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Untitled Article
ful lesson inferred by the sufferings of more than twenty years , will not easily be effaced from the minds of the people of Europe , or forgotten amidst the councils of their sovereigns . Has not every nation of the civilized world borne a part , more or less
conspicuous in that awful tragedy which , for so long a period , has converted the earth into a field of blood ? Let us contemplate its desolated cities , its ravaged provinces , its bereaved families , and humbly hope that the affecting appeal of suffering" humanity will not be heard in vain . Shall thesword ,
indeed , devour for ever ? Or if the work of destruction shall eventually cease , may we not labour to promote this important object , by every means consistent with the preservation of that peace which we desire to recommend ? It may be added , that the
avowed sentiments of some , at least , of the present sovereigns of Europe , afford great encouragement to the views of a society , whose object is the promotion of universal peace . And if , at any period , the minds of good men appear to be generally directed to this object , may we not hope that
He , from whom every good purpose proceeds , has excited this simultaneous movement , that he will guide the operations of his faithful servants , and ultimately crown their endeavours with success ? The object itself is good and noble , and , if pursued by legitimate means , surely there can be , among Christians , but one opinion of
its propriety . This remark naturally leads us to the ; inquiry , whether there be any thing in the constitution , or the proceedings of the Peace Society , to excite the jealousy of an upright and enlightened administration ? The tracts
published by authority of their committee , may certainly be regarded as a just criterion of the nature of their principles ; and I confess I can see nothing in the passages cited by X . Y . Z . to alarm a loyalty the most sensitive , the most keenly alive to
contingent danger . With respect to our ever highly-favoured country , if war is not to be regarded as a " custom / ' sanctioned by the prejudices of all ages , it cannot be denied , that the British nation has long been distinguished for a martial spirit ; a spirit which , if it pan be shewn to be ini-
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mical to the genius of Christianity * must have its origin in 4 * popular delusion , " and can be corrected only by a more general diffusion of Christian principles And is it not from the universal prevalence of * that
religion , which proclaimeth peace on earth , and good-will to men , that srs Christians we anticipate the accomplishment of those predictions which refer to the subject under discussion ? What have we then to apprehend from the operations of a society whose
efforts are confined to temperate argument , to respectful remonstrance and Christian exhortation ; whose very principle precludes the most distant approach to a violent interference
with the measures of government , or to a resistance of lawful authority ? The sentiments of the Society of Friends , on the subject of war , are generally known ; but no one will venture to assert that they have ever
proved turbulent subjects , or manifested the slightest disposition ' to meddle with them that are given to " political " change . " And what if , through the influence of this new institution , a pacific spirit were
gradually to pervade all classes of society ? Is it credible that government could apprehend a forcible resistance of its authority , from an association formed for the very purpose of excluding violence from the social system ? How can € t discord , confusion and bloodshed , " be introduced into
the bosom of society , by the very means designed and calculated to banish them fionl the face of the earth ? The general diffusion of pacific principles would afford government one
invaluable security in times of public difficulty or distress . A pacific spirit is no less unfriendly to domestic commotion than to foreign war , and would , so far as it extended , effectually counteract every tendency to popular
insur . It is foreign to my present purpose to dwell on the moral features of war , which have been so frequently traced by more able hands . My sole object is to dispose of the animadversions of
your Correspondent , and to defend those views which , in his estimation , involve evils of greater magnitude than all the calamities of war . Here , it seems , we are treading on tender ground ; and there is danger of our
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£ 08 An Apology for the JPeace Society *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1818, page 508, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2479/page/36/
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