drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."* Of the spirit and commands of the Gospel, these passages furnish a fair specimen, and teach us what Christians ought to be. Do these encourage or even permit a disciple of Jesus to take away the precious life of the inhabitant of another country, more than of one of his own, or indeed to injure him in the smallest degree? If all mankind were under the influence of these principles, would they not produce universal peace?

2. The nature of Christianity will be better understood in al. its parts. When the religion of Jesus was first propagated in the world, some of its doctrines and precepts were peculiarly in opposition to the sentiments and dispositions both of the Jews and Gentiles, and hence they were either rejected or perverted. Against these corruptions several of the Epistles of the New Testament are directly levelled; but alas! too many of them have retained their influence to the present day. This has been especially the case with respect to that love which the disciples of Christ ought to bear to the whole human race; and particularly as to the manner in which Christians, considered in their relation as subjects of civil society, ought to demean themselves towards the members of other communities, or subjects of other governments. How many Christians, who, acting as individuals, would be filled with horror at the thought of taking away the life of a man of another country, can, when acting as members of the commonwealth, put to death men of other lands without remorse, and even glory in the deed! The obligation of the followers of Jesus to the exercise of universal love and good-will, will then be both clearly understood and deeply felt. It will be ascertained, that individual accountableness runs through every relation in which man can be placed; that a Christian cannot lend his influence or his energies to execute the designs of caprice, avarice, ambition or revenge; and that when mixed with a hundred thousand of his species, he is no more justified in taking away the life of a man of another country for those ends, than if he acted by himself alone.

3. In consequence of such a change of views, the true spirit of the Gospel will be imbibed by every Christian individual; and the number of these individuals will be so great, as to comprehend the generality of mankind. To love the whole family of Adam, and to manifest this love to them in every relation, both public and private, will be the predominant temper in civil society. To abstain from doing injury to men of other countries, will have equal authority over his conscience, as not to commit adultery, and not to be guilty of sacrilege. To exercise benevolence towards all, and to endeavor, by every means in his power, to promote the happiness of all, will be accounted of like obligation by the Christian, as loving his brothers and sisters, and honoring his father and his mother.

* Rom. xii. 19, 20, 21.

4. Those evil principles which now reign in the hearts of the mass of mankind, and which are the causes of war, shall be then destroyed. "From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even from your lusts that war in your members ?" But what are those lusts of which the Apostle speaks? Are they a peculiar form of malignity? Has the evil spirit first kindled them in the flames of hell, hastened with them to earth, and thrust them still burning into the heart of one whom he had before marked as fit for his purpose on account of his singular wickedness? No such thing. They are only the ordinary passions of the human heart-pride, ambition, caprice, false honor, avarice, sensuality, malice, envy and hatred. These lusts raging in the breast of a mean man, form a drunkard, an adulterer, a thief, a robber, or an assassin; when they operate with all their strength in the bosoms of the rulers of the world, they produce war and slaughter. Let these evil passions be subdued, and "wars will cease unto the ends of the earth, the bow will be broken, the spear cut asunder, and the chariot burned in the fire." That such will be the case, we may naturally conclude, when it is considered, that in the place of those hateful lusts, love to God and love to man, meekness, humility, forgiveness of injuries, and ardent benevolence to every thing human, will fill the soul, and bear absolute sway over all its powers.

5. These principles will regulate the conduct of nations in all their intercourse with each other. Multitudes of individuals in their transactions with their fellows, have acted under the influence of the precepts of the Gospel; but to individuals the operation of them has been confined. No nation has yet administered a system of government according to Christian principles, or pursued a regular succession of political measures nnder the influence of the spirit of Christian benevolence.†

An objection has been often raised, that if a nation were to act upon these principles, and refuse to go to war, it would soon be swallowed up by other nations. In answer to this, let the following things be considered:

1. No instance of this pacific spirit in a community has yet

*James iv. 1.

We may quote the example of Pennsylvania, which settlement was established, and long conducted on Gospel principles. See Clarkson's Life of Penn. The Edinburgh Review, in their critique of this work, say, in allusion to Penn's celebrated Treaty with the Indians, "Such indeed was the spirit in which the negotiation was entered into, and the corresponding settlements conducted, that for the space of more than seventy years, and so long indeed as the Quakers retained the chief power in the government, the peace and amity which had been thus solemnly promised and concluded, never was violated; and a large, though solitary example afforded of the facility with which they who are really sincere and friendly in their views, may live in harmony with those who are supposed to be peculiarly fierce and faithless.""

occurred in the history of the world; no proof can therefore be brought against it from facts. It is an untried system. Long has the method of nation injuring nation been practised, and practised without any lasting good effect. Let men now try the way of abstaining from injury, and of conferring benefits, and thus heap coals of fire upon the heads of their enemies. It cannot possibly succeed worse; but it may have unspeakably happier results.

2. A person of a humble, pacific spirit, leads the most quiet life, Is it not seen, that an inoffensive deportment, especially when united to uprightness and sanctity, preserves its possessor from many quarrels in which others are involved, and from many injuries which the quarrelsome sustain? But why should it not be so with nations too? Like causes produce like effects; and if nations were as exemplary in those virtues as individuals are, as careful to avoid giving offence, and as slow in taking it, the number of their wars would be astonishingly diminished. If the most peaceable have recourse to law for the redress of grievances, why could not a council of modern Amphictyons be established in Europe to settle national disputes? Surely the benign spirit of the Gospel should long ere now have taught Christendom to adopt an institution of which the pagan wisdom of ancient Greece set them so charming and instructive an example.*

