle and then by 
 fire, was eluded or overthrown, showing how, as with 
 War, the final conclusion is uncertain, and testifying 
 against any a])peal, excejit to human reason.^ 
 
 1 Widukindii, Res Gestas Saxonicae, Lib. II. c. 10 : Moniimeiita Germania; 
 Historica, eil. Pert/,, Scriptonim Tom. III. p. 440. 
 * Robertson, History of Charles V., Vol. I. Note 22. — The Duel has a liter-
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 159 
 
 An early king of the Lombards, in a formal decree, 
 condemned the Trial by Battle as " impious " ^ ; Montes- 
 quieu, at a later time, branded it as " monstrous " ^ ; 
 and Sir William Blackstone characterized it as " clearly 
 an unchristian, as well as most uncertain, method of 
 trial." ^ In the light of our day all unite in this con- 
 demnation. No man hesitates. No man undertakes 
 its apology ; nor does any man count as " glory " the 
 feats of arms which it prompted and displayed. But 
 the laws of morals are general, and not special. They 
 apply to communities and to nations, as well as to 
 individuals ; nor is it possible, by any cunning of logic, 
 or any device of human wit, to distinguish between 
 that domestic institution, the Trial by Battle, estab- 
 lished by Municipal Law as arbiter between individ- 
 uals, and that international institution, the grander 
 Trial by Battle, established by the Christian Common- 
 wealth as arbiter between nations. If the judicial com- 
 bat was impious, monstrous, and unchristian, then is 
 War impious, monstrous, and unchristian. 
 
 It has been pointedly said in England, that the whole 
 object of king, lords, and commons, and of the com- 
 plex British Constitution, is "to get twelve men into 
 
 ature of its own, which is not neglected by Biiinet in his Manuel du Libraire, 
 where, under the head of Les Combats SinguUers, Tom. VI. col. 1636 - 1638, 
 Table Mtkodique, 28717 -2S7A9, -wm be found titles in various languages, 
 from which I select the following: Joan, de Lignano, Tractatus de Bello, 
 de Eepressaliis, et de Duello, Papise, 1487; Tractatus de Duello, en Lat. y 
 en Castellano, por D. Castillo, Taurini, 1525 ; Alciat, De Singulari Certamine, 
 Lugd., 1543. In the development of civilization how can the literature of 
 War expect more honor than that of the Duel V 
 
 1 Liutprandi Leges, Lib. VI. cap. 65 : Muratori, Renim Italic. Script., 
 Tom. I. Pars 2, p. 74. 
 
 2 Esprit des Lois, Liv. XXVIII. ch. 23. 
 
 3 Commentaries, Book IV. ch. 33, Vol. IV. p. 418.
 
 160 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 a jury-box " ; and Mr. Hume repeats the idea, when 
 he declares that the administration of justice is the 
 grand aim of government. If this be true of individual 
 nations in municipal affairs, it is equally true of the 
 Commonwealth of Nations. The whole complex sys- 
 tem of the Law of Nations, overarching all the Chris- 
 tian nations, has but one distinct object, — the admin- 
 istration of justice between nations. Would that with 
 tongue or pen I could adequately expose the enormity 
 of this system, involving, as it does, the precepts of re- 
 ligion, the dictates of common sense, the sugge^ions of 
 economy, and the most precious sympathies of human- 
 ity ! Would that now I could impart to all wlio hear 
 me something of my own conviction ! 
 
 I need not dwell on the waste and cruelty thus au- 
 thorized. Travelling the page of history, these stare us 
 wildly in the face at every turn. We see the desolation 
 and death keeping step with the bloody track ; we look 
 upon sacked towns, ravaged territories, violated homes ; 
 we behold all the sweet charities of life changed to 
 wormwood and gall. The soul is penetrated by the 
 sharp moan of mothers, sisters, and daughters, of 
 fathers, brothers, and sons, who, in the bitterness of 
 bereavement, refuse to be comforted. The eye rests at 
 last upon one of those fair fields, where Nature, in her 
 abundance, spreads her cloth of gold, spacious and apt 
 for the entertainment of mighty multitudes, — or, per- 
 haps, from curious subtilty of position, like the carpet 
 in Arabian tale, contracting for the accommodation of a 
 few only, or dilating for an innumerable host. Here, 
 under a bright sun, such as slione at Austerlitz or Buena 
 Vista, amidst the peaceful harmonies of Nature, on the 
 Sabbath of Peace, are bands of brotliers, children of
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 161 
 
 a common Father, heirs to a common happiness, strug- 
 gling together in deadly fight, — with madness of fallen 
 spirits, murderously" seeking the lives of brothers who 
 never injured them or their kindred. The havoc rages ; 
 the gi'ound is soaked with commingling blood; the 
 air is rent by commingling cries ; horse and rider are 
 stretched together on the earth. More revolting than 
 mangled victims, gashed limbs, lifeless trunks, spatter- 
 ing brains, are the lawless passions which sweep, tem- 
 pest-like, through the fiendish tunmlt. 
 
 " ' Nearer comes the storm and nearer, rolling fast and frightful on. 
 Speak, Ximeiia, speak, and tell us, who has lost and who has won? ' 
 'Alas! alas! I know not, sister; friend and foe together fall; 
 O'er the dying rush the living; pray, my sister, for them all! ' " 
 
 Horror-struck, we ask, wherefore this hateful contest ? 
 The melancholy, but truthful, answer comes, that this 
 is the established method of determining justice between 
 nations ! 
 
 The scene changes. Far away on some distant path- 
 way of the ocean, two ships approach each other, with 
 white canvas broadly spread to receive the flying gale. 
 Tliey are proudly built. All of human art has been 
 lavished in their graceful proportions and compacted 
 sides, while in dimensions tliey look like floating happy 
 islands of the sea. A numerous crew, with costly appli- 
 ances of comfort, hives in their secure shelter. Surely 
 these two travellers must meet in joy and friendship ; 
 the flag at mast-head will give the signal of fellowship ; 
 the delighted sailors will cluster in rigging and on yard- 
 arms to look each other in the face, while exhilarating 
 voices mingle in accents of gladness uncontrollable. 
 Alas ! alas 1 it is not so. Xot as brotliers, not as friends, 
 not as wayfarers of the common ocean, do they come to-
 
 162 ^VAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 gether, but as enemies. The closing vessels now bristle 
 fiercely with death-dealing implements. On their spa- 
 cious decks, aloft on all their masts, flashes the deadly 
 musketry. From their sides spout cataracts of flame, 
 amidst the pealing thunders of a fatal artillery. They 
 who had escaped " the dreadful touch of merchant-mar- 
 ring rocks," who on their long and solitary way liad 
 sped unharmed by wind or wave, whom the hurricane 
 had spared, in whose favor storms and seas had inter- 
 mitted their immitigable war, now at last fall by the 
 hand of each other. From both ships the same specta- 
 cle of horror greets us. On decks reddened with blood, 
 the murders of the Sicilian Vespers and of St. Bartholo- 
 mew, with the fires of Smith field, break forth anew, and 
 concentrate their rage. Each is a swimming Golgotlia. 
 At length these vessels — such pageants of the sea, such 
 marvels of art, once so stately, but now rudely shattered 
 by cannon-ball, with shi^'ered masts and ragged sails — 
 exist only as unmanageable wrecks, weltering on the 
 uncertain wave, whose transient lull of peace is their 
 sole safety. In amazement at this strange, unnatural 
 contest, away from country and home, where there is 
 no country or home to defend, we ask again, Where- 
 fore this dismal scene ? Again the melancholy, but 
 truthful, answer promptly comes, that this is the ed(xh~ 
 lished method of determining justice between nations. 
 
 Yes ! the barbarous, brutal relations which once pre- 
 vailed between individuals, which prevailed still longer 
 l)etween communities composing nations, are not yet 
 banished from the great Christian Commonwealth. Re- 
 ligion, reason, humanity, first penetrate the individual, 
 next larger bodies, and, widening in influence, slowly 
 leaven nations. Thus, while condenniing the bloody
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 163 
 
 contests of individuals, also of towns, counties, princi- 
 palities, provinces, and denying to all these the right of 
 waging war, or of appeal to Trial h>/ Battle, we continue 
 to uphold an atrocious System of folly and crime, which 
 is to nations what the System of Petty Wars was to 
 towns, counties, principalities, provinces, also what the 
 Duel was to individuals : for War is the Duel of Na- 
 tions} As from Pluto's throne flowed those terrible 
 rivers, Styx, Acheron, Cocytus, and Phlegethon, with 
 lamenting waters and currents of flame, so from this 
 established System flow the direful tides of War. " Give 
 them Hell," w^as the language written on a slate by 
 an American officer, speechless from approaching death. 
 " Ours is a damnable profession," was the confession of 
 a veteran British general. "War is the trade of bar- 
 barians," exclaimed Napoleon, in a moment of truthful 
 remorse, prompted by his bloodiest field. Alas ! these 
 words are not too strong. The business of War cannot 
 be other than the trade of barbarians, cannot be other 
 than a damnable profession ; and War itself is certainly 
 Hell on earth. But forget not, bear always in mind, 
 and let the idea sink deep into your souls, animating 
 you to constant endeavor, that this trade of barbarians, 
 this damnable profession, is part of the War System, 
 sanctioned by International Law, — and that War itself 
 is Hell, recognized, legalized, established, organized, by 
 
 1 Plautus speaks in the Epidicus (Act III. Sc. iv. 14, 15) of one who 
 obtained great riches by the Duelling Art, meaning the Art of War: — 
 " Arte duellicn 
 Divitias magnas indeptiim." 
 And Horace, in his Odes (Lib. IV. Carm. xv. 4-9), hails the age of Augus- 
 tus, as at peace, or free from Duels, and with the Temple of Janus closed: — 
 " Tua, Csesar, setas 
 
 vacuum duellis 
 
 Janum Quirini clausit."
 
 164 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 the Commonwealth of Nations, for the determination of 
 international questions ! 
 
 " Put together," says Voltaire, " all the vices of all 
 ages and places, and they will not come up to the mis- 
 chiefs of one campaign." 1 This strong speech is sup- 
 ported by the story of ancient mythology, that Juno 
 confided the infant Mars to Priapus. Another of near- 
 er truth might be made. Put together all the ills and 
 calamities from the visitations of God, whether in con- 
 vulsions of Nature, or in pestilence and famine, and 
 they will not equal the ills and calamities inflicted by 
 man upon his brother-man, through the visitation of 
 War, — while, alas ! the sufferings of War are too often 
 without the alleviation of those gentle virtues which ever 
 attend the involuntary misfortunes of the race. Where 
 the horse of Attila had been a blade of grass would not 
 grow ; but in the footprints of pestilence, famine, and 
 earthquake the kindly charities spring into life. 
 
 The last hundred years have witnessed three peculiar 
 visitations of God : first, the earthquake at Lisbon ; 
 next, the Asiatic cholera, as it moved slow and ghastly, 
 with scythe of death, from the Delta of the Ganges 
 over Bengal, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Eussia, till Europe 
 and America shuddered before the spectral reaper ; and, 
 lastly, the recent famine in Ireland, consuming with 
 remorseless rage the population of that ill-starred land. 
 It is impossible to estimate precisely the deadly work 
 of cholera or famine, nor can we picture the miseries 
 which they entailed ; but the single brief event of the 
 earthquake may be portrayed in authentic colors. 
 
 Lisbon, whose ancient origin is referred by fable to 
 
 1 Dlctionnaire Pliilosopliiquc, Art. Guerre.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 165 
 
 the wanderings of Ulysses, was one of the fairest cities 
 of Europe. From the summit of seven hills it looked 
 down upon the sea, and the bay bordered with cheerful 
 villages, — upon the broad Tagus, expanding into a harbor 
 ample for all the navies of Europe, — and upon a coun- 
 try of rare beauty, smiling with the olive and the or- 
 ange, amidst grateful shadows of the cypress and the 
 elm. A climate offering flowers in winter enhanced the 
 pecuhar advantages of position ; and a numerous popula- 
 tion thronged its narrow and irregular streets. Its forty 
 churches, its palaces, its public edifices, its warehouses, 
 its convents, its fortresses, its citadel, had become a 
 boast. Kot by War, not by the hand of man, were 
 these solid structures levelled, and all these delights 
 changed to desolation. 
 
 Lisbon, on the morning of November 1, 1755, was 
 taken and sacked by an earthquake. The spacious 
 warehouses were destroyed ; the lordly palaces, the mass- 
 ive convents, the impregnable fortresses, with the lofty 
 citadel, were toppled to the gTound ; and as the af- 
 frighted people sought shelter in the churches, they 
 were crushed beneath the faUing masses. Twenty thou- 
 sand persons perished. Fire and robbery mingled with 
 earthquake, and the beautiful city seemed to be oblit- 
 erated. The nations of Europe were touched by this 
 terrible catastrophe, and succor from all sides was soon 
 offered. Within three months, English vessels appeared 
 in the Tagus, loaded with generous contributions, — 
 twenty thousand pounds in gold, a similar sum in silver, 
 six thousand barrels of salted meat, four thousand barrels 
 of butter, one thousand bags of biscuit, twelve hundred 
 barrels of rice, ten thousand quintals of corn, besides 
 hats, stockings, and shoes.
 
 166 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 Such was the desolation, and sucli the charity, sown 
 Ly the earthquake at Lisbon, — an event which, after 
 the lapse of nearly a century, still stands without a 
 parallel. But War shakes from its terrible folds all 
 this desolation, without its attendant charity. Nay, 
 more ; the Commonwealth of Nations voluntarily 
 agrees, each with the others, under the grave sanctions 
 of International Law, to invoke this desolation, in 
 the settlement of controversies among its members, 
 while it expressly declares that all nations, not al- 
 ready parties to the controversy, must abstain from 
 any succor to the unhappy victim. High tribunals 
 are established expressly to uphold this arbitrament, 
 and, with unrelenting severity, to enforce its ancillary 
 injunctions, to the end that no aid, no charity, shall 
 come to revive the sufferer or alleviate the calamity. 
 Vera Cruz has been bombarded and wasted by Amer- 
 ican arms. Its citadel, churches, houses, were shat- 
 tered, and peaceful families at the fireside torn in 
 mutilated fragments by the murderous bursting shell; 
 but the English, the universal charities, wliich helped to 
 restore Lisbon, were not offered to the ruined Mexican 
 city. They could not have been offered, without offend- 
 ing against the Laws of War ! 
 
 It is because men see War, in the darkness of preju- 
 dice, only as an agency of attack or defence, or as a 
 desperate sally of wickedness, that they fail to recog- 
 nize it as a form of judgment, sanctioned and legal- 
 ized by Public Authority. Iicgarding it in its true 
 character, as an establishment of the Commonwealth of 
 Nations, and one of the " liberties " accorded to inde- 
 pendent nations, it is no longer the expression merely
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 167 
 
 of lawless or hasty passion, no longer the necessary 
 incident of imperfect human nature, no longer an un- 
 avoidable, uncontrollable volcanic eruption of rage, of 
 vengeances and counter-vengeances, knowing no bound ; 
 but it becomes a gigantic and monstrous Institution 
 for the adjudication of international rights, — as if an 
 earthquake, or other visitation of God, with its un- 
 counted woes, and without its attendant charities^ were 
 legally invoked as Arbiter of Justice. 
 
 Surely all must unite in condemning the Arbitrament 
 of War. The simplest may read and comprehend its 
 enormity. Can we yet hesitate ? But if War be thus 
 odious, if it be the Duel of Nations, if it be the old 
 surviving Trial by Battle, then must its unquestiona- 
 ble barbarism affect all its incidents, all its machinery, 
 all its enginery, together with all who sanction it, and 
 aU who have any part or lot in it, — in fine, the whole 
 vast System. It is impossible, by any discrimination, 
 to separate the component parts. We must regard it 
 as a whole, in its entirety. But half our work is done, 
 if we confine ourselves to a condemnation of the Insti- 
 tution merely. There are all its instruments and agen- 
 cies, all its adjuncts and accessaries, all its furniture and 
 equipage, all its armaments and operations, the whole 
 apparatus of forts, navies, armies, military display, mili- 
 tary chaplains, and military sermons, — all together con- 
 stituting, in connection with the Institution of War, 
 what may be called the War Syste:\l This System 
 we would abohsh, believing that religion, humanity, 
 and policy require the establishment of some peaceful 
 means for the administration of international justice, 
 and also the general disarming of the Christian nations, 
 to the end that the prodigious expenditures now ab-
 
 168 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 sorbed by the War System may be applied to purposes 
 of usefukiess and beneficence, and that the business of 
 the soldier may cease forever. 
 
 While earnestly professing this object, I desire again 
 to exclude all question of self-defence, and to affirm the 
 duty of upholding government, and maintaining the su- 
 premacy of the law, whether on land or sea. Admit- 
 ting the necessity of Force for such purpose, Christianity 
 revolts at Force as the substitute for a judicial tribunal. 
 The example of the Great Teacher, the practice of 
 the early disciples, the injunctions of self-denial, love, 
 non-resistance to evil, — sometimes supposed to forbid 
 Force in any exigency, even of self-defence, — all these 
 must apply with unquestionable certainty to the estab- 
 lished System of War. Here, at least, there can be no 
 doubt. If the sword, in the hand of an assaulted indi- 
 vidual, may become the instrument of sincere self-de- 
 fence, if, under the sanction of a judicial tribunal, it 
 may become the instrument of Justice also, surely it 
 can never be the Arbiter of Justice. Here is a distinc- 
 tion vital to the cause of Peace, and never to be forgot- 
 ten in presenting its claims. The cautious sword of 
 the magistrate is unlike — oh, how unlike ! — the ruth- 
 less sword of War. 
 
 The component parts of the War System may all be 
 resolved into Pkeparations for War, — as court-house, 
 jail, judges, slieriffs, constables, and posse comitatns are 
 preparations for the administration of municipal justice. 
 If justice were not to be administered, these would not 
 exist. If War were not sanctioned by the Common- 
 wealth of Nations, as the means of determining inter- 
 national controversies, then forts, navies, armies, military
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 169 
 
 display^, military chaplains, and military sermons would 
 not exist. They would be useless and irrational, ex- 
 cept for the rare occasions of a police, — as similar prep- 
 arations would now be in Boston, for defence against 
 our learned neiglibor, Cambridge, — or in the County of 
 Essex, for defence against its populous neighbor, the 
 County of Middlesex, — or in the State of Massachusetts, 
 for defence against its conterminous States, Ehode Isl- 
 and and iSTew York. Only recently have men learned 
 to question these preparations ; for it is only recently 
 that they have opened their eyes to the true character 
 of the system, in which they are a part. It loill yet he 
 seen, that, sustaining these, toe sustain the system. Still 
 further, it will yet be seen, that, sustaining these, we 
 wastefully offend against economy, and violate also the 
 most precious sentiments of Human Brotherhood, — 
 taking counsel of distrust, instead of love, and provok- 
 ing to rivalry and enmity, instead of association and 
 peace. 
 
 Time does not allow me to discuss the nature of these 
 preparations; and I am the more willing to abridge 
 what I am tempted to say, because, on another occa- 
 sion, I have treated this part of the subject. But I 
 cannot forbear to expose their inconsistency with the 
 spirit of Christianity. From a general comprehension 
 of the War System, we perceive the unchristian charac- 
 ter of the preparations it encourages and requires, nay, 
 which are the synonyms of the system, or at least its 
 representatives. I might exhibit this character by an 
 examination of the Laws of War, drawn from no ce- 
 lestial fount, but from a dark profound of Heathenism. 
 This is imnecessary. The Constitution of our own 
 country furnishes an illustration remarkable as a touch-
 
 170 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 stone of the whole system. No to^vn, county, or state 
 has the "liberty" to "declare War." The exercise of any 
 proper seK-defence, arising from actual necessity, re- 
 quires no such " liberty." Congress is expressly author- 
 ized to " declare War," — that is, to invoke the Arbitra- 
 ment of Arms. And the Constitution proceeds to state, 
 that all " giving aid and comfort " to the enemy shall be 
 deemed traitors. Mark now what is said by a higher 
 authority. " Love your enemies " ; " If thine enemy 
 hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink." Under 
 the War System, obedience to these positive injunctions 
 may expose a person to the penalty of the highest crime 
 known to the law. Can this be a Christian system ? 
 But so long as War exists as an Institution this terrible 
 inconsistency must appear. 
 
 The character of these preparations is distinctly, 
 though unconsciously, attested by the names of vessels 
 in the British Navy. From the latest official list I select 
 an illustrative catalogue. Most are steam-ships of re- 
 cent construction. Therefore they represent the si)irit 
 of the British Navy in our day, — nay, of those War 
 Preparations in which they play so conspicuous a part. 
 Here are the champions : Acheron, Adder, Alecto, 
 Avenger, Basilisk, Bloodhound, Bulldog, Crocodile, 
 Erebus, Firebrand, Fury, Gladiator, Goliah, Gorgon, 
 Harpy, Hecate, Hound, Jackal, Mastiff, Pluto, Eattle- 
 snake. Revenge, Salamander, Savage, Scorpion, Scourge, 
 Serpent, Spider, Spiteful, Spitfire, Styx, Sulpluir, Tartar, 
 Tartarus, Teazer, Terriljle, Terror, Vengeance, Viper, 
 Vixen, Virago, Volcano, Vulture, Warspite, Wildfire, 
 Wolf, Wolverine ! 
 
 Such is the Christian array of Victoria, Defender of 
 the Faith ! It may roniind us of tlie companions of 
 
 I
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. IJl 
 
 King John, at another period of English history, — 
 " Falkes the Merciless," " Mauleon the Bloody," " Wal- 
 ter Buck, the Assassin," ^ — or of that Pagan swarm, 
 the savage warriors of our own continent, with the 
 names of Black -Hawk, Man-Killer, and Wild -Boar. 
 Well might they seem to be 
 
 " all the grisly legions that troop 
 Under the sooty flag of Acheron ! " 
 
 As a people is known by its laws, as a man is known 
 by the company he keeps, as a tree is known by its fruits, 
 so is the War System fully and unequivocally known by 
 the Lav/s of War, by its diabohcal ministers, typical of 
 its preparations, and by all the accursed fruits of War. 
 Controlled by such a code, employing such representa- 
 tives, sustained by stich agencies, animated by such Fu- 
 ries, and producing such fruits of tears and bitterness, 
 it must be open to question. Tell me not that it is sanc- 
 tioned by any religion except of Mars ; do not enroll the 
 Saviour and his disciples in its Satanic squadron ; do not 
 invoke the Gospel of Peace, in profane vindication of 
 an Institution, which, by its own too palpable confession, 
 exists in defiance of the most cherished Christian senti- 
 ments ; do not dishonor the Divine Spirit of gentleness, 
 forbearance, love, by supposing that it can ever enter 
 into this System, except to change its whole nature and 
 name, to cast out the devils which possess it, and fill its 
 gigantic energies with the inspiration of Beneficence. 
 
 I need say little of military cliaplains or military ser- 
 mons. Like the steamships of the Na^y, they come 
 under the head of Preparations. They are part of the 
 War System. They belong to the same school witli 
 priests of former times, who held the picture of the 
 
 1 ]\Iatthew Paris, Historia Major, p. 274.
 
 172 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 Prince of Peace before the barbarous champion of the 
 Duel, sapng, " Sir Knight, behold here the remembrance 
 of our Lord and Eedeemer, Jesus Christ, who willingly 
 gave his most precious body to death in order to save 
 us. Now ask of him mercy, and pray that on this day 
 he may be willing to aid you, if you have right, for he is 
 the sovereign judge." ^ They belong to the same school 
 with English prelates, who, in the name of the Prince of 
 Peace, consecrate banners to flaunt in remote war, say- 
 ing, " Be thou in the midst of our hosts, as thou wast 
 in the plains of India and in the field of Waterloo ; 
 and may these banners, which we bless and consecrate 
 this day, lead them ever on to glorious victory." No 
 judgment of such appeals can be more severe than that 
 of Plato, who called men " most impious," who by prayer 
 and sacrifice thought to propitiate the Gods towards 
 slaughter and outrages upon justice, — thus, says the 
 heathen philosopher, making those pure beings the ac- 
 complices of their crimes by sharing with them the 
 spoil, as the wolves leave something to the dogs, that 
 these may allow them to ravage the sheepfold.^ Con- 
 senting to degrade the " blessedness " of the Gospel to tlie 
 " impiety " of the War System, our clergy follow long 
 established custom, without considering the true charac- 
 ter of the system whose ministers they become. Their 
 apology will be, that " they know not what they do." 
 
 Again I repeat, so long as the War System prevails 
 under the sanction of International Law, these painful 
 incongruities will be apparent. They belong to a system 
 so essentially irrational, that all the admitted virtues of 
 many of its agents cannot save it from judgment. 
 
 * Cauchy, Du Duel, Liv. I. Seconde f^poqiie, Ch. III. Tom. I. p. 74. 
 2 Plato, Laws, Book X. ch. 13, 14.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 173 
 
 Here the question occurs, Is the Militia obnoxious to 
 the same condemnation ? So far as the militia consti- 
 tutes part of the War System, it is impossible to dis- 
 tinguish it from the rest of the system. It is a portion 
 of the extensive apparatus provided for the determi- 
 nation of international disputes. From tliis character it 
 borrows the unwholesome attractions of War, while dis- 
 porting itself, like the North American Indian, in finery 
 and parade. Of the latter feature I shall speak only 
 incidentally. If War be a Christian institution, those 
 who act as its agents should shroud themselves in colors 
 congenial with their dreadful trade. With sorrow and 
 solemnity, not with gladness and pomp, they should 
 proceed to their melancholy office. The Jew Shylock 
 exposes the mockery of street-shows in Venice with 
 a sarcasm not without echo here : — 
 
 " When you hear the drum, 
 And the vDe squeaking of the wry-necked fife, 
 Clamber not you up to the casements then. 
 Nor thrust your head into the pubhc street, 
 To gaze on Christian fools with varnished faces; 
 But stop my house's ears, — I mean my casements: 
 Let not the sound of shallow foppery enter 
 Mj' sober house." 
 
 Not as part of the War System, but only as an 
 agent for preserving domestic peace, and for sustaining 
 the law, is the militia entitled to support. And here 
 arises the important practical question, — interesting 
 to opponents of the War System as to lovers of order, 
 — whether the same good object may not be accom- 
 plished by an agent less expensive, less cumbersome, 
 and less tardy, forming no part of the War System, and 
 therefore in no respect liable to the doubts encountered 
 by the militia. Supj)orters of the militia do not dis-
 
 174 , WAK SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 guise its growing unpopularity. The eminent Military 
 Commissioners of Massachusetts, to whom in 1847 was 
 referred the duty of arranging a system for its organiza- 
 tion and discipline, confess that there is " either a de- 
 fect of power in the State government to an efficient 
 and salutary militia organization, or the absence of a 
 public sentiment in its favor, and a consequent unwill- 
 ingness to submit to the requirements of service which 
 alone can sustain it " ; and they add, that they " have 
 been met, in the performance of their task, with in- 
 formation, from all quarters, of its general neglect, and 
 of the certain and rapid declension of the militia in 
 numbers and efficiency." ^ And the Adjutant-General 
 of Massachusetts, after alluding to the different systems 
 which have fallen into disuse, remarks, that " the fate 
 of each system is indicative of public sentiment ; and 
 until public sentiment changes, no military system what- 
 ever can be sustained in the State." ^ Nor is this condition 
 of public sentiment for the first time noticed. It was 
 remarked by the Commissioners charged by the Legis- 
 lature with this subject as long ago as 1839. In their 
 Report they say, " It is enough to know that all attempts, 
 hitherto, to uphold the system, in its original design of 
 organization, discipline, and subordination, arc at last 
 hrovgld to an unsuccessful issue." ^ 
 
 None familiar with public opinion in our country, and 
 particularly in Massachusetts, will question the accuracy 
 of these official statements. It is true that there is an 
 indisposition to assume the burdens of tlie militia. Its 
 offices and dignities ha^'e ceased to be an olsject of gen- 
 eral regard. This, certainly, must be founded in the con- 
 
 1 Mass. Senate Documents, 1848: Doc. No. 13, pp. 4, 5. 
 
 2 Ibid., Doc. No. 15, p. 23. 
 
 8 Mass. House Documents. 1839: Doc. No. 6, p 14.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 175 
 
 viction that it is no longer necessary or useful ; for it is 
 not customary with the people of Massachusetts to de- 
 cline occasions of service necessary or useful to the com- 
 munity. The interest in military celebrations has de- 
 cayed. Nor should it be concealed that there are large 
 numbers whose honest sentiments are not of mere indif- 
 ference, who regard w^ith a\'ersion the fanfaronade of a 
 militia muster, who not a little question the influence 
 upon those taking part in it or even witnessing it, and 
 look with regret upon the expenditure of money and 
 time. 
 
 If such be the condition of the public mind, the Gov- 
 ernment must recognize it. The soul of all effective laws 
 is an animating public sentiment. Tliis gives vitali- 
 ty to what else would be a dead letter. In vain enact 
 what is not inspired by this spirit. No skill in the de- 
 vice of the system, no penalties, no bounties even, can 
 uphold it. Happily, we are not without remedy. If 
 State Legislatures are disposed to provide a substitute 
 for this questionable or offensive agency, as conservator 
 of domestic quiet, it is entirely within their competency. 
 Let the general voice demand the substitute. 
 
 Among powers reserved to States, under the National 
 Constitution, is that of Internal Police. Within its ter- 
 ritorial limits, a State has municipal power to be exer- 
 cised according to its own will. In the exercise of this 
 will, it may establish a system, congenial with the senti- 
 ment of the age, to supply the place of the militia, as 
 guardian of municipal quiet and instrument of the law. 
 This system may consist of unpaid volunteers, or special 
 constables, like fire companies in the country, or of hired 
 men, enrolled for this particular purpose, and always 
 within call, like fire companies in Boston. They need
 
 176 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 not be clad in showy costume, or subjected to all the 
 peculiarities of military drill. A system so simple, prac- 
 tical, ethcient, unostentatious, and cheap, especially as 
 compared with the militia, would be in harmony with 
 existing sentiment, while it could not fail to remedy 
 the evils sometimes feared from present neglect of the 
 militia. Many attempts have been made to reform the 
 militia. It remains, that a jproipcr effort should he made 
 to jfrovide a substitute for it. 
 
 An eminent English jurist of the last century, — re- 
 nowned as scholar also, — Sir William Jones, — in a 
 learned and ingenious tract, entitled "An Inquiry into 
 the Legal Mode of Suppressing Eiots, with a Constitu- 
 tional Plan of Future Defence," after developing the ob- 
 ligations of the citizen, under the Common Law, as part 
 of the Power of the County, presents a system of organi- 
 zation independent of the military. It is not probable 
 that this system would be acceptable in all its details 
 to the people of our community, but there is one of his 
 recommendations which seems to harmonize with exist- 
 ing sentiment. " Let companies," he says, " be taught, in 
 the most private and orderly manner, for two or three 
 hours early every morning, until they are competently 
 skilled in the use of their arms ; let them, not unneces- 
 sarily march through streets or high-roads, nor make any 
 the least military 'parade, hut consider themselves entirely 
 as part of the civil state." ^ Thus is the soldier kept out 
 of sight, while the citizen becomes manifest ; and this 
 is the true idea of republican government. In the 
 midst of arms the laws are silent. Not "arms," but 
 "laws," should command our homage and quicken the 
 patriotism of the land. 
 
 1 Works, Vol. VIII. p. 494.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. I77 
 
 Wliile divorcing the Police from the unchristian and 
 barbarous War System, I confess the vital importance 
 of maintaining law and order. Life and property should 
 be guarded. Peace must be preserved in our streets. 
 And it is the duty of Government to provide such 
 means as are most expedient, if those established are 
 in any respect inadequate, or uncongenial with the 
 Spirit of the Age. 
 
 I must not close this exposition without an attempt 
 to display the inordinate expenditure by which the War 
 System is maintained. ' And here figures appear to lose 
 their functions. They seem to pant, as they toil vainly 
 to represent the enormous sums consumed in this un- 
 paralleled waste. Our own experience, measured by the 
 concerns of common life, does not allow us adequately 
 to conceive the sums. Like the periods of geological 
 time, or the distances of the fixed stars, they baffle im- 
 agination. Look, for an instant, at the cost to us of this 
 system. Without any allowance for the loss sustained 
 by the withdrawal of active men from productive indus- 
 try, we find, that, from the adoption of the National Con- 
 stitution down to 1848, there has been paid directly from 
 the National Treasury, — 
 
 For the Army and Fortifications, $475,936,475 
 For the Navy and its operations, 209,994,428 
 
 $685,930,9031 
 
 This immense amount is not all. Eegarding the mili- 
 tia as part of the War System, we must add a moderate 
 estimate for its cost during this period, being, according 
 
 ^ American Almanac, 1849, p. 162. United States Executive Documents: 
 28th Cong. 1st Sess., No. 15, pp. 1018-19; 35th Cong. 1st Sess., No. 60. 
 pp. 6. 7.
 
 178 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 to the calculations of an able and accurate economist, as 
 much as $ 1,500,000,000.^ The whole presents an incon- 
 ceivable sum-total of more than two thousand nfiillions 
 of dollars already dedicated by our Government to the 
 support of the War System, — nearly twelve times as 
 much as was set apart, during the same period, to all 
 other purposes whatsoever ! 
 
 Look now at the Commonwealth of Europe. I do not 
 intend to speak of War Debts, under whose accumulated 
 weight these nations ai^e now pressed to earth, being the 
 terrible legacy of the Past. I refer directly to the ex- 
 isting War System, the establishment of the Present. 
 According to recent calculations, its annual cost is not 
 less than a thousand millions of dollars. Endeavor, for 
 a moment, by comparison with other interests, to grap- 
 ple with this sum. 
 
