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 THE APOLOGY 
 
 Of 
 
 AN OFFICER, 
 
 FOR WITHDRAWING FROM 
 
 THE PROFESSION OF ARMS 
 
 CONTAINED IN 
 
 A LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE KING; 
 
 AND 
 
 A SERIES OF LETTERS TO A FRIEND, 
 
 ON THE CAUSES AND EVILS OF WAR, 
 
 ITS UNLAWFULNESS, $c 
 
 " And he shall judge among the nations, and shall work conviction in many 
 peoples : and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears 
 into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither 
 shall they learn war any more." Lowth's Translation oflsniafi, ii. 4. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HEES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREKN, 
 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW : 
 W. ALEXANDER AND SON, YORK ,' AND R. BLACKBURNE) HAHROWGATE. 
 
 1828.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 DR. PALEY has justly observed that "no two things can 
 be more contrary than the heroic and the Christian charac- 
 ters :" and, speaking of the former, he observes, " that it is, 
 and ever has been, the favourite of the world. It is the cha- 
 racter of great men. There is a dignity in it which com- 
 mands respect. The latter is poor-spirited, tame, and ab- 
 ject: yet so it hath happened, that with the Founder of 
 Christianity, this latter is the subject of his commendation, 
 his precepts, his example ; and the former is so in no part of 
 its composition *." 
 
 With equal truth it may be observed, that no two things 
 can be more contrary than the pliant and selfish policy by 
 which nations and individuals are generally governed, and the 
 firm, noble, and disinterested conduct which is founded on 
 implicit obedience to the precepts taught by Christ. It may 
 be added, that the former is, and ever has been preferred. 
 It is the character generally adopted by the great; and it 
 recommends to their notice persons in the inferior ranks of 
 society. There is in it a suavity of manners, a ready acqui- 
 escence in the opinions of those with whom we associate, 
 calculated to conciliate their regard and affection. It is the 
 step-ladder to wealth, to honour, and every thing this world 
 can give. The latter promises little for this world, but much 
 for the next. 
 
 The evils arising out of this departure from the require- 
 
 2>^. Paley's Evidences, Chap. II. On the Morality of the Gospel. 
 A 2 

 
 W PREFACE. 
 
 safely affirmed, that not one Christian in a thousand has be- 
 stowed a thought upon it. Most men regard this as a 
 work of supererogation, and a kind of thing that does not 
 personally concern them. Even amongst those tvho have 
 taken upon themselves the sacred charge of instructing others, 
 there are probably very few who have examined the Scrip- 
 tures for the purpose of ascertaining their personal duties 
 regarding war. To incite to inquiry on this subject, on 
 grounds exclusively scriptural, is the main purport of the fol- 
 lowing Letters. 
 
 Whether this might have been accomplished by a much 
 shorter work than the present, or whether, with advantage 
 to the cause of " peace on earth," the work might have been 
 extended to a much greater length, the reader is left to de- 
 cide. In forming his decision he is requested to bear in 
 mind, that the publication of the following Letters is not only 
 intended as a persuasive to the examination of the Scrip- 
 tures, on a subject of high importance to society, but also 
 designed as the author's Apology, which he now humbly 
 submits to the public, to his brother officers, and also to his 
 Sovereign, for an act which, as far as he knows, has no pre- 
 cedent in history for many centuries. 
 
 Believing that he is regarded by many as a visionary or 
 an enthusiast, writing upon a subject which he has not duly 
 investigated, the author has deemed it necessary to extend 
 these Letters to their present length. If to be " zealously af- 
 fected in a good thing" is enthusiasm, the author pleads 
 guilty to the charge, and glories in it; but he denies that he 
 is a visionary. So far from this, he feels confident that 
 he has merely acted upon those principles which common 
 sense dictates to those, who in earnest look forward to a 
 state of future retribution, " when every one shall receive 
 according to the deeds done in the flesh." That, in what he
 
 PREFACE. VII 
 
 has written, the author has not done justice to a most interest- 
 ing subject; and that his Letters are defective in composition 
 and arrangement, lie is himself aware. For these, he trusts, his 
 limited education and habits of life will be accepted as an 
 excuse, by the candid searcher after truthivnnd? ni-qumujifiir 
 
 The last three Letters are chiefly on the unlawfulness of 
 defensive war. To these, particular attention is requested. 
 If they contain any inconclusive reasoning, the author will 
 thank any one to point it out to him. He believes the. con* 
 elusions he has drawn from the highest authorities, to be 
 perfectly legitimate; and, from the evidence these authorities 
 afford, he decides that ALL WAll is unjustifiable to a pro- 
 fessor of Christianity ; and, consequently, that no believer 
 in that religion can innocently engage in it, however disas- 
 trous to himself or others such a conduct might prove. 
 
 Should, however, the arguments here offered against de- 
 fensive warfare be deemed weak or invalid, the author trusts 
 that he will be held excusable for quitting the profession of 
 arms, on the ground that he considers it as unlawful to a 
 Christian to make that profession a trade to live by. And 
 the reader is requested to bear in mind, that when the author 
 first contemplated withdrawing from his profession, he re- 
 garded defensive war as lawful to a Christian. 
 
 As the main purport of these Letters is to ascertain the 
 sense of Scripture, and its requirements on the subject of 
 war, it has not been deemed necessary to do more than 
 merely notice what has been said by Mr. Sheppard * and 
 others, concerning the inexpedience of the doctrine of non- 
 resistance, and the political evils likely to result from its ge- 
 neral adoption. The arguments in favour of this doctrine, 
 
 * See An Inquiry on the Duty of Christians respecting War, by 
 J. Sheppard. Sold by T. Hamilton, Paternoster-row, London.
 
 VIII PREFACE. 
 
 from the sacred pages of inspiration, the autlior hopes, 
 not be found unworthy of the attention of the critic, the 
 scholar, and ,the divine. One tiling may safely be affirmed, 
 concerning the resistance of evil by armed force, which is, 
 that it is a system that does not work teelL The truth of 
 this is attested by universal history, and by the present state 
 of almost every nation in Europe. Whence proceed the 
 accumulated evils under which all are now labouring ? Are 
 they not, in a great degree, owing to men preferring the he- 
 roic to the Christian character ; the pliant and narrow policy 
 of the present age, to the generous, independent, and bene- 
 volent spirit of the Gospel of Peace I 
 
 Though this policy is sanctioned by the authority of anti- 
 quity, yet the present taste is at variance with that of the 
 most learned and polished nation among the ancients ; and, 
 in this respect, a doubt may be entertained whether ancient 
 or modern Athens has the best claim to wisdom. " The 
 Athenians," we are told, " spent their time in nothing else 
 but to tell or to hear some new thing *." The predominant 
 taste of modern Athens is to tell or to read some old thing, 
 and to search the dusty tomes of remote ages. That this may 
 not only amuse, but instruct, cannot be denied ; but it must 
 at the saroe time be admitted, that works of the kind al- 
 luded to, have a powerful tendency, by employing the mind 
 on trifles, to repress the spirit of improvement, particularly of 
 religious improvement ; and, if not to restore the deeds of 
 chivalry, to check the progress of Christianity (with which 
 these works have little in common), and keep tilings as they 
 are. That some of our most popular writers should, there- 
 fore, have honours conferred on them by statesmen, is in the 
 natural course of things ; for their writings may be consi- 
 
 * Actb xvii. 21.
 
 PREFACE. i\ 
 
 dered as convenient checks, or mounds, to prevent the too 1 
 rapid progress of moral and intellectual improvement. They 
 fix the attention of a large portion of mankind on what are 
 called the good olden times, thus reconciling them to trivial 
 pursuits, instead of exciting them, by the study of the sacred 
 volume of inspiration, to look forward into futurity ; to aim 
 at higher virtues than military heroism and chivalry ; and 
 to prepare their minds for those times anticipated byrh^ 
 poet, when t tort ^sril 
 
 '< The lion, and the libbard, and the bear, ; < 4nri0 adj * * 
 Graze with the fearless flocks; all bask at noon i)a9 ' I( 5 
 Together, or gambol in the shade ^ Jniqa 
 
 Of the same grove, and drink one common stream*" ; 
 
 o^gfij Jnsasiq srlf SSNjfJ^ijJp 
 
 Notwithstanding so little interest has been hitherto excited 
 to the subject, the author has proceeded in publishing the 
 Three Parts* of his Observations on the Causes and Evils of 
 War, fyc. And, though writing under circumstances little 
 encouraging, the employment has afforded him the conscious 
 satisfaction of believing that he has been discharging his duty 
 to his Maker, his Saviour, and his fellow-creatures ; and he 
 will add, to his King and country ; for he feels the fullest 
 conviction, that the endeavour to establish correct Christian 
 principles is real patriotism, and that those principles form 
 the best foundation for the permanent greatness of a nation, 
 and the safest pillars for the throne. *qaw auoijjdai 
 
 Cheered by the " day-star of prophecy that shineth as in 
 a dark place," the author indulges a fervent hope that what 
 he has written will be read with approbation, when the 
 
 .' 
 
 * The Series of Letters was published in Three Parts, and at dif- 
 ferent times. The "Letter to the King" was published some time 
 before them.
 
 X 1'ltEFACtt. 
 
 meek and patient courage of the Christian shall be held in 
 higher honour than the dauntless intrepidity of the hero ; 
 when implicit obedience to Chris*, shall take place of the 
 pliant and selfish policy of the world; when men, either from 
 greater intensity of suffering occasioned by war, or from bet- 
 ter understanding the spirit of the religion of Christ, or from 
 a union of these causes, shall altogether abandon the profes- 
 sion of arms. 
 
 To suppose that these pages, disregarded by the critics of 
 the present age of learning and investigation, will outlive 
 their author, may appear to spring from vanity, rather than 
 from the anticipations of a sound judgement. He should, 
 indeed, consider himself as chargeable not only with vanity, 
 but with excess of folly, were lie to found his expectations 
 of posthumous fame upon any imagined merit these Letters 
 may possess. His hopes are founded on the certainty that 
 a time will arrive, when the present delusions concerning 
 war will be dispelled ; a time when the nineteenth century, 
 instead of being celebrated as a period distinguished for wis- 
 dom and benevolence, will have its merits and demerits duly 
 appreciated. The philanthropist, who looks forward to an 
 improved state of society, has the satisfaction of knowing, 
 that inquirers concerning the subject of these pages have of 
 late years greatly increased ; and that Christians professing 
 the most contrary creeds, and men of strong natural intellect 
 and extensive knowledge, have been found in various coun- 
 tries, entertaining the same views as are advocated in these 
 Letters. 
 
 Some may, and some already have censured the author 
 for a departure, not only from patriotic, but also from Chris- 
 tian principles. To make such charges is easy ; but not so 
 to prove them. No one, whatever danger he may foresee 
 in carrying into practice the principle which these Letters
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 advocate, will deny that in theory the principle itself is; cor- 
 rect ; viz. that the great Creator of the world is also its pre- 
 sent King and Governor; and that it is the positive duty of 
 every believer in the inspired volume of revelation, to exa- 
 mine the laws it establishes and the duties it imposes, and 
 to aim at perfect obedience to them. If, in the present state 
 of society, this is considered impracticable, it affords no mean 
 presumption that a want of moral principle has placed mo- 
 dern nations in a similar dilemma to that in which Christi- 
 anity placed the Jews : like the Jewish rulers, statesmen of 
 the present day apprehend that if they adopt the Gospel of 
 Peace, so far as to act upon it, that other nations " will come 
 and take away their place and nation*." Such a fear is. 
 inconsistent with Christian faith, that simple faith which 
 teaches that " God is ; and that he is the rewarder of them 
 that diligently seek him." This faith appears to possess 
 little influence on the actions or councils of nations. 
 
 The present times, as they regard Britain, may be consi- 
 dered as critical in the extreme. We are burthened with 
 a debt incurred by war, greater than the history of the whole 
 world records ; and instead of possessing the means of liqui- 
 dating this debt, the wisest men are puzzled to devise the 
 ways and means of discharging its interest, or of affording 
 relief to a starving population. In this state, and all the 
 nations of Europe armed and ready for battle, not only Bri- 
 tain, but all these nations, instead of being placed in secu- 
 rity by their military defensive armaments, seem to have 
 added to their danger, and to be living close to the crater of 
 a volcano ready to overwhelm them. At such a period, 
 surely Christians, and especially Christian princes and legi- 
 
 * John xi. 48. 
 
 ( U'
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 slators, ought to pause and ask themselves the solemn ques- 
 tion, " Shall the s&ord devour for ever '<"' 
 
 What will be the result of all these great military arma- 
 ments, no human sagacity can discover. Poverty to a largo 
 portion of those for whom God has provided the means of 
 comfort must be one certain consequence. As to Britain, it 
 may be, that blessed, perhaps, with a larger portion of righ- 
 teous men than other European nations, she may be permit- 
 ted, by the goodness and forbearance of God, to continue a 
 great and powerful nation ; and this on the very principle 
 that God would have spared the dwelling-place of Lot*. 
 It may be that, after having ceased to learn war, she may 
 be made the honoured instrument of Providence in establish- 
 ing, along with the Gospel of Peace, universal peace and 
 security. But to expect, this so long as she continues a great 
 belligerent nation, is an expectation as vain, as to look for 
 thorns producing grapes. 
 
 But, alas ! the very reverse of this may happen ; for of 
 Britain it can hardly be said that she has been humble in 
 prosperity, or faithful in improving the talents committed to 
 her care. The sun of her glory may, therefore, be about to 
 set, and, like other nations raised to greatness by the sword, 
 she may by the sword be reduced to her original boundaries 
 and comparative insignificance. Those who reckon with so 
 much confidence on the rapid progress of knowledge, of the 
 arts and sciences, of religion, and of the benefits likely to 
 accrue from a union of these, may find themselves miserably 
 deceived; and, instead of erecting new colleges, the ample 
 revenues of those already in existence, and the treasures of 
 a richly-endowed church, may be seized upon by the rapa- 
 
 JJli J :. 
 
 .. 
 * Genesis xviu. 9.
 
 PREFACE. xiii 
 
 ciuns hands of statesmen and soldiers maintained for the pro- 
 tection of these national institutions. Wisdom may con- 
 trive, and benevolence may execute plans for the amelioration 
 of the human character, but a solid foundation is required to 
 secure permanent .good : " Paul may plant, and Apollos may 
 water, but it is God that giveth the increase." gL J' T 
 
 benefits may be looked for by philanthropists from literary 
 or scientific institutions, they must necessarily be transient 
 in every belligerent nation ; in every nation where the moral 
 laws of God are not regarded as the rule of human actions. 
 The writer of these pages, however, rejoices in the increase 
 of knowledge, considering it as the certain means of exposing 
 the. folly, the irreligion, the cruelty of war. What the long- 
 
 established institutions of education have done towards the 
 
 3 F3eraot.r9flj n; 
 
 establishment of " peace on earth," may be answered in one 
 
 ZTni JtxTqxo oTTucT .YJ 
 
 word, NOTHING. 
 
 ' THY . t 
 
 The sun of their glory may, indeed, be about to set to al 
 the great European nations, and deprived of wealth and in- 
 dependence by war, the greatest of them may, at no very 
 distant period, be reduced to the degraded state of modern 
 Greece and Rome. Science, learning, religion, may (as 
 they have hitherto done) travel westward ; and nations only 
 lately come into political existence, or perhaps yet in embryo, 
 may be selected as the honoured instruments of establishing 
 
 " peace on earth, and glory to God in the highest." 
 r QS T saj n op floym 
 
 Not only statesmen but the clergy, protestant and catho- 
 
 lic, have generally held out to mankind, that the object in 
 going to war, is to establish true religion and universal peace. 
 Nothing can be more visionary than such an expectation ; 
 
 6 J 1 
 
 and from this happy epoch we seem, alas, far removed. But, 
 though the Almighty, in his wise system of governing the 
 world, causes good to arise from evil ; and though war, from 
 the intensity of suffering it may inflict, should dispose the
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 minds of men to abandon it, yet Christianity is an uncom- 
 promising religion : it docs not permit men to do evil that 
 good may come; and its divine Author has plainly .declared, 
 that a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. To ex- 
 pect, therefore, that peace will be (directly) established by 
 the sword, seems to be about as reasonable as to expect that 
 men in future ages will derive health and nourishment from 
 what now constitutes poison. At a crisis like the present, 
 when light is breaking in upon mankind, and when the ties 
 by which society has been imperfectly kept together, during 
 ages of darkness, seem to be dissolving, it appears to be the 
 duty of all men, but more especially of statesmen and Chris- 
 tian ministers, to establish better ties of social union ; and 
 lor this purpose seriously to examine the records of the Go- 
 spel of Peace, and to ascertain from thence the lawfulness 
 or unlawfulness of war. 
 
 Should the following pages tend, in any degree, to pro- 
 duce this examination, and thus dispel the prejudices and 
 delusions which have so long prevailed concerning war, the 
 author will be consoled for the obloquy he has had to en- 
 counter, and he will have the satisfaction of thinking that he 
 has not lived in vain. 
 
 Belle Vue, Harrowgate, Aug. 1828.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PREFACE. Page 
 
 LETTER addressed to the King by the Author on resigning 
 his commission. 1 
 
 Observations on the Causes, &c. of War, in a series of Letters. 
 Letter. 
 
 I. INTRODUCTORY 31 
 
 II. On the Alleged Causes of War 47 
 
 III. On the Real Causes of War 57 
 
 IV. On the Physical Evils of War 86 
 
 V. On the Moral Evils of War 105 
 
 VI. The subject cpntinued 113 
 
 VII. Arguments generally urged in favour of War, with an- 
 swers to them 133 
 
 VIII. The subject continued 144 
 
 IX. On the Practices of the early Christians relating to War. . 171 
 X. The subject continued 180 
 
 XI. The Profession of Arms inaccordant with the Principles 
 
 of Natural Religion 193 
 
 XII. Also with the Decalogue, and the Precepts contained in 
 
 the Law and the Prophets 203 
 
 XIII. The Profession of Arms, and all War, inaccordant with 
 the spirit of Christianity, and the Precepts taught by 
 Christ and his Apostles 212 
 
 XIV. The subject continued t . 228 
 
 XV. The subject of the Unlawfulness of War concluded .... 254
 
 may be supplied with Parts II. and III. on application to Messrs. 
 Longman, Rees, Ormc, Brown, and Green, Paternoster-Row.
 
 A LETTER 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 THE KING, 
 
 BY THOMAS THRUSH, 
 
 ON RESIGNING HIS COMMISSION AS A CAPTAIN IN THE 
 
 ROYAL NAVY, ON THE GROUND OF THE 
 
 UNLAWFULNESS OF WAR. 
 
 THE FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 " I am not mad, most noble Festus ; but speak forth the words of truth 
 and soberness." 
 
 SIRE, 
 
 WHEN a subject presumes publicly to address his 
 sovereign,, on a matter which he deems of the very 
 highest importance to the welfare and happiness of 
 mankind, he cannot, if his motives are pure, help 
 feeling- much anxiety to acquit himself in a way that 
 may best promote his views ; that may give no of- 
 fence to the sovereign he addresses ; and that may, 
 as much as possible, disarm public censure. 
 
 This, Sire, is my case : and when I inform Your 
 Majesty that the purport of this letter is to announce 
 my resignation of the commission and rank I hold 
 
 B
 
 in Your Majesty's Naval Service, from a conviction 
 that my retaining them is incompatible with my 
 Christian profession, it will be obvious that my situ- 
 ation, if not one of great difficulty, is, at least, one 
 of peculiar delicacy. It will be equally obvious 
 that it is no easy matter for me to avoid giving 
 offence, or to escape censure. 
 
 The difficulties of my situation are increased by 
 the consideration that I have no precedent for my 
 guidance, either as to the letter I am addressing 
 to Your Majesty, or to the important and unusual 
 act to which this letter relates. In both cases I am 
 acting, and I feel the weighty responsibility, solely 
 on my own judgement, and without the aid of pre- 
 cedent or example. This consideration ought to 
 make me both humble and circumspect ; that I may 
 neither do nor say any thing of which I may here- 
 after see just cause to repent. I trust, Sire, this will 
 not be my case ; for on the subject of these pages I 
 have not thought lightly or casually, but seriously 
 and intensely ; and this not merjely during a week, a 
 month, or even a year,, but almost daily for the last 
 three years. After endeavouring to gain the best in- 
 formation on a subject continually becoming more 
 interesting to me ; and after imploring the guidance 
 of that Being who alone can direct the hearts of 
 men to what is right ; my scruples concerning the 
 accordancy of the military profession with the pre- 
 cepts of the Christian religion have ended in the 
 conviction, that the duties of this profession are
 
 altogether irreconcilable with the plain fundamental 
 principles of our holy religion. 
 
 Considering the subject-matter of this letter, and 
 the profession of its writer, it might be deemed more 
 respectful to Your Majesty,, as well as to the dis- 
 tinguished persons who compose the Board of Ad- 
 miralty, that I should, according to professional 
 etiquette, address myself to them, through their 
 Secretary. After due consideration, it appears ne- 
 cessary for me, on the present occasion, to depart 
 from this custom. Whether, Sire, I regard Your 
 Majesty as the fountain of military rank and honour, 
 or as the Supreme Head of the Church of Christ in 
 the nation you govern, but more especially as the 
 latter, I feel it to be my duty to address these pages 
 to Your Majesty ; and I trust that my boldness, in 
 doing so, will not be considered as a departure from 
 Christian humility, or from the deference and duty 
 justly required from a subject to his sovereign. 
 
 When a man, by many years of assiduity and 
 active exertion, has gained a highly respectable 
 rank in his profession ; when, indeed, he has nearly 
 arrived at the ;oal of his wishes, it may be expected 
 that he will thankfully enjoy this rank, and its emo- 
 luments. But when, instead of doing so, he, in ad- 
 vanced life, resigns these, he is likely to be taxed 
 with something beyond mere imbecility, the re- 
 mark of Festus to St. Paul will scarcely be thought 
 too severe for a person acting thus at variance with 
 common feelings and practice. As this remark may 
 
 B 2
 
 possibly be applied to me ; I hope, though I have 
 no pretensions to the learning of the Apostle, that 
 I may be permitted to answer in his words, that 
 " I am not mad, but speak forth the words of truth 
 and soberness." 
 
 To account for a conduct so perfectly strange 
 and unusual, is a duty I owe to Your Majesty : but 
 before I proceed to discharge this duty, it may be 
 proper to examine how far I may lawfully, under 
 any circumstances, withdraw myself from my pro- 
 fession. 
 
 In whatever light I regard my half-pay, I am 
 duly sensible that my engagement to Your Ma- 
 jesty and my country is one of a very sacred na- 
 ture, and that I ought to be able to adduce weighty 
 and satisfactory reasons for the step I am taking. 
 I cannot be ignorant that such a line of conduct, if 
 generally adopted, would produce very important 
 consequences to society in all nations : I therefore 
 feel it, not only an imperative duty to Your Ma- 
 jesty, to my brother-officers, and to the world at 
 large, but also a most sacred duty to my Maker, 
 that I should, with the greatest plainness, state my 
 reasons, or rather my apology, for a proceeding 
 which, as far as I know, is in modern times unpre- 
 cedented. In doing this, it will be my most anxious 
 wish and endeavour to observe that deference and 
 profound respect justly due to Your Majesty's per- 
 son, and to the elevated and important station you 
 fill. Should I fail in doing this, 1 entreat you, Sire,
 
 to believe that my failure does not arise from a wish 
 to withhold from Your Majesty the honour justly 
 due to you ; but from an overpowering anxiety to 
 " render unto God the things that are God's." 
 
 Although, Sire, I feel the fullest conviction that 
 the case I am going, hypothetically, to state, could 
 not under any circumstances happen to me ; yet 
 permit me to suppose, though living under your 
 protection, that I should so far forget my obligations 
 and my allegiance to Your Majesty as to unite my- 
 self to your enemies. Were I, by any possibility, 
 implicated in a transaction so truly degrading, I 
 should consider it as my first duty, as soon as I be- 
 came sensible of the enormity of my crime, to make 
 the most ample and the most public reparation for 
 it. Though my doing so might subject me to the 
 charge of cowardice and treachery ; yet, unques- 
 tionably, it would be my bounden duty to retrace 
 my steps and return to my allegiance to you, my 
 lawful sovereign ; and it would be equally my duty 
 to do this in the most public manner. 
 
 In some points my own real situation appears to 
 me very similar to the imaginary case I have here 
 stated. With much zeal and sincerity I entered 
 into the Naval Service of Your Majesty's revered 
 Father, and swore allegiance to him. This alle- 
 giance is now, of course, due to Your Majesty, as 
 his lawful successor. When I entered into this 
 solemn contract, I entertained no apprehension that 
 I was acting in opposition to the principles of the
 
 Christian religion ; nor did any apprehension of 
 this kind ever arise in my mind during the time I 
 was actively employed in the service of my country. 
 Nay, so far from suspecting that I was departing 
 from Christian rectitude, it appeared to me almost 
 certain, if I should lose my life in the service of my 
 king and my country, that this would serve as a kind 
 of passport to the favour and acceptance of God. 
 This opinion, which has been frequently inculcated 
 by ministers of the Gospel of Peace, as well as by 
 pagan writers, is, I believe, generally entertained 
 by those who think at all when they enter the naval 
 or military profession. 
 
 Those, Sire, who live much in the world are im- 
 perceptibly led to think, and act, upon the prin- 
 ciples of those with whom they associate. Though, 
 in the busy scenes of naval service, I never enter- 
 tained an idea of my profession being irreconcilable 
 with the religion of Christ ; yet, after passing se- 
 veral years in a retirement bordering on seclusion ; 
 and after more closely inspecting the Christian pre- 
 cepts, and reviewing my past life, it appears to me 
 that while I have been serving my king and my 
 country, if not brilliantly, yet faithfully, I have been 
 acting in open disobedience to the plain and posi- 
 tive commands of another and a superior Master, 
 a Master whose claims upon my allegiance are prior, 
 and paramount, to those of Your Majesty, or of any 
 earthly sovereign. 
 
 Christianity being considered as a part of the
 
 laws of the land, it would seem reasonable to con- 
 clude, that so long as a subject obeys the precepts 
 of the divine Founder of this religion, he can 
 hardly fail in any important duty to his sovereign. 
 In other words, if a subject is careful to cf render 
 unto God, the things that are God's," it will be 
 hardly possible for him to withhold from his sove- 
 reign those things that are lawfully due to him. 
 In Christianity, one duty implies the other; and 
 thus the duty to the Prince is placed upon the most 
 solid foundation, as formingan essential part of a 
 Christian's duty to God. But, Sire, permit me with 
 great deference and respect to observe, that the 
 claims of any earthly sovereign, parent, or bene- 
 factor, to our gratitude, our love, and our obedience, 
 ought not for a moment to be put in competition 
 with those of our Maker. And it is. Sire, not only 
 our bounden duty, but also our highest interest, to 
 render unconditional and absolute obedience to 
 God alone. 
 
 During the latter part of those years of retire- 
 ment which I have mentioned, this and other Chris- 
 tian truths have become strongly impressed on my 
 mind ; and conscience has told me, that, however 
 honourable my profession may be considered, it is 
 impossible for a man to be at the same time a 
 faithful follower of Christ and a warrior by profes- 
 sion. The moment a man sells himself to his sove- 
 reign, or to his country, for the purpose of human 
 destruction, he loses caste (if I may be allowed the
 
 8 
 
 expression) as a Christian. He forfeits that liberty, 
 that freedom to think, to speak, and to act, on moral 
 and religious principles, which, as a Christian, it is 
 his privilege, as well as his duty, to maintain. 
 
 If a subject may be permitted to make the re- 
 mark, Your Majesty appears to entertain opinions 
 similar to these. In confirming the sentence of a 
 Court Martial held on a foreign station on two of- 
 ficers for disobedience of orders, Your Majesty 
 most justly observes that, " IF RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES 
 
 WERE ALLOWED TO BE URGED BY INDIVIDUAL OF- 
 FICERS AS A PLEA FOR DISOBEDIENCE OF ORDERS, THE 
 DISCIPLINE OF THE ARMY WOULD SUSTAIN AN INJURY 
 WHICH MIGHT BE DANGEROUS TO THE STATE." Surely, 
 
 Sire, this is equivalent to saying that men who are 
 imbued with RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES, or Christians, 
 are unfit for the military service. Of the justice of 
 Your Majesty's remark, or of the equity of the sen- 
 tence of the Court, no one conversant in military 
 discipline can entertain a doubt. Thinking men, 
 who believe that their professional duty interferes 
 with their duty to God, ought not to halt between 
 two opinions. 
 
 Since I have been led to the examination of the 
 foregoing opinions, my convictions from reflection 
 and from reading, especially from reading the Holy 
 Scriptures, have become established. Indeed there 
 is scarcely a chapter in the New Testament that 
 does not virtually condemn war, scarcely a com- 
 mand, or a precept, to which a professed warrior
 
 9 
 
 can pay unconditional obedience. I therefore, Sire, 
 as a Christian, looking forward to existence beyond 
 the grave, feel myself compelled to resign, and lay 
 at your Majesty's feet, that commission in your 
 Naval Service, which I laboured with diligence and 
 fidelity to attain ; and on which, when attained, no 
 one placed a higher value than myself. I see no 
 alternative, Sire, between doing this and relinquish- 
 ing those glorious hopes of immortality which our 
 Saviour holds out to those, and to those only, who 
 obey his precepts. 
 
 In camps and fleets, and in the busy scenes of 
 public life, the awful threats and the cheering hopes 
 of the Gospel do not receive the serious considera- 
 tion they deserve. Withdrawn from those scenes, 
 my mind has become more and more impressed with 
 the clearest conviction, that for men to devote them- 
 selves to the military profession, and to assemble by 
 thousands for the avowed purpose of deliberately 
 shedding human blood, is as clearly contrary to the 
 plain and positive precepts of Jesus, as it is abhor- 
 rent to those natural feelings of humanity that, till 
 blunted or perverted by education, are in mercy 
 impressed on our hearts by our wise and benevolent 
 Creator. Entertaining these opinions ; believing 
 that they will be approved by my future Judge ; and, 
 as a Christian, determined never to draw a sword, 
 or pull a trigger, for the purpose of shedding human 
 blood ; nor yet to return a blow for a blow, or an 
 insult for an insult ; I feel myself perfectly unfit for
 
 10 
 
 Your Majesty's Naval Service, and I think 1 should 
 not act either honestly or consistently,, in retaining 
 my commission. 
 
 I am aware, Sire, that the step I have taken might, 
 in times less liberal and enlightened, have subjected 
 me to severe pains and penalties. I am thankful 
 that I live in times when the Christian religion is 
 not only better understood, but when it is consi- 
 dered as forming an essential part of the laws of the 
 most powerful and civilised nations ; and I feel 
 much confidence that Your Majesty, though you 
 may condemn the step I have taken, will approve 
 the motive by which it has been dictated. Were 
 the subjects of Your Majesty, and of other sove- 
 reigns, to act generally on the principle I have 
 adopted, though some local and temporary incon- 
 venience might be the result, extensive and perma- 
 nent good must be the consummation : nor is it pro- 
 bable that universal peace will ever be established 
 on any other basis than unconditional obedience to 
 the precepts of Jesus. 
 
 Suppose, Sire, that instead of Your Majesty's 
 subjects adopting this pacific system, the French, 
 whom, alas ! contrary to the fundamental principles 
 of our religion, we have been trained to regard as 
 our natural enemies, Suppose, Sire, that they 
 should set the glorious example to the world, and 
 " beat their swords into plough-shares:" would 
 Your Majesty, or would your subjects, or would 
 other nations, regard this as a misfortune ? In-
 
 11 
 
 stead of thus considering; it, would it not be hailed 
 by all as a most auspicious event? And, instead of 
 thereby subjecting themselves to insult, would they 
 not command the admiration, the esteem, and the 
 friendship, of every civilised, and even of every 
 savage nation ? May it henceforth, Sire, be the 
 ambition of Britain and France, to set to other 
 nations the glorious example of cultivating a Chris- 
 tian instead of a martial spirit. 
 
 In withdrawing myself from Your Majesty's Na- 
 val Service, I have the consolation of doing it in a 
 time of profound peace, when the least possible ob- 
 jection can be made to such a measure. It is also less 
 repugnant to my feelings to retire from half-pay than 
 from actual service. This pay, I have been led to 
 believe, is not only considered as a reward for past 
 services, but also as a retaining fee for future exer- 
 tions. Being unwilling to comply with the terms, 
 I feel that I am not entitled to the fee ; and that I 
 ought not to receive it. Did I, on the other hand, 
 regard my half-pay as exclusively a reward for past 
 services ; having earned it by what I now consider 
 as a transgression of Christian duty, or as a de- 
 sertion of my allegiance to God, it appears to me, 
 in receiving it, that I virtually renew, or continue, 
 my disobedience. If I may be allowed to apply to 
 myself the figurative and emphatical language of 
 St. Paul, Cf I crucify afresh the Lord Jesus Christ," 
 (THE PRINCE OF PEACE,) ff and put him and his re- 
 ligion to an open shame."
 
 12 
 
 To enumerate only a lew of the evils emanating 
 from war would swell this letter far beyond the 
 limits to which it is my wish to confine it. Of war 
 it may safely be affirmed that, if it does not cause, 
 it aggravates every evil, moral or political,, by which 
 mankind is assailed. In the Old Testament, war, 
 or the sword, is uniformly spoken of as the instru- 
 ment whereby God punishes rebellious and idola- 
 trous nations. This ought to be regarded as a warn- 
 ing voice from Heaven, both to nations and indivi- 
 duals, not to engage in it. 
 
 I might here, Sire, lay down my pen, trusting 
 that in a situation of considerable difficulty 1 have 
 acted (at least according to the best of my judge- 
 ment) on correct Christian principles. It seems ne- 
 cessary, however, upon an occasion like the present, 
 that I should endeavour to prove that I have acted 
 on these principles. 
 
 The prophecies of the Old Testament, when 
 taken in connexion with the precepts of the Gospel, 
 appear decisive against the practice of war, under 
 the Christian dispensation. To this evidence 1 
 appeal with the more satisfaction, as it affords, at the 
 same time, the pleasing and sure testimony, that the 
 degrading and sanguinary scenes of past and present 
 times are not to endure, but, on the contrary, that 
 they will be succeeded by ages of permanent peace 
 and happiness. 
 
 I am not, Sire, so great a visionary as to expect 
 that the example of any individual, much less of one
 
 13 
 
 so little known to the world as myself, will have the 
 least influence with others ; yet I confidently anti- 
 cipate that a time will arrive, when not only insu- 
 lated individuals., but when men in great numbers, 
 when the nations, when many people* will act 
 on the same principles that I have done. I do not 
 entertain this belief, merely because I think the di- 
 vine precepts of the Christian religion are admira- 
 bly calculated to produce so glorious an event, or 
 because the ec signs of the times" lead reflecting 
 persons to expect it ; but chiefly because I am a 
 believer in those prophecies of the Old Testament 
 which speak of this devoutly to be wished for event 
 as a certainty. These prophecies give evidence 
 concerning this triumph of Christianity, with as 
 much precision and clearness as they testify the 
 truth of Christianity itself. Their accomplishment, 
 indeed, seems to form a necessary connecting link 
 in the grand chain of the prophecies concerning 
 Christianity : this link wanting, the fortress of 
 Christian truth is rendered assailable, and is ex- 
 posed to the attacks of Jews and sceptics, who 
 taunt Christians with the remark that their religion 
 cannot be true, inasmuch as THE PRINCE OF PEACE 
 is not yet come into the world. As it was, Sire, the 
 practice of our Saviour and his Apostles to appeal 
 to the prophecies of the Old Testament, it seems 
 wise that Christians of the present day, in examining 
 
 * Isaiah H. 4.
 
 14 
 
 a disputed point, such as the lawfulness of \var, 
 should follow the example of these infallihle guides. 
 However acute and excellent the writings of 
 many learned commentators on the Prophecies, and 
 however decisive the proofs they draw from them of 
 the truth of the Christian revelation, it would seem 
 certain that some of the most important of these 
 prophecies, generally applied to Christianity, are 
 at variance with all history, whether civil or eccle- 
 siastical, of the last fourteen or fifteen centuries. 
 The following prophecies are of this description : 
 
 I. Isaiah ii. 2. And it shall come to pass, in the 
 last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house 
 shall be established in the top of the mountain and 
 shall be exalted above the hills, and all the nations 
 shall Jlow unto it. 
 
 3. And many people shall go and say, Come ye 
 and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the 
 house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of 
 his ways, and we will walk in his paths ; for out of 
 Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the 
 Lord from Jerusalem. 
 
 4. And he will judge among the nations, and 
 shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their 
 swords into plough-shares and their spears into 
 pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword 
 against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
 more. See also Micah iv. 1 4. 
 
 II. Isaiah xi. 1. And there shall come forth a 
 rod out of the stem of Jesse.
 
 15 
 
 5. Righteotisness shall be the girdle of his loins, 
 a nd faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 
 
 6. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the 
 leopard lie down with the kid; and the calf and 
 tae young lion, and the falling together; and a little 
 child shall lead them. 
 
 7. And the cow and the bear shall feed : and 
 their young ones shall lie down together, and the 
 lion shall eat straw like the ox. 
 
 8. And the sucking child shall play on the hole 
 of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand 
 on the cockatrice' den. 
 
 9. They shall not hurt or destroy in all the holy 
 mountain ; JOT the earth shall be full of the know- 
 ledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the, sea. 
 
 These prophecies, though couched in language 
 so very dissimilar, are no doubt descriptive of the 
 same event, viz., the great happiness destined for 
 mankind through the medium of the Christian re- 
 ligion. This happiness many of the virtuous, the 
 enlightened, and the philanthropic, in all ages since 
 the Christian era, have ardently, but vainly, wished 
 to see realised. The former prophecy describes 
 this triumph of Christianity in terms so plain and 
 literal, that they cannot be misunderstood. The 
 latter, though couched in symbolical language, is 
 also descriptive of a state of great happiness under 
 the Christian dispensation. In two important par- 
 ticulars these prophecies remain yet to be fulfilled, 
 viz. : in establishing peace in the world ; and in
 
 hi 
 
 spreading- that knowledge of the Lord \vhicli is 
 finally to produce this blessed effect. 
 
 Should it be asked, Sire, of what use these pro- 
 phecies are to Christians of the present day, are 
 they recorded merely to gratify a prying curiosity, 
 and to convey to them information concerning 
 events which are to take place at some future and 
 indefinite period, and in which they have no inter- 
 est or concern ? This question is answered by 
 St. Paul ; that prophecy (like other parts of Scrip- 
 ture) is <e written for our admonition, upon whom 
 the ends of the world are come." These prophecies, 
 therefore, are handed down to inform us that it is 
 the will of the great and benevolent Parent of man- 
 kind, and consequently the duty of Christians, to 
 live together in harmony and love, instead of hating 
 and destroying each other by war. They are 
 written to show us that if wars now exist, the fault 
 is not in Christianity, but in those who are called 
 Christians. They are written to tell us what ef- 
 fects real Christianity will produce hereafter, and 
 consequently what it ought to produce now. They 
 are written, Sire, to admonish Christians to refrain 
 from war. These prophecies are still more im- 
 portant, for they point out the way to put an end 
 to war; viz., by spreading abroad Christianity (or 
 " the knowledge of the Lord ") till " it shall cover 
 the earth." When Christians cease from war, this 
 undertaking will become comparatively an easy 
 task. Thus understood and applied, these pro-
 
 17 
 
 phecies, instead of being a mere dead letter and a 
 matter of useless speculation., become practically 
 and individually useful; they become, like other 
 parts of Scripture, (C profitable for doctrine, for re- 
 proof, for correction, for instruction in righteous- 
 ness." 
 
