Is an apology required for thus alluding to this subject? It is admitted and proved by statistics, that the prevalence of capital punishment increases the frequency of murders by holding up human life as a cheap thing; and it must increase the war-spirit in the same way, by destroying the sacredness of the lives of human beings. Consequently the spirit of peace cannot prevail universally while it exists. It is then worthy of the labors of peace men to seek its abolition.

Allow me to say in behalf of William Penn, who has been alluded to in connexion with this subject, that I never understood that "he incorporated in his code the death penalty," as the Advocate states, but that he had to take his charter as it was given him, yet he never carried such a law out in practice. (2.)

Now, as to the right of government to "suppress insurrections with bullets or bayonets. If our general government may send an army to put down the secessionists, can we expect that the soldiers will not be actuated by the "devil-like feeling" so strikingly portrayed on another page of the same number of the Advocate, where the shout was for "blood, more blood!" and "kill! kill! kill!" If it is in accordance with the doctrines of the Prince of Peace to put down insurrections or rebellions, then Great Britain was jusified in attempting to suppress the rebellion of her American Colonies, Austria in the subjugation of Hungary, Naples of Sicily, and Turkey of Greece. Certainly all our moral influence as peace men will be utterly destroyed by our engaging in such conflicts.

Peace men sometimes admit too much by being driven into a corner, when their warlike neighbors ply them with such questions as What will you do now? Will you go and give a marching army soft words to stop them?' No doubt similar questions were asked William Penn when he was about to enter unarmed the territories of what were then deemed the most ferocious savages on the earth. We have only to point in reply to the seventy years of peace and prosperity of Pennsylvania, and contrast it with the merciless and extirminating wars of New England, where every man was armed to defend himself. Doubtless such questions were asked the Friends in Ireland, when the rebellion broke out their towards the close of the last century; yet while blood flowed like water, only one out of the many thousand Friends was sacrificed, and he in consequence of forsaking his peace principles. A similar result, with a smaller number of Friends occurred during the Indian wars of New England.

I have no doubt that if a nation could adopt and carry out peace princples, systematically and continuously, it would exert an influence among the kingdoms of the earth of which we can now scarcely form a conception. Let it show justice, kindness and liberality in its intercourse with others; let half the money usually wasted in war, be spent in educating and christianizing its people; let it pay one tenth the money to settle disputed questions peaceably, that is commonly squandered in fighting; and above all show to the world that a fixed, unalterable Christian spirit, and not

intrigue and selfishness, rules its councils and its people; and mankind would look on with a respect and admiration such as they have never yet felt towards a nation. Such a nation would have the same influence in the world at large, as William Penn's colony had with the Indian tribes around him.

But while men are governed by a war-spirit, while a feeling of resentment prevails in the minds of the people at every real or supposed injury, instead of forgiveness and love, such a nation cannot be found; and, in the meantime, the spirit of brute force, mixed up indeed with much that is good, and with a desire for justice and order, will rule the nation, and maintain that order by an ultimate resort to bullets and bayonets. But let the advocates of the Gospel of Peace adhere firmly to their prin iples, and exhibit on all occasions the spirit of kindness and love, and their influence will not be in vain.

Union Springs, N. Y.-2 mo., 4, 1861.

J. J. THOMAS.

EXPLANATIONS.-The foregoing article, written with so much ability, and in so excellent a spirit, we gladly insert, though occupied chiefly with a subject not" directly connected with that of peace as advocated by our Society," which expressly says in one of its tracts, that it "does not inquire how murder, or any offences against society, shall be punished; how force shall be used for the suppression of mobs, and other popular outbreaks; by what specific means government shall enforce its laws, and support its rightful and indispensable authority; to what extent an individual may protect himself or his family by violence against murderous assaults; how a people, deprived of their rights, shall regain and preserve them, or in what way any controversy between a government and its own subjects shall be adjusted. With such questions, however important, the cause of Peace is not concerned, but solely with the intercourse of nations for the single purpose of abolishing their practice of war." In the "two editorials" criticised by our friend, all this was taken for granted; and the editor very justly complains that the cause of peace should be expected to meet such cases as those of pirates, mobs and insurrections, for which it was never designed. "The cure or control of evils like these belongs, not to Peace, but to Government. It comes not within the province of Peace to prevent or punish crime in general." It restricts itself to the single purpose of doing away the custom of war, and leaves its friends each to his own views and peculiar modes of reasoning on all other subjects. We suppose very few of our co-workers believe in the strict inviolability of human life.