 It is larger than the entire profit of all tlie commerce 
 and manufactures of the world. 
 
 It is larger than all the expenditure for agricultural 
 labor, producing the food of man, upon the whole face 
 of the globe. 
 
 It is larger, by a hundred millions, than the value 
 of all the exports sent forth by all the nations of tlie 
 earth. 
 
 It is larger, by more than five hundred millions, than 
 the value of all the shipping belonging to the civilized 
 world. 
 
 It is larger, by nine hundred and ninety-seven mil- 
 lions, than the annual combined charities of Europe and 
 America for preaching the Gospel to tlie Heathen. 
 
 Yes ! the Commonwealth of Christian Nations, in- 
 
 1 Jay's War and Peace, p. 13, note; and " True Grandeur of Nations," 
 ante, p. 79.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 179 
 
 eluding our own country, appropriates, without hesi- 
 tation, as a matter of course, upwards of a thousand 
 millions of dollars annually to the maintenance of the 
 War System, and vaunts its three millions of dollars, 
 laboriously collected, for diffusing the light of tlie 
 Gospel in foreign lands ! With untold prodigality of 
 cost, it perpetuates the worst Heathenism of War, 
 while, by charities insignificant in comparison, it doles 
 to the Heathen a message of Peace. At home it breeds 
 and fattens a cloud of eagles and vultures, trained to 
 swoop upon the land ; to all tlie Gentiles across the 
 sea it dismisses a solitary dove. 
 
 Still further : every ship-of-war that floats costs more 
 than a well-endowed college. 
 
 Every sloop-of-war that floats costs more than the 
 largest public library in our country. 
 
 It is sometimes said, by persons yet in leading-strings 
 of inherited prejudice, and with little appreciation of the 
 true safety afforded by the principles of Peace, that all 
 these comprehensive preparations are needed for pro- 
 tection against enemies from abroad. Wishing to pre- 
 sent the cause without any superfluous question on 
 what are called, apologetically, " defensive wars," let me 
 say, in reply, — and here all can unite, — that, if these 
 preparations are needed at any time, according to the 
 aggressive martial interpretation of self-defence in its 
 exigencies, there is much reason to believe it is be- 
 cause the unchristian spirit in which they have their 
 birth, lowering and scowling in the very names of the 
 ships, provokes the danger, — as the presence of a bravo 
 might challenge the attack he was hired to resist. 
 
 Frederick of Prussia, sometimes called the Great, in
 
 180 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 a singular spirit of mingled openness and effrontery, de- 
 liberately left on record, most instructively prominent 
 among the real reasons for liis war upon Maria There- 
 sa, that he had troojjs always ready to aet. Thus did 
 these Pre2xirations unhappily become, as they too often 
 show themselves, incentives to War. Lord Brougham 
 justly dwells on this confession as a lesson of history. 
 Human nature, as manifest in the conduct of individ- 
 uals or communities, has its lesson also. The fatal 
 War Spirit is born of these preparations, out of which 
 it springs full-armed. Here also is its great aliment; 
 here are the seeds of the very evil it is sometimes 
 vainly supposed to avert. Let it never be forgotten, 
 let it be treasured as a solemn warning, that, by the 
 confession of Frederick himself, it was the possession 
 of troops always ready to act that helped to inspire that 
 succession of bloody wars, which, first pouncing upon 
 Silesia, mingled at last with the strifes of England and 
 France, even in distant colonies across the Atlantic, 
 ranging the savages of the forest under hostile Euro- 
 pean banners.-' 
 
 But I deny that these preparations are needed for j ust 
 self-defence. It is difficult, if not impossible, to sup- 
 pose any such occasion in the Fraternity of Christian 
 Nations, if War ceases to he an established Arbitrament, 
 
 ^ " Que Ton joigne a ces considdrations des troupes lovjours preies d'agir, 
 mon dpargne bien remplie, et la vivacity de mon caractere: c'dtaient les 
 raisoiis que J'avais de faire la guerre a 5Iarie-Thdr6sc, reine de Boheme 
 et d'Hongrie." These are the very words of Frederick, deliberately writ- 
 ten in his own account of the war. Voltaire, on revising the work, dishon- 
 e.stly struck out this important confession, but preserved a copy, which 
 afterwards appeared in his own ^Memoirs. Lord Brougham, in his sketch of 
 Voltaire, says that " the passage thus erased and thus presen'cd is extremely 
 curious, and for honesty or impudence has no parallel in the history of 
 warriors." — Brougham, Lives of Men of Letters, Voltaii-e, p. 59.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 181 
 
 or if any state is so truly great as to decline its umpir- 
 age. There is no such occasion among the towns, coun- 
 ties, or states of our extended country ; nor is there any 
 such occasion among the counties of Great Britain, or 
 among the provinces of France; but the same good- 
 will, the same fellowship, and the same ties of commerce, 
 which unite towns, counties, states, and provinces, are 
 fast drawing the whole Commonwealth of Nations in- 
 to similar communion. France and England, so long 
 regarded as natural enemies, are now better known to 
 each other than only a short time ago were different 
 provinces of the former kingdom. And there is now 
 a closer intimacy in business and social intercourse be- 
 tween Great Britain and our OAvn country than there 
 was at the beginning of the century between Massa- 
 chusetts and Virginia. 
 
 Admitting that an enemy might approach our shores 
 for piracy or plunder or conquest, who can doubt that 
 the surest protection would be found, not in the 
 waste of long-accumulating preparation, not in idle 
 fortresses along the coast, built at a cost far surpassing 
 all our lighthouses and all our colleges, but in the intel- 
 ligence, union, and pacific repose of good men, with the 
 unbounded resources derived from uninterrupted devo- 
 tion to productive industry ? I think it may be assumed 
 as beyond question, according to the testimony of polit- 
 ical economy, that the people who spend most sparingly 
 in Preparations for War, all otlier things being equal, must 
 possess the most enduring means of actual self-defence 
 at home, on their own soil, before their own hearths, 
 if any such melancholy alternative should occur. Con- 
 sider the prodigious sums, exceeding in all two thousand
 
 182 WAK SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 millions of dollars, squandered by the United States, 
 since the adoption of the National Constitution, for the 
 sake of the War System. Had such means been de- 
 voted to railroads and canals, schools and colleges, the 
 country would possess, at the present moment, an accu- 
 mulated material power grander far than any it now 
 boasts. There is another power, of more unfailing tem- 
 per, which would not be wanting. Overflowing with 
 intelligence, with charity, with civilization, with all that 
 constitutes a generous state, ours would be jjeaceful tri- 
 umphs, transcending all yet achieved, and surrounding 
 the land with an invincible self-defensive might, while 
 the unfading brightness of a new era made the glory 
 of War impossible. Well does the poet say with per- 
 suasive truth, — 
 
 " What constitutes a State? 
 Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, 
 
 Thick wall or moated gate ; 
 Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned; 
 
 Not bays and broad-armed ports. 
 Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride: 
 
 No: Men, high-minded Men." i 
 
 Such men will possess a Christian greatness, rendering 
 them unable to do an injury; while their character, in- 
 stinct with all the guardian virtues, must render their 
 neighbors unable to do an injury to them. 
 
 The injunction, " In time of Peace prepare for War," 
 is of Heathen origin.^ As a rule of international con- 
 duct, it is very questionable in a Christian age, being 
 vindicated on two grounds only : first, by assuming 
 that the Arbitrament of War is the proper tribunal for 
 international controversies, and therefore the War Sys- 
 
 1 Sir William Jones, Oile in Imitation of AIcwus- Works, Vol. X. p. 389. 
 
 2 True Grandeur of Nations, ante, pp. 97, seqq.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 183 
 
 tern is to be maintained and strengthened, as the es- 
 sential means of international justice ; or, secondly, by 
 assuming the rejected dogma of an Atheist philoso- 
 pher, Hobbes, that War is the natural state of man. 
 Wliatever may be the infirmities of our passions, it is 
 plain that the natural state of man, assuring the high- 
 est happiness, and to which he tends by an irresistible 
 heavenly attraction, is Peace. This is true of commu- 
 nities and nations, as of individuals. The proper rule 
 is. In time of Peace cultivate the arts of Peace. So 
 doing, you will render the country truly strong and tru- 
 ly great : not by arousing the passions of War, not by 
 nursing men to the business of blood, not by convert- 
 ing the land into a flaming arsenal, a magazine of gun- 
 powder, or an " infernal machine," just ready to explode, 
 but by dedicating its whole energies to productive and 
 beneficent works. 
 
 The incongruity of this system may be illustrated by 
 an example. Look into the life of that illustrious phi- 
 losopher, John Locke, and you will find, that, in the 
 journal of his tour through Prance, describing the arches 
 of the amphitheatre at Nismes, he says, " In all those 
 arches, to sujiport the walls over the passage where you 
 go round, there is a stone laid, about twenty inches or 
 two feet square, and about six times the length of my 
 stvord, which ivas near about a philosojjhical yard long." ^ 
 Who is not struck with the unseemly incongruity of 
 the exhibition, as he sees the author of the " Essay con- 
 cerning Human Understanding " travelling with a sword 
 by his side ? But here the philosopher only followed 
 the barbarous custom of his time. Individuals then 
 
 1 King's Life of Locke, Vol. I. p. 99.
 
 184 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 lived in the same relations towards each other which 
 now characterize nations. The War System had not yet 
 entirely retreated from Municipal Law and Custom, to 
 find its last citadel and temple in the Law and Custom 
 of Nations. Do not forget, that, at the present moment, 
 our own country, the great author, among the nations, 
 of a new Essay concerning Human Understanding, not 
 only travels with a sword by the side, like John Locke, 
 but lives encased in complete armor, burdensome to 
 limbs and costly to treasury. 
 
 Condemning the War System as barbarous and most 
 wasteful, the token and relic of a society alien to Chris- 
 tian civilization, we except the Na\y, so far as necessary 
 in arrest of pirates, of traffickers in human flesh, and 
 generally in preserving the police of the sea. But it is 
 difficult for the unprejudiced mind to regard the array 
 of fortifications and of standing armies otherwise than 
 obnoxious to the condemnation aroused by the War 
 System. Fortifications are instruments, and standing 
 armies are hired champions, in the great Duel of Na- 
 tions. 
 
 Here I quit this part of the subject. Sufficient has 
 been said to expose the War System of the Common- 
 wealth of Nations. It stands before us, a colossal im- 
 age of International Justice, with the sword, hut ivithout 
 the scales, — like a hideous Mexican idol, besmeared with 
 human blood, and surrounded by the sickening stench 
 of human sacrifice. But this image, which seems to 
 span the continents, Avliile it rears aloft its flashing 
 form of brass and gold, hiding far in tlie clouds " the 
 round and top of sovereignty," can be laid low ; for its 
 feet are clay.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 185 
 
 II. 
 
 I COME now to the means by which the War System 
 can be overthrown. Here I shall unfold the tendencies 
 and examples of nations, and the sacred efforts of indi- 
 viduals, constituting the Peace Movement, now ready 
 to triumph, — with practical suggestions on our duties to 
 this cause, and a concluding glance at the barbarism of 
 Military Glory. In this review I cannot avoid details 
 incident to a fruitfulness of topics ; but I shall try to 
 introduce nothing not bearing directly on the subject. 
 
 Civilization now \mthes in travail and torment, and 
 asks for liberation from oppressive sway. Like the 
 slave under a weary weight of chains, it raises its ex- 
 hausted arms, and pleads for the angel Deliverer. And, 
 lo ! the beneficent angel comes, — not like the Grecian 
 God of Day, with vengeful arrows to slay the destruc- 
 tive Python, — not like the Archangel Michael, with po- 
 tent spear to transfix Satan, — but with words of gen- 
 tleness and cheer, saying to all nations, and to all chil- 
 dren of men, " Ye are all brothers, of one flesh, 07ie fold, 
 one shepherd, children of one Father, heirs to one happi- 
 ness. By your own energies, through united fraternal 
 endeavor, will the tyranny of War be overthrown, and 
 its Juggernaut in turn be crushed to earth." 
 
 In this spirit, and with this encouragement, we must 
 labor for that grand and final object, watchword of all 
 ages, the Unity of the Human Family. Not in benev- 
 olence, but in selfishness, has Unity been sought in 
 times past, — not to promote the happiness of all, but to 
 establish the dominion of one. It was the mad lust of 
 power which carried Alexander from conquest to con- 
 quest, till he boasted that the whole world was one
 
 186 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 empire, with the Macedonian phalanx as citadel. The 
 same passion animated Eome, till, at last, while Christ 
 lay in a manger, this single city swayed a broader em- 
 pire than that of Alexander. The Gospel, in its sim- 
 ple narrative, says, " And it came to pass in those days 
 that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that 
 all the world should be taxed." History recalls the ex- 
 ile of Ovid, who, falHng under the displeasure of the 
 same emperor, was condemned to close his life in mel- 
 ancholy longings for Rome, far away in Pontus, on the 
 Euxine Sea. With singular significance, these two con- 
 temporaneous incidents reveal the universality of Eo- 
 nian dominion, stretching from Britain to Parthia. The 
 mighty empire crumbled, to be reconstructed for a brief 
 moment, in part by Charlemagne, in part by Tamerlane. 
 In our own age, Xapoleon made a last effort for Unity 
 founded on Force. And now, from his utterances at St. 
 Helena, the expressed wisdom of his unparalleled expe- 
 rience, comes the remarkable confession, worthy of con- 
 stant memory : " The more I study the M'orld, the more 
 am I convinced of the inability of brute force to cre- 
 ate anything durable." From the sepulchre of Napole- 
 on, now sleeping on the banks of the Seine, surrounded 
 by the trophies of battle, nay, more, from the sepulchres 
 of all these departed empires, may be heard the words, 
 " They that take the sword shall perish by the sword." 
 
 Unity is the longing and tendency of Humanity : not 
 the enforced Unity of military power; not the Unity 
 of miglit triumphant over right ; not the Unity of In- 
 equality ; not the Unity which occupied the soul of 
 Dante, when, in liis treatise De Monarchia, the earliest 
 political work of modern times, he strove to show that
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 187 
 
 all the world belonged to a single ruler, tlie successor 
 of the Pionian Emperor : not these ; but the voluntary 
 Unity of nations in fraternal labor ; the Unity prom- 
 ised, when it was said, " There is neither Jew nor Greek, 
 there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor 
 female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus " ; the Unity 
 which has filled the delighted vision of good men, 
 prophets, sages, and poets, in times past ; the Unity 
 which, in our own age, prompted Beranger, the incom- 
 parable lyi'ic of France, in an immortal ode, to salute 
 the Holy Alliance of the Peoples,^ summoning them in 
 all lands, and by whatever names they may be called, 
 French, English, Belgian, German, Eussian, to give each 
 other the hand, that the useless thunderbolts of War 
 may all be quenched, and Peace sow the earth with 
 gold, with flowers, and with corn ; the Unity which 
 prompted an early American diplomatist and poet to 
 anticipate the time when nations shall meet in Con- 
 gress, — 
 
 " To give each realm its limit and its laws, 
 Bid the last breath of dire contention cease, 
 And bind all regions in the leagues of Peace; 
 Bid one great empire, with extensive sway, 
 Spread with the sun, and bound the walks of day, 
 One centred system, one all-ruling soul. 
 Live through the parts, and regulate the whole"; 2 
 
 the Unity which inspired our contemporary British poet 
 of exquisite genius, Alfred Tennyson, to hail the cer- 
 tain day, — 
 
 " When the war-dram throb no longer, and the battle-flags be furled, 
 In the Parliament of Man, the Federation of the World." 3 
 
 ^ " Peuples, formez une sainte alliance, 
 Et donnez-vous la main." 
 
 La Sninte Alliance des Peuples. 
 
 2 Barlow, Vision of Columbus, Book IX. 432 - 438. 
 
 3 Lockslev Hall.
 
 188 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 Such is Unity in the bond of Peace. The common 
 good and mutual consent are its enduring base, Justice 
 and Love its animating soul. These alone can give per- 
 manence to combinations of men, whether in states or 
 confederacies. Here is the vital elixir of nations, the 
 true philosopher's stone of divine efficacy to enrich the 
 civilization of mankind. So far as these are neglected 
 or forgotten, will the people, though under one apparent 
 head, fail to be really united. So far as these are re- 
 garded, will the people, within the sphere of their in- 
 fluence, constitute one body, and be inspired by one 
 spirit. And just in proportion as tlieso find recogni- 
 tion from individuals and from nations will War be 
 impossible. 
 
 Not in vision, nor in promise only, is this Unity dis- 
 cerned. Voluntary associations, confederacies, leagues, 
 coalitions, and congresses of nations, though fugitive and 
 limited in influence, all attest the unsatisfied desires of 
 men solicitous for union, while they foreshadow the 
 means by which it may be permanently accomplished. 
 Of these I will enumerate a few. 1. The Amjjhictyonic 
 Council, embracing at first twelve, and finally thirty- 
 one communities, was established about the year 1100 
 before Christ. Each sent two deputies, and had two 
 votes in the Council, which was empowered to restrain 
 the violence of hostility among the associates. 2. Next 
 comes the Achccan League, founded at a very early pe- 
 riod, and renewed in the year 281 before Christ. Each 
 member was independent, and yet all together consti- 
 tuted one inseparable body. So great was the fame of 
 their justice and probity, that the Greek cities of Italy 
 were glad to invite their peaceful arbitration. 3. Pass-
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 189 
 
 ing over other confederacies of Antiquity, I mention 
 next tlie Hanseatic League, begun in the twelfth century, 
 completed in the middle of the thirteenth, and compris- 
 ing at one time no less than eighty-five cities. A sys- 
 tem of International Law was adopted in their general 
 assemblies, and also courts of arhitration, to determine 
 controversies amoiig the cities. The decrees of these 
 courts were enforced by placing the condemned city 
 under the ban, a sentence equivalent to excommunica- 
 tion. 4. At a later period, other cities and nobles of 
 Germany entered into alliance and association for mu- 
 tual protection, under various names, as the League of 
 the Rhine, and the League of Stiabia. 5. To these I add 
 the combination of Armed Neutrality in 1780, uniting, 
 in declared support of certain principles, a large cluster 
 of nations, — Russia, France, Spain, Holland, Sweden, 
 Denmark, Prussia, and the United States. 6. And still 
 further, I refer to Congresses at Westphalia, Utrecht, 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, and Vienna, after the wasteful strug- 
 gles of War, to arrange terms of Peace and to arbitrate 
 between nations. 
 
 These examples, belonging to the Past, reveal tenden- 
 cies and capacities. Other instances, having the effect 
 of living authority, show practically how the War Sys- 
 tem may be set aside. There is, first, the Swiss Piepub- 
 lic, or Helvetic Union, which, beginning so long ago as 
 1308, has preserved Peace among its members during 
 the greater part of five centuries. Speaking of this 
 Union, Vattel said, in the middle of the last century, 
 " The Swiss have had the precaution, in all their alli- 
 ances among themselves, and even in those they have 
 contracted with the neighboring powers, to agree hefore- 
 hand on the manner in v:hich their disjmtes ivere to be
 
 190 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 suhmitted to arbitrators, in case they could not adjust 
 them in an amicable manner." And this publicist pro- 
 ceeds to testify that " this wise precaution has not a lit- 
 tle contributed to maintain the Helvetic Eepublic in 
 that flourishing condition which secures its liberty, and 
 renders it respectable throughout Europe." ^ Since these 
 words were written, there have been many changes in 
 the Swiss Constitution ; but its present Federal System, 
 established on the downfall of Napoleon, confirmed in 
 1830, and now embracing twenty-five different States, 
 provides that differences among the States shall be re- 
 ferred to "special arbitration." This is an instructive 
 example. But, secondly, our own happy country fur- 
 nishes one yet more so. The United States of America 
 are a National Union of thirty different States, — each 
 having peculiar interests, — in pursuance of a Consti- 
 tution, established in 1788, which not only provides a 
 high tribunal for the adjudication of controversies be- 
 tween the States, but expressly disarms the individual 
 States, declaring that " no State shall, without the consent 
 of Congress, keep troops or shijjs of ivar in time of peace, 
 or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in siich 
 imminent danger as will not admit of delay." A third 
 example, not unlike that of our own country, is the Con- 
 federation of Germany, composed of thirty-eight sover- 
 eignties, who, by reciprocal stipulation in their Act of 
 Union, on the 8th of June, 1815, deprived each sovereign- 
 ty of the riglit of ivar with its confederates. The words 
 of this stipulation, which, like those of the Constitution 
 of the United States, might furnish a model to the Com- 
 monwealth of Nations, are as follows : " The Confederate 
 States likewise engage under no pretext to make war upon 
 
 1 Law of Nations, Book II. ch. 18, ^ 329.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 191 
 
 one another, nor to imrsue their differences hy foree of 
 arms, hut to submit them to the Diet. The latter shall 
 endeavor to mediate between the parties by means of a 
 commission. Should this not prove successful, and a 
 judicial decision become necessary, provision shall be 
 made therefor through a well-organized Court of Arbi- 
 tration, to which the litigants shall submit themselves 
 without appeal." ^ 
 
 Such are authentic, well-defined examples. This is 
 not all. It is in the order of Providence, that individu- 
 als, families, tribes, and nations should tend, by means 
 of association, to a final Unity. A law of mutual at- 
 traction, or affinity, first exerting its influence upon 
 smaller bodies, draws them by degrees into well-estab- 
 lished fellowship, and then, continuing its powder, fuses 
 the larger bodies into nations ; and nations themselves, 
 stirred by this same sleepless energy, are now moving 
 towards that grand system of combined order which 
 will complete the general harmony : — 
 
 " Spiritus intus .ilit, totamque iiifusa per artus 
 Mens agitat molera, et magno se corpora miscet." 2 
 
 History bears ample testimony to the potency of this 
 attraction. Modern Europe, in its early periods, was 
 filled with petty lordships, or communities constituting 
 so many distinct units, acknowledging only a vague na- 
 tionality, and maintaining, as we have already seen, the 
 " liberty " to fight with each other. The great nations 
 of our day have grown and matured into their present 
 form by the gradual absorption of these political bodies. 
 
 1 Acte pour la Constitution F^d^rative de rAllemagne du 8 Juin, 1815, 
 Art. XI. par. 4 : Archives Diplomatiques, Vol. IV. p. 15. 
 
 2 ^neid, Lib. VI. 726. 727.
 
 192 WAK SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 Territories, once possessing an equivocal and turbulent 
 independence, feel new power and happiness in peace- 
 ful association. Spain, composed of races dissimilar in 
 origin, religion, and government, slowly ascended by pro- 
 gressive combinations among principalities and provin- 
 ces, till at last, in the fifteenth century, by the crown- 
 ing union of Castile and Aragon, tlie whole country 
 with its various sovereignties, was united under out 
 common rule. Germany once consisted of more than 
 three hundred different principalities, each with the 
 right of wwr. These slowly coalesced, forming larger 
 principalities ; till at last the whole complex aggregation 
 of states, embracing abbeys, bishoprics, archbishoprics, 
 bailiwicks, counties, duchies, electorates, margraviates, 
 and free imperial cities, was gradually resolved into the 
 present Confederation, where each state expressly re- 
 nounces the right of war with its associates. France 
 has passed through similar changes. By a power of 
 assimilation, in no nation so strongly marked, she has 
 absorbed the various races and sovereignties once filling 
 her territory with violence and conflict, and has con- 
 verted them all to herself. The Eoman or Iberian of 
 Provence, the indomitable Celtic race, the German of 
 Alsace, have all become Frenchmen, — while the various 
 provinces, once inspired by such hostile passions, Brit- 
 tany and Normandy, Franche-Comte and Burgundy, Gas- 
 cony and Languedoc, Provence and Dauphine/are now 
 blended in one powerful, united nation. Great Britain, 
 too, shows the influence of the same law. The many 
 liostile principalities of England were first merged in 
 the Heptarchy ; and these seven kingdoms became one 
 under the Saxon Egbert. Wales, forcibly attached to 
 England under Edward the First, at last assimilated with
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 193 
 
 her conqueror ; Ireland, after a protracted resistance, was 
 absorbed under Edward the Third, and at a later day, 
 after a series of bitter struggles, was united, I do not 
 say how successfully, under the Imperial Parliament ; 
 Scotland was connected with England by the accession 
 of James the First to the throne of the Tudors, and 
 these two countries, which had so often encountered in 
 battle, were joined together under Queen Anne, by an 
 act of peaceful legislation. 
 
 Thus has the tendency to Unity predominated over 
 independent sovereignties and states, slowly conducting 
 the constant process of crystallization. This cannot be 
 arrested. The next stage must be the peaceful associa- 
 tion of the Christian nations. In this anticipation we 
 but follow analogies of the material creation, as seen 
 in the light of chemical or geological science. Every- 
 where Nature is busy with combinations, exerting an 
 occult incalculable power, drawing elements into new 
 relations of harmony, uniting molecule with molecule, 
 atom with atom, and, by progressive change, in the 
 lapse of time, producing new structural arrangements. 
 Look still closer, and the analogy continues. At first 
 we detect tlie operation of cohesion, rudely acting upon 
 particles near together, — then subtler influences, slowly 
 imparting regularity of form, — while heat, electricity, 
 and potent chemical affinities conspire in the work. As 
 yet there is only an incomplete body. Light now ex- 
 erts its mysterious powers, and all assumes an organized 
 form. So it is with mankind. First appears tlie rude 
 cohesion of early ages, acting only upon individuals 
 near together. Slowly the work proceeds. But time 
 and space, the great obstructions, if not annihilated, 
 are now subdued, giving free scope to the powerful
 
 194 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 affinities of civilization. At last, light, thrice holy 
 light, in whose glad beams are knowledge, justice, and 
 beneiicence, with empyrean sway will combine those 
 separate and distracted elements into one organized 
 system. 
 
 Thus much for examples and tendencies. In har- 
 mony with these are efforts of individuals, extending 
 tlirough ages, and strengthening with time, till now at 
 last they swell into a voice that must be heard. A rapid 
 glance will show the growth of the cause we have met 
 to welcome. Far off in the writings of the early Fathers 
 we learn the duty and importance of Universal Peace. 
 Here I might accumulate texts, each an authority, while 
 you listened to Justin Martyr, Irenreus, Tertullian, 
 Origen, Augustine, Aquinas. How beautiful it appears 
 in the teachings of St. Augustine ! How comprehen- 
 sive the rules of Aquinas, who spoke with the authority 
 of Philosophy and the Church, wdien he said, in phrase 
 worthy of constant repetition, that the perfection of joy 
 is Peace ! ^ But the rude hoof of War trampled down 
 these sparks of generous truth, destined to llame forth 
 at a later day. In the fifteenth century. The good Man 
 of Peace was described in tliat work of unexampled cir- 
 culation, translated into all modern tongues, and repub- 
 lished more than a thousand times, " The Imitation of 
 Christ," by Tliomas-a-Kempis.^ A little later the cause 
 found important support from the pen of a great scholar, 
 the gentle and learned Erasmus. At last it obtained a 
 specious advocacy from the throne. Henry the Fourth, 
 
 1 " Perfectio gniuKi est pnx." — Aquinas, Sunima Thcologica, Prima So- 
 cunflae, Quscst. LXX., Art. III. Ooiicl. 
 
 2 De Imitatione Christi, Lib. II. cap. 3.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 195 
 
 of France, with the cooperation of his eminent minister, 
 Sully, conceived the beautiful scheme of blending the 
 Christian nations in one confederacy, with a high tribu- 
 nal for the decision of controversies between them, and 
 had drawn into his plan Queen Elizabeth, of England. 
 All was arrested by the dagger of Eavaillac. This gay 
 and gallant monarch was little penetrated by the divine 
 sentiment of Peace ; for at his death he was gathering 
 materials for fresh War ; and it is too evident that the 
 scheme of a European Congress was prompted less by 
 comprehensive humanity than by a selfish ambition to 
 humble the House of Austria. Even with this draw- 
 back it did great good, by holding aloft before Christen- 
 dom the exalted idea of a tribunal for the Common- 
 wealth of Nations. 
 
 Universal Peace was not to receive thus early the 
 countenance of Government. Meanwhile private efforts 
 began to multiply. Grotius, in his wonderful work on 
 " The Eights of War and Peace," while lavishing learning 
 and genius on the Arbitrament of War, bears testimony 
 in favor of a more rational tribunal. His virtuous na- 
 ture, wishing to save mankind from the scourge of War, 
 foreshadowed an Amphictyonic Council. " It would 
 be useful, and in some sort necessary," he says, — in 
 language which, if carried out practically, would sweep 
 away the War System and all the Laws of War, — " to 
 have Congresses of the Christian Powers, where differ- 
 ences might be determined by the judgment of those 
 not interested in them, and means found to constrain 
 parties into acceptance of peace on just conditions." ^ 
 To the discredit of his age, these moderate words, so 
 much in harmony with his other effort for the union 
 
 1 De Jure Belli ac Pacis, Lib. IL cap. 23, § 8-
 
 196 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 of Christian sects, were derided, and the eminent ex- 
 pounder was denounced as rash, visionary, and imprac- 
 ticable. The sentiment in which they had their origin 
 fovmd other forms of utterance. Before the close of the 
 seventeenth century, Nicole, the friend of Pascal, be- 
 longing to the fellowship of Port-Royal, and one of the 
 highest names in the Church of France, gave to the 
 world a brief " Treatise on the Means of preserving Peace 
 among Men," ^ which Voltaire, with exaggerated praise, 
 terms " a masterpiece, to which notliing equal has been 
 left to us by Antiquity." Next appeared a little book, 
 which is now a bibiographical curiosity, entitled "The 
 New Cineas,"^ — after the pacific adviser of Pyi-rhus, 
 the warrior king of Epirus, — where the humane author 
 counsels sovereigns to govern in Peace, submitting their 
 differences to an established tribunal. In Germany, at 
 the close of the seventeenth century, as we learn from 
 Leibnitz, who mentions the preceding authority also, a 
 retired general, who had commanded armies, the Land- 
 grave Ernest of Hesse Ehinfels, in a work entitled " The 
 Discreet Catholic," suggested a plan for Pei'petual Peace 
 by means of a tribunal established by associate sover- 
 eigns.^ England testified also by William Penn, who 
 adopted and enforced what he called the "great design" 
 
 1 Trait(5 des Moyens de conserver la Paix avec les Hommes: Essais de 
 Jlorale, Tom. I. pp. 192-318. This little treatise has been printed in a 
 recent edition of the Pensees of Pascal. Notwithstanding tliis great com- 
 pany, and the praise of Voltaire in his Kcnvams du Sicde de Louis XIV., 
 the reader of our day will be disappointed. See Hallani, Introduction to 
 the Literature of Europe, Part IV. ch. 4, Vol. III. p. 393. 
 
 2 Le Nouveau Cj'nde, ou Discours des Occasions et Moyens d'establir 
 une Paix g(5n(?rale et la Liberty du Commerce par tout le Monde: Paris, 
 1623. A cop3% found in one of the stalls of Paris, is now before nie. 
 
 8 Leibnitz, Observations sur le Projet d'une Paix"Perp(-tuelle de I'Abb^ 
 de S. Pierre: Opera (ed. Dutens), Tom. V. i)p. 60, 57
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 197 
 
 of Henry the Fourth.. In a work entitled "An Essay 
 towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe," the 
 enlightened Quaker proposed a Diet, or Sovereign As- 
 sembly, into which the princes of Europe should enter, 
 as men enter into society, for the love of peace and order, 
 — that its object should be justice, and that all differ- 
 ences not terminated by embassies should be brought 
 before this tribunal, whose judgment should be so far 
 binding, that, in the event of contumacy, it should be 
 enforced by the united powers.^ Thus, by writings, as 
 also by illustrious example in Pennsylvania, did Penn 
 show liimseK the friend of Peace. 
 
 These were soon followed in France by the untiring 
 labors of the good Abbe Saint-Pierre, — the most de- 
 voted among the apostles of Peace, and not to be con- 
 founded with the eloquent and eccentric Bernardin de 
 Saint-Pierre, author of " Paul and Virginia," who, at 
 a later day, beautifully painted the true Fraternity of 
 Nations.^ Of a genius less artistic and literary, the 
 Abbe consecrated a whole life, crowned with venerable 
 years, to the improvement of mankind. There was no 
 humane cause he did not espouse : now it was the poor ; 
 now it was education ; and now it was to exhibit the 
 grandeur and sacredness of human nature ; but he was 
 especially filled with the idea of Universal Peace, and 
 the importance of teaching nations, not less than indi- 
 viduals, the duty of doing as they would be done by. 
 This was his passion, and it was elaborately presented 
 in a work of three volumes, entitled "The Project of Per- 
 
 1 Clarkson, Life of Williiim Penn, Ch. YL Vol. IL pp. 82-85. 
 
 2 Harmonies de la Nature : ffiuvres, Tom. X. p. 138. Voeux d'un Soli- 
 taire: Ibid., Tom. XI. p. 168.
 
 198 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 petual Peace," ^ where he proposes a Diet or Congress of 
 Sovereigns, for the adjudication of international contro- 
 versies without resort to War. Throughout his volu- 
 minous writings he constantly returns to this project, 
 which was a perpetual vision, and records his regret 
 that Newton and Descartes had not devoted their ex- 
 alted genius to the study and exposition of the laws 
 determining the weKare of men and nations, believing 
 that they might have succeeded in organizing Peace. 
 He dwells often on the beauty of Christian precepts 
 in government, and the true glory of beneficence, while 
 he exposes the vanity of military renown, and does not 
 hesitate to question that false glory which j^rocured for 
 Louis the Fourteenth the undeserved title of Great, 
 echoed by flattering courtiers and a barbarous Avorld. 
 The French language owes to him tlie word Bienfai- 
 sance; and D'Alembert said "it was right he should 
 have invented the word who practised so largely the 
 virtue it expresses."^ 
 
 Though thus of benevolence all compact, Saint-Pierre 
 was not the favorite of his age. A profligate minister, 
 Cardinal Dubois, ecclesiastical companion of a vicious 
 resent in the worst excesses, condemned his efforts in a 
 phrase of satire, as "the dreams of a good man." The 
 pen of La Bruyere wantoned in a petty portrait of per- 
 
 1 Le Projet de Paix Perpetuelle. — A collection of the works of Saint- 
 Pierre, in fourteen volumes, entitled (Euvres de Politique, appeared at Am- 
 sterdam in the middle of the last century. But this collection is not com- 
 plete; I have .several other volumes. Brunei introduces him into his 
 Bibliographical Pantheon among "Modern Reformers"; but the space 
 allowed is very scanty by the side of his namesake. . His works are sjonpa- 
 theticully described and analyzed in a volume published since this Address, 
 entitled DAbbe de Saint-Pierre, sa Vie et ses (Euvres, par G. de Molinari. 
 