 It is well, Sire, for Christians who feel a deep 
 interest for the honour of their religion, that the 
 history of the first two centuries establishes the fact 
 that the professors of Christianity, in those early 
 ages, refrained from war. It is also well for the 
 cause of Christianity that an apostasy from the 
 faith was predicted. In Scripture language, faith 
 and Christian practice are often synonymous ; and 
 it is impossible to conceive a greater departure from 
 Christian practice than war. Thus, Sire, this de- 
 parture from the practice of the Apostles and early 
 Christians, like every other fact connected with the 
 Christian history, when duly considered, bears tes- 
 timony to its truth. 
 
 So long as nations professing Christianity shall 
 make a trade of war, the superstructure of Chris- 
 tianity must and will be assailable through these 
 prophecies : but its foundations are imperishable. 
 When Christians shall cease from war, which, on 
 the sure word of prophecy, they will do; then may 
 we hope that Christianity e< will cover the earth," 
 and that "all the kingdoms of this world will become 
 the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." Till
 
 18 
 
 then, warriors must be considered as the foes of 
 Christianity. 
 
 If, Sire, we ask ourselves the question what 
 changes would be effected in the moral and poli- 
 tical world, if our Lord's sermon on the mount, in- 
 stead of being a subject of occasional eulogium and 
 admiration, were made the standard rule of men's 
 actions ? Let the prophet Isaiah answer the ques- 
 tion : men would cc beat their swords into plough- 
 shares," and "nation would not lift up sword against 
 nation, neither would they learn war any more." 
 The all-powerful cause that is to produce these glo- 
 rious effects is Christianity. Connecting it with 
 the prophecies of the Old Testament, we may con- 
 sider " the knowledge of the Lord," and Christian 
 knowledge, as the same thing ; and taking the ser- 
 mon of our Lord on the mount as a summary of 
 this knowledge, we may consider it as the noble 
 instrument that is finally to produce these glorious 
 effects. 
 
 The close agreement, Sire, between these pro- 
 phecies and the probable result of our Saviour's pre- 
 cepts, if practically embraced, affords a strong pre- 
 sumptive proof, that both the prophecies and the 
 precepts are of divine origin. I have, I trust, shown 
 that the former never can be fulfilled so long as 
 Christians shall engage in war. It will be equally 
 easy to show that the precepts of the Gospel can 
 never be complied with by nations or by indivi-
 
 19 
 
 duals' engaging in war. Their obedience to such 
 precepts and commands as the following seems to 
 be an impossibility. 
 
 Have peace one with another. By this shall all 
 men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love 
 one to another. 
 
 Walk with all lowliness and meekness, with long 
 suffering , forbearing one another in love. 
 
 Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of 
 another : love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, 
 not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing. 
 
 Be at peace among yourselves. See that none 
 render evil for evil to any man. God hath called 
 us to peace. 
 
 Follow after love, patience, meekness. Be gentle, 
 showing all meekness unto all men. Live in peace. 
 
 Lay aside all malice. Put off anger, wrath, 
 malice. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, 
 and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from 
 you, with all malice. 
 
 Avenge not yourselves. If thine enemy hunger, 
 feed him; if he thirst, give him drink. Recompense 
 to no man evil for evil. Overcome evil with good. 
 
 What a strange anomaly, Sire, would be exhi- 
 bited,, were these truly noble and characteristic pre- 
 cepts of the Christian religion placed at the head 
 of every naval or military officer's commission,, and 
 at the head of every warlike order issued from the 
 Admiralty or War-office, or at the head of every 
 regimental orderly-book ! No incongruity could
 
 20 
 
 appear greater than such a mixture of war and Go- 
 spel no impossibility more evident than the im- 
 possibility of obedience in both cases no truth 
 more clear than that war and Christianity are ut- 
 terly irreconcilable. When the Christian and mi- 
 litary duties are thus contrasted, the discrepance is 
 so glaring, that it has rather the appearance of bur- 
 lesque than of sober truth. But surely this striking 
 contrariety affords no mean argument that the du- 
 ties of a Christian and a warrior can never be faith- 
 fully discharged by the same individual. 
 
 A due consideration of these truly Christian pre- 
 cepts will show us the fallacy of one of the most 
 popular arguments in favour of war : viz., that as 
 the Jews, the highly-favoured people of God, were 
 commanded, by God himself, to wage war, it cannot 
 therefore be sinful for Christians to do the same. 
 But our Saviour has left his followers without this 
 excuse ; for he tells them they are not to be guided 
 by the customs of the Jews : " Ye have heard," 
 says he, fc that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, 
 and a tooth for a tooth : but I say unto you, that ye 
 resist not evil ; but whosoever shall smite thee on 
 thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." "Ye 
 have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love 
 thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy : but I say 
 unto you, love them that hate you, and pray for 
 them which despitefully use you and persecute 
 you." The practice of the Jews, therefore, Sire, 
 can be no excuse for Christians to engage in war.
 
 21 
 
 Another popular argument in favour of war is, 
 that the moral precepts of the Gospel, though im- 
 perative to individuals, may, in cases of necessity, 
 be dispensed with by sovereigns, or nations. On 
 this subject an acute reasoner thus expresses him- 
 self: "In the transactions of private persons, no 
 advantage that results from the breach of a general 
 law of justice, can compensate to the public for the 
 violation of the law ; in the concerns of empire 
 this may sometimes be doubted." I deeply regret, 
 Sire, that a sentiment so derogatory to Christian 
 morals should have proceeded from the pen of 
 Dr. Paley. My regret, however, is softened by 
 the knowledge that Christian sovereigns united 
 in Holy Alliance "have not so learned Christ." 
 These sovereigns solemnly declare " their fixed 
 resolution, both in the administration of their re- 
 spective states, and in their political relations with 
 every other government, to take for their SOLE guide 
 the precepts of that holy religion" (the Christian) : 
 f< namely, the precepts of justice, Christian charity, 
 and peace, which, far from being applicable only to 
 private concerns, must have an immediate influence 
 on the counsels of princes, and guide all their steps, 
 as being the ONLY means of consolidating human 
 institutions and remedying their imperfections." 
 Whenever Christian nations shall act on these prin- 
 ciples, wars among them will cease, and "the know- 
 ledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters 
 cover the sea."
 
 22 
 
 Considering the high importance of the subject- 
 matter of these pages to myself individually, 1 trust, 
 Sire, that I shall not, in concluding them, be ac- 
 cused of egotism, or of improperly indulging my 
 own feelings or vanity, in stating the following 
 particulars concerning myself. 
 
 When the first impressions, Sire, were formed 
 in my mind concerning the unlawfulness of Chris- 
 tians entering into or remaining in the military 
 profession, I cannot exactly recollect. To my 
 shame, I may, I believe, say that I never thought 
 seriously on the subject till within the last four 
 years. Whenever I heard feelings of disapproba- 
 tion expressed concerning war, I was led to regard 
 them, as Bishop Horsley did, as a species of puri- 
 tanical cant; so fully was I satisfied that war, and 
 consequently my profession, was perfectly conso- 
 nant with the precepts of Christianity. About the 
 time I have mentioned, owing to circumstances 
 which I need not state, I began to entertain doubts 
 on this subject. These doubts gradually gained 
 strength; and early in the year 1822 I came to the 
 resolution to investigate the subject more closely 
 than I had hitherto done ; and if, after such investi- 
 gation, it should appear to me that my profession was 
 irreconcilable with the precepts of Christ, I deter- 
 mined to resign my naval rank and half- pay, although 
 I placed a high value upon the former, and the latter 
 forms a large portion of a very limited income; and 
 I was thereby subjecting myself, and not myself
 
 23 
 
 alone, to a very considerable change in my mode of 
 living, and this at an advanced period of life, when 
 its comforts and conveniences are most wanted. 
 
 To take a step so highly important to me in many 
 points of view, but particularly in a religious one, 
 upon the first impression of my mind, would have 
 been highly improper ; for even the best informed 
 persons frequently change their opinions, and see 
 the same transaction in different points of view at 
 different periods of time. From the very novel 
 nature of the act I contemplated, I thought it pos- 
 sible that this might happen to myself; and that, 
 in my ardour to do what I deemed an act of reli- 
 gious duty, I might hastily take a step of which I 
 might hereafter see just cause to repent, and when 
 repentance could not avail me. I was also aware, 
 that what I proposed doing, being so much at va- 
 riance with established custom, might be attributed 
 to vanity, or an affectation of singularity motives 
 by which, as far as I know myself, I have never 
 been greatly influenced. Added to these considera- 
 tions, I felt much difficulty as to the manner in 
 which I should withdraw myself from my profes- 
 sion. It appeared to me, (though it may savour of 
 vanity thus to express myself,) that the measure I 
 contemplated was one of very great importance both 
 in a political and religious point of view. 
 
 Under these perplexing circumstances, I came to 
 the resolution to retain my half-pay three years 
 longer, should my life be so long spared, and to de-
 
 24 
 
 dicate that time to serious inquiry on a subject con- 
 stantly pressing- upon my mind. This delay I con- 
 sidered as likely to cure me of any false notions 
 that either ignorance, fanaticism, or vanity might 
 generate. It has, Sire, pleased the divine Disposer 
 of events to grant me these years ; and I hope they 
 have not been passed unprofitably. After every 
 inquiry and consideration on one of the most im- 
 portant subjects that can occupy the human mind, 
 as far as my abilities and opportunities have enabled 
 me, and after frequent and earnest prayer to that 
 Being who alone has power over the minds of 
 men, that I might do nothing dishonourable to 
 Christianity nor injurious to society, I have seen 
 no reason to regret the resolution I then formed. 
 Some may blame me, and with seeming justice, for 
 taking so long a time for consideration, on what I 
 now speak of as so very clear a point. I do not 
 however regret this delay, as it has effectually con- 
 vinced me that I have acted not only from pure mo- 
 tives, but also on correct principles ; and I feel the 
 fullest confidence that I shall never repent of the 
 step that conscience has dictated. This delay has 
 also enabled me to correct the false views I have 
 entertained till within the last twelve months con- 
 cerning what is called defensive war. On this sub- 
 ject I have, indeed, changed my opinions. 
 
 When I first formed the resolution of withdraw- 
 ing from the naval profession, I was, Sire, impress- 
 ed with an idea, perhaps rather a confused one,
 
 25 
 
 that though wars of conquest and aggression were 
 clearly unjustifiable and wicked, yet that wars of 
 defence were not so. For individuals or nations to 
 engage in these, I considered as not merely lawful, 
 but as highly honourable and meritorious. How- 
 ever I may subject myself to scorn and contempt, 
 I now feel no hesitation in declaring my convic- 
 tion, that warfare of any kind, offensive or defen- 
 sive, national or individual, is most plainly inter- 
 dicted by the spirit, if not by the letter, of the Go- 
 spel. It is absolutely irreconcilable with the charac- 
 teristic precepts of Christianity, as well as with the 
 prophecies which I have already quoted . These pre- 
 cepts and prophecies teach us that to obey the will of 
 God is "the whole business of morality." I may be 
 under a delusion; but regarding war of any kind as 
 incompatible with this obedience, I musteitherreject 
 as sophisticated the excuses and apologies of learn- 
 ed and ingenious men in favour of defensive war, or 
 set at nought both the Gospel and the prophecies. 
 Politicians consider the being ready for war as 
 the surest mean of avoiding it, and as a proof of true 
 wisdom. This is mere assertion : and history and 
 experience admonish us, that if one nation arms by 
 way of precaution and self-defence, another and 
 another will do the same ; and these defensive ar- 
 maments, it is more than probable, will produce of- 
 fensive operations. Defensive armaments may se- 
 cure temporary safety, but they are calculated to 
 create jealousy and provoke hostility, and to verify
 
 26 
 
 the remark of him who "spake as never man spake;" 
 viz, that ff they that take the sword shall perish with 
 the sword." We are told on the sure testimony of 
 prophecy that wars will cease ; but we have not the 
 slightest intimation that this will be effected by 
 defensive armaments : on the contrary, we have 
 abundant reason to believe that the spread of Chris- 
 tianity (or "the knowledge of the Lord/') will pro- 
 duce this. (Isaiah xi. 9.) 
 
 A meek and an unresisting spirit seems to be 
 the key-stone of Christianity : it appears to be re- 
 garded by our Saviour as a kind of celestial panoply, 
 not merely securing to its possessor the approbation 
 of God, but also protecting him from wrong and in- 
 sult. The same remark may be applied to families, 
 and also to nations. Its effects with these latter, it 
 is true, remain to be fully tried ; but in, I believe, 
 the only instance in which this spirit has been put 
 in practice upon an extended scale, it succeeded. 
 It will succeed with Christian nations, unless Chris- 
 tianity and civilisation render men more ungovern- 
 able and unprincipled than the untutored Indians 
 with whom William Penn had to deal : these were 
 completely won and subdued by this defensive and 
 truly Christian armour ; and, when its use shall be 
 better understood, Christian nations will cease to 
 learn war ; and there will be "nothing to hurt or 
 destroy." 
 
 Some, Sire, may cavil with my having, on the 
 present occasion, appealed so confidently to pro-
 
 phecy. It has, indeed, been too much the custom 
 with several commentators, even with men of con- 
 siderable eminence as writers and scholars, to iden- 
 tify the awful and wonderful events that have been 
 passing in our own days, with some of the pro- 
 phecies of the Old and New Testaments, which ad- 
 mit of a variety of interpretation. The prophecies 
 to which I have appealed are of a very different de- 
 scription, and can hardly be misapplied or misun- 
 derstood. These prophecies place our holy reli- 
 gion in the most dignified and delightful point of 
 view, as the path to universal peace and philan- 
 thropy. The Author of our divine religion is also 
 by these prophecies placed in the most lovely and 
 captivating light, as peculiarly entitled to our vene- 
 ration, our gratitude, our obedience, and our love. 
 This application of prophecy adds strength to the 
 Christian evidences, and repels one of the most 
 powerful arguments of sceptics against the religion 
 of Christ. 
 
 I trust, Sire, that the state of gross darkness*, 
 which has for so many centuries been producing 
 war and destruction, is fast passing away, and light 
 approaching with a steady step ; and that, without 
 improperly indulging the imagination, we may con- 
 sider the present times as those described by the 
 prophet as neither day nor night, previous to the 
 evening time (of Christianity), when it shall be 
 We are accustomed to regard the times 
 
 * Isaiah Ix. 2. f Zachariah xiv. 6, 7.
 
 28 
 
 in which we live with a partial and complacent eye; 
 and, comparing- them with those that are past, to 
 exult in our superiority over our predecessors. We 
 have, indeed, much cause for gratitude for many 
 national blessings ; but, as Christians, none for ex- 
 ultation, when we call to mind the torrents of hu- 
 man blood that have been shed in our own times, 
 in direct opposition to the precepts of Jesus. 
 
 When Christians, Sire, shall subdue the anti- 
 christian spirit of ambition, of resistance, and re- 
 venge, or, in the words of St. James, those lusts 
 from whence wars arise, and, instead of emulating 
 the heroes of antiquity, to which the present course 
 of education propels them, they shall take Jesus 
 Christ for their pattern : when, like him, men 
 shall think it more honourable to submit with pa- 
 tience to a blow, than to return it with interest : 
 when men shall prefer the approbation of God, to the 
 admiration of their fellow-men; or, in a word, when 
 they become Christians : then fr will they beat their 
 swords into plough-shares ;" and " nation will not 
 lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn 
 war any more." This, Sire, is the language of pro- 
 phecy ; and in the application of it, and of the pre- 
 cepts of Jesus, I trust that " I have spoken forth 
 the words of truth and soberness." 
 
 I think it incumbent upon me, Sire, before I con- 
 clude this letter, to assure Your Majesty that, in 
 retiring from your Naval Service, I am solely actu- 
 ated by those motives which I have set forth ; and
 
 29 
 
 i 
 
 that I have not been led to take this step by any 
 men or body of men. To one friend only has my 
 intention been known from the first ; and I have 
 the happiness to know that this friend, (who will be 
 a fellow-sufferer from the act,) most cordially ap- 
 proves what I have done. Nor, Sire, have I, till very 
 near the time of sending these pages to the press, 
 read any of the valuable publications of Peace 
 Societies in this and other countries. The recent 
 perusal of some of their works has afforded me the 
 most heart-felt satisfaction, together with the plea- 
 sure of knowing that though these pages may ex- 
 cite feelings of pity and contempt in many, yet that 
 they are in accordance with the opinions of num- 
 bers of pious Christians of distinguished rank and 
 literary attainments in different parts of the world. 
 Believing, Sire, that the publications of the Peace 
 Societies have not only a tendency to annihilate 
 war, but also to promote religion, and with it obe- 
 dience to sovereigns, I sincerely wish they may be 
 more extensively read than they have hitherto 
 been. 
 
 May it, Sire, please the Supreme Disposer of 
 events to grant that Your Majesty's reign may be 
 prolonged, and that it may continue to be peace- 
 able, prosperous, and happy ; and may it accord 
 with the wisdom and benevolence of His divine go- 
 vernment of the world, shortly to put an end to all 
 war and bloodshed, and incline the hearts of men 
 to deeds of mercy and philanthropy : and may
 
 30 
 
 Your Majesty, and the highly-favoured nation you 
 govern, be made the glorious instruments of spread- 
 ing through the world pure and unadulterated 
 Christianity, or that "knowledge of the Lord" 
 which can alone produce and secure the peace and 
 civilisation of the world. 
 
 Thus highly honoured, Britain may indulge in 
 the hope that not only her existence as a nation, 
 but also her tranquillity will endure ; and that she 
 will not be consigned, by the great Ruler of the 
 universe, to the lot uniformly recorded in history 
 of other great and warlike nations, who, having 
 been raised by the sword, have also perished by 
 the sword. 
 
 Though, Sire, I have, for the reasons I have 
 stated, withdrawn myself from Your Majesty's Na- 
 val Service, it will ever be my most earnest wish, 
 as it will also be my constant endeavour, as a Chris- 
 tian and as a subject, to approve myself, with un- 
 feigned deference and respect, 
 
 Sire, 
 Your Majesty's most faithful, 
 
 Most dutiful, and devoted Servant, 
 
 THOMAS THRUSH. 
 
 Sutton, near Thirsk, 
 14th Jan. 1825.
 
 OBSERVATIONS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE CAUSES, THE EVILS, 
 
 AND 
 
 IN A 
 
 SERIES OF LETTERS ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND. 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 " As contrary as cruelty is to mercy, tyranny to charity, so is war and 
 bloodshed to the meekness and gentleness of the Christian religion." 
 
 JEREMY TAYLOR. 
 
 LETTER I. INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 " I labour for peace." PSALM cxx. 6. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 THAT my conduct in withdrawing myself from 
 the public service of my country, and the letter 
 which I deemed it my duty, on that occasion, to 
 address to my Sovereign, should bring upon me the 
 censure even of pious, good, and liberal men, like 
 yourself, is what I was led to expect. War has, 
 during so many ages, been " the chief study and 
 amusement of kings," the principal occupation of 
 nations, and an established branch of education, 
 that any interference with it was likely to rouse, not
 
 32 
 
 only the attention, but the indignation of many. 
 The war system, indeed, has so long existed, and is 
 so blended in, and connected with, all our institu- 
 tions, civil and religious, that any attack upon it is 
 likely to be considered by some, not only as an at- 
 tack upon these institutions, but upon Christianity 
 itself. I trust, my dear sir, I feel as deep an inter- 
 est as yourself in every thing which concerns the 
 honour of our holy religion ; and it will be my 
 endeavour, in these letters, to maintain this honour, 
 by showing that Christianity gives no sanction to 
 the sanguinary system of war; that "no two things 
 can be more different than the heroic and Christian 
 character* " that, "as contrary as cruelty is to mer- 
 cy, tyranny to charity, so is war and bloodshed to the 
 meekness and gentleness of the Christian religion^"' 
 
 A desire of brevity induced me, in my letter to 
 my Sovereign, to suppress much important matter re- 
 lating to the unlawfulness of war, which I now mean 
 to produce. If that and the following letters shall 
 awaken attention to a subject, on which mankind 
 have not bestowed that consideration to which it is, 
 from its importance, entitled, my expectations will 
 be fully realized. 
 
 I thank you, my dear sir, for your permission to 
 answer your truly friendly letter through the me- 
 dium of the press. This convinces me that truth is 
 your object, as well as mine; and it affords me an 
 opportunity of not only replying to your particular 
 objections, but also of noticing the general ones of 
 
 * Paley's Evidences of Christianity. f Jer. Taylor.
 
 33 
 
 Porteus, Paley, and others who have written on the 
 subject. In this way I hope to render my apology 
 for withdrawing- myself from my profession, more 
 complete than I have yet done ; a duty which I 
 owe to myself, and the noble cause in which I am 
 engaged ; I call it noble, because " / labour for 
 peace." 
 
 The question whether Christians are permitted, 
 by their religion, without inquiry, to slaughter each 
 other, on the beat of the drum, the sound of the 
 trumpet, or on particular words of command being 
 given, or by virtue of certain written documents, is 
 assuredly one of the very highest importance to the 
 political, as well as the spiritual interests of man- 
 kind. If it can be made to appear that there is 
 only a bare possibility that national disputes may 
 be settled without an appeal to the sword, huma- 
 nity, as well as duty, demands that the attempt 
 should be made. Your arguments neither show 
 that it is impossible to prevent war, nor that Chris- 
 tians can engage in it, without forfeiting their alle- 
 giance to God and to Christ. If, on such a subject, 
 doubts exist, we ought to decide on that side which 
 best accords with the benignant principles of the 
 Gospel ; for that Gospel, like its divine promul- 
 gator, is " the way, the truth, and the life." Had I, 
 however, entertained the least doubt concerning the 
 unlawfulness of war, or of the possibility of its ex- 
 tinction, I should not have taken the decisive step 
 I have done. The fullest conviction that I was 
 advocating; the cause of truth, enabled me to meet 
 
 O * 
 
 with calmness and equanimity, the pity and scorn 
 
 D
 
 34 
 
 to which it was likely to expose me. The same 
 conviction also emboldens me to address you with 
 a degree of ease and confidence I should not other- 
 wise feel, in writing on a subject involving the in- 
 terests of civilized society. 
 
 In reply to your remark concerning the multitude 
 of reformers of the present day, I beg to ask you 
 in the words, or nearly in the words, of a learned 
 and good man, delivered upon a very solemn and 
 important occasion, and which must be fresh in 
 your memory. 
 
 "When is a day ever likely to arise in the world more 
 auspicious for this great labour of Christian love, than that 
 which now shines upon our hopes ? When shall men dare 
 to act upon the rules of Gospel morality, if they neglect a 
 period like the present, when, void of alarm from our neigh- 
 bours, every thing is delightfully tranquil among ourselves r 
 Have we the maxims of perfect mercy and justice constantly 
 upon our lips, and are we never to give them the opportu- 
 nity of trial ? Shall we acknowledge the commands of Heaven 
 as binding on our public not less than on our private actions, 
 and shall we refuse to practise collectively what \ve indivi- 
 dually profess ? Are we still to navigate by the narrow coast- 
 ings of human policy, and never to sail by the polar star of 
 the Gospel ? In pursuing the law of God into its practical 
 application among men, what means this everlasting fear of 
 consequences ? What is it, indeed, but to betray want of 
 faith as well as of obedience ? What is it but to doubt his 
 protecting Providence ; and while we look up and trust the 
 Ruler with his skies, dispute or deny to him the government 
 of his earth*." 
 
 * See a Sermon preached at the Assizes at York, March 20, 1825, 
 by the Rev. James Tate, M. A. Mr. Tale's remarks are applied to a 
 different subject, namely, Catholic emancipation.
 
 35 
 
 If, however, I am to be classed with the reformers 
 of the present day, my situation, you must acknow- 
 ledge, is a singular, if not a mortifying one. The 
 Tories, I am sure, will not own me. The Whigs, 
 though advocates for peace, have no objection to 
 the loaves and fishes arising from war, and will 
 have no fellowship with a man who will not fight. 
 The Radicals, for the same reasons, will probably 
 laugh me to scorn. As to the great and the learned, 
 whether among the laity or clergy, should these 
 letters ever be perused by them, I can have little 
 hopes of their making any serious impression ; for 
 they militate against their prejudices, their interests, 
 and their pride, obstacles almost as difficult as 
 to remove mountains. 
 
 Though the small number of Christians who 
 think as I do on the subject of war has of late years 
 increased, and I trust is daily increasing ; yet the 
 only persons, as a body of men, from whom I can 
 hope for cordial cooperation, are the members of J/- 
 the Peace Societies, now established in various 
 parts of the world, whom you denominate Utopian 
 reformers. Believing that our Lord and his apo- 
 stles were reformers of this description ; indeed, 
 that they formed the first PEACE SOCIETY that ever 
 was established on earth, I feel honoured by being 
 enrolled in this Utopian band ; and though I come 
 into the vineyard at the eleventh hour, I hope I 
 shall not be altogether an unprofitable servant. 
 
 One great end of Christ's being sent into the 
 world, appears to have been, to establish the reign 
 
 D2
 
 38 
 
 of universal peace and righteousness ; " not to de- 
 stroy men's lives, but to save them." The noble 
 work which our Lord began, it is the duty of all 
 Christians, as his servants, but more especially of 
 Christian ministers, as his ambassadors, to labour to 
 accomplish. " Forgetting those things which are 
 behind," the past ages of gross darkness, they are 
 to " reach forth to those things which are before," 
 the establishment of the reign of Christ. Consider- 
 ing you and all Christian ministers as husbandmen 
 in the vineyard of peace, I cannot offer you a more 
 benevolent or apostolic wish, than that the Lord of 
 the vineyard may enable you " to render him the 
 fruits." If, my dear sir, we ask what fruits of 
 " peace on earth" have the ministers of either the 
 Greek, the Roman, or the Protestant churches to 
 show to their Lord at his coming ? the answer is, 
 NONE ! and that in all these churches, men called 
 Christians have every where been slaughtering each 
 other with a barbarity not exceeded by Mohamme- 
 dans or Pagans ; and the ministers of Christ, in- 
 stead of deprecating war, have not only offered up 
 prayers for the destruction of their brethren, but on 
 the altars of the Prince of Peace have, following the 
 practice of Pagan Rome, hallowed the banners of 
 war. Christians, instead of ceasing to learn war, 
 with a refinement, exceeding that of Pagans, erect 
 colleges to instruct youth in the art and science of 
 human destruction upon mathematical and scientific 
 principles ; and Christian parents, at least many of 
 them, instead of imbuing the minds of their chil-
 
 37 
 
 dren with pacific principles, are anxious to place 
 them in those seminaries, as the high road to wealth 
 and honour ; they appear to forget that a reward of 
 a more exalted nature is reserved for those who 
 "labour for peace" If we may judge of the im- 
 portance of Christian duties by the rewards attach- 
 ed to them, the promotion of peace is one of the 
 very first duties of a Christian ; for to it is allotted 
 by our Saviour the highest honour to which a hu- 
 man being can aspire ; " Blessed," says our Lord, 
 " are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the 
 children of God." 
 
 Notwithstanding scenes of bloodshed and devas- 
 tation have passed in the present century, which 
 can hardly be paralleled in the history of the world ; 
 and notwithstanding the rewards promised by the 
 Saviour of mankind to peace-makers, the ministers 
 of Christ, with few exceptions, have remained as 
 silent and inert in all parts of Europe, as if the es- 
 tablishment of " peace on earth" formed no part of 
 their duty. If they continue thus silent, may they 
 not expect "the stones to cry out?" Figuratively, 
 this may be said to be already the case ; for at this 
 very time, God seems to be raising up from among 
 the laity, men of peace, in various nations, who, in a 
 way that tends to establish, on the firmest basis, the 
 authority of legitimate government, in connection 
 with the best interests of Christianity, are labouring 
 to inculcate upon mankind the pacific precepts and 
 principles that pervade every page of the New Tes- 
 tament. A union of the clergy of the Established 
 Churches with these men of peace, would greatly
 
 .38 
 
 facilitate the establishment of universal peace, on 
 the solid basis of Christian morality*. 
 
 You will, perhaps, tell me that, by the XXXVIIth 
 Article, the ministers of the Church of England are 
 precluded from such a union. It is greatly to be 
 
 * The author having been blamed by some of his clerical friends, 
 for being too severe upon the clergy in the foregoing remarks, begs to 
 submit to them the following extract from Erasmus's Complaint of 
 Peace. 
 
 " While the king does his duty as the guardian and preserver, in- 
 stead of the destroyer, of the people committed to his charge, let the 
 right reverend the bishops do their duty likewise. Let the priests be 
 
 priests indeed; preachers of peace and good-will ;" 
 
 '" let the whole body of the clergy remember the truly 
 
 evangelical duties of their profession ; and let the grave professors of 
 theology in our universities, or wherever else they teach divinity, re- 
 member to teach nothing as men-pleasers unworthy of Christ. Let 
 all the clergy, however they may differ in rank, order, sect, or persua- 
 sion, unite to cry down war, and discountenance it through the na- 
 tion, by zealously and faithfully arraigning it from the pulpit : in the 
 public functions of their several churches, in their private conversation 
 and intercourse with the laity, let them be constantly employed in the 
 Christian, benevolent, humane work of preaching, recommending, and 
 inculcating peace. If, after all their efforts, the clergy cannot prevent 
 the breaking out of war, let them never give it the slightest approba- 
 tion, directly or indirectly; let them never give countenance to it by 
 their presence at its silly parade or bloody proceedings ; let them never 
 pay the smallest respect to any great patron, or prime minister, or 
 courtier, who is the author or adviser of a state of affairs so contrary 
 to their holy profession, and to every duty and principle of the Chris- 
 tian religion as in a state of war." Complaint of Peace, by Erasmus, 
 page 55. See a translation reprinted in London in 1802, by T. Gillet, 
 Salisbury Square. The original work was dedicated to Philip of Bur- 
 gundy, Bishop of Utrecht, who, in a letter addressed to the author, says, 
 " Your Complaint of Peace delights not only myself, to whom it is 
 expressly dedicated, but all sincere professors of Christianity." See 
 Preface to the Complaint of Peace, page v. 
 
 How few protestant bishops of the present day would patronize, or 
 even tolerate an Erasmus !
 
 39 
 
 regretted that the ministers of Christ, or others, of 
 any national church, should have burthens laid 
 upon them by human authority, that may, in any- 
 wise, interfere with their duty to God. It is for 
 you and them to consider, whether, like the Phari- 
 sees of old, you do not "make the commandments of 
 God of none effect, by your ordinances." It is for 
 you, conscientiously to consider whether these ordi- 
 nances speak the words of " truth and soberness," 
 or whether they are " hay and stubble." It is for 
 you to consider, whether you do not libel the Bible, 
 and tell the Almighty that his Book is incomplete 
 without your emendations that your wisdom is 
 superior to his. Especially it is for you to consider, 
 whether those who impose, and also those who re- 
 ceive these ordinances, do not add to the things 
 contained in that sacred volume; and whether they 
 do not injure the Gospel of peace, and, by making 
 it less pacific, render it less credible than it would 
 otherwise be. Dr. Paley, in the dedication to Bishop 
 Law of his Moral and Political Philosophy, observes, 
 that " whatever renders religion more rational, ren- 
 ders it more credible ; that he who by a diligent 
 and faithful examination of the original records, 
 dismisses from the system one article which contra- 
 dicts the apprehension, the experience, or the rea- 
 soning of mankind, does more towards recommend- 
 ing the belief, and with the belief the influence of 
 Christianity, to the understandings and consciences 
 of serious inquirers, and through them to universal 
 reception and authority, than can be effected by a 
 thousand contenders for creeds and ordinances of
 
 40 
 
 human establishment." Intending, in future let- 
 ters, not only to point out the causes of war, but to 
 show that war, in every shape, is altogether inac- 
 cordant with the spirit of Christianity, and conse- 
 quently unlawful, I shall, for the present, dismiss 
 the subject ; only observing that, at this very time, 
 the evils attending superstition, creeds, and ordi- 
 nances of human establishment, are lamentably ex- 
 emplified in the South of Europe. 
 
 The great warfare in which Christians are not 
 only permitted, but in which it is their duty to en- 
 gage, is the subjugation of those lusts from whence 
 wars arise. This Christian warfare, which will 
 ultimately benefit the whole world, and cannot in- 
 jure either nations or individuals, ought to alarm no 
 good men, for it is to be prosecuted by weapons 
 that "are not carnal." They are, however, equal 
 to the glorious effect they are destined to produce, 
 " the bringing into captivity every thought to the 
 obedience of Christ*." But as Christians in the 
 early ages degenerated by slow degrees, so we may 
 expect that they will hereafter be regenerated in 
 the same progressive manner. The learned writer I 
 have already quoted, (Paley,) observes, that Chris- 
 tianity " can only operate as an alterative. By the 
 mild diffusion of its light and influence, the minds 
 of men are insensibly prepared to perceive and cor- 
 rect the enormities which folly, or wickedness, or 
 accident, have introduced into public establish- 
 ments." This slow, but sure progress of Christia- 
 
 * '2 Cor. x. 4, 5.
 
 41 
 
 nity, is more forcibly described by our Saviour, when 
 he says that " the kingdom of heaven is like unto 
 leaven, which a woman took and hid in three mea- 
 sures of meal, till the whole was leavened." During 
 the first two centuries, this leaven produced a race 
 of men, whom no earthly consideration could induce 
 to shed human blood in war* : that its operation 
 will again become thus powerful, nay, that it will 
 be extended to the whole world, every believer in 
 the plain literal prophecies of the Old Testament 
 must consider as certain ; and on these prophecies 
 are founded some of the surest evidences of the 
 Christian revelation. But in our own country, 
 with the exception of one sect, and that sect incon- 
 siderable in point of numbers, Christians appear to 
 " care for none of these things." 
 
 Rather than engage in war, as I shall hereafter 
 have occasion to show, the early Christians, at the 
 expense of their fortunes, their liberty, and their 
 lives, bore a noble testimony to its unlawfulness 
 under the Christian dispensation. Shall Christians, 
 then, of the present day, who are exempt from such 
 severe trials ; who, at the most, have little to en- 
 counter beyond the? coldness of old friends, or the 
 sarcasms of injudicious or unfeeling opponents; 
 shall men, bearing the Christian name, from the 
 mere dread of shame, or the apprehension of being 
 thought singular, desist from "professing a good 
 profession before many witnesses ;" and forfeit the 
 glorious privilege of being called " the children of 
 
 * See Letters ix. and x.
 
 43 
 
 God?" Or, shall men, from the slavish fear of em- 
 bracing a very unpopular doctrine, incur the risk of 
 being disowned by Christ before God ? 
 
 One of the greatest obstacles to the establishment 
 of universal peace, appears to be the erroneous 
 opinions entertained concerning war. A large por- 
 tion of mankind, and you appear to be of the num- 
 ber, think wars are almost as unavoidable as storms 
 and earthquakes; that nothing less than the special 
 interposition of God can put a stop to them ; and 
 that it is the duty of individuals, instead of labour- 
 ing for peace, patiently to await his time. This 
 seems to be neither, more nor less than saying, that 
 we must patiently await God's time, without any 
 effort of our own, to free us from covetousness, am- 
 bition, jealousy, and revenge, or those lusts from 
 whence wars arise. I believe, as firmly as yourself, 
 that wars cannot be prevented, or these lusts eradi- 
 cated, but by divine interposition : but let me ask, 
 Has not God already specially and miraculously 
 interposed through the Gospel of peace ? Is not this 
 Gospel sufficient to establish "peace and righteous- 
 ness on earth ?" And have we any reason to sup- 
 pose that God has given us an iwperfect revelation 
 of his will ; and that he will further interpose, ex- 
 cept in the usual course of his providence, or by 
 human agency? By this agency, or by the exertions 
 of wise and good men, the feudal system, the inqui- 
 sition, the slave-trade, and many other evils, have 
 been very considerably diminished. By the same 
 means, we may confidently anticipate, GOD will put 
 an end to war, a much greater evil than all those
 
 43 
 
 evils combined. But to expect that wars will cease 
 without our endeavours, is as futile as to expect to 
 become wise and virtuous, without using the neces- 
 sary means to attain wisdom and virtue. Had the 
 early Christians satisfied themselves with merely 
 wishing or praying for the coming of the kingdom 
 of God, like a large portion of the Christians of the 
 present day, the light of Christianity, it is probable, 
 would long ago have been extinguished. 
 
 You remark that the Society for promoting Chris- 
 tian Knowledge, the Bible Society, and various other 
 Societies, sedulously inculcate those Gospel pre- 
 cepts, which, under the blessing of God, will, in his 
 appointed time, prevail over the war system ; and 
 you add, that "many of the clergy of the Establish- 
 ed Church are already diligently employed in 
 preaching the very precepts which I hold out as 
 the sure road to establish permanent peace ; and, 
 therefore, that what I have done was uncalled-for, 
 and the establishment of Peace Societies altogether 
 unnecessary." 
 
 In reply to these remarks, I can assure you, that 
 I contemplate the establishment of the former Socie- 
 ties with pleasure, and I believe that we are greatly 
 indebted to their operations, for counteracting the 
 evil effects of war. The number of the clergy, 
 however, who preach these doctrines, is, I fear, very 
 small. By a large portion of the most popular 
 preachers of the present day, they are regarded as 
 little better than cold heathen morality. Allowing, 
 however, that our Lord's sermon on the mount were 
 more generally enforced in the religious tracts dis- 
 tributed, and also from the pulpit, it seems neces-
 
 44 
 
 sary, in order to its eradicating war, that its artillery 
 (if I may be allowed the expression) should be 
 brought to bear directly on that subject. You, as 
 a member of the Society for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge, maintain that the Liturgy, along with 
 the Scriptures, is necessary to guide men to em- 
 brace the doctrines of the Established Church*. 
 Upon the same principle I contend, that the tracts 
 of the Peace Societies are necessary to guide men to 
 embrace the paths of peace; and I deem it my duty 
 to contend for this the more earnestly, as some of 
 the clergy have endeavoured to prove from Scrip- 
 ture, that war is lawful: a position which the tracts 
 of the Peace Societies demonstrate, as far as the sub- 
 ject is capable of demonstration, to be erroneous. 
 
 I beg leave here to premise, that the following 
 letters are written under the conviction, that the di- 
 vine precepts of the Gospel are of universal applica- 
 tion. That the moral duties clearly prescribed there 
 to individuals are equally binding on nations and 
 their rulers : for it necessarily follows, that if they 
 are binding on individuals, they must be so on na- 
 tions, which are composed of individuals. And it is 
 cheering to the friend of peace to find, that sove- 
 reigns united in holy alliance consider these pre- 
 cepts as the only means of consolidating human insti- 
 tutions, and remedying their imperfections. 
 
