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Notes on a Letter to the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England, &c. London, 1806. pp. 24-30. By ECCLETUS.

"WAR is surely proscribed by many precepts, and by the whole example of Christ. Three words of his convey its death-warrant- Love your enemies.' Matt. v. 44. Luke vi. 27, 35. And the execution of this waits, in each of us, only our full surrender to the Gospel. That is the perfection of Christian love, which leaves no room for fear; and enables a man to dismiss that sense of insecurity which is the true motive for holding out threats to another. Aspiring to no less an end, we are willing to set out at once in our practice from the precept and the example, leaving the consequences to follow; not without looking for ability, both to obey and to suffer, to the grace of God strengthening us, who otherwise could do nothing. We dare to oppose this conduct and this way of reasoning to that discriminating doctrine which would justify the Christian in disobeying any of his Lord's precepts, because of the possible consequences of his obedience.

This would have provided very well for the ease of the primitive advocates for Christianity, in this and other testimonies against the religion of the lords of the world, who impugned them with no gentler arguments than fire and sword. They might have shunned the reply, and have pleaded that at that juncture it was not convenient. But in the mean time what would have become of the cause?

"The present state of the world undoubtedly affords an awful prospect yet the Christian, confirmed in the true faith, is enabled to face it. Let us anticipate for him the worst that can happen to himself. He is plundered and oppressed. But his goods and his person were his servants; and their master, if he retain his integrity, may yet look on free. Yet more he suffers ignominy, pain,

and death. But he can suffer neither without the permission of his Almighty Protector, who has numbered the hairs of his head, who loves him beyond measure, and therefore consults his best interests in the event. He is banished however— from whence? From a scene of probation and suffering-and whither? To a kingdom of peace and glory, where, far from being enslaved, he reigns rejoicing! Such is the personal view of this subject to the magnanimous, that is to say, the faithful follower of Christ in every age. A nation so constituted, could no more fight, than it could be enslaved. In the very improbable event of its being threatened by another with immediate violence, such a nation would appeal, not only formally but really to Providence. Is not Providence, the faithful Christian would say, one in being with Omnipotence, and does Omnipotence want the feeble aid of forbidden violence on my part, to redress my wrong or establish my right? Having used every possible means for reasonable accommodation, I shall now wait his decision. That decision will be right and just, and more I cannot ask!

"That the principle of Peace will spread in the world at large we can no more doubt, than that the Gospel will be preached in all nations: and when the time arrives for this, we have grounds in the history of the primitive church for the opinion, that seas, rivers, and mountains will not be barriers to its progress, or circumscribe and determine the sphere of its tranquillizing influence. The tumultuous course of violence is easily marked by the world. When its sudden and impetuous movements have been accomplished, it ceases by the collision of its opposed parts. The world then proclaims peace, while the latent cause of war subsists as before. It is not so with the peace of the Gospel. Those changes, in the moral and intellectual state of mankind, which prepare the way for

this, have proceeded for ages, like the growth of solid timber, slowly, silently, irresistibly; and a future age will undoubtedly witness their consummation."

Extract from a Letter to a Member of the Committee of the Peace Society. Dublin,

My dear Friend, I am sorry I I have not sooner been able to seize a minute in which to thank you for the Tracts, &c. you sent me on leaving London on reaching this capital, I read them attentively, and I confess I am completely convinced that they advocate the right side of the important and glorious question. Will you take the trouble to give for me ***** to the treasury. I propose to continue my subscription, and to render the cause all the assistance in my power. And as I am writing I will fill my paper with a few scraps, which you may use if you like.

The following extract is from one of Lady Mary Wortley Montague's Letters, (See her Works by Dallaway, vol. 5. p. 16.)

"The world is past its infancy, and will no longer be contented with spoon-meat. A collective body of men make a gradual progress in understanding, like that of a single individual. When I reflect on the vast increase of useful as well as speculative knowledge the last three hundred years has produced, and that the peasants of this age have more conveniences than the first Kings of Rome had any notion of, I imagine we are now arrived at the period which answers to fifteen: I cannot think that we are older, when I recollect the many palpable follies which are still almost universally persisted in. I place that of War, as senseless as the boxing of school-boys; and whenever we are come to man's estate (perhaps 1000 years hence,) I do not doubt it will appear as ridiculous as the pranks of unlucky lads. Several discoveries will thus be made, and seve

ral truths made clear, of which we have now no more idea than the ancients had of the circulation of the blood, or the optics of Sir Isaac Newton."