 2 Eloge de Saint-Pierre: (Euvres, Tom. XI. p. 113. See, also, Bescherelle, 
 Dictionnaire National, under Bienfaisance.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 199 
 
 sonal peculiarities. 1 Many turned the cold shoulder. 
 The French Academy, of which he was a member, took 
 from him his chair, and on the occasion of his death 
 ibrbore the eulogy which is its customary tribute to a 
 departed academician. But an incomparable genius in 
 Germany, — an authority not to be questioned on any 
 subject upon which he spoke, — the great and univer- 
 sal Leibnitz, bears his testimony to the " Project of Per- 
 petual Peace," and, so doing, enrolls his own prodigious 
 name in the catalogue of our cause. In observations on 
 this Project, communicated to its author, under date of 
 February 7, 1715, while declaring that it is supported by 
 the practical authority of Henry the Fourth, that it justly 
 interests the whole human race, and is not foreign to 
 his own studies, as frorii youth he had occupied himself 
 with law, and particularly with the Law of Nations, 
 Leibnitz says : " / have read it tvith attention, and am 
 2Jcrs%adcd that such a project, on the whole, is feasible, and 
 that its execution would be one of the most usefid things 
 in the world. Although my suffrage cannot be of any 
 weight, I have nevertheless thought that gratitude 
 obhged me not to withhold it, and to join some remarks 
 for the satisfaction of a meritorious author, who ought to 
 have much reputation and firmness, to have dared and 
 been able to oppose with success the prejudiced crowd, 
 and the unbridled tongue of mockers." ^ Such testi- 
 mony from Leibnitz must have been grateful to Saint- 
 Pierre. 
 
 I cannot close this brief record of a philanthropist, 
 constant in an age when War was more regarded than 
 
 1 Les Caract^res, Du Merite Personnel, Tom. T. p. 93. 
 
 2 Observations sur le Prqjet dune Paix Perpetuelle; Lettre a I'Abb^ de 
 S. Pierre: Opera (ed Dutens), Tom. V. pp. 56-62.
 
 200 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 Humanity, without offering him an unaffected homage. 
 To this faithful man may be addi'essed the sublime sal- 
 utation which hymned from the soul of Milton : — 
 
 " Servant of God, well done ! well hast thou fought 
 The better fight, who single hast maintained 
 Against revolted multitudes the cause 
 Of Truth, in word mightier than they in arras, 
 And for the testimony of truth hast borne 
 . . . . reproach, lar worse to bear 
 Than violence : for this was all thy care, 
 To stand approved in sight of God, though worlds 
 Judged thee perverse." ^ 
 
 Waking hereafter from its martial trance, the world will 
 rejoice to salute the greatness of his career.^ It may 
 well measure advance in civilization by the apprecia- 
 tion of his character. 
 
 Contemporary with Saint-Pierre was another French- 
 man, to whom I have already referred, who flashed his 
 genius upon the game of War. La Bruyere exhibits 
 men, for the sake of a piece of land more or less, 
 agreeing among themselves to despoil, burn, and kill each 
 other, even to cutting throats, and, for the doing of this 
 more ingeniously and safely, inventing a beautiful system, 
 known as the Art of War, to. the practice of which is 
 attached wdiat is called Glory. The same satirist, who 
 lived in an age of War, likens men to animals, even to 
 dogs barking at each other, and then again to cats ; and 
 he furnishes a picture of the latter, counted by the thou- 
 sand, and marshalled on an extended plain, where, after 
 mewing their best, they tlirow themselves upon each 
 otlier, tooth and nail, until nine or ten thousand of 
 
 1 Paradise Lost, Book VI. 29 -.37. 
 
 2 The Nmivelle Biogmphie Generale concludes its notice of him thus: — 
 " Apr^s avoir m^riti' le beau snriiom de Sollicileur p(nir h bien public, I'Abb^ 
 de Saint-Pierre mourut, en 1743, ii I'age de quatre-vingt-cinq ans."
 
 COMMONWExVLTII OF NATIONS. 201 
 
 them are left dead on the field, infecting the air for ten 
 leagues M'ith an intolerable stench, — and all this for the 
 love of Glory. But how, says the satirist, can we dis- 
 tinguish between those who use only tooth and nail and 
 those others, who, first substituting lances, darts, and 
 swords, now employ destructive balls, small and large, 
 killing at once, while, penetrating a roof, they crash from 
 garret to cellar, sacrificing even women and children ? 
 Wherein is the Glory ? ^ 
 
 Saint-Pierre was followed by that remarkable genius, 
 Jean Jacques Eousseau, in a small work with the modest 
 title, " Extract from the Project of Perpetual Peace by 
 the Abbe Saint-Pierre." ^ Without referring to those 
 higher motives supplied by humanity, conscience, and 
 religion, for addressing which to sovereigns Saint-Pierre 
 incurred the ridicule of what are called practical states- 
 men, Eousseau appeals to common sense, and shows how 
 much mere worldly interests would be promoted by 
 submission to the arbitration of an impartial tribunal, 
 rather than to the uncertain issue of arms, with no ad- 
 equate compensation, even to the victor, for blood and 
 treasure sacrificed. If this project fails, it is not, ac- 
 cording to him, because chimerical, but because men 
 have lost their wits, and it is a sort of madness to be 
 wise in the midst of fools. As no scheme more grand, 
 more beautiful, or more useful ever occupied the human 
 mind, so, says Piousseau, no author ever deserved atten- 
 tion more than one proposing the means for its practical 
 adoption ; nor can any humane and virtuous man fail to 
 regard it with enthusiasm. 
 
 1 Caract^res, Du Souverain, Tom. I. p. 332 ; Des Jugemenis, Tom. II. pp. 
 57 - 59. 
 
 2 Extrait du Projet de Paix Perpetuelle de M. T Abb6 de Saint-Pierre.
 
 202 WAK SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 The recommendations of Eousseau, reaching Germany, 
 were encountered by a writer now remembered chiefly 
 by this hardihood. 1 allude to Embser, who treats of 
 Perpetual Peace in a work lirst pubhshed in 1779, un- 
 der the title of " The Idolatry of our Philosophical Cen- 
 tury," ^ and at a later day with a new title, under the 
 alias of the " Eefutation of the Project of Perpetual 
 Peace." ^ Objections common with the superficial or 
 prejudiced are vehemently urged ; the imputation upon 
 Grotius is reproduced ; and the project is pronounced 
 visionary and impracticable, while War is exalted as an 
 instrument more beneficent than Peace in advancing the 
 civilization of mankind. At a later day Hegel gave the 
 same testimony, thus contributing his considerable name 
 to vindicate War.^ 
 
 The cause of Saint-Pierre and Eousseau was not 
 Avithout champions in Germany. In 1763 we meet at 
 Gottingen the work of Totze, entitled " Permanent and 
 Universal Peace, according to the Plan of Henry the 
 Fourth " ; * and in 1767, at Leipsic, an ample and mature 
 treatise by Lilienfeld, under the name of " New Con- 
 stitution for States."^ Truth often appears contempo- 
 raneously to different minds having no concert with 
 each other ; and the latter work, though in remarkable 
 harmony with Saint-Pierre and Eousseau, is said to have 
 been composed without any knowledge of their labors. 
 Lilienfeld exposes the causes and calamities of War, the 
 waste of armaments in time of Peace, and the miserable 
 chances of the battle-field, where, in defiance of all jus- 
 
 1 Die Abgbtterei unsers Pliilosopliischcn Jphrhunderts. 
 
 2 Widerlegung des Projects von Ewigen Frieden. 
 
 3 Philosophic des Rechts, §§ .321 -.340: Werkc, Band VIII. pp. 408-423. 
 * P>\viger und Allgemeiiier Friede nach der Entwurf Heiiirichs IV. 
 
 5 Neues Staatsgebaude. 
 
 1
 
 COMMONWE.U.TH OF NATIONS. 203 
 
 tice, controversies are determined as by the throw of 
 dice ; and he urges submission to Arbitrators, unless, in 
 their wisdom, nations establish a Supreme Tribunal with 
 the combined power of the Confederacy to enforce its 
 decrees. 
 
 It was the glory of another German, in intellectual 
 preeminence the successor of Leibnitz, to illustrate this 
 cause by special and repeated labors. At Konigsberg, 
 in a retired corner of Prussia, away from the great lines 
 of travel, Immanuel Kant consecrated his days to the 
 pursuit of truth. During a long, virtuous, and disinter- 
 ested life, stretching beyond the period appointed for 
 man, — from 1724 to 1804, — in retirement, undisturbed 
 by shock of revolution or war, never drawn by tempta- 
 tion of travel more than seven German miles from the 
 place of his birth, he assiduously studied books, men, 
 and things. Among the fruits of his ripened powers 
 was that system of philosophy known as the " Critique 
 of Pure Eeason," by which he was at once established as 
 a master-mind of his country. His words became the 
 text for writers without number, who vied with each 
 other in expoimding, illustrating, or opposing his prin- 
 ciples. At this period, after an unprecedented triumph 
 in philosophy, when his name had become familiar 
 wherever his mother-tongue was spoken, and while 
 his rare faculties were yet untoiiched by decay, in the 
 Indian Summer of life, the great thinker published a 
 work " On Perpetual Peace." ^ Interest in the author, 
 or in the cause, was attested by prompt translations 
 into the French, Danish, and Dutch languages. In an 
 
 1 Zum Ewigen Frieden, 1795; Verkiindignng des nahen Abschlusses eines 
 Tractats zum Ewigen Frieden in der Philosophie, 1796: Sanamtliche Werke, 
 Band VI. pp. 405-454, 487-498.
 
 204 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 earlier work, entitled "Idea for a General History in 
 a Cosmopolitan View," ^ he espoused the same cause, 
 and at a later day, in his " Metaphysical Elements of 
 Jurisprudence," ^ he renewed his testimony. In the 
 lapse of time the speculations of the philosopher have 
 lost much of their original attraction ; other systems, 
 with other names, have taken their place. But these 
 early and faithful labors for Perpetual Peace cannot 
 be forgotten. I'erhaps through these the fame of the 
 applauded philosopher of Konigsberg may yet be pre- 
 served. 
 
 By Perpetual Peace Kant understood a condition of 
 nations where there could be no fear of War ; and this 
 condition, he said, was demanded by reason, which, ab- 
 horring aU War, as little adapted to establisli right, must 
 regard this final development of the Law of Nations as 
 a consummation worthy of every effort. The philosopher 
 was right in proposing nothing less than a reform of 
 International Law. To this, according to him, all per- 
 sons, and particularly all rulers, should bend their en- 
 ergies. A special league or treaty should be formed, 
 which may be truly called a Treaty of Peace, having this 
 peculiarity, that, whereas other treaties terminate a sin- 
 gle existing War only, this should terminate forever aU 
 AVar between the parties to it. A Treaty of Peace, 
 tacitly acknowledging the right to wage War, as all trea- 
 ties now do, is nothing more than a Truce, not Peace. 
 By these treaties an individual War is ended, but not 
 the state of War. There may not be constant hostili- 
 ties ; but there will be constant fear of hostilities, with 
 
 1 Idee zu einer Allgemeincn Geschichte in Weltbiirgerlicher Absicht: 
 Sammtliche Werke, Band IV. pp. 141 - 157. 
 
 2 Metiiphysisclie Anfangsgriinde der Reclitslehre, §§ 63-61, Das Volker- 
 recht : Sammtliche Werlie, Band VII. pp. 141 - 167.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 205 
 
 constant threat of aggression and attack. Soldiers and 
 armaments, now nursed as a Peace establishment, be- 
 come the fruitful parent of new wars. With real Peace, 
 these would be abandoned. Nor should nations hesi- 
 tate to bow before the law, like individuals. They 
 must form one comprehensive federation, which, by 
 the aggregation of other nations, would at last embrace 
 the whole earth. And this, according to Kant, in the 
 succession of years, by a sure progress, is the irresisti- 
 ble tendency of nations. To this end nations must be 
 truly independent ; nor is it possible for one nation to 
 acquire another independent nation, whether by inher- 
 itance, exchange, purchase, or gift. A nation is not prop- 
 erty. The philosophy of Kant, therefore, contemplated 
 not only Universal Peace, but Universal Liberty. The 
 first article of the great treaty would be, that every 
 nation is free. 
 
 These important conclusions found immediate sup- 
 port from another German philosopher, Fichte, of re- 
 markable acuteness and perfect devotion to truth, whose 
 name, in his own day, awakened an echo inferior only 
 to that of Kant. In his " Groundwork of the Law of 
 Nature." ^ published in 1796, he urges a Federation of 
 Nations, with a Supreme Tribunal, as the best way of 
 securmg the triumph of justice, and of subduing the pow- 
 er of the unjust. To the suggestion, that by this Federa- 
 tion injustice might be done, he replied, that it would 
 not be easy to find any common advantage tempting the 
 confederate nations to do this wrong. 
 
 The subject was again treated in 1804, by a learned 
 German, Karl Schwab, whose work, entitled " Of Una- 
 
 1 Grundlatre des Natun-echts : Ueberdas Volkerrecht: Siimmtliclie Werke, 
 Band III. pp. 369-382.
 
 206 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 voidable Injustice," ^ deserves notice for practical clear- 
 ness and directness. Nothing could be better than his 
 idea of the Universal State, where nations will be unit- 
 ed, as citizens in the Municipal State ; nor have the 
 promises of the Future been more carefully presented. 
 He sees clearly, that, even when this triumph of civiliza- 
 tion is won, justice between nations will not be always 
 inviolate, — for, unhappily, between citizens it is not al- 
 ways so ; but, whatever may be the exceptions, it will 
 become tlie general rule. As in the Municipal State 
 War no longer prevails, but offences, wrongs, and sallies 
 of vengeance often proceed from individual citizens, 
 with insubordination and anarchy sometimes, — so in 
 the Universal State War will no longer prevail ; but 
 here also, between the different nations, who will be as 
 citizens in the Federation, there may be wrongs and 
 aggressions, with resistance even to the common power. 
 In short, the Universal State will be subject to the same 
 accidents as the Municipal State. 
 
 The cause of Permanent Peace became a thesis for 
 Universities. At Stuttgart, in 1796, there was an ora- 
 tion by J. H. La Motte, entitled Utrum Pax Perpetua 
 pangi possit, nee ne ? And at Leyden, in 1808, there 
 was a Dissertation by Gabinus de Wal, on taking his 
 degree as Doctor of Laws, entitled Disputatio Philo- 
 sophico-Juridiea de Conjundione Populorum ad Pacem 
 Pcrpetuam? This learned and elaborate performance, 
 after reviewing previous efforts in the cause, accords a 
 
 ^ Ueber das Uiivermeidliche Uiirecht. 
 
 2 At the Paris Peace Congress of 1849, since the delivery of this Address, 
 with Victor Hugo as President, and Richard Cobden as an active member, 
 Mr. Surmgar, of Amsterdam, referred to this Dissertation, and announced a 
 copy of it which liad been given him for presentation to tiie Congress by the 
 son of the author, John de Wal, Professor of .Jurisprudence at Leyden. Jly 
 own copy is a valued present from Elihu Burritt.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 207 
 
 preeminence to Kant. Such a voice from the Univer- 
 sity is the token of a growing sentiment, and an exam- 
 ple for the youth of our own day. 
 
 Meanwhile in England the cause was espoused hy 
 that indefatigable jurist and reformer, Jeremy Bentham, 
 who embraced it in his comprehensive labors. In an 
 Essay on International Law, bearing date 1786-89, 
 and first published in 1839, by his executor, Dr. Bow- 
 ring,i he develops a plan for Universal and Perpetual 
 Peace in the spirit of Saint-Pierre. Such, according to 
 him, is the extreme folly, the madness, of War, tliat 
 on no supposition can it be otherwise than mischievous. 
 All Trade, in essence, is advantageous, even to the party 
 who profits by it the least ; all War, in essence, is ru- 
 inous : and yet the great employments of Government 
 are to treasure up occasions of War, and to put fetters 
 upon Trade. To remedy this evil, Bentham proposes, 
 first, " The reduction and fixation of the forces of the 
 several nations that compose the European system"; 
 and in enforcing this proposition, he says : " Whatsoever 
 nation should get the start of the other in making tlie 
 proposal to reduce and fix the amount of its armed 
 force would crown itself with everlasting honor. The 
 risk would be nothing, the gain certain. This gain 
 would be the giving an incontrovertible demonstration 
 of its own disposition to peace, and of the opposite dis- 
 position in the other nation, in case of its rejecting 
 the proposal." He next proposes an International Court 
 of Judicature, with power to report its opinion, and to 
 circulate it in each nation, and, after a certain delay, to 
 put a contumacious nation under the ban. He denies 
 
 1 Beiitliain's Works, Part VIII pp. 537-554.
 
 208 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 that this system can be styled visionary in any respect : 
 for it is proved, first, that it is the interest of the parties 
 concerned ; secondly, that the parties are already sen- 
 sible of this interest ; and, thirdly, that, enlightened by 
 diplomatic experience in difficult and complicated con- 
 ventions, they are prepared for the new situation. All 
 this is sober and practical. 
 
 Coming to our own country, I find many names for 
 commemoration. No person, in all history, has borne 
 his testimony in phrases of greater pungency or more 
 convincing truth than Benjamin Franklin. " In my 
 opinion," he says, "there never was a good War or a 
 bad Peace " ; and he asks, " When will mankind be 
 convinced that all Wars are follies, very expensive, and 
 very mischievous, and agree to settle their differences 
 by arbitration ? Were they to do it even by the cast of 
 a die, it would be better than by fighting and destroy- 
 ing each other." Then again he says : " We make daily 
 great improvements in natural, there is one I wish to 
 see in moral philosophy, — the discovery of a plan that 
 would induce and oblige nations to settle their dis- 
 putes without first cutting one another's throats. When 
 will human reason be sufficiently improved to see the 
 advantage of this ? " ^ As diplomatist, Franklin strove 
 to limit the evils of War. To him, \Ahile Minister at 
 Paris, belongs the honor of those instructions, more 
 glorious for the American name than any battle, where 
 our naval cruisers, among whom was the redoubtable 
 Paul Jones, were directed, in the interest of univer- 
 
 1 Letter to .Tosiah Quiney, Sept. 11, 1783; to Mrs. Mary Hewson, Jan. 27, 
 1783; to Kiclianl Price, Feb. 6, 1780: Works, ed. Sparlis, Vol. X. p. 11; 
 IX. p. 476; VIII. p. 417.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 209 
 
 sal science, to allow a free and undisturbed passage to 
 the returning expedition of Captain Cook, the great cir- 
 cumnavigator, who " steered Britain's oak into a world 
 unknown." ^ To him also belongs the honor of intro- 
 ducing into a treaty witli Prussia a provision for the 
 abolition of that special scandal, Private War on the 
 Ocean.2 In similar strain with Franklin, Jefferson says : 
 "Will nations never devise a more rational umpire of 
 differences than Force ? . . . . War is an instrument 
 entirely inefficient towards redressing wrong ; it multi- 
 plies, instead of indemnifying losses." ^ And he proceeds 
 to exhibit the waste of AVar, and the beneficent conse- 
 quences, if its expenditures could be diverted to pur- 
 poses of practical utility. 
 
 To Franklin especially must thanks be rendered for 
 authoritative words and a precious example. But there 
 are three names, fit successors of Saint-Pierre, — I speak 
 only of those on whose career is the seal of death, — 
 which even more than his deserve affectionate regard. I 
 refer to Xoah Worcester, William Ellery Channing, and 
 William Ladd. To dwell on the services of these our 
 virtuous champions would be a grateful task. The oc- 
 casion allows a passing notice only. 
 
 In Worcester we behold the single-minded country 
 clergyman, little gifted as preacher, with narrow means, 
 — and his example teaches what such a character may 
 accomplish, — in humble retirement, pained by the re- 
 ports of War, and at last, as the protracted drama of 
 
 1 Franklin's Works, ed. Sparks, Vol. V. pp. 122-124. Collections of 
 Mass. Hist. Soc, Vol. IV. pp. 79-85. 
 
 2 Franklin's Works, ed. Sparks, Vol. II. pp. 485, 486. Lyman's Diplo- 
 macy of the United States, Vol. L pp. 143-148. 
 
 3 Letter to Sir John Sinclair, March 23, 1798: Transactions of the Amer- 
 ican Philosophical Society, Vol. IV. pp. 330, 321.
 
 210 WAE SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 battles was about to close at Waterloo, publishing that 
 appeal, entitled "A Solemn Eeview of the Custom of 
 War," which has been so extensively circulated at home 
 and abroad, and has done so much to correct the invet- 
 erate prejudices which surround the cause. He was the 
 founder, and for some time the indefatigable agent, of 
 the earliest Peace Society in the country. 
 
 The eloquence of Channing was often, both with. 
 tongue and pen, directed against War. He was heart- 
 struck by the awful degradation it caused, rudely blot- 
 ting out in men the image of God their Father ; and his 
 words of flame have hghted in many souls those exter- 
 minating fires that can never die, until this evil is swept 
 from the earth. 
 
 WilHam Ladd, after completing his education at Har- 
 vard University, engaged in commercial pursuits. Early, 
 through Iris own exertions, blessed with competency, he 
 could not be idle. He was childless ; and his affec- 
 tions embraced all the children of the human family. 
 Like Worcester and Channing, his attention was ar- 
 rested by the portentous crime of War, and he was 
 moved to dedicate the remainder of his days to ear- 
 nest, untiring effort for its abolition, — going about from 
 place to place inculcating the lesson of Peace, with sim- 
 ple, cheerful manner winning the hearts of good men, 
 and dropping in many youthful souls precious seeds to 
 ripen in more precious fruit. He was the founder of the 
 American Peace Society, in which was finally merged 
 the earlier association established by Worcester. By a 
 long series of practical labors, and especially by devel- 
 oping, maturing, and publishing the plan of an Inter- 
 national Congress, has William T.add enrolled himself 
 among the benefactors of mankind.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 211 
 
 Such are some of the names which hereafter, when 
 the warrior no longer usurps the blessings promised 
 to the peacemaker, will be inscribed on immortal tab- 
 lets. 
 
 Now, at last, in the fulness of time, in our own day, 
 by the labors of men of Peace, by the irresistible co- 
 operating affinities of mankind, nations seem to be visi- 
 bly approaching — even amidst tumult and discord — 
 that Unity so long hoped for, prayed for. By steam- 
 boat, railroad, and telegraph, outstripping the traditional 
 movements of government, men of all countries daily 
 commingle, ancient prejudices fast dissolve, while an- 
 cient sympathies strengthen, and new sympathies come 
 into being. The chief commercial cities of England send 
 addresses of friendship to the chief commercial cities of 
 France ; and the latter delight to return the salutation. 
 Similar cords of amity are twined between cities in Eng- 
 land and cities in our own country. The visit to Lon- 
 don of a band of French National Guards is reciprocated 
 by the visit to Paris of a large company of Englishmen. 
 Thus are achieved pacific conquests, where formerly all 
 the force of arms could not prevail. Mr. Vattemare per- 
 ambulates Europe and the United States to establish 
 a system of literary international exchanges. By the 
 daily agency of the press we are sharers in the trials 
 and triumphs of brethren in all lands, and, renouncing 
 the solitude of insulated nationalities, learn to live in 
 the communion of associated states. By multitudi- 
 nous reciprocities of commerce are developed relations 
 of mutual dependence, stronger than treaties or alliances 
 engrossed on parchment, — while, from a truer apprecia- 
 tion of the ethics of government, we arrive at the con- 
 viction, that the divine injunction, " Do unto others as
 
 212 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 you would have them do unto you," was spoken to na- 
 tions as well as to individuals. 
 
 From increasing knowledge of each other, and from a 
 higher sense of duty as brethren of the Human Family, 
 arises among mankind an increasing interest in each 
 other ; and charity, once, like patriotism, exclusively na- 
 tional, is beginning to clasp the world in its embrace. 
 Every discovery of science, every aspiration of philan- 
 thropy, no matter what the country of its origin, is now 
 poured into the common stock. Assemblies, whether of 
 science or philanthropy, are no longer municipal merely, 
 but welcome delegates from all the nations. Science has 
 convened Congresses in Italy, Germany, and England. 
 Great causes, grander even than Science, — like Temper- 
 ance, Freedom, Peace, — have drawn to London large 
 bodies of men from different countries, under the title 
 of World Conventions, in whose very name and spirit of 
 fraternity we discern the prevailing tendency. Such a 
 convention, dedicated to Universal Peace, held at Lon- 
 don in 1 843, was graced l)y many well known for labors 
 of humanity. At Frankfort, in 184G, was assembled a 
 large Congress from all parts of Europe, to consider 
 what could be done fur those in prison. The succeed- 
 ing year witnessed, at Brussels, a similar Congress, con- 
 vened in the same cliarity. At last, in August, 1848, 
 we hail, at Brussels, another Congress, insi)ired by the 
 presence of a generous American, Elihu Burritt, — who 
 has left liis anvil at home to teach the nations how to 
 change their swords into ploughshares and their spears 
 into pruning-liooks, — presided over by an eminent 
 Belgian magistrate, and composed of numerous individ- 
 uals, speaking various languages, living under diverse 
 forms of government, various in political opinions, dif-
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 213 
 
 fering in religious convictions, but all moved by a com- 
 mon sentiment to seek the abolition of War, and the 
 Disarming of the Nations. 
 
 The Peace Congress at Brussels constitutes an epoch. 
 It is a palpable development of those international at- 
 tractions and affinities which now await their final or- 
 ganization. The resolutions it adopted are so important 
 that I cannot hesitate to introduce them. 
 
 " 1. That, in the judgment of this Congress, an appeal 
 to arms for the purpose of deciding disputes among nations 
 is a custom condemned alike by religion, reason, justice, hu- 
 manity, and the best interests of the people, — and that, 
 therefore, it considers it to be the duty of the civilized 
 world to adopt measures calculated to effect its entire abo- 
 lition. 
 
 *' 2. That it is of the highest importance to urge on the 
 several governments of Europe and America the necessity 
 of introducing a clause into all International Treaties, pro- 
 viding for the settlement of all disputes by Arbitration, in 
 an amicable manner, and according to the rules of justice 
 and equity, by special Arbitrators, or a Supreme Interna- 
 tional Court, to be invested with power to decide in cases 
 of necessity, as a last resort. 
 
 " 3. That the speedy convocation of a Congress of Na- 
 tions, composed of duly appointed representatives, for the 
 purpose of framing a well-digested and authoritative Inter- 
 national Code, is of the greatest importance, inasmuch as the 
 organization of such a body, and the unanimous adoption of 
 such a Code, wovdd be an effectual means of promoting Uni- 
 versal Peace. 
 
 " 4. That this Congress respectfull}' calls the attention of 
 civilized governments to the necessity of a general and simul- 
 taneous disarmament, as a means whereby they may greatly 
 diminish the financial burdens which press upon them, re-
 
 214 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 move a fertile cause of irritation and inquietude, inspire mu- 
 tual confidence, and promote the interchange of good offices, 
 which, while they advance the interests of each state in par- 
 ticular, contribute largely to the maintenance of general 
 Peace, and the lasting prosperity of nations." 
 
 In France these resolutions received the adhesion of 
 Lamartine, — in England, of Eichard Cobden. They 
 have been welcomed throughout Great Britain, by large 
 and enthusiastic popular assemblies, hanging with de- 
 light upon the practical le.ssons of peace on earth and 
 good-will to men. At the suggestion of the Congress 
 at Brussels, and in harmony with the demands of an 
 increasing public sentiment, another Congress is called 
 at Paris, in the approaching month of August. The 
 place of meeting is auspicious. There, as in the very 
 cave of ^olus, whence have so often raged forth con- 
 flicting winds and resounding tempests, are to gather 
 delegates from various nations, including a large number 
 from our own country, whose glad work will be to hush 
 and imprison these winds and tempests, and to bind 
 them in the chains of everlasting Peace. 
 
 Not in voluntary assemblies only has our cause found 
 welcome. Into legislative halls it has made its way. A 
 document now before me, in the handwriting of Samuel 
 Adams, an approved patriot of the Kevolution, bears 
 witness to liis desire for action on this subject in the 
 Congress of the United States. It is in the form of a 
 Letter of Instructions from the Legislature of Massa- 
 chusetts to the delegates in Congress of this State, and, 
 though without date, seems to have been prepared some 
 time between tlie Treaty of Peace in 1783 and tlie adop- 
 tion of the National Constitution in 1789. It is as fol- 
 lows.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 215 
 
 " Gentlemen, — Although the General Court have lately 
 instructed you concerning various matters of very great im- 
 portance to this Commonwealth, they cannot finish the busi- 
 ness of the year until they have transmitted to you a further 
 instruction, which they have long had in contemplation, and 
 which, if their most ardent wish could be obtained, might in 
 its consequences extensively promote the happiness of man. 
 
 "You are, therefore, hereby instructed and urged to move 
 the United States in Congress assembled to take into their 
 deep and most serious consideration, whether any measures 
 can by them be used, through their influence with such of 
 the nations in Europe with whom they are united by Treaties 
 of Amity or Commerce, that National Differences may be 
 settled and determined without the necessity of War, in 
 which the world has too long been deluged, to the destruc- 
 tion of human happiness and the disgrace of human reason 
 and government. 
 
 " If, after the most mature deliberation, it shall appear 
 that no measures can be taken at present on this very inter- 
 esting subject, it is conceived it would redound much to the 
 honor of the United States that it was attended to by their 
 great Representative in Congress, and be accepted as a testi- 
 mony of gratitude for most signal favors granted to the said 
 States by Him who is the almighty and most gracious Father 
 and Friend of mankind. 
 
 " And you are further instructed to move that the forego- 
 ing Letter of Instructions be entered on the Journals of Con- 
 gress, if it may be thought proper, that so it may remain 
 for the inspection of the delegates from this Commonwealth, 
 if necessary, in any future time." ^ 
 
 I am not able to ascertain whether this document 
 ever became a legislative act ; but unquestionably it 
 attests, in authentic form, that a great leader in Mas- 
 
 1 MSS. of Samuel Adams, belonging to the historian, George Bancroft.
 
 216 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 sachusetts, after the establishment of that Independence 
 for which he had so assiduously labored, hoped to enlist 
 not only the Legislature of his State, but the Congress 
 of the United States, in efforts for the emancipation of 
 nations from the tyranny of War. For this early effort, 
 when the cause of Permanent Peace had never been 
 introduced to any legislative body, Samuel Adams de- 
 serves grateful mention. 
 
 Many years later the subject reached Congress, where, 
 in 1838, it was considered in an elaborate report by the 
 late Mr. Legare, in behalf of the Committee on Foreign 
 Affairs of the House of Eepresentatives, prompted by me- 
 morials from the friends of Peace. While injudiciously 
 discountenancing an Association of Nations, as not yet 
 sanctioned by public opinion, the Committee acknowl- 
 edge " that the union of all nations in a state of Peace, 
 under the restraints and the protection of law, is the 
 ideal perfection of civil society " ; that they " concur 
 fully in the benevolent object of the memorialists, and 
 believe that there is a visible tendency in the spirit and 
 institutions of the age towards the practical accomi)lish- 
 ment of it at some future period " ; that they " heartily 
 concur with the memorialists in recommending a refer- 
 ence to a Third Power of aP such controversies as can 
 safely be confided to any tribunal unknown to the Con- 
 stitution of our own country " ; and that " such a prac- 
 tice will be followed by other powers, and will soon grow 
 up into the customary law of civilized nations." ^ 
 
 The Legislature of ]\Iassachusetts, by a series of resolu- 
 tions, in harmony with the early sentiments of Samuel 
 Adams, adopted, in 1844, witli exceeding unanimity, 
 declare, that they " regard Arbitration as a practical and 
 
 1 Reports of Coniminocs, 25th Cong. 2d Sess., No. 979
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 217 
 
 desirable substitute for War, in the adjustment of inter- 
 national differences " ; and still further declare their 
 "earnest desire that the government of the United 
 States would, at the earliest opportunity, take measures 
 for obtaining the consent of the powers of Christendom 
 to the establishment of a general Convention or Congress 
 of Nations, for the purpose of settling the principles of 
 International Law, and of organizing a High Court of 
 Nations to adjudge all cases of difficulty which may be 
 brought before them by the mutual consent of two or 
 more nations."^ During the winter of 1849 the subject 
 was again presented to the American Congress by Mr. 
 Tuck, who asked the unanimous consent of the House 
 of Kepresentatives to offer the following preamble and 
 resolution : — 
 
 "Whereas the evils of War are acknowledged by all civil- 
 ized nations, and the calamities, individual and general, 
 which are inseparably connected with it, have attracted the 
 attention of many humane and enlightened citizens of this 
 and other countries ; and whereas it is the disposition of the 
 people of the United States to cooperate with others in all 
 appropriate and judicious exertions to prevent a recun-ence 
 of national conflicts ; therefore, 
 
 " Resolved, That the Committee on Foreign Affairs be di- 
 rected to inquire into the expediency of authorizing a cor- 
 respondence to be opened by the Secretary of State with 
 Foreign Governments, on the subject of procuring Treaty 
 stipulations for the reference of all future disputes to a 
 friendly Arbitration, or for the establishment, instead there- 
 of, of a Congress of Nations, to determine International Law 
 and settle international disputes."^ 
 
 1 Mass. House Documents, Sess. 1844, No. 18. 
 
 2 Congressional Globe, 30th Cong. 2d Sess., Jan. 16, 1849, p. 267. See 
 also House .Journal, Feb. 5, p. 372.
 
 218 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 Though for the present unsuccessful, this excellent ef- 
 fort prepares the way ibr another trial. 
 