 Believing that neither those who govern, nor 
 those who are governed, can be absolved from their 
 obedience to the precepts of the Gospel, and that at 
 the great day of final retribution, whether prince or 
 
 * See a Sermon preached by Dr. Herbert Marsh before the Society 
 for promoting Christian Knowledge, June 13th, 1811.
 
 45 
 
 subject, " the righteousness of the righteous shall 
 be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked 
 shall be upon him ; and that none of them (emperor, 
 pope, or priest?) can, by any means, redeem his bro- 
 ther, or give to God a ransom for him*," convinced 
 of these important truths, I have deemed it my duty 
 to follow the dictates of conscience ; and to those 
 who make the Christian precepts applicable only to 
 individuals, in their private capacities, I fearlessly 
 say what our Saviour said to the Pharisees, " Ye 
 have made the commandment of God of none effect 
 by your tradition." 
 
 Before I conclude this my introductory letter, per- 
 mit me to transcribe, if not for your use, for the use 
 of general readers, the solemn appeal of the pious 
 and learned author (Erasmus), whom I have already 
 quoted, and to whose writings I shall probably 
 again refer. 
 
 " Kings ! to you I make my first appeal. On your nod, 
 such is the constitution of human affairs, the happiness of 
 mortals is made to depend. You assume to be the images 
 and representatives of Christ your sovereign. Then, as you 
 wish men to hear your voice, show the example of obedience, 
 and hear the voice of your Sovereign Lord, commanding you 
 upon your duty, to seek peace and abolish war. Be per- 
 suaded that the world, wearied with its long-continued ca- 
 lamities, demands this of you, and has a right to insist on 
 your immediate compliance. 
 
 " Priests ! to you I appeal as consecrated to the God of 
 Love and Mercy. On your consciences I require you to 
 promote, with all the zeal of your hearts and abilities of your 
 
 * Ezek. xviii. 20.
 
 46 
 
 minds, that which you know is most agreeable to God ; and 
 to explode, discountenance, and repel, with equal ardour 
 and activity, what you know in your hearts he abhors. 
 
 " Preachers of all denominations! to you I appeal. Preach 
 the Gospel of peace. Let the doctrines of peace and good- 
 will for ever resound in the ears of the people. 
 
 "Bishops, and all who are pre-eminent in ecclesiasti- 
 cal dignity ! I call upon you, that the high authority and in- 
 fluence which you possess over the minds of both kings and 
 people, may be exerted to bind upon their hearts, with bonds 
 indissoluble, the sacred obligations to peace. 
 
 " Dukes, lords, grandees, placemen, and magistrates of 
 every description ! I appeal to you, that your hearty good- 
 will may co-operate in the work of peace, with the wisdom 
 of kings, and the piety of priests. 
 
 " I appeal to all who call themselves Christians ! 1 urge 
 them, as they would manifest their sincerity, and preserve 
 their consistency, to unite with one heart and one soul, in 
 the abolition of war, and the establishment of perpetual 
 and universal peace." Translation of Complaint of Peace, 
 page 74, 75. 
 
 May all Christians henceforth renounce the dan- 
 gerous errors and illusions under which they so 
 long have laboured concerning war. May they, 
 when they say "Thy kingdom come," resolve to 
 promote the cause of " peace on earth, and good- 
 will towards men." And when they say "Thy 
 will be done," may they determine, as far as in them 
 lies, to do it. In these two short sentences we 
 have not only a prayer for universal peace, but a 
 certain way pointed out to obtain it. When men 
 shall pursue this way, the sword will cease to de- 
 vour. 
 
 I remain, &c. &c.
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 ON THE ALLEGED CAUSES OF WAR. 
 
 "One speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he 
 layeth wait for him." fer. ix. 8. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 THE first step towards the cure of any evil, moral 
 or political, mental or corporeal, is generally allow- - 
 ed to be a discovery of its causes. By the removal 
 of these, an effectual and lasting cure may reason- 
 ably be anticipated. Any other mode of proceed- 
 ing can be considered only as mere empiricism, 
 and more likely, in the long run, to aggravate, than 
 to remove the evil. An inquiry, therefore, into 
 the causes of war, seems an indispensable prelimi- 
 nary. 
 
 The causes of war may be divided into two 
 classes : the alleged, or those held out by rulers 
 and their ministers ; and the latent, or real causes. 
 The former, which may be denominated "reasons 
 of state," will form the subject of my present letter. 
 
 Among the reasons of state, or the means where- 
 by men have been cheated into war, the BALANCE 
 of POWER has long held a pre-eminent station, and 
 has involved the nations of Europe in a series of 
 wars and calamities. If we peruse the history of
 
 48 
 
 our own country, as connected with the continental 
 powers, during the two last centuries, and consider 
 the treasure that has been expended, and the num- 
 ber of lives that have been sacrificed to maintain it, 
 we must come to the conclusion, that among Euro- 
 pean or Christian nations, peace and happiness de- 
 pend entirely upon this balance ; that these nations 
 have no religion, no moral law for their guidance; 
 and that if one nation, from its industry or any 
 other cause, becomes more powerful than the rest, 
 it must, by the sword, be reduced to its proper 
 level. The great states of Europe have generally 
 been divided into factions, for they deserve no 
 other name ; and the lesser states have been consi- 
 dered as their property, and transferred from one 
 faction to another, as make-weights at the end of a 
 war, so as to preserve this fancied equilibrium. 
 This, my dear sir, places rational beings, or perhaps, 
 I ought rather so say, human beings, on the footing 
 of the beasts of the field, that nothing but physical 
 force can keep in order. 
 
 That the wickedness or violence of mankind, 
 even since what is called the Reformation, should 
 have been so overwhelming, that nothing has been 
 thought likely to prevent men from destroying each 
 other, but the superiority or equality of the means 
 of destruction, is truly humiliating. Could any 
 means be devised to prevent the effusion of human 
 blood, it would be wise and humane to employ 
 them. But as to the balance of power, it is subject 
 to continual change and vibration. The marriage 
 or death of a prince or princess may destroy the
 
 49 
 
 fancied equilibrium, and involve many nations in 
 war and misery in order to restore it. 
 
 Nothing but universal poverty seems likely to 
 maintain this balance, and, on this principle, to se- 
 cure to the world the blessings of peace. The pros- 
 perous state, therefore, of our commerce, our manu- 
 factures, and our revenues, instead of a blessing, 
 may become a curse to us. It may, in a few years, 
 should peace continue, render us so formidable in 
 the eyes of the continental powers, that, in order to 
 preserve this balance of power, they may think it 
 necessary to confederate against us. To prevent 
 this, if we are to follow the practice of our fore- 
 fathers, it may be expedient to administer some 
 salutary checks to our industry, and by increasing 
 our public expenses, keep our national wealth and 
 resources within due limits ; for at present by grow- 
 ing rich faster than our neighbours, we are destroy- 
 ing the balance of power, and running headlong 
 into another war ; to this, however, our national 
 debt opposes a happy and salutary check. 
 
 The conduct of nations, in general, has been little 
 calculated to insure peace ; and rulers, so far from 
 teaching their subjects to love their enemies, use 
 every art to promote hatred and discord in the 
 world. Not only are manifestoes published to ex- 
 cite and keep alive a malevolent spirit, but the 
 press, in various ways sounds the trumpet of war ; 
 and even the pulpit is employed to instigate men 
 to vengeance and slaughter, rather than to forgive- 
 ness and peace. In this way, men, made in the 
 image of God, men endowed with reason, and pro- 
 
 E
 
 50 
 
 fessing themselves the subjects of the Prince of 
 Peace, are led to slaughter each other, not merely 
 without reluctance, but with a full persuasion that 
 they are acting as the disciples of Jesus, and serving 
 a God of mercy. All this time the real cause is 
 perhaps only known to a few, and may not un fre- 
 quently be discovered in the following lines of our 
 sagacious bard : 
 
 " . . . . I well might lodge a fear 
 To be again displaced ; which to avoid, 
 I cut them off, and had a purpose now 
 To lead out many to the Holy Land, 
 Lest rest and lying still might make them look 
 Too near into my state. Therefore, my Harry, 
 Be it thy course to busy giddy minds 
 With foreign quarrels." 
 
 To a humane mind it would seem scarcely within 
 the bounds of possibility, that, among those who 
 have ever read the precepts of Jesus, there can be 
 found any who are so entirely depraved or infatuated, 
 as deliberately, in their closets, to fabricate pre- 
 tences for instigating their brethren of different na- 
 tions, to slaughter each other. I fear, my dear sir, 
 that there is hardly one Christian nation that can 
 plead Not guilty to this most severe charge. 
 
 Every man professing himself a follower of Jesus, 
 ought, before he lifts his hand to slay his brother, 
 to ask himself if the religion of his Lord permits 
 him to do so. The followers of Mohammed are jus- 
 tified by their religion in taking the sword; but not 
 so the disciples of Jesus : and it is for the Christian 
 warrior to consider, whether at the great day of
 
 account, he will not be placed in a worse situation 
 than the Mohammedan. It may be an excuse to the 
 latter to say that he is a soldier, and that it is his 
 duty, as a good Mussulman, to fight. This plea 
 cannot avail the Christian: it is his duty, like the 
 Bereans, to search the Scriptures ; and, if he finds 
 that they permit not war, he must, at his peril, re- 
 frain from it. When men in earnest take the Scrip- 
 tures for their rule of life, wars must cease nay, 
 setting aside Scripture, if they only take reason or 
 common sense for their guide, this must be the case; 
 for nothing can be more certain than that 
 
 " . . . . War 's a game, which, were their subjects wise, 
 Kings would not play at." 
 
 Permit me, my dear sir, to give you a summary 
 of those reasons which plunge nations into war. 
 According to Dean Swift, they are : 
 
 " Sometimes the ambition of princes, who never think they 
 have land enough to govern. Sometimes the corruption of 
 ministers, who engage their master in war, in order to stifle 
 or divert the clamour of their subjects against their evil ad- 
 ministration. Difference of opinion has cost many millions 
 
 of lives." "Sometimes the quarrel between two princes 
 
 is to decide which of them should dispossess a third of his 
 dominions, where neither of them pretends to any right. 
 Sometimes one prince quarrels with another, for fear another 
 should quarrel with him. Sometimes a war is entered into, 
 because the enemy is too strong, and sometimes because he 
 is too weak. Sometimes our neighbours want the things 
 we have, or have the things which we want : and so both 
 fight till they take ours, or we theirs." 
 
 " It is a very justifiable cause of war, to invade a country 
 after the people have been wasted by famine, destroyed by 
 
 E 2
 
 52 
 
 pestilence, or embroiled by factions among themselves. It 
 is justifiable to enter into war against our nearest ally, when 
 one of his towns lies convenient for us, or a territory of land 
 that would render our dominion round and compact. 
 
 " If a prince sends forces into a nation where the people 
 are poor and ignorant, he may lawfully put half of them to 
 death, and make slaves of the rest, in order to civilize them, 
 and reduce them from their barbarous way of living. It is 
 a very kingly, honourable, and frequent practice, when one 
 prince desires the assistance of another to secure him against 
 invasion, that the assistant, when he has driven out the in- 
 vader, should seize on the dominions himself, and kill, impri- 
 son, or banish the prince he came to relieve." 
 
 These are not merely the sentiments of a witty 
 or satirical writer ; the virtuous and learned Eras- 
 mus expresses the same sentiments, in more sober 
 language. After speaking of the blessings of peace, 
 and the dispositions which men ought to cherish in 
 order to preserve it, he says : 
 
 " On the contrary, men, in our times, go out of their way 
 to seek occasions of war; and whatever makes for peace, 
 they run down in their sophistical speeches, or even basely 
 conceal from the public ; but whatever tends to promote 
 their favourite war system, they industriously exaggerate and 
 inflame, not scrupling to propagate lies of the most mischie- 
 vous kind, false or garbled intelligence, and the grossest mis- 
 representation of the enemy. 1 am ashamed to relate what 
 real and dreadful tragedies of real life they found on these 
 vile and despicable trifles ; from how small an ember they 
 blow up a flame, and set the world on fire. Then they sum- 
 mon before them the whole catalogue of supposed injuries 
 received ; and each party views its own grievance with a 
 glass that magnifies beyond all bounds : but as for benefits 
 received, they all fall into the profoundest oblivion as soon
 
 53 
 
 as received; so that upon the whole, an impartial observer 
 would swear that great men love war for its own sake, with 
 all their hearts and souls, provided their own persons are 
 safe. 
 
 " After all the pretences thrown out, and the artifices used, 
 to irritate the vulgar, there often lurks, (as the true cause of 
 wars) in the bosoms of kings, some private, mean, and selfish 
 motive, which is to force their subjects to take up weapons 
 to kill one another, at the word of command, and as they 
 wish to evince their loyalty. But, instead of a private and 
 selfish object, in which not only the public, that is, not only 
 one single community, but in which man, human nature, is 
 deeply interested to justify the voluntary conmencement of a 
 war. 
 
 " But when kings find no cause of this kind, (as indeed 
 they seldom can,) then they set their wits to work to invent 
 some fictitious but plausible occasion for a rupture. They 
 will make use of the names of foreign countries, artfully ren- 
 dered odious to the people, in order to feed the popular 
 odium, till it becomes ripe for war, and thirsts for the blood 
 of the outlandish nation, whose very name is rendered a 
 cause of hostility. This weakness and folly of the very low- 
 est classes of the people, the grandees increase by artful insi- 
 nuations, watch-words, and nicknames, cunningly thrown 
 out in debates, pamphlets, and journals. Certain of the 
 clergy, whose interest it is to cooperate with the grandees 
 in any unchristian work, join, with great effect, aided by 
 religion, in a pious imposition on the poor. Thus, for in- 
 stance, an Englishman, say they, is the natural enemy of a 
 Frenchman, because he is a Frenchman." Complaint of 
 Peace, page 58, 59. 
 
 There are, perhaps, few wars that may not be at- 
 tributed to some of the causes here set forth : and 
 the sentiments here expressed have the sanction of 
 royal authority. Frederic the Second, (or the
 
 54 
 
 Great,) king of Prussia, in a history of his own 
 times, and of the wars in which he was personally 
 concerned, has made the following remarks, among 
 many others of a similar import. 
 
 Speaking of the conduct of statesmen in transac- 
 tions connected with war, he says : 
 
 " Whoever has a heart capable of compassion, when he 
 coolly examines such objects, must be agitated at the re- 
 membrance of evils which statesmen, either from want of 
 wisdom, or hurried on by their passions, have brought upon 
 nations." 
 
 The same monarch, speaking of the ease with 
 which rulers form manifestoes, says : 
 
 " When sovereigns are determined to come to a rupture, 
 they will not hesitate concerning the materials for a mani- 
 festo : they decide, make war, and leave the care of their 
 justification to some laborious civilian." 
 
 On the principle of making war, Frederic says : 
 
 " Reason prescribes a rule on this subject, from which it 
 appears to me, no statesman ought to depart ; which is, to 
 seize occasion, and when that is favourable, to be enter- 
 prizing ; but neither force occasion, nor leave any thing to 
 chance." 
 
 In other words; like the tiger, never spring upon 
 the prey till it is within your reach, and then rea- 
 son prescribes that you are to seize the occasion and 
 devour your prey. For such a man to talk of com- 
 passion, is like a highwayman or pickpocket talk- 
 ing of honesty. 
 
 Knox, in his Essays, how justly I leave you to 
 decide, says : 
 
 " If the king of Prussia were not at the head of some of
 
 55 
 
 the best troops in the universe, he would be judged more 
 worthy of being tried, cast, and condemned at the Old Bai- 
 ley, than any shedder of blood who ever died by a halter. 
 But he is a king; but he is a hero : those names fascinate 
 us, and we enrol the butcher of mankind among their bene- 
 factors." 
 
 By eulogizing military heroes, modern writers, as 
 well as ancient ones, have done much to keep alive 
 a martial spirit. But can we regard men, even of the 
 highest military rank, serving under characters such 
 as Frederic and Napoleon, in any other light than 
 as the servile and degraded tools of unprincipled, 
 ambitious, and cruel men; the enemies of humanity, 
 and the scourges of mankind ? You consider as 
 harsh/ the expression I have elsewhere used*, name- 
 ly, that "The moment a man sells himself to his 
 sovereign, or his country, for the purpose of human 
 destruction, he loses caste as a Christian." I can 
 assure you that I did not use this expression to con- 
 demn others, but to justify myself for quitting the 
 naval profession. Dr. Paley appears to me to ex- 
 press the same sentiment, and even more forcibly, 
 when he says, "that no two things can be more 
 contrary than the heroic and Christian character." 
 Every man, entering as an officer into the navy or 
 army, if he does not aim at the heroic character, is 
 unfit for either of these services ; and, if he succeeds 
 in his object, he obtains the very reverse of " the 
 Christian character." As a Christian, " he loses 
 caste." 
 
 This truth, my dear sir, ought to be solemnly im- 
 
 * Letter to the King, &c. page 7:
 
 56 
 
 pressed upon the minds of young men who aspire 
 to military fame, when they enter the profession, 
 by their parents, their tutors, and their spiritual 
 guides. I fear that all these are often little better 
 than blind leaders of the blind ; and that they too 
 frequently cause young men to entertain views con- 
 cerning the glory of the military profession alto- 
 gether erroneous, and, in many respects, subversive 
 of the first principles of Christianity, the only solid 
 foundation for the safety of nations, and for the ho- 
 nour, and real respectability, of individuals. "If," 
 said the Almighty to the Jews, " ye walk in my 
 statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;" 
 ...... "ye shall eat your bread to the full, and 
 
 dwell in your land in safety. And I will give 
 peace in the land ; and ye shall lie down, and none 
 shall make you afraid*." Let Christians keep the 
 statutes given them by their great Lawgiver, and 
 they may cherish a well-grounded hope, that, in 
 addition to these temporal blessings, they will se- 
 cure to themselves an eternity of happiness and 
 peace. 
 
 I remain, &c. &c. 
 * Lev. xxvi. 3 6,
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 ON THE REAL CAUSES OF WAR. 
 
 " From whence come wars and fightings among you ? Come they not hence, 
 even of your lusts that war in your members ?" 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 THE legitimate and practical inference from my 
 last letter is, that nations have been drawn into the 
 greater part of the wars in which they have been 
 engaged, not only without solid and justifiable rea- 
 sons, but very frequently merely to gratify the wishes 
 or resentments of ambitious, weak, or worthless 
 men. Covetousness, jealousy, a desire to govern, 
 and a thirst for military fame, acting upon minds 
 unoccupied by correct religious or moral principles, 
 have blinded the understandings of both princes 
 and subjects, and rendered them not only ready and 
 willing to shed the blood of others, but they seem 
 to consider this as the most honourable of all 
 employments ; and are as desirous to excel in it, 
 as if the honour of God, their duty to him, and 
 their own salvation, depended upon their military 
 prowess. 
 
 With minds inflamed and irritated by artful ma- 
 nifestoes, and by the specious harangues of states- 
 men and orators, Christians, instead of being ready
 
 58 
 
 to pardon and forgive injuries, and thus obtain the 
 friendly offices of other nations, agreeably to the 
 dictates of prudence and duty, very frequently, for 
 a trifling offence, demand satisfaction, with proba- 
 bly a threat that, if not conceded, it will be en- 
 forced. What is called national honour, is on no 
 account to be sacrificed ; and the risk of ruin is to 
 be hazarded, rather than an insult forgiven. Thus 
 nations are deluded into war ; and war, when once 
 begun, is generally continued, till the want of men 
 or money compels one or both of the parties to give 
 up the sanguinary contest, and generally, without 
 either party obtaining satisfaction. 
 
 That wars have been, in many instances, entered 
 into, on the most trifling occasions, and merely to 
 gratify the malevolent passions of bad men, we 
 have ample proofs from history ; and the question 
 of peace or war, in arbitrary governments, has some- 
 times hinged on very trifling or insignificant causes. 
 A satirical expression of Frederic II. against three 
 powerful women, as Monsieur Thiebault informs 
 us, occasioned a long war : and a peace was pro- 
 duced by a mere billet from the same monarch to 
 Maria Theresa*. 
 
 * The following story is extracted from the Herald of Peace, vol. i. 
 N. S. p. 108. 
 
 " In the year 1805, some soldier of the commonwealth of Modena 
 ran away with a BUCKET from a public well belonging to the State 
 of Bologna. This implement might be worth a .shilling; but it pro- 
 duced a quarrel, which was worked up into a long and bloody war. 
 Henry, the king of Sardinia, for the emperor Henry the Second, as- 
 sisted the Modenesc to keep possession of the bucket, and in one of
 
 59 
 
 Standing armies, by causing jealousy and rivalry 
 between nations, have a greater tendency to pro- 
 mote war, than to maintain peace, and may be con- 
 sidered as one of the most powerful and operative 
 causes of war ; and wars must be frequent, so long 
 
 the battles he was made prisoner. His father, the emperor, offered a 
 chain of gold that would encircle Bologna, which is seven miles in 
 compass, for his son's ransom, but in vain. After twenty-two years, 
 imprisonment, he pined away. His monument is now extant in the 
 church of the Dominicans. This fatal bucket is still exhibited in the 
 Tower of the Cathedral at Modena, inclosed in an iron cage." 
 
 The following extract from the Courier, of Dec. 12th, 1827, shows 
 that nations have not profited by experience. Speaking pf the late 
 war between the Russians and Persians, it says : 
 
 "The original point in dispute between the prince Abbas Mirza 
 and the late governor general Yermoloff, related to a small piece of 
 pasture-ground near the lake of Gokcha, of little value to either State ; 
 but as the probability of a war enabled the prince to obtain pecuniary 
 supplies from the king, the dispute was purposely kept unsettled, while 
 the patience of Yermoloff was exhausted, and possession was taken of 
 the disputed lands. The king of Persia, urged by his favourite minis- 
 ter Alleyer Khan (who, on the capture of Tebriz, fell into the hands 
 of the Russians), and excited by the fanatical exhortation of a priest 
 from the holy palace, Kerbela, refused to wait the result of the refer- 
 ence, proposed by the Russian ambassador at his court, to St. Peters- 
 burg, and declared war. His Persian Majesty, by his precipitation, 
 deprived himself of the right either to the assistance, or mediation, of 
 Great Britain, and is now at the mercy of a powerful enemy thus 
 wantonly provoked." 
 
 In an order of the day addressed, by the Russian General Paskew- 
 itsch, to the army of the Caucasus, dated Oct. 13th, 1827, he says : 
 
 " There is nothing in the vast dominion of Persia which can op- 
 pose their progress. Two provinces, eighteen standards, fifty pieces 
 of cannon, two sardars, twenty khans, six thousand prisoners, twelve 
 thousand persons removed who have thrown down their arms, with 
 supplies of provisions and munitions of war, he enumerates, in conclu- 
 sion, as the trophies of the campaign."
 
 60 
 
 as these armies are kept up. Lord Burleigh (I 
 think) observes, that soldiers in time of peace are as 
 useless as chimneys in summer. How very differ- 
 ently, my dear sir, do statesmen think now. The 
 evils of war will, probably, at no distant period, be- 
 come so apparent and so great, as materially to pre- 
 vent its recurrence. This is certain, on the sure 
 word of prophecy, that when Christianity arrives 
 at maturity, men will cease to learn war. 
 
 A great moral evil, and no inconsiderable cause 
 of war, arises from the profession of arms affording 
 to parents of the middle and higher classes an in- 
 ducement to wish for war, as it enables them to 
 place their sons in situations, where they may attain 
 honour and wealth, without the vulgarity of trade. 
 Young men, despising mercantile employment, and 
 naturally adopting the prejudices of their parents, 
 are led to wish for war : and whenever a peace 
 takes place, hundreds of these have (what they con- 
 sider) their just hopes and expectations blasted ; 
 and lament that the war was not continued a few 
 months, or a year or two longer, that they might 
 have attained another step in their profession, al- 
 though this step might have cost the lives of thou- 
 sands of human beings, and millions of national 
 treasure : but it is surely to be deeply lamented, 
 that young men, professing the Christian religion, 
 should be placed in situations, where their interest 
 may tempt them to entertain wishes so directly con- 
 trary to the first principles of that religion. That 
 army-agents, army-contractors, army-tailors, cannon- 
 founders, gun-makers, cutlers, and various other
 
 61 
 
 ".Craftsmen" should incite men to war, may be ac- 
 counted for on the very principle, that the silver- 
 smiths of Ephesus contended for the worship of the 
 goddess Diana. War brings no small gain to the 
 craftsmen I have enumerated ; for it is by war they 
 " have their wealth." This, my dear sir, seems not 
 unnatural in men who might be said to be the fol- 
 lowers of Plutus, rather than of Jesus Christ. But 
 that the nobility of Europe, and particularly those 
 of Britain, should, in a period distinguished for 
 learning, science, and humanity, make the destruc- 
 tion of their fellow-creatures a trade to give bread 
 to their younger sons, is wholly unaccountable on 
 Christian principles. Nobles may perhaps excuse 
 themselves on the ground that the ministers of reli- 
 gion set them the example; and it is a fact, that a 
 large portion of the sons of the clergy are set apart 
 to the profession of arms, and that not a few of them 
 have thereby attained the highest rank, professional 
 and civil. It seems difficult to account for this de- 
 reliction of duty on any other principle, than that, 
 when men once depart from the plain precepts of 
 natural and revealed religion, their hearts become in- 
 sensibly "hardened through the deceitfulnessofsin." 
 Granting that war arises from the causes I have 
 stated, another inquiry, and that of great import- 
 ance, presents itself; From whence arise those 
 lusts, or warlike propensities, which occasion war; 
 and can these be subdued.? My answer is, that, to a 
 certain extent they arise from the errors of educa- 
 tion, and that their influence may, at least, be 
 greatly diminished. This must be the case, unless
 
 our system of education is already perfect ; an opi- 
 nion that few will be bold enough to maintain. You 
 appear to think war irremediable; do you also 
 think that covetousness, ambition, jealousy, and re- 
 venge are irremediable ; and that the virtues of be- 
 nevolence and forgiveness of injuries are fictions 
 and unattainable by us ? If you thus think, a state 
 of peace is, on your principles, unattainable : but, 
 in arriving at this conclusion, you virtually admit 
 that Christianity prohibits vices which we cannot 
 resist, and imposes virtues which we have no power 
 to practise. In other words, that it is only a fine- 
 spun system of ethics, beautiful in theory, but inca- 
 pable of being reduced to practice. Believing that 
 Christianity is a practicable religion, and that the 
 diminution of vice and the increase of virtue have 
 been greatly retarded by errors in education, I will, 
 with your permission, dedicate a few pages to this 
 subject. 
 
 As a seaman, and with my slender pretensions to 
 learning, it may appear presumptuous in me to ha- 
 zard an opinion on such a subject ; but not much 
 learning is required to convince the most careless 
 observer, that the present systems of classical educa- 
 tion have a direct tendency to produce a character 
 the very reverse of "meek, yielding, complying, 
 forgiving ; not prompt to act, but willing to suffer ; 
 silent and gentle under rudeness and insult ; suing 
 for reconciliation, when others would demand satis- 
 faction ; giving way to the pushes of impudence ; 
 conceding and indulgent to the prejudices, the 
 wronjr-headedness, the intractability of those with
 
 63 
 
 whom we have to deal."- Education, as at present 
 generally conducted, instead of forming the Chris- 
 tian character, here admirably described by Dr. 
 Paley, is far more likely to form a character on a 
 Roman or Grecian model, and to establish what 
 most parents, blinded by classical prejudices, wish 
 for ; viz. the heroic character which " possesses vi- 
 gour, firmness, resolution ; is daring and active, 
 quick in its sensibilities, jealous in its fame, eager 
 in its attachments, inflexible in its purpose, violent 
 in its resentment." I would here ask you, my dear 
 Sir, if you do not think it quite as possible by edu- 
 cation, to establish one of these characters as the 
 other ? If the former " were universal, the case is 
 clear : the world would be a society of friends. 
 Whereas, if the other disposition were universal, it 
 would produce a scene of universal contention. The 
 world would not hold a generation of such men." 
 The present modes of education, experience shows, 
 have a decided tendency to produce such men. In 
 the nursery, the drum and the musket are admired 
 playthings ; and children, in their earliest years, 
 acquire a love of military fame. What is still 
 worse, they connect with this a contempt, or even 
 hatred, for Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Papists ; and 
 are led to consider the killing of these, as not mere- 
 ly harmless, but as highly meritorious. Little pains 
 are taken in after-education to correct such anti- 
 christian impressions : on the contrary, they are 
 permitted to grow with our growth, and too fre- 
 quently to derive additional strength in the ad- 
 vanced stages of education. In the present rage for
 
 64 
 
 classical and polite literature, the seeds of Chris- 
 tianity may very often be said to fall among thorns. 
 As soon as a youth enters one of our classical, or 
 jightingj schools, the small stock of Christian prin- 
 ciples which he carries there is liable to be choked 
 by classical weeds, and the Christian character to 
 yield to the heroic. 
 
 In looking forward with the eye of faith to the 
 glorious achievements which Christianity, on the 
 sure evidence of literal prophecy, is destined to ac- 
 complish ; and in comparing this prophetic history 
 with the blood-stained pages of the history of past 
 and present ages, we are unavoidably led to the 
 conclusion, that there must have been something 
 fundamentally wrong in the established systems of 
 education in all nations. To this conclusion the re- 
 mark of Solomon leads us: "Train up a child in the 
 way he should go; and, when he is old, he will- 
 not depart from it." To the same conclusion the 
 words of a greater than Solomon directly point; "A 
 good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit." 
 
 As the paths of learning and science are becom- 
 ing more accessible to all classes of society, and in 
 all countries, may the principles taught by the 
 Prince of Peace be more extensively cultivated and 
 cherished. And may the new seminaries erecting 
 in this, and other countries, prove seminaries of 
 peace and true religion, as well as of learning and 
 science. By the fruits of the old establishments we 
 may safely pronounce, that the tree (of education} 
 has been evil ; and that Christians in later days, 
 like the Jews in former times, have "hewed to
 
 65 
 
 themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no 
 water." That a better system of education may be- 
 come universal, " when the work of righteousness 
 shall be peace ; and the effect of righteousness, 
 quietness and assurance for ever," is a wish to 
 which every sincere and pious follower of Christ 
 will most devoutly say, Amen ! 
 
 When it is considered that most of the great 
 statesmen of Europe, during many ages, have been 
 brought up in classical and righting seminaries, and 
 that a sirnilar education is indispensably necessary 
 for a legislator, or even for a prince; and that many 
 of these have finished their education in camps and 
 fleets, we need no longer wonder at the sanguinary 
 and anti-christian criminal codes established in most 
 nations ; nor can we be surprised at our own- hete- 
 rogeneous code, which disqualifies those who slaugh- 
 ter animals, from sitting as jurors, while it permits 
 those who slaughter men, to sit as legislators. When 
 we further reflect, that a large portion of the bishops 
 and superior clergy, have been educated in the 
 same way, and taught from early youth to venerate 
 the lex talio?iis, rather than the forgiving meekness 
 of Jesus; we need not wonder that they have never 
 advocated the unpopular and anti-classical doctrine 
 of non-resistance, and patient endurance of evils, or 
 that some of them have been the open and avowed 
 advocates of war. We may rather be astonished 
 that they have entertained any respect at all for the 
 Christian code. 
 
 If we bring the matter home to our own country, 
 and examine the orations that are held in the hijjh- 
 
 o
 
 66 
 
 est estimation, whether in the senate or at the bar, 
 the standard of their excellence is their conformity 
 to classical models. To be admired, an orator must 
 speak and think classically ; and should any expres- 
 sion escape him, where Scriptural phrases or ideas 
 are introduced, it is considered as an indelible mark 
 of bad taste. I admit that we have many shining- 
 examples of individuals, uniting the meek and pa- 
 cific spirit of Christianity with the highest classical 
 attainments; but may we not regard these as excep- 
 tions to a very general rule ? And can we suppose 
 it probable, that where our ideas, and our modes of 
 expressing them, are borrowed from Greece or 
 Rome, our minds will not very generally correspond 
 to these ideas? Can we expect that our heads will 
 be Roman, and our hearts Christian ? Can we ex- 
 pect that the professed admirers of the heroes of 
 Homer, will be the sincere and humble followers of 
 Jesus? Then may we expect that young men edu- 
 cated in fighting and classical seminaries, will prac- 
 tise forgiveness of insults and injuries*. 
 
 * In his Charge to the Grand Jury for Wiltshire, the Judge (alluding 
 to a case where a knife had been used as an instrument of offence or 
 defence) says : " Gentlemen, The practice of boxing has often been a 
 subject of discussion in this country; I must say that it seems to me a 
 practice that may very advantageously be encouraged to a limited ex- 
 lent. It is in some sort a law of peace, for it discourages the use of 
 unfair means of attack; it prevents malicious retaliation; it only 
 enables men to employ fairly advantages they may naturally possess, 
 and in the use of which they are restrained by the point of honour; and 
 while it encourages a proper English spirit, it prevents courage from 
 degenerating into brutality, and secures men from the treachery and 
 malignity of those whom they have offended. Though, therefore, I 
 view the prize ring as disgraceful, I cannot but hope to see the old
 
 The early delusions and anti-christian principles 
 imbibed in the nursery and at these public semina- 
 ries, so far from being corrected, or dispelled by 
 reading or adult education, appear to be increased 
 at every stage of knowledge. The historian, the 
 poet, the dramatist, the novelist, as well as the pub- 
 lic orator, the statesman, and even the grave divine, 
 alike lead men away from the paths of peace. It 
 is true they generally lament, and often with much 
 eloquence, the dire calamities that war inflicts ; but 
 they, for the most part, speak of the men through 
 whose agency these evils are perpetrated, as heroes 
 and patriots, nay, as patterns of Christian excel- 
 lence. 
 
 It is, my dear sir, a very painful task to censure 
 the particular actions of those whose general con- 
 duct we admire : but wrong actions or principles, 
 in men otherwise estimable and good, are capable 
 of producing evil, in a degree proportionate to the 
 high characters these men maintain ; and therefore 
 call the more urgently for animadversion. 
 
 practice of boxing revived among the people of this country ; as I con- 
 sider that the practice introduces a law of honour among the com- 
 batants, which will effectually prevent those who observe it from re- 
 sorting to instruments of this deadly description." See Atlas, vol. ii. 
 pp. 484 and 582. 
 
 This learned Lord Chief Justice appears to set at naught the prac- 
 tices of civilized pagans as well as the precepts of Christ ; and to re- 
 commend those beings that are destined for immortality, to adopt the 
 customs of " the beasts that perish," in settling their quarrels. He 
 also seems to have lost sight of the precept of Solomon, " He that is 
 slow to anger, is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, 
 than he thattaketh a city." 
 
 F 2
 
 68 
 
 Had not the author of the Practical View ot 
 Christianity, distinguished himself by an irreproach- 
 able life, and as the humane advocate of a perse- 
 cuted set of human beings, his joining year after year 
 in the votes for millions of treasure, for a purpose 
 which necessarily exposed to destruction both the 
 souls and bodies of thousands of his fellow-crea- 
 tures, would have been of little moment. But the 
 excellence of his moral character gives a sanction 
 to war which Christianity withholds. Surely, my 
 dear sir, no Practical View of the religion of Jesus, 
 can lead us to the conclusion, that men slain in 
 battle with their hands imbued in the blood of their 
 brethren, and thirsting for vengeance, are in a state 
 of grace, and proper objects for the approbation of 
 that benignant Being who " has made of one blood 
 all nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth." 
 That these men will not be the objects of divine 
 mercy, it is not our province to decide : we are 
 commanded not to judge or condemn others, and 
 we may rest satisfied that " the Judge of all the 
 earth will do right." 
 
 It would seem difficult to reconcile the conduct 
 of many friends to humanity with the principles of 
 general philanthropy, or the love of our enemies ; 
 but some of the defenders of war appear to set com- 
 mon sense at defiance. In a late publication, a 
 part of which is devoted to the subject of war, the 
 author gravely recommends soldiers, whilst shoot- 
 ing or stabbing their enemies, to maintain towards 
 them a feeling of good-will*. With about equal 
 
 * Tracts and Essays, by the late W. Hey, esq. F.R.S.
 
 69 
 
 humanity and consistency, Isaac Walton directs his 
 pupil, whilst cruelly torturing a frog, to handle him 
 as if he loved him. 
 
 A truly estimable man, and in his time a very 
 popular preacher, did much to elevate the military 
 character. Bishop Porteus in his Eighth Lecture, 
 after detailing various arguments and examples de- 
 duced from Scripture, to show the lawfulness of 
 war, says: " All which examples tend to confirm the 
 observation already made, of the perfect consistency 
 of a military and every other mode of life, with a 
 firm belief in the doctrines, and a conscientious 
 obedience to the precepts, of religion." I shall 
 have occasion, in a subsequent letter, to refer to 
 the writings of this prelate, and to this very lecture, 
 but I give the above extract, in this place, merely 
 to show the delusive views that good men may be 
 brought to entertain concerning war ; when they 
 once allow themselves to deviate from the plain 
 moral precepts of their great Teacher. I feel, how- 
 ever, that I ought not to censure with severity, the 
 opinions of these virtuous men, as ten years ago, I 
 read this same lecture with sentiments of approba- 
 tion and satisfaction. I am free to confess to you, 
 my dear sir, that since then, a thick veil or dark 
 mist appears to be removed from my mental vision : 
 if I may so express myself, " old things are passed 
 away; behold, all things are become new." If I 
 am wrong, if I am deluded by fanaticism, I entreat 
 you as a friend and a minister of the Gospel, to 
 show me my error. 
 
 When we depart from the current opinions that
 
 70 
 
 have been received as true for centuries past, we 
 certainly ought to proceed with extreme caution. We 
 ought to examine the foundation on which we build, 
 whether it is a rock, or whether it is sand ; whether 
 we have reason and revelation on our side, or are 
 led away by fancy or prejudice. In a situation 
 of this kind, the rule of Mr. Locke seems peculiarly 
 proper. In that part of his Essay concerning the 
 human understanding, in which he treats of enthu- 
 siasm, and of persons being led to imagine that 
 they are acting under the influences of the Holy 
 Spirit, he says, in such cases. 
 
 "We have reason and Scripture, unerring rules, to know 
 whether it be from GOD or no. Where the truth embraced, 
 is consonant to the revelation in tlie written word of GOD, 
 or the action conformable to the dictates of right reason or 
 Holy Writ, we may be assured that we run no risk in enter- 
 taining it as such : because though perhaps it be not an im- 
 mediate revelation from GOD, extraordinarily operating on 
 our minds, yet we are sure it is warranted by that revelation 
 which he has given us of truth. But it is not the strength 
 of our private persuasion within ourselves, that can warrant 
 it to be a lighter motion from Heaven ; nothing can do that, 
 but the written word of God without us, or that standard of 
 reason, which is common to us with all men. Where rea- 
 son or Scripture is express for any opinion or action, we 
 may receive it as of divine authority; but it is not the 
 strength of our own persuasions which can by itself give it 
 that stamp. The bent of our own minds may favour it as 
 much as we please ; that may shew it to be a fondling of 
 our own, but will by no means prove it to be an offspring of 
 Heaven, and of divine original." 
 