1. On this subject there is much diversity of views among the friends of peace, and we seldom allude to it except merely in passing, as we did in the articles under review. The drift of public sentiment is certainly in the direction of our friend's argument; and there is much force in the facts he adduces.

2. We quoted from what we deemed good authority in saying that Penn's code retained the death penalty; but our friend we presume to be better informed than we are on this point, though his proof is not decisive. We know well that the followers of Penn are now opposed to taking life in punishment for any crime. Not a few believers in the doctrine of all war contrary to the gospel, still discard the strict inviolability of human life, and urge many reasons for taking it in certain cases. It is a point that Peace does not profess to decide.-ED.

MR. COAN'S VISIT TO THE MARQUESAS MIS SION.

The Christians in the Sandwich Islands, more especially those in the church or diocese of Rev. Titus Coan, have for some time supported missionaries in the Marquesas; and about eleven months ago he made, on board the missionary ship Morning Star, a sort of episcopal, apostolic visit to the missionary stations there. We have already published from his pen a letter giving some account of this visit; but from a fuller report in the Honolulu Friend, we select a few more items.

EFFECT OF PEACE PRINCIPLES.-These missionaries, as would of course be expected of converts under Mr. Coan, seem to believe and put in practice the principles of peace taught in the gospel, and the results are quite striking in their rude field among savages and cannibals. "They have the respect of all the people. They are meditators, peacemakers. Their houses and premises are cities of refuge. Their names are a safe passport, their persons sacred. They can travel in safety even among the most fierce and warlike tribes. They have weakened the war spirit,have lessened the war party." Such is the general experience of these missionaries, who feel no anxiety for the safety of themselves or their friends. Their character as men of peace is a sacred and sure protection. At a general meeting of the missionaries attended by Mr Coan, " all expressed the opinion that, both at home and in travelling around the islands, they were as safe as in any other country. They disclaim all fear. Their names and persons are sacred everywhere." Here is one instance of their influence. "War has not disturbed the repose of this valley (Hivara) since it has been occupied by the missionIt is occupied by two classes, the upper and lower. Feuds have occasionally arisen between the two parties, but no blood shed. The reason assigned by the natives is that, as the missionaries occupy the centre of the valley, they cannot pass them to fight each other; nor can they send the leaden messengers of death over their dwellings, or past their doors, or through the thicket which surrounds them. Thus they are mediators, and there is peace in the valley. All the people seem to respect them, though most stand aloof from their instructions."

aries.

CONTRAST-The result of a warlike policy." In 1842 the French, under command of Capt. Edouard Michel Halley, took possession of this bay and strongly fortified it. They built a fort on a headland commanding the harbor, the valley on either side, and the approaches from the ridges in the rear. They also erected block-houses with loop-holes, a house for the governor, an arsenal, a bakery, barracks for soldiers, resi

dences, and a battery in the valley and on other ridges lower than the lofty one on which their chief fortress stands. With these carnal weapons, and this hostile display, were united the priest, the crosier and the Papal creed. Thus the advent of the Prince of Peace was announced with the thunder of cannon, the rattle of musketry, the roll of the drum, the notes of the bugle, the flashing of steel, and the floating of the tri-colored banner. Conflict ensued, blood flowed, the gallant Capt. Halley fell, his marines bit the dust. From all the surrounding thicket the stealthy and concealed Marquesans poured in a leaden hail which filled the proud Frank with dismay. How many fell I could not learn. Some said 100, others 40, and others 10; but none of these estimates are reliable. The statement of foreigners at the station can no more be depended on than those of the natives. Half a mile up the valley, and in a thicket of bushes and trees, is a small enclosure of stone and mortar, and there lay the remains of Halley, captain of the corvette, member of the Legion of Honor, founder of the colony of Vaitahu, &c., &c. The fort is dismantled, the guns on the ground, the military roads are a thicket, brambles cover the ramparts, dilapidation is written on all the buildings, desolation howls from the windows and loop-holes; the clarion, the trumpet, the bugle, the fife and drum, have ceased their notes, the warrior's tread is no longer heard, the priest and the crosier are gone, and the immortal Halley sleeps in the jungle. "They have left him alone in his glory." Not a Frenchman is left at Resolution Bay.