 Nor does it stand alone. Almost contemporaneously, 
 M. Bouvet,in the National Assembly of France, submitted 
 a proposition of a similar character, as follows : — 
 
 " Seeing that War between nations is contrary to religion, 
 humanity, and the public well-being, the French National 
 Assembly decrees : — 
 
 " The French Republic proposes to the Governments and 
 Representative Assemblies of the different States of Europe, 
 America, and other civilized countries, to unite, by their rep- 
 resentation, in a Congress which shall have for its object a 
 proportional disarmament among the Powers, the abolition 
 of War, and a substitution for that barbarous usage of an 
 Arbitral jurisdiction, of which the said Congress shall imme- 
 diately fulfil the functions." 
 
 In an elaborate report, the French Committee on For- 
 eign Affairs, while declining at present to recommend 
 this proposition, distinctly sanction its object. 
 
 At a still earlier date, some time in the summer of 
 1848, Arnold Pvuge brought the same measure before 
 the German Parliament at Frankfort, by moving the 
 following amendment to the Report of the Committee 
 on Foreign Affairs : — 
 
 " That, as Armed Peace, by its standing armies, imposes 
 an intolerable burden upon the people of Europe, and endan- 
 gers civil freedom, we therefore recognize the necessity of 
 calling into existence a Congress of Nations, for the purpose 
 of effecting a general disarmament of Europe." 
 
 Though this proposition failed, yet the mover is re- 
 ported to have sustained it by a speech which was re- 
 ceived with applause, both in the assembly and gallery. 
 Among other things, he used these important words : —
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 219 
 
 " There is no necessity for feeding an army of military idlers 
 and eaters. There is nothing to fear from our neighbor bar- 
 barians, as they are called. You must give up the idea 
 that the French ivill eat us up, and that the Prussians ca7i 
 eat us up. Soldiers must cease to exist ; then shall no more 
 cities be bombarded. These opinions must be kept up and 
 propagated by a Congress of Nations. I vote that the na- 
 tions of Europe disarm at once." 
 
 In the British Parliament the cause has found an able 
 representative in Mr. Cobden, whose name is an omen 
 of success. He has addressed many large popular meet- 
 ings in its behaK, and already, by speech and motion in 
 the House of Commons, has striven for a reduction in 
 the armaments of Great Britain. Only lately he gave 
 notice of the following motion, which he intends to call 
 up in that assembly at the earliest moment : — 
 
 " That an humble address be presented to her Majesty, 
 praying that she will be graciously pleased to direct her 
 Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to enter into 
 communication with Foreign Powers, inviting them to con- 
 cur in treaties binding the respective parties, in the event of 
 any future misunderstanding which cannot be arranged by 
 amicable negotiation, to refer the matter in dispute to the 
 decision of Arbitrators." 
 
 Such is the Peace Movement.^ With the ever-flowing 
 current of time it has gained ever-increasing strength, 
 and it has now become like a mighty river. At first 
 but a slender fountain, sparkhng on some lofty summit, 
 it has swollen with every tributary rill, with the friendly 
 rains and dews of heaven, and at last with the associate 
 waters of various nations, until it washes the feet of 
 
 1 It will be remarked that this history stops with the date of this Ad- 
 dress.
 
 220 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 populous cities, rejoicing on its peaceful banks. By the 
 voices of poets, — by tlie aspirations and labors of states- 
 men, philosophers, and good men, — by the experience of 
 history, — by the peaceful union into nations of families, 
 tribes, and provinces, divesting themselves of " liberty " 
 to wage War, — by the example of leagues, alliances, 
 confederacies, and congresses, — by the kindred move- 
 ments of our age, all tending to Unity, — by an awakened 
 public sentiment, and a growing recognition of Human 
 Brotherhood, — by the sympathies of large popular as- 
 semblies, — by the formal action of legislative bodies, — 
 by the promises of Christianity, are we encouraged to 
 persevere. So doing, we act not against Nature, but 
 with Nature, making ourselves, according to the injunc- 
 tion of Lord Bacon, its ministers and interpreters. From 
 no single man, from no body of men, does this cause 
 proceed. Not from Saint-Pierre or Leibnitz, from Eous- 
 seau or Kant, in other days, — not from Jay or Burritt, 
 from Cobden or Lamartine, in our own. It is the irre- 
 pressible utterance of the longing with which the heart 
 of Humanity labors ; it is the universal expression of 
 the Spirit of the Age, thirsting after Harmony ; it is 
 the heaven-born whisper of Truth, immortal and omnip- 
 otent ; it is the word of God, published in commands 
 as from the burning bush ; it is the voice of Christ, 
 declaring to all mankind that they are brothers, and 
 saying to the tvirbulent nationalities of the earth, as to 
 the raging sea, " Peace, be still ! " 
 
 Gentlemen of the Peace Society, — Such is the 
 "War System of the Commonwealth of Nations ; and such 
 are the means and auguries of its overtlirow. To aid 
 and direct pubhc sentiment so as to hasten the com-
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 221 
 
 ing of this day is the chosen object of this Society. All 
 who have candidly attended me in this exposition will 
 bear witness that our attempt is in no way inconsistent 
 with the human character, — that we do not seek to 
 suspend or hold in check any general laws of Nature, 
 but simply to overthrow a barbarous Institution, having 
 the sanction of International Law, and to bring nations 
 within that system of social order which has already 
 secured such inestimable good to civil society, and is as 
 applicable to nations in their relations with each other 
 as to individuals. 
 
 Tendencies of nations, as revealed in history, teach 
 that our aims are in harmony with prevailing laws, which 
 God, in his benevolence, has ordained for mankind. 
 
 Examples teach also that we attempt nothing that is 
 not directly practicable. If the several States of the 
 Helvetic Eepublic, if the thirty independent States of 
 the North American Union, if the thirty-eight inde- 
 pendent sovereignties of the German Confederation, 
 can, by formal stipulation, divest themselves of the 
 right of war with each other, and consent to submit all 
 mutual controversies to Arbitration, or to a High Court 
 of Judicature, then can the Commonwealth of Nations 
 do the same. Nor should they hesitate, while, in the 
 language of William Penn, such surpassing instances 
 show that it may he done, and Europe, by her incom- 
 parable miseries, that it ought to he done. Nay, more, 
 — if it wovdd be criminal in these several clusters of 
 States to reestablish the Institution of War as Arbiter 
 of Justice, then is it criminal in the Commonwealth of 
 Nations to continue it. 
 
 Changes already wrought in the Laws of War teach 
 that the whole System may be abolished. The exist-
 
 222 "^VAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 ence of laws implies authority that sanctions or enacts, 
 which, in the present case, is the Commonwealth of 
 Nations. This authority can, of course, modify or ab- 
 rogate what it originally sanctioned or enacted. In the 
 exercise of this power, the Laws of War have been mod- 
 ified, from time to time, in important particulars. Pris- 
 oners taken in battle cannot now be killed ; nor can they 
 be reduced to slavery. Poison and assassination can no 
 longer be employed against an enemy. Private property 
 on land cannot be seized. Persons occujiied on land 
 exclusively with the arts of Peace cannot be molested. 
 It remains that the authority by which the Laws of 
 War have been thus modified should entirely abrogate 
 them. Their existence is a disgrace to civilization ; for 
 it implies the common coyiscnt of nations to the Arbit- 
 rament of War, as regulated by these laws. Like the 
 Laws of the Duel, they should peld to some arbitra- 
 ment of reason. If the former, once so firmly imbedded 
 in Municipal Law, could be abolished by individual na- 
 tions, so also can the Laws of War, which are a part of 
 International Law, be abolished by the Commonwealth 
 of Nations. In the light of reason and religion there 
 can be but one Law of War, — the great law which pro- 
 nounces it unwise, unchristian, and unjust, and forbids 
 it forever, as a crime. 
 
 Thus distinctly alleging the practicability of our aims, 
 I may properly introduce an incontrovertible authority. 
 Listen to the words of an American statesman, whose 
 long life was spent, at home or abroad, in the service of 
 his country, and whose undoubted familiarity with the 
 Law of Nations was never surpassed, — John Quincy 
 Adams. " War," he says, in one of the legacies of his 
 venerable experience, " by the common consent and
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 223 
 
 mere will of civilized man, has not only been divested of 
 its most atrocious cruelties, but for multitudes, growing 
 multitudes of individuals, lias already been and is abol- 
 ished. Why should it not be abolished for all ? Let it be 
 impressed upon the heart of every one of you, impress 
 it upon the minds of your children, that this total 
 abolition of War upon earth is an improvement in the 
 condition of man entirely dependent on his own will. 
 He cannot repeal or change the laws of physical Nature. 
 He cannot redeem himself from the ills that flesh is 
 heir to. But the ills of War and Slavery are all of his 
 own creation ; he has but to will, and he effects the 
 cessation of them altogether." ^ 
 
 Well does John Quincy Adams say that mankind 
 have but to will it, and War is abolished. Will it, and 
 War disappears like the Duel. AVill it, and War skulks 
 like the Torture. Will it, and War fades away like the 
 fires of religious persecution. Will it, and War passes 
 among profane follies, like the ordeal of burning plough- 
 shares. Will it, and War hurries to join the earlier 
 institution of Cannibalism. Will it, and War is chas- 
 tised from the Commonwealth of Nations, as Slavery 
 has been chastised from municipal jurisdictions by Eng- 
 land and France, by Tunis and Tripoli. 
 
 To arouse this public will, which, like a giant, yet 
 sleeps, but whose awakened voice nothing can with- 
 stand, should be our endeavor. The true character of 
 the War System must be exposed. To be hated, it 
 needs only to be comprehended ; and it will surely be 
 abolished as soon as this is accomplished. See, then, 
 that it is comprehended. Exhibit its manifold atro- 
 
 1 Oration at Newburyport, July 4, 1837, pp. 56, 67.
 
 224 AVAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 cities. Strip away all its presumptuous pretences, its 
 specious apologies, its hideous sorceries. Above all, 
 men must no longer deceive tbeuLselves by the shallow 
 thouglit that this System is the- necessary incident of 
 imperfect human nature, and thus cast upon God the 
 responsibility for their crimes. They must see clearly 
 that it is a monster of their own creation, born with 
 their consent, whose vital spark is fed by their breath, 
 and without tlieir breath must necessarily die. They 
 must see distinctly, what I have so carefully presented 
 to-niuht, that AYar, under the Law of Nations, is notliing 
 but an Institution, and the whole War System nothing 
 but an Establishment for the administration of inter- 
 national justice, for which the Commonwealth of Nations 
 is directly responsible, and which that Commonwealth 
 can at any time remove. 
 
 Eecognizing these things, men must cease to cherish 
 War, and will renounce all appeal to its Arliitrament. 
 They will forego rights, rather than wage an irreligious 
 battle. But, criminal and irrational as is War, unhap- 
 pily, in the present state of human error, we cannot 
 expect large numbers to appreciate its true character, 
 and to hate it with that perfect hatred making them 
 renounce its agency, unless we offer an approved and 
 practical mode of determining international controver- 
 sies, as a substitute for the imagined necessity of the bar- 
 barous ordeal. This we are able to do; and so doing, 
 we reflect new light upon the atrocity of a system which 
 not only tramples upon all the precejits of the Christian 
 faith, but defies justice and discards reason. 
 
 1. The most complete and permanent sul)stitute would 
 be a Congress of Nations, with a High Court of Judica-
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 225 
 
 ture. Sucli a system, while admitted on all sides to 
 promise excellent results, is opposed on two grounds. 
 First, because, as regards the smaller states, it would 
 be a tremendous engine of oppression, subversive of 
 their political independence. Surely, it could not be 
 so oppressive as the War System. But the experience 
 of the smaller States in the German Confederation and 
 in the American Union, nay, the experience of Bel- 
 gium and Holland by the side of the overtopping power 
 of France, and the experience of Denmark and Sweden 
 in the very night-shade of Russia, all show the futility 
 of tliis objection. Secondly, because the decrees of such 
 a court could not be carried into effect. Even if they 
 were enforced by the combined power of the associate 
 nations, the sword, as the executive arm of the high 
 tribunal, would be only the melancholy instrument of 
 Justice, not the Arbiter of Justice, and therefore not 
 condemned by the conclusive reasons against inter- 
 national appeals to the sword. From the experience 
 of history, and particularly from the experience of the 
 thirty States of our Union, we learn that the occasion 
 for any executive arm will be rare. The State of Ehode 
 Island, in its recent controversy with Massachusetts, 
 submitted with much indifference to the adverse decree 
 of the Supreme Court; and I doubt not that Missouri 
 and Iowa will submit with equal contentment to any 
 determination of their present controversy by the same 
 tribunal. The same submission would attend the de- 
 crees of any Court of Judicature established by the 
 Commonwealth of Nations. There is a growing sense 
 of justice, combined with a growing might of public 
 opinion, too little known to the soldier, that would 
 maintain the judgments of the august tribunal assem-
 
 226 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 bled in the face of the Nations, better than the swords 
 of all the marshals of France, better than the bloody 
 terrors of Austerlitz or Waterloo. 
 
 The idea of a Congress of Nations with a High Court 
 of Judicature is as practicable as its consummation is 
 confessedly dear to the friends of Universal Peace. 
 Whenever this Congress is convened, as surely it will 
 be, I know not all the names that will deserve com- 
 memoration in its earliest proceedings ; but there are 
 two, whose particular and long-continued advocacy of 
 this Institution will connect them indissolubly with its 
 fame, — the Abbe Saint-Pierre, of France, and William 
 Ladd, of the United States. 
 
 2. There is still another substitute for War, whicli is 
 not exposed even to the shallow objections launched 
 against a CongTess of Nations. By formal treaties be- 
 tween two or more nations, Arbitration may be estab- 
 lished as the mode of determining controversies between 
 them. In every respect this is a contrast to War. It 
 is rational, humane, and cheap. Above all, it is consist- 
 ent with the teachings of Christianity. As I mention 
 this substitute, I should do injustice to the cause and 
 to my own feelings, if I did not express our obligations 
 to its efficient proposer and advocate, our fellow-citizen, 
 and the President of this Society, the honored son of an 
 illustrious father, whose absence to-night enables me, 
 without offending his known modesty, to introduce this 
 tribute : I mean William Jay. 
 
 The complete overthrow of the War System, involv- 
 ing the disarming of the Nations, would follow the es- 
 tablishment of a Congress of Nations, or any general
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 227 
 
 system of Arbitration. Then at last our aims would 
 be accomplished ; then at last Peace would be organ- 
 ized among the Nations. Then might Christians repeat 
 the fitful boast of the generous Mohawk : " We have 
 thrown the hatchet so high into the air, and beyond the 
 skies, that no arm on earth can reach to bring it down." 
 Incalculable sums, now devoted to armaments and the 
 destructive industry of AVar, would be turned to the 
 productive industry of Art and to offices of Beneficence. 
 As in the dead and rotten carcass of the lion which 
 roared against the strong man of Israel, after a time, 
 were a swarm of bees and honey, so would the enor- 
 mous carcass of War, dead and rotten, be filled with 
 crowds of useful laborers and all good works, and the 
 riddle of Samson be once more interpreted: "Out of 
 the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came 
 forth sweetness." 
 
 Put together the products of all the mines in the 
 world, — the glistening ore of California, the accumu- 
 lated treasures of Mexico and Peru, with the diamonds 
 of Golconda, — and the whole shining heap will be less 
 than the means thus diverted from War to Peace. Un- 
 der the influence of such a change, civilization wiU be 
 quickened anew. Then wiU happy Labor find its re- 
 ward, and the whole land be fiUed with its increase. 
 There is no aspiration of Knowledge, no vision of Chari- 
 ty, no venture of Enterprise, no fancy of Art, which may 
 not then be fufilled. The great unsolved problem of 
 Pauperism will be solved at last. There will be no pau- 
 pers, when there are no soldiers. The social struggles, 
 so fearfully disturbing European nations, will die away 
 in the happiness of unarmed Peace, no longer incum- 
 bered by the oppressive system of War; nor can there
 
 228 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 be well-founded hope tliat tliese struggles will perma- 
 nently cease, so long as this system endures. The people 
 ought not to rest, they cannot rest, while this system 
 endures. As King Arthur, prostrate on the earth, with 
 bloody streams pouring from his veins, could not be at 
 ease, until his sword, the terrific Excalibar, was thrown 
 into the flood, so the Nations, now prostrate on the earth, 
 with bloody streams pouring from their veins, cannot be 
 at ease, until they fling far away the wicked sword of 
 War. King Arthur said to his attending knight, " As 
 thou love me, spare not to thi'ow it in"; and this is the 
 voice of the Nations also. 
 
 Lop off the unchristian armaments of the Christian 
 Nations, extirpate these martial cancers, that they may 
 feed no longer upon the life-blood of the people, and 
 society itself, now "weary and sick, will become fresh 
 and young, — not by opening its veins, as under the 
 incantation of Medea, in the wild hope of infusing new 
 strength, but by the amputation and complete removal 
 of a deadly excrescence, with all its unutterable debil- 
 ity and exhaustion. Energies hitherto withdrawn from 
 proper healthful action will then replenish it with un- 
 wonted life and vigor, giving new expansion to every 
 human capacity, and new elevation to every human 
 aim. And society at last shall rejoice, like a strong 
 man, to run its race. 
 
 Imagination toils to picture the boundless good that 
 will be achieved. As War with its deeds is infinitely 
 evil and accursed, so will this triumph of Permanent 
 Peace be infinitely beneficent and blessed. Sometliing 
 of its consequences M^ere seen, in prophetic vision, even 
 by that incarnate Spirit of War, NajDoleon Bonaparte, 
 when, from his island-prison of St. Helena, looking
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 229 
 
 back upon his mistaken career, lie was led to confess 
 the True Grandeur of Peace. Out of his mouth let its 
 praise be spoken. " I had the project," he said, mourn- 
 fully regretting the opportunity he had lost, " at the 
 general peace of Amiens, of bringing each Power to an 
 immense reduction of its standmg armies. I wished 
 a European Institute, with European prizes, to direct, 
 associate, and bring together all the learned societies of 
 Europe. Then, perhaps, through the universal spread of 
 light, it might be permitted to anticipate for the great 
 European Family the establishment of an American 
 Congress, or an Amphictyonic Council; and what a 
 perspective then of strength, of greatness, of happiness, 
 of prosperity ! What a sublime and magnificent spec- 
 tacle ! " 1 
 
 Such is our cause. In transcendent influence, it em- 
 braces human beneficence in all its forms. It is the 
 comprehensive charity, enfolding all the charities of aU. 
 None so vast as to be above its protection, none so 
 lowly as not to feel its care. Eeligion, Knowledge, 
 Freedom, Virtue, Happiness, in all their manifold forms, 
 depend upon Peace. Sustained by Peace, they lean 
 upon the Everlasting Arm. And this is not aU. Law, 
 Order, Government, derive from Peace new sanctions. 
 Nor can they attain to that complete dominion wliich 
 is our truest safeguard, until, by the overthrow of the 
 War System, they comprehend the Commonwealth of 
 Nations, — 
 
 " And Sovereign law, the world's collected loiU, 
 O'er thrones and globes elate, 
 Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill."^ 
 
 1 Las Cases, Memorial de Sainte-H^lfene, November, 1816. 
 
 2 Sir William Jones, Ode in Imitation of Alcseus.
 
 230 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 In the name of Religion profaned, of Knowledge mis- 
 applied and perverted, of Freedom crushed to earth, of 
 Virtue dethroned, of human Happiness violated, in tlie 
 name of Law, Order, and Government, I call upon you 
 for union to establish the supremacy of Peace. There 
 must be no hesitation. With the lips you confess 
 the infinite evil of War. Are you in earnest ? Ac- 
 tion must follow confession. All must unite to ren- 
 der the recurrence of this evil impossible. Science 
 and Humanity everywhere put forth aU possible energy 
 against cholera and pestilence. Wliy not e(|ual energy 
 against an evil more fearful than cholera or pestilence ? 
 Each man must consider the cause his own. Let him 
 animate his neighbors. Let him seek, in every proper 
 way, to influence the rulers of the Nations, and, above 
 all, the rulers of this ha})py land. 
 
 Tlie old, the middle-aged, and the young must com- 
 bine in a common cause. The pulpit, the school, the 
 college, and the public street must speak for it. Preach 
 it, minister of the Prince of Peace ! let it never be 
 forgotten in conversation, sermon, or prayer ; nor any 
 longer seek, by specious theory, to reconcile the mon- 
 strous War System Avith the precepts of Christ ! Instil 
 it, teacher of childhood and youth ! in the early thoughts 
 of your precious charge ; exhibit the wickedness of War 
 and the beauty of Peace ; let your warnings sink deep 
 among those purifying and strengthening influences 
 which ripen into true manhood. Scholar ! Avrite it in 
 your books, so that all shall read it. Poet ! sing it, so 
 that all shall love it. Let the interests of commerce, 
 whose threads of golden tissue interknit the Nations, 
 enlist the traffickers of the earth in its behalf. And 
 you, servant of the law ! sharer of my own peculiar
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 231 
 
 toils, mindful that the law is silent in the midst of 
 arms, join to preserve, uphold, and extend its sway. 
 Eemember, politician ! that our cause is too universal 
 to become the exclusive possession of any political par- 
 ty, or to be confined within any geographical limits. 
 See to it, statesman and ruler ! that the principles of 
 Peace are as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by 
 night. Let the Abolition of War, and the Overthrow of 
 the War System, with the Disarming of the Nations, be 
 your guiding star. Be this your pious diplomacy ! Be 
 this your lofty Cluistian statesmanship ! 
 
 As a measure simple and practical, obnoxious to no 
 objection, promising incalculable good, and presenting an 
 immediate opportunity for labor, I would invite your 
 cooperation in the effort now making at home and 
 abroad to establish Arbitration Treaties. If in tliis 
 scheme there is a tendency to avert War, — if, through 
 its agency, we may hope to prevent a single war, — and 
 who can doubt that such may be its result ? — we ought 
 to adopt it. Take the initiative. Try it, and nations 
 will never return to the barbarous system. Tliey will 
 begin to learn War no more. Let it be our privilege to 
 volunteer the proposal. Thus shall we inaugurate Per- 
 manent Peace in the diplomacy of the world. Nor should 
 we wait for other governments. In a cause so holy, no 
 government should wait for another. Let us take the 
 lead. Let our republic, powerful child of Freedom, go 
 forth, the Evangelist of Peace. Let her offer to the 
 world a Magna Charta of International Law, by which 
 the crime of War shall be forever abolished. 
 
 Wliile thus encouraging you in behalf of Universal 
 Peace, the odious din of War, mingled with pathetic
 
 232 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 appeals for Freedom, reaches us from struggling Italy, 
 from convulsed Germany, from aroused and triumphant 
 Hungary. At bidding of the Eussian Autocrat, the 
 populous Xorth threatens to pour its multitudes upon 
 the scene ; and a portentous cloud, charged with " red 
 lightning and impetuous rage," hangs over the whole 
 continent of Europe, which echoes again to the tread 
 of mustering squadrons. Alas ! must this dismal work 
 be renewed ? Can Freedom be born, can nations be 
 regenerated, only through baptism of blood ? In our 
 aspirations, I would not be blind to the teachings of 
 History, or to the actual condition of men, so long ac- 
 customed to brute force, that, to their imperfect natures, 
 it seems the only means by which injustice can be 
 crushed. With sadness I confess that we cannot ex- 
 pect the domestic repose of nations, until t;yTanny is 
 overthrown, and the principles of self-government are 
 established ; especially do I not expect imperturbable 
 peace in Italy, so long as foreign Austria, with insolent 
 iron heel, continues to tread any part of that beautiful 
 land. But whatever may be the fate of the present 
 crisis, whether it be doomed to the horrors of j^rolonged 
 strife, or shall soon brighten into the radiance of endur- 
 ing concord, I cannot doubt that the Nations are gravi- 
 tating, with resistless might, e%'en through fire and blood, 
 into peaceful forms of social order, where the War Sys- 
 tem will cease to be known. 
 
 Nay, from the experience of this hour I draw the 
 auguries of Permanent Peace. Not in any internation- 
 al strife, not in duel between nation and nation, not in 
 selfish conflict of ruler with ruler, not in the unwise 
 " game " of War, as played by king witli king, do 
 we find the origin of present commotions, "with fear
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 233 
 
 of change perplexing monarchs." It is to overturn 
 the enforced rule of military power, to crush the tyr- 
 anny of armies, and to supplant unjust government, — 
 whose only stay is physical force, and not the con- 
 sent of the governed, — that the people have risen in 
 mighty madness. So doing, they wage a battle where 
 all our sympathies must be with Freedom, while, in 
 sorrow at the unwelcome combat, we confess that vic- 
 tory is only less mournful than defeat. Through all 
 these bloody mists the eye of Faith discerns the as- 
 cending sun, struggling to shoot its life-giving beams 
 upon the outspread earth, teeming with the grander 
 products of a new civilization. Everywhere salute us 
 the signs of Progress ; and the Promised Land smiles 
 at the new epoch. His heart is cold, his eye is dull, 
 who does not perceive the change. Vainly has he read 
 the history of the Past, vainly does he feel the irrepres- 
 sible movement of the Present. Man has waded through 
 a Eed Sea of blood, and for forty centuries wandered 
 through a wilderness of wretchedness and error, but he 
 stands at last on Pisgah : like the adventurous Spaniard, 
 he has wearily climbed the mountain heights, whence 
 he may descry the vast, unbroken Pacific Sea ; like 
 the hardy Portuguese, he is sure to double this fearful 
 Cape of Storms, destined ever afterwards to be the 
 Cape of Good Hope. I would not seem too confident. 
 I know not, that, in any brief period, nations, like 
 kindred drops, will commingle into one, — that, like the 
 banyan- trees of the East, they will interlace and inter- 
 lock, until there are no longer separate trees, but one 
 united wood, 
 
 " a pillared shade 
 High overarched, and echoing walks between " ;
 
 234 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 but I rest assured, that, without renouncing any essential 
 qualities of individuality or independence, they may yet, 
 even in our own day, arrange themselves in harmony ; 
 as magnetized iron rings, — from which Plato once bor- 
 rowed an image, — under the influence of potent unseen 
 attraction,*while preserving each its own peculiar form, 
 cohere in a united chain of independent circles. From 
 the birth of this new order will spring not only inter- 
 national repose, but domestic quiet also ; and Peace will 
 become the permanent rule of civilization. The stone 
 will be rolled away from the sepulchre in which men 
 have laid their Lord, and we shall hear the new-risen 
 voice, saying, in words of blessed truth, " Lo, I am with 
 you alway, even unto the end of the world." 
 
 Here I might fitly close. Though admonished that I 
 have already occupied more of your time than I could 
 venture to claim, except for the cause, I cannot forbear 
 to consider, for a brief moment, yet one other topic, 
 which I have left thus far untouched, partly because it 
 is not directly connected with the main argument, and 
 therefore seemed inappropriate to any earlier stage, and 
 partly because I wished to impress it with my last words. 
 I refer to that greatest, most preposterous, and most irre- 
 ligious of earthly vanities, the monstrous reflection of 
 War, — Military Glory. 
 
 Let me not disguise the truth. Too true it is that this 
 vanity is still cherished by mankind, — that it is still an 
 object of ambition, — that men follow War, and count 
 its pursuit " honorable," — that feats of brute force are 
 heralded " brilliant," — and that a yet pre\ailing public 
 opinion animates unreflecting mortals to " seek the bub- 
 ble reputation even in the cannon's mouth." Too true it
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 235 
 
 is that nations persevere in offering praise and thanks- 
 giving — such as no labors of Beneficence can achie\e 
 — to the chief whose hands are red with the blood of 
 his fellow-men. 
 
 Whatever the usage of the world, whether during tlie 
 long and dreary Past or in the yet barbarous Present, 
 it must be clear to all who confront this question with 
 candor, and do not turn away from the blaze of truth, 
 that any glory from bloody strife among God's children 
 must be fugitive, evanescent, unreal. It is the offspring 
 of a deluded public sentiment, and will disappear, as we 
 learn to analyze its elements and apjjreciate its charac- 
 ter. Too long has mankind worshipped what St. Augus- 
 tine called the splendid vices, neglecting the simple vir- 
 tues, — too long cultivated the ' flaunting and noxious 
 weeds, careless of the golden corn, — too long been in- 
 sensible to that commanding law and sacred example 
 which rebuke all tlie pretensions of military glory. 
 
 Look face to face at this "glory." Study it in the 
 growing illumination of history. Eegarding War as an 
 established Arbitrament, for the adjudication of contro- 
 versies among nations, — like the Petty Wars of an ear- 
 lier period between cities, principalities, and provinces, 
 or like the Trial by Battle between individuals, — the 
 conclusion is irresistible, that an enlightened civiliza- 
 tion, when the world has reached that Unity to which 
 it tends, must condemn the partakers in its duels, and 
 their vaunted achievements, precisely as we now con- 
 demn the partakers in those wretched contests which 
 disfigure the commencement of modern history. The 
 prowess of the individual is forgotten in disgust at an 
 inglorious barbarism. 
 
 Observe this " glory " in the broad sunshine of Chris-
 
 236 WAR SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 tian truth. In all ages, even in Heathen lands, there 
 has been a peculiar reverence for the relation of Brother- 
 hood. Feuds among brothers, from that earliest " mu- 
 tual-murdering " conflict beneath the walls of Thebes, 
 have been accounted ghastly and abhorred, never to be 
 mentioned without a shudder. This sentiment was re- 
 vived in modern times, and men sought to extend the 
 circle of its influence. Warriors, like Du Guesclin, re- 
 joiced to hail each otlier as brothers. Chivalry delighted 
 in fraternities of arms sealed by vow and solenniity. 
 According to curious and savage custom, valiant knights 
 were bled together, that their blood, as it spurted forth, 
 might intermingle, and thus constitute them of one hlood, 
 which was drunk by each. So did the powerful emperor 
 of Constantinople confirm an alliance of friendship with 
 a neighbor king. The two monarchs drank of each 
 other's blood ; and then their attendants, following the 
 princely example, caught their own flowing life in a 
 wine-cup, and quaffed a mutual pledge, saying, " We are 
 brothers, of one hlood." ^ 
 
 By such profane devices men sought to establish that 
 relation, whose beauty tliey perceived, though they failed 
 to discern, that, by the ordinance of God, without any 
 human stratagem, it justly comprehended all their fel- 
 low-men. In the midst of Judaism, M^hich hated Gen- 
 
 1 Du Cange, Dissertations sur THistoire de Saint Louys par Jean Sire de 
 Joinville, Diss. XXI. Ibid. : Pctitot, M<^moires relatifs a I'Histoire de France, 
 1™ Sc^rie. Tom. III. p. 349. Sainte-Palaye, Mc^moires sur V Ancienne Che- 
 valerie, Part. III. Tom. I. p. 225. The same attempt at Brotherhood ap- 
 pears in the " Loka-Lenna, or Strife of Loc," quoted by Sir Walter Scott 
 in his Notes to the Metrical Romance of " Sir Tristrem," p. 350: — 
 " Father of Slaughter, Odin, say, 
 Remember'st not the former day, 
 When in the ruddy goblet stood. 
 For mutual drink, our blended blood? "
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 237 
 
 tiles, Christianity proclaimed love to all mankind, and 
 distinctly declared that God had made of one Mood all 
 the nations of men. As if to keep this sublime truth 
 ever present, the disciples were taught, in the simjile 
 prayer of the Saviour, to address God as Father in 
 heaven, — not in phrase of exclusive worship, " m?/ 
 Father," but in those other words of peculiar Chris- 
 tian import, " our Father," — with the petition, not 
 merely to " forgive me my trespasses," but with the 
 diviner prayer, to " forgive us our trespasses " : thus, 
 in the solitude of the closet, recognizing all alike as 
 children of God, and embracing all alike in the peti- 
 tion for mercy. 
 
 Confessing the Fatherhood of God, and the consequent 
 Brotherhood of Man, we find a divine standard of un- 
 questionable accuracy. No brother can win "glory" 
 from the death of a brother. Cain won no "glory," 
 when he slew Abel ; nor would Abel have won " glory," 
 had he, in strictest self-defence, succeeded in slaying the 
 wicked Cain. The soul recoils from praise or honor, as 
 the meed of any such melancholy triumph. And what 
 is true of a conflict between two brothers is equally true 
 of a conflict between many. How can an army win 
 "glory" by dealing death or defeat to an army of its 
 brothers ? 
 