 In contemplating what I have done, and in ex- 
 amining what I have written, by the rule of this
 
 71 
 
 sagacious and good man, it appears to me that I 
 have acted as a Christian, and have " spoken forth 
 the words of truth and soberness :" and I must 
 again entreat you, if I have departed from these, to 
 point out to me my errors. 
 
 I fear you will think me censorious in including 
 under the same charge of encouraging war, the 
 amiable and pious Fenelon ; but I bow to your re- 
 proof, if you think my censure unmerited. In the 
 very interesting adventures of Telemachus, the mi- 
 series and calamities of war are described with 
 much feeling and eloquence ; but no young person, 
 whose mind is not already powerfully imbued with 
 the precepts of Christianity, is likely to rise from 
 its perusal, without considering military heroes as 
 the first and best of human beings, rather than the 
 scourges of a guilty world ; and Mentor and his 
 pupil as objects of imitation, far more captivating 
 than Jesus and his apostles. This elegant little 
 work is written in such a spirit of piety and benevo- 
 lence, as to steal from us our confidence, and banish 
 every suspicion that the most deadly poison to 
 Christianity, lurks under so fair and pleasing an 
 exterior. From its being extensively read in schools, 
 this work has fanned the flame of military ardour 
 in different nations. It is peculiarly calculated, 
 not only to infuse into the minds of boys a thirst for 
 military fame, but, which is no less to be depre- 
 cated, to render mothers and daughters admirers 
 of military heroes. By reading works of this kind, 
 the old and young of both sexes have been brought 
 to contemplate the slaughter of human beings, not
 
 79 
 
 only with indifference, but with approbation. The 
 reading of this fascinating work, in early life, had 
 a powerful tendency to produce in myself an ardent 
 desire of military fame; a desire, I now think, irre- 
 concileable with the discharge of the obvious duties 
 of a disciple of Christ. 
 
 At the commencement of the French revolution, 
 it was the fashion, as you may perfectly recollect, 
 to attribute that event, and its calamities, to the 
 writings of Voltaire and other sceptics ; but the 
 cause was unequal to the effect ; and, had the 
 French princes and priests been really Christians, 
 the shafts of men like Voltaire would have been 
 perfectly harmless. The French court during the 
 reign of Louis XIV. was vicious and profligate in 
 the extreme. That monarch (like many of his pre- 
 decessors) possessed little of Christianity but the 
 name. The intervening regency, with the reign of 
 Louis XV. made the cup of vice overflow ; and the 
 storm burst upon the head of a comparatively vir- 
 tuous man. It may, however, be remarked, that 
 Louis XVI. not only hastened the fatal catastrophe, 
 but that he did it, in some measure, from following 
 the advice of Fenelon (or Mentor) to Telemachus. 
 Not satisfied with maintaining the lawfulness of 
 defensive war, this prelate and Christian preceptor, 
 lest the dire spirit of war should cool or evaporate, 
 and subjects become effeminate or unskilful in the 
 science of human slaughter, recommended that 
 some of the nobility should, in time of national 
 peace, be employed in fighting the battles of other 
 countries. This advice is so directly at variance
 
 73 
 
 with the spirit of the Gospel of peace, and forms 
 such a striking contrast to the example of Jesus and 
 his apostles, that I think it necessary to quote his 
 own words. 
 
 " II faut, disoit il, (Mentor) avoir soin pendant la paix de 
 multiplier le peuple ; mais de peur que toute la nation ne 
 s'amolisse, et ne tombe dans 1'ignorance de la guerre, il faut 
 envoyer dans les guerres etrangeres la jeune noblesse. Ceux 
 la suffisent pour entretenir toute la nation dans une emula- 
 tion de gloire, dans 1'amour des armes, dans le mepris des 
 fatigues, et de la mort meme, enfin dans 1'experience de 1'art 
 militaire." 
 
 The noblesse that Louis XVI. sent into America, 
 though not exactly for the purpose mentioned by 
 Fenelon, yet to fight the battles of foreigners, im- 
 bibed the spirit of revolution ; and, upon their re- 
 turn into France, disseminated it with great rapi- 
 dity, among a people previously prepared for its re- 
 ception. Had it not been for this interference of 
 Louis XVI. his calamities might have been delayed, 
 perhaps prevented. However this may be, it is pro- 
 bable that Fenelon, by infusing a military spirit 
 into the French princes, was instrumental in produ- 
 cing the revolution, as well as Voltaire, by his wri- 
 tings. But many of the French princes and priests 
 were, no doubt, by their vices and irreligion, the 
 authors of their own calamities ; as is generally the 
 case both with nations and individuals. 
 
 Another cause of war, and which appears to have 
 operated very powerfully in all ages, is the high 
 estimation in which women of all ranks hold the 
 military character. It is wisely and mercifully or-
 
 74 
 
 dained by a benevolent Creator, that the sexes 
 should place a high value upon the approbation of 
 each other ; and it cannot be too much deplored 
 that females, from false principles of education, 
 have been led to give a decided preference to mili- 
 tary men. That the wives of Indians should give 
 this preference to successful hunters or warriors 
 cannot be a subject of wonder, for their safety and 
 existence frequently depend upon the skill and va- 
 lour of their husbands ; but that this partiality, in 
 civilized life, and in an enlightened age, should 
 extend to women of cultivated minds, who read, 
 and who profess to admire, the New Testament, is 
 not so easy to be accounted for. It seems probable 
 that this may arise, in no small measure, from the 
 writings of authors such as I have noticed. How- 
 ever this may be, you will not deny that female 
 approbation has done much to render the military 
 profession, and war itself, popular. Few girls 
 emerge from the nursery, without imbibing strong 
 prepossessions in favour of a chivalrous or military 
 spirit a spirit which most authors, male or female, 
 directly or indirectly applaud. Among these lat- 
 ter, I regret to say, we find the amiable author of 
 Practical Piety. Speaking of public thanksgivings 
 for national blessings, she says, 
 
 " How rarely in common society do we meet with any 
 recognition of Omnipotence even in those striking and heart- 
 rejoicing occasions, when with his own right hand, and with 
 his holy arm, he hath gotten himself the victory. Let us 
 never detract from the merit of our valiant leaders, but rather 
 honour them the more for this manifestation of the divine
 
 75 
 
 power in their favour ; but let us never lose sight of him who 
 teacheth their hands to war, and their fingers to fight." 
 
 These martial effusions seem peculiarly mis- 
 placed in a treatise on Practical Piety : and I can- 
 not consider the news of thousands of our fellow- 
 creatures being slain in battle, and hurried out of 
 the world, into the presence of their Maker, as 
 heart-rejoicing occasions ; nor are victories to be 
 invariably considered as marks of God's favour ; 
 otherwise, during a long series of years, Napoleon 
 might be regarded as the highly-favoured of God. 
 But, whilst we feel gratitude for victories, we ought 
 to bear in mind that " whom the Lord loveth he 
 chasteneth :" and the disciples of Christ ought 
 never to forget, that the example of David, and other 
 Jewish warriors, is no sanction to them. These 
 lived under the old covenant, which permitted the 
 law of retaliation or an eye for an eye, and a tooth 
 for a tooth. But this is not permitted by the code 
 of practical piety established by Jesus Christ. I 
 need not observe to you, nor yet to Mrs. More, that 
 the honour of building a temple to God was con- 
 ferred upon Solomon, because he was a man oj 
 peace, and that his name Solomon, signifies peace- 
 ful : and the prayer of David to build this temple 
 was rejected, because he had been " a man of war. 
 and had shed blood." 
 
 As men, in their intercourse with each other, arc 
 instructed to imitate the conduct of God towards 
 mankind, and to " be merciful as he is merciful ;" 
 it becomes necessary, in order to obtain peaceable 
 and amiable dispositions, that they should entertain
 
 76 
 
 just notions concerning the character of our heavenly 
 Father*. If we err in this respect, we render erro- 
 neous the standard that he has graciously conde- 
 scended to give us, for the regulation of our con- 
 duct. Those systems of religion, therefore, which 
 represent God as less merciful than the Scriptures 
 declare him to be, must have a tendency to make 
 men less merciful than they ought to be ; and con- 
 sequently, to feel less repugnance for war and blood- 
 shed, than they otherwise would feel. 
 
 Politico-religious establishments, which degrade 
 the character of our holy religion, by rendering it 
 a state machine, instead of a source of moral im- 
 provement, necessarily impede and check its benign 
 influence. And all establishments which, on ac- 
 count of authorized religious opinions, grant to a 
 part of a nation peculiar privileges, or, on the con- 
 trary, subject others to pains, penalties, or privations 
 for conscience' sake, have a direct tendency to pro- 
 mote feelings of enmity between individuals of 
 different creeds; and, instead of uniting, to divide 
 a nation against itself in such a manner as to. hasten 
 its downfall. Every departure from the benevo- 
 lent principles revealed in the Gospel, and every 
 thing that tends to degrade it, appears, by the wise 
 moral government of God, to carry with it its una- 
 voidable punishment ; of the truth of this, Catholic 
 and Protestant states alike afford evidence. These 
 politico-religious establishments also tend to pro- 
 mote the baneful vices of avarice and ambition (the 
 
 * See Letter XIV. Paraphrase on Matt. v. 38 13.
 
 77 
 
 fruitful sources of war), and to render Christians, 
 who ought to be the most honourable and independ- 
 ent of all men, the obsequious tools of ambitious 
 and unprincipled rulers. They fit men for war, or 
 for any employment ; and history tells us, the hi- 
 story of our own country in particular, that they 
 have produced it ; and that they are fundamentally 
 subversive of peace. We seem unavoidably led to 
 this conclusion, when we consider that Christianity, 
 during nearly three centuries, produced a race of 
 men, pious, peaceable, and unambitious ; but, when 
 it became the handmaid of the state, and its minis- 
 ters possessed of riches and honours, the very re- 
 verse took place, justify ing the remark (Matt. xix. 23.) 
 of him who spake as never man spake. 
 
 But there is a more direct and positive violation 
 of the precepts of the Gospel of peace, in some of 
 these institutions. In one, which I need not point 
 out to you by name, the ministers of Christ, before 
 they can legally exercise their 'functions, must 
 explicitly declare, that "it is lawful for Christian 
 men, at the commandment of the magistrate, to 
 wear weapons, and to serve in wars." Whether 
 this is rendering the commandment of God of none 
 effect by the ordinances of man, or saying that the 
 Scriptures have not stated the commandment of 
 God with sufficient precision, I leave you to decide. 
 If magistrates or princes possess this power, they 
 seem to be placed out of the pale of Christian 
 obedience; and those who serve under the most un- 
 principled tyrants and plunderers, have no account 
 to render unto God. Such ordinances of men seem
 
 78 
 
 to render the precepts of Christ a dead letter. They 
 make of man man created in the image of God, 
 and commanded to imitate his Creator in acts of 
 benevolence a mere tool and a puppet, for the use 
 or amusement of ambitious magistrates and states- 
 men. They make princes, who have sins of their 
 own in abundance to account for, answerable also 
 for the sins of their subjects ; though God, who is 
 no respecter of persons, has declared by his pro- 
 phet, that "no man can redeem his brother, or give 
 to God a ransom for him." Whether, also, these 
 ordinances are opposed to the plain and positive 
 command of our Lord, to " render unto God the 
 things that are God's," I leave you to decide. 
 
 I shall, for the present, take my leave of this sub- 
 ject, by observing, that till Christianity, or the know- 
 ledge of the Lord, "shall cover the earth," and ac- 
 complish those glorious events predicted in pro- 
 phecy, we may safely infer that there is something 
 fundamentally wrong, not only in the systems of 
 education, but also in the religious systems of all 
 belligerent Christians, which prevents the fulfilment 
 of these prophecies ; for, on the wise principle laid 
 down by our Saviour, " a good tree cannot bring forth 
 corrupt fruit." But what fruit can we expect from 
 a religion which sanctifies war ; and what ambitious 
 conqueror could ask for more from a subservient 
 clergy, than this article accords? It is an article of 
 war, not an article of peace, as these Articles have 
 been ingeniously designated. 
 
 Volumes mi^ht be written on the causes of war. 
 
 o 
 
 War itself may be considered as prolific ; and one
 
 79 
 
 war has generally laid the foundation of another, 
 with a certainty as undeviating as that of seed sown 
 producing a crop. The animosities and hatreds 
 consequent on one war, have seldom been suffered 
 to die away, so short have been the intervals of 
 peace ! Princes, and French princes to their sorrow, 
 appear systematically to have followed the advice 
 of Fenelon, in cultivating an emulation for military 
 glory. Trophies of victories, if not directly pro- 
 ductive of hostility, tend to keep alive feelings of 
 irritation, of enmity, and ambition, which Christians 
 ought, by all means, to labour to subdue. This is 
 a duty peculiarly appertaining to the clergy, who, 
 in our own times, do not appear to have benefited 
 much from the exhortations of Erasmus, who three 
 centuries ago thus expressed himself: 
 
 " The clergy, so far from acting as the servants of Christ, 
 in the manner 1 have recommended, do not hesitate to hang 
 up flags, standards, banners, and other trophies of war, 
 brought from the field of carnage, as ornaments of churches, 
 and great cathedrals*. These trophies shall be all stained 
 and smeared with the blood of men for whom Christ shed 
 his most precious blood, and shall be hung in the aisles of 
 the churches, among the tombs and images of apostles and 
 martyrs, as if in future it were to be reckoned a mark of 
 sanctity not to suffer martyrdom, but to inflict it ; not to lay 
 down one's own life for the truth, but to take away the life of 
 others for worldly purposes of vanity and avarice. It would 
 be quite sufficient if the bloody rags were hung up in some 
 corner of the Exchange, or kept as curiosities in a chest or 
 closet, out of sight ; disgraceful monuments as they are of 
 
 * This has been done in the present century, and sanctioned by the 
 highest dignitaries, ecclesiastical and civil.
 
 80 
 
 human depravity. The church, uhieh ought to be kept per- 
 fectly pure, and emblematic, of the purest of religions, *hould 
 not be defiled with any thing stained with the blood of man, 
 shed by the hand of man, alienated, as is clear by the very 
 act, both from Christ and from nature. 
 
 " But you argue in defence of this indecent practice of 
 hanging up flags or colours, as they are called, in churches, 
 that the ancients used to deposit the monuments of their vic- 
 tories in the temples of their gods. It is true ; but what 
 were their gods but demons delighting in blood and impurity ? 
 Not the God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. 
 Never let priests dedicated to a God like this, have anything 
 to do with war, unless to put an end to it, and promote love 
 and reconciliation. If the clergy were but unanimous in 
 such sentiments, if they would inculcate them every where, 
 there is no doubt, notwithstanding the secular arm, that their 
 authority, personal and professional, would have a prepon- 
 derance against the influence of courts and ministers of state, 
 ami thus prevent war, the calamity of human nature." Com- 
 plaint of Peace, pages 06, .57. 
 
 If theexhibition of pictures, or images of pious and 
 good men in places dedicated to the service of God, 
 are justly regarded as derogatory to his honour, and 
 to that purity and simplicity of worship which he 
 requires ; how much more so must we consider the 
 exhibition of flags stained with human blood, and 
 placed over altars dedicated to "the God of all 
 peace." The former may excite pious and devout 
 sensations ; but the latter, placed by consecrated 
 hands where the abomination of desolation was 
 planted by pagans, are calculated, and seem pur- 
 posely intended, to promote the very character 
 which our Saviour shed his blood to banish from 
 the earth ; for I cannot too often repeat to you, that
 
 81 
 
 "no two things can be more different than the he- 
 roic and Christian characters." That such practices 
 should have existed in the days of Erasmus, when 
 to preach prostration of the understanding and that 
 kings could do no moral wrong, were considered as 
 legitimate duties by the clergy, in return for their 
 secular benefits : but that such things should take 
 place in the nineteenth century, and in a nation 
 professing a reformed system of Christianity, is most 
 deeply to be deplored. Our commentators on the 
 prophecies, with telescopic eyes, examine distant 
 shores to find out the famed arch-enemy of man- 
 kind, antichrist. But do not facts such as have 
 been alluded to, show that British commentators 
 need not travel so far from home ? These facts, and 
 the more lamentable one of being so often engaged 
 in war, tell us, in language sufficiently plain, that a 
 " mystery of iniquity*," as in the days of St. Paul, 
 operates with us ; and that " he who now letteth 
 will let, until he be taken out of the way." 
 
 It may, after noticing these things, have the ap- 
 pearance of captiousness, or fastidiousness, to speak 
 of those acts of our rulers that are generally popu- 
 lar, and intended to exalt our national character; 
 but it seems difficult to reconcile with correct Chris- 
 tian feelings and principles, the erection of monu- 
 ments, of bridges, of streets, as memorials of our 
 victories. The adoption of this custom was nearly 
 producing fatal consequences at Paris, in the year 
 1814, when the Prussians were with difficulty re- 
 
 * 2 Thes, ii. 7. 
 G
 
 n 
 
 strained from blowing up (1 believe) the bridge of 
 Austerlitz. These national trophies have not only 
 a tendency to keep alive a martial spirit at home, 
 but they produce feelings of envy and hatred in the 
 breasts of those whom it is our duty and interest, 
 as Christians, to conciliate and love. What French- 
 man passing through some of our streets, or over 
 some of our bridges, will entertain for us feelings 
 of kindness, affection, and esteem ? Will he not 
 rather hate us, and wish for opportunities of hum- 
 bling us to the dust? The wise man says, " Rejoice 
 not when thy enemy falleth, lest the Lord see it, 
 and it displease him." Had our pious ancestors, as 
 they are often termed, instead of binding the sove- 
 reign by his coronation oath to preserve inviolate 
 certain speculative dogmas, made it imperative upon 
 him to take for his " SOLE guide the precepts of our 
 holy religion, namely, the precepts of justice, Chris- 
 tian charity, and peace*, we should have heard of 
 no Waterloo bridges or Waterloo places, nor would 
 the cry of our Catholic brethren for emancipation 
 have now been heard among us ! Discord would 
 have been banished from our land, and brotherly love 
 and charity, " glory to God in the highest, and 
 on earth peace," would have been established as the 
 sacred bonds of union between the Catholic and the 
 Protestant, the Churchman and the Dissenter. Such 
 a pledge from the sovereign, instead of laying the 
 foundation of dissension, like the present coronation 
 oath, would have prepared the way for all Protest- 
 
 * See Letter to the King, page 21.
 
 81 
 
 ants, Catholics, and Dissenters becoming one body 
 under one head, namely Christ. 
 
 To sum up the real causes of war in a few words, 
 I should say that every thing anti-christian every 
 thing that opposes the reception of Christianity, or 
 that has a tendency to weaken its beneficial effects 
 upon nations or individuals, whether arising from 
 false and erroneous doctrines, or from making Chris- 
 tianity subservient to human policy, may be consi- 
 dered as an indirect cause of war ; Christianity 
 being appointed by God to put an end to war, and 
 to establish universal peace and righteousness on 
 earth. This being the case, it becomes the bounden 
 duty of every good man, but more especially of 
 every Christian minister, by every lawful means in 
 his power, to labour to remove every impediment to 
 the establishment of uncorrupted Christianity, and 
 universal peace. The former may be regarded as 
 the tree, the latter as the fruit. The latter cannot be 
 good without the former is in a healthy state. Is it 
 not therefore evident that, in every belligerent na- 
 tion, the sacred tree should be managed agreeably 
 to the directions given by our Lord ? (See Luke 
 xiii. 8.) 
 
 The great cause of war, and of its concomitant 
 evils is, no doubt, irreligion. If we consider the 
 miseries now suffering in Turkey and Greece, which 
 call forth so much of our sympathy, we must un- 
 avoidably trace them to this origin. If we turn our 
 attention to the sufferings of Catholic states in the 
 South of Europe, we must draw the same conclu- 
 sion. Their sufferings appear to be the conse- 
 
 G 2
 
 84 
 
 quence of their disobedience to the precepts of the 
 religion of Jesus; and between their sufferings and 
 those of the Jews, though different in degree, a 
 parallel may be drawn. The commandment deli- 
 vered by Moses is, in some measure, applicable to 
 Christians as well as Jews : "If thou wilt not hearken 
 unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe 
 and to do his commandments and his statutes, which 
 I command thee this day ; all these curses shall 
 come upon thee and overtake thee." Deut. xxviii. 
 15. We are authorized to apply this to Christians ; 
 for Saint Paul, after mentioning the sins and pu- 
 nishments of the Jews, says, " Now all these things 
 happened unto them for ensamples, and they are 
 written for our admonition upon whom the ends of 
 the world are come." 
 
 If, therefore, Protestants attribute the sufferings 
 of Turks, Greeks, and Catholics to irreligion, ought 
 they not to look to themselves ; and must they not 
 attribute the minor sufferings they have endured to 
 the same cause ? Have they profited as they ought 
 to have done by their holy religion? Have they 
 improved the superior talents committed to their 
 care? Have they cultivated "the fruit of the Spirit, 
 which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, 
 goodness, faith, meekness, temperance?" That ex- 
 isting civil and religious institutions in any Protest- 
 ant state have not produced these Christian fruits, 
 is a melancholy truth; and probably, unless they 
 receive the culture already mentioned, (Luke xiii. 
 8.) they never will subdue those lusts which produce 
 war, viz. pride, envy, malice, covetousness, and
 
 85 
 
 uncharitableness. The consideration of this im- 
 portant subject cannot be too much pressed upon 
 the statesman, the patriot, the divine, and the philan- 
 thropist, who may be assured, that whatever pro- 
 motes real Christianity will have a tendency to pro- 
 mote universal peace ; and whatever checks the 
 progress of Christianity, will be a cause of war. 
 
 When we consider the talents and influence of 
 a host of advocates in favour of war, and the va- 
 rious and powerful causes that operate to produce 
 it, and also to keep alive a military spirit, any at- 
 tempt to stem the torrent of interest, of fashion, and 
 delusion, that has prevailed for so many ages, 
 seems almost an Utopian undertaking. But the 
 Christian philosopher and philanthropist need not 
 despair; he has the spirit of prophecy, "the testi- 
 mony of Jesus," for his polar star : and it is de- 
 lightful to contemplate the realization of these pre- 
 cepts, the accomplishment of these prophecies, 
 which, in the coming periods of the world, we are 
 taught to expect, and to expect without a possibi- 
 lity of being disappointed. These days may be 
 remote, or they may be near, even at our doors. 
 This we know, that it is the will of God that such 
 days shall arrive ; that they are designed by him to 
 promote his glory, and the happiness of his crea- 
 tures; can any Christian minister, therefore, my 
 dear sir, entertain a reasonable doubt, of its being 
 his bounden duty to labour in the cause of peace 
 of universal peace, and good-will among men of all 
 nations ? 
 
 I am, &c. &c.
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 ON THE PHYSICAL EVILS OF WAR. 
 
 Where strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." James iii. 16. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 CONSIDERING the Gospel of Christ as a system of 
 religion and morals contrived and intended by the 
 great Ruler of the world to render men virtuous 
 and happy ; and regarding war as destructive of 
 every virtuous and moral principle which the Gospel 
 inculcates, we must contemplate its existence as 
 one of the greatest evils in this our probationary 
 state. 
 
 The evils occasioned by war may be divided 
 into physical and moral. The former, though tre- 
 mendous, may be considered as trifling, when com- 
 pared with the latter; and nothing can be more 
 just than the remark of our admirable female bard, 
 that 
 
 " War's least horror is the ensanguin'd field." 
 
 The laws of Omnipotence are so wisely and be- 
 nevolently framed, that obedience to them may be 
 considered as the road to happiness ; and the dis- 
 obeying them, the path to misery. Contemplating 
 the evils arising from war as correctional punish-
 
 87 
 
 ments, intended for our benefit, the ways of God 
 may be regarded as both just and merciful : but to 
 look upon them as evils happening in the usual and 
 established course of God's providence, and un- 
 avoidable by man, appears to be little short of gross 
 impiety, as well as expressive of a disbelief in pro- 
 phecy, one of the main pillars of Christianity. The 
 physical or minor evils of war will form the subject 
 of my present letter. 
 
 If we estimate the number of men that are em- 
 ployed for the purpose of war, to be merely so many 
 human beings subtracted from the mass of mankind, 
 and their labour, as to any valuable purpose, lost 
 to the world, the evil is one of no trifling magni- 
 tude; and its existence leads us to the humiliating 
 conclusion, that men are either less wise, or less 
 humane, than the brute creation. Allowing the 
 average number of troops, in time of war and peace, 
 in Europe, to amount to three millions : for each of 
 these individuals, we may probably reckon the la- 
 bour of two others to support him in food, clothing, 
 &c. ; as well as to build ships, construct forts, and 
 to perform other work connected with war. This 
 will take away nine or ten millions of men, all in 
 the prime and vigour of manhood, from all profit- 
 able labour. To this may be added the labour and 
 food of at least a million of horses. Did the loss of 
 so much labour and food procure general peace and 
 safety, this loss would be little to be regretted ; but, 
 instead of doing this, history tells us that armies 
 have kept the world in a state of fever and irrita- 
 tion, and have been the means of inflicting; upon it
 
 88 
 
 evils the most horrible and extensive. With these, 
 volumes might be filled. A few of recent date will 
 be exhibited. 
 
 Lord Kames, a writer of some celebrity, says 
 that 
 
 " Humanity, it must be acknowledged, gains nothing from 
 wars of small states in close neighbourhood : such wars are 
 brutal and bloody, because they are carried on with bitter 
 enmity against individuals. Thanks to Providence, that 
 war at present bears a less savage aspect : we spare indivi- 
 duals, and make war upon the nation only : barbarity and 
 cruelty give place to magnanimity ; and soldiers are con- 
 verted from brutes into heroes. Such wars give exercise to 
 the elevated courage and disinterestedness, which are always 
 attended with consciousness of merit and dignity." 
 
 As Lord Kames, the avowed advocate of war, that 
 is, upon a large scale, admits that other wars are 
 brutal and bloody, which none will deny, I shall 
 confine the remarks and examples I have to offer, 
 chiefly to war upon a scale of magnificence. It 
 will, however, be rather difficult to show how, in 
 conducting this kind of warfare, individuals can be 
 spared and a nation punished, as a nation is com- 
 posed of individuals. It will be no less difficult 
 to show how, in wars of this description, " barba- 
 rity and cruelty give place to magnanimity," or 
 that " soldiers are onverted from brutes into he- 
 roes." 
 
 The expedition of Napoleon to Moscow may be 
 considered as a species of warfare upon a scale of 
 magnificence, to suit the fastidious taste of Lord 
 Karaes ; and a few extracts from the narratives of
 
 89 
 
 the Russian campaign will suffice to show that the 
 great difference between wars upon a large scale 
 and those upon a small one, is, that the barbarities 
 and cruelties attending the former, are in propor- 
 tion to the magnitude of the scale on which a war 
 
 O 
 
 is conducted, and that the kind of advantages 
 dreamt of by Lord Kames are things of rare occur- 
 rence. 
 
 Passing over the sanguinary battles of Smolensko 
 and Borodino, in the latter of which 80,000 men 
 and 25,000 horses were killed, I come to the de- 
 struction of Moscow, and give you the following- 
 extract from the work of Sir R. K. Porter : 
 
 "The French troops, as they poured into this devoted 
 city, had spread themselves in every direction in search of 
 plunder ; and in their progress, they committed outrages so 
 horrid on the persons of all whom they discovered, that 
 fathers, desperate to save their children from pollution, 
 would set fire to their places of refuge, and find a surer asy- 
 lum in the flnmes. 
 
 " The streets, the houses, the cellars flowed with blood, 
 and were filled with violation and carnage. Manhood seem- 
 ed to be lost in the French soldier; for nothing was dis- 
 cerned in him but the wild beast ravening for prey; or rather 
 the fiend of hell, gluttoning himself in the commission of every 
 horrible crime." 
 
 Labaume, on the same subject, says : 
 
 "The most heart-rending scene which my imagination 
 had ever conceived, far surpassing the most afflicting ac- 
 counts in ancient or modern history, now presented itself 
 before our eyes. A great part of the population of Moscow, 
 frightened at our arrival, bad concealed themselves in cellars, 
 or secret recesses of their houses. As the fire spread around,
 
 90 
 
 we saw them rushing in despair from their various asylums. 
 They uttered no imprecations, they breathed no complaints, 
 but carrying with them their most precious effects, fled be- 
 fore the flames. Others of greater sensibility, and actuated 
 by the genuine feelings of nature, saved only their children, 
 who were clasped closely in their arms. Many old people, 
 borne down with grief rather than by age, had not sufficient 
 strength to follow their families, and expired near the houses 
 in which they were born. 
 
 " Desirous of terminating the recital of this horrid cata- 
 strophe, for which history wants expressions, and poetry has 
 no colours, I shall pass over in silence many circumstances 
 revolting to humanity, and merely describe the dreadful con- 
 fusion which arose in our army, when the fire had reached 
 every part of Moscow, and the whole city was become one 
 immense flame. 
 
 " A long row of carriages was perceived through the thick 
 smoke, loaded with booty. Being too heavily laden for the 
 exhausted cattle to drag them along, they were obliged to 
 halt at every step, when we heard the execrations of the dri- 
 vers, who, terrified at the surrounding flames, endeavoured 
 to push forward, with dreadful outcries. The soldiers were 
 still armed, diligently employed in forcing open every door. 
 They seemed to fear lest they should leave any house un- 
 touched. In spite of the extreme peril which threatened 
 them, the love of plunder induced our soldiers to brave every 
 danger. Stimulated by an irresistible desire of pillage, they 
 precipitated themselves into the flames. They waded in 
 blood, treading upon the dead bodies without remorse, whilst 
 the ruins of the houses, mixed with burning coals, fell thick 
 on their murderous hands." 
 
 These extracts show the evils suffered by the 
 Russians, in war upon a large scale : the miseries 
 experienced by the French were by no means in- 
 terior to them.
 
 91 
 
 On the 19th of October, they began their disas- 
 trous retreat. On the 25th, a battle was fought 
 which was most destructive to them. On the 30th, 
 says Labaume, 
 
 " The nearer we approached the Majaisk, the more deso- 
 late the country appeared. But most horrible was the mul- 
 titude of dead bodies which, deprived of burial fifty-two 
 days, scarcely retained the human form. On arriving at 
 Borodino, my consternation was inexpressible at finding the 
 20,000 men, who had perished there, lying uncovered." 
 
 November 6th. "The soldiers vainly struggling with the 
 snow and the wind, which rushed upon them with the vio- 
 lence of a whirlwind, could no longer distinguish the road ; 
 and falling into the ditches which bordered it, found a grave. 
 How many unfortunate beings on this dreadful day, dying 
 of cold and famine, struggled hard with the agonies of death. 
 Stretched on the road, we could distinguish only the heaps 
 of snow which covered them, and which, at almost every 
 step, formed little undulations like so many graves." " The 
 Cossacs came to the succour of the peasants, and drove 
 back to the great road, already filled with the dying and the 
 dead, those who escaped from the carnage made among 
 them. Tormented with hunger, we saw them run after 
 every horse the moment it fell. They devoured it like dogs, 
 and fought among themselves for the mangled limbs." 
 
 November 13th. "It was horrible to see and hear the 
 enormous dogs with shaggy hair, which, driven from the 
 villages we had burned, followed us along our march. Dy- 
 ing with hunger, they uttered one incessant and frightful 
 howl, and often disputed with the soldiers the carcasses of 
 the horses which fell in the route. In addition to this, 
 the ravens, attracted by the scent of dead bodies, hovered 
 over us in black and innumerable crowds, and by their 
 cries of mournful presage, struck the stoutest hearts with 
 terror.
 
 92 
 
 " Happily we were but two leagues from Smolensko. 
 But what was our grief, when we heard that the ninth corps 
 was gone, and that the provisions were all consumed. A 
 thunderbolt falling at our feet would have confounded us 
 less than did this news." 
 
 November 28th. The wreck of the French army arrived 
 at the Beresina ; and Labaume says, " Now began a fright- 
 ful contention between the foot-soldiers, and the horsemen. 
 Many perished by the hands of their comrades, but a greater 
 number were suffocated at the head of the bridge ; and the 
 dead bodies of men and horses so choked every avenue, that 
 it was necessary to climb over mountains of carcasses to ar- 
 rive at the river. Some who were buried in these horrible 
 heaps, still breathed, and struggling with the agonies of death, 
 caught hold of those who mounted over them ; but these 
 kicked them with violence to disengage themselves, and with- 
 out remorse trod them under foot. 
 
 "At length the Russians advanced in a mass. At the 
 sight of the enemy, the artillery, the baggage- waggons, the 
 cavalry, and the foot- soldiers, all pressed on, contending 
 which should pass first. The strongest threw into the river 
 those who were weaker, and hindered their passage, or un- 
 feelingly trampled underfoot all the sick they found in their 
 way. Many hundreds were crushed to death by the wheels 
 of the cannon. Thousands and thousands of victims, de- 
 prived of all hope, threw themselves headlong into the Bere- 
 sina, and were lost in the waves." 
 
 December 4th. " The route was covered with soldiers, 
 who no longer retained the human form, and whom the 
 enemy disdained to make prisoners. Some had lost their 
 hearing, others their speech ; and many, by excessive cold 
 and hunger, were reduced to a state of frantic stupidity, in 
 which they roasted the dead bodies of their comrades, or even 
 gnawed their own hands and arms. Some were so weak, 
 that, unable to lift a piece of wood, or roll a stone towards 
 the fires which they had kindled, they sat down upon the
 
 93 
 
 dead bodies of their comrades, and, with a haggard counte- 
 nance, steadfastly gazed upon the burning coals. No sooner 
 was the fire extinguished, than these living spectres, unable 
 to rise, fell by the side of those on whom they had sat. 
 We saw many who were absolutely insane. To warm their 
 frozen feet, they plunged them naked into the middle of the 
 fire. Some, with a convulsive laugh, threw themselves into 
 the flames, and perished in the most horrible convulsions, 
 and uttering the most piercing cries ; while others, equally 
 insane, immediately followed them, and experienced the 
 same fate." 
 
 " On the morning of the 13th of December, of 400,000 
 warriors, who had crossed the Niemen' at the opening of } 
 the campaign scarcely 20,000 men repassed it, of whom at 
 least two-thirds had not seen the Kremlin. Arrived at the 
 opposite bank, like ghosts returned from the infernal regions, 
 we fearfully looked behind us and beheld with horror the sa- 
 vage countries where we had suffered so much." 
 
 Here, my dear Sir, is " a war for glory," between 
 two large empires remote from each other ; the 
 kind of war which Lord Kames terms " the school 
 of every manly virtue ; " " in which barbarity gives 
 place to magnanimity, and soldiers are converted 
 into heroes ! !" 
 
 In contemplating the complicated scenes here 
 described of vice, of cruelty, and suffering, we are na- 
 turally and insensibly led to ask who was the author 
 of these calamities. The answer, I anticipate, will 
 be Napoleon. It is readily allowed, that he is to be 
 regarded as the great primum mobile of them. But, 
 admitting God to be the great Ruler of the world, 
 I would ask you, was not every individual in that 
 vast army, whether officer of high rank or private 
 soldier was not every man who assisted in plan-
 
 94 
 
 ning this stupendous and unjust invasion nay, was 
 not every clerk in the war departments, who assist- 
 ed in writing letters, or in forwarding this wicked 
 enterprise, a partaker, in the sight of a just Ruler, 
 in the guilt of their superior, and will not God call 
 them individually to account? Are not all these ac- 
 countable beings ? accountable in the first place to 
 God for all their actions ? Man, the noblest of all 
 the works of God, is " made in the image of God." 
 He is not to be regarded, nor is he to regard him- 
 self, as one of the brute creation, or as a mere piece 
 of mechanism, to be wound up and set a-going at the 
 pleasure of another. God has graciously given him, 
 along with his revealed will, an understanding and 
 a conscience for his guides, and to these directors he 
 is, at his peril, to attend. But neglecting these sacred 
 guides, men have become blind followers of blind 
 leaders, and hence have arisen many of the compli- 
 cated evils that have deluged the world with blood, 
 and retarded the spread of Christianity and civi- 
 lization. 
 
 It is possible that had there been found in that 
 immense army only a few individuals, and these 
 even in the lowest ranks, who, possessing the cou- 
 rage of the primitive martyrs, and obedient to con- 
 science, (like the centurion Marcel lus, of whom I 
 shall hereafter have occasion to speak,) had nobly 
 stood forward, and said that they were ready to suf- 
 fer death, rather than engage in an unjust and cruel 
 
 war had this been the case, it is possible that 
 
 the progress of the tyrant might have been arrested. 
 This, however, is a certain Christian truth, that
 
 95 
 
 had there been only one solitary individual among 
 400,000 men, who thought that the precepts of Je- 
 sus forbad him to take any part in such a war, it 
 was the duty of that single being to act as did Mar- 
 cellus. Such a man, in the best sense of the word, 
 would have been a Christian martyr : he would have 
 borne his testimony and have suffered in the best 
 of causes : he would have escaped hardships ex- 
 ceeding description : instead of being forgotten, or 
 thought of with sentiments of execration, his memo- 
 ry would have been held in honour by every good 
 man ; and, what surpasses all, he would have se- 
 cured to himself the approbation of his future Judge. 
 
 You will, perhaps, remark that this line of con- 
 duct would destroy all subordination and military 
 discipline, render armies useless, and be dangerous 
 to the interests of all states. To this I can only 
 answer, that an opposite conduct is destructive of 
 Christianity, the great bulwark of national and in- 
 dividual safety. If Christians believe in the truth 
 of their religion, if they indeed believe that God is 
 the moral Ruler and Governor of the world, let them 
 be consistent, and consider all national safety as pre- 
 carious and uncertain, which is not founded upon 
 implicit obedience to his revealed will. 
 
 If these remarks are in the spirit of a reformer, 
 are they not also in the spirit of Jesus, who tells his 
 disciples not to " fear them which kill the body, but 
 are not able to kill the soul ; but rather to fear Him 
 which is able to kill both soul and body in hell?" 
 If those who advocate the cause of " peace on earth," 
 are to be taunted, they have the consolation of know- 

 
 96 
 
 ing that this may secure them the approbation and 
 favour of God. " Blessed are ye, (says our Saviour,) 
 when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and 
 say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my 
 sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is 
 your reward." 
 
 As you lay some stress upon the interests of em- 
 pires being endangered, allow me to ask you, if you 
 can mention one nation in Europe, the interests, nay 
 the very existence of which has not, by the war system, 
 been placed in the most imminent peril during the 
 last thirty or forty years ? Have they not all placed 
 their dependence upon the sword? How many of 
 these nations may now say that " they have trusted 
 to the staft' of this bruised reed, en which if a man 
 lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it*!!" 
 