Savages aping the war-policy of Christendom.-"Like some of the great powers of the earth, the Hanavavians are attending to the military defences of the realm. Fortifications are going on with great zeal. They have thrown up a zigzag breastwork of stone about half a mile long, some six to eight feet high, four feet thick, and pierced full of loop-holes for musketry. They also have guard-houses, and they feed soldiers who watch by day and night. We found men at work on these defences, and took occasion to recommend the Gospel and the Spirit of the Prince of Peace. "Go" said a stern warrior, "and preach peace at Omoa; first convert them, and then come to us with your counsels!" On telling them that we had done so, that we were direct from Omoa, and that we had advised the war party there to cease hostilities, to forgive and to love their enemies, they replied, "The people of Omoa are bloody liars; they rob and steal and kill, and we must defend ourselves." Immediately a fierce warrior, who was laboring on the fort, fired up with zeal, came towards us, held up his foot, and told us to look at a great scar where an Omoan bullet tore through his leg. Another came forward, and wished us to feel a ball which had passed through his body from the shoulder blade and lodged in the skin of his breast. I examined and found it even so. By a small incision, the bullet might be removed, but he will not allow it; he glories in it as marshals do in scars, and he carries it in his bosom as a vow of vengeance. Surely "the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty they lay wait for blood — they lurk privily for the innocent."

WAR A HELLISH WORK. If there be a work of the devil on earth — one in which the most malignant and hellish passions inflict hellish miseries on men, and leave a heritage of hellish passions to coming generationsthat work is the work of war, "War is hellish work," was the heartfelt utterance of a brave old English general at a public meeting. Who can gainsay him?

PLEA FOR THE UNION AS A PEACE-MAKER :

OR ITS EFFECT IN GUARDING OUR COUNTRY'S PEACE BOTH AT HOME

AND ABROAD.

From Senator SEWARD's speech in the U. S. Senate, Jan. 12, 1861, we quote some pregnant paragraphs on the above topic :

"The first object of every human society is safety or security, for which, if need be, they will, and they must, sacrifice every other. This security is of two kinds; one, exemption from foreign aggression and influence; the other, exemption from domestic tyranny and sedition. Foreign_wars come from either violations of treaties, or domestic violence. The Union has, thus far, proved itself an almost perfect shield against such wars. The United States, continually enlarging their diplomatic acquaintance, have now treaties with forty-six foreign governments. Nevertheless, the United States, within their entire existence under the federal constitution, have had flagrant wars with only four states, two of which were insignificant powers on the coast of Barbary, and have had direct hostilities, amounting to reprisals, against only two or three more; and they are now at peace with the whole world. If the Union should be divided into only two confederacies, each of them would need to make as many treaties as we have now, and, of course, would be liable to give as many causes of war as we now do. But we know, from the sad experience of other nations, that disintegration, once begun, inevitably continues until even the greatest empire crumbles into many parts. Each confederation that shall ultimately arise out of the ruin of the Union will have necessity for as many treaties as we now have, and will incur liabilities for war as often as we now do, by breaking them. It is the multiplication of treaties, and the want of contederation, that makes war the normal condition of society It is union that, notwithin Western Europe and in Spanish America. standing our world-wide intercourse, makes peace the habit of the American people.

I will not descend so low as to ask whether new confederacies would be able or willing to bear the grievous expenses of maintaining the diplomatic relations which cannot be dispensed with except by withdrawing from foreign commerce. Our federal government is better able to avoid giving just causes of war than several confederacies, because it can conform the action of all the states to compacts. It can have only one construction, and only one tribunal to pronounce that construction, of every treaty. Local and temporary interests and passions, or personal cupidity and ambition, can drive small confederacies or states more easily than a great republic into indiscreet violations of treaties. The United States being a great and formidable power, can always st cure favorable and satisfactory treaties. Indeed, every treaty we have was voluntarily made. Small confederacies or states must take such treaties as they can get, and give whatever treaties are exacted. A humiliating, or even an unsatisfactory treaty, is a chronic cause of foreign war. The chapter of wars resulting from unjustifiable causes would, in case of division, amplify itself in proportion to the number of new confederacies, and their irritability. Our disputes with great Britain about Oregon, the boundary of Maine, the patriot insurrection in Canada, and the Island of San Juan, the border strifes between Texas and Mexico, the incursions of the late William Walker into Mexico and Central America; all these were cases in which war was prevented only by the imperturability of the federal govern

ment.