3. The hitherto untried exercise of active benevolence by such a nation, would tend still more effectually to preserve peace and prevent war. There have been individuals who, by adding to dignity and sanctity of personal character a course of unwearied compassion for the distressed, have risen to so high esteem, that the very worst of men have felt an awe of reverence even for their name, and been afraid not only to do them an injury, but even to offer them an insult. Why should not this be the case also with communities? It would, if they pursued a similar conduct. Great Britain has often sent fleets, and fire-ships, and bombs, and armed men to burn and destroy cities, and put the defenders to death. The natural consequence has been, that multitudes of them have been slain; numerous families of peaceable inhabitants, consisting of fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, and infants at the breast, have been buried under the ruins of their dwellings, or dashed to pieces in the streets, while the surrounding country has been mournfully desolated. What is the effect of this warfare? Every survivor's heart is filled with hatred of the invaders, burns with revenge, and transmits the same spirit as an inheritance to his children. Let us suppose that, instead of such an armament, our rulers were to commission ships laden with corn, and clothes, and money, at only half the amount of expense, and to accompany the gift with a letter to the government of a neighboring country to this effect: "Through the goodness of God, we have had an

*Here is the germ of our plan for a Congress of Nations; a sub stitute for war contemplated by the friends of peace from the first See our Tracts and Volumes on the subject.-AM. ED.

abundant harvest; and hearing that you have not, we send a present of corn to the widows and the fatherless, the orphan, the blind, and the lame. As many of them may be unprovided with raiment for the inclemency of winter, accept the clothing which will be delivered to you by our fleet, and divide among those who are in the greatest distress, the money which our messengers carry in their hands." What influence would such conduct have upon the people of that country? Would it leave any sting behind in their souls? No. It would conciliate the esteem and affection of all. Tell them after this, "Britain wishes to injure you." No, they would say, it cannot be; it is impossible that the people of that land should desire to do us harm. Command them to buckle on their armor, and wage war with the English. They would answer, "We cannot fight them; the weapons would drop from our hands; we love them too well to hurt them; continue in peace." If any State would act in this way to its neighbors, it would have no enemies.

4. A nation so much under the influence of the Gospel as to feel the obligation to live at peace with its neighbors, would diffuse, in a considerable measure, the same spirit among them. No people can arrive at so exalted a state of wisdom and goodness, without making a powerful impression on all the countries around. By diplomatic characters, the principles would be conveyed into the cabinets of the rulers of these countries, propagated in conversation by travellers in ten thousand respectable domestic groups, and, above all, disseminated in books through the mass of the people by converts to the cause. The natural force of these principles will recommend them to men of intelligence, their excellence to philanthropists, and their claims of submission from the authority of God, to all who regulate their conduct by the Divine will. Hence there would be a progress towards the spirit of peace in every land. From the growth of the pacific principle in neighboring regions, the facility of living at peace would be astonishingly increased; and the wise and happy nation, determined to act on the maxims of the Gospel, would find its difficulties diminished from year to year, and its system of love gaining ground from day to day! O that our country would set the example to the world, and commence the reign of peace on earth, and good-will towards men of every land!

5. To all these considerations, add the existence and nature of divine Providence. Is it at all unreasonable to suppose, that a nation uniformly acting according to the pacific principles of the Gospel, would experience the peculiar protection of the great Governor of the world? How remarkable, in this respect, was his care over Israel of old, when they faithfully kept his covenant and his testimonies! During the time of the theocracy, it was only when they rebelled against God that they felt the scourge of war, and the hostile rage of the people around them. Is it irrational to conceive, that if any one country were to be regulated in all its domestic measures, and in all its foreign relations, by the spirit of

the Gospel, it would be the peculiar charge of God, and enjoy the smiles of his approbation, and the guardianship of his providence, in a degree hitherto unknown? Individuals will have rewards and punishments dispensed to them in a future state; but there nations, as such, will have no existence. Is it improper then to argue, that virtuous and pious nations will consequently have their reward in the present world? And what is more reasonable than to conclude, that on a nation, the lover and advocate of peace, the God of peace will bestow the blessings of peace?

But another objection is frequently brought forward. "If the love of peace, producing the most determined enmity to war, be the spirit of Christianity, and the very essence of one part of its principles, how comes it to pass, that so little of it has appeared in the dispositions, the deportment, or the writings of persons professing to be the disciples of Christ ?" The following considerations will, I hope, furnish a satisfactory answer:

That there has been, in the minds of the mass of persons professing Christianity, a gross ignorance of this feature of the Gospel, is too evident to be denied; and we can sufficiently account for its existence from a variety of causes operating with mighty force upon the human heart in its deep and malevolent depravity. To the spirit of peace, the prejudices of education are all opposed. The books which the scholar learns to read, were in general written under the influence of that ferocious depravity. They teach the child to hate or despise every nation but his own; they represent war as the theatre of glory; they tell him to rejoice in the miseries inflicted on the people of another country by those of his own; and they render him passionately ambitious to wear the ensanguined laurels of victory, by achieving something in the work of destruction which will be above the common standard. Unhappy youth! who receives such lessons from his master and his books, and has his soul so early contaminated, and his principles polluted in their source! Though he may afterwards become a Christian, how seldom are these unchristian sentiments eradicated from his breast!

The spirit of the men of the world has likewise had considerable influence in preventing the growth of the spirit of peace. Hitherto, those who deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Christ, have been few in number compared with the ungodly; and their strength has not lain among those classes in society which, pre-eminent in rank, wealth, and literature, sway the public mind almost without control. On this account, not only the sentiments of Christians have had little weight, but they themselves have sustained no small injury from the influence of those exalted personages, especially in reference to the subject, before

us.

This I consider as one very powerful cause of the unchristian spirit of the disciples of Jesus in respect to war.

An unhappy misconception of the Jewish economy has also led many into error respecting the doctrine of Christianity on this