 Should it be remarked that the army of Napoleon 
 was composed of mercenary troops of various na- 
 tions, and drawn together by compulsion ; and there- 
 fore more unprincipled than other armies,' I would 
 observe, that all armies are much alike, and that men 
 who barter their moral freedom, and unconditionally 
 sell themselves as soldiers to Ccesar, lose the re- 
 straints which Christianity imposes, and can no 
 longer be relied on as moral agents. They have 
 in all ages been the enslavers of mankind, and it 
 seems to be an immutable law of Omnipotence, that 
 they ever shall be so ; and that those " who take 
 the sword, shall perish with the sword." 
 
 Having noticed the atrocities of the troops under 
 
 * 2 Kings xviii. 21.
 
 9? 
 
 Napoleon, it is proper that I should also speak of 
 the conduct of British troops, when placed in a 
 situation which is supposed to sanction a departure 
 from the rules of strict military discipline ; and it is 
 with very painful feelings I transcribe the following 
 account of the transactions attending the storming of 
 St. Sebastian, extracted from a very popular perio- 
 dical work : (BlackwoocCs Magazine.} 
 
 " The enemy having reserved their fire till the head of 
 their column had gained the middle of the stream, then 
 opened with the most deadly effect. Grape, cannister, mus- 
 ketry, shells, grenades, and every species of missile, were 
 hurled from the ramparts, beneath which our gallant fellows 
 dropped like corn before the reaper ; insomuch, that in the 
 space of two minutes, the river was literally choked up with 
 the bodies of the killed and wounded, over whom, without 
 discrimination, the advancing divisions pressed on." 
 
 After having, with great loss, established them- 
 selves within the walls of the city, the narrator 
 continues : 
 
 " As soon as the fighting began to wax faint, the horrors 
 of plunder and rapine succeeded. Fortunately there were 
 few females in the place ; but of the fate of the few which 
 were there, I cannot even now think without a shudder. The 
 houses were every where ransacked, the furniture wantonly 
 broken, the churches profaned, the images dashed to pieces; 
 wine and spirit cellars broken open, and the troops, heated 
 already with angry passions, became absolutely mad by in- 
 toxication. All order and discipline were abandoned. The 
 officers had no longer the slightest control over their men, 
 who, on the contrary, controlled the officers; nor is it by any 
 means certain, that several of the latter did not fall by the 
 hands of the former, when they vainly attempted to bring 
 them back to a sense of subordination." 
 
 H
 
 After describing the burning and plundering of 
 the city during the night, and the brutality and 
 intoxication of the troops, the narrator continues : 
 
 " Of these various noises, the greater number now began 
 to subside, as night passed on ; and long before dawn, there 
 was a fearful silence. Sleep succeeded inebriety with the 
 bulk of the army : of the poor wretches who groaned and 
 shrieked three hours ago, many had expired ; and the very 
 fire had almost wasted itself, by consuming every thing upon 
 which it could feed. Nothing, therefore, could now be 
 heard, except an occasional faint moan, scarcely distinguish- 
 able from the heavy breathing of the sleepers ; and even that 
 
 was soon heard no more." " It is impossible to describe, 
 
 with any degree of fidelity, the appearance which St. Sebas- 
 tian presented, when the dawn of the 1st of September 
 rendered objects visible. The streets, which had lately been 
 covered with the living as well as the dead, were now left to 
 the occupation of the latter ; and these were so numerous, 
 that it puzzled the beholder to guess where so many sleeping 
 men could have found room to lie. The troops, however, 
 returned not, with the return of light, to their accustomed 
 state of discipline. Their strength being recruited, and their 
 senses restored, they applied themselves, with greater dili- 
 gence than ever, to the business of plunder. Of the houses, 
 few now remained, except in a state of ruin ; but even the 
 ruins were explored with the most rapacious eagerness, 
 not so much for jewels and other valuables, as for wine and 
 spirits." 
 
 I cannot take my leave of these painful and dis- 
 graceful transactions, without asking you if it is pos- 
 sible for those who acknowledge that God is mer- 
 
 o 
 
 ciful, just, and wise, and that HE watches over the 
 affairs of the world, to believe that any nation can 
 be in a state of permanent safety which depends on
 
 99 
 
 a military force. To imagine this, seems uo less 
 than to libel and defame the mercy, the justice, and 
 wisdom of God. 
 
 Concerning the magnitude of the physical evils 
 of war, no one appears to have entertained more 
 correct ideas than our eloquent orator and admired 
 author, Mr. Burke, who, in his Vindication of Natu- 
 ral Society, says : 
 
 "It is an incontestible truth, that there is more havoc made 
 in one year by men, than has been made by all the lions, ti- 
 gers, panthers, ounces, leopards, hyenas, rhinoceroses, ele- 
 phants, bears, and wolves, since the beginning of the world ; 
 though these agree ill enough with each other, and have a 
 much greater proportion of rage and fury in their composition 
 
 than we have." The same great man also says : " The 
 
 number of human beings who have been slain in battles, and 
 have perished in a no less miserable manner by the other 
 destructive consequences of war, from the beginning of the 
 world to the time at which he was writing, amounted to at 
 least seventy times the number of souls on the globe //" 
 
 After contemplating physical evils such as I have 
 stated, it seems unnecessary to notice a subject so 
 comparatively trifling as the money expenses of 
 war. But when wars upon a large scale are per- 
 severed in for a number of years, the debt incurred 
 by them must, in the end, become so enormous as 
 to occasion national bankruptcy, and along with it 
 civil commotions, and a suspension of law and social 
 order. To effect this, was, no doubt, the favourite 
 object of Napoleon in our late dreadful struggle ; 
 and had not his victories got the better of his judge- 
 ment, his war against our finances must have suc- 
 ceeded. 
 
 H 2
 
 100 
 
 The expenses for the support of civil government 
 and regal splendour, upon the most magnificent 
 scale, are altogether insignificant when compared 
 with those of war. The former may be compared 
 to the household expenses of a man of wealth, which 
 injure not his fortune ; the latter to those of a gam- 
 bler, which no fortune, however splendid, can main- 
 tain. The expenses of war, may, however, on one 
 principle, namely, the balance of power, be consi- 
 dered as a blessing to great and powerful nations : 
 for to these expenses they have often been indebted, 
 if not for peace, for occasional cessation of hostili- 
 ties. In times past, poverty appears to have been 
 the only effectual barrier to the ambition of princes, 
 and to a state of perpetual warfare ; and, instead of 
 national wealth, exhausted treasuries have been the 
 surest promoters of the interests of humanity. Fre- 
 deric the Great says : " Exhausted treasuries are at 
 length the production of peace, which ought to be 
 the work of humanity, not of necessity." I do not 
 suppose I exceed the truth in estimating our ex- 
 penses, during the last war, at a larger sum than 
 would have comfortably clothed and fed all the poor 
 persons in Europe, during the continuance of the 
 war! Had the money been thus employed, we might 
 have purchased friends, instead of creating jealous 
 rivals. This waste of wealth shows that, if men 
 want the necessaries of life, it arises from human 
 folly and wickedness; for it may safely be asserted 
 that, as far as depends upon God, he has made 
 abundant provision for a larger population than has 
 yet inhabited the earth.
 
 101 
 
 You will, my dear sir, perhaps say, that in esti- 
 mating the physical evils of war, by the miseries 
 experienced in the Russian campaign, I have se- 
 lected an extreme case, and that I have thereby 
 exaggerated these evils. I admit there is some 
 justice in such a remark; but it would be an easy 
 matter to show that misery to individuals is, with 
 few exceptions, the .general consequence of war, 
 whether upon a large or a small scale : but finding 
 that I have already exceeded the bounds of a letter., 
 I beg to refer you to a work containing much infor- 
 mation on that particular subject : it is intitled Pic- 
 tures of War by IRENICUS*. Whilst I am on this 
 subject, permit me to take the further liberty of 
 recommending to your perusal, An Inquiry into 
 the Accordance of War with the Principles of 
 Christianity^. Also the Herald of Peace, and the 
 eight Tracts published by the London Peace So- 
 ciety. These latter you may have for a very small 
 sum, and the perusal of them must afford pleasure 
 to every sincere lover of the Prince of Peace. 
 
 But, my dear sir, not only is the field of battle, 
 and an actual campaign like that in Russia, one 
 continued scene of suffering, but war, in its various 
 stages, inflicts hardships, privations, death. Of 
 this our great lexicographer, Dr. Johnson, appears 
 to have entertained more correct notions than Lord 
 Kames. 
 
 " It is wonderful," says the former, " with what coolness 
 
 * Sold by Longman and Co. London, and W. Alexander, York, 
 f Longman and Co. J Hatchard and Son.
 
 103 
 
 and indifference the greater part of mankind see war com- 
 menced. Those that hear of it at a distance, or read of it in 
 books, but have never presented its evils to their minds, con- 
 sider it as little more than a splendid game, a proclamation, 
 an army, a battle, and a triumph. Some, indeed, must perish 
 in the most successful field ; but they die upon the bed of 
 honour, resign their lives amidst the joys of conquest, and 
 filled with England's glory, smile in death. The life of a 
 modern soldier is ill represented by heroic fiction. War has 
 means of destruction more formidable than the cannon and 
 the sword. Of the thousands and ten thousands, that perished 
 in our late contests with France and Spain, a very small part 
 ever felt the stroke of an enemy. The rest languished in 
 tents and ships amidst damps and putrefactions, gasping and 
 groaning, unpitied by men made obdurate by long continu- 
 ance of hopeless misery : and were at last whelmed in pits, 
 or heaved into the ocean, without notice and without remem- 
 brance. By incommodious encampments and unwholesome 
 stations, where courage is useless, and enterprise impracti- 
 cable, fleets are silently dispeopled, and armies sluggishly 
 melted away." 
 
 These are not merely the sentiments of a recluse 
 or a scholar in his closet ; the history of the late war, 
 and indeed of every war, affords similar examples 
 in abundance. I will give you one from the pen of 
 an eye-witness, whose writings show him to be alike 
 intitled to our confidence and our esteem. The 
 author of the Recollections in the Peninsula, p. 5, 
 says : 
 
 " One thousand and seventy bayonets, all fine sized, effi- 
 cient men, then mustered under our colours. My regiment 
 has never been very roughly handled in the field, although it 
 has borne handsome share of honourable peril. But alas ! 
 what between sickness, suffering, and the sword, few, very
 
 103 
 
 few of those men are now in existence. We had yearly 
 supplies of men from the depot ; they too have, for the most 
 part, disappeared." The humane author himself was de- 
 tained by sickness some months from his regiment, and was 
 nearly falling its victim. "About the close of March," he says, 
 " being perfectly restored to health, I rejoined my regiment. 
 Alas ! when I came to stand on the parade, for how many a 
 face did my eye enquire in vain : in the space of four short 
 months my regiment had buried nearly three hundred men, 
 all in the prime of life and vigour of manhood. They had 
 fallen victims to the sickly season in Estramadura." 
 
 The miseries and calamities of the late war, re- 
 corded as they have been, by eye-witnesses, and 
 those men of science, virtue, and humanity, seem 
 peculiarly calculated, in a reading age like the 
 present, to produce in the minds of thinking men of 
 the military profession, a loathing and abhorrence 
 of war. Mr. Edgeworth says : 
 
 " Martial enthusiasm, and a philosophic, humane love of 
 peace, are incompatible ; therefore military pupils should 
 not be made philosophers, else they cease to be soldiers, 
 and then how can we be defended ? An officer can no more 
 be certain of never being called upon to fight in an unjust 
 cause, than a lawyer can be certain that he will never be 
 obliged to plead on the wrong side of the question." 
 
 This seems to be saying little more than what 
 we may infer from pagan writers of antiquity : and 
 Mr. Edgeworth might, in few words, with more 
 point, and equal truth, have said, that when men 
 become. Christians, they will " cease to learn war," 
 and " will beat their swords into ploughshares." 
 Men imbued with just sentiments and Christian feel- 
 ings like the estimable author of Recollections, 8$c.
 
 (and I trust there are many such both in the army 
 and navy,) must, in time, discover that they are the 
 instruments whereby the calamities of war are in- 
 flicted ; and that they, as well as their rulers, must 
 answer for these things at the bar of a just judge. 
 The time will arrive, when poets need no longer 
 sing the plaintive strains of our peaceful bard : 
 
 " My ear is pained, 
 
 My soul is sick with every day's report 
 
 Of wrong and outrage with which earth is filled. 
 
 There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart, 
 
 It does not feel for man : 
 
 Then what is man ? And what man seeing this, 
 
 And having human feelings, does not blush 
 
 And hang his head to find himself a man ? 
 
 May our poets of the present day, like COWPER, 
 "labour for peace;" and may the GOD OF PEACE 
 bless their labours, is the sincere prayer of, 
 
 Yours faithfully.
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 ON THE MORAL EVILS OF WAR. 
 
 " Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is 
 guilty of all." James ii. 10. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 THE world has been so long familiar with war and 
 vice, that it requires very nice discrimination to 
 ascertain which is the cause, and which the effect ; 
 for they appear to have produced and re-produced 
 each other, with little intermission, for a succession 
 of ages. From history we may gather, that vicious 
 nations have generally been addicted to war ; and 
 war-like nations to vice. If, therefore, ministers 
 of the Gospel can preach down war, they will shut 
 the great flood-gate that has deluged the world 
 with vice : or, if they can preach down vice, they 
 will banish from the world the greatest evil with 
 which it has pleased God to afflict it. You cannot, 
 ny dear sir, on the principles of Dr. Paley*, preach 
 the doctrines of Christ, without inculcating a spirit 
 directly the reverse of that which is required to 
 form a hero. Nor can you teach men to pray in 
 the spirit in which Christ taught men to pray, with- 
 
 * See Letter I. page 32.
 
 106 
 
 out inclining them to forgive, not to slaughter their 
 enemies. 
 
 The inseparable connexion there is between one 
 vice and many others ; or, if you please, between 
 war and a multitude of vices, seems to justify the 
 remark of the apostle, that, " whosoever shall keep 
 the whole law, and yet offend in one point, is guilty 
 of all." The system of Christian morals, which is 
 admirably calculated to make men virtuous and hap- 
 py, may, perhaps, not unfitly be compared to a ma- 
 chine consisting of various wheels and movements, 
 one of which being put out of order, the whole will 
 be deranged. In like manner, if one of the com- 
 mands of God, or one of those wise laws by which 
 He governs the world, be broken or suspended, the 
 whole moral machine will be disordered, and vice 
 and misery supersede virtue and happiness. A cele- 
 brated philosopher and moralist * observes, " That 
 the virtues are all parts of a circle : whatever is hu- 
 mane is wi#e, whatever is wise is just : and what- 
 ever is wise, just, and humane, will be found to be 
 the true interest of states." This aphorism of the 
 philosopher is in unison with the motto I have se- 
 lected ; and it is to be regretted, that a man whose 
 general conduct appears to have been regulated by 
 the precepts of the Christian religion, should have 
 been insensible of the source from whence he had 
 derived his wisdom and virtue. 
 
 Among the most potent, and, I will add, the most 
 delightful of those laws whereby God binds man- 
 
 * Dr. Franklin,
 
 107 
 
 kind together in social intercourse, administering at 
 the same time to their virtue and happiness, i sthe 
 sympathy and affection which, by his wise and be- 
 nevolent appointment, prevails between the sexes. 
 We are informed by the highest authority, that "In 
 the beginning, God made them male and female ; and 
 said, for this cause a man shall leave father and mo- 
 ther, and shall cleave to his wife : and they twain 
 shall be one flesh. Wherefore, they are no more twain, 
 but one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined to- 
 gether, let not man put asunder" 
 
 Where this sympathy and affection are cultivated, 
 or, in other words, where marriage is held in honour, 
 whether by nations or individuals, virtue and hap- 
 piness will generally be found to predominate ; and, 
 on the other hand, vice and misery will as generally 
 result from the breach of this first law of Omnipo- 
 tence. I shall therefore, instead of descanting on 
 the moral evils of war, generally, which has already 
 been done by many, confine the remarks I have to 
 offer, chiefly to those evils which spring from the 
 breach or neglect of the sacred ordinance of mar- 
 riage. If I can show, which I think it will not be 
 difficult to do, that war directly interferes with this 
 institution, and that, in many instances, it sets aside 
 this "great expedient for maintaining the moral or- 
 der and social happiness of mankind ;" it may safe- 
 ly be affirmed, that, " if it does not cause, it aggra- 
 vates every evil, moral or political, by which man- 
 kind is assailed." To express myself in language 
 suited to the ideas of the transatlantic philosopher, 
 If from the circle of the virtues we subtract conju-
 
 108 
 
 gal fidelity, we break the circle of social order and 
 happiness. 
 
 Dr. Paley, speaking of the criminal intercourse 
 between the sexes, observes, " That it is a fact," 
 however it be accounted for, " that it corrupts and 
 depraves the moral character more than any single 
 species of vice whatsoever." He adds, " These in- 
 dulgencies in low life are usually the first stages of 
 men's progress to the most desperate villanies ; and 
 in high life, to that lamentable dissoluteness of prin- 
 ciple, which manifests itself in a profligacy of pub- 
 lic conduct, and a contempt of the obligations of 
 religion and moral probity." 
 
 That war not only sanctions, but powerfully pro- 
 motes this criminal intercourse, will not be doubted 
 by any one who has had access to fleets and camps : 
 and if it is destructive to virtuous love and conjugal 
 affection, if it forces asunder those whom God has 
 joined together and for years keeps them separate, 
 we must regard it as a moral evil of the first magni- 
 tude. To expect the Christian virtues to flourish in 
 a camp, a fleet, or in any situation deprived of the 
 influence of virtuous female society, is an expecta- 
 tion as little likely to be realized as that fruits and 
 flowers should arrive at perfection without the genial 
 warmth and light of the sun. 
 
 It may safely be laid down as a general axiom, 
 that whatever promotes individual virtue and happi- 
 ness, will also promote public security and prosperi- 
 ty, or that whatever " is wise, just, and humane, will 
 be found the true interest of states." I am sure you 
 will cordially agree with me, that nothing so certain-
 
 109 
 
 ly promotes individual happiness as virtuous love. 
 Soldiers and sailors, from being thrown into the so- 
 ciety of the most abandoned females, often lose not 
 only the relish for virtuous love, but for virtue itself. 
 Did the evil stop here, there would be the less cause 
 for regret : but at the end of a war, thousands of 
 
 O ' 
 
 women, as well as of men, who have been habitu- 
 ated to vice and profligacy, are cast into the private 
 walks of society, and spread a destructive and ex- 
 tensive moral contagion. In this way, a passion 
 which, under due discipline and regulation, is cal- 
 culated to ennoble human nature, and fit man for 
 happiness, both here and hereafter, is, by being turn- 
 ed aside into a polluted channel, converted into poi- 
 son, and rendered a fruitful source of contamination, 
 guilt, and misery. 
 
 The histories of all nations, ancient or modern, 
 afford ample proofs of the universal influence and 
 power of love ; and, whatever gloomy ascetics or 
 bigoted priests may affirm, it is a principle which 
 Omnipotence never meant to be subdued ; and it is 
 one of the greatest excellencies of Christianity over 
 every other religion, that it lays down a just and ra- 
 tional law for its regulation, and secures to females 
 that affection, reverence, and honour, which the 
 great and all-wise Creator seems to have assigned 
 them. Condemning not only polygamy and divorce, 
 but every thing leading to vice and immorality, 
 Christianity holds marriage honourable. Consider- 
 ing the power and stability of a nation to depend 
 more on its moral character than on the numbers and 
 physical strength of its population ; and regarding
 
 110 
 
 the institution of marriage as the palladium of mora- 
 lity ; it will follow that war, if an enemy to this insti- 
 tu* : on, must be an enemy to mankind ; and a moral 
 evil, alike destructive to happiness and security. 
 
 Deficient as Britons, and particularly those en- 
 gaged in war, may be in this very important point 
 of moral character, it is some consolation to reflect, 
 that in proportion as they are in this respect less 
 guilty than most other people, so do they enjoy 
 superior blessings and privileges. By those who 
 have had ample opportunities of becoming ac- 
 quainted with the moral and domestic characters of 
 the nations in the south of Europe, who have suf- 
 fered so intensely from war, and who have yet hardly 
 tasted the sweets of peace, we are informed that 
 the marriage institution is little better than an empty 
 name ; and this even in the highest classes of society. 
 Regarding maternal instruction as the foundation- 
 stone of education, may we not infer that the im- 
 moral conduct of mothers, in their disregard of the 
 marriage vows, has been one principal cause of the 
 misery and moral degradation of these nations. 
 
 If, from the Christian nations in the south of 
 Europe, we turn our view to those countries where 
 Mohammedanism, and, with it, polygamy prevail, 
 we shall find still stronger evidence of the correct- 
 ness of the above remark. In savage nations, where 
 the females are regarded as domestic slaves, and in 
 Mohammedan countries where their situation, though 
 frequently splendid, is equally calculated to destroy 
 virtuous love and generous principles, the men are, 
 for the most part, deceitful, depraved, and cruel.
 
 Ill 
 
 Of this, Turkey appears at this moment to afford a 
 very melancholy proof: and may \ve not attribute 
 this mainly to the defects of early education ; for, 
 in the degraded state of females, whether among 
 Mohammedans or savages, what can be looked for 
 in the way of maternal instruction? We must ex- 
 pect that children of both sexes brought up under 
 degraded mothers, will partake of the mother's cha- 
 racter. I mention these things to show the evil 
 effects arising from a departure from those laws 
 which Christianity prescribes respecting marriage; 
 and I leave you to decide whether war, as an enemy 
 to conjugal duty and affection, does not produce evils 
 similar to those which arise from polygamy or sa- 
 vage life. 
 
 British females stand upon high ground ; and of 
 them (as much is given) much will be required. 
 Almost incredible as it may appear, I have known 
 some among them, who though they could not en- 
 dure the sight of an animal or an insect in pain,would 
 read of the slaughter of thousands of Frenchmen with 
 their eyes glistening with joy. Surely, my dear sir, 
 it is the duty of the clergy, as the ambassadors of the 
 Prince of Peace, to unite their efforts to cast out this 
 demon from the breasts of their fair country-women. 
 Till females become the advocates of peace on earth, 
 Britain, however extensive its benevolent institu- 
 tions, will be intrinsically wanting in that charity 
 without which the highest Christian attainments are 
 as " sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." 
 
 Though no longer a member of a profession, which 
 has, during a large portion of my life, afforded me
 
 112 
 
 in some degree support ; and which has constituted 
 the pleasure, and, I may add, the pride of a consi- 
 derable part of it ; I hope I may be permitted as a 
 seaman, and as a seaman's friend, to say a few words 
 concerning a practice, which seems to be not only 
 at variance with policy and humanity, but peculiarly 
 calculated to promote vice, by forcing asunder those 
 whom God has joined together; I mean the practice 
 of the impressment of seamen. 
 
 This custom, alike contrary to the laws of God 
 and man, and productive of much vice and misery, 
 will be considered in my next letter. 
 
 I remain, &c. &c.
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. 
 
 "What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Matt. xix. 6. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 BEFORE I enter upon the subject of impressment, 
 permit me to say a few words on the characters and 
 habits of seamen ; for it is a subject on which, I 
 believe, landsmen in general, have formed very erro- 
 neous opinions. 
 
 Seamen are commonly considered as persons of 
 vicious, idle, and thoughtless habits. This may 
 be very true of them after being long employed in 
 the naval service ; but their character is often the 
 very reverse of this when they enter, or rather, 
 when they are forced into it. Seamen, at least 
 those who are regularly brought up as such, are 
 early accustomed to habits of industry, and they 
 quit them with regret. They are trained to a la- 
 borious trade, which, in common with other trades, 
 holds out to them the cheering prospect, which most 
 good men look forward to as essential to a high de- 
 gree of earthly happiness, which is that, by good 
 conduct, they may, in due time, be enabled to marry 
 those they love, or afford support to aged or infirm
 
 114 
 
 parents. That men of these habits and views 
 should, from a life of industry, be dragged into 
 scenes of vice and debauchery, is deeply to be 
 lamented. That they should be placed in situ- 
 ations likely to send them to their last account, 
 " with all their sins upon their heads," is what you, 
 as a clergyman, must particularly deplore. But 
 vice and misery must ensue from every system which 
 interferes with the sacred institution of marriage ; 
 an institution coeval with the creation, and with 
 which the custom of impressment is in open hostility. 
 The eloquent advocate of the Negro slaves in 
 the West Indies, in his Appeal in their behalf, 
 after quoting the extract I have given, in my last 
 letter, from Dr. Paley, adds : 
 
 " This cannot be surprising to any considerate mind. The 
 supreme Ordairier of all things, in his moral administration 
 of the universe, usually renders crime, in the way of natural 
 consequences, productive of punishment ; and it was surely 
 to be expected that he would manifest, by some strong judi- 
 cial sanction, his condemnation of practices, which are at 
 war with the marriage institution, the great expedient for 
 maintaining the moral order and social happiness of man- 
 kind." 
 
 At a meeting in 1825 of the Anti-slavery Society, 
 an advertisement from a Jamaica paper was read, 
 in which it was stated, that a female slave had abs- 
 conded: that she was supposed to be harboured 
 by her husband ; and a reward was offered for her 
 apprehension. This account called forth strong 
 expressions of sympathy and indignation : but a 
 little reflection would have shown to Dr. Lushingtori
 
 115 
 
 or Mr. Wilberforce, that, whether we regard the 
 cruelty of forcibly separating man and wife, or the 
 crime of violating the marriage institution, impress- 
 ment is more to be deprecated than Negro slavery ; 
 and the seaman is placed in a worse situation than 
 the slave who is born in the colonies. The latter will 
 seldom be separated more than a few miles from her 
 he calls his wife; and the worst punishment that 
 can await him, is flogging or imprisonment. But 
 the seaman is not only forcibly separated from his 
 wife and family, but he is sent into a distant part 
 of the globe, and this not merely to work, but to 
 transgress one of the first principles of human 
 nature ; to fight and kill those who have never in- 
 jured him ; and, strange to say, the British seaman 
 engages in the work of destruction with zeal and 
 alacrity, and without inquiry. If checked by con- 
 science, or if urged by humanity, or the all-power- 
 ful feelings of conjugal or parental affection, he 
 ventures to quit a situation into which he has been 
 forced, he is liable to suffer DEATH ! ! We are told 
 by the highest legal authority, that Christianity is 
 " part and parcel of our code of laws." Impressment 
 alas ! seems to dismiss from this code, the distin- 
 guishing characteristics of Christianity, viz. justice, 
 judgment, and mercy ; and therefore the continu- 
 ance of it must be as contrary to our interest as to 
 our duty. 
 
 An author of the present day, equally to be ad- 
 mired for the eWance of his writings, and for the 
 
 O C7 * 
 
 benevolent spirit these writings in general exhibit, 
 has expressed apparent satisfaction for having settled 
 
 1 2
 
 116 
 
 the question concerning the legality of impress- 
 ment*. If this practice can, indeed, be justified on 
 the score of its legality, it would seem to me that 
 no laws against Catholics, or others who dissent 
 from the state religion, ought to be regarded as 
 illegal. Impressment and these laws, stand upon 
 the same basis, namely, expediency, or state neces- 
 sity. They are alike as to their legality ; and the 
 Catholic who, like Mr. Butler, holds the lawfulness 
 of impressment, ought to be the last man in the 
 world to complain of Catholic disabilities. I beg 
 leave, however, to assure the author of the Remi- 
 niscences, that I am as friendly to Catholic eman- 
 cipation as himself, though, I apprehend, on very dif- 
 ferent grounds. These practices, and Negro slavery, 
 alike violate the first principle of Christianity, 
 " Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto 
 you, do ye even so unto them." I conclude, there- 
 fore, that neither of these can be lawful, if we con- 
 sider Christianity as " part and parcel of our code of 
 laws." The first principle of this religion is an 
 inflexible obedience to its precepts : this neither 
 Protestant nor Catholic can lay claim to ; if they 
 could, there would now be no contention between 
 them, nor would there be any impressment into fleets 
 or armies. 
 
 Although it is true that the evils arising from 
 
 o O 
 
 impressment are upon a small scale, compared to 
 those of Negro slavery ; yet, if we apply the test to 
 war in general, we shall find its evils, whether on 
 
 * See Butler's Reminiscences, p. 70.
 
 117 
 
 the score of cruelty or crime, infinitely more exten- 
 sive. If, therefore, war were banished from the 
 world, we might indulge a reasonable hope that 
 slavery and minor evils would soon cease to exist, 
 and that the happy time would be accelerated, when 
 men " shall sit every man under his vine and un- 
 der his fig-tree, and none shall make them afraid." 
 Most cordially, however, do I wish success to those 
 who have so nobly laboured to abolish slavery. 
 
 From the minds of the slaves becoming partially 
 enlightened, the dangers of slavery have become so 
 great, that the risk attending its continuance, or its 
 abolition, appears to be about equal. It requires 
 not the gift of prophecy to foresee that this must be 
 the case with impressment, at no distant period, if 
 again resorted to. Is it to be imagined, that a cus- 
 tom infinitely more galling and degrading than feu- 
 dalism, will endure for ages after the feudal system 
 has disappeared, and that it will stand the shock of 
 civil and religious knowledge, which is rapidly 
 spreading among all classes of mankind ? Impress- 
 ment was suited to the barbarous times in which it 
 originated, times, when the commanders of ships 
 were about as ignorant as their crews now are. Is 
 it to be expected, that, when knowledge breaks the 
 fetters imposed by ignorance, seamen will fight for 
 laws or legislators, that afford them no protection in 
 return? The present system is one of imminent 
 danger, and no lover of his country can look back 
 to our naval history in 1797, without entertaining a 
 conviction, that the safety of a nation depending 
 upon an armed force, supplied by impressment, rests
 
 118 
 
 upon a quicksand. In that year, the force which 
 has, for ages, been considered as the foundation of 
 our national safety and honour, was nearly, and at 
 a very critical period, proving the cause of our down- 
 fall. This ought never to be lost sight of by the 
 advocates of impressment ; and I trust I am not in- 
 consistent in considering its existence as a very great 
 political, as well as moral evil. It has already caused 
 seamen to expatriate themselves by thousands, and 
 even to fight against the country that gave them 
 birth. It renders them desperate and ferocious; and, 
 as outcasts, deprived of hope and protection from 
 any laws, they become fitted for piracy, or the worst 
 of crimes. 
 
 In the same paper in which I read an account of 
 the meeting of the Anti-slavery Society, (Observer, 
 2d May, 1825,) it was stated that a soldier was taken 
 before the magistrate at the police-office, in Queen- 
 square, for not allowing sufficient support to his wife. 
 The presiding magistrate observed : 
 
 " It will not do if three shillings and sixpence a week is 
 to be allowed out of a soldier's pay for the support of his 
 wife, it will be the means of reducing the soldiers to beggary. 
 My opinion is, that it is impossible for a soldier's pay to 
 maintain a family, and, therefore, he ought not to be allowed 
 to marry" 
 
 In the service of our country, even in time of 
 peace, we have about one hundred thousand men, 
 all in the prime and vigour of manhood, placed in 
 this situation. A large portion of these may proba- 
 bly be considered as an organized body of men, at 
 war with the marriage institution. I would here ask
 
 119 
 
 the eloquent and benevolent advocate of the Negroes, 
 who has never, I believe, taken a decided part against 
 war, whether a nation keeping so many young men 
 in a state of celibacy, or something worse, may not 
 expect that " God will manifest, by some strong judi- 
 cial sanction, his condemnation of a practice which is 
 at war with the marriage institution, the great expe- 
 dient for maintaining the moral order and social hap- 
 piness of mankind." Happy, my dear Sir, should I 
 be, to see yourself and this eloquent advocate for the 
 Negro slaves, and also the learned civilian, with the 
 author of the Reminiscences, enrolled in the lists of 
 the Peace Societies. But I fear this is a hope in 
 which I must not indulge ; as " there are not many 
 wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many 
 noble," who are to be found in their ranks: and few 
 indeed, of the clergy, in any European nation, aspire, 
 as peace-makers, to the honour of being " called the 
 children of GOD." 
 
 To enumerate only a small part of the evils ori- 
 ginating in war, would fill a volume, instead of a 
 letter. Among these, I will just notice its direct 
 tendency to impede the reception of Christianity, 
 among Jews. Mohammedans, Deists, and Pagans. 
 A case much in point presents itself, in the following 
 paper, which was affixed to the church-door at Fal- 
 mouth, in September, 1820, prior to a sermon deli- 
 vered there by a popular preacher, to promote the 
 views of the Society for the conversion of the Jews. 
 
 " Our Messiah, when he comes, will establish a system of 
 mercy, and peace, and kindness upon earth; while among 
 you, Christians, nothing but disputes, animosities, and cruel-
 
 120 
 
 ties, mark your passage through the world. Possibly, your 
 religion sanctions these things : ours does not ; Tor, with us, 
 the goodness and beneficence, alone, of the Mosaic laws, 
 constitute their grand authority, and proclaim aloud their 
 emanation from a good and beneficent God. We want 
 no better, we expect no better, until Messiah shall indeed 
 come. Then, (if the prophets of our sacred volume speak 
 true,) the conduct of man towards his fellows will be the 
 reverse of what it is now. ' Every man shall then sit under 
 his vine, and under his fig-tree. Nation shall no longer lift 
 up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
 more : but the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the wolf 
 and the lamb feed together, and a little child shall lead them.' 
 Has this happy period, this golden era of public peace and 
 private love, ever yet been witnessed ? Speak candidly, 
 Christian ! has it been once seen through the lapse of 1800 
 years * ? 
 
 Your brother in the dust, 
 
 Tizriy 5823. ZECHER LACHORCAN." 
 
 The above paper was written, it is supposed, by a 
 Jew, resident in the town of Falmouth. Who is the 
 author of it, is, however, a question of trifling mo- 
 ment ; it is with the truth and justice of the remarks 
 contained in it that we have to do ; and never can 
 Christians prove to the Jews, that Jesus was the 
 true Messiah, so long as they continue to learn tear, 
 which is " as contrary to the meekness and gentleness 
 of the Christian religion, as cruelty to mercy, or 
 tyranny to charity." To be consistent, they must 
 either relinquish the practice of war, or cease to as- 
 
 * I shall have occasion, in a subsequent letter, to show that, during 
 the first two centuries, Christians steadily refused to bear arms, under 
 any circumstances.*- See Letters IX. and X.
 
 sertthat Jesus was the predicted Messiah, the Prince 
 of Peace. 
 
 Similar objections, it would appear, are made by 
 the Hindoos. Abbe Dubois says: "It is, I believe, 
 generally admitted, that the invasions and conquests, 
 which the Europeans, prompted by avarice and an 
 inextinguishable thirst of dominion, have not ceased 
 to make in the old and new world, during the last 
 three or four centuries, have, in most cases, proved 
 rather a curse than a blessing ; and have, on the 
 whole, produced more evil than good." The opi- 
 nion of this veteran missionary is, that the Hindoos 
 believe that the natives of Europe have no religion; 
 and they have, it is certain, some grounds for coming 
 to this conclusion. Europeans distribute among 
 them a book containing the principles of a religion, 
 which preaches " peace on earth ;" but from expe- 
 rience, they find that the natives of Europe are far 
 more addicted than themselves, to fighting, rapine, 
 plunder, and every thing that is forbidden in this 
 book : and, as Europeans hold in equal contempt the 
 Hindoo Shaster, Hindoos naturally conclude that 
 they have no religion at all. I might enlarge 
 much on this subject ; but I trust that I have said 
 enough to show that war is a fruitful source of vice 
 and misery ; that it promotes infidelity, and ren- 
 ders the spread of Christianity in Pagan countries, 
 where we have engaged in it, next to impossible. 
 
 It is therefore plainly the duty of every professor 
 of Christianity, whether minister or layman, Protes- 
 tant or Catholic, Episcopalian or Presbyterian, Armi- 
 nian or Calvinist, Trinitarian or Unitarian, publicly
 
 122 
 
 to declare, that the religion he professes does not 
 permit its professors to engage in war ; for he can- 
 not, in any other way, answer the arguments brought 
 against his religion by Jews, Mohammedans, and 
 Deists. Though he may show that Christianity is 
 superior in moral excellency to every other religion ; 
 though he may show that his own peculiar views 
 of it are the very best ; he cannot, with consist- 
 ency, say that it is the religion of which it was 
 predicted by the prophet Isaiah, (xxxii. 17.) that 
 " the work of righteousness shall be peace ; and the 
 effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for 
 ever." 
 
 Before I conclude this subject, permit me to show 
 you that my opinions respecting the evils of war, so 
 far from being singular, are in unison with the sen- 
 timents of some highly respectable writers. 
 
 LORD CLARENDON says: "War introduces and 
 propagates opinions and practices, as much against 
 heaven as against earth ; and it lays our natures, and 
 our manners, as waste as our gardens and habita- 
 tions ; and we can as easily preserve the beauty of 
 the one, as the integrity of the other, under the cursed 
 jurisdiction of drums and trumpets." 
 
 ARCHBISHOP SECKER says: "War not only weak- 
 ens and afflicts a community, but interrupts the 
 freedom of commerce ; retards the propagation of 
 knowledge ; prevents useful employments ; takes the 
 public attention from domestic concerns ; furnishes 
 occasions for abuses ; obstructs the remedy of incon- 
 veniences, till they grow inveterate and hard to cure: 
 in short, disorders and unhinges the whole system
 
 123 
 
 of civil affairs. Every suffering thus caused, is a 
 heinous crime, and every death a murder." 
 
 BISHOP PORTEUS, (though in advanced life a de- 
 fender of the lawfulness of the military profession,) 
 in his beautiful poem on Death, written when at 
 College, says : 
 
 " One murder made a villain, 
 
 Millions a hero. Princes were privileged 
 
 To kill, and numbers sanctified the crime. 
 
 Ah, why will kings forget that they are men ? 
 
 And men that they are brethren ? Why delight 
 
 In human sacrifice ? Why burst the ties 
 
 Of nature, that should knit their souls together 
 
 In one soft bond of amity and love ? 
 
 Yet still they breathe destruction, still go on, 
 
 Inhumanly ingenious to find out 
 
 New pains for life, new terrors for the grave, 
 
 Artificers of death ! Still monarchs dream 
 
 Of universal empire growing up 
 
 From universal ruin. Blast the design, 
 
 Great God of hosts ; nor let thy creatures fall, 
 
 Unpitied victims at ambition's shrine !" 
 
 As I shall hereafter have occasion to quote Bishop 
 Porteus as the defender of military heroes*, I shall 
 not now trouble you with any comments on the ex- 
 tract I have made from one of his early productions. 
 
 I cannot take my leave of you, for the present, 
 without noticing a remark of yours, which, as it re- 
 gards the moral evils occasioned by war, seems to 
 be at variance with the sentiments expressed in this 
 letter, and to contradict the opinions of those great 
 and good men I have just quoted. You ask " How 
 it happens that the moral and religious character of 
 
 * See Letter VII.
 
 124 
 
 our nation has so greatly improved during the last 
 century, a large part of which we have been engaged 
 in war, if a state of warfare is so very destructive 
 of religion and morality?" 
 