It is now a hundred years since the masculine and piercing genius of this lady predicted that a time would come when War would be seen, not to say more of it, as the most childish folly. Will not the strong minded men of the present day view it in the same light? She did not dare to hope that the period would arrive before a thousand years had elapsed. Knowledge however augments in a vastly increasing ratio. May we not safely substitute a hundred for the thousand years? Blessed progress, were but this the case.

The Ferocity of War, and the Impiety of its Votaries depicted.

THE following descriptive piece was written about thirty years ago, when the Turks and Russians were preparing for war: the author imagines himself elevated to a great distance from the Earth by a supernatural Agent, who had given him a solemn lecture on the past and present state of the human Family. He thus proceeds :

I remained absorbed in profound silence; meanwhile I kept my eyes fixed upon Asia: clouds of smoke and of flames at the north, on the shores of the Black Sea, and in the fields of the Crimea, suddenly attracted my attention: they appeared to ascend at once from every part of the Peninsula, and, passing by the Isthmus to the Continent, they pursued their course as if driven by an easterly wind, along the miry lake of Asoph, and were lost in the verdant plains of the Coban. Observing more attentively the course of these clouds, I perceived that they were preceded or followed by swarms of living beings, which, like ants disturbed by the foot of a passenger, were in lively action: sometimes they seemed to

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move towards and rush against each other, and numbers after the concussion remained motionless. Disquieted at this spectacle, I was endeavouring to distinguish the objects, when my Guide said to me, "Do you see those fires that spread over the Earth; and are you acquainted with their causes and effects?" O Sir, I replied, I see columns of flame and smoke, and as it were insects that accompany them; but, discerning with difficulty, as I do, the masses of towns and monuments, how can I distinguish such petty creatures? I can see nothing more than that these Insects seem to carry on a sort of mock battles: they advance, they approach, they attack, they pursue."It is no mockery (said my Guide,) it is the thing itself."-And what name, replied I, shall we give to these foolish animalculæ, that thus destroy each other? Do they live only for a day, and is this short life further abridged by violence and murder? My Guide then touched my eyes and my ears: "Listen (said he) to me, and observe."-Immediately turning my eyes in the same direction,

Alas! said I, transpierced with anguish, these columns of flame, these insects they are Men, and the ravages I see are those of War! These torrents of flame ascend from towns and villages set on fire! I see the horsemen that light them. I see them, sword in hand, overrun the country. Old men, women and children, in confused multitudes, fly before them. I see other horsemen, who, with pikes on their shoulders, accompany and direct them; I can even distinguish by their led horses, by their bonnets, and their tufts of hair, that they are Tartars; and without doubt, those who pursue them in triangular hats and green uniforms are Muscovites. I understand the whole: I perceive the war has just broken out between the empire of the Czars and the Sultans."Not yet (replied my Guide,) this is only the prelude. These Tartars have

been, and would be still troublesome neighbours: their country is an object of convenience to their less uncivilized neighbours, it rounds and makes complete their dominions."

In reality I saw the Russian flag hoisted over the Crimea, and their vessels scattered over the Euxine.

Meanwhile, at the cries of the fugitive Tartars the Mussulman empire was in commotion. "Our brethren (exclaimed the children of Mahomet) are driven from their habitations, the people of the Prophet are outraged; infidels are in possession of a consecrated land, and profane the Temple of Islamism. Let us arm ourselves to avenge the glory of God and our own cause."

A general preparation for war then took place in the two empires. Armed men, ammunition, and all the murderous accoutrements of battle, were every where assembled. My attention was particularly attracted by the immense crowds that in either nation thronged to the Temples: on the one hand the Mussulmans assembled before their Mosques, washed their hands and feet, pared their nails, and combed their beards; then spreading carpets on the ground, and turning themselves towards the south, with their arms sometimes crossed and sometimes extended, they performed their devotion. Then rising up in a transport of rage, the people shouted, "There is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet!-Accursed be every one that believeth not!-Indulgent God! grant us the favour to exterminate these Christians; it is for thy glory we fight, and by our death we are martyrs to thy name!" And having offered sacrifices, they prepared themselves for battle.