 The ancient Eomans, not knowing this comprehensive 
 relation, and recognizing only the exclusive fellowship 
 of a common country, accounted civil war fratricidal, 
 whose opposing forces, even under well-loved names 
 of the Eepublic, were impious ; and then, by unerring 
 logic, these masters in War constantly refused " honor," 
 "thanksgiving," or "triumph," to the conquering chief 
 M^hose sword had been employed against felloiv-citi-
 
 238 WAK SYSTEM OF THE 
 
 zens, though traitors and rebels. As the Brotherhood 
 of Man is practically recognized, it becomes impossible 
 to restrict the feeling within any exclusive circle of 
 country, and to set up an unchristian distinction of 
 honor between civil war and international war. As all 
 7nen are brothers, so, hy irresistible consequence, ALL WAR 
 MUST BE FRATRICIDAL. And can " glory " come from 
 fratricide ? None can hesitate in answer, unless fatally 
 imbued with the Heathen rage of nationality, that made 
 the Venetians declare themselves Venetians first and 
 Christians afterwards. 
 
 Tell me not of homage yet offered to the military 
 chieftain. Tell me not of " glory " from War. Tell 
 me not of " honor " or " fame " on its murderous fields. 
 All is vanity. It is a blood-red phantom. They who 
 strive after it, Ixion-like, embrace a cloud. Though 
 seeming to fill the heavens, cloaking tlie stars, it must, 
 like the vapors of earth, pass away. Milton likens the 
 contests of the Heptarchy to "the wars of kites or crows 
 flocking and fighting in the air."^ But God, and the 
 exalted judgment of the Future, must regard all our 
 bloody feuds in the same likeness, — finding Napoleon 
 and Alexander, so far as engaged in War, only monster 
 crows and kites. Thus must it be, as mankind ascend 
 from the thrall of l)rutish passion. Nobler aims, by 
 nobler means, will fill the soul. Tliere will be a new 
 standard of excellence ; and honor, divorced from blood, 
 will become the inseparable attendant of good works 
 alone. Far better, then, even in the judgment of this 
 world, to haA'e been a doorkeeper in the house of Peace 
 than tlie proudest dweller in the tents of War. 
 
 1 History of England, Book IV.: Prose Works (ed. Symmons), Vol. IV. 
 p. 158.
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS. 239 
 
 There is a jiious legend of the early Church, that the 
 Saviour left his image miraculously impressed upon a 
 napkin which had touched liis countenance. The nap- 
 kin was lost, and men attempted to supply the divine 
 lineaments from the Heathen models of Jupiter and 
 Apollo. But the true image of Christ is not lost. 
 Clearer than in the venerated napkin, better than in 
 color or marble of choicest art, it appears in each virtu- 
 ous deed, in every act of self-sacrifice, in all magnani- 
 mous toil, in any recognition of Human Brotherhood. 
 It will be supremely manifest, in unimagined loveliness 
 and serenity, when the Commonwealth of Nations, con- 
 fessing the True Grandeur of Peace, renounces the War 
 System, and dedicates to Beneficence the comprehensive 
 energies so fatally absorbed in its suj)port. Then, at 
 last, will it be seen, there can he no Peace that is not lion- 
 oraMe, and no War that is not dishonoraUe.
 
 I 
 I
 
 THE 
 
 DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY, 
 
 WITH ITS LESSON TO CIVILIZATION. 
 
 Lecture in the Music Hall, Boston, October 26, 1870. 
 
 " When kings make war, 
 No law betwixt two sovereigns can decide. 
 But that of arms, where Fortune is the judge, 
 Soldiers the lawyers, and the Bar the field." 
 
 Dkyden, Love TriumpJumt, Act L So. 1.
 
 LECTURE. 
 
 ME. PEESIDENT, — I am to speak of the Duel 
 between France and Germany, with its Lesson to 
 Civilization. In calling the terrible war now waging 
 a Duel, I might content myself with classical author- 
 ity, Duellum being a well-known Latin word for War. 
 The historian Livy makes a Eoman declare that affairs 
 are to be settled " by a pure and pious duel " ; ^ the 
 dramatist Plautus has a character in one of his plays 
 who obtains great riches " by the duelling art, " ^ mean- 
 ing the art of war ; and Horace, the exquisite master 
 of language, hails the age of Augustus with the' Temple 
 of Janus closed and " free from duels," ^ meaning at 
 peace, — for then only was that famous temple shut. 
 
 WAR UNDER THE LAW OF NATIONS A DUEL. 
 
 But no classical authority is needed for this desig- 
 nation. War, as conducted under International Law, 
 between two organized nations, is in all respects a 
 duel, according to the just signification of this word, — • 
 differing from that between two individuals only in the 
 number of combatants. The variance is of proportion 
 merely, each nation being an individual who appeals to 
 the sword as Arbiter ; and in each case the combat is 
 
 1 "Puro pioque duello." — Historice, Lib. I. cap. 32. 
 
 2 "Arte duellica." — Epidicus, Act. III. Sc. iv. 14. 
 8 "Vacuum duellis." — Carmina, Lib. IV. xv. 8. 
 
 243
 
 244 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 subject to rules constituting a code by which the two 
 parties are bound. For long years before civilization 
 prevailed, the code governing the duel between individ- 
 uals was as fixed and minute as that which governs the 
 larger duel between nations, and the duel itself was 
 simply a mode of deciding questions between individu- 
 als. In presenting this comparison I expose myself to 
 criticism only from those who have not considered this 
 interesting subject in the light of history and of reason. 
 The parallel is complete. Modern war is the duel of 
 the Dark Ages, magnified, amplified, extended so as to 
 embrace nations ; nor is it any less a duel because the 
 combat is quickened and sustained by the energies of 
 self-defence, or because, when a champion falls and lies 
 on the ground, he is brutally treated. An authentic 
 instance illustrates such a duel ; and I bring before you 
 the very pink of chivalry, the Chevalier Bayard, " the 
 knight without fear and without reproach," who, after 
 combat in a chosen field, succeeded by a feint in driving 
 his weapon four fingers deep into the throat of his ad- 
 versary, and then, rolling with him, gasj)ing and strug- 
 gling, on the ground, thrust his dagger into the nostrils 
 of the fallen victim, exclaiming, " Surrender, or you are 
 a dead man!" — a speech which seemed superfluous; 
 for the second cried out, " He is dead already ; you have 
 conquered." Then did Bayard, brightest among the 
 Sons of War, drag his dead enemy from the field, cry- 
 ing, " Have I done enough ? " ^ Now, because the brave 
 knight saw fit to do these things, the combat was not 
 changed in original character. It was a duel at the 
 
 1 La tresjoyeuse, plaisante et recreative Hystoire, coniposie par le Loyal 
 Serviteur, ties Faiz, Gestes, Triunijilies et Prouesses du Boii Chevalier sans 
 Paour et sans Reprouche, le Gentil Seigneur ile Bayart : Petitot, Collection 
 des M^nioirea relatifs a I'Histoire de France, Tom. XV. pp. 241, 242.
 
 WAR UNDER THE LAW OF NATIONS A DUEL. 245 
 
 beginning and at the end. Indeed, the brutality with 
 which it closed was the natural incident of a duel. A 
 combat once begun opens the way to violence, and the 
 conqueror too often surrenders to the Evil Spirit, as 
 Bayard in his unworthy barbarism. 
 
 In likening war between nations to the duel, I fol- 
 low not only reason, but authority also. No better 
 lawyer can be named in the long history of the English 
 bar than John Selden, whose learning was equalled only 
 by his large intelligence. In those conversations which 
 under the name of " Table-Talk " continue still to in- 
 struct, the wise counsellor, after saying that the Church 
 allowed the duel anciently, and that in the public litur- 
 gies there were prayers appointed for duellists to say, 
 keenly inquires, " But whether is this lawful ? " And 
 then he answers, " If you grant any war lawful, I make 
 no doubt but to convince it." ^ Selden regarded the 
 simple duel and the larger war as governed by the same 
 rule. Of course the exercise of force in the suppres- 
 sion of rebellion, or in the maintenance of laws, stands 
 on a different principle, being in its nature a constab- 
 ulary proceeding, which cannot be confounded with the 
 duel. But my object is not to question the lawfulness 
 of war ; I would simply present an image, enabling you 
 to see the existing war in its true character. 
 
 The duel in its simplest form is between two individ- 
 uals. In early ages it was known sometimes as the 
 Judicial Combat, and sometimes as Trial by Battle. 
 Not only points of honor, but titles to land, grave ques- 
 tions of law, and even the subtilties of theology, were 
 referred to this arbitrament, ^ — just as now kindred 
 
 1 Table-Talk, ed. Singer, (London, 1856,) p. 47, — Duel. 
 
 2 Robertson, History of the Reign of Charles V. : View of the Progress 
 of Society in Europe, Section L Note XXIL
 
 246 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 issues between nations are referred to Trial by Battle ; 
 and the early rules governing the duel are reproduced 
 in the Laws of War established by nations to govern 
 the great Trial by Battle. Ascending from the indi- 
 vidual to corporations, guilds, villages, towns, counties, 
 provinces, we find that for a long period each of these 
 bodies exercised what was called " the Eight of War." 
 The history of France and Germany shows how reluct- 
 antly this mode of trial yielded to the forms of reason 
 and order. France, earlier than Germany, ordained 
 " Trial by Proofs," and eliminated the duel from judi- 
 cial proceedings, this important step being followed by 
 the gradual amalgamation of discordant provinces in 
 the powerful unity of the Nation, — so that Brittany 
 and Normandy, Franche-Comte and Burgundy, Pro- 
 vence and Dauphiny, Gascony and Languedoc, with the 
 rest, became the United States of France, or, if you 
 please, France. In Germany the change was slower; 
 and here the duel exhibits its most curious instances. 
 Not only feudal chiefs, but associations of tradesmen 
 and of domestics sent defiance to each other, and some- 
 times to whole cities, on pretences trivial as those 
 which liave been the occasion of defiance from nation 
 to nation. There still remain to us Declarations of War 
 by a Lord of Frauenstein against the free city of Frank- 
 fort, because a young lady of tlie city refused to dance 
 with his uncle, — by the baker and domestics of the 
 Margrave of Baden against Esslingen, lieutlingen, and 
 other imperial cities, — by the baker of the Count Pal- 
 atine Louis again.st the cities of Augsburg, Ulm, and 
 Eottweil, — by the slioe-blacks of the University of 
 Leipsic against tlie provost and other members, — and 
 by the cook of Eppstein, with his scullions, dairy-maids, 
 
 I
 
 WAR UNDER THE LAW OF NATIONS A DUEL. 247 
 
 and dish-washers, against Otho, Count of Sohns.^ This 
 prevalence of the duel aroused the Emperor Maximil- 
 ian, who at the Diet of Worms put forth an ordinance 
 abolishing the right or liberty of Private War, and in- 
 stituting a Supreme Tribunal for the determination of 
 controversies without appeal to the duel, and the whole 
 long list of duellists, whether corporate or individual, 
 including nobles, bakers, shoe-blacks, and cooks, was 
 brought under its pacific rule. Unhappily the benefi- 
 cent reform stopped half-way, and here Germany was 
 less fortunate than France. The great provinces were 
 left in the enjoyment of a barbarous independence, with 
 the "right" to fight each other. The duel continued 
 their established arbiter, until at last, in 1815, by the 
 Act of Union constituting the Confederation or United 
 States of Germany, each sovereignty gave-^ap the right 
 of war with its confederates, setting an example to the 
 larger nations. The terms of this important stipulation, 
 marking a stage in German unity, were as follows : — 
 
 "The members of the Confederation further bind them- 
 selves under no pretext to make war upon one another, or to 
 pursue their differences by force of arms, but to submit them 
 to the Diet." ^ 
 
 Better words could not be found for the United 
 States of Europe, in the establishment of that Great 
 Era when the Duel shall cease to be the recognized 
 Arbiter of Nations. 
 
 With this exposition, which I hope is not too long, 
 it is easy to see how completely a war between two 
 
 1 Coxe, History of the House of Austria, (London, 1820,) Ch. XIX., VoL 
 L p. 378. 
 
 2 Acta pour la Constitution federative de I'Alleniagne du 8 Juin 1815, 
 Art. 11 : Archives Diplomatiques, (Stuttgart et Tubingue, 1821-36,) VoL 
 IV. p. 15.
 
 248 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 nations is a duel, — and, yet further, how essential it is 
 to that assured peace which civilization requires, that 
 the duel, which is no longer tolerated as arbiter be- 
 tween individuals, between towns, between counties, 
 between provinces, should cease to be tolerated as such 
 between nations. Take our own country, for instance. 
 In a controversy between towns, the local law provides 
 a judicial tribunal ; so also in a controversy between 
 counties. Ascending still higher, suppose a controversy 
 between two States of our Union; the National Consti- 
 tution establishes a judicial tribunal, being the Supreme 
 Court of the United States. But at the next stage 
 there is a change. Let the controversy arise between 
 two nations, and the Supreme Law, which is the Law 
 of Nations, establishes, not a judicial tribunal, but the 
 duel, as arbiter. What is true of our country is true of 
 other countries where civilization has a foothold, and 
 especially of France and Germany. The duel, though 
 abolished as arbiter at home, is continued as arbiter 
 abroad. And since it is recognized by International 
 Law and subjected to a code, it is in all respects an 
 Institution. War is an institution sanctioned by In- 
 ternational Law, as Slavery, wherever it exists, is an 
 institution sanctioned by Municipal Law. But this 
 institution is nothing but the duel of the Dark Ages, 
 prolonged into this generation, and showing itself in 
 portentous barbarism. 
 
 WHY THIS PARALLEL NOW? 
 
 Therefore am I right, when I call the existing com- 
 bat between France and Germany a Duel. I beg you 
 to believe that I do this with no idle purpose of illus-
 
 SUDDENNESS OF THIS WAR. 249 
 
 tration or criticism, but because 1 would prepare the 
 way for a proper comprehension of the remedy to be 
 applied. How can this terrible controversy be adjusted { 
 I see no practical method, which shall reconcile the 
 sensibilities of France with the guaranties due to Ger- 
 many, short of a radical change in the War System it- 
 self That Security for the Future which Germany 
 may justly exact can be obtained in no way so well as 
 by the disarmament of France, to be followed naturally 
 by the disarmament of other nations, and the substitu- 
 tion of some peaceful tribunal for the existing Trial by 
 Battle. Any dismemberment, or curtailment of terri- 
 tory, will be poor and inadequate ; for it will leave 
 behind a perpetual sting. Something better must be 
 done. 
 
 SUDDENNESS OF THIS WAR. 
 
 Never in history has so great a calamity descended 
 so suddenly upon the Human Family, unless we except 
 the earthquake toppling down cities and submerging a 
 whole coast in a single night. Bat how small all that 
 has ensued from any such convulsion, compared with 
 the desolation and destruction already produced by tliis 
 war ! From the first murmur to the outbreak was a 
 brief moment of time, as between the flash of lightning 
 and the bursting of the thunder. 
 
 At the beginning of July there was peace without 
 suspicion of interruption. The Legislative Body had 
 just discussed a proposition for the redaction of the an- 
 nual Army Contingent. At Berlin the Parliament was 
 not in session. Count Bismarck was at his country 
 home in Pomerania, the King enjoying himself at Ems. 
 How sudden and unexpected the change will appear
 
 250 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 from an illustrative circumstance. M. Prevost-Paradol, 
 of rare talent and unhappy destiny, newly appointed 
 Minister to the United States, embarked at Havre on 
 the 1st of July, and reached Washington on the morn- 
 ing of the 14th of July. He assured me that when he 
 left France there was no talk or thought of war. Dur- 
 ing his' brief summer voyage the whole startling event 
 had begun and culminated. Prince Leopold of Hohen- 
 zollern-Sigmaringen being invited to become candidate 
 for the throne of Spain, France promptly sent her defi- 
 ance to Prussia, followed a few days later by formal 
 Declaration of War. The Minister was oppressed by 
 the grave tidings coming upon him so unprepared, and 
 sought relief in self-slaughter, being the first victim of 
 the war. Everything moved with a rapidity borrowed 
 from the new forces supplied by human invention, and 
 the Gates of War swung wide open. 
 
 CHALLENGE TO PRUSSIA. 
 
 A FEW incidents exhibit this movement. It was on 
 the 30th of June, while discussing the proposed reduc- 
 tion of the Army, that l^mile Ollivier, the Prime-Minis- 
 ter, said openly : " The Government has no kind of dis- 
 quietude ; at no epoch has the maintenance of peace 
 been more assured ; on whatever side you look, you see 
 no irritating question under discussion." ^ In the same 
 debate, Garnier-Pages, the consistent Eepublican, and 
 now a member of the Provisional Government, after 
 asking, "Why these armaments?" cried out: "Disarm, 
 without waiting for others : this is practical. Let the 
 people be relieved from the taxes which crush them, 
 
 1 Journal Officiel du Soir, 3 Juillet 1870.
 
 CHA.LLEXGE TO PRUSSIA. 251 
 
 and from the heaviest of all, the tax of blood." ^ The 
 candidature of Prince Leopold seems to have become 
 known at Paris on the 5th of July. On the next day 
 the Due de Gramont, of a family famous in scandalous 
 history, Minister of Foreign Affairs, hurries to the tri- 
 bune with defiance on his lips. After declaring for the 
 Cabinet that no foreign power covdd be suffered, by 
 placing one of its princes on the throne of Charles the 
 Fifth, to derange the balance of power in Europe, and 
 put in peril the interests and the honor of France, he 
 concludes by saying, in ominous words : " Strong in 
 your support, Gentlemen, and in that of the nation, we 
 shall know how to do our duty without hesitation and 
 without weakness."- This defiance was followed by 
 what is called in the report, "general and prolonged 
 movement, — repeated applause"; and here was the 
 first stage in the duel. Its character was recognized at 
 once in the Chamber. Garnier-Pages exclaimed, in 
 words worthy of memory : " It is dynastic questions 
 which trouble the peace of Europe. The people have 
 only reason to love and aid each other." ^ Though 
 short, better than many long speeches. Cremieux, an 
 associate in the Provisional Government of 1848, in- 
 sisted that the utterance of the Minister was " a men- 
 ace of war " ; and Emmanuel Arago, son of the great 
 Eepublican astronomer and mathematician, said that 
 the Minister "had declared war."* These patriotic 
 representatives were not mistaken. The speech made 
 peace difficult, if not impossible. It was a challenge 
 to Prussia. 
 
 1 Journal Officiel du Soir, 2 Juillet 1870. 
 
 * Ibid., 8 Juillet. a ii,id. * Ibid.
 
 252 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 COMEDY. 
 
 Europe watched with dismay as the gauntlet was 
 thus rudely flung down, while on this side of the At- 
 lantic, where France and Germany commingle in the 
 enjoyment of our equal citizenship, the interest was 
 intense. Morning and evening the telegraph made us 
 all partakers of the hopes and fears agitating the world. 
 Too soon it was apparent that the exigence of France 
 would not be satistied, while already her preparations 
 for war were undisguised. At all the naval stations, 
 from Toulon to Cherbourg, the greatest activity pre- 
 vailed. Marshal MacMahon was recalled from Algeria, 
 and transports were made ready to bring back the 
 troops from that colony. 
 
 Meanwhile the candidature of Prince Leopold was 
 renounced by him. But this was not enough. The 
 King of Prussia was asked to promise Ihat it should 
 in no event ever be renewed, — which he declined to 
 do, reserving to himself the liberty of consulting cir- 
 cumstances. This requirement was the more offensive, 
 inasmuch as it was addressed exclusively to Prussia, 
 while nothing was said to Spain, the principal in the 
 business. Then ensued an incident proper for comedy, 
 if it had not become the declared cause of tragedy. 
 The French Ambassador, Count Benedetti, who, on in- 
 telligence of the candidature, had followed the King 
 to Ems, his favorite watering-place, and there in succes- 
 sive interviews pressed him to order its withdrawal, 
 now, on its voluntary renunciation, proceeding to urge 
 the new demand, and after an extended conversation, 
 and notwithstanding its decided refusal, seeking, nev- 
 ertheless, another audience the same day on this subject,
 
 PEETEXT OF THE TELEGRAM. 253 
 
 his Majesty, with perfect politeness, sent him word by 
 an adjutant in attendance, that he had no other answer 
 to make than the one ah-eady given : and this refusal 
 to receive the Ambassador was promptly communicated 
 by telegraph, for the information especially of the dif- 
 ferent German governments.^ 
 
 PRETEXT OF THE TELEGRAM. 
 
 These simple facts, insufficient for the slightest quar- 
 rel, intolerable in the pettiness of the issue disclosed, 
 and monstrous as reason for war between two civilized 
 nations, became the welcome pretext. Swiftly, and 
 with ill-disguised alacrity, the French Cabinet took the 
 next step in the duel. On the 15th of July the Prime- 
 Minister read from the tribune a manifesto setting forth 
 the griefs of France, — being, first, the refusal of the 
 Prussian King to promise for the future, and, secondly, 
 his refusal to receive the French Ambassador, with the 
 communication of this refusal, as was alleged, " official- 
 ly to the Cabinets of Europe," which was a mistaken 
 allegation: 2 and the paper concludes by announcing 
 that since the preceding day the Government had called 
 in the reserves, and that they would immediately take 
 the measures necessary to secure the interests, the safe- 
 ty, and the honor of France.^ This was war. 
 
 1 Bismarck to BernstorfiF, July 19, 1870, with Inclosures : Parliamentary 
 Papers;, 1870, Vol. LXX., — Franco-Prussian War, No. 3, pp. 5-8. Gerolt 
 to Fish, AiTgust 11, 1870, with Inclosiires : Executive Documents, 41st 
 Cong. 3d Sess., H. of R., Vol. I. No. 1, Part 1, — Foreign Relations, pp. 
 219-221. The reader will notice that the copy of the Telegram in this 
 latter volume is the paper on p. 221, with the erroneous heading, " Count 
 Bismarck to Baron Gerolt." 
 
 2 Bismarck to Bernstorff, July 18, and to Gerolt, July 19, 1870 : Parlia- 
 mentary Papers and Executive Documents, Inclosures, ubi supra. 
 
 3 Journal Officiel du Soir, 17 Juillet 1870.
 
 254 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 Some there were who saw the fearful calamity, the 
 ghastly crime, then and there initiated. The scene that 
 ensued belongs to this painful record. The paper an- 
 nouncing war was followed by prolonged applause. 
 The Prime-Minister added soon after in debate, that he 
 accepted the responsibility with " a light heart." ^ Not 
 all were in this mood. Esquiros, the Eepublican, cried 
 from his seat, in momentous words, " You have a light 
 heart, and the blood of nations is about to flow ! " To 
 the apology of the Prime-^Iinister, " that in the dis- 
 charge of a duty the heart is not troubled," Jules Favre, 
 the Republican leader, of acknowledged moderation and 
 ability, flashed forth, " When the discharge of this duty 
 involves the slaughter of two nations, one may well 
 have the heart troubled ! " Beyond these declarations, 
 giving utterance to the natural sentiments of humanity, 
 was the positive objection, most forcibly presented by 
 Thiers, so famous in the Chamber and in literature, 
 "that the satisfaction due to France had l)een accorded 
 her, — that Prussia had expiated by a check the grave 
 fault she had committed," — that France had prevailed 
 in substance, and all that remained was " a question of 
 form," " a question of susceptibility," " questions of eti- 
 quette." The experienced statesman asked for the dis- 
 patches. Then came a confession. The Prime-Minister 
 replied, that he had " nothing to communicate, — that, in 
 the true sense of the term, there had been no dispatches, 
 — that tliere were only verbal communications gathered 
 up in reports, which, according to diplomatic usage, are 
 not communicated." Here Emmanuel Arago interrupt- 
 ed : " It is on these reports that you make war I " The 
 
 1 " De ce jour commence pour lus niinistres nies collegues, et pour moi, 
 une grande responsibilite. [ " Oui ! " d gauche.] Nous I'acceptons, le coeur 
 lejrer."
 
 PRETEXT OF THE TELEGRAM. 255 
 
 Prime-Minister proceeded to read two brief telegrams 
 from Count Benedetti at Ems, when De Choiseul very 
 justly exclaimed: "We cannot make war on that ground; 
 it is impossible ! " Others cried out from their seats, — 
 Gamier-Pages saying, " These are phrases " ; Enmian- 
 uel Arago protesting, " On this the civilized world will 
 pronounce you wrong " ; to which Jules Favre added, 
 " Unhappily, true ! " Thiers and Jules Favre, with 
 vigorous eloquence, charged the war upon the Cabinet : 
 Thiers declaring, " I regret to be obliged to say that we 
 have war by the fault of the Cabinet " ; Jules Favre 
 alleging, " If we have war, it is thanks to the politics of 
 the Cabinet ; . . . . from the exposition that has been 
 made, so far as the general interests of the two countries 
 are concerned, there is no avowable motive for war." 
 Girault exclaimed, in similar spirit : " We would be 
 among the first to come forward in a war for the coun- 
 try, but we do not wish to come forward in a dynastic 
 and aggressive war." The Due de Gramont, who on the 
 6th of July flung down the gauntlet, spoke once more 
 for the Cabinet, stating solemnly, what was not the fact, 
 that the Prussian Government had communicated to all 
 the Cabinets of Europe the refusal to receive the French 
 Ambassador, and then on this misstatement ejaculating: 
 " It is an outrage on the Emperor and on France ; and 
 if, by impossibility, there were found in my country a 
 Chamber to bear and tolerate it, I would not remain five 
 minutes Minister of Foreign Affairs." In our country 
 we have seen how the Southern heart was fired ; so also 
 was fired the heart of France. The Duke descended 
 from the tribune amidst prolonged applause, with cries 
 of " Bravo ! " — and at his seat (so says the report) " re- 
 ceived numerous felicitations." Such was the atmosphere
 
 256 THE DUEL BET^YEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 of the Chamber at this eventful moment. The orators 
 of the Opposition, pleading for delay in the interest of 
 peace, were stifled ; and when Gambetta, the young and 
 fearless Eepublican, made himself heard in calling ibr 
 the text of the dispatch communicating the refusal to 
 receive the Ambassador, to the end that the Chamber, 
 France, and all Europe might judge of its character, he 
 was answered by the Prime-Minister with the taunt 
 that " for the first time in a French Assembly there 
 were such difficulties on a certain side in explaining a 
 question of honor." Such was the case as presented by 
 the Prime-Minister, and on this question of honor he 
 accepted war " with a light heart." Better say, with no 
 heart at all ; — for whoso could find in this condition of 
 things sufficient reason for war was without heart.^ 
 
 During these brief days of solicitude, from the 6th to 
 the 15th of July, England made an unavailing effort 
 for peace. Lord Lyons was indefatigaljle ; and he was 
 sustained at home by Lord Granville, who as a last re- 
 sort reminded the two parties of the stipulation at the 
 Congress of Paris, which they had accepted, in favor of 
 Arbitration as a substitute for War, and asked them to 
 accept the good offices of some friendly power.^ This 
 most reasonable proposition was rejected by the French 
 Minister, who gave new point to tlie French case by 
 charging that Prussia " had chosen to declare that 
 France had been affronted in the person of her Ambas- 
 sador," and then positively insisting that " it was this 
 boast which was the gravamen of the offence." Capping 
 
 1 For the full debate, see the Journal Officiel du Soir, 17 Juillet 1870, 
 and Supplement. 
 
 2 Earl Granville to Lords Lyons and Loftus, July 15, 1870, — Corre- 
 spondence respecting the Negotiations preliminary to the War between 
 France and Prussia, p. 35 : Parliamentary Pajjcrs, 1870, Vol. LXX.
 
 PRETEXT OF THE TELEGRAM. 257 
 
 the climax of barbarous absurdity, the French Minister 
 did not hesitate to announce that this "constituted an 
 insult which no nation of any spirit could brook, and 
 rendered it, much to the regret of the French Govern- 
 ment, impossible to take into consideration tlie mode 
 of settling the original matter in dispute which was 
 recommended by her Majesty's Government." ^ Thus 
 was peaceful Arbitration repelled. All honor to the 
 English Government for proposing it ! 
 
 The famous telegram put forward by France as the 
 gravamen, or chief offence, was not communicated to the 
 Chamber. The Prime -Minister, though hard-pressed, 
 held it back. Was it from conviction of its too trivial 
 character ? But it is not lost to -the history of the duel. 
 This telegram, with something of the brevity peculiar to 
 telegraphic dispatches, merely reports the refusal to see 
 the French Ambassador, without one word of affront or 
 boast. It reports the fact, and notliiug else ; and it is 
 understood that the refusal was only when this func- 
 tionary presented himself a second time in one day on 
 the same business. Considering the interests involved, 
 it would have been better, had the King seen him as 
 many times as he chose to call ; yet the refusal was not 
 unnatural. The perfect courtesy of his Majesty on this 
 occasion furnished no cause of complaint. All that re- 
 mained for pretext was the telegram.^ 
 
 1 Lord Lyons to Earl Granville, July 15, 1870, — Correspondence respect- 
 ing the Negotiations preliminary to the War between France and Prussia, 
 pp. 39, 40 : Parliamentary Papers, 1870, Vol. LXX. 
 
 2 See references, ante, p. 19, Note 1. For this telegram in the original, 
 see Aegidi und Elauhold, Staatsarchiv, (Hamburg, 1870,) 19 Band, s. 44, 
 No. 4033.
 
 258 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 FORMAL DECLARATION OF WAR, 
 
 The scene in the Legislative Body was followed by 
 the instant introduction of bills making additional ap- 
 propriations for the Army and Navy, calling out the 
 National Guard, and authorizing volunteers for the war. 
 This last proposition was commended by the observa- 
 tion that in France there were a great many young peo- 
 ple liking powder, but not liking barracks, who would 
 in this way be suited ; and this was received with ap- 
 plause.^ On the 18th of July there was a further 
 appropriation to the extent of 500 million francs, — 
 440 millions being for the Army, and 60 for the Navy ; 
 and an increase from 150 to 500 millions Treasury 
 notes was authorized.^ On the 20th of July the Due 
 de Gramont appeared once more in the tribune, and 
 made the following speech : — 
 
 " Conformably to customary rules, and by order of the 
 Emperor, I have invited the Charge d' Affaires of France to 
 notify the Berlin Cabinet of our resolution to seek by arms 
 the guaranties which we have not been able to obtain by 
 discussion. This step has been taken, and I have the honor 
 of making known to the Legislative Body that in consequence 
 a state of war exists between France and Prussia, beginning 
 the 19th of July. This declaration applies equally to the 
 allies of Prussia who lend her the cooperation of their arms 
 against us." ^ 
 
 Here the French Minister played the part of trum- 
 peter in the duel, making proclamation before his cham- 
 pion rode forward. According to the statement of Count 
 Bismarck, made to the Parliament at Berlin, this formal 
 
 1 Journal Officiel du Soir, 17 Juillet 1870. 
 
 2 Ibid., 20 Juillet. » Ibid., 23 Juillet.
 
 FOKMAL DECLARATION OF WAR. 259 
 
 Declaration of War was the solitary official communi- 
 cation from France in tliis whole transaction, being the 
 first and only note since the candidature of Prince 
 Leopold.^ How swift this madness will be seen in a 
 few dates. On the 6th of July was uttered the first 
 defiance from the French tribune ; on the 15th of July 
 an exposition of the griefs of France, in the nature 
 of a Declaration of War, with a demand for men and 
 money; on the 19th of July a state of war was de- 
 clared to exist. 
 
 Firmly, but in becoming contrast with the "light 
 heart " of France, this was promptly accepted by Ger- 
 many, whose heart and strength found expression in the 
 speech of the King at the opening of Parliament, hastily 
 assembled on the 19th of July. With articulation dis- 
 turbed by emotion and with moistened eyes, his Majesty 
 said : — 
 
 " Supported by the unanimous will of the German govern- 
 ments of the South as of the North, we turn the more con- 
 fidently to the love of Fatherland and the cheerful self- 
 devotion of the German people, with a call to the defence 
 of their honor and their independence." ^ 
 
 Parliament responded sympathetically to the King, 
 and made the necessary appropriations. And thus the 
 two champions stood frout to front. 
 
 1 Substance of Speecli of Bismarck to the Reichstag, [July 20, 1870,] 
 explanatory of Documents relating to the Declaration of War, — Franco- 
 Pru.ssian War, No. 3, p. 29 : Parliamentary Papers, 1870, Vol. LXX. Dis- 
 cours du Comte de Bismarck au Reichstag, le 20 Juillet 1870 : Angeberg, 
 [Chodzko,] Recueil des Traites, etc., concernant la Guerre Franco-Alle- 
 mande, Tom. I. p. 215. 
 
 2 Aegidi und Klauhold, Staatsarchiv, 19 Band, s. 107, No. 4056. Parlia- 
 mentary Papers, 1870, Vol. LXX.: Franco-Prussian War, No. 3, pp. 2-3.
 
 200 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 THE TWO HOSTILE PARTIES. 
 
 Throughout France, throughout Germauy, the trum- 
 pet sounded, and everywhere the people sprang to arms, 
 as if the great horn of Orlando, after a sleep of ages, 
 had sent forth once more its commanding summons. 
 Not a town, not a village, that the voice did not pene- 
 trate. Modern invention had supplied an ally beyond 
 anything in fable. From all parts of France, from all 
 parts of Germany, armed men leaped forward, leaving 
 behind the charms of peace and the business of life. 
 On each side the muster was mighty, armies counting 
 by the hundred thousand. And now, before we witness 
 the mutual slaughter, let us pause to consider the two 
 parties, and the issue between them. 
 