 Allowing, for the sake of argument, that your 
 statement is true, may we not consider this as an 
 exception to a rule nearly general ; and may we not 
 attribute the alleged improvement in our national 
 character, to causes which would have operated with 
 much greater effect, had we remained at peace? 
 During the present century, the progress of edu- 
 cation and general knowledge has been greater than 
 at any preceding period ; and unexampled efforts 
 have been made by Bible, and Missionary, and va- 
 rious other societies and institutions, religious, moral, 
 and charitable, which have exercised a powerful 
 influence over our national character ; an influence 
 that even war has not been able to overcome, though 
 it may have greatly impeded its progress : it may 
 perhaps be said that, through the influence of these 
 institutions, we have advanced in piety and morality, 
 in spite of the demoralizing effects of war. But 
 the most rapid improvement that has ever been 
 experienced by our nation, has been since the 
 establishment of peace. Should this blessing be 
 continued to us for twenty years to come, religion, 
 morals, and science, progressively improving, we 
 may hope that the minds of our countrymen, and 
 of our countrywomen too, will become so generally 
 enlightened and christianized, that it will be very 
 difficult for any minister to drag the country into 
 another war. Should you observe that this isd irectly
 
 125 
 
 opposed by experience and precedent, I answer, that 
 the increase of knowledge has also been without 
 precedent. 
 
 The baneful effects of war have been greatly less- 
 ened by our insular situation, and our country not 
 being the actual seat of war during several genera- 
 tions. From our wars being carried on abroad, our 
 navy and army, except at our naval ports and gar- 
 rison towns, have had little intercourse with the 
 mass of our population at home ; indeed, from re- 
 moving idle and viciotfa persons out of the country, 
 wars may have rendered its population more pure ; 
 as a large portion of these persons have never re- 
 turned to their native shores. But, surely it must 
 be a painful reflection to you, and to every pious 
 minister of the Gospel, that these men have been 
 removed to situations where their moral regenera- 
 tion was little likely to be effected ; and where the 
 probability is, that they became more depraved, and 
 died in their sins. What pains do we take to pre- 
 pare malefactors for their final account ; but with 
 what indifference are thousands dispatched by war 
 into the presence of God, with all their sins upon 
 their heads ! 
 
 I have hitherto taken it for granted that our na- 
 tional character has really been improved in the way 
 you have stated : but this may admit of some doubt; 
 at least, as to the extent of this assumed improve- 
 ment. Allowing our stock of national morals to 
 have increased, do you think our national depravity 
 has been lessened? Perhaps no period of our history 
 will exhibit more crime and litigation : and, if we
 
 126 
 
 have of late years expended large suras of money 
 for building churches, \ve have done the same for 
 building prisons. It must be admitted that we live 
 in an age when preaching, and praying, and talk- 
 ing about the doctrines of religion are much in 
 fashion ; but whether the religion inculcated in our 
 Lord's sermon on the mount, or vital religion, is 
 more abundant now than it was fifty years ago, re- 
 quires to be proved. It is certain that those who 
 are commonly called honourable men, are, in their 
 worldly transactions, generally found to be as just, 
 and as much to be depended upon, as those who are 
 called serious Christians, and held up as patterns of 
 piety and virtue. In the increase of our religious 
 and charitable institutions, I rejoice with you ; but, 
 independent of fashion and other local causes, may 
 not this increase be attributed, in no small degree, 
 to the great addition of our national wealth. If 
 Britons, with increased means, do not expend more 
 money than their forefathers did, in acts of charity, 
 it will follow that they have become more parsimo- 
 nious, instead of being more beneficent than former 
 generations. 
 
 As an admirer of Mr. Malthus, it is possible you 
 may object to some parts of my present letter, as 
 likely to interfere with his principle of population. 
 I perfectly agree with that gentleman, that men 
 ought not to marry without a prospect of being able 
 to support a family: but I think it difficult to recon- 
 cile some of the views of Mr. Malthus with the 
 beneficence of GOD, and the benign spirit of the 
 Gospel. If during the last war we expended as
 
 much money as would have clothed and fed all the 
 paupers in Europe ; if we employed a large portion 
 of our population in human destruction, instead of y 
 cultivating- the soil, shall we impiously complain of 
 our over-population? But, perhaps, it did not accord 
 with the plans of Mr. Malthus to notice the evils in- 
 flicted upon the world by ambitious rulers. 
 
 It has been said that he wrote the " Essay on 
 Population" purposely to bring into discredit the 
 writings of Mr. Godwin, and those who, with him, 
 have been denominated modern philosophers. If 
 this is the case, it would seem probable that he has 
 only taken a limited and partial view of the ques- 
 tion ; such a view, indeed, as fell in with his own 
 plans in .writing the Essay. As a believer in Chris- 
 tianity, and in the cheering prophecies concerning 
 it, Mr. Malthus could not be ignorant, notwithstand- 
 ing his principle of population, and all his gloomy 
 anticipations founded upon it, that, instead of misery 
 and starvation being intended by the beneficent 
 Ruler of the world, a period of peace and plenty 
 and of religious knowledge is advancing. I men- 
 tion these things, to introduce a remark which, I 
 think, you will not consider as irrelevant in this 
 place. 
 
 We are informed by history, that previous to our 
 Saviour's advent, a very general expectation pre- 
 vailed, both among Jews and Gentiles, that some 
 
 7 r5 * 
 
 great change in the world was about to take place. 
 An expectation, somewhat similar, appears to pre- 
 vail at the present time, and to be cherished, not 
 only by believers in Christianity, but by those who
 
 128 
 
 reject it. What is the precise difference between 
 that happy state which Christianity certainly will 
 produce, and the perfectability which modern phi- 
 losophers anticipate, I leave you to decide, who may 
 have paid more attention to the subject than I have 
 done. Of this I entertain no doubt, that "men will 
 beat their swords into ploughshares ;" that they 
 " will cease to learn war;" that " the knowledge of 
 the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover 
 the sea ;" and that, literally or figuratively, " every 
 man shall sit under his own vine, and under his own 
 fig-tree, and none shall make them afraid." Anticipa- 
 tions, whether in the writings of Christians or of 
 modern philosophers, which accord with these pro- 
 phecies, must be realized, whatever may be the cause, 
 for "the MOUTH OF THE LORD OF HOSTS HATH SPO- 
 KEN IT*;" and " his word" we are assured, "shall 
 not return unto him void^." 1 I hail, therefore, with 
 some degree of pleasure, the anticipations of writers 
 like Mr. Godwin and Mr. Owen, inasmuch as they 
 sanction the presumption that the minds of men are 
 gradually fitting for the happiness destined for them 
 in the immutable counsels of Omnipotence. " And 
 it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one 
 tittle of the law to fail." But I am entering upon 
 a subject, which will more properly be introduced 
 in a future letter. 
 
 When we contemplate the benevolent purposes 
 of Omnipotence towards a guilty world, exhibited 
 in the prophecies, and particularly in the Christian 
 
 * Micah iv. 4: f I sa i- ' v - U-
 
 129 
 
 revelation, what powerful incentives do we find for 
 ministers of the Gospel to preach " peace on earth !" 
 "How beautiful," says the prophet*, "upon the 
 mountains, are the feet of him that bringeth glad 
 tidings, that publisheth peace !" But still more de- 
 lightful and persuasive are these prophecies, when 
 connected with the words of our Saviour : " Blessed 
 are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the 
 children of Godf-" If I could produce any stronger 
 persuasions to induce you, and Mr. Malthus, and 
 the clergy of the Established Church, to join heart 
 and hand with the Peace Societies that GOD is rais- 
 ing up in various parts of the world, to fulfil his 
 benevolent purposes, I would urge them. Of this, 
 nevertheless, you may be assured, that these pur- 
 poses will be fulfilled, whether you, as the appoint- 
 ed husbandmen, labour in the vineyard, or not. 
 
 It is, however, with some satisfaction, I congratu- 
 late you, and the clergy of the present day, that 
 though you do not prominently stand forward in 
 the Gospel cause of "peace on earth ;" yet that you 
 do not, as in the days of Erasmus, generally sound 
 the trumpet of war. After observing, that among 
 the Romans, whoever entered on the office of Pon- 
 tifex Maximus, or High Priest, was obliged to swear 
 that he would keep his hands unstained with blood; 
 and that, if he were provoked, or even hurt by any 
 aggressor, he would not avenge the injury ; Eras- 
 mus adds : 
 
 "But among Christians, as if shame had fled from the 
 
 * Isai. lii. 7. t Matt. v. 9. 
 
 K
 
 J30 
 
 earth, clergymen, solemnly consecrated to God, are often 
 among the first to inflame the minds, both of king and peo- 
 ple, to blood and devastation. They convert the sweet ac- 
 cents of the Gospel into the trumpet of Mars; and, forgetting 
 the dignity of their profession, run about making proselytes 
 to their opinion, ready to do or suffer any thing, so long as 
 they can but succeed in kindling the flames of war. Kings, 
 who perhaps might otherwise have kept quiet, are set on fire 
 by those very men, who ought, if they acted in character, to 
 cool the ardour of warring potentates by their official and 
 sacred authority." 
 
 " A very few years ago, when the world, labouring under 
 a deadly fever, was running headlong to arms, the Gospel 
 trumpeters blew a blast from the pulpit, and inflamed the 
 wretched kings of Europe to a paroxysm, running as they 
 were fast enough of themselves into a state of downright 
 insanity. Among the English, the clergy fulminated from 
 the pulpit against the French ; and among the French, against 
 the English. They all united in instigating to war. Not 
 one man among the clergy exhorted to peace, or at least, 
 not above one or two, whose lives would perhaps be in dan- 
 ger, if I were even now to name them. 
 
 "The right reverend fathers in God, the bishops, forget- 
 ting their personal dignity, were continually running to and 
 fro', like the Evil One, adding virulence to the public disease 
 of the world, by their mischievous officiousness; instiga- 
 ting, on one hand, Julius the Pope, and, on the other, the 
 surrounding kings, to push on the war with vigour, as if both 
 pope and kings were not mad enough without their inflam- 
 matory suggestions. In the meantime, the fathers in God 
 failed not to call their blood-thirsty rage, a zeal for law, order, 
 and religion. To forward their sanguinary purposes, they 
 wrest the laws of Heaven to a constructive meaning they 
 never meant, they misinterpret the writings of good men, 
 they misquote and misrepresent Scripture, I do not say with 
 the most barefaced impudence only, but the most blasphc-
 
 131 
 
 mous impiety. Nay, matters are come to such a pass, that 
 it is deemed foolish and wicked to open one's mouth against 
 war, or to venture a syllable in praise of peace ; the constant 
 theme of Christ's eulogy. He is thought to be ill affected to 
 the king, and even to pay but little regard to the people's 
 interest, who recommends what is of all things in the world 
 the most salutary, to both king and people, or dissuades from 
 that which, without any exception, is the most destructive." 
 See Complaint of Peace, pages 42, 43. 
 
 To what extent the present days are better than 
 the past, as regards the exertions of the clergy, 
 whether Protestant or Catholic, it is not for me to 
 decide. But it may, without fear of contradiction, 
 be said that, in preaching this prominent doctrine 
 of the Gospel, " Peace on earth," they are not "in- 
 stant in season and out of season ;" and it is most 
 clear that this duty is inseparably connected with 
 rendering " glory to God in the highest." 
 
 When I began these letters, I was in hopes of 
 comprising all my title-page promises, in as small a 
 space as I have already occupied with only a part 
 of my subject matter. My work has increased in- 
 sensibly under my pen, and the importance of my 
 subject must be my apology for the length of my 
 letters : it must also be my apology, if these letters 
 contain any matter calculated to hurt the feelings of 
 yourself, or of any one. 
 
 I remain, &c.
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 ARGUMENTS GENERALLY URGED IN FAVOUR OF 
 WAR, WITH ANSWERS TO THEM. 
 
 Woe unto you that call evil good, and good evil ; that put darkness 
 for light, and light for darkness." Isaiah v. 23. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 IF the statements made in the letters which I have 
 had the honour to address to you and the public, 
 concerning the causes and evils of war, are true, or 
 if they are only in part so, it might be expected 
 that war, and those who take part in it, would have 
 few defenders, at least among the virtuous, the hu- 
 mane, and the enlightened part of mankind. I re- 
 gret to say that this is not the case ; and that among 
 the defenders of war, may be numbered such men 
 as Dr. Paley and Bishop Porteus, whose humanity 
 can be as little doubted as their learning and in- 
 tegrity. 
 
 If men like these, through error or prejudice, hap- 
 pen to call evil good, and good evil, the mischief to 
 society may be incalculable : the former, in parti- 
 cular, has acquired that high character for sagacity 
 and integrity, that many accede to his decisions 
 with almost implicit obedience. It is, perhaps, to
 
 134 
 
 this ready and blind acquiescence in the opinions 
 of others, more than to any other single cause, that 
 war and its evils, instead of being eradicated or 
 lessened by the Gospel of Peace and the exercise 
 of our reasoning faculties, have been suffered to in- 
 crease and take deep root. The following remarks 
 from the pen of a trans-atlantic writer, describing 
 the way in which we receive and adopt our opinions 
 and prejudices, appear to be so just and proper, that 
 I need no apology for transcribing them. 
 
 " Of the speculative notions, and the rules of conduct, 
 which are common among men, a large portion were im- 
 bibed, they know not how; and are persisted in, they hardly 
 know why. These, whether right or wrong, attach them- 
 selves firmly to the mind. They serve for support in theory, 
 and for excuse in practice. They are rarely doubted, as 
 they are seldom subjected to enquiry. Opinions long in- 
 dulged, fortified by association and endeared by habit, are 
 not abandoned without reluctance, even when demonstrated 
 to be false, and felt to be dangerous. Such opinions arc 
 the props by which the mind sustains itself against the con- 
 cussions of doubt and the fluctuations of uncertainty. We 
 shrink from the thought of renouncing them, more than 
 from the assurance of their falsity ; and as the mind de- 
 lights in ease, it may often be more readily pacified with 
 what is wrong, if it be familiar, than roused to the exami- 
 nation, and impelled to the adoption, of truth*." 
 
 On the principles laid down by this pacific writer, 
 we may, I think, satisfactorily account for men of 
 
 * " Thoughts on the practical advantages of those who hold the 
 doctrine of peace over those who vindicate war.'' Printed at New 
 York, 1817.
 
 135 
 
 learning- and integrity standing forth as the apo- 
 logists or defenders of war and warriors. I shall 
 therefore proceed to the examination of the opinions 
 of these two writers, with the seriousness and cau- 
 tion the subject deserves. 
 
 As some may peruse these pages who have not 
 the Lectures of Bishop Porteus to refer to, I tran- 
 scribe the following extract from his eighth lecture. 
 Speaking of the centurion whose son Christ had 
 healed, he says : 
 
 " This is an unanswerable proof, that whenever men 
 abandon themselves to impiety, infidelity, and profligacy, 
 the fault is not in the situation, but in the heart ; and that 
 there is no mode of life, no employment or profession, 
 which may not, if we please, be made consistent with a sin- 
 cere belief in the Gospel, and with the practice of every 
 duty we owe to our Maker, our Redeemer, our fellow-crea- 
 tures, and ourselves. 
 
 "Nor is this the only instance in point; for it is extremely 
 remarkable, and well worthy our attention, that among all 
 the various characters we meet with in the New Testament, 
 there are few represented in a more amiable light, or spoken 
 of in stronger terms of approbation, than those of certain 
 military men. Besides the centurion who is the subject of 
 this lecture, it was a centurion who at our Saviour's cruci- 
 fixion gave the voluntary, honest, and unprejudiced testi- 
 mony in his favour, ' Truly this was the Son of God*.' 
 It was a centurion who voluntarily preserved the life of St. 
 Paul, when a proposition was made to destroy him, after 
 his shipwreck on the island of Melita ^. It was a centu- 
 rion to whom St. Peter was sent by the express appoint- 
 
 * Matt, xxvii. 54. t Acts xxvii. 43. 
 
 L2
 
 130 
 
 ment of God, to make him the first convert among the Gen- 
 tiles : a distinction, of which he seemed in every respect 
 worthy; being, as we are told, ' a just and a devout man ; 
 one that feared God with all his house ; that gave much 
 alms, and prayed to God ahvay*." 
 
 " We see, then, that our centurion was not the only mili- 
 tary man celebrated in the Gospel for his piety and virtue ; 
 nor are there wanting, thank God, distinguishing instances 
 of the same kind in our own age, in our own nation, among 
 our own commanders, and in the recent memory of every 
 one here present. All which examples tend to confirm the 
 observations already made, of the perfect consistency of a 
 military, and every other mode of life, with a firm belief in 
 the doctrines, and a conscientious obedience to the precepts 
 of religion. 
 
 " Thirdly, there is still another reflection arising from 
 this circumstance, with which I shall conclude the present 
 lecture ; and this is, that when we observe men bred up 
 in arms repeatedly spoken of in Scripture in such strong 
 terms of commendation as those we have mentioned, we 
 are authorized to conclude, that the profession they are en- 
 gaged in is not, as a mistaken sect of Christians amongst us 
 professes to think, an unlawful one. On the contrary, it 
 seems to be studiously placed by the sacred writers in a 
 favourable and honourable light ; and in this light it always 
 has been, and always ought to be, considered. He who un- 
 dertakes an occupation of great toil and great danger, for 
 the purpose of serving, defending, and protecting his country, 
 is a most valuable and respectable member of society ; 
 and if he conducts himself with valour, fidelity, and huma- 
 nity, and amidst the horrors of war cultivates the gentle 
 manners of peace, and the virtues of a devout and holy life, 
 be most amply deserves, and will assuredly receive the 
 
 * Acts x. 2.
 
 137 
 
 esteem, the admiration, and the applause of his grateful 
 country, and what is of still greater importance, the appro- 
 bation of his God*." 
 
 As the most popular arguments in favour of war 
 are here marshalled in order, and placed in an im- 
 posing point of view ; and as they are in accord- 
 ance with the views of yourself and the major part 
 of Christians, I trust that I need not apologize 
 either for the extent of the foregoing extract, or for 
 my answering the arguments it contains at some 
 length. I am aware that the answers I am about to 
 offer, have already, in substance, been urged, not 
 only by writers of respectability since the Refor- 
 mation, but also by some of the best writers in the 
 early ages of Christianity. The excuse I have for 
 repeating them here is, that writings on this sub- 
 ject have been little read, and less attended to. 
 
 From what is related concerning the centurion, 
 first referred to, (Matt, viii.) we may conclude that 
 he was firmly impressed with a belief in the super- 
 natural powers possessed by our Saviour. This 
 conviction, belief, or faith, (call it by what name 
 you please,) appears to be what is so justly praised 
 
 * By way of contrast to these opinions, I beg to state those of a man 
 of great knowledge and experience in life, Sir Walter Raleigh. When 
 on the scaffold, he thus addressed the spectators : " And now I en- 
 treat you all to join with me in prayer, that the great God of heaven, 
 whom I have grievously offended, being a man full of vanity, and have 
 lived a sinful life in all sinful callings, having been a soldier, a captain, 
 a sea captain, and a courtier ; which are all places of wickedness and 
 vice; that God, I say, would forgive me, and cast away my sins from 
 me, and that he would receive me into everlasting life."
 
 138 
 
 by our Lord, when he says, ' I have not found so 
 great faith, no not in Israel.' It is not, however, 
 to be imagined that a Roman soldier could have 
 
 o 
 
 any definite ideas concerning the Messiahship of 
 Jesus, or those points of faith which Christians 
 deem of so much importance. That this centurion 
 was a man of a modest and humble frame of mind, 
 and so far like a Christian, is highly probable 
 from his demeanour towards our Saviour ; and that 
 he was also a man of general benevolence, we may 
 conclude from his liberal conduct towards the Jews, 
 at that time a despised and a degraded people. 
 But neither these things collectively, nor any other 
 particular related of him, prove him to have been a 
 Christian ; and it is certain he might be every thing 
 here represented, and yet remain a pagan, and by 
 no means superior to many pagans whose histories 
 are handed down to us. As idolatrous services 
 were required of all Roman soldiers, I am una- 
 voidably led to the conclusion, either that this cen- 
 turion remained merely a virtuous pagan, or else, 
 upon embracing Christianity, that he, like other 
 Romans similarly circumstanced, quitted the mili- 
 tary profession ; for it must be borne in mind, that 
 he could not remain in the Roman army without 
 performing idolatrous acts ; and consequently, he 
 could not, if a soldier, be a real Christian. 
 
 As to the expression of the centurion at the cru- 
 cifixion, " Truly this was the Son of God," it only 
 proves that he was compelled by the awful scene 
 he witnessed, to acknowledge that Jesus was more 
 than a common man. (Compare Matt, xxvii. 54,
 
 139 
 
 with Luke xxiii. 47.) Dr. Porteus, in his zeal, has 
 here gone too far. The text says, " Now when 
 the centurion, and they that were with him" Sec. 
 If therefore any praise is due to the centurion for 
 this saying, the same praise is due to those that 
 were with him, viz. the murderers of our Saviour. 
 As to the conduct of the other centurion towards 
 St. Paul, related Acts xxiii. 43, it only shows, 
 what every person of candour must readily admit, 
 that a pagan soldier may be, what Christian sol- 
 diers frequently are not, humane and benevolent. 
 
 The case of the last centurion, mentioned in Acts 
 x. 2, though more to the point, affords no satisfac- 
 tory evidence to decide the question. This pious 
 man, it seems probable, became a sincere Christian. 
 One fact, however, and that a very important one, 
 we are altogether ignorant of, viz. whether this cen- 
 turion quitted the military profession on becoming 
 a Christian. The advocates for this profession, in 
 which number is Dr. Paley, suppose that he re- 
 mained a soldier, because the narrative gives no 
 account of his quitting the situation he then held. 
 This is mere conjecture, unattended by proof; and 
 surely it seems more probable, for the reason already* 
 stated, viz. the idolatrous services required of the 
 Roman soldiers, as well as from the practices of 
 the Christians in the first two centuries, that this 
 centurion relinquished the profession of arms, or 
 else, that he, like Naaman, worshiped occasionally 
 
 * See also Letter X.
 
 140 
 
 in the heathen temple, or that lie altogether relapsed 
 into paganism. 
 
 Dr. Porteus, in all that he has said, does not ap- 
 pear to have advanced one solid argument to justify 
 the unauthorized conclusion he has drawn. And, 
 after giving to his remarks the serious considera- 
 tion they deserve, what he has said, though impo- 
 sing, amounts to very little. He pronounces, witli 
 a degree of gravity that would lead us to suspect 
 either his judgement or his sincerity, that " He who 
 undertakes an occupation of great toil and danger, 
 for the purpose of serving, defending, and protect- 
 ing his country, is a most valuable and respectable 
 member of society ; and if he conducts himself with 
 valour, fidelity, and humanity, and amidst the hor- 
 rors of war cultivates the gentle manners of peace, 
 and the virtues of a devout life, he most amply de- 
 serves, and will assuredly receive, the esteem, the 
 admiration, and the applause of his grateful coun- 
 try, and, what is of still greater importance, the ap- 
 probation of his God.' 
 
 These remarks are so very singular and surpris- 
 ing, that I cannot pass them over in silence. The 
 first of them, though not so intended, does in reality 
 convey a severe and sarcastic censure upon military 
 men ; for where do we meet with those who de- 
 serve the character here drawn ? Instead of entering 
 the navy or arrny, " for the purpose of serving, de- 
 fending, and protecting their country," military men, 
 in general, enter into them with the same selfish 
 views and motives that men enter upon any other
 
 Ul 
 
 profession or trade. Of officers it may, in general, 
 be said, that they are as desirous as other men to 
 acquire wealth, but that a wish to obtain rank and 
 honour generally predominates ; they look forward 
 to a golden chain, or a wooden leg ; a peerage, or a 
 monument in Westminster Abbey. How men, who 
 are hired for so much a-day, to do the utmost vio- 
 lence to the persons and property of their fellow- 
 men, can, in the faithful discharge of their duty, 
 " cultivate the gentle manners of peace," is an enig- 
 ma that the Gospel of Peace cannot solve. Men 
 placed in this situation may " conduct themselves 
 with valour ;" they may refrain from the use of the 
 scalping-knife, and the brutal violence of past ages ; 
 after inflicting injuries and wounds, they may treat 
 the wounded, the sick, and the prisoner with huma- 
 nity ; but how are they to " visit the fatherless and 
 widows, in their affliction"? Their trade is to make 
 widows, and to render children fatherless. How, 
 in the exercise of such a trade, men can " cultivate 
 the gentle manners of peace, and the virtues of a 
 devout life," it is not easy to conceive. At one 
 period of his life, this venerable prelate appeared 
 to think very differently ; at college, he said, 
 
 " One murder made a villain, 
 
 Millions a hero. Princes were privileged 
 To kill, and numbers sanctified the crime. 1 ' 
 
 It is painful to say any thing conveying the 
 slightest censure on this amiable and well-meaning 
 prelate : but I wish, by stating facts, to warn my 
 readers against forming their opinions on the im- 
 portant subject of war, on the authority of falli-
 
 142 
 
 ble men, however distinguished by learning-, and 
 talent, and integrity ; for all uninspired men are 
 liable to put "darkness for light, and light for dark- 
 ness." Whilst we have the precepts of Jesus ; 
 whilst we have the writings of the inspired apostles 
 for our guides, and are possessed of common sense, 
 what insanity are we guilty of, to desert these, and 
 suffer fallible men to conduct us from a highway, 
 into interminable mazes and labyrinths ; to lead us 
 from the paths of the Gospel of Peace, into the 
 paths of endless war and bloodshed ! 
 
 Permit me, before I take leave of the opinions of 
 bishop Porteus, by way of commentary on these 
 opinions, to contrast them with those of Erasmus. 
 The latter says : 
 
 "If you detest robbery and pillage, remember these are 
 among the duties of war ; and that, to learn how to commit 
 them adroitly, is a part of military discipline. Do you shud- 
 der at the idea of murder ? You cannot require to be told, 
 that to commit it with dispatch, and by wholesale, consti- 
 tutes the celebrated art of war. If murder were not learned 
 by this art, how could a man, who should shudder to kill 
 one individual, even when provoked, go, in cold blood, and 
 cut the throats of many for a little paltry pay, and under no 
 better authority than a commission from a mortal as weak, 
 wicked, and wretched as himself, who does not perhaps 
 know even his person, and would not care if both his body 
 and soul were annihilated ? If there cannot be a greater mis- 
 fortune to the commonwealth, than a general neglect and dis- 
 obedience of the laws, let it be considered as a certain truth, 
 that the voice of law, divine or human, is never heard amid 
 the clangor of arms and the din of battle. If you deem 
 debauchery, rapes, incest, and crimes of still greater turpi- 
 tude than these, foul disgrace? to human nature, depend
 
 143 
 
 upon it that war leads to all of them, in their most aggra- 
 vated atrocity. If impiety, or a total neglect of religion, is 
 the source of all villany, be assured that religion is always 
 overwhelmed in the storms of war." Complaint of Peace, 
 page 64, 65. 
 
 Leaving you to decide for yourself this most im- 
 portant question, I proceed to examine the opinions 
 of Dr. Paley, concerning war and the military pro- 
 fession. For an unlearned man, like myself, to at- 
 tack opinions sanctioned by this giant in theology, 
 in moral philosophy, and in learning, is, I feel, a 
 bold undertaking. But the question is for Peace 
 or War ; and intending to confine myself to " the 
 words of truth and soberness," and urged by an im- 
 perious sense of duty, I shall not shrink from the 
 contest. 
 
 Regarding the subject as one involving the best 
 interests of mankind, I shall reserve it for the be- 
 ginning of my next letter. 
 
 I remain, &c. &c.
 
 
 LETTER VI11. 
 
 THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 
 
 " Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil ; that put dark- 
 ness for light, and light for darkness." "Woe unto them that are 
 
 wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight." " Woe 
 
 unto them which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the 
 righteousness of the righteous from him. Therefore as the fire de- 
 voureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root 
 shall be rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust ; because 
 they have cast away the law of the LORD of Hosts, and despised the 
 word of the Holy One of Israel : therefore is the anger of the Lord 
 kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand, and 
 smitten them." Isaiah v. 20 25. 
 
 My DEAR SIR, 
 
 WHETHER we survey "the heavens above, or the 
 earth beneath," we have just cause to exclaim, " O 
 Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast 
 thou made them all ; the earth is full of thy riches !" 
 If we contemplate the divine government, or the 
 moral laws of God, our gratitude and our adoration 
 ought to be equally excited towards Him, who has 
 made the ways of wisdom the ways of pleasantness, 
 and all her paths to be peace. In these it may 
 justly be said that " Mercy and truth are met to- 
 gether : righteousness and peace have kissed each 
 other." To maintain that war forms a necessary 
 link in the system of the divine government, is little 
 short of affirming, that under this government vio-
 
 145 
 
 lence and falsehood have met together; and impiety 
 and robbery have kissed each other. Such an opi- 
 nion appears to derogate from the mercy and good- 
 ness of a beneficent Creator, and to make him, in- 
 stead of his creatures, the author of the crimes and 
 moral evils that inundate the earth. The prophet 
 Isaiah, it is very evident, entertained views on the 
 subject of war, very different from those now gene- 
 rally received. Instead of war being an essential 
 part of that system which God has established, it 
 is mentioned by the holy prophet as emanating, 
 altogether, from the disobedience of men: instead 
 of happening in the usual course of his Providence, 
 like earthquakes and storms, wars arise, because 
 men " have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, 
 and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel : 
 therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against 
 his people." 
 
 Before I proceed to the main subject of this let- 
 ter, permit me to ask you the cause of the distress 
 which at this moment pervades our country. Many 
 proximate and ostensible causes may be alleged ; 
 but I would ask you, whether you do not consider 
 war as the real, though remote cause ; as the cause 
 of all those minor causes, from whence poverty and 
 all its concomitant evils proceed? It is, my dear 
 Sir, " Because men have cast away the law of the 
 Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy 
 One of Israel : therefore is the anger of the Lord 
 kindled against his people, and he hath stretched 
 forth his hand, and smitten them." The enriching 
 a few and impoverishing the many, are the natural
 
 146 
 
 consequences of war; and so is an uncertain and 
 fluctuating- state of commerce. And as to the evil 
 arising from an over-issue of fictitious money*, a 
 highly talented and once popular minister taught 
 men the use of it for the most ruinous of all pur- 
 poses, war. Individuals have adopted his practice, 
 and it has been the ruin of thousands. Whether 
 we, as a nation, may for a time escape its effects, 
 is not for me to decide ; but of this we are sure, 
 that "they who take the sword, shall perish with 
 the sword." This is the remark of our Lord, and 
 history attests its general correctness. 
 
 The greatest moral blessing, the great cure for 
 all moral evils, and for which we can never be suf- 
 ficiently thankful to the great Author of all our 
 blessings, is the " Gospel of Peace." It contains 
 sure and certain rules for escaping this " anger of 
 the Lord." To enhance the boon, and excite us to 
 exertion in the service of the Prince of Peace, God 
 has graciously condescended to inform us, by men 
 divinely inspired, of the certain and final triumph 
 of the religion of Christ ; that it will " cover the 
 earth as the waters cover the sea ;" that under its 
 influence men will cease to value military honours, 
 and beat their swords into ploughshares ; that they 
 will then dwell in perfect security, and men of fe- 
 rocious habits will become humane and humble ; 
 that then "the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and 
 the leopard lie down with the kid." Ought we not, 
 
 * This was written at the time of the great commercial distress in 
 1826.
 
 14? 
 
 therefore, my dear Sir, to regard the goodness and 
 condescension of the Great Ruler of the universe, 
 in giving us a foreknowledge of this glorious tri- 
 umph of truth over error ; of Christianity over 
 paganism ; ought we not, if we believe the promises 
 of God, and are susceptible of gratitude, to en- 
 deavour to establish and extend the reign of the 
 " Prince of Peace" to the uttermost parts of the earth ? 
 Knowing how much the prejudices of the world 
 are against me, I have thought it necessary to offer 
 these prefatory remarks, before I enter upon the ex- 
 amination of the opinions of Dr. Paley on the sub- 
 ject of war, or rather of the military profession. 
 Admiring, as I do, his transcendent talents; and con- 
 scious, also, of my own great inferiority, I cannot 
 attempt to controvert any thing he has advanced, 
 but with reluctance and diffidence. His opinions 
 and his writings are held in such high estimation 
 by some, that an attempt to controvert any of them 
 is likely to be regarded by his admirers, (a very 
 numerous class,) as a covert attack upon the Chris- 
 tian religion. Could I imagine that the stability 
 of this religion depended upon the writings of Dr. 
 Paley, I should certainly pause before I publicly 
 question their soundness ; but I am thankful in be- 
 lieving that Christianity, without his aid, is founded 
 upon a rock. It is because I think that Dr. Paley 
 has, unintentionally, inflicted a severe wound upon 
 the religion which he has so ably defended, that I 
 wish to show the unsoundness of his opinions re- 
 specting the lawfulness of war. 
 
 To maintain that Christianity permits its votaries,
 
 148 
 
 with innocence, to engage in war, appears to 
 weaken, if not to destroy, the evidences of its 
 truth, and likely to entail on the world endless de- 
 solation and misery. If, indeed, Christianity sanc- 
 tions war ; nay, if it does not virtually prohibit it, 
 it is quite an absurdity to expect that it should 
 ever eradicate it from the world. It is an absurdity 
 similar to the expecting a stupendous effect to be 
 produced without an adequate cause. It is, indeed, 
 to expect that the Gospel will annihilate the very 
 thing that it is said to sanction. 
 
 As Dr. Paley speaks of the conduct of the diffe- 
 rent Roman centurions, in nearly the same terms 
 that Bishop Porteus and others have done ; and as 
 he uses nearly the same arguments, or rather rhe- 
 toric, to show the lawfulness of the military profes- 
 sion, I shall not notice what the venerable arch- 
 deacon has said respecting these centurions, but 
 confine myself to the general arguments brought 
 forward by Dr. Paley and other writers, in favour 
 of the military profession. 
 
 Among these, the argument founded on the ad- 
 monition of John the Baptist to the soldiers, holds 
 a prominent rank ; but, as I shall have occasion to 
 notice it hereafter, I shall, for the present, dismiss 
 it*. 
 
 One of the most popular pleas in favour of war, 
 or rather, in favour of the military profession, with 
 the exception of those already adduced, is from 
 
 * See the postscript to this Letter, addressed to the Editor of the 
 Monthly Magazine, New Series.
 
 149 
 
 Luke xxii. 36. "Then said he unto them, But now, 
 he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise 
 his scrip ; and he that hath no sword, let him sell 
 his garment and buy one." These words of our 
 Lord, at first sight, appear to give a sanction to 
 the use of swords, otherwise it seems difficult to 
 account for the advice given to the apostles to sell 
 their garments, and purchase them. But from our 
 Lord's remark, in the 38th verse, that two swords 
 were enough, we may infer, that he did not mean 
 his advice to be literally taken, for two swords were 
 a very inadequate supply for twelve men. As a 
 plain proof that the followers of Jesus are not, in 
 any case, sanctioned to use the sword, he says to 
 Peter in this same discourse, (as related by Mat- 
 thew, chap. xxvi. 52.) " Put up thy sword ; for all 
 they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." 
 As a further proof, our Lord, when brought before 
 Pilate, informs him that his kingdom is of a spi- 
 ritual nature, and assigns this as a reason why his 
 servants were not to fight: "If my kingdom were 
 of this world, then would my servants fight, that I 
 should not be delivered to the Jews." From the 
 latter part of the sentence, and preventing Peter from 
 using- the sword, even to save the life of his beloved 
 
 O ' 
 
 Lord and Master, it may safely be inferred that we 
 are not permitted, in any case, to use the sword in 
 opposing magisterial power. Different expositions 
 of this command of our Saviour have been ad- 
 vanced ; but surely no exposition of a casual expres- 
 sion like this ought to be literally interpreted, when 
 it runs counter to the uniform pacific precepts of 
 
 M
 
 150 
 
 the Gospel, and is at the same time in contradic- 
 tion to the practice of the early Christians ; and 
 more especially when such an exposition is op- 
 posed to the plain meaning of those prophecies of 
 the Old Testament which relate to the Messiah's 
 kingdom. One thing is very important, and which 
 alone ought to induce us not to interpret this com- 
 mand literally; which is, that the apostles, to whom 
 it was directly addressed, did never, as far as we 
 know, pay obedience to it. If, my dear Sir, you, 
 as a clergyman of the Church of England, and 
 claiming a lineal descent from the apostles, contend 
 for a literal interpretation of this command, you 
 ought, if you wish to be consistent, to wear a sword; 
 you ought "to sell your cloak, and buy one." Al- 
 lowing however, for the sake of argument, that our 
 Lord permitted his followers to provide swords for 
 the purpose of self-defence in the perils to which 
 they were about to be exposed, this can give no 
 sanction to Christian nations to engage in war, and 
 certainly none to individual Christians to make it a 
 trade to live by. 
 
 Another argument, though certainly a less cogent 
 one than the preceding, is drawn by some of the 
 advocates for war, from the remark of our Lord, 
 Matt. x. 34, " Think not that I am come -to send peace 
 on earth ; I came not to send peace, but a sword." 
 The reasons already advanced, forbid us to suppose 
 that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, here gives a sanc- 
 tion to his followers to use the sword. All that 
 we ought to infer from these words, allowing them 
 to be of general application to Christians of all pe-
 
 151 
 
 riods and of all nations, is, that the religion of 
 Christ would, in aftertimes, be perverted and abused ; 
 and by its perversion and abuse, not by its legiti- 
 mate use, would, instead of producing peace and 
 philanthropy among its votaries, " set a man at va- 
 riance against his father, and the daughter against 
 her mother," &c. There is another explanation of 
 this prophecy which I have somewhere met with, 
 which ought, perhaps, to be preferred. If, instead of 
 applying it generally, we confine it to the Jewish 
 nation, (to whom it was addressed,) and to the land 
 of Judea, all difficulty in understanding its real 
 meaning will be removed. The expression here used, 
 IK} try yqv, or, on earth, is of frequent recurrence 
 in the New Testament. It sometimes means the 
 terraqueous globe, or the whole earth, as in Luke 
 x. 21. and Matt. v. 35. Sometimes it means merely 
 the ground or the soil, as in Matt. xiii. 8. And 
 sometimes it is applied to point out a particular 
 country or district, as in Matt. ii. 21. If we take the 
 expression in this latter sense, and apply it to the 
 land of Judea, how awfully do we find this prophecy 
 fulfilled in the history of the Jews ! 
 
