as there was war between their country and France, they might take revenge on their enemies in whatever way they chose. When they arrived at Saar-Louis, respecting which more will be said hereafter, they were placed in different portions of the barracks, where they were treated somewhat more kindly than they had hitherto been, but where most of them expected to remain, as remain they did for a long season, prisoners of war. Yet what had they done to deserve such treatment,— to be torn from their families, separated from their country and their homes, and kept in bondage in such a way? They had done nothing. They had not been engaged in the war, but were pursuing their own business on the great waters, and, had they been let alone, would have continued to pursue it. But, when nations quarrel one with another, justice falls in the street and equity cannot enter. Then the most innocent and unoffending suffer, and acts are deemed justifiable and right which under other circumstances would be universally condemned. Who can wonder that the philanthropist should denounce war, and try by every possible means to prevent it, or to put it down? But the world has not yet arrived at such a state of wisdom and nobility as to do without it; and though civilized States talk now and then of disarming their forces, and UNIVERSAL PEACE. 27 of settling their disputes by arbitration, yet they go on inventing new guns, building more expensive ships, and spending more money, and yet more, in defending one another's territories, as if they had no confidence in each other's professions, but expected that one day the sword will be unsheathed again as in times gone by. And probably it will, despite every effort to prevent it. War has devastated some countries within the last few years, and though at present the nations are comparatively quiet, yet the elements of discord and of strife are not extinct, and it may be that this generation may witness another terrible conflict, either in Europe or elsewhere, which will shake again the very foundations of society. And terrible as it is, war is undoubtedly one of the instrumentalities which Providence employs to prepare the way for the reception of the truth. It is the moral ploughshare which breaks up the fallow ground of the human conscience, and prepares it to receive the seed of the Word of God; it is the thunderstorm which clears the moral atmosphere, and dispels the mists and the vapours which are so detrimental to the highest interests of mankind. It is therefore not an unmixed evil, and hence the war of 1804 and the following years, effected for Europe, and especially for Great Britain, many important and valuable changes, so that at the close of it an eminent preacher said, "If the ambitious have been taught moderation, sovereigns to cultivate the love of the people, and people to uphold the legal authority of their governors; and especially if religion has achieved new triumphs and received new homage; then the storm has not raged in vain, the contest has not terminated without instruction. Important lessons have been taught, and the future happiness of the world is more firmly laid in increasing regard to political justice and to true religion." Doubtless it was so; yet we should rejoice if war could be prevented henceforth; and the day will come when it will be known no more, and when the standard of the Prince of Peace will wave on every shore. CHAPTER III. SUFFERINGS AND ESCAPE. "PROVIDENCE DIRECTS US BY MEANS NOT TO USE THEM IS TO TEMPT OUR GUARDIAN; WHERE IT INTENDS ANY GREAT THING FOR OUR GOOD, IT OPENS A DOOR, AND PUTS SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES INTO OUR HANDS AS WE MAY USE WITHOUT BREACH OF ANY COMMAND, OR THE NEGLECT OF OUR OWN DUTY.-Charnock. |