 France and Germany are most unlike, and yet the 
 peers of each other, while among the nations they are 
 unsurpassed in civilization, each prodigious in resources, 
 splendid in genius, and great in renown. No two na- 
 tions are so nearly matched. By Germany I now mean 
 not only the States constituting North Germany, but 
 also Wiirtemberg, Baden, and Bavaria of South Ger- 
 many, allies in the present war, all of which together 
 make about fifty-three millions of French hectares, be- 
 ing very nearly the area of France. The population of 
 each is not far from thirty-eight millions, and it would 
 be difficult to say which is the larger. Looking at fi- 
 nances, Germany has the smaller revenue, but also the 
 smaller debt, while her rulers, following the sentiment 
 of the people, cultivate a wise economy, so that here 
 again substantial equality is maintained with France. 
 The armies of the two, embracing regular troops and 
 those subject to call, did not differ much in numbers,
 
 THE TWO HOSTILE PAKTIES. 261 
 
 unless we set aside the authority of the " Almanach de 
 Gotha," which puts the military force of France some- 
 what vaguely at 1,350,000, while that of North Ger- 
 many is only 977,262, to which must be added 49,949 
 for Bavaria, 34,953 for Wiirtemberg, and 43,703 for 
 Baden, making a sum-total of 1,105,867. This, how- 
 ever, is chiefly on paper, where it is evident France 
 is stronger than in reality. Her available force at the 
 outbreak of the war probably did not amount to more 
 than 350,000 bayonets, while that of Germany, owing 
 to her superior system, was as much as double this 
 number. In Prussia every man is obliged to serve, and, 
 still further, every man is educated. Discipline and 
 education are two potent adjuncts. This is favorable 
 to Germany. In the Chassepot and needle-gun the 
 two are equal. But France excels in a well-appointed 
 Navy, having no less than 55 iron-clads, and 384 other 
 vessels of war, while Germany has but 2 iron-clads, 
 and 87 other vessels of war.^ Then again for long 
 generations has existed another disparity, to the great 
 detriment of Germany. France has been a nation, 
 while Germany has been divided, and therefore weak. 
 Strong in union, the latter now claims something more 
 than that dominion of the air once declared to be hers, 
 while France had the land and England the sea.^ The 
 dominion of the land is at last contested, and we are 
 saddened inexpressibly, that, from the elevation they 
 
 1 For the foregoing statistics, see Almanach de Gotha, 1870, under the 
 names of the several States referred to, — also, for Areas and Population, 
 Tableaux Comparatifs, I., II., III., in same volume, pp. 1037-38. 
 
 2 " So wie die Franzosen die Herren des Landes sind, die Englander die 
 des grossern Meeres, wir die der Beide und Alles iimfassenden Luft sind." — 
 RiOllTER, (Jean Paul,) Frieden-Predigt an Deutschland, V. : Sammtliche 
 Werke, (Berlin, 1826-38,) TheU XXXIV. s. 13.
 
 262 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 have reached, these two peers of civihzation can descend 
 to practise the barbarism of war, and especially that the 
 land of Descartes, Pascal, Voltaire, and Laplace must 
 challenge to bloody duel the land of Luther, Leibnitz, 
 Kant, and Humboldt. 
 
 FOLLY. 
 
 Plainly between these two neighboring powers there 
 has been unhappy antagonism, constant, if not increas- 
 ing, partly from the memory of other days, and partly 
 because France could not bear to witness that German 
 unity which was a national right and duty. Often it 
 has been said that war was inevitable. But it has come 
 at last by surprise, and on " a question of form." So it 
 was called by Thiers ; so it was recognized by Ollivier, 
 when he complained of insensibility to a question of 
 honor ; and so also by the Due de Gramont, when he 
 referred it all to a telegram. This is not the first time 
 in history that wars have been waged on trifles ; but 
 since the Lord of Frauenstein challenged the free city 
 of Frankfort because a young lady of the city refused 
 to dance with his uncle, nothing has passed more ab- 
 surd than this challenge sent by France to Germany 
 because the King of Prussia refused to see the French 
 Ambassador a second time on the same matter, and 
 then let the refusal be reported by telegraph. Here is 
 the folly exposed by Shakespeare, when Hamlet touch- 
 es a madness greater than his own in that spirit which 
 would •' find quarrel in a straw when honor 's at the 
 stake," and at the same time depicts an army 
 
 " Led by a delicate and tender prince, 
 
 Exposing what is mortal and unsure 
 
 To all that Fortune, Death, and Danger dare, 
 
 Evtnfor an egg-shell. "
 
 UNJUST PRETENSION OF FRANCE. 263 
 
 There can be no quarrel in a straw or for an egg-shell, 
 unless men have gone mad. Nor can honor in a civil- 
 ized age require any sacrifice of reason or humanity. 
 
 UNJUST PRETENSION OF FRANCE TO INTERFERE WITH 
 THE CANDIDATURE OF HOHENZOLLERN. 
 
 If the utter triviality of the pretext were left doubt- 
 ful in the debate, if its towering absurdity were not 
 plainly apparent, if its simple wickedness did not al- 
 ready stand before us, we should find all these char- 
 acteristics glaringly manifest in that unjust pretension 
 which preceded the objection of form, on which France 
 finally acted. A few words will make this plain. 
 
 In a happy moment Spain rose against Queen Isa- 
 bella, and, amidst cries of " Down with the Bourbons ! " 
 drove her from the throne which she dishonored. This 
 was in September, 1868. Instead of constituting a Re- 
 public at once, in harmony with tliose popular rights 
 which had been proclaimed, the half-hearted leaders 
 proceeded to look about for a King; and from that 
 time till now they have been in this quest, as if it were 
 the Holy Grail, or happiness on earth. The royal 
 family of Spain was declared incompetent. Therefore 
 a king must be found outside, — and so the quest was 
 continued in other lands. One day the throne is offered 
 to a prince of Portugal, then to a prince of Italy, but 
 declined by each, — how wisely the future will show. 
 At last, after a protracted pursuit of nearly two years, 
 the venturesome soldier who is Captain-General and 
 Prime-Minister, Marshal Prim, conceives the idea of 
 offering it to a prince of Germany. His luckless vic- 
 tim is Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a
 
 264 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 Catholic, thirty-five years of age, and colonel of the first 
 regiment of the Prussian foot-guards, whose father, a 
 mediatized German prince, resides at Dlisseldorf. The 
 Prince had not the good sense to decline. How his 
 acceptance excited the French Cabinet, and became the 
 beginning of the French pretext, I have already ex- 
 posed; and now I come to the pretension itself. 
 
 By what title did France undertake to interfere with 
 the choice of Spain ? If the latter was so foolish as to 
 seek a foreigner for king, making a German first among 
 Spaniards, by what title did any other power attempt to 
 control its will ? To state the question is to answer it. 
 Beginning with an outrage on Spanish independence, 
 which the Spain of an earlier day would have resented, 
 the next outrage was on Germany, in assuming that an 
 insignificant prince of that country could not be per- 
 mitted to accept the invitation, — all of which, besides 
 being of insufferable insolence, was in that worst dynas- 
 tic spirit which looks to princes rather than the people. 
 Plainly France was unjustifiable. When I say it was 
 none of her business, I give it the mildest condemnation. 
 This was the first step in her monstrous hlundcr-crimc. 
 
 Its character as a pretext becomes painfully manifest, 
 when we learn more of the famous Prince Leopold, thus 
 invited by Spain and opposed by France. It is true 
 that his family name is in part the same as that of the 
 Prussian king. Each is Hohenzollern ; but he adds Sig- 
 maringen to the name. The two are different branches 
 of the same family ; but you must ascend to the twelfth 
 century, counting more than twenty degrees, before you 
 come to a common ancestor.^ And yet on this most 
 
 1 Conversations -Lexikon. {hny/.vj., 1866,) 8 Ranrl, art. HoHENZOLLERN. 
 Carlyle's History of Friedrich 11., (Loudon, 1S58,) Book IIL Ch. 1, Vol. L 
 p. 200. 
 
 I
 
 UNJUST PRETENSION OF FRANCE. 9(55 
 
 distant and infinitesimal relationship the French preten- 
 sion is founded. But audacity changes to the ridiculous, 
 when it is known that the Prince is nearer in relation- 
 ship to the French Emperor than to the Prussian King, 
 and this by three different intermarriages, which do not 
 go back to the twelfth century. Here is the case. His 
 grandfather had for wife a niece of Joachim Murat,^ 
 King of Naples, and brother-in-law of the first Napo- 
 leon ; and his father had for wife a daughter of Ste- 
 phanie de Beauharnais, an adopted daughter of the first 
 Napoleon; so that Prince Leopold is by his father great- 
 grand-nephew of Murat, and by his mother he is grand- 
 son of Stephanie de Beauharnais, who was cousin and 
 by adoption sister of Hortense de Beauharnais, mother 
 of the present Emperor; and to this may be added still 
 another connection, by the marriage of his father's sister 
 with Joachim Napoleon, IMarquis of Pepoli, grandson of 
 Joachim Murat.^ It was natural that a person thus 
 connected with the Imperial Family should be a wel- 
 come visitor at the Tuileries ; and it is easy to believe 
 that Marshal Prim, who offered him the throne, was 
 encouraged to believe that the Emperor's kinsman and 
 guest would be favorably regarded by France. And 
 yet, in the face of these things, and the three several 
 family ties, fresh and modern, binding him to France 
 and the French Emperor, the pretension was set up that 
 his occupation of the Spanish throne would put in peril 
 the interests and the honor of France. 
 
 1 Antoinette, daughter of Etienne Murat, third brother of Joachim. — 
 Biographic Generalf\ (Didot,) Tom. XXXVI. col. 9S-1, art. Murat, note. 
 
 2 Almanach de Gotha, 1S70, pp. 85-87, art. Hohenzollern-Sigmarlngen.
 
 266 THE DUEL BETWEEN FEANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 BECAUSE FRANCE WAS READY. 
 
 In sending defiance to Prussia on this question, the 
 French Cabinet selected their own ground. Evidently a 
 war had been meditated, and the candidature of Prince 
 Leopold from beginning to end supplied a pretext. In 
 this conclusion, which is too obvious, we are hardly left 
 to inference. The secret was disclosed by Kouher, Presi- 
 dent of the Senate, lately the eloquent and unscrupulous 
 Minister, when, in an official address to the Emperor, 
 immediately after the War Manifesto read by the Prime- 
 Minister, he declared that France quivered with indig- 
 nation at the flights of an ambition over-excited by the 
 one day's good-fortune at Sado wa, and then proceeded : — 
 
 " Animated by that calm perseverance which is true force, 
 your Majesty has known how to wait ; but in the last four 
 years you have carried to its highest perfection the arming of 
 our soldiers, and raised to its full power the organization of 
 our military forces. Thanhs to your caj'e, Sire, France is 
 ready." ^ 
 
 Thus, according to the President of the Senate, France, 
 after waiting, commenced war because she was ready, — 
 while, according to the Cabinet, it was on the point of 
 honor. Both were right. The war was declared be- 
 cause the Emperor thought himself ready, and a pretext 
 was found in the affair of the telegram. 
 
 Considering the age, and the present demands of 
 civilization, such a war stands forth terrific in wrong, 
 making the soul rise indignant against it. One rea- 
 son avowed is brutal ; the other is frivolous ; both are 
 criminal. If we look into the text of the Manifesto 
 
 1 Address at the Palais de Saint-Cloud, July 16, 1870 : Journal OflBciel 
 du Soir, 18 Juilletl870.
 
 BECAUSE FRANCE WAS EEADY. 267 
 
 and the speeches of the Cabinet, it is a war founded on 
 a trifle, on a straw, on an egg-shell. Obviously these 
 were pretexts only. Therefore it is a war of pretexts, 
 the real object being the humiliation and dismember- 
 ment of Germany, in the vain hope of exalting the 
 French Empire and perpetuating a bawble crown on 
 the head of a boy. By military success and a peace 
 dictated at Berlin, the Emperor trusted to find himself 
 in such condition, that, on return to Paris, he could 
 overthrow parliamentary government so far as it ex- 
 isted there, and reestablish personal government, where 
 all depended upon himself, — thus making triumph over 
 Germany the means of another triumph over the French 
 people. 
 
 In other times there have been wars as criminal 
 in origin, where trifle, straw, or egg-shell played its 
 part; but they contrasted less with the surrounding 
 civilization. To this list belong the frequent Dynastic 
 Wars, prompted by the interest, the passion, or the 
 whim of some one in the Family of Kings. Others 
 have begun in recklessness kindred to that we now 
 witness, — as when England entered into war with Hol- 
 land, and for reason did not hesitate to allege " abusive 
 pictures." ^ The England of Charles the Second was 
 
 1 Hume, History of England, Ch. LXV., March 17, 1672. — The terms of 
 the Declaration on this point were, — " Scarce a town within their territories 
 that is not filled with abusive pictures." (Hansard's Parliamentary History, 
 Vol. IV. col. 514.) Uf)on which Hume remarks: "The Dutch were long at 
 a loss what to make of this article, till it was discovered that a portrait of 
 Cornelius de Witt, brother to the Pensionary, painted by order of certain 
 magistrates of Dort, and hung \vp in a chamber of the To\vTi-House, had 
 given occasion to the complaint. In the perspective of this portrait the 
 painter had drawn some ships on fire in a harbor. This was construed to 
 be Chatham, where De Witt had really distinguished himself," during the 
 previous war, in the way here indicated, — " the disgrace " of which, says 
 Lingard, " sunk deep into the heart of the King and the hearts of his sub- 
 jects." — History of England, Vol. IX, Ch. III., June 13, 1667.
 
 268 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY, 
 
 hardly less sensitive than the France of Louis Napo- 
 leon, while in each was similar indifference to conse- 
 quences. But France has precedents of her own. 
 From the remarkable correspondence of the Princess 
 Palatine, Duchess of Orleans, we learn that the first 
 war with Holland under Louis the Fourteenth was 
 brought on by the Minister, De Lionne, to injure a pet- 
 ty German prince who had made him jealous of his 
 wife.* The communicative and exuberant Saint-Simon 
 tells us twice over how Louvois, another Minister of 
 Louis the Fourteenth, being overruled by his master 
 with regard to the dimensions of a window at Ver- 
 sailles, was filled with the idea that "on account of a 
 few inches in a window," as he expressed it, all his 
 services would be forgotten, and therefore, to save his 
 place, excited a foreign war that would make him ne- 
 cessary to the King. The flames in the Palatinate, 
 devouring the works of man, attested his continuing 
 power. The war became general, but, according to the 
 chronicler, it ruined France at home, and did not extend 
 her domain abroad.^ The French Emperor confidently 
 expected to occupy the same historic region so often 
 burnt and ravaged by French armies, with that castle 
 of Heidelberg which repeats the tale of blood, — and, 
 let me say, expected it for no better reason than that 
 of his royal predecessor, stimulated by an unprincipled 
 Minister anxious for personal position. The parallel is 
 continued in the curse which the Imperial arms have 
 brought on France. 
 
 1 Briefe der Prinzessin Elisabetli Charlotte von Orleans an die Rauf^i'iifin 
 Louise, 1676-1722, herausg. vou W. Menzel, (Stuttgart, 1843, ) — Paris, 31 
 Mertz, 1718, s. 288. 
 
 a M^moires, (Paris, 1829,) Tom. VIL pp. 49-51; XIII. pp. 9-10.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 269 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 
 
 How this war proceeded I need not recount. You 
 have all read the record day by day, sorrowing for Hu- 
 manity, — how, after briefest interval of preparation or 
 hesitation, the two combatants first crossed swords at 
 Saarbrlicken, within the German frontier, and the 
 young Prince Imperial performed his part in picking 
 up a bullet from the field, which the Emperor promptly 
 reported by telegraph to the Empress, — how this little 
 military success is all that was vouchsafed to the man 
 who began the war, — how soon thereafter victory fol- 
 lowed, first on the hill-sides of Wissembourg and then 
 of Woerth, shattering the army of MacMahon, to which 
 the Empire was looking so confidently, — how another 
 large army under Bazaine was driven within the strong 
 fortress of Metz, — how all the fortresses, bristling with 
 guns and frowning upon Germany, were invested, — 
 how battle followed battle on various fields, where 
 Death was the great conqueror, — how, with help of 
 modern art, war showed itself to be murder by ma- 
 chinery, — how MacMahon, gathering together his scat- 
 tered men and strengthening them with reinforcements, 
 attempted to relieve Bazaine, — how at last, after long 
 marches, his large army found itself shut up at Sedan 
 with a tempest of fire beating upon its huddled ranks, 
 so that its only safety was capitulation, — how with the 
 capitulation of the army was the submission of the 
 Emperor himself, who gave his sword to the King of 
 Prussia and became prisoner of war, — and how, on the 
 reception of this news at Paris, Louis Napoleon and his 
 dynasty were divested of their powers and the Empire 
 was lost in the Eepublic. These things you know. I
 
 270 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 need not dwell on tliera. Not to battles and their fear- 
 ful vicissitudes, where all is incarnadined with blood, 
 must we look, but to the ideas which prevail, — as for 
 the measure of time we look, not to the pendulum in 
 its oscillations, but to the clock in the tower, whose 
 striking tells the hours. A great hour for Humanity 
 sounded when the Eepublic was proclaimed. And this 
 I say, even should it fail again ; for every attempt con- 
 tributes to the final triumph. 
 
 A WAR OF SURPRISES. 
 
 The war, from the pretext at its beginning to the 
 capitulation at Sedan, has been a succession of sur- 
 prises, where the author of the pretext was a constant 
 sufferer. Nor is this strange. Falstaff says, with hu- 
 morous point, " See now how wit may be made a Jack- 
 a-lent, when 't is upon ill employment ! " ^ — and an- 
 other character, in a play of Beaumont and Fletcher, 
 reveals the same evil destiny in stronger terms, when 
 he says, — 
 
 " Hell gives us art to reacli the depth of sin, 
 But leaves us wretched fools, when we are in." 2 
 
 And this was precisely the condition of the French 
 Empire. Germany perhaps had one surprise, at the 
 sudden adoption of the pretext for war. But the Em- 
 pire has known nothing but surprise. A fatal surprise 
 was the promptitude witli which all the German States, 
 outside of Austrian rule, accepted the leadership of 
 Prussia, and joined their forces to hers. Differences 
 were forgotten, — whether the hate of Hanover, the 
 
 1 Merry Wives of Windsor, Act V. Sc. 5. 
 
 2 Queen of Corintli, Act IV. Sc. 3. 
 
 I
 
 A WAR OF SURPRISES. 271 
 
 dread of Wiirtemberg, the coolness of Bavaria, the oppo- 
 sition of Saxony, or the impatience of the Hanse Towns 
 at lost importance. Hanover would not rise ; the other 
 States and cities would not be detached. On the day- 
 after the reading of the War Manifesto at the French 
 tribune, even before the King's speech to the Northern 
 Parliament, the Southern States began to move. Ger- 
 man unity stood firm, and this was the supreme sur- 
 prise for France with which the war began. On one 
 day the Emperor in his Official Journal declares his ob- 
 ject to be the deliverance of Bavaria from Prussian op- 
 pression, and on the very next day the Crown Prince of 
 Prussia, at the head of Bavarian troops, crushes an Im- 
 perial army. 
 
 Then came the manifest inferiority of the Imperial 
 army, everywhere outnumbered, which was another sur- 
 prise, — the manifest inferiority of the Imperial artil- 
 lery, also a surprise, — the manifest inferiority of the 
 Imperial generals, still a surprise. Above these was a 
 prevailing inefficiency and improvidence, which very 
 soon became conspicuous, and this was a surprise. The 
 strength of Germany, as now exhibited, was a surprise. 
 And when the German armies entered France, every 
 step was a surprise. Wissembourg was a surprise ; so 
 was Woerth ; so was Beaumont ; so was Sedan. Every 
 encounter was a surprise. Abel Douay, the French 
 general, who fell bravely fighting at Wissembourg, the 
 first sacrifice on the battle-field, was surprised; so was 
 MacMahon, not only at the beginning, but at the end. 
 He thought that the King and Crown Prince were 
 marching on Paris. So they were, — but they turned 
 aside for a few days to surprise a whole army of more 
 than a hundred thousand men, terrible with cannon and
 
 272 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 newly invented implements of war, under a Marshal 
 of France, and with an Emperor besides. As this suc- 
 cession of surprises was crowned with what seemed the 
 greatest surprise of all, there remained a greater still in 
 the surprise of the French Empire. No Greek Nemesis 
 with unrelenting hand ever dealt more incessantly the 
 unavoidable blow, until the Empire fell as a dead body 
 falls, while the Emperor became a captive and the Em- 
 press a fugitive, with their only child a fugitive also. 
 The poet says : — 
 
 " Sometime let gorgeous Tragedy 
 In sceptred pall come sweeiniig by."l 
 
 It has swept before the eyes of all. Beneath that scep- 
 tred pall is the dust of a great Empire, founded and 
 ruled by Louis Napoleon ; if not the dust of the Em- 
 peror also, it is because he was willing to sacrifice others 
 rather than himself. 
 
 OTHER FRENCH SOVEREIGNS CAPTURED ON THE 
 BATTLE-FIELD. 
 
 Twice before have French sovereigns yielded on tlie 
 battle-field, and become prisoners of war ; but never 
 before was capitulation so vast. Do their fates fur- 
 nish any lesson ? At the Battle of Poitiers, memorable 
 in English history, John, King of France, became the 
 prisoner of Edward the Black Prince. His nobles, one 
 after another, fell by his side, but he contended val- 
 iantly to the last, until, spent with fatigue and over- 
 come by numbers, he surrendered. His son, of the 
 same age as the son of the French Emperor, was 
 
 1 Milton, II Penseroso, 97-98.
 
 OTHER FRENCH SOVEREIGNS CAPTURED. 273 
 
 wounded while battling for his father. The courtesy 
 of the English Prince conquered more than his arms. 
 I quote the language of Hume : — 
 
 " More touched by Edward's generosity than by his own 
 calamities, he confessed, that, notwithstanding his defeat and 
 captivity, his honor was still unimpaired, and that, if he 
 yielded the victory, it was at least gained by a prince of such 
 consummate valor and humanity. " ^ 
 
 The King was taken to England, where, after swelling 
 the triumphal pageant of his conqueror, he made a dis- 
 graceful treaty for the dismemberment of France, which 
 the indignant nation would not ratify. A captivity of 
 more than four years was terminated by a ransom of 
 three million crowns in gold, — an enormous sum, more 
 than ten million dollars in our day. Evidently the King 
 was unfortunate, for he did not continue in France, but, 
 under the influence of. motives differently stated, re- 
 turned to England, where lie died. Surely here is a 
 lesson. 
 
 More famous than John was Francis, with salaman- 
 der crest, also King of France, and rich in gayety, 
 whose countenance, depicted by that art of which he 
 was the patron, stands forth conspicuous in the line of 
 kings. As the French Emperor attacked Germany, so 
 did the King enter Italy, and he was equally confident 
 of victory. On the field of Pa via he encountered an 
 army of Charles the Fifth, but commanded by his gen- 
 erals, when, after fighting desperately and killing seven 
 men with his own hand, he was compelled to surrender. 
 His mother was at the time Eegent of France, and to 
 
 1 History of England, (Oxford, 1826,) Cli. XVI., VoL II. p. 407.
 
 274 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 her he is said to have written the sententious letter, 
 "All is lost except honor." No such letter was written 
 by Francis,^ nor do we know of any such letter by Louis 
 Napoleon; but the situation of the two Eegents was 
 identical. Here are the words in which Hume describes 
 the condition of the earlier : — 
 
 "^ The Princess was struck with the greatness of the calam- 
 ity. She saw the kingdom without a sovereign, witliout an 
 army, without generals, without money, surrounded on every 
 side by implacable and victorious enemies ; and her chief re- 
 source, in her present distresses, were the hopes which she 
 entertained of peace, and even of assistance from the King 
 of England." ^ 
 
 Francis became the prisoner of Charles the Fifth, 
 and was conveyed to Madrid, where, after a year of 
 captivity, he was at length released, crying out, as he 
 crossed the French frontier, " Behold me Kincr af^ain !" ^ 
 Is not the fate of Louis Napoleon prefigured in the ex- 
 ile and death of his royal predecessor John, rather than 
 in the return of Francis with his delighted cry ? 
 
 LOUIS NAPOLEON. 
 
 The fall of Louis Napoleon is natural. It is hard to 
 see how it could be otherwise, so long as we continue to 
 
 " assert eternal Providence, 
 And justify the ways of God to men." * 
 
 Had he remained successful to the end, and died peace- 
 
 1 Sisniondi, Ilistoire des Francjais, Tom. XVT. pp. 241 - 42. Martin, His- 
 toire de France, (4eme ^dit.,) Tom. VIII. pp. 67, 68. 
 
 2 History of England, (Oxford, 1826,) Cli. XXIX.. Vol. IV. p. 5L 
 8 Sismondi, Tom. XVI. p. 277. Martin, Tom. VIII. p. 90. 
 
 4 Paradise Lost, Book I. 25-26.
 
 LOUIS NAPOLEON. 275 
 
 fully on the throne, his name would have been a per- 
 petual encouragement to dishonesty and crime. By 
 treachery without parallel, breaking repeated promises 
 and his oath of office, he was able to trample on the 
 Kepublic. Taking his place in the National Assembly 
 after long exile, the adventurer made haste to declare 
 exultation in regaining his country and all his rights as 
 citizen, with the ejaculation, " The Republic has given 
 me this happiness : let the Republic receive my oath 
 of gratitude, my oath of devotion ! " — and next he pro- 
 claimed that there was nobody to surpass him in deter- 
 mined consecration " to the defence of order and to the 
 establishment of the Republic." ^ Good words these. 
 Then again, when candidate for the Presidency, in a 
 manifesto to the electors he gave another pledge, an- 
 nouncing that he " would devote liimself altogether, 
 without mental reservation, to the establishment of a 
 Republic, wise in its laws, honest in its intentions, great 
 and strong in its acts " ; and he volunteered further 
 words, binding him in special loyalty, saying that he 
 " should make it a 23oint of honor to leave to his succes- 
 sor, at the end of four years, power strengthened, liberty 
 intact, real progress accomplished." ^ How these plain 
 and unequivocal engagements were openly broken you 
 shall see. 
 
 Chosen by the popular voice, his inauguration took 
 place as President of the Republic, when he solemnly 
 renewed the engagements already assumed. Ascending 
 from his seat in the Assembly to the tribune, and hold- 
 ing up his hand, he took the following oath of office : 
 "In presence of God, and before the French people, 
 
 1 Seance dn 26 Septembre 1848: Moniteur, 27 Septembre. 
 
 2 A ses Coucitoyens : (Euvres, Tom. IIL p. 25.
 
 276 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 represented liy the JSTational Assembly, I swear to re- 
 main faithful to the Democratic Republic One and 
 Indivisible, and to fulfil all the duties which the Con- 
 stitution imposes upon me." This was an oath. Then, 
 addressing the Assembly, he said : " The suffrages of the 
 nation and the oath which I have just taken prescribe 
 my future conduct. My duty is marked out. I will 
 fulfil it as a man of honor." Again he attests his 
 honor. Then, after deserved tribute to .his immediate 
 predecessor and rival, General Cavaignac, on his loyalty 
 of character, and that sentiment of duty which he de- 
 clares to be " the first quality in the chief of a State," 
 he renews his vows to the Eepublic, saying, " We have. 
 Citizen Representatives, a great mission to fulfil ; it is 
 to found a Republic in the interest of all " ; and he 
 closed amidst cheers for the Republic.-' And yet, in the 
 face of this oath of office and this succession of most 
 solemn pledges, where he twice attests his honor, he 
 has hardly become President before he commences plot- 
 ting to make himself Emperor, until, at last, by violence 
 and blood, with brutal butchery in the streets of Paris, 
 he succeeded in overthrowing the Republic, to which he 
 was bound by obligations of gratitude and duty, as well 
 as by engagements in such various form. The Empire 
 was declared. Then followed his marriage, and a dynas- 
 tic ambition to assure the crown for his son. 
 
 Early in life a " Charcoal " conspirator against kings,^ 
 he now became a crowned conspirator against repub- 
 lics. The name of Republic was to him a reproof, while 
 its glory was a menace. Against the Roman Republic 
 he conspired early ; and when the I'cbellion waged 
 
 1 Seance du 20 Decembre 1848: Moniteur, 21 Ducembre. 
 * A member of the secret society of the Carbonari in Italy.
 
 LOUIS NAPOLEON. 277 
 
 by Slavery seemed to afford opportunity, lie conspired 
 against our Eepublic, promoting as far as be dared the 
 independence of the Slave States, and at tbe same time 
 on the ruins of the Mexican Eepublic setting up a mock 
 Empire. In similar spirit has he conspired against Ger- 
 man Unity, whose just strength promised to be a wall 
 against his unprincipled self-seeking. 
 
 This is but an outline of that incomparable perfidy, 
 which, after a career of seeming success, is brought to a 
 close. Of a fallen man I would say nothing ; but, for 
 the sake of Humanity, Louis ISTapoleon should be ex- 
 posed. He was of evil example, extending with his 
 influence. To measure the vastness of this detriment 
 is impossible. In sacrificing the Eepublic to his own 
 aggrandizement, in ruling for a dynasty rather than 
 the people, in subordinating the peace of the world to 
 his own wicked ambition for his boy, he set an exam- 
 ple of selfishness, and in proportion to his triumph was 
 mankind corrupted in its judgment of human conduct. 
 Teaching men to seek ascendency at the expense of 
 duty, he demoralized not only France, but the world. 
 Unquestionably part of this evil example was his false- 
 hood to the Eepublic. Promise, pledge, honor, oath, 
 were all violated in this monstrous treason. Never in 
 history was greater turpitude. Unquestionably he could 
 have saved the Eepublic, but he preferred his own exal- 
 tation. As I am a Eepublican, and believe republican 
 institutions for the good of mankind, I cannot pardon 
 the traitor. The people of France are ignorant ; he did 
 not care to have them educated, for their ignorance was 
 his strength. With education bestowed, the Eepublic 
 would have been assured. And even after the Empire, 
 had he thought more of education and less of his dy-
 
 278 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 nasty, there would have been a civilization throughout 
 France making war impossible. Unquestionably the 
 present war is his work, instituted for his imagined ad- 
 vantage. Bacon, in one of his remarkable Essays, tells 
 us that " Extreme self-lovers will set an house on fire, 
 and it were but to roast their eggs." ^ Louis Napoleon 
 has set Europe on fire to roast his. 
 
 Beyond the continuing offence of his public life, I 
 charge upon him three s])ecial and unpardonable crimes : 
 first, that violation of public duty and public faith, con- 
 trary to all solemnities of promise, by which the whole 
 order of society was weakened and human character was 
 degraded; secondly, disloyalty to republican institutions, 
 so that through him the Republic has been arrested in 
 Europe ; and, thirdly, this cruel and causeless war, of 
 which he is the guilty author. 
 
 RETRIBUTION. 
 
 Of familiar texts in Scripture, there is one which, 
 since the murderous outbreak, has been of constant ap- 
 plicability and force. You know it : " All they that 
 take the sword shall perish with the sword " : ^ and these 
 words are addressed to nations as to individuals. France 
 took the sword against Germany, and now lies bleeding 
 at every pore. Louis Napoleon took the sword, and is 
 nought. Already in that coup d'etat by which he over- 
 threw the Eepublic he took the sword, and now the 
 Empire, which was the work of his hands, expires. In 
 Mexico again he took the sword, and again paid the 
 fearful penalty, — while the Austrian Archduke, who, 
 
 1 Of Wisdom for a Man's Self : Essay XXIII. 
 
 2 Matthew, xxvi. 52.
 
 RETKIBUTION. 279 
 
 yielding to his pressure, made himself Emperor there, 
 was shot by order of the Mexican President, an Indian 
 of unmixed blood. And here there was retribution, not 
 only for the French Emperor, but far beyond. I know 
 not if there be invisible threads by which the Present 
 is attached to the distant Past, making the descendant 
 suffer even for a distant ancestor, but I cannot forget 
 that Maximilian was derived from that very family of 
 Charles the Fifth, whose conquering general, Cortes, 
 stretched the Indian Guatemozin upon a bed of fire, 
 and afterwards executed him on a tree. The death of 
 Maximilian was tardy retribution for the death of Gua- 
 temozin. And thus in this world is wrong avenged, 
 sometimes after many generations. The fall of the 
 French Emperor is an illustration of that same retri- 
 bution which is so constant. While he yet lives, judg- 
 ment has begun. 
 
 If I accumulate instances, it is because the certainty 
 of retribution for wrong, and especially for the great 
 wrong of War, is a lesson of the present duel to be im- 
 pressed. Take notice, all who would appeal to war, 
 that the way of the transgressor is hard, and sooner or 
 later he is overtaken. The ban may fall tardily, but it 
 is sure to fall. 
 