On the other hand, the Russians on their knees exclaimed: "Let us give thanks to God, and celebrate his power: he has strengthened our arm to humble our enemies. Beneficent God! incline thine ear to our prayers. To please thee, we will for three days eat neither meat nor

eggs: permit us to exterminate these impious Mahometans, and overflow their empire, and we will give thee the tenth of the spoil, and erect new Temples to thy honour." The Priests then filled the churches with smoke, and said to the people, "We pray for you, and God accepts our incense, and will bless your arms." And they sprinkled water on the people, and said, "We absolve you of your sins, and you shall die in a state of grace." And the people breathed nothing but war and de

struction.

Struck with this contrasting picture of the same passions, and lamenting to myself their pernicious consequences, I was reflecting on the difficulty the common Judge would find in complying with such opposite demands, when my heavenly Conductor, from an impulse of anger, vehemently exclaimed,

"What madness is this that strikes my ear! what blind and fatal insanity possesses the human mind! Sacrilegious prayers, return to the earth from whence you came! Is it thus, O Man, you worship the Divinity? and do you think that he you call Father of all, can receive with complacence the homage of freebooters and murderers? Ye Conquerors, with what sentiments does he behold your arms reeking with the blood that he has created! YeConquered, what hope can you place in useless moans? Is he a man that he should repent, or the son of man that he should change?"

late them to active exertion in the great cause of Christian philanthropy, our author thus writes:

"The disciples of Christ will not forget, that the present is a state of trial, and not of uninterrupted enjoyment: but this will not discourage, nor disconcert them in their heavenly enterprize; and they will continue, by renewed and increased exertions, to lessen, as much as may be, the mass of human misery which still remains. The injunction of their divine Master, that they should love one another,' will be always in their remembrance; and be to them like a law of consanguinity; as a relationship of a holy and spiritual nature, cemented by the blood, and dying agonies of Him, who laid down his life for their sakes. They will be one with Christ, in promoting the plan of his universal kingdom of righteousness, as he and his heavenly Father are one. To this purport was the prayer of the great Shepherd of the flock, when he said, 'I pray not for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast seat me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou has sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be

The Kingdom of God on Earth, by the with me where I am; that they may

Rev. JOHN WHITEHOUSE. (Continued from p. 344.) THE love of God, and the union subsisting between the Father and the Son, constitute the only proper foundation for the affection and union which ought to subsist between the disciples of Jesus Christ. To stimu

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behold my glory, which thou hast given me for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it that the love wherewith

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thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.'*-Here then is the proper ground of union among Christians, between the Master and his disciples, and the only one deserving of the name. Here is a bond of fellowship which will exalt and dignify human nature, by making all the multitudinous individuals of which the kindred society of mankind is composed a blessing to each other. They will love as brethren;' they will bear each other's burdens;' they will dwell together in unity and godly love.' As members of the holy Catholic Church of Christ, and of the communion of saints, they will be fellow labourers in the Gospel, looking for, and hastening the long-predicted period, when 'all power and authority, the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, shall be brought into subjection to him, the sceptre of whose kingdom is a right sceptre; and who is to have the heathen for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession.'

"The universal peace and happiness which shall then prevail among the different nations of the earth, is thus described by Isaiah: In righteousness shall he judge the poor, and with equity for the meek of the earth and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.' + The religion of Christ will then have obtained such an ascendancy over the

*John, xvii. 20-26, † Isaiah. xi. 4, 5, 6, 9.

furious and turbulent passions of men; over wrath, malice, hatred and revenge, as to have subdued them into subjection to the mild and peaceful law of the Gospel. The most violent characters, those who have been habituated to war, rapine, and bloodshed, and whose obdurate and unfeeling dispositions rendered them more like the wild beasts of the forest than human creatures, will then have changed their natures; they will have put off the old man with his deeds,' and 'put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that made him;' they will have repented of, and forsaken their sin and guilt, and listened to the entreating voice, Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."'

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Again, in section the fifth, he strives to excite his readers to diligence in the great work of promoting the happiness and the peace of mankind.

"But since the time is short,' and 'the night of death cometh when no man can work,' let us endeavour to do something for God before we sink into our graves; and not suffer the whole of life to pass without a single effort to promote his kingdom and glory. If it be but little that we can do, it is worth the painstaking, and we know not what a blessing may attend it. We shall not have lived in vain, if we have contributed our mite of service to a single individual of our brethren of mankind; if we have been enabled, although in a very limited degree, to lighten the load of human misery, or enlarge the boundaries of human happiness. It will be a source of consolation to us when we are quitting the world, if we have been the friends and advocates of peace; if we have been preserved from that

blood-guiltiness' which attaches to those, who are the abettors of a practice in direct hostility with the liberties and happiness of mankind.

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