 Having heard it asserted, by ministers of the es- 
 tablished church, that the religion of Christ has 
 
 ' O 
 
 nothing to do with the putting down national wars, 
 and establishing universal peace ; and having heard 
 this text brought forward as a proof, I beg to offer 
 a few remarks thereon, considering such assertions 
 as the above to be derogatory to the character of 
 our Saviour and his religion. Our Lord was al- 
 lowed even by his enemies to be a man of great saga- 
 
 M 2
 
 152 
 
 city to be a man who " spake as never man spake." 
 His readiness of mind, Iris quickness and acuteness 
 in answering captious and ensnaring questions are 
 apparent on different occasions*. It was impossi- 
 ble, therefore, that he could say any thing to de- 
 grade or vilify the character of the religion he 
 taught. He might, and he did tell his followers 
 that the profession of his religion would expose 
 them to dreadful hardships and cruelties ; that it 
 was not " to give peace, but a sword ;" but it was 
 impossible that he who came to fulfil the law and 
 the prophets should (in contradiction to these, to 
 which he constantly appealed as tests of the truth 
 of his mission,) tell his enemies that his was not 
 that 'religion which was to establish "peace on 
 earth." The whole tenour of the Gospel and of pro- 
 phecy consoles us with the assurance that "all the 
 kingdoms of the earth shall become the kingdoms 
 of the Lord and of his Christ," and that the Gospel 
 is, indeed, the Gospel of Peace. Those who main- 
 tain the contrary appear to libel that Gospel, which 
 has suffered more from its injudicious friends than 
 from its open and avowed enemies. 
 
 One of the principal arguments deduced from 
 Scripture, indeed, one on which great stress is laid, 
 is the following; viz. that as the Jews, the highly- 
 favoured people of God, were commanded by God 
 himself to wage war, it therefore cannot, say the 
 advocates for war, be sinful for Christians to do the 
 same. This I have briefly noticed else where f. 
 
 * Matt. xxi. 25. xxii. 21. 
 
 f See Letter to the King, p. 20.
 
 153 
 
 Permit me, in addition to what I have there said, 
 to observe, that the wars in which the Israelites 
 were permitted or commanded to engage, were en- 
 tered into for a particular purpose : this purpose 
 was to root out the worship of false gods, and esta- 
 blish the supremacy of JEHOVAH. In these wars, 
 if they paid strict obedience to God, success ap- 
 pears uniformly to have followed them ; but the 
 slightest deviation from his commands brought down 
 upon them the threatened punishments for disobe- 
 dience. These wars, therefore, had a tendency to 
 exercise the faith, and perfect the obedience, of the 
 Israelites ; and also to exhibit to pagan nations the 
 omnipotence of JEHOVAH over their false deities. 
 Considered in this point of view, the Jewish wars 
 afford, even to Christians of the present day, most 
 important lessons. They tell us that God expects 
 rectitude of heart, and that implicit obedience is 
 due to him alone. As the Jews engaged in their 
 wars in consequence of the express command of 
 God, they afford not the smallest ground of excuse 
 for Christians engaging in wars, (much less, for de- 
 voting themselves to the military profession,) unless 
 they also can show a divine commission for enter- 
 ing into them, and for suspending the pacific prin- 
 ciples of the Gospel. 
 
 These wars, my dear Sir, have too often been 
 adduced, on account of their apparent cruelty, to 
 show that the Bible cannot be of divine authority. 
 It must be granted that nothing immoral, unjust, or 
 unworthy of God can proceed from him : but the 
 question is, were these wars of that description?
 
 154 
 
 The command of God, as delivered by Moses, and 
 set forth in the Received Version of the Bible, ap- 
 pears peremptory ; but as the command to utterly 
 destroy the seven nations of Canaan, so as to leave 
 none alive, was never executed either by Joshua or 
 any of the Judges, nor yet by Samuel, David, nor 
 Solomon, and others after them, it seems reasonable 
 to suppose that they did not understand this com- 
 mand as obliging them to massacre every one, but 
 only utterly to destroy their political existence. This 
 seems probable from considering the whole of the 
 command : Deut. vii. 2 6. "When the Lord thy 
 God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite 
 them, and utterly destroy them ; thou shalt make no 
 covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them ; 
 neither shalt thou make marriages with them : thy 
 daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his 
 daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they 
 will turn away thy son from following me, that they 
 may serve other gods : so will the anger of the 
 Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee sud- 
 denly. But thus shall ye deal with them : ye shall 
 destroy their altars, and break down their images, 
 and cut down their groves, and burn their graven 
 images with fire." Num. xxxiii. 52, 53. " Then 
 ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land 
 from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and 
 destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck 
 down all their high places. And ye shall dispos- 
 sess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein : 
 for I have given you the land to possess it." 
 
 If the Israelites were positively commanded to
 
 155 
 
 put to death all the men, women, and children of 
 these nations, the commands just enumerated ap- 
 pear unnecessary, if not contradictory ; and as the 
 wisest and best of the Jewish rulers never obeyed 
 the injunction to put all to death, it is clear they 
 did not understand it as expressed in our transla- 
 tion of the Bible. If we consider the command to 
 extend only to the political destruction of these na- 
 tions, the justice and mercy of God will be apparent 
 for what dispensation of the great Ruler of the 
 world can more accord with the divine attributes of 
 justice and mercy, than, by corrective punishments, 
 however severe, to reclaim idolaters from the vice 
 and misery inseparably connected with idolatry, 
 and to establish the worship of JEHOVAH, the only 
 sure source of virtue and happiness ? 
 
 Having answered some of the most popular argu- 
 ments drawn from Scripture, that are generally 
 urged in excuse of Christians engaging in war, I 
 beg to transcribe a few remarks of Dr. Paley on this 
 subject. In his chapter on war and military es- 
 tablishments, he says : "Because the Christian Scrip- 
 tures describe wars, as what they are, as crimes or 
 judgments, some have been led to believe, that it is 
 unlawful to bear arms." It is unnecessary to say that 
 I draw this inference; and surely, if wars are crimes, 
 no good man ought to engage in them. I know of 
 no argument more cogent to induce us to refrain 
 from any practice, than to say that in the Christian 
 Scriptures it is described as a crime ; and surely, 
 my dear Sir, if war is a crime, it cannot require any 
 proof to show that it is criminal to engage in it;
 
 156 
 
 and it must, cm his principles, be self-evident that it 
 is criminal to make it a trade to live by. Dr. Paley, 
 however, adds : " But it should be remembered, that 
 it may be necessary for individuals to unite their 
 force, and, for this end, to resign themselves to the 
 direction of a common will ; and yet it may be true, 
 that that will is often actuated by criminal motives, 
 and often determined by destructive purposes." I 
 hardly know how to express the regret I feel, that 
 the author of the Evidences of Christianity should 
 have thus expressed himself. He appears to have 
 " put darkness for light." And in speaking of those 
 causes, which, in his opinion, justify war, he is 
 equally to be censured. 
 
 " The justifying causes of war," says Dr. Paley, in the 
 same chapter," are deliberate invasions of right, and the ne- 
 cessity of maintaining such a balance of power amongst neigh- 
 bouring nations, that no single state or confederacy of states/ 
 be strong enough to overwhelm the rest. The objects of just 
 war, are, precaution, defence, or reparation. In a larger 
 sense, every just war is a defensive war, inasmuch as every 
 just war supposes an injury perpetrated, or feared*." 
 
 I never read these remarks of Dr. Paley, without 
 feelings of sorrow. I may, my dear Sir, form an 
 erroneous opinion on this subject ; but it appears to 
 me, that this able defender of Christianity, by these 
 sophisticated remarks, has done much to weaken its 
 internal evidences. One of the greatest excellencies 
 of Christianity, and consequently an evidence of 
 its truth, is, that by forbidding violence of every 
 kind, even in our own defence, it is eminently cal- 
 
 * See Paley 's Principles of" Moral ami Political Philosophy, ch. xii.
 
 157 
 
 culated to disarm anger, to convert enemies into 
 friends, and consequently, to establish universal 
 peace among men. The justifying causes of war 
 of Dr. Paley, so far from leading to these desirable 
 ends, give the fullest license to shed human blood 
 that the most sanguinary hero or tyrant could de- 
 sire. There has been no war entered into in mo- 
 dern times that might not be triumphantly defended 
 on both sides, if we allow any validity to the jus- 
 tifying causes of Dr. Paley. On his principles, 
 every war must be a defensive and a just war ; for, 
 in our own days, at least, what prince has engaged 
 in war, but for precaution, defence, or reparation, or 
 on account of an injury perpetrated, attempted, or 
 feared? All these excuses, and many more, are 
 readily formed by some laborious civilian, whenever 
 a prince decides upon going to war. Whether, my 
 dear Sir, ought we to regard Dr. Paley as a pro- 
 fessor of moral philosophy and a follower of Jesus 
 Christ, or as an able apologist and abettor of such 
 men as Frederic and Napoleon ? If war is to be 
 engaged in, let men be consistent, and openly re- 
 linquish their pretensions to Christianity and moral 
 philosophy. Let them remember that no man can 
 serve two masters. 
 
 I lament that these remarks should have pro- 
 ceeded from the pen of Dr. Paley; they give a 
 Sanction to princes and statesmen to engage in war, 
 and afford an excuse to their subjects to dispense 
 with the laws of God. I would ask you, my dear 
 Sir, if it does not seem to be a hard case, that two 
 sovereign princes are permitted, by the code of
 
 158 
 
 Paley, to send out fifty or a hundred thousand men 
 each, to fight a battle, royal or a splendid duel, 
 which injures millions, while two of their subjects, 
 who, like their masters, love fighting, and for pay 
 fight their battles for them, may not have the less 
 destructive privilege of fighting a private duel, 
 which injures, perhaps, no one but themselves ? So 
 long as wars continue, duelling will remain, and 
 every effort to stop it will be unavailing. But when 
 men really become Christians, wars and duels will 
 cease of themselves. I would further ask you, if it 
 is not very natural, when kings kill the subjects of 
 each other and deprive them of their property, that 
 their subjects should also like to participate in this 
 royal practice, and to rob and murder on the high- 
 way? So long as princes continue to kill and plun- 
 der by wholesale, it is very natural to expect to find 
 among their subjects, retail dealers. It is quite in 
 the natural course of things, for inferiors to imitate 
 their betters. I must, however, my dear Sir, beg 
 you will not suppose that, like Dr. Johnson, I de- 
 fend duelling, much less, that I advocate the cause 
 of highwaymen, or retail dealers in war. 
 
 To apply the precepts of Dr. Paley to individuals 
 in private life, would certainly justify highwaymen, 
 and sanction almost every crime, and render this 
 world an aceldama. Might not John Thurtell, on 
 Dr. Paley 's principles, have pleaded, that he had, 
 at least, as good a right to slay one enemy, as 
 Frederic and Napoleon had to slay their thousands? 
 Might he not have said, that his enemy had been 
 guilty of a deliberate invasion of his right, that he
 
 159 
 
 had perpetrated one injury, and that he feared more; 
 and, therefore, by way of precaution, defence, or re- 
 paration, he had waged a just and a defensive war 
 against him ? 
 
 On the principles of Montesquieu, also, John 
 Thurtell would have been justified. This popular 
 writer says : " Entre les societes le droit de la de- 
 fense naturelle entraine quelquefois la necessite 
 d'attaquer, lorsqu'un peuple voit qu'un plus longue 
 paix en mettrait un autre en etat de le detruire, et 
 que 1'attaque est dans ce moment le seul moyen 
 d'empecher cette destruction." If the principles 
 here laid down by these two great men for the 
 government of independent states, were to be ap- 
 plied to individuals, they would give a sanction to 
 one man to kill another whom he may suspect of an 
 intention to kill him ; to one man to maim or wound 
 another, whom he might suspect of an intention to 
 maim or wound him. By such a system, the bene- 
 volent precepts of the Gospel would be undermined, 
 if not destroyed ; and Christians looking forward to 
 the accomplishment of the prophecies might exclaim, 
 that " Christ is dead in vain." 
 
 However contrary such a conduct may be to the 
 real principles of Dr. Paley, he appears to give some 
 sanction to it, when he says, " If the cause be justi- 
 fiable, all the means that appear necessary to the 
 end, are justifiable also." If we connect this with 
 the justifiable causes of war already mentioned, we 
 may infer, that if one king is afraid of the growing 
 power of another, he has justifiable cause for waging 
 defensive war against him ; and (the cause of the
 
 160 
 
 war being justifiable,) all the means of bringing it 
 to an end, are also justifiable. On the principles of 
 moral philosophy, instead of killing, in what is 
 called an honourable way, fifty or a hundred thou- 
 sand of his enemy's subjects, and making bonfires 
 of their dwellings, would not a prince display more 
 mercy, and, consequently, more moral philosophy, 
 in employing an assassin, or poison, to remove 
 hors de combat the king who has been guilty of a 
 deliberate invasion of his lights, and this either 
 to obtain reparation, or by way of precaution and 
 self-defence? And, the cause being justifiable, all 
 the means that appear necessary to the end, are justi- 
 fiable also. 
 
 It is painful to make remarks like these, on the 
 writings of one of the ablest defenders of Chris- 
 tianity : but the inferences I have drawn from the 
 writings of this popular author, appear to me to be 
 legitimate : and however high Dr. Paley may rank 
 in our own country, as a moralist, I think that any 
 king, or state, that publicly professed to be guided 
 by the principles he advocates, would be shunned 
 and detested by every nation that, like the sove- 
 reigns united in holy alliance, might entertain more 
 correct views of moral philosophy, or rather, of 
 Christian morals *. 
 
 After what I have stated, I think I shall not be 
 taxed with presumption, in affirming, that (however 
 unintentionally) Dr. Paley, Bishop Porteus, and 
 Montesquieu, and a multitude of great men, "have 
 
 * See letter to the King, p. 21.
 
 161 
 
 called evil good, and good evil ;' ? that they have 
 " put light for darkness, and darkness for light." 
 May we not also join with the inspired writer, and 
 say of the nations who have adopted such princi- 
 ples, " Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled 
 against his people, and he hath stretched forth his 
 hand against them, and hath smitten them. 
 
 Though the writings of Machiavel have by many 
 been much abused ; yet, on the subject of war and 
 the military profession, his views appear more con- 
 sonant with the precepts of Jesus, than those of the 
 writers I have quoted. He says : 
 
 " War being a profession by which men cannot live ho- 
 nourably at all times, it is not to be taken up as a trade, un- 
 less it be by a commonwealth or a kingdom ; and if they be 
 well constituted, they will neither of them suffer any of their 
 citizens or subjects, or any other good man, to make it his 
 business ; for he will never be thought a good man who takes 
 upon him an employment by which, if he would reap any 
 profit at any time, he is obliged to be false, and rapacious, 
 and cruel, and to entertain several other qualities that are 
 not consistent in a good man ; nor can any man, great or 
 small, who makes war his profession, be otherwise than vi- 
 cious. Have you not a proverb, which confirms what I say, 
 that ' War makes thieves, and peace brings them to the gal- 
 lows ?' The same author observes ; that Rome, while it was 
 well governed, (which was till the reign of the Gracchi,) had 
 never any soldier who made it his profession to be so ; by 
 which means few of them were dissolute." 
 
 I feel much satisfaction in believing that our 
 armies and fleets, at least as to a considerable por- 
 tion of them, are now composed of men of a very 
 different character from that of military men in the
 
 162 
 
 days of Machiavel. Of those of the present day, 
 many are, no doubt, men of the very best intentions, 
 men of true benevolence and unaffected piety. I 
 rejoice in believing- that this is the case, inasmuch 
 as I consider it as a preparatory step towards their 
 " beating their swords into ploughshares." 1 am 
 not singular in thinking it probable, that, as military 
 men become enlightened by literature and science, 
 and imbued with Christian principles, they will 
 cease to be members of standing armies. These 
 armies, if not conquered by superior armies, neces- 
 sarily lead to despotism ; and despotism seldom 
 fails to produce the downfall of a nation, and with 
 it the downfall of Christian principles ; for Chris- 
 tianity and despotism cannot thrive together. Bi- 
 gotry and despotism may go hand in hand, and 
 have generally done so ; but Christianity, at the 
 same time that it inculcates submission to the 
 powers that be, commands us to obey God rather 
 than man ; and that when we render unto Caesar 
 the things that are Caesar's, we must remember to 
 render unto God the things which are God's. 
 
 How far military men by trade or profession can 
 comply with the first principles of our religion, is 
 a question of high importance to the soldier, the 
 statesman, and the Christian ; and particularly to 
 the Christian minister ; it being his peculiar and 
 obvious duty to " recall to the faith once delivered 
 to the saints," those who have strayed from it. 
 
 In the present state of the world, we appear to 
 have no alternative between relapsing into vice 
 and gross darkness, or proceeding in the paths of
 
 163 
 
 science and literature, enlightened by the sunbeams 
 of Christianity, and advancing to the happy epoch 
 when men shall "cease to learn war." 
 
 War, and war alone, can replunge the world into 
 that abyss of darkness and barbarism, from which 
 it is emerging. That ministers of all denomina- 
 tions, Protestant and Catholic, Churchmen and Dis- 
 senters, may stimulate each other in promoting the 
 glorious cause of " peace on earth, and universal 
 good-will among men" of all nations, will ever be 
 my ardent prayer and wish. 
 
 I remain, 
 
 &c. &c.
 
 POSTSCRIPT: 
 
 Or A SUPPLEMENTARY LETTER addressed to the Editor of the 
 Monthly Magazine, on his Review of the First Part of these 
 Letters, and humbly submitted to the serious consideration oj 
 Editors of Reviews, Magazines, Newspapers, fyc* 
 
 " Believest thou the prophets ?" 
 
 IN the present state of civilized society, there are no indivi- 
 duals who exercise a more commanding influence over the 
 opinions and morals of mankind, than the editors of periodi- 
 cal publications. If this influence is exerted in the cause of 
 
 * This Letter which was printed along with the Series of Letters, 
 was also printed separately for gratuitous distribution among Editors 
 and Reviewers, preceded by the following PREFACE: 
 
 The following Letter is subjoined to Part II. of the author's Obser- 
 vations on the Causes and Evils of War, &c. It is printed separately 
 from that work, chiefly for gratuitous circulation among the Editors 
 of Reviews, Magazines, and Newspapers. The author hopes that 
 those to whom it is thus presented, will excuse the liberty he takes, 
 and accept it as a token of his good-will towards them and all man- 
 kind : it is with a view to excite their attention to a subject closely 
 connected with the happiness of the world, and in which he feels a 
 deep interest, that the author entreats their attention to the following 
 Letter. 
 
 A more deadly enemy to the Christian religion than war, can 
 scarcely be imagined, whether we survey it in the countries where 
 that religion is professed, or in those where it is vainly endeavoured 
 to be propagated. To war, also, we may attribute, in no small degree, 
 the evils under which, as a nation, we are now labouring, and the still 
 greater calamities which threaten us. Should the storm pass away, 
 and the blessing of peace be continued to us, we may hope, by the aid 
 of Christianity, to attain so high a degree of moral excellence, that
 
 165 
 
 religion and of truth, the benefit to society must be great ; 
 and the editor who thus uses his influence, will promote the 
 best interests of mankind, and be justly entitled to public 
 gratitude and reward. If, on the contrary, he espouses the 
 cause of error or vice, his power of injuring society is great, 
 and he lays himself open to, and justly deserves, public cen- 
 sure. Believing that in your strictures on a late pamphlet 
 of mine, entitled, Observations on the Causes and Evils of 
 War, &c. you have, unintentionally, become the advocate 
 of error I can need no apology for thus publicly addressing 
 you. 
 
 Though you have not treated what I have written with 
 much courtesy, yet you have treated it with seriousness, and 
 perhaps I ought to thank you for having at all noticed my 
 
 the war spirit may be subdued in us, and we may become a chosen 
 instrument, in the hands of Omnipotence, for diffusing peace and 
 "the knowledge of the Lord, till they shall cover the earth as the 
 waters cover the sea ;" till " men shall learn war no more ;" and then 
 " they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree," in 
 happy security and abundance. 
 
 So little has this important subject occupied the minds of men, that 
 war is generally considered as a necessary evil, an evil connected with 
 some good, and therefore consonant with the divine government of 
 the world; but they consider it to be as unavoidable as storms or 
 earthquakes. Those, indeed, who think at all on the subject, believe, 
 or affect to believe, that a time will come when men will abhor this 
 savage custom ; but they also believe that this period is very far di- 
 stant ; and, if they do not expect the change to be accomplished by the 
 miraculous intervention of the Deity, they seem assured that no hu- 
 man exertion will avail. They wish success to the cause of " Peace 
 on earth ;" but any endeavour to establish it, they consider to be as 
 vain, as an attempt to arrest the sun in his daily course. 
 
 Entertaining different views, and believing that Editors of periodical 
 works, more than any other class of men, have it in their power to 
 bring the important subject into discussion, the author submits the 
 following Letter, and the work of which it forms a part, to the ordeal 
 of their criticism. 
 
 H
 
 166 
 
 pamphlet. In doing this, you appear to have acted either 
 with more courage, or with less discretion, than most of 
 your compeers. From their silence, I am led to form the 
 conclusion, perhaps a very erroneous one, that what I have 
 written is on a very unpopular subject ; but, at the same 
 time, so consonant to revealed truth, that, not being able to 
 convict me of error on Christian principles, they prudently 
 remain silent. 
 
 In your critique on my pamphlet, contained in No. 1. of 
 your New Series, you tell me, that I havejbrgotten that the 
 centurion Cornelius was a soldier ; and you further inform 
 me, that 1 have not mentioned the admonitions to the men 
 of the cohort, to be content with their wages, and to DO 
 THEIR DUTY. The perusal of the last two letters, which 
 were nearly ready for the press before I read your critique, 
 will show you that I had not forgotten " that Cornelius was 
 a soldier." To your latter remark, which relates, I suppose, 
 to the admonition of John the Baptist, I hardly know what 
 to reply, for I have never heard, or read, except in your Ma- 
 gazine, that the Baptist gave to soldiers the advice you men- 
 tion, viz. TO DO THEIR DUTY. I shall be obliged to you to 
 inform me on what authority you state this. 
 
 If I may be permitted to form my opinion of you from 
 the tenour of your critique, I should conclude that expe- 
 dience, not Christian morality, is the compass you steer by. 
 On the subject of universal peace, a subject highly interest- 
 ing to philanthropists and good men in all ages, you, and I 
 believe many other editors, appear to have bestowed little 
 thought or inquiry : and, though passing judgement on others, 
 you seem to have consulted no writer on the important sub- 
 ject of peace, from Grotius or Erasmus, to the small tracts 
 of the London Peace Society. Considering these tracts as 
 elementary works in the science of Peace, if I may so express 
 myself, permit me to recommend them to your attentive 
 perusal. 
 
 As I have with a bold and daring hand ventured to give
 
 167 
 
 advice to a reviewer, or editor, permit me to take the further 
 liberty of recommending to you the perusal of the Bible, 
 particularly the pages of the New Testament. As long as 
 Christianity is the established religion of our country, a 
 knowledge of the sacred book, containing its precepts, seems 
 not only useful, but necessary, to editors or reviewers : it 
 will, at least, enable them to quote its sacred pages with the 
 correctness to which they are entitled. The passage to 
 which, as I apprehend, you have been so good as to direct 
 my attention is, in the Oxford edition of the Bible, " Do 
 violence to no man*," (in the margin, put no man in fear,) 
 "neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your 
 wages." 
 
 Now, Sir, had you duly considered the import of these 
 admonitions, which you have so strangely and unpardon- 
 ably misquoted and misapplied, you would have discovered 
 
 * fir)Seva dtaaetariTe when rendered do violence to no man, does not 
 convey the correct meaning of the Baptist. The verb ^tatretw has a 
 specific and different meaning to terrify and extract money from any 
 one. Whether the admonition of the Baptist was addressed to Jewish 
 or Roman soldiers we know not ; but it seems probable that these 
 soldiers were placed in Judea to preserve the peace, and to insure the 
 collection of the taxes, rather than for military operations. In what- 
 ever light we consider them, the advice of John appears pertinent and 
 suitable ; and if followed, must render soldiers not only incapable of 
 violence and bloodshed, but of every minor act which might lead to 
 the commission of these. Our Saviour, instead of prohibiting adul- 
 tery, forbids every disposition that could possibly lead to it. In like 
 manner John, instead of condemning violence and bloodshed, incul- 
 cates a disposition and frame of mind, that must necessarily incapa- 
 citate men for the atrocities of war. In thus acting, he appears to have 
 approved himself the worthy precursor of the PRINCE OF PEACE. 
 If these remarks are correct Dr. Paley, Bp. Porteus and others, ap- 
 pear to have acted very injudiciously in bringing forward this admo- 
 nition of John to show the lawfulness of the military profession, it 
 condemns it in the very same way that our Saviour condemns adul- 
 tery : Matt. v. 28. 
 
 N2
 
 108 
 
 that, instead of giving a sanction to the military profession, 
 they negatively condemn it. Obedience to them would, 
 most certainly, annihilate all military establishments, and 
 convert soldiers into cyphers. Of what use, I would ask 
 you, would military men be, who should conscientiously re- 
 frain from doing violence to others ? They would be as use- 
 less as salt that had lost its saltness, and might be disposed 
 of accordingly. 
 
 When you accuse me of not having acted the part of a 
 patriot and a Christian, I feel your censure to be as harsh as 
 I am conscious it is unjust. Your views and mine, concern- 
 ing Christianity and patriotism, are, I imagine, at variance : 
 you appear to adopt the views of Celsus*, at least you 
 bring against me the very same charge that he brought 
 against the early Christians ; and had you lived in the days 
 of Origen, it is probable you would have told him that he 
 was in his dotage> or that he was not acting the part of a 
 Christian and a patriot. You, like Celsus, take expedience 
 for your pilot : I regard implicit obedience to the commands 
 of Christ, and the practice of those virtues which are en- 
 joined by Him, as the best test of a man being at the same 
 time a Christian and a patriot ; as the sure foundation for 
 obedience to princes and superiors, and the most certain 
 guides to actions the most noble and heroic. 
 
 A casual perusal of the prophecies of the Old Testament, 
 added to a slight knowledge of the Gospel of Peace, will, it 
 is probable, correct an error into which you appear to have 
 fallen. You say, you believe " that the terrible means of 
 destruction by elastic vapour will be a means of terminating 
 the accursed game of war." The study I have recommended 
 to you, will lead you to believe, that an agent more potent 
 than elastic vapour will achieve the desired victory. This 
 agent is the Christian religion. This religion does not ad- 
 dress itself exclusively to the patriot or the philanthropist; 
 
 * See Letter IX. page 17(3.
 
 169 
 
 to the rich or the poor ; to the learned or the ignorant ; to 
 ages of darkness or those illuminated by science or philoso- 
 phy; to the subject or the prince : it is suited to be a bless- 
 ing to all, and to subdue all to its benign dominion ; it is 
 suited to fulfil the purpose of the benevolent Creator, which 
 is to establish " peace on earth, and good- will among men," 
 This noble purpose, elastic vapour is not likely to accom- 
 plish. 
 
 Should it be asked what good the editors of periodical 
 works can do towards the establishing of universal peace, 
 as they possess no political power over nations : 1 answer, 
 that their power is over public opinion and morals. Let 
 them, as occasions offer, inculcate those virtues which Christ 
 taught, and deprecate those vices which he condemned. 
 Let them also, as opportunities occur, expose the horrors, 
 the crimes, and the folly of war ; and they will aid the Go- 
 spel, the mighty instrument of Omnipotence, in undermining 
 the inhuman system, which has, for so many ages, deluged 
 the world with blood : they will thus effect more than sove- 
 reigns, united in holy alliance, can accomplish by the sword. 
 They will effect more than princes, priests, and statesmen 
 united ; for their influence extends to all these ; and this in- 
 fluence must progressively increase with the growing influ- 
 ence of the press ; and the power of both is daily extending, 
 with the extension of education. From the latter we may 
 anticipate, that in less than a century there will be few men, 
 even among those who are called the vulgar, who will not 
 be able to distinguish between truth and error, between 
 genuine Christianity and sophisticated theology. Then, in 
 the language of prophecy, all shall know the Lord. If know- 
 ledge is power, what noble effects may we not expect from 
 it ! though slow in its operations, it is gradually changing 
 the minds of men. It is now, and for ages past has been, 
 working like leaven. Princes and editors may hasten or re- 
 tard its operation ; but the ultimate triumph of Christianity 
 over false religion? ; of knowledge over ignorance ; of truth
 
 170 
 
 over error ; of virtue over vice ; of humanity over cruelty ; 
 of peace over war ; is guaranteed to us by the sure promises 
 of JEHOVAH. 
 
 You ask me, as if you thought the question unanswerable, 
 "What would become of England, if all men and officers 
 should follow my example ?" If you will tell me, of what 
 use soldiers will be, when they adhere to the advice of the 
 Baptist? or if you will tell me what will become of England, 
 when, instead of being merely a Christian nation, it shall 
 become a nation of Christians ? you will have some right to 
 expect a direct answer. I do not, however, wish to avail 
 myself of this, or of any excuse for giving you such an answer 
 at present ; and I will give you one on the very highest au- 
 thority. When men " shall beat their swords into plough- 
 shares ;" when " they shall learn war no more ;" then (lite- 
 rally or figuratively) " they shall sit every man under his vine 
 and under his fig-tree ; and none shall make them afraid : for 
 THE MOUTH OF THE LORD OF HOSTS HATH 
 SPOKEN IT*." 
 
 As you have begun, permit me to request that you will 
 continue to animadvert with freedom on what 1 write ; and 
 I make the same request to all editors and reviewers. 
 Whatever literary imperfections my Letters may exhibit, 
 the principle they advocate is immortal. It is "glory to 
 God in the highest, and on earth peace." Convinced of the 
 truth of prophecy, I confidently anticipate, that what I have 
 written, and which has been sneered at by you and others, 
 will be held in honour in future ages, when the savage and 
 sanguinary spirit that has for so many centuries disgraced 
 human beings, shall be banished from the earth by the sun- 
 beams of Christianity. This consoling and glorious truth 
 you cannot doubt, if " thou believest the prophets." 
 
 * Micah iv. 4.
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 ON THE PRACTICE OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS 
 RELATING TO WAR. 
 
 " If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, 
 that I should not he delivered to the Jews." John xviii. 86. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 NUMEROUS volumes have been written by theo- 
 logians of different sects of Christians, for the 
 purpose of establishing their peculiar religious te- 
 nets, by showing that the early Christians held the 
 same opinions as themselves, and this without pro- 
 ducing uniformity of opinion. Notwithstanding 
 this has been the case respecting the religious opi- 
 nions of the early Christians, I trust more satis- 
 faction and certainty may be derived from inquiries 
 concerning their .practices. Opinions may change, 
 and good and conscientious men are the most likely 
 to experience this change ; but facts must always re- 
 main the same. An inquiry, therefore, into the 
 practices of the early Christians respecting war, 
 will form the chief subject of my present letter. I 
 shall not, however, on an occasion like the present, 
 neglect to notice opinions, particularly those of 
 some of the early Christian Fathers, as these opinions
 
 172 
 
 are important, and expressed with much clearness 
 and precision. 
 
 From my having, on evidence which appeared 
 very satisfactory to me, formed a very different 
 opinion, 1 was lately much surprised at meeting 
 with some extracts from a Sermon preached in 1798, 
 by the then Bishop of Rochester (Dr. Horsley) ; 
 among these is the following : " It is little less than 
 a calumny on the Christian religion to pretend, as 
 some have pretended, that defensive war is either 
 contrary to the general spirit of the morality of 
 the Gospel, or forbidden by any particular precept, 
 or discouraged by the example of the first Chris- 
 tians. The notorious fact is, that they scrupled 
 not to serve in the armies of even their heathen 
 sovereigns." 
 
 Although the New Testament is the book that 
 can alone decide what is the duty of Christians 
 respecting war ; yet, if we suppose that it leaves 
 us in any doubt on the subject, an inquiry, not only 
 into the practices, but also the opinions of the early 
 Christians, becomes of importance; for as they lived 
 so much nearer to the time of the apostles, they 
 may be supposed to be less liable to error than we 
 are. The assertion that the early Christians " scru- 
 pled not to serve in the armies of even heathen 
 sovereigns," may without much difficulty be shown 
 to be both true and false. It may be shown to be 
 strictly true, as it regards one period of the early 
 Christian history ; and false, as it regards another 
 period of it. On this subject, as on most subjects 
 where the happiness of mankind and the interests
 
 173 
 
 of Christianity are concerned, an author of great 
 industry and integrity appears to have taken much 
 pains to obtain the best information. He says, 
 " that long after the introduction of the Christian 
 religion into the world, that is, while the lamp 
 of Christianity burnt pure and bright, not only the 
 Fathers of the Church held it unlawful for Chris- 
 tians to bear arms, but those who came within the 
 pale of it abstained from the use of them, and this, 
 to the certain loss of their lives ; and it was not 
 till Christianity became corrupted, that its followers 
 became soldiers." Again he says, " That as the 
 lamp of Christianity burnt bright in those early 
 times, so those who were illuminated by it, declined 
 the military profession ; that as its flame shone less 
 clear, they had less objection to it ; and that it was 
 not until Christianity became corrupted, that its 
 followers became soldiers. Thus, in the first two 
 centuries, when Christianity was purest, there are 
 no Christian soldiers on record. In the third cen- 
 tury, when it became less pure, there is frequent 
 mention of such soldiers. And in the fourth, when 
 its corruption was fixed, Christians entered gene- 
 rally upon the profession of arms, with as little 
 hesitation as they entered upon any other occupation 
 of life *." 
 
 If the Bishop of Rochester carried his inquiries 
 no further back than the third or fourth century, 
 
 * See ' Clarkson's Portraiture of Quakerism ' ; also, his * Essay on 
 the Doctrines and Practice of the Early Christians, as they relate to 
 War'.
 
 174 
 
 his remark is correct ; but if he meant to apply it 
 to Christians of the first and second centuries, I 
 apprehend he was in error. Instead of indulging 
 in rhetorical flourishes and bold assertion, on a 
 grave and important subject, he ought to have pro- 
 duced historical proof. The author to whom I have 
 referred, has done this, and has quoted at consi- 
 derable length, authorities of the highest respecta- 
 bility. If there is any fallacy or deficiency in his 
 evidence, I entreat you to point it out ; for this is 
 a question, which, like Christianity, involves the 
 happiness and welfare of all mankind. 
 
 Not being in possession of originals, I shall 
 make a few remarks, chiefly on the authority of this 
 philanthropist. With respect, then, to the practices 
 of the early Christians, it may be observed, notwith- 
 standing the assertions of Dr. Horsley, that there 
 is no well authenticated instance upon record, of 
 Christians entering into the army for nearly the 
 whole of the first two centuries ; but it is true, on 
 the other hand, that they had declined the military 
 profession, as one in which it was not lawful for 
 them to engage. This is evident from the fol- 
 lowing facts, which reach from about the year 170 
 to about the year 195. Cassius had rebelled against 
 the emperor Verus, and was slain a short time after- 
 wards. Clodius Albinus in one part of the world, 
 and Pescenius Niger in another, had rebelled against 
 the emperor Severus, and both were slain. Now, 
 suspicion fell, as it always did in these times, upon 
 the Christians, as having been concerned upon 
 these occasions. But Ttrtullian tells us, in his
 
 175 
 
 " Discourse to Scapula," that this suspicion was 
 totally groundless. " You defamed us," says he, 
 " by charging us with having been guilty of trea- 
 son to our emperors ; but not a Christian could be 
 found in the rebel armies, whether commanded by 
 Cassius, Albinus, or Niger." These facts are of 
 considerable importance, as the armies alluded to 
 comprehended between one-half and one-third of the 
 standing legions of Rome ; and the circumstance is 
 the more remarkable, as according to Tertullian, 
 Christianity had reached all the places in which 
 these armies were. 
 
 That Christians generally, if not universally, re- 
 frained from entering into the armies at this period, 
 may be gathered from the distinctions made between 
 soldiers and Christians by Justin the martyr and 
 Tatian. The latter says, " that the Christians de- 
 clined even military commands." Clemens of Alex- 
 andria makes a similar distinction : he says, speak- 
 ing of Christians, " The peaceable never used 
 sword or bow." 
 
 The application of the prophecy of Isaiah ii. 
 2 4, to this subject, supplies direct evidence that 
 the early Christians refrained from war. Justin the 
 martyr, in his first Apology, quoting it, says, "that 
 these things have come to pass ;" " and we who once 
 were slayers of one another, do not fight against 
 our enemies." Apol. cap. 39. p. 67. Ed. Ben. 
 Speaking of the same prophecy, Irena?us (A. D. 167) 
 proves its application to our Saviour, by the fact, 
 that " the followers of Jesus had disused the wea- 
 pons of war, and no longer knew how to fight."
 
 176 
 
 Adv. Haer. lib. iv. cap. 34. p. 275. Ed. Ben. Ter- 
 tullian also maintains that this prophecy was ac- 
 complished as far as the practice of every individual 
 is concerned to whom it is applicable. How differ- 
 ently, my dear Sir, did these pious men reason, from 
 the learned men of our own times. One would 
 think it hardly possible that these early Christian 
 Fathers, and Dr. Paley, Bishop Porteus, and Bishop 
 Horsley, have drawn their opinions concerning war 
 from the same sacred volume. How can we ac- 
 count for this discrepancy, but by supposing either 
 that these learned and pious Fathers were fanatics, 
 or else that Christians of the present day, even en- 
 lightened and learned men, have departed from 
 " the faith once delivered to the saints :" or that 
 theological knowledge is yet in its infancy. 
 
 The evidence of Celsus the bitter enemy of 
 Christianity, and of Origen its zealous and able 
 defender, were there no other witnesses to show the 
 practice of the early Christians regarding war, 
 would satisfactorily decide the point. Celsus makes 
 it one of his charges against Christians, that, " in 
 his times, they refused to bear arms for the empe- 
 ror, even in cases of necessity, and when their ser- 
 vices would have been accepted." He adds, " that 
 if the rest of the empire were of their opinion, it 
 would soon be overrun by the barbarians/' It 
 seems very improbable that Celsus would have 
 made such a charge against the Christians, had not 
 the facts alleged been true, as his falsehood might 
 have been easily detected and exposed. And as 
 the charge against Christians was one of a very
 
 177 
 
 serious nature, it seems very certain that, had he 
 been able, Origen would have rebutted the accusa- 
 tion. So far from attempting this, he admits the 
 facts stated by Celsus, that Christians in his time 
 would not bear arms, and justifies them on the 
 ground of the unlawfulness of war. 
 
 It may here be observed, that Tertullian, in 
 another part of his works, speaks of Christians who 
 were engaged together with their heathen country- 
 men in military pursuits. He plainly condemns 
 this practice ; but " in his time, if not before," says 
 Dr. Jortin, " there were some Christian soldiers, 
 and it is hard to conceive how they could maintain 
 their innocence in that station, and avoid such dis- 
 simulation and such practices as were scarcely al- 
 lowable. It is to be supposed, that Christians kept 
 out of the army as much as they possibly could." 
 To show the depravity of some Christians of this 
 period, Tertullian states the very extraordinary fact 
 of manufacturers of idols being admitted into the 
 ecclesiastical order. But, in his Soldiers Garland, 
 he clearly expresses his opinion respecting the law- 
 fulness of the military profession, when he says, 
 "Can a soldier's life be lawful, when Christ has 
 said that 'he who lives by the sword shall perish 
 by the sword.'" And again, "shall he who is not 
 to revenge his own wrongs, be instrumental in bring- 
 ing others into chains, imprisonment, torment, and 
 death ?" 
 