 Eetribution in another form has already visited France; 
 nor is its terrible vengeance yet spent. Not only are 
 populous cities, all throbbing with life and filled with 
 innocent households, subjected to siege, but to bombard- 
 ment also, — being that most ruthless trial of war, where 
 non-combatants, including women and children, sick 
 and aged, share with the soldier his peculiar perils, and 
 suffer alike with him. All are equal before the hideous 
 shell, crashing, bursting, destroying, killing, and changing
 
 280 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 the fairest scene into blood-spattered wreck. Against 
 its vengeful, slaughterous descent there is no protection 
 for the people, — nothing but an uncertain shelter in 
 cellars, or, it may be, in the common sewers. Already 
 Strasbourg, Toul, and Metz have been called to endure 
 this indiscriminate massacre, where there is no distinc- 
 tion of persons; and now the same fate is threatened 
 to Paris the Beautiful, with its thronging population 
 counted by the million. Thus is the ancient chalice 
 which France handed to others now commended to her 
 own lips. It was France that first in history adopted 
 this method of war. Long ?mp, under Louis the Four- 
 teenth, it became a favorite ; but it has not escaped the 
 judgment of history. Voltaire, with elegant pen, re- 
 cords that " this art, carried soon among other nations, 
 served only to multiply human calamities, and more 
 than once was dreadful to France, where it was in- 
 vented." ^ The bombardment of Luxembourg in 1683 
 drew from Sismoudi, always humane and refined, words 
 applicable to recent events. " Louis the Fourteenth," 
 he says, " had been the first to put in practice this 
 atrocious and newly invented method of bombarding 
 towns, .... of attacking, not fortifications, but private 
 houses, not soldiers, but peaceable inhabitants, women 
 and children, and of confounding thousands of private 
 crimes, each one of which would cause horror, in one 
 great public crime, one great disaster, which he regarded 
 as nothing more than one of the catastrophes of war." ^ 
 Again is the saying fulfilled, " All they that take the 
 sword shall perish with the sword." No lapse of time 
 
 1 Siecle de Louis XIV., Ch. XIV. : (Euvres, (vAit 1784-89,) Tom. XX. 
 p. 406. 
 
 2 Histoire des Fran^ais, Tom. XXV. pp. 452-53.
 
 PEA.CE AFTER CAPITULATION AT SEDAN. 281 
 
 can avert the inexorable law. Macbeth saw it in Ms 
 terrible imaginings, when he said, — 
 
 "But in these cases 
 We still have judgment here, — that we but teach 
 Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return 
 To plague the inventor." 
 
 And what instruction more bloody than the bombard- 
 ment of a city, which now returns to plague the French 
 people ? 
 
 Thus is history something more even than philosophy 
 teaching by example ; it is sermon with argument and 
 exhortation. The simple record of nations preaches ; 
 and whether you regard reason or the affections, it is 
 the same. If nations were wise or humane, they would 
 not fight. 
 
 PEACE AFTER CAPITULATION AT SEDAK 
 
 Vain are lessons of the past or texts of prudence 
 against that spirit of War which finds sanction and 
 regulation in International Law. So long as the war 
 system continues, men will fight. While I speak, the 
 two champions still stand front to front, Germany ex- 
 ulting in victory, but France in no respect submissive. 
 The duel still rages, although one of the champions is 
 pressed to earth, as in that early combat where the 
 ChevaKer Bayard, so eminent in chivalry, thrust his 
 dasser into the nostrils of his fallen foe, and then 
 dragged his dead body off the field. History now re- 
 peats itself, and we witness in Germany the very con- 
 duct condemned in the famous French knight. 
 
 The French Emperor was the aggressor. He began 
 this fatal duel. Let him fall, — but not the people 
 of France. Cruelly already have they expiated theii
 
 282 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 offence in accepting such a ruler. Not always should 
 they suffer. Enough of waste, enough of sacrifice, 
 enough of slaughter have they undergone. Enough 
 have they felt the accursed hoof of War, 
 
 It is easy to see now, that, after the capitulation at 
 Sedan, there was a double mistake : first, on the part 
 of Germany, which, as magnanimous conqueror, should 
 have proposed peace, thus conquering in character as in 
 arms ; and, secondly, on the part of the Eepublic, which 
 should have declined to wage a war of Imjjerialism, 
 against which the Eepublican leaders had so earnestly 
 protested. With the capitulation of the Emperor the 
 dynastic question was closed. There was no longer 
 pretension or pretext, nor was there occasion for war. 
 The two parties should have come to an understanding. 
 Why continue this terrible homicidal, fratricidal, suici- 
 dal combat, fraught with mutual death and sacrifice ? 
 Why march on Paris ? Why beleaguer Paris ? Why 
 bombard Paris ? To what end ? If for the humilia- 
 tion of France, then nmst it be condemned. 
 
 THREE ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS OF PEACE. 
 
 In arriving at terms of peace, there are at least three 
 conditions which cannot be overlooked in the interest of 
 civilization, and that the peace may be such in reality 
 as in name, and not an armistice only, — three postu- 
 lates which stand above all question, and dominate this 
 debate, so that any essential departure from them must 
 end in wretched failure. 
 
 The first is the natural requirement of Germany, that 
 there shall be completest guaranty against future aggres- 
 sion, constituting what is so well kuuwn among us as
 
 INDEMNITY OF GERMANY. 283 
 
 " Security for the Future." Count Bismarck, with an 
 exaggeration hardly pardonable, alleges more than 
 twenty invasions of Germany by France, and declares 
 that these must be stopped forever.^ Many or few, 
 they must be stopped forever. The second condition to 
 be regarded is the natural requirement of France, that 
 the guaranty, while sufficient, shall be such as not 
 to wound needlessly the sentiments of the French 
 people, or to ofi'end any principle of public law. It is 
 difficult to question these two postulates, at least in the 
 abstract. Only when we come to the application is 
 there opportunity for difierence. The third postulate, 
 demanded alike by justice and humanity, is the estab- 
 lishment of some rule or precedent by which the recur- 
 rence of such a barbarous duel shall be prevented. It 
 will not be enough to obtain a guaranty for Germany ; 
 there must be a guaranty for Civilization itself. 
 
 On careful inquiry, it will be seen that all these can 
 be accomplished in one way only, which I will describe, 
 when I have first shown what is now put forward and 
 discussed as the claim of Germany, under two diflerent 
 heads. Indemnity and Guaranty. 
 
 INDEMNITY OF GERMANY. 
 
 I HAVE already spoken of Guaranty as an essential 
 condition. Indemnity is not essential. At the close 
 of our war with Slavery we said nothing of indemnity. 
 For the life of the citizen there could be no indemnity ; 
 nor was it practicable even for the treasure sacrificed. 
 Security for the Future was all that our nation required, 
 
 1 Circular of September 16, 1870 : Foi'eign Relations of the United 
 States, — Executive Documents, 41st Cong. 3d Sess., H. of R., Vol. I. 
 No. 1, Parti, pp. 212-13. 
 
 >yfvv
 
 284 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 and this was found in provisions of Law and Constitu- 
 tion establishing Equal Eights. From various intima- 
 tions it is evident that Germany will not be content 
 without indemnity in money on a large scale ; and it 
 is also evident that France, the aggressor, cannot, when 
 conquered, deny liability to a certain extent. The ques- 
 tion will be on the amount. Already German calcula- 
 tors begin to array their unrelenting figures. One of 
 these insists that the indemnity shall not only cover 
 outlay for the German Army, — pensions of widows 
 and invalids, — maintenance and support of French 
 wounded and prisoners, — compensation to Germans 
 expelled from France, — also damage suffered by the 
 territory to be annexed, especially Strasbourg ; but it is 
 also to cover indirect damages, large in amount, — as, 
 loss to the nation from change of productive laborers 
 into soldiers, — loss from killing and disabling so many 
 laborers, — and, generally, loss from suspension of trade 
 and manufactures, depreciation of national property, 
 and diminution of the public revenues : — all of which, 
 according to a recent estimate, reach the fearful sum- 
 total of 4,935,000,000 francs, or nearly one thousand 
 million dollars. Of this sum, 1,255,000,000 francs are 
 on account of the Army, 1,230,000,000 for direct dam- 
 age, 2,250,000,000 for indirect damage, and 200,000,000 
 for damage to the reconquered provinces. Still further, 
 the Berlin Chamber of Commerce insists on indemnity 
 not only for actual loss of ships and cargoes from the 
 blockade, but also for damages on account of detention. 
 Much of this many-headed account, which I introduce 
 in order to open the case in its extent, will be opposed 
 by France, as fabulous, consequential, and remote. The 
 practical question will be. Can one nation do wrong to
 
 GUARANTY OF DISMEMBERMENT. 285 
 
 another without paying for the damage, whatever it 
 may be, direct or indirect, — always provided it be 
 susceptible of estimate ? Here I content myself with 
 the remark, that, while in the settlement of interna- 
 tional differences there is no place for technicality, 
 there is always room for moderation. 
 
 GUARANTY OF DISMEMBERMENT. 
 
 Vast as may be the claim of indemnity, it opens 
 no question so calculated to touch the sensibilities of 
 France as the claim of guaranty already announced by 
 Germany. On this head we are not left to conjecture. 
 From her first victory we have been assured that Ger- 
 many would claim Alsace and German Lorraine, with 
 their famous strongholds ; and now we have the state- 
 ment of Count Bismarck, in a diplomatic circular, that 
 he expects to remove the German frontier further 
 west, — meaning to the Vosges Mountains, if not to 
 the Moselle also, — and to convert the fortresses into 
 what he calls " defensive strongholds of Germany." ^ 
 Then, with larger view, he declares, that, " in rendering 
 it more difficult for France, from whom all European 
 troubles have so long proceeded, to assume the offen- 
 sive, we likewise promote the common interest of Eu- 
 rope, which demands the preservation of peace." Here 
 is just recognition of peace as the common interest of 
 Europe, to be assured by disabling France. How shall 
 this be done ? The German Minister sees nothing but 
 dismemberment, consecrated by a Treaty of Peace. 
 With diplomatic shears he would cut off a portion of 
 French territory, and, taking from it the name of France, 
 
 1 Circiilar of September 16, 1870, — uhi supra, p. 49, Note 1.
 
 28G THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 stamp upon it the trade-mark of Germany. Two of its 
 richest and most precious provinces, for some two hun- 
 dred years constituent parts of the great nation, with 
 that ancient cathedral city, the pride of the lUiine, long 
 years ago fortified by A^auban as " the strongest barrier 
 of France," ^ are to be severed, and with them a large 
 and industrious population, which, while preserving the 
 German language, have so far blended with France as 
 to become Frenchmen. This is the German proposition, 
 which I call tlie Guaranty of Dismemberment. 
 
 One argument for this proposition is brushed aside 
 easily. Had the fortune of war been adverse to Ger- 
 many, it is said, peace would have been dictated at Ber- 
 lin, perhaps at Konigsberg, and France would have 
 carried her frontier eastward to the Ehine, dismember- 
 ing Germany. Such, I doubt not, would have been the 
 attempt. The conception is entirely worthy of that 
 Imperial levity with which the war began. But the 
 madcap menace of the French Empire cannot be the 
 measure of German justice. It is for Germany to show, 
 that, notwithstanding this wildness, she knows how to 
 be just. Dismemberment on this account would be 
 only another form of retaliation ; but retaliation is 
 barbarous. 
 
 To the argument, that these provinces, with their 
 strongholds, are needed for the defence of Germany, 
 there is the obvious reply, that, if cut off from France 
 contrary to the wishes of the local population, and 
 with the French people in chronic irritation on this 
 account, they will be places of weakness rather than 
 strength, strongholds of disaffection rather than defence, 
 
 1 Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV., Ch. XIV.: (Euvres, (edit. 1784-89,) 
 Tom. XX. p. 403.
 
 GUARANTY OF DISMEMBERMENT. 287 
 
 to be held always at the cannon's mouth. Does Ger- 
 many seek lasting peace ? Not in this way can it be 
 had. A painful exaction, enforced by triumphant arms, 
 must create a sentiment of hostility in France, sup- 
 pressed for a season, but ready at a propitious moment 
 to break forth in violence ; so that between the two 
 conterminous nations there will be nothing better than 
 a peace where each sleeps on its arms, — which is but 
 an Armed Peace. Such for weary years has been the 
 condition of nations. Is Germany determined to pro- 
 long the awful curse ? Will her most enlightened 
 people, with poetry, music, literature, philosophy, sci- 
 ence, and religion as constant ministers, to whom has 
 been opened in rarest degree the whole book of knowl- 
 edge, persevere in a brutal policy belonging to another 
 age, and utterly alien to that superior civilization which 
 is so truly theirs ? 
 
 There is another consideration, not only of justice, 
 but of public law, which cannot be overcome. The 
 people of these provinces are unwilling to be separat- 
 ed from France. This is enough. France cannot sell or 
 transfer them against their consent. Consult the great 
 masters, and you will find their concurring authority. 
 Grotius, from whom on such a question there can be no 
 appeal, adjudges: "In the alienation of a part of the 
 sovereignty it is required that the part which is to he 
 alienated consent to the act.'' According to him, it must 
 not be supposed " that the body should have the right 
 of cutting off parts from itself and giving them into the 
 authority of another." ^ Of the same opinion is Pufen- 
 dorf, declaring : " The sovereign who attempts to trans- 
 fer his kingdom to another by his sole authority does 
 
 1 De Jure Belli et Pacis, tr. Whewell, Lib. II. Cap. 6, § 4.
 
 288 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 an act in itself null and void, and not binding on his 
 subjects. To make such a conveyance valid, the con- 
 sent of the people is required, as well as of the prince." ^ 
 Vattel crowns this testimony, when he adds, that a 
 province or city, "abandoned and dismembered from 
 the State, is not obliged to receive the new master 
 proposed to be given it." ^ Before such texts, stronger 
 than a fortress, the soldiers of Germany must halt. 
 
 Nor can it be forgotten how inconsistent is the guar- 
 anty of Dismemberment with that heroic passion for na- 
 tional unity which is the glory of Germany. National 
 unity is not less the right of France than of Germany ; 
 and these provinces, though in former centuries German, 
 and still preserving the German speech, belong to the 
 existing unity of France, — unless, according to the pop- 
 ular song, the German's Fatherland extends 
 
 " Far as the German accent rings"; 
 
 and then the conqueror must insist on Switzerland ; and 
 why not cross the Atlantic, to dictate laws in Pennsyl- 
 vania and Chicago ? But this same song has a better 
 verse, calling that the German's Fatherland 
 
 "Where in the heart love warmly lies." 
 
 But in these coveted provinces it is the love for France, 
 and not for Germany, which prevails. 
 
 GUARANTY OF DISARMAMENT. 
 
 The Guaranty of Dismemberment, when brought to 
 the touchstone of the three essential conditions, is found 
 wanting. Dismissing it as unsatisfactory, I come to 
 
 1 De Jure Natura; et Gentium, Lih. VIII. Cap. 5, § 9. 
 a Le Droit des Gens, Liv. T ch. 21, § 264.
 
 GUARANTY OF DISARMAMENT. 289 
 
 that other guaranty where these conditions are all ful- 
 filled, and we find security for Germany without offence 
 to the just sentiments of France, and also a new safe- 
 guard to civilization. Against the Guaranty of Dismem- 
 berment I oppose the Guaranty of Disarmament. By 
 Disarmament I mean the razing of the French fortifica- 
 tions and tlie abolition of the standing army, except 
 that minimum of force required for purposes of police. 
 How completely this satisfies the conditions already 
 named is obvious. For Germany there would be on the 
 side of France absolute repose, so that Count Bismarck 
 need not fear another invasion, — while France, saved 
 from intolerable humiliation, would herself be free to 
 profit by the new civilization. 
 
 Nor is this guaranty otherwise than practical in every 
 respect, and the more it is examined the more will its 
 inestimable advantage be apparent. 
 
 1. There is, first, its most obvious economy, which is 
 so glaring, that, according to a familiar French expres- 
 sion, " it leaps into the eyes." Undertaking even briefly 
 to set it forth, I seem to follow the proverb and " show 
 the sun with a lantern." According to the " Almanach 
 de Gotha," the appropriations for the army of France, 
 during the year of peace before the war, were 588,852, 
 970 francs,^ — or about one hundred and seventeen 
 millions of dollars. Give up the Standing Army and 
 this considerable sum disappears from the annual bud- 
 get. But this retrenchment represents only partially 
 the prodigious economy. Beyond the annual outlay is 
 the loss to the nation by the change of producers into 
 non-producers. Admitting that in France the average 
 annual production of a soldier usefully employed would 
 
 1 Almanacli de Gotha, 1870, p. 599.
 
 290 THE DUEL BETWEEN FKANXE AND GERMANY. 
 
 be only fifty dollars, and multiplying this small allow- 
 ance by the numbers of the Standing Army, you have 
 another amount to be piled upon the military appropri- 
 ations. Is it too much to expect that this surpassing 
 waste shall be stopped ? Must the extravagance born 
 of war, and nursed by long tradition, continue to drain 
 the resources of the land ? Where is reas6n ? Where 
 humanity ? A decree abolishing the Standing Army 
 would be better for the French people, and more pro- 
 ductive, than the richest gold-mine discovered in every 
 department of France. Nor can imagination picture 
 the fruitful result. I speak now only in the light of 
 economy. Relieved from intolerable burden, industry 
 would lift itself to unimagined labors, and society be 
 quickened anew, 
 
 2. Beyond this economy, which need not be argued, 
 is the positive advantage, if not necessity, of such change 
 for France. I do not speak on general grounds applica- 
 ble to all nations, but on grounds peculiar to France at 
 the present moment. Emerging from a most destructive 
 war, she will be subjected to enormous and unprece- 
 dented contributions of every kind. After satisfying 
 Germany, she will find other obligations at home, — 
 some pressing directly upon the nation, and others upon 
 individuals. Beyond the outstanding pay of soldiers, 
 requisitions for sup])lies, pensions for the wounded and 
 the families of the dead, and other extraordinary lia- 
 bilities accumulating as never before in the same time, 
 there will be the duty of renewing that internal pros- 
 perit)'' which has received such a shock ; and here the 
 work of restoration will be costly, whether to the nation 
 or the individual. Eevenue must be regained, roads 
 and bridges repaired, markets suj^plied ; nor can we
 
 GUAEANTY OF DISAEMAMENT. 291 
 
 omit the large and multitudinous losses from ravage of 
 fields, seizure of stock, suspension of business, stoppage 
 of manufactures, interference with agriculture, and the 
 whole terrible drain of war by which the people are 
 impoverished and disabled. If to the necessary appro- 
 priation and expenditure for all these things is super- 
 added the annual tax of a Standing Army, and that 
 other draft from the change of producers into non- 
 producers, plainly here is a supplementary burden of 
 crushing weight. Talk of the last feather breaking 
 the back of the camel, — but never was camel loaded 
 down as France. 
 
 3. Beyond even these considerations of economy and 
 advantage I put the transcendent, priceless benefit of 
 Disarmament in the assurance, of peace. Disarmament 
 substitutes the constable for the soldier, and reduces the 
 Standing Army to a police. The argument assumes, 
 first, the needlessness of a Standing Army, and, sec- 
 ondly, its evil influence. Both of these points were 
 touched at an early day by the wise Chancellor of Eng- 
 land, Sir Thomas More, when, in his practical and per- 
 sonal Introduction to " Utopia," he alludes to what he 
 calls the " bad custom " of keeping many servants, and 
 then says : " In France there is yet a more pestiferous 
 sort of people ; for the whole country is full of soldiers, 
 that are still kept up in time of peace, — if such a state 
 of a nation can be called a peace." Then, proceeding 
 with his judgment, the Chancellor holds up what he 
 calls those " pretended statesmen " whose maxim is that 
 " it is necessary for the public safety to have a good 
 body of veteran soldiers ever in readiness." And after 
 saying that these pretended statesmen " sometimes seek 
 occasion for making war, that they may train up their
 
 292 THE DUEL BETWEEN FKANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 soldiers in the art of cutting throats," he adds, in words 
 soon to be tested, " But France has learned, to its cost, 
 how dangerous it is to feed such beasts." ^ It will be 
 well, if France has learned this important lesson. The 
 time has come to practise it. 
 
 All history is a vain word, and all experience is at 
 fault, if large War Preparations, of which the Standing- 
 Army is the type, have not been constant provocatives 
 of war. Pretended protectors against war, they have 
 been real instigators to war. They have excited the 
 evil against which they were to guard. The habit of 
 wearing arms in private life exercised a kindred influ- 
 ence. So long as this habit continued, society was 
 darkened by personal combat, street-fight, duel, and as- 
 sassination. The Standing Army is to the nation what 
 the sword was to the modern gentleman, the stiletto to 
 the Italian, the knife to the Spaniard, the pistol to our 
 slave-master, — furnishing, like these, the means of 
 death ; and its possessor is not slow to use it. In stat- 
 ing the operation of this system we are not left to in- 
 ference. As France, according to Sir Thomas More, 
 shows "how dangerous it is to feed such beasts," so 
 does Prussia, in ever-memorable instance, which speaks 
 now with more than ordinary authority, show precisely 
 how the Standing Army may become the incentive to 
 war. Frederick, the warrior king, is our witness. With 
 honesty or impudence beyond parallel, he did not hesi- 
 tate to record in his Memoirs, among the reasons for his 
 war upon Maria Theresa, that, on coming to the throne, 
 he found himself with "troops always ready to act." 
 Voltaire, when called to revise the royal memoirs, 
 
 1 Utopia, tr. Burnet, (Loudoi), 1845,) Book I. pp. 29, 30.
 
 GUARANTY OF DISARMAMENT. 293 
 
 erased this confession, but preserved a copy;^ so that 
 by his literary activity we have this kingly authority 
 for the mischief from a Standing Army. How com- 
 plete a weapon was that army may be learned from 
 Lafayette, who, in a letter to Washington, in 1786, after 
 a visit to the King, described it thus : — • 
 
 " Nothing can be compared to the beauty of the troops, to 
 the discipHne wliich reigns in all their ranks, to the sim- 
 plicity of their movements, to the uniformity of their regi- 
 ments All the situations which can be supposed in 
 
 war, all the movements which these must necessitate, have 
 been by constant habit so inculcated in their heads, that all 
 these operations are done almost mechanically."^ 
 
 Nothing better has been devised since the Macedo- 
 nian phalanx or the Roman legion. With such a weap- 
 on ready to his hands, the King struck Maria Theresa. 
 And think you that the present duel between France 
 and Germany could have been waged, had not both na- 
 tions found themselves, like Frederick of Prussia, with 
 "troops always ready to act" ? It was the possession of 
 these troops which made the two parties rush so swiftly 
 to the combat. Is not the lesson perfect ? Already 
 individuals have disarmed. Civilization requires that 
 nations shall do likewise. 
 
 Thus is Disarmament enforced on three several 
 grounds : first, economy ; secondly, positive advantage, 
 if not necessity, for France ; and, thirdly, assurance of 
 peace. No other guaranty promises so much. Does 
 any other guaranty promise anything beyond the acci- 
 
 1 Brougham, Lives of Men of Letters, (London and Glasgow, 1856,) p. 59, 
 — Voltaire. See also Voltaire, Memoires pour servir d la Vie de, ecrits par 
 lui-mS)ne, (^dit. 1784-89,) Tom. LXX. p. 279; also Frederic II., Hisioire 
 de mon Temps, CEuvres Postliumes, (Berlin, 1789,) Tom. I. Part. I. p. 78. 
 
 2 Memoires, Tom. II. p. 133.
 
 294 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 dent of force ? Nor would France be alone. Dismiss- 
 ing to the arts of peace the large army victorious over 
 Slavery, our Republic has shown how disarmament can 
 be accomplished. The example of France, so entirely 
 I reasonable, so ])rofitable, so pacific, and so harmonious 
 with ours, would spread. Conquering Germany could 
 not resist its influence. Nations are tauglit by example 
 more than by precept, and either is better than force. 
 Other nations would follow ; nor would Russia, elevated 
 by her great act of Enfranchisement, fail to seize her 
 sublime opportunity. Popular rights, which are strong- 
 est always in assured peace, would have new triumphs. 
 Instead of Trial by Battle for the decision of differences 
 between nations, there would be peaceful substitutes, as 
 Arbitration, or, it may be, a Congress of Nations, and 
 the United States of Europe would appear above the 
 subsiding waters. The old juggle of Balance of Power, 
 which has rested like a nightmare on Europe, would 
 disappear, like that other less bloody fiction of Balance 
 of Trade, and nations, like individuals, would all be 
 equal before the law. Here our own country furnishes 
 an illustration. So long as slavery prevailed among us, 
 there was an attempt to preserve what was designated 
 balance of power between the North and South, pivot- 
 ing on Slavery, — just as in Europe there has been an 
 attempt to preserve balance of power among nations 
 pivoting on War. Too tardily is it seen that this fa- 
 mous balance, which has played such a part at home 
 and abroad, is but an artificial contrivance instituted by 
 power, which must give place to a simple accord derived 
 from the natural condition of things. Why should not 
 the harmony which has begun at home be extended 
 abroad ? Practicable and beneficent here, it must be
 
 KING WILLIAM AND COUNT BISMARCK. 295 
 
 the same there. Then would nations exist without per- 
 petual and reciprocal watchfulness. But the first step 
 is to discard the wasteful, oppressive, and pernicious 
 provocative to war, which is yet maintained at such ter- 
 rible cost. To-day this glorious advance is presented to 
 France and Germany. 
 
 KING WILLIAM AND COUNT BISMARCK. 
 
 Two personages at this moment hold in their hands 
 the great question teeming with a new civilization. 
 Honest and determined, both are patriotic rather than 
 cosmopolitan or Christian, believing in Prussia rather 
 than Humanity. And the patriotism so strong in each 
 keeps still the early tinge of iron. I refer to King 
 William and his Prime-Minister, Count Bismarck. 
 
 More than any other European sovereign, William 
 of Prussia possesses the infatuation of "divine right." 
 He believes that he was appointed by God to be King 
 — differing here from Louis Napoleon, who in a spirit 
 of compromise entitled himself Emperor " by the grace 
 of God and the national will." This infatuation was 
 illustrated at his coronation in ancient Konissberfj, — 
 first home of Prussian royalty, and better famous as 
 birthplace and lifelong home of Immanuel Kant, — 
 when the King enacted a scene of melodrama which 
 might be transferred from the church to the theatre. 
 No other person was allowed to place the crown on his 
 royal head. Lifting it from the altar, where it rested, 
 he placed it on his head himself, in sign that he held 
 it from Heaven and not from man, and next placed an- 
 other on the head of the Queen, in sign that her dignity 
 was derived from him. Then, turning round, he grasped
 
 296 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GEllM.U^Y. 
 
 the sword of state, in testimony of readiness to defend 
 the nation. Since the Battle of Sadowa, when the Aus- 
 trian Empire was so suddenly shattered, he has believed 
 himself providential sword-bearer of Germany, destined, 
 perhaps, to revive the old glories of Barbarossa. His 
 habits are soldierly, and, notwithstanding his seventy- 
 three winters, he continues to find pleasure in Avearing 
 the spiked helmet of the Prussian camp. Eepuldicans 
 smile when he speaks of " my array," " my allies," and 
 " my people " ; but this egotism is the natural expres- 
 sion of the monarchical character, especially wliere the 
 monarch believes that he holds by " divine right." His 
 public conduct is in harmony with these conditions. 
 He is a Protestant, and rules the land of Luther, but 
 he is no friend to modern Eeform. The venerable S3's- 
 tem of war and prerogative is part of his inheritance 
 handed down from fighting despots^ and he evidently 
 believes in it. 
 
 His Minister, Count Bismarck, is the partisan of " di- 
 vine right," and, like the King, regards with satisfaction 
 that hierarchical feudalism from which they are both 
 derived. He is noble, and believes in nobility. He 
 believes also in force, as if he had the blood of the god 
 Thor. He believes in war, and does not hesitate to 
 throw its " iron dice," insisting upon the rigors of the 
 game. As the German question began to lower, his 
 policy was most persistent. " Not by speeches and 
 votes of the majority," he said in 1862, "are the great 
 questions of the time decided, — that was the error of 
 1848 and 1849, — lut hy iron and blood." ^ Thus expli- 
 
 1 " Nicht durch Reden und Majoritats'beschlusse werden die grossen Fra- 
 gen der Zeit entscliiedeii, — das ist der Fehler von 1848 mid 1849 gLnveseii, — 
 sondern durch Eisen und Blut." — Aeusserungen in der Badyetkummission, 
 September, 1862.
 
 KING WILLIAM AND COUNT BISMARCK. 297 
 
 cit was he. Having a policy, he became its representa- 
 tive, and very soon thereafter controlled the counsels of 
 his sovereign, coming swiftly before the world ; and yet 
 his elevation was tardy. Born in 1815, he did not en- 
 ter upon diplomacy until 1851, when thirty-six years of 
 age, and only in 1862 became Prussian Minister at 
 Paris, whence he was soon transferred to the Cabinet 
 at Berlin as Prime-Minister. Down to that time he 
 was little known. His name is not found in any edi- 
 tion of the bulky French Dictionary of Contempora- 
 ries,^ not even its " Additions and Eectifications," until 
 the Supplement of 1863. But from this time he drew 
 so large a share of public attention that the contempo- 
 rary press of the world became the dictionary where his 
 name was always found. Nobody doubts his intellec- 
 tual resources, his courage, or strength of will ; but it is 
 felt that he is naturally hard, and little affected by hu- 
 man sympathy. Therefore is he an excellent war min- 
 ister. It remains to be seen if he will do as much for 
 peace. His one idea has been the unity of Germany 
 under the primacy of Prussia ; and here he encountered 
 Austria, as he now encounters France. But in that 
 larger unity where nations will be conjoined in har- 
 mony he can do less, so long at least as he continues 
 a fanatic for kings and a cynic towards popular insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 Such is the King, and such his Minister. I have de- 
 scribed them that you may see how little help the great 
 ideas already germinating from bloody fields will receive 
 from them. In this respect they are as one. 
 
 * Vapereau, Dictionnaire Universel des Contemporains.
 
 298 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 TWO INFLUENCES VERSUS WAR SYSTEM. 
 
 Beyond the most persuasive influence of civilization, 
 pleading, as never before, with voice of reason and af- 
 fection, that the universal tyrant and master-evil of 
 Christendom, the War System, may cease, and the 
 means now absorbed in its support be employed for the 
 benefit of the Human Family, there are two special in- 
 fluences which cannot be without weight at this time. 
 The first is German authority in the writings of philos- 
 ophers, by whom Germany rules in thought ; and the 
 second is the uprising of the working-men: both 
 against war as acknowledged arbiter between nations, 
 and insisting upon peaceful substitutes. 
 
 AUTHORITY OF THE GERMAN MIND. 
 
 More than any other nation Germany has suffered 
 from war. Without that fatal gift of beauty, " a dowry 
 fraught with never-ending pain," wliich tempted the 
 foreigner to Italy, her lot has been hardly less wretch- 
 ed; but Germany has differed from Italy in the suc- 
 cessful bravery with which she repelled the invader. 
 Tacitus says of her people, that, " surrounded by numer- 
 ous and very powerful nations, they are safe, not by 
 obsequiousness, but by battles and braving danger " ; ^ 
 and this same character, thus epigrammatically pre- 
 sented, has continued ever since. Yet this was not 
 without that painful experience which teaches what 
 Art has so often attempted to picture and Eloquence to 
 describe, " The Miseries of War." Again in that same 
 
 1 " Plurimis ac valentissimis nationibns cincti, non per obsequium, sed 
 prceliis et periclitando tuti sunt." — Germania, Cap. XL.
 
 AUTHOKITY OF THE GERMAN MIND. 299 
 
 fearless spirit has Germany driven back the invader, 
 while War is seen anew in its atrocious works. But it 
 was not merely the Miseries of War which Germans 
 regarded. The German mind is philosophical and sci- 
 entific, and it early saw the irrational character of the 
 War System. It is well known that Henry the Fourth 
 of France conceived the idea of Harmony among Na- 
 tions without War; and his plan was taken up and elab- 
 orated in numerous writings by the good Abbe de Saint- 
 Pierre, so that he made it his own. Eousseau, in his 
 treatise on the subject,^ popularized Saint-Pierre. But 
 it is to Germany that, we must look for the most com- 
 plete and practical development of this beautiful idea. 
 If French in origin, it is German now in authority. 
 
 The greatest minds in Germany have dealt with this 
 problem, and given to its solution tlie exactness of sci- 
 ence. No greater have been applied to any question. 
 Foremost in this list, in time and in fame, is Leibnitz, 
 that marvel of human intelligence, second, perhaps, to 
 none in history, who, on reading the " Project of Perpet- 
 ual Peace " by the Abbe de Saint-Pierre, pronounced 
 this judgment : " I have read it with attention, and am 
 persuaded that such a project is on the whole feasible, 
 and that its executiou would be one of the most useful 
 things in the world." ^ Thus did Leibnitz affirm its 
 feasibility and its immense usefulness. Other minds 
 followed, in no apparent concert, but in unison. I may 
 be pardoned, if, without being too bibliograpliical, I 
 name some of these witnesses. 
 
 1 J. J. Rousseau, Extrait du Projet de Paix Perpetuelle de M. I'Abbe 
 de Saint-Pierre ; avec Lettre a M. de Bastide, et Jugement sur la Paix Per- 
 petuelle : (Euvres, (edit. 1788-93,) Tom. VII. pp. 339-418. 
 
 2 Observations sur le Projet d'une Paix Perpetuelle de M. I'Abbe de 
 Saint-Pierre: Opera, ed. Dutens, (Geneva;, 17(38,) Tom. V. p. 56.
 
 300 THE DUEL BETWEEN- FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 At Gottingeu, reuowned for its University, the ques- 
 tion was opened, at the close of the Seven Years' War 
 in 1763, in a work by Totze, whose character appears in 
 its title, " Permanent and Universal Peace in Europe, 
 according to the Plan of Henry IV." ^ At Leipsic, also 
 the seat of a University, the subject was presented in 
 1767 by Lilienfeld, in a treatise of much completeness, 
 under the name of "New Constitution for States,"^ 
 where, after exposing the wretched chances of the bat- 
 tle-field and the expense of armaments in time of peace, 
 the author urges submission to Arbitrators, unless a Su- 
 preme Tribunal is established to administer Interna- 
 tional Law and to judge between nations. In 1804 ap- 
 peared another work, of singular clearness and force, by 
 Karl Schwab, entitled " Of Unavoidable Injustice," ^ 
 where the author describes what he calls the Universal 
 State, in which nations will be to each other as citizens 
 in the Municipal State. He is not so visionary as to 
 imagine that justice will always be inviolate between 
 nations in the Universal State, for it is not always so 
 between citizens in the IMunicipal State ; but he con- 
 fidently looks to the establishment between nations of 
 the rules which now subsist between citizens, whose dif- 
 ferences are settled peaceably by judicial tribunals. 
 
