But she fell before her ruthless enemies. She fell probably to rise no more. A heavier yoke was fastened on her neck.

I deeply sympathized in the general feeling. While the issue of the contest was pending, I cordially united in the wish—the prayer—that Poland might be victorious, for I knew that she had been oppressed. But when that Providence, without whose knowledge not a sparrow falls, permitted her to be brought under a severer bondage, I presumed not to doubt the wisdom of the dispensation. Indeed, it seemed to me strikingly adapted, and therefore perhaps graciously designed, to teach the nations a lesson of inestimable importance; to dispel that delusion under which so many of our race have been hurried into the field of battle, trusting that the Almighty would assist them there to maintain the right. Oh! that the calamity of Poland would impress this truth upon the hearts of all suffering men, that war is not the best, is not the right way to throw off oppression, or to avert an injury. Then would the heart of Humanity rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of the hope of that blessed day, when righteousness and peace shall prevail throughout the earth.

Another event transpired in our own country last year, which gave us a most impressive illustration of the truth, that physical might is not always with the right; that success does not always crown the efforts of the injured party to obtain their rights, or redress their wrongs by violent measures. I refer, of course, to the memorable affair at Harper's Ferry.

If fighting were the method appointed or approved of by the heavenly Father, there could be no conflict in which we should so confidently look for victory, as in one dared for the delivery of millions, who in our country are suffering the most abject slavery, that is to be seen any where upon the face of the earth. And it were easy enough for Him, who hath all power in his hand, to vindicate the cause of the weakest against the mightiest. This is the faith, we are told, the very sentiment, that roused and sustained the patriots of the Revolution, in their unequal contest with Great Britain.

Long contemplation of the wrongs and woes of the millions in our land, subjected to a bondage, one hour of which, as Mr. Jefferson said, is harder to endure than whole ages of that against which our fathers rebelled-long contemplation of the wrongs of the enslaved, at length roused to his daring attempt the hero and the martyr of Harper's Ferry. He knew that his cause was just. He meant to use no violence, if it could be avoided; to spare none, that should be found necessary. He was led to believe that the bondmen would rush to his standard, in

such numbers as would overawe their oppressors, and ensure them a bloodless deliverance from their grasp. He believed that, if compelled to fight in defence of his undertaking, men enough would come to his assistance, that would easily overbear all who might attempt to withstand him. Moreover, he felt solemnly assured, that, if there were any truth in the leading doctrine of our American Revolution, any reason in the resort of our Fathers to the trial by battle, he would be wholly justified in his attempt, even though it should involve our country in the horrors of another civil war.

I frankly declare, I am unable to see the incorrectness of the reasoning, or the immorality of the course of John Brown, if the doctrines and spirit inculcated by our Fathers of 1776, and the example set by them were wise and Christian. The probability of their success was not much, if any, greater than his. The justice of their cause was far less.

Yet the hero of Harper's Ferry failed. He was taught in that hour that the God of the oppressed is not the God of battle; that the doctrine and spirit of Moses and David are not sanctioned by Christ and his apostles; that there is another and a better way of overcoming any evil than by killing or harming the evil doers.

Nothing daunted by his failure, with a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man, he humbly accepted the high lesson, which Providence gave him, and rose from the prostration of a fallen hero, to an almost unexampled sublimity as the martyr of im partial liberty. Words were spoken by John Brown at the tribunal. where he was condemned to death, words were written by him from his prison house, that can never be forgotton. A spirit went forth from his bosom on the gallows, that has quickened the heart of humanity in the cause of our enslaved countrymen, as it was never moved before. His death is working, and will work in their behalf, a far mightier, happier, holier result, than would have been accomplished, if he had slain hundreds of slaveholders, and given deliverance to thousands of their bondmen. The martyrs, not the fighters, have been and will be the seed of the Church, the saviours of mankind.

Fellow laborers in the cause of Peace, the Providence of God has given men no encouragement to resort to weapons of violence and death, even in defence of their dearest rights. Whenever a people resort to such weapons, they commit their cause to the chance of battle. Suffer not yourselves, nor others, to be beguiled of the truth on this momentous subject, by the occasional result of a war, not even by that of our Revolution, the issue of which is not yet fully known. If success in

war is evidence of the Divine approval, then must we conclude that the conquerors of Poland were in the right; that all the wars of Bonaparte but the last were justifiable; that Charles XII. of Sweden, and Frederick the Great, and Gengis Khan and Tamerlane, and Alaric and Attila, and all the successful warriors that have scourged mankind, were approved and assisted by God. But from this decision, I trust, all would recoil.

The great lesson, which Christ teaches and History confirms, is, that it is unwise, as well as unchristian, for men or nations to resort to weapons of violence, in order to redress their wrongs, or to vindicate their most precious rights. There is never any certainty, that the injured party will be successful in such a conflict. The Almighty promises his grace to the meek, not to the valiant; his support to those who confide in the power of his Holy Spirit, which is continually working in the hearts of men to will and to do of his good pleasure; and not to those who trust to brute force or stratagem.

To invoke the benignant Father of all men, as the patron of battle, seems to me as impious as it would be to call upon him to preside over any other scene of reckless indulgence of human passions,-to preside over a desperate game of chance, a duel, or that disgusting pugilistic contest, at which the eyes of millions in England and our country have been gloating for the last three months, with an eagerness of interest, that would be shocking even in savages. And I cannot see why it would not be just as consistent for a Christian minister to play the priest at the combat of Heenan and Sayers, as to be the chaplain of an army.

The religion of the Gospel utterly prohibits revenge, wrath, violence, without which there can be no war. The Providence of God has given no approval of bloodshed and murder. Indeed it has signally justified the declaration of Jesus, that the use of the sword only leads to the multiplied destruction of life.

The folly of the custom of war is exceeded only by its wickedness. It is the height of foolishness, it is madness, to commit the protection of our dearest rights and interests to the chance of battle. There is never any certainty that the injured party will be successful in war. Physical might is, by no means, always with the right. But moral might is always with the right. Why is it that so few men have yet received this great truth, which Providence has been teaching from the beginning of man's probation, and which is so plainly declared in the Gospel of Christ? Moral might is always with the right! When men really believe this, they are invincible. William Penn believed this,

and dared to plant his colony in the midst of savages, without a single weapon of defence. There they lived, as long as our Republic has been in existence, maintaining the good order of civil government without a standing army, a militia, or even an armed police; there they lived in peace and unexampled prosperity, so long as this faith and a pacific spirit prevailed in the councils of the Colony; there they lived unharmed in the midst of warlike Indians, for more than seventy years, while the Colonies of New England, and other parts of the continent were embroiled in wars, suffering and committing atrocities of cruelty, the narration of which would make our blood curdle with horror.

The Quakers in Ireland believed in the might of the right. They believed that "when a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." They believed in the power of Love to restrain the violence of men, to turn their hearts from evil intentions, and to convert enemies into friends. During the whole of the terrible civil war, which raged in that Island in 1798 and 1799, those followers of the Prince of Peace were in continual danger; their properties and their lives were frequently threatened by one of the contending parties, and then by the other; sometimes they were in imminent peril. Nevertheless, they were steadfast in their adherence to their principles. They would not arm themselves, nor put their confidence in armed men. They would take no part, directly or indirectly, in that ferocious strife. They persisted in treating members of each party with kindness, and faithfully rebuking both of them for their folly and sin. They were sustained; and fully justified the wisdom and power of the pacific course, which they had pursued. At the end of the war, it was ascertained and made public, that only two, out of the twenty thousand Quakers, who lived in that part of Ireland where the conflict raged, only two had been slain; and they had lost their faith, and betaken themselves to a fortified place for protection. The rest had come out of that fiery trial unscathed. Even their dwellings and fields had been spared. In the midst of [the desolation, which the fury of the combattants had spread far and wide, there were to be seen uninjured the houses and the properties of "The Friends."

Did time permit, a few more examples might be given of the safety of those who "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God." The only reason why Christendom is not filled with the fruits of the spirit of Christ is, that Christians, so called, have not put on Christ, they have not the same mind that was in him; have not his faith, his hope, his charity.

Mr. President, Members of the Peace Society, the reform for which

under your auspices, I thus plead, is as broad as Humanity; and rests upon principles as deep as the foundations of the moral government of God.

Whenever or wherever men are to be dealt with, whether as individuals or communities, let us confidently rely upon the principles of the nature which the Creator has given them, and trust to the influence of his own ever-present, holy, loving spirit upon their hearts. Faith in Humanity, and faith in the Providence of that benignant Father who has the hearts of all men in His hands, will give us that moral power by which all evil doers may be overcome, the violent restrained, and the kingdom of Peace and Righteousness be established upon earth.

AMERICAN PEACE SOCIETY :

ITS THIRTY-SECOND

ANNIVERSARY.

The Society met May 28th, 3 P. M., for business, in the vestry of Park Street Church, Boston, and adjourned, a quorum not being present, to 7 P. M., for the public services.

At 7 P. M., the Society met in Park Street Church. In the absence of Dr. WAYLAND, the President, Hon. AMASA WALKER, one of the Vice Presidents, was called to the chair. Rev. WILLIAM JENKS, D. D., of Boston, read the 72d Psalm, and offered prayer. A brief abstract of the Annual Report was read by the Corresponding Secretary, Dr. Beckwith, on behalf of the Board of Directors. The Chairman, after some account of his mission to England last year on behalf of our cause, introduced, as the speaker of the evening, Rev. SAMUEL J. MAY, of Syracuse, N. Y. At the close of his Address, listened to with much interest by a small but select audience, the Society, on motion of Rev. F. W. Holland,

Voted, That the thanks of this Society be presented to Rev. S. J. May for his able, earnest and seasonable Address, and that a copy be requested for the press.

The Annual Report of the Directors, and that of the Treasurer which had been duly audited, were both adopted. On motion, it was voted that the Society adjourn, to meet for the choice of officers at the call of the Executive Committee, and that the present officers meanwhile continue in office till successors are chosen.

REPORT.

In every good work there is need of patient, unfaltering trust in God, but in none more than in the great reform which seeks to eradicate from every Christian land, the immemorial custom of war. Next to paganism, it is the master evil of our race, and so deeply imbedded in the worst and strongest passions of our nature, so incorporated into the whole frame