 These works, justly important for the liglit they shed, 
 and as expressions of a growing sentiment, are eclipsed 
 in the contributions of the great teacher, Immanuel 
 Kant, who, after his fame in philosophy was established, 
 so that his works were discussed and expounded not 
 only throughout Germany, but in other lands, in 1795 
 
 1 Der ewige und allgemeiae Friede in Europa, nach dem Entwurf Hein- 
 richs IV. 
 
 2 Neues Staatsgebaude. 
 
 8 Ueber das unvermeidliche Uurecht.
 
 AUTHORITY OF THE GERMAN MIND. 301 
 
 gave to the world a treatise entitled " On Perpetual 
 Peace," ^ which was promptly translated into French, 
 Danish, and Dutch. Two other works by him attest 
 his interest in the subject, the first entitled " Idea for 
 a General History in a Cosmopolitan View," ^ and the 
 other, " Metaphysical Elements of Jurisprudence." ^ 
 His grasp was complete. A treaty of peace which 
 tacitly acknowledges the right to wage war, as all trea- 
 ties now do, according to Kant is nothing more than a 
 truce. An individual war may be . ended, but not the 
 state of war ; so that, even after cessation of hostilities, 
 there will be constant fear of their renewal, while the 
 armaments known as Peace Establishments will tend to 
 provoke them. All this should be changed, and nations 
 should form one comprehensive Federation, which, re- 
 ceiving other nations within its fold, will at last em- 
 brace the civilized world ; and such, in the judgment of 
 Kant, was the irresistible tendency of nations. To a 
 French poet we are indebted for the most suggestive 
 term, " United States of Europe " ; ^ but this is noth- 
 ing but the Federation of the illustrious German phi- 
 losopher. Nor was Kant alone among his great contem- 
 poraries. That other philosopher, Fichte, whose name 
 at the time was second only to that of Kant, in his 
 " Groundwork of the Law of Nature," ^ published in 
 1796, also urges a Federation of Nations, with an es- 
 tablished tribunal to which all should submit. IMuch 
 better for civilization, had the King at Konigsberg, in- 
 
 1 Zum ewigen Frieden. 
 
 2 Idee zu einer allgenieineii Geschichte in weltbiirgerlicher Absicht. 
 8 Metaphysische Anfangsgiiinde der Rechtslehre. 
 
 * Victor Hugo, Discours d'Ouverture du Coiigres de la Paix a Paris, 21 
 Aout 1849 : Treize Discours, (Paris, 1851,) p. 19. 
 5 Grundlage des Naturrechts.
 
 302 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 stead of grasping the sword, hearkened to the voice of 
 Kant, renewed liy Fichte. 
 
 With these German oracles in its support, the cause 
 cannot be put aside. Even in the midst of war, Phi- 
 losophy will be heard, especially when she speaks words 
 of concurring authority that touch a chord in every 
 heart. Leibnitz, Kant, and Fichte, a mighty triumvi- 
 rate of intelligence, unite in testimony. As Germany, 
 beyond any other nation, has given to the idea of Or- 
 ganized Peace the warrant of philosophy, it only re- 
 mains now that she should insist upon its practical ap- 
 plication. There should be no delay. Long enough has 
 mankind waited while the river of blood flowed on. 
 
 UPRISING OF WORKING-MEN. 
 
 The working-men of Europe, not excepting Germany, 
 respond to the mandate of Philosophy, and insist that 
 the War System shall be abolished. At public meet- 
 ings, in formal resolutions and addresses, they have de- 
 clared war against War, and they will not be silenced. 
 This is not the first time that working-men have made 
 themselves heard for international justice. I cannot 
 forget, that, while Slavery was waging war against our 
 nation, the working-men of Belgium in public meeting 
 protested against that precocious Proclamation of Bel- 
 ligerent Rights by which the Britisli Government gave 
 such impulse to the Eebelliou ; and now, in the same 
 spirit, and for the sake of true peace, they declare them- 
 selves against that War System by which the peace of 
 nations is placed in such constant jeopardy. They are 
 right ; for nobody suffers in war as the working-man, 
 whether in property or in person. For him war is a
 
 UPRISING OF WORKING-MEN. 303 
 
 ravening monster, devouring his substance, and chang- 
 ing him from citizen to military serf. As victim of the 
 War System he is entitled to be heard. 
 
 The working-men of different countries have been or- 
 ganizing in societies, of which it is difficult at present 
 to tell the number and extent. It is known that these 
 societies exist in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and 
 England, as well as in our own country, and that they 
 have in some measure an international character. In 
 France, before the war, there were 433,785 men in the 
 organization, and in Germany 150,000.^ Yet this is but 
 the beoinnimr. 
 
 At the menace of the present war, all these societies 
 were roused. The society known as the International 
 Working-Men's Association, by their General Council, 
 issued an address, dated at London, protesting against it 
 as a war of dynasties, denouncing Louis ISTapoleon as an 
 enemy of the laboring classes, and declaring "the war- 
 plot of July, 1870, but an amended edition of the coup 
 d'etat of December, 1851." The address then testifies 
 generally against war, saying, — 
 
 " They feel deeply convinced, that, whatever turn the im- 
 pending horrid war may take, the alliance of the working class- 
 es of all countries will ultimately kill war.'' ^ 
 
 At the same time the Paris branch of the Interna- 
 tional Association put forth a manifesto addressed ■" To 
 the Working-Men of all Countries," from which I take 
 these passages : — 
 
 1 lia Solidarite, 25 Juin 1870, — as cited by Testu, L' Internationale; 
 (7eme edit.,) p. 275. 
 
 2 The General Council of the International Working-Men's Association 
 on the War, (London, Jul}- 23, 1870,) p. iv.
 
 304 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 " Once more, under the pretext of European equilibrium, 
 of national honor, political ambitions menace the peace of the 
 world. 
 
 " French, German, Spanish working-men ! let our voices 
 unite in a cry of reprobation against war ! 
 
 " War for a question of preponderance, or of dynasty, can, 
 in the eyes of working-men, be nothing but a criminal absur- 
 dity. 
 
 " In response to the warlike acclamations of those who ex- 
 onerate themselves from the impost of blood, or who find in 
 public misfortunes a source of new speculations, we protest, 
 — we who wish for peace, work, and liberty. 
 
 " Brothers of Germany ! . . . . our divisions would only 
 bring about the complete triumph of despotism on both sides of 
 the Rhine. 
 
 " Working-men of all countries ! whatever may be the re- 
 sult of our common eftbrts, we, members of the International 
 Association of Working -Men, who know no frontiers, we send 
 you, as a pledge of indissoluble solidarity, the good wishes 
 and the salutations of the working-men of France." ^ 
 
 To this appeal, so full of truth, touching to the quick 
 the pretence of balance of power and questions of dy- 
 nasty as excuses for war, and then rising to " a cry of 
 reprobation against war," the Berlin branch of the In- 
 ternational Association replied : — 
 
 "We join with heart and hand in your protestation 
 
 Solemnly we promise you that neither the noise of drums nor 
 the thunder of cannon, neither victory nor defeat, shall turn 
 us aside from our work for the union of the proletaries of 
 all countries."^ 
 
 1 Testu, L'lnternationale, pp. 279-80. The General Council of tlie In- 
 ternational Working-Men's Association on the War, p. ii. 
 
 2 Testu, pp. 284-85. The General CouncU, etc., p. ill.
 
 UPEISING OF WORKING-MEN. 305 
 
 Then came a meeting of delegates at Chemnitz, in 
 Saxony, representing fifty thousand Saxon working-men, 
 which put forth the following hardy words : — 
 
 " We are happy to grasp the fraternal hand stretched out 
 
 to us by the working-men of France Mindful of the 
 
 watchword of the International Working-Men's Association, 
 Proletarians of all countries, unite ! we shall never forget 
 that the working-men of all countries are our friends, and 
 the despots of all countries our enemies." ^ 
 
 Next followed, at Brunswick, in Germany, on the 16th 
 of July, — the very day after the reading of the war doc- 
 ument at the French tribune, and the " light heart " of 
 the Prime-Minister, — a mass meetinij of the workinij- 
 men there, which declared its full concurrence with the 
 manifesto of the Paris branch, spurned the idea of na- 
 tional antagonism to France, and wound up with these 
 solid words : — 
 
 "We are enemies of all wars, but above all of dynastic 
 wars." ^ 
 
 The whole subject is presented with admirable power 
 in an address from the Workmen's Peace Committee to 
 the Working-Men of Great Britain and Ireland, duly 
 signed by their officers. Here are some of its sen- 
 tences : — 
 
 "Without us war must cease; for without us standing 
 armies could not exist. It is out of our class chiefly that 
 they are formed." 
 
 " We would call upon and implore the peoples of France 
 and Germany, in order to enable their own riders to realize 
 
 1 The General Council of the International Working-Men's Association 
 on the War, p. iii. 
 a Ibid.
 
 306 THE DUEL BETWEEN FKANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 these their peace-loving professions, to insist upon the aboli- 
 tion of standing armies, as both the source and means of 
 war, nurseries of vice, and locust-consumers of the fruits of 
 useful industry." 
 
 "What we claim and demand — what we would implore 
 the peoples of Europe to do, without regard to Courts, Cabi- 
 nets, or Dynasties — is to insist upon Arbitration as a substi- 
 tute for war, with peace and its blessings for them, for us, for 
 the whole civilized world." ^ 
 
 The working-men of England responded to this ap- 
 peal, in a crowded meeting at St. James's Hall, London, 
 where all the speakers were working-men and represen- 
 tatives of the various handicrafts, except the Chairman, 
 whose strong words found echo in the intense convic- 
 tions of the large assemblage : — 
 
 " One object of this meeting is to make the horror uni- 
 versally inspired by the enormous and cruel carnage of this 
 terrible war the groundwork for appealing to the working 
 classes and the people of all other European countries to join 
 in protesting against war altogether, [prolonged cheers,^ as the 
 shame of Christendom, and direst curse and scourge of the 
 human race. Let the will of the people sweep away war, 
 which cannot be waged without them. ['Hear!'] Away 
 with enormous standing armies, ['Hear ! '] the nurseries and 
 instruments of war, — nurseries, too, of vice, and crushing 
 burdens upon national Avealth and prosperity ! Let there go 
 forth from the people of this and other lands one universal 
 and all-overpowering cry and demand for the blessings of 
 peace ! " ^ 
 
 At this meeting the Honorary Secretary of the "Work- 
 men's Peace Committee, after announcing that the work- 
 
 1 Herald of Peace for 1870, September 1st, pp. 101 - 2. 
 
 2 Ibid., October 1st, p. 125.
 
 ABOLITION OF THE WAR SYSTEM. 307 
 
 ing-men of upwards of three hundred towns had given 
 their adliesion to the platform of the Committee, thus 
 showing a determination to abolish war altogether, moved 
 the following resolution, which was adopted : — 
 
 " That war, especially with the present many fearful contri- 
 vances for wholesale carnage and destruction, is repugnant to 
 every principle of reason, humauity, and religion ; and this 
 meeting earnestly invites all civilized and Christian peoples 
 to insist upon the abolition of standing armies, and the settle- 
 ment by arbitration of all international disputes." ^ 
 
 Thus clearly is the case stated by the Working-Men, 
 now beginning to be heard; and the testimony is rever- 
 berated from nation to nation. They cannot be silent 
 hereafter. I confidently look to them for important co- 
 operation in this great work of redemption. Could my 
 voice reach them now, wherever they may be, in that 
 honest toil which is the appointed lot of man, it would 
 be with words of cheer and encouragement. Let them 
 proceed until civilization is no longer darkened by war. 
 In this way will they become not only saviours to their 
 own households, but benefactors of the whole Human 
 Family. 
 
 ABOLITION OF THE WAR SYSTEM. 
 
 Such is the statement, with its many proofs, by which 
 war is exhibited as the Duel of Nations, being the Trial 
 by Battle of the Dark Ages. You have seen how na- 
 tions, under existing International Law, to which all are 
 parties, refer their differences to this insensate arbitra- 
 ment, — and then how, in our day and before our own 
 eyes, two nations eminent in civilization have furnished 
 
 1 Herald of Peace for 1870, October 1st, p. 125.
 
 308 THE DUEL BETWEEN FKANCE AND GEKMANY. 
 
 an instance of this incredible folly, waging together a 
 world-convulsing, soul-harrowing, and most barbarous 
 contest. All ask how long the direful duel will be con- 
 tinued. Better ask, How long will be continued that 
 War System by which such a duel is authorized and 
 regulated among nations ? When will this legalized, 
 organized crime be abolished ? When at last will it be 
 confessed that the Law of Eight is the same for nations 
 as for individuals, so that, if Trial by Battle be impious 
 for individuals, it is so for nations likewise ? Against it 
 are Eeason and Humanity, pleading as never before, — 
 Economy, asking for mighty help, — Peace, with softest 
 voice praying for safeguard, — and then the authority of 
 Philosophy, speaking by some of its greatest masters, — 
 all reinforced by the irrepressible, irresistible protest of 
 working-men in different nations. 
 
 Precedents exist for the abolition of this duel, so com- 
 pletely in point, that, according to the lawyer's phrase, 
 they " go on all fours " with the new case. Two of 
 these have been already mentioned : first, when, at the 
 Diet of Worms, in 1495, the Emperor Maximilian pro- 
 claimed a permanent peace throughout Germany, and 
 abolished the " liberty " of Private War ; and, secondly, 
 when, in 1815, the German Principalities stipulated 
 " under no pretext to make war upon one another, or 
 to pursue their differences by force of arms." ^ But 
 first in time, and perhaps in importance, was the great 
 Ordinance of St. Louis, King of France, promulgated at 
 a Parliament in 1260, where he says : " We forbid hat- 
 tics [i. e. Trials by Battle] to all persons throughout our 
 dominions, .... atul in 2^lace of battles we put proofs 
 by witnesses And these Battles we abolish in 
 
 I See, ante^ p. 247.
 
 THE WORLD A GLADIATORIAL AMPHITHEATRE. 309 
 
 OUR Dominions forever." ^ These at the time were 
 great words, and they continue great as an example. 
 Their acceptance by any two nations would begin the 
 work of abolition, which would be completed on their 
 adoption by a Congress of Nations, taking from war its 
 existing sanction. 
 
 THE WORLD A GLADIATORIAL AMPHITHEATRE. 
 
 The growing tendencies of mankind have been quick- 
 ened by the character of the present war, and the unex- 
 ampled publicity with which it has been waged. Never 
 before were all nations, even those separated by great 
 spaces, whether of land or ocean, the daily and excited 
 spectators of the combat. The vast amphitheatre within 
 which the battle is fought, with the whole heavens for 
 its roof, is coextensive with civilization itself The 
 scene in that great Flavian Amphitheatre, the famous 
 Colosseum, is a faint type of what we are witnessing ; 
 but that is not without its lesson. Bloody games, where 
 human beings contended with lions and tigers, imported 
 for the purpose, or wdth each other, constituted an insti- 
 tution of ancient Eome, only mildly rebuked by Cicero,^ 
 and adopted even by Titus, in that short reign so much 
 praised as unspotted by the blood of the citizen.^ One 
 
 1 " Nous deffendons a tons les batailles par tout nostre demengne, .... 
 et en lieu des batailles nous meton priieves de tesmoins Et ces ba- 
 tailles nous ostons en nostre demaigue a toujours." — Recueil General des 
 Anciennes Lois Fran^aises, ■par Jourdan, etc., (Paris, 1822-33, ) Tom. I. 
 pp. 283-90. 
 
 2 "Crudele gladiatorum spectaculum et inhumanum nonnullis videri 
 solet : et baud scio an ita sit, ut nunc fit. " — Tusculance Qucestiones, Lib. 
 IL Cap. XVIL 41. 
 
 3 Suetonius: Titus, Cap. IX. Merivale, History of the Romans under 
 the Empire, (London, 1862,) Ch. LX., Vol. VII. p. 56.
 
 310 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 hundred thousand spectators looked on, while gladiators 
 from Germany and Gaul joined in ferocious combat; and 
 then, as blood began to How, and victim after victim 
 sank upon the sand, the people caught the fierce conta- 
 gion. A common ferocity ruled the scene. As Chris- 
 tianity prevailed, the incongruity of such an institution 
 was widely felt ; but still it continued. At last an 
 Eastern monk, moved only by report, journeyed a long 
 way to protest against the impiety. With noble enthu- 
 siasm he leaped into the arena, where the battle raged, 
 in order to separate the combatants. He was unsuc- 
 cessful, and paid with life the jjenalty of his humanity.^ 
 But the martyr triumphed where the monk had failed. 
 Shortly afterwards, the Emperor Honorius, by solemn 
 decree, put an end to this horrid custom. " The first 
 Christian Emperor," says Gibbon, "may claim the honor 
 of the first edict which condemned the art and amuse- 
 ment of shedding human blood." ^ Our amphitheatre is 
 larger than that of Eome ; but it witnesses scenes not 
 less revolting ; nor need any monk journey a long way 
 to protest against the impiety. That protest can be ut- 
 tered by every one here at home. We are all specta- 
 tors ; and since by human craft the civilized world has 
 become one mighty Colosseum, with place for every- 
 body, may we not insist that the bloody games by which 
 it is yet polluted shall cease, and that, instead of mu- 
 tual-murderin<i; jiladiators filling the near-brought scene 
 with death, there shall be a harmonious people, of dif- 
 ferent nations, but one fellowship, vying together only 
 in works of industry and art, inspired and exalted by a 
 divine beneficence ? 
 
 1 St. Telemaclius, A. D. 404. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman 
 Empire, ed. Milmati, (London, 1846,) Ch. XXX., Vol. IIL p. 70. Smith, 
 Diet. Gr. and Roin. Bio'.j. and Myth., art. Telemachus. 
 
 2 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, %ibi supra.
 
 THE WORLD A GLADIATORIAL AMPHITHEATRE. 311 
 
 In presenting this picture I exaggerate nothing. How 
 feeble is language to depict the stupendous barbarism ! 
 How small by its side the bloody games which degrad- 
 ed ancient Eome ! How pygmy the one, how colossal 
 the other ! Would you know how the combat is con- 
 ducted? Here is the briefest picture of the arena by 
 a looker-on : — 
 
 " Let your readers fancy masses of colored rags glued to- 
 gether with blood and brains, and pinned into strange shapes 
 by fragments of bones, — let them conceive men's bodies 
 without heads, legs without bodies, heaps of human entrails 
 attached to red and blue cloth, and disembowelled corpses 
 in uniform, bodies lying about in all attitudes, with skulls 
 shattered, faces blown off, hips smashed, bones, flesh, and 
 gay clothing all pounded together as if brayed in a mortar 
 extending for miles, not very thick in any one place, but re- 
 curring perpetually for weary hours, — and then they cannot, 
 with the most vivid imagination, come up to the sickening 
 reality of that butchery." ^ 
 
 Such a sight would have shocked the Heathen of 
 Eome. They could not have looked on while the brave 
 gladiator was thus changed into a bloody hash ; least of 
 all could they have seen the work of slaughter done by 
 machinery. Nor could any German gladiator have 
 written the letter I proceed to quote from a German 
 soldier : — 
 
 " I do not know how it is, but one wholly forgets the dan- 
 ger one is in, and thinks only of the effect of one's own bul- 
 lets, rejoicing like a child at the sight of the enemy falling 
 like skittles, and having scarcely a compassionate glance to 
 spare for the comrade falling at one's side. One ceases to be 
 a human being, and turns into a brute, a complete brute." 
 
 1 Scene after tlie Battle of Sedan : Herald of Peace for 1870, October 1st, 
 p. VAl.
 
 312 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 Plain confession 1 And yet the duel continues. Nor 
 is there death for the armed man only. Fire mingles 
 with slaughter, as at Bazeilles. Women and children 
 are roasted alive, filling the air with suffocating odor, 
 while the maddened combatants rage against each other. 
 All this is but part of the prolonged and various spec- 
 tacle, where the scene shifts only for some other horror. 
 Meanwhile the sovereigns of the world sit in their boxes, 
 and the people everywhere occupy the benches. 
 
 PERIL FROM THE WAR SYSTEM. 
 
 The duel now pending teaches the peril from contin- 
 uance of the present system. If France and Germany 
 can be brought so suddenly into collision on a mere 
 pretext, what two nations are entirely safe ? Where is 
 the talisman for their protection ? None, surely, ex- 
 cept Disarmament, which, therefore, for the interest 
 of all nations, should be commenced. Prussia is now 
 an acknowledged military power, armed "in complete 
 steel," — but at what cost to her people, if not to man- 
 kind ! Military citizenship, according to Prussian rule, 
 is military serfdom, and on this is elevated a milita- 
 ry despotism of singular grasp and power, operating 
 throughout the whole nation, like martial law or a 
 state of siege. In Prussia the law tyrannically seizes 
 every youth of twenty, and, no matter what his calling 
 or profession, compels him to military service for seven 
 years. Three years he spends in active service in the 
 regular army, where his life is surrendered to the trade 
 of blood ; then for four years he passes to the reserve, 
 where he is subject to periodic military drills ; then for 
 five years longer to the Lanclwchr, or militia, with lia-
 
 PEEIL FROM THE WAR SYSTEM. 313 
 
 bility to service in the Landsturm, in case of war, until 
 sixty. Wherever he may be in foreign lands, his mili- 
 tary duty is paramount. 
 
 But if this system be good for Prussia, then must it 
 be equally good for other nations. If this economical 
 government, with education for all, subordinates the 
 business of life to the military drill, other nations will 
 find too much reason for doing the same. Unless the 
 War System is abandoned, all must follow the success- 
 ful example, while the civilized world becomes a busy 
 camp, with every citizen a soldier, and with all sounds 
 swallowed up in the tocsin of war. Where, then, are 
 the people ? Where are popular rights ? Montesquieu 
 has not hesitated to declare that the peril to free gov- 
 ernments proceeds from armies, and that this peril is 
 not corrected even by making them depend directly on 
 the legislative power. This is not enough. The ar- 
 mies must be reduced in number and force.^ Among 
 his papers, found since his death, is the prediction, 
 " France will be ruined by the military." ^ It is the 
 privilege of genius like that of Montesquieu to lift 
 the curtain of the future ; but even he did not see the 
 vastness of suffering in store for his country through 
 those armies against which he warned. For years the 
 engine of despotism at home, they became the sudden 
 instrument of war abroad. Without them Louis Napo- 
 leon could not have made himself Emperor, nor could 
 he have hurried France into the present duel. If need- 
 ed in other days, they are not needed now. The War 
 System, always barbarous, is an anachronism, full of 
 peril both to peace and liberal institutions. 
 
 1 De I'Esprit des Lois, Liv. XI. Ch. 6. 
 
 2 "La France se perdra par les gens de guerre." — Pensees Diverses,— 
 Varietes : CEuvres Melees et Posthumes, ( Paris, 1807, Didot,) Tom. IL p. 1-38.
 
 314 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 PEACE. 
 
 An army is a despotism ; military service is a bond- 
 age ; nor can the passion tor arms be reconciled with a 
 true civilization. The present failure to acknowledge 
 this incompatibility is only another illustration how the 
 clear light of truth is discolored and refracted by an 
 atmosphere where the cloud of war still lingers. Soon 
 must this cloud be dispersed. From war to peace is a 
 change indeed; but Nature herself testifies to change. 
 Sirius, brightest of all the fixed stars, was noted by 
 Ptolemy as of reddish hue/ and by Seneca as redder 
 than Mars ; ^ but since then it has changed to white. 
 To the morose remark, wliether in the philosophy of 
 Hobbes or the apology of the soldier, that man is a 
 fighting animal and that war is natural, I reply, — Nat- 
 ural for savages rejoicing in the tattoo, natural for bar- 
 barians rejoicing in violence, but not natural for man in 
 a true civilization, which I insist is the natural state to 
 which he tends by a sure progression. The true state 
 of Nature is not war, but peace. Not only every war, 
 but every recognition of war as the mode of determining 
 international differences, is evidence that we are yet 
 barbarians, — and so also is every ambition for empire 
 founded on force, and not on the consent of the peo- 
 ple. A ghastly, bleeding, human head was discovered 
 by the early Eomans, as they dug the foundations of 
 that Capitol which finally swayed the world.^ That 
 ghastly, bleeding, human head is the fit symbol of mil- 
 itary power. 
 
 1 Almagest, ed. et tr. Halma, (Paris, 1816-20,) Tom. II. pp. 72, 73. 
 
 2 Naturales Qucestioiies, Lib. I. Cap. 1. 
 
 ' Dionysius Halicarnassensis, Antiquitates Romanse, Lib. IV. Capp. 
 59-61.
 
 PEACE. 315 
 
 Let the War System be abolished, and, in the glory 
 of this consummation, how vulgar all that conies from 
 battle ! By the side of this serene, beneficent civiliza- 
 tion, how petty in its pretensions is military power ! 
 how vain its triumphs ! At this moment the great 
 general who has organized victory for Germany is 
 veiled, and his name does not appear even in the mil- 
 itary bulletins. Thus is the glory of arms passing from 
 sight, and battle losing its ancient renown. Peace does 
 not arrest the mind like war. It does not glare like 
 battle. Its operations, like those of Nature, are gentle, 
 yet sure. It is not the tumbling, sounding cataract, but 
 the tranquil, fruitful river. Even the majestic Niagara, 
 with thunder like war, cannot compare with the peace- 
 ful plains of water which it divides. How easy to see 
 that the repose of nations, like the repose of Nature, is 
 the great parent of the most precious bounties vouch- 
 safed by Providence ! Add Peace to Liberty, — 
 
 "And with that virtue, every virtue live.s." 
 
 As peace is assured, the traditional sensibilities of 
 nations will disappear. Their frontiers will no longer 
 frown with hostile cannon, nor will their people be 
 nursed to hate each other. By ties of constant fellow- 
 ship will they be interwoven together, no sudden trum- 
 pet waking to arms, no sharp summons disturbing the 
 uniform repose. By steam, by telegraph, by the press, 
 have they already conquered time, subdued space, — 
 thus breaking down old walls of partition by which 
 they have been separated. Ancient example loses its 
 influence. The prejudices of another generation are 
 removed, and the old geography gives place to a new. 
 The heavens are divided into constellations, with names 
 from beasts, or from some form of brute force, — as Leo,
 
 316 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 Taurus, Sagittarius, and Orion with his club; but this 
 is human device. By similar scheme is the earth di- 
 vided. But in the sight of God there is one Human 
 Family without division, Avhere all are equal in rights ; 
 and the attempt to set up distinctions, keeping men 
 asunder, or in barbarous groups, is a practical denial of 
 that great truth, religious and political, the Brotherhood 
 of ]\Ian. The Christian's Fatherland is not merely the 
 nation in which he was born, but the whole earth ap- 
 pointed by the Heavenly Father for his home. In this 
 Fatherland there can be no place for unfriendly boun- 
 daries set up by any, — least of all, place for the War 
 System, making nations as hostile camps. 
 
 At Lassa, in Thibet, there is a venerable stone in 
 memory of the treaty between the courts of Thibet and 
 China, as long ago as 821, bearing an inscription worthy 
 of a true civilization. From Eastern story learn now 
 the beauty of peace. After the titles of the two august 
 sovereigns, the monument proceeds : " These two wise, 
 holy, spiritual, and accomplished princes, foreseeing the 
 changes hidden in the most distant futurity, touched 
 with sentiments of compassion towards their people, 
 and not knowing, in their beneficent protection, any 
 difference between their subjects and strangers, have, 
 after mature reflection and by mutual consent, resolved 
 to give peace to their people In perfect har- 
 mony with each other, they will henceforth be good 
 neighbors, and will do their utmost to draw still closer 
 the bonds of union and friendship. Henceforward the 
 two empires of Han (China) and Pho (Thibet) shall 
 have fixed boundaries In preserving these lim- 
 its, the respective parties shall not endeavor to injure 
 each other; they shall nut attack each other in arms,
 
 THE REPUBLIC. 317 
 
 or make any more incursions beyond the frontiers now 
 determined." Then declaring that the two " must recip- 
 rocally exalt their virtues and banish forever all mis- 
 trust between them, that travellers may be without un- 
 easiness, that the inhabitants of the villages and iields 
 may live at peace, and that nothing may happen to 
 cause a misunderstanding," the inscription announces, 
 in terms doubtless Oriental : " This benefit will be ex- 
 tended to future generations, and the voice of love (tow- 
 ards its authors) will be heard wherever the splendor of 
 the sun and the moon is seen. The Pho will be tran- 
 quil in their kingdom, and the Han will be joyful in 
 their empire." ^ Such is the benediction which from 
 early times has spoken from one of the monuments 
 erected by the god Terminus. Call it Oriental ; would 
 it were universal ! While recognizing a frontier, there 
 is equal recognition of peace as the rule of international 
 life. 
 
 THE REPUBLIC. 
 
 In the abolition of the War System the will of the 
 people must become all-powerful, exalting the Eepublic 
 to its just place as the natural expression of citizenship. 
 Napoleon has been credited with the utterance at St. 
 Helena of the prophecy, that " in fifty years Europe 
 would be Eepublican or Cossack." ^ Evidently Europe 
 
 1 Travels of the Russian Mission through Mongolia to China, and Resi- 
 dence in Peking, in 1820-21, by George Timkowski, Vol. I. pp. 460-64. 
 
 2 See the New York Times of August 11, 1870, where the reputed 
 prophecy is cited in these terms, in a letter of the 27th July from the Lon- 
 don correspondent of that journal, with remarks indicating an expectation 
 of its fulfilment in the results of the present war. This famous saying has 
 been variously represented ; but the following are its original terms, as re- 
 corded at the time by Las Cases, to whom it was addressed in conversation,
 
 318 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
 
 will not be Cossack, unless the Cossack is already 
 changed to Republican, — as well may be, when it is 
 known, that, since the great act of Enfranchisement, in 
 February, 1861, by which twenty-three millions of serfs 
 were raised to citizenship, with the right to vote, fifteen 
 thousand three hundred and lifty public schools have 
 been opened in Eussia. A better than Napoleon, who 
 saw mankind with truer insight, Lafayette, has recorded 
 a clearer prophecy. At the foundation of the monu- 
 ment on Bunker Hill, on the semi-centennial anniver- 
 sary of the battle, 17th June, 1825, our much-honored 
 national "uest "ave this toast : " Bunker Hill, and the 
 holy resistance to oppression, which has already en- 
 franchised the American hemisphere. The next half- 
 century Jubilee's toast shall be, — To Enfranchised 
 Europe." ^ The close of that half-century, already so 
 prolific, is at hand. Shall it behold the great Jubilee 
 with all its vastness of promise accomplished ? En- 
 franchised Europe, foretold by Lafayette, means not 
 only the Eepublic for all, but Peace for all ; it means 
 the United States of Europe, with the War System 
 abolished. Against that little faith through which so 
 much fails in life, I declare my unalterable conviction, 
 that "government of the people, by the people, and for 
 the people" — thus simply described by Abraham Lin- 
 
 and as authenticated by the Commission appointed by Louis Napoleon for 
 the collection and publication of the matters now composing the magnifi- 
 cent work entitled " Correspondance de Napoleon I"": — 
 
 " Dans I'etat actuel des choses, avant dix an.t, toute I'Europe pent itre 
 cosaque, ou toute en republique." — Las Cases, Memorial de Sainte-IIe- 
 lene, (Reimpression de 1823 et 1824,) Tom. IIL p. Ill, —Journal, 18 Avril 
 1816. Correspondance de Napoleon J"", (Paris, 1858-69,) Tom. XXXIL 
 p. 326. 
 
 1 Columbian Ceutinel, June 18, 1825.
 
 THE REPUBLIC. 319 
 
 coin ^ — is a necessity of civilization, not only because 
 of that republican equality without distinction of birth 
 which it establishes, but for its assurance of permanent 
 peace. All privilege is usurpation, and, like Slavery, a 
 state of war, relieved only by truce, to be broken by 
 the people in their might. To the people alone can 
 mankind look for the repose of nations ; but the Eepub- 
 lic is the embodied people. All hail to the Eepublic, 
 equal guardian of all, and angel of peace ! 
 
 Our own part is simple. It is, first, to keep out of 
 war, — and, next, to stand firm in those ideas which are 
 the life of the Eepublic. Peace is our supreme voca- 
 tion. To this we are called. By this we succeed. Our 
 example is more than an army. But not on this ac- 
 count can we be indifferent, when Human Eights are 
 assailed or republican institutions are in question. Ga- 
 ribaldi asks for a " word," ^ that easiest expression of 
 power. Strange will it be, when that is not given. To 
 the Eepublic, and to all struggling for Human Eights, I 
 give word, with heart on the lips. Word and heart I 
 give. Nor would I have my country forget at any time, 
 in the discharge of its transcendent duties, that, since 
 the rule of conduct and of honor is the same for nations 
 as for individuals, the greatest nation is that which does 
 most for Humanity. 
 
 1 Address at the Consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, 
 November 19, 1863 : McPherson's Political History of the United States 
 during the Great Rebellion, p. 606. 
 
 2 " The cause of Liberty in Italy needs the vjord of the United States 
 Government, virhich would be more powerful in its behalf than that of any 
 other." — Message to Mr. Sumner from Caprera, May 24, 1869.
 
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