 With respect to the opinions of the first Christian 
 writers after the Apostles, or of those who are
 
 178 
 
 usually styled the Fathers of the Church, relative 
 to war, I believe we shall find them alike for nearly 
 three hundred years, if not for a longer period. 
 JUSTIN the martyr, one of the earliest of those of 
 the second century, considers war as unlawful. He 
 makes, also, the devil the author of all war. No 
 severer censure could have been passed upon it 
 than this, when we consider it as coming from the 
 lips of an early Christian. The sentiment, too, was 
 contrary to the prevailing opinions of the times, 
 when, of all professions, that of war was most ho- 
 nourable, and was the only one that was considered 
 to lead to glory. It resulted, therefore, in all pro- 
 bability, from the new views which Justin had ac- 
 quired by a perusal of such of the scriptures as had 
 fallen into his hands. 
 
 TATIAN, who was a disciple of Justin, in his 
 Oration to the Greeks, speaks in the same terms on 
 the same subject. 
 
 From various expressions of CLEMENS of Alex- 
 andria, a contemporary of the latter, we collect his 
 opinion to be decisive also, against the lawfulness 
 of war. 
 
 CYPRIAN, in his Epistle to Donatus, takes a view 
 of such customs in his own times as he conceived 
 to be repugnant to the spirit or letter of the Gospel, 
 and then remarks : " When a single murder is com- 
 mitted, it shall be deemed perhaps a crime ; but 
 that crime shall commence a virtue, when commit- 
 ted under the shelter of public authority : so that 
 punishment is not rated by the measure of the guilt;
 
 179 
 
 but the more enormous the crime is, so much the 
 greater is the chance of impunity*. 
 
 LACTANTIUS says : " It can never be lawful for 
 a righteous man to go to war, whose warfare is 
 righteousness itself." And in another place he ob- 
 serves, that " No exception can be made with re- 
 spect to this command of God. It can never be 
 lawful to kill a man, whose person the Divine Being 
 designed to be sacred as to violence." 
 
 I have now produced a collection of facts, to- 
 gether with the opinions of some of the best early 
 Christian writers ; all tending to show, that for 
 nearly the whole of the first two centuries, none of 
 those who were considered as real Christians by 
 the writers I have quoted, were members of the 
 military profession ; and I think that these Fathers 
 of the Church would have considered the remarks 
 of Dr. Horsley as little less than a calumny upon 
 the early Christians, and highly injurious to Chris- 
 tianity itself. This opinion will, I think, receive 
 confirmation from the church history of the succeed- 
 ing centuries, to which I shall have occasion to 
 request your attention in my next letter. 
 
 I remain, &c. 
 
 * This was the opinion of Dr. Porteus at one period of his life. 
 See Letter VI. p. 123.
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 
 
 1 Put up again thy sword into his place : for all they that take the 
 sword shall perish with the sword." Matt. xxvi. 52. 
 
 MY DEAR SlK, 
 
 IT having been frequently remarked, that the early 
 Christians refrained from war, not on account of its 
 unlawfulness, but because of the idolatrous services 
 required from military men in the Roman armies ; 
 it is necessary that I should distinctly show that 
 they regarded the unlawfulness of war, independent 
 of every other consideration, as a just cause for re- 
 fraining from, or for quitting the military profession. 
 This, indeed, appears obvious from what has been 
 already said ; but as this is a matter of moment, and 
 some stress has been laid upon this argument, it 
 seems desirable, in the first place, to ascertain this 
 fact. The case of Maximilian, preserved in the 
 Acts of Ruinart, is strictly in point. 
 
 Maximilian having been brought before the tribunal, in 
 order to be enrolled as a soldier, Dion, the proconsul, asked 
 him his name. Maximilian, turning to him, replied, " Why 
 wouldest thou know my name ? I am a Christian, and cannot 
 fight."
 
 181 
 
 Upon being enrolled, Dion bid the officer mark him. 
 But Maximilian refused to be marked, still asserting that 
 he was a Christian. Upon which, Dion instantly replied, 
 " Bear arms, or thou shalt die/' To this Maximilian 
 answered, " I cannot fight, if I die : I am not a soldier of 
 this world, but a soldier of God." Dion then said, " Who 
 has persuaded thee to behave thus ? " Maximilian an- 
 swered, " My own mind, and He who hath called me." 
 Dion then spoke to his father, and bade him persuade his 
 son. But his father observed, that his son knew his own 
 mind, and what it was best for him to do. 
 
 After this had passed, Dion addressed Maximilian again 
 in these words : " Take thy arms, and receive the mark." 
 "I can receive no such mark," said Maximilian; " I 
 have already the mark of Christ." Upon which, Dion said, 
 " I will send thee quickly to thy Christ." " Thou mayest 
 do so," he replied, "but the glory will be mine." 
 
 Dion then bade the officer to mark him. But Maximilian 
 still persisted in refusing, and spoke thus : " I cannot receive 
 the mark of this world. And if thou shouldest give me 
 the mark, I will destroy it. It will avail nothing. I am a 
 Christian, and it is not lawful for me to wear such a mark 
 about my neck, when I have received the saving mark of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, whom 
 thou knowest not, who died to give us life, and whom God 
 gave for our sins. Him all we Christians obey. Him we 
 follow, as the Restorer of our life, and the Author of our sal- 
 vation." 
 
 Dion instantly replied to this," Take thy arms and receive 
 the mark, or thou shalt suffer a miserable death." " But I 
 shall not perish," said Maximilian, " my name is already en- 
 rolled with Christ. I cannot fight." 
 
 Dion said, " Consider, then, thy youth, and bear arms. 
 The profession of arms becomes a young man." Maxi- 
 milian replied, " My arms are with the Lord, I cannot fight 
 for any earthly consideration. I am now a Christian." 
 
 o
 
 182 
 
 Dion, the proconsul, said, " Among the life-guards of our 
 masters Dioclesian and Maximinian, and Constantius and 
 Maximus, there are Christian soldiers, and they fight." 
 Maximilian answered, "They know best what is most ex- 
 pedient for them ; but I am a Christian, and it is unlawful 
 to do evil." 
 
 Dion said, " Take thy arms. Despise not the profession 
 of a soldier, lest thou perish miserably." " But I shall 
 not perish," says Maximilian ; " and if I should leave this 
 world, my soul will live with Christ the Lord." 
 
 Dion then ordered his name to be struck from the roll ; 
 and when this was done, he proceeded, " Because out of 
 thy rebellious spirit thou hast refused to bear arms, thou 
 shall be punished according to thy deserts, for an example 
 to others." And then he delivered the following sentence : 
 " Maximilian ! because thou hast refused to bear arms, 
 thou shall die by the sword." Maximilian replied, " Thanks 
 be to God!" 
 
 The case of Maximilian exhibits to us the noble 
 and instructive example of a conscientious Chris- 
 tian suffering death, rather than compromise his 
 duty. The idolatrous services required of Roman 
 soldiers formed no part of the objections he urged. 
 I will now give you the case of a man of the rank 
 of a centurion, who, when in the army, was converted 
 to Christianity, and from conscientious motives with- 
 drew from it, preferring the death of a martyr, to 
 the life of a soldier. 
 
 Marcellus was a centurion in the legion called 
 ' Trajana.' On a festival given in honour of the 
 birth-day of Galerius, he threw down his military 
 belt at the head of the legion, and in the face of the 
 standards declared with a loud voice, that he would
 
 183 
 
 no longer serve in the army, for he had become a 
 Christian. "I hold in detestation," says he, address- 
 ing himself to all the soldiers, " the worship of your 
 gods ; gods which are made of wood and stone ; 
 gods which are deaf and dumb." So far Marcellus 
 seems to have been influenced, in his desertion of 
 a military life, by the idolatry connected with it. 
 But let us hear him further on the same subject. 
 " It is not lawful," says he, " for a Christian who is 
 the servant of Christ the Lord, to bear arms for 
 any earthly consideration." After a delay of more 
 than three months in prison after this transaction, 
 which delay was allowed for the purpose of sparing 
 him, he was brought before the prefect. There 
 he had an opportunity of correcting his former ex- 
 pressions. But as he persisted in the same senti- 
 ments, he suffered. It is remarkable that, almost 
 immediately after his execution, Cassian, who was 
 the notary to the same legion, refused to serve any 
 longer, by publicly throwing his pen and account- 
 book upon the ground, and declaring at the same 
 time, that the sentence of Marcellus was unjust. 
 When taken up by the order of Aurelianus Agrico- 
 lanus, he is described, by the record preserved by 
 Ruinart, to have avowed the same sentiments as 
 Marcellus, and like him, to have suffered death *. 
 
 I cannot pass by the affecting statements con- 
 cerning Maximilian and Marcellus, without ven- 
 
 * " The accounts of these martyrdoms," says Gibbon, " bear every 
 mark of truth and authenticity." See Decline and Fall of the Roman 
 Empire, vol. ii. p. 464. 
 
 o2
 
 184 
 
 luring to ofter to you a few reflections, that these 
 interesting narratives call forth. How are we, my 
 dear Sir, to account for the fact, that during the 
 first two centuries, the professors of Christianity 
 were more zealous, and more in earnest about their 
 religion, than those of later ages ? The fact appears 
 to be established beyond all doubt, that the early 
 Christians, taking the Scriptures for their guide, 
 considered the military profession as unlawful, and 
 preferred death to a participation in its crimes. 
 Professing to be guided by the very same sacred 
 book, Christians, for more than a thousand years 
 past, have with very few exceptions, maintained that 
 this book sanctions men, when licensed by their 
 rulers, to devote themselves to the trade of war, 
 and deliberately to slaughter each other by thou- 
 sands. The benevolent and pacific spirit of the 
 present age, no doubt, far surpasses that of pre- 
 ceding ones ; but how far, my dear Sir, do we fall 
 short of that noble and heroic spirit, that devotion 
 to the will of God, that love and reverence for the 
 Saviour and Benefactor of the human race, and 
 that love for the brethren, which peculiarly distin- 
 guished the early Christians ! Compared to them, 
 the best Churches in Christendom, and the mass of 
 professing Christians in all countries, do not appear 
 to be in a better state than the Church of Laodicea : 
 and may not a similar woe be denounced against 
 them*? 
 
 However gratifying and instructive it may be to 
 
 * Kev. iii. 14 1C.
 
 185 
 
 the lovers of peace to be informed of the practices 
 and opinions of the early Christians, their conduct 
 can afford us no positive rule for ours ; they are 
 quoted here merely to show that these good men in- 
 terpreted the Scriptures, our only sure guide, in the 
 very same way that the members of the Peace So- 
 cieties, these Utopian reformers, now interpret them. 
 I quote them also, as I am upon my defence, and 
 writing my apology, to show, that instead of expo- 
 sing myself to censure, for dereliction of duty as a 
 Christian and a patriot, by withdrawing myself 
 from my profession, I am sanctioned by the opinions 
 and example of some of the wisest and best men in 
 the purest ages of the Christian history. 
 
 Of the simple and amiable manners, and strict 
 and unbending integrity of the early Christians, 
 Pliny bore honourable testimony *. These manners, 
 which continued to distinguish the followers of 
 Christ during the first two centuries, were greatly 
 deteriorated during the third century, when it must 
 be admitted that there were numbers of men in the 
 Roman armies who were called Christians. But 
 these men, whatever name they might bear, were 
 either idolaters, or persons of no fixed principles, 
 
 * "Pliny's letter," as Mr. Melmoth observes in a note upon the 
 passage, " is esteemed as almost the only genuine monument of ec- 
 clesiastical antiquity relating to the times immediately succeeding the 
 apostles, it being written at most not above forty years after the death 
 of St. Paul. It was preserved by the Christians themselves, as a clear 
 and unsuspicious evidence of the purity of their doctrines, and is fre- 
 quently appealed to by the early writers of the Church against the 
 calumnies of their adversaries." See Pliny : Encyclopaedia Britannica.
 
 186 
 
 moral or religious. The oath required to be taken 
 by Roman soldiers, was not, with respect to Chris- 
 tians serving in their armies, rescinded, or dispensed 
 with, till the following, or fourth century. Instead 
 of Christians being required to take the same oath 
 as the Roman soldiers, this dispensation admitted 
 them into their armies upon " swearing by God, by 
 Christ, and by the Holy Spirit, and by the majesty 
 of the emperor, which, next to God, was to be loved 
 and honoured by mankind." Whether a real Chris- 
 tian, entertaining a proper reverence for the Deity, 
 ought to submit to take such an oath, may justly be 
 questioned ; but its existence leads us to suppose, 
 that Christians, at that early period, had widely de- 
 parted from their primitive simplicity and purity. 
 Indeed, the gross darkness, which for so many suc- 
 ceeding ages nearly extinguished the lamp of Chris- 
 tianity, had then commenced. Men, denominated 
 Christians, becaift^ as already observed, so far lost 
 to every just sense of Christian duty, as to accept of 
 heathen priesthoods. As a proof of this, the Coun- 
 cil of Elvira of this century was forced to make 
 several canons to forbid such scandalous usages, 
 which canons are now extant. 
 
 Notwithstanding this deplorable state of things, 
 and the still worse state that succeeded it, we find 
 evidence, either direct or indirect, that at all periods 
 of the Christian history, there were some who tes- 
 tified that war is inaccordant with the precepts of 
 Christianity. In the twelfth canon of the Council 
 of Nice, (A. D. 325,) a long period of excommunica- 
 tion is attached, as a penalty on the conduct of those
 
 187 
 
 persons who, having once in the ardour of their 
 early faith renounced the military calling, were 
 persuaded, by the force of bribes, to return to it. 
 From hence we may infer, that the Nicene Fathers 
 considered the military profession as altogether in- 
 compatible with a high state of Christian morality. 
 What, my dear Sir, would the venerable fathers of 
 this council have said to the half-pay military eccle- 
 siastics of the present day, to men who, being no 
 longer wanted to kill the bodies of their fellow-men, 
 (by way of gaining a livelihood,) feel a call to save 
 their souls. Would not the members of the Council 
 of Elvira have told these military clericals, that 
 they acted upon the same principle as those nomi- 
 nal Christians who accepted heathen priesthoods ? 
 And what would they have said to our electioneer- 
 ing clericals, Catholic or Protestant? What indeed 
 would they have said to the sophistries of Doctors 
 Paley, Porteus, and Horsley? 
 
 But to return from this digression, and pursue 
 my inquiries concerning the practices of Christians 
 in later ages. 
 
 Lardner remarks on a work ascribed to Arche- 
 laus, a bishop of Mesopotamia, apparently written 
 in the fourth century, that he seems to have con- 
 demned all war as unlawful ; for, relating that some 
 Roman soldiers, charmed with the piety and gene- 
 rosity of Marcellus, were induced to embrace the 
 Christian religion, he says that " they immediately 
 forsook the profession of arms." 
 
 In the following, or fifth century, Pope Leo de- 
 clared it to be "contrary to the rules of the Church,
 
 188 
 
 that persons, after the action of penance, should re- 
 vert to the warfare of the world*." Epist. ii. 
 
 A synod held in England under William the 
 Conqueror, declared, that those who fought only for 
 the hopes of reward, ought to do penance as for 
 murder ; following, probably, the decision of St 
 Augustine, "Militare non est delictum, sed propter 
 praedam militare peccatum est." Were this enforced 
 in the present day, how few fighting men, my dear 
 Sir, would escape the most severe penance*? In- 
 stead of being distinguished by the splendid insig- 
 nia of military orders, and rewarded with pensions, 
 not a few (according to the old regime) would be 
 condemned to wear sackcloth, and observe a perpe- 
 tual lent. Nay, may we not expect that the bishops 
 and legislators of these ages, which we are led to 
 consider as ages distinguished by mental darkness 
 and superstition, will rise up in judgement against 
 the prelates and legislators of modern times and 
 condemn them ? for, from what has been said, they 
 must, like Erasmus, have condemned the lethargic 
 ministers of the Gospel of Peace. 
 
 The Patarines, or Gazari, the Puritans of Italy 
 in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, 
 kept alive the cause of truth, liberty, and benevo- 
 lence. They held several tenets in common with 
 those now called Quakers, particularly with respect 
 to oaths and war ; considering it as unlawful to 
 bear arms, or to kill mankind. 
 
 * " Contrariam esse ccclesiasticis, post pcenitentiae actioncm, redire 
 ad militiam secularem." Quoted by Grotius, ' De Jure Belli,' lib. I. 
 cap. ii. 9.
 
 189 
 
 To these succeeded other heralds of the Refor- 
 mation, who, under the name of Waldenses, Albi- 
 genses, &c. were scattered over a great part of Eu- 
 rope, and of whom the following account is given 
 by Robinson. 
 
 " Authentic records in France assure us that a people of 
 a certain description were drawn from thence in the twelfth 
 century. Bohemian records, of equal authenticity, inform 
 us, that some of the same description arrived in Bohemia at 
 the same time, and settled near a hundred miles from Prague, 
 at Satz and Lann, on the river Eger, just on the borders of 
 the kingdom. Almost two hundred years after, another un- 
 doubted record of the same country mentions a people of 
 the same description, some as burnt at Prague, and others 
 as inhabiting the borders of the kingdom j and, a hundred 
 and fifty years after that, we find a people of the same de- 
 scription settled by connivance in the metropolis, and several 
 other parts of the kingdom. About one hundred and twenty 
 years lower, we find a people of the same country, living 
 under the protection of law, on the estate of prince Lichten- 
 stein, exactly like all the former, and about thirty or forty 
 thousand in number. The religious character of this people 
 is so very different from that of all others, that the likeness is 
 not easily mistaken.* They had no priests, but taught one 
 another. They had no private property, for they held all 
 things jointly. They executed no offices, and neither ex- 
 acted nor took oaths. They bore no arms, and rather chose 
 to suffer than resist wrong. They held every thing in the 
 Church of Rome in abhorrence, and worshiped God, only 
 by adoring his perfections, and endeavouring to imitate his 
 goodness. They thought Christianity wanted no comment, 
 and they professed the belief of that, by being baptized, and 
 their love to Christ and one another, by receiving the Lord's 
 supper. They aspired at neither wealth nor power, and 
 their plan was industry. We have shown how highly pro-
 
 190 
 
 bable it is that Bohemia afforded them work, wages, and a 
 secure asylum, which was all they wanted. If these be 
 facts, they are facts that do honour to human nature ; they 
 exhibit in the great picture of the world, a few small figures 
 in a back-ground, unstained with the blood, and unruffled 
 with the disputes of their fellow-creatures. It was their 
 wisdom in their times, not to come forward to deliver apolo- 
 gies to the world, and creeds, with flattering prefaces, to 
 princes ; the turbulence of the crowd would have caused the 
 still voice of reason not to be heard." Ecclesiastical J?e- 
 searches, p. 527. 
 
 The Anabaptists, at their first rise, and also the 
 early Socinians, generally maintained the unlawful- 
 ness of all war, and of the military profession ; but 
 I believe that both these sects have ceased to regard 
 the military profession as inaccordant with the pre- 
 cepts of Jesus. The Society of Friends and the 
 Moravians, both held in little repute by the learned 
 and the great, are the only religious communities 
 in our country, which now maintain the principle, 
 that all war is unlawful under the Gospel dispensa- 
 tion. The hasty sketch here given of the history 
 of the pacific principles of Christianity, will go far 
 to show, that God has never, since the promulgation 
 of the Gospel, left himself without faithful and true 
 witnesses, who have, at the expense of their lives, 
 testified to the unlawfulness of all war under the 
 Christian dispensation. I rejoice, however, in the 
 belief, that the defence of the pacific principles of 
 the Gospel is not now, as heretofore, confined to 
 any particular sects or communities of Christians. 
 A new era has arrived, and societies of men have 
 sprung up within the last ten or twelve years in
 
 191 
 
 England, in America, and in various parts of the 
 world, for the professed purpose of promoting per- 
 manent and universal peace. Like the Bible So- 
 cieties, these Societies consist of men of all religious 
 creeds, and their object is, assuredly, highly im- 
 portant : but if the Bible Societies have had their op- 
 ponents among the " many wise and many mighty," 
 we cannot wonder at the opposition the Peace So- 
 cieties have had to encounter : but I trust that their 
 cause is the cause of truth ; that it is the cause of 
 the God of all truth ; and that it must and will 
 triumph over all opposition. Prophecy assures us 
 that these hopes are built on a solid foundation. 
 
 Having so frequently referred to the works of 
 the early Christian writers ; those who read these 
 Letters may be led to imagine, either that I am, or 
 that I wish to pass myself off for a literary charac- 
 ter : I think it, therefore, necessary to observe, that 
 many of the quotations I have made are at second- 
 hand. I have not, like you, a valuable library to 
 refer to ; nor, if I had this advantage, do I profess 
 to have the ability of critically ascertaining the 
 meaning of the different authors I have quoted. 
 The historical matter I have introduced in this Let- 
 ter, is chiefly on the authority of Mr. Clarkson, Mr. 
 John Gurney, Mr. J. W. Fox, and the anonymous 
 author of the Pictures of War. If I have, by any 
 of them, been led into error, it will be an easy mat- 
 ter for you, as a scholar, with access to the origi- 
 nals, to correct me : in doing this, you will confer 
 an obligation on myself, and perform an accept- 
 able service to the lovers of peace and of truth. 
 
 I have now, my dear Sir, travelled through a
 
 192 
 
 large portion of my undertaking. To you, and 
 others, I fear, the perusal of these Letters may be 
 tedious and irksome ; to myself the writing of them 
 has been a most gratifying employment; as, at 
 every step I have advanced in my work, fresh con- 
 viction has poured in upon my mind, that the prin- 
 ciples I have advocated, are consonant with the re- 
 vealed will of God. 
 
 In my remaining Letters I purpose to enter upon 
 the most difficult part of my task, which is to per- 
 suade you, and others, to embrace my opinions 
 respecting defensive war ; by showing, or endea- 
 vouring to show, that it is irreconcilable with just 
 notions of religion, natural and revealed, and par- 
 ticularly that it is inaccordant with the very first 
 rudiments of Christianity. I am aware of the dif- 
 ficulties attending my attempt, and am not so san- 
 guine as to expect much present success from my 
 endeavours : the most I can hope to accomplish is, 
 to draw attention to a subject which, however dis- 
 regarded and scoffed at in the present day, will, 
 most certainly, in the forth-coming ages of the 
 world, occupy the attention of virtuous and enlight- 
 ened Christians ; a subject, the serious considera- 
 tion of which will, and that, perhaps, at no very 
 distant period, paralyse the uplifted arm of the 
 warrior, and cause him, when about to take away 
 the life of a fellow-creature, to remember the words 
 of the Saviour and Benefactor of mankind : " Put 
 up again thy sword into his place ; for all they that 
 take the sword shall perish with the sword." 
 
 I remain, &c.
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 THE PROFESSION OF ARMS INACCORDANT WITH 
 THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL RELIGION. 
 
 " For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the 
 things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto 
 themselves. How. ii. 14. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 WHEN we contemplate the innumerable worlds 
 which the great Creator has formed for his glory, and 
 the innumerable orders of beings which he has cre- 
 ated for their happiness, we have the most powerful 
 incitements to gratitude and adoration, to humility, 
 and an entire self-devotion to the " GREAT FIRST 
 CAUSE." 
 
 Still greater reason have we to be impressed 
 with these feelings, when we consider that the 
 High and Holy One, who created all things, hath 
 not only given us by nature the knowledge of good 
 and evil, or a law written in our hearts ; but hath 
 also given us a written law ; a revelation of his 
 will, in every way adapted to our wants ; and cal- 
 culated to render us comfortable in this our proba- 
 tionary state, and to fit us for unalloyed felicity for 
 an eternity of ages.
 
 194 
 
 Among- the various transgressions of these sacred 
 laws, whether written in our hearts, or in the sacred 
 pages of inspiration, all others seem to sink into 
 insignificance when compared with the atrocities 
 of war. Wild animals, destitute of reason and any 
 sense of duty to their Maker, are generally armed 
 with natural weapons of defence and annoyance, 
 and use them for these purposes ; but man, made in 
 the image of God, and qualified to enjoy and com- 
 municate acts of benevolence, goodness and love, 
 appears to surpass the whole brute creation in fero- 
 city and cruelty*. It seems scarcely within the 
 verge of possibility to imagine any thing more 
 savage, more irreligious, more irrational, or more 
 unnatural, than that beings formed for such noble 
 purposes, and particularly those professing Christi- 
 anity, should meet by thousands and hundreds of 
 thousands, for the express purpose of deliberately 
 killing each other. If Christianity is, indeed, a 
 true religion ; if it proceeds from a wise, a just, 
 and good God, it would seem that no other proof 
 could be wanted to show that such a practice -must 
 be directly opposed to the Divine will. But war, 
 at least defensive war, is not only advocated, but 
 even sanctified by the ministers of the Gospel of 
 Peace, who, forming part of adverse armies, pray 
 to the God of all peace, to give them the victory ; 
 i. e. to enable them to kill as many as possible of 
 
 * See Letter IV. p. 99. Extract from Mr. Burke's Vindication of 
 Natural Society.
 
 195 
 
 their brethren ; and after the battle, they thank him 
 for having enabled them to do so. 
 
 Had mankind no written law ; were the Scrip- 
 tures of truth extinct, the book of Nature seerns in- 
 tended to teach them the duties not only of forbear- 
 ance and forgiveness, but of amity and love. The 
 celestial bodies, as Erasmus observes, seem to move 
 with harmony and concord ; and nothing like war 
 or discord can be discovered in their motions. In 
 the human body, which may be regarded as a sym- 
 bol of the political body, all is union and harmo- 
 nious co-operation. Among animals even the most 
 ferocious, nothing like war with their own kind is 
 to be found. Even the very trees and the plants 
 seem to condemn the warrior they speak the lan- 
 guage of amity and love. The vine embraces the 
 elm, and other plants cling to the vine. The very 
 stones seem to bear witness against man the load- 
 stone embraces the loadstone ; and the attraction of 
 cohesion, as a law of love, pervades all inanimate 
 nature. What is still a greater reproach to man, 
 the accursed spirits entertain for each other more 
 unanimity than man for man. 
 
 "Devil with devil damn'd, firm concord hold, 
 Men only disagree of creatures rational." 
 
 Having in the preceding Letters exposed a few 
 of the trivial causes which have produced war and 
 all its horrors; with the insidious and antichris- 
 tian arts frequently resorted to by statesmen, to 
 gloss over their guilt in exciting the inhabitants of 
 one nation to rob and plunder those of another ; 
 having also faintly sketched a few of the evils,
 
 196 
 
 moral and physical, proceeding from war and mili- 
 tary establishments ; and further shown that in the 
 earliest and best ages of Christianity, the followers 
 of our Lord never engaged in war under any cir- 
 cumstances, on account of its unlawfulness, I 
 might, on a subject of minor importance, have laid 
 down my pen, under the impression that a custom 
 so entirely subversive of human happiness and vir- 
 tue must necessarily be irreconcilable with the will 
 of a wise, gracious, and just God. It might, indeed, 
 be presumed a priori, that a religion to be promul- 
 gated by the Prince of Peace, would never sanction 
 its votaries to slaughter each other. So strong, how- 
 ever, are the prejudices of mankind, and so potent 
 the incitements for many to desire the continuance 
 of a practice so truly disgraceful to the religion of 
 Christ, that it becomes necessary for the friend of 
 peace to give line upon line and precept upon pre- 
 cept. 
 
 It is, perhaps, one of the strongest internal evi- 
 dences of the truth of Christianity, that its precepts 
 are agreeable to just notions of natural religion, and 
 fitted to promote the happiness of beings formed as 
 men are. Previous, therefore, to inquiring how far 
 war is reconcileable with the precepts of revealed 
 religion, I shall endeavour, in this Letter, to show 
 that the practice of war is inaccordant with the 
 principles of natural religion. 
 
 One great and leading principle pervades all re- 
 lio-ious systems, whether natural or revealed ; this is, 
 the paternal character of the Deity. This character, 
 though not generally discoverable by human reason,
 
 is so consonant with it, that it only requires to be 
 fairly set before us to command our assent, inde- 
 pendent of revelation. The religion of the Jews 
 renders this principle more clear ; but it is in the 
 Christian revelation alone that the resplendent truth 
 is ascertained, that God is not only the Creator, 
 but also the Protector, the Friend, the FATHER of 
 men, and that men of all nations are bretliren, and 
 fellow heirs of eternal life. But it is of natural 
 religion only that I would speak in this Letter. 
 
 From the light of nature alone, men of reflection 
 have been able to ascertain to the highest degree of 
 probability, amounting, indeed, to moral certainty, 
 that the>re is a GOD. They have also been able, 
 from contemplating the animal and vegetable world, 
 to arrive at the conclusion that he is wise, powerful, 
 and benevolent. 
 
 Epictetus says :* " If what philosophers say of the 
 kindred between God and men be true ; what has 
 any one to do, but like Socrates, when he is asked 
 what countryman he is, never to say that he is a 
 citizen of Athens, or of Corinth, but of the world." 
 And " Why may not (such a one) call himself a ci- 
 tizen of the world ? Why not a son of God ? And, 
 why shall he fear any thing that happens among 
 men? Shall the kindred to Ccesar, or any other 
 great man of Rome, enable a man to live secure 
 above contempt, and void of all fear whatever ? and 
 shall not having God for our Maker, and Father, 
 and Guardian, free us from griefs and terrors?" 
 
 * Book 1. Chap. 9.
 
 198 
 
 Other heathen sages have expressed themselves 
 in similar terms, concerning the existence of one 
 Supreme God, and his parental character ; and also 
 of the relation in which men stand as brethren. It 
 would seem therefore to require no other proof that 
 it is their duty to refrain from killing and murder- 
 ing each other, either singly or in greater numbers. 
 
 From the way in which man is formed, we may 
 also safely come to the conclusion, that he was de- 
 signed, by his benevolent Creator, for purposes the 
 very reverse of annoying or destroying his own 
 species. On this subject, permit me to quote the 
 learned Erasmus, the friend of peace, and of Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 " Man," says he, " is brought into the world naked, weak, 
 tender, unarmed; his flesh of the softest texture, his skin 
 smooth and delicate, and susceptible of the slightest injury. 
 There is nothing observable in his limbs adapted to fighting, 
 or to violence. Unable either to speak or walk, or help 
 himself to food, he can only implore relief by tears and wail- 
 ing ; so that from this circumstance alone might he collected 
 that man is an animal born for that love and friendship, 
 which is formed and cemented by the mutual interchange 
 of benevolent offices. Moreover, nature evidently intended 
 that man should consider himself indebted for the boon of 
 life, not so much to herself, as to the kindness of his fellow- 
 man ; that he might perceive himself designed for social 
 affections, and the attachments of friendship and love. Then 
 she gave him a countenance, not frightful and forbidding, 
 but mild and placid, intimating, by external signs, the benig- 
 nity of his disposition. She gave him eyes full of affection- 
 ate expression, the indexes of a mind delighting in social 
 sympathy. She gave him arms to embrace his fellow-crea- 
 tures. She gave him lips to express a union of heart and
 
 199 
 
 soul. She gave him alone the power of laughing, a mark of 
 the joy of which he is susceptible. She gave him tears, the 
 symbol of clemency and compassion. She gave him a voice, 
 not a menacing and frightful yell, but bland, soothing, and 
 friendly. Not satisfied with these marks of her peculiar 
 favour, she bestowed on him alone the use of speech and rea- 
 son : a gift which tends, more than any other, to conciliate 
 and cherish benevolence, and a desire of rendering mutual 
 services ; so that nothing among human creatures might 
 be done by violence." 
 
 From the following fable, extracted from the 
 Idler, the great Doctor Johnson appears, at one 
 period of his life, to have entertained opinions not 
 very dissimilar to those of Erasmus. After some 
 prefatory remarks concerning the supposed power 
 of animals to impart their thoughts to each other, 
 he says : 
 
 " A shepherd of Bohemia has, by long abode in the forests, 
 enabled himself to understand the voice of birds ; at least he 
 relates with great confidence, a story, of which the credibility 
 is left to be considered by the learned. 
 
 " ' As I was sitting,' said he, ' within a hollow rock, and 
 watching my sheep in the valley, I heard two vultures inter- 
 changeably crying on the summit of the cliff. Both voices 
 were earnest and deliberate. My curiosity prevailed over 
 my care of the flock. I climbed slowly and silently from 
 crag to crag, concealed among the shrubs, till I found a 
 cavity in which I might sit and listen, without suffering or 
 giving disturbance. 
 
 " ' I soon perceived that my labour would be well repaid, 
 for an old vulture was sitting on a naked prominence, with 
 her young about her, whom she was instructing in the arts 
 of a vulture's life, and preparing, by the last lecture, for their 
 final dismission to the mountains and the skies. 
 
 " f My children,' said the vulture, ' you will the less want 
 my instructions, because you have had my practice before
 
 200 
 
 your eyes ; you have seen me snatch from the farm,, the 
 household fowl ; you have seen me seize the leveret in the 
 bush, and the kid in the pasture ; you know how to fix your 
 talons, and how to balance your flight when you arc laden 
 with your prey. But you remember the taste of more deli- 
 cious food: I have often regaled you with the flesh of man.' 
 ' Tell us,' said the young vultures, 'where man may be found, 
 and how he may be known, his flesh is surely the natural 
 food of a vulture. Why have you never brought a man in 
 your talons to the nestr' ' He is too bulky/ said the mother : 
 ' when we find a man, we can only tear away his flesh, and 
 leave his bones on the ground.' ' Since man is so big,' said 
 the young ones, ' how do you kill him ? You arc afraid of 
 the wolf and the bear, by what power are vultures superior 
 to man ? is man more defenceless than a sheep ':' ' We have 
 not the strength of man,' returned the mother/ and lam 
 sometimes in doubt whether we have his subtilty ; and the 
 vultures would seldom feed upon his flesh, had not nature, 
 that devoted him to our uses, infused into him a strange fe- 
 rocity, which I have never observed in any other being that 
 feeds upon the earth. Two herds of men will often meet, 
 and shake the earth with noise, and fill the air with fire. 
 When you hear noise, and see fire, which flashes along 
 the ground, hasten to the place, with your swiftest wing, 
 for men are surely destroying one another ; you will find 
 the ground smoking with blood and covered with car- 
 cases, of which many arc dismembered and mangled for 
 the use of the vulture.' ' But when men have killed their 
 prey,' said the pupil, ' why do they not eat it ? When the 
 wolf has killed a sheep, he suffers not the vulture to touch 
 it till he has satisfied himself. Is not man another kind of 
 wolf?' ' Man,' said the mother, ' is the only beast who kills 
 what he does nor devour, and this quality makes him so much 
 a benefactor to our species.' ' If men kill our prey, and 
 lay it in our way,' said the young one, ' what need shall we 
 have of labouring for ourselves r' 'Because man will some- 
 times,' replied the mother, 'remain for a long time quiet in
 
 201 
 
 his den. The old vultures will tell you when you are to 
 watch his motions. When you see men in great number 
 moving closely together, like a flock of storks, you may con- 
 clude that they are hunting, and that you will soon revel in 
 human blood.' < But still/ said the young one, * I would 
 gladly know the reason of this mutual slaughter, I could 
 never kill what I would not eat.' ' My child/ said the mo- 
 ther, ' this is a question which I cannot answer, though I 
 am reckoned the most subtile bird of the mountain. When 
 I was young, I used frequently to visit the aerie of an old 
 vulture, who dwelt upon the Carpathian rocks; he had made 
 many observations ; he knew the places that afforded prey 
 round his habitation, as far, in every direction, as the strong- 
 est wing can fly, between the rising and setting of the sum- 
 mer sun; he had fed, year after year, on the entrails of men. 
 His opinion was, that men had only the appearance of ani- 
 mal life, being really vegetables with a power of motion ; 
 and that as the boughs of an oak are dashed together by the 
 storm, that swine may fatten on the falling acorns, so men 
 are, by some unaccountable power, driven one against an- 
 other, till they lose their motion that vultures may be fed. 
 Others think they have observed something of contrivance 
 and policy among these mischievous beings ; and those that 
 hover more closely round them, pretend, that there is in every 
 herd, one that gives directions to the rest, and seems to be 
 more eminently delighted with wild carnage. What it is that 
 entitles him to such pre-eminence we know not, he is seldom 
 the biggest or the fleetest, but he shows by his eagerness and 
 diligence, that he is, more than any of the others, a friend to 
 the vultures.* ' " 
 
 As I have deviated into the paths of fiction, per- 
 mit me, before I return to my grave subject, to re- 
 late the particulars of another fable. The writer 
 
 * The above constituted the original No. 22. of the Idler ; but un 
 thr iTpublication of that work in volumes, this paper was suppressed 
 ly the author, and another substituted in its stead.
 
 202 
 
 of this fable, Dr. Franklin, a man of uncommon na- 
 tural powers of mind, has represented a young angel 
 as sent from heaven on a visit to this world of ours, 
 and with him an older angel is sent, to accompany 
 him as a guide, constantly to remain at his side. 
 They had just arrived in the midst of the battle 
 which was fought between Lord Rodney and the 
 Count de Grasse. The young angel having heard 
 the cries and~the dying shrieks of the wounded, and 
 being shocked at the different forms of misery and 
 massacre which such a scene of carnage as a naval 
 fight presented to his view, exclaimed to the angel 
 that was his guide, " Oh, you have mistaken ; I 
 asked you to conduct me to the earth, but you have 
 brought me to hell." " No/' replied the other angel, 
 "I have made no mistake ; this is too surely earth, 
 and not hell, for the devils never kill each other, 
 but men do." 
 
 From these two fables, and the remarks of Eras- 
 mus, we may conclude, that these three great men, 
 one a Catholic, another a Protestant, and the third 
 a Deist, but all possessing superior powers of mind, 
 were decidedly of opinion that the practice of war 
 is directly at variance with just principles of natural 
 religion. May we not infer that, in their view of 
 war, it ought to be rejected by those who, " having 
 not the law, are a law unto themselves ;" that is, that 
 it ought to be rejected on the principles of natural 
 religion alone. 
 
 What is the duty respecting war, of those who are 
 blessed with the light of revelation, will be consi- 
 dered in the following letters. 
 
 I remain, &c.
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 THE PROFESSION OF ARMS INACCORDANT WITH 
 THE DECALOGUE, AND THE PRECEPTS CON- 
 TAINED IN THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS. 
 
 " What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love nicivy, 
 and to walk humbly with thy God ?" Micah vi. 8. 
 
 My DEAR SIR, 
 
 THE paternal character of the Deity, of which some 
 few heathen philosophers had attained, by reflection 
 and the light of natural reason, faint and imperfect 
 ideas, (as mentioned in my last Letter,) is in the Jew- 
 ish laws portrayed with great force and beauty. 
 " Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God 
 created us? Why do we deal treacherously every 
 man with his brother*?" This paternal character, 
 so plainly described here and in many other places of 
 the Old Testament, indicates that war and slaughter 
 must be displeasing to such a benevolent parent ; 
 and though, to punish the idolatry and vices of the 
 Canaanites, the Israelites were commanded to wage 
 against them a war of destruction t, yet it seems 
 very clear, admitting that war is not contradictory to 
 
 * Mai. ii. 10. See also Isa. Ixiv. 8. Job xxxi. 13, 15. I's. ciii. 
 13, &c. Sec. f Letter Mil. p. 15?, 153.
 
 204 
 
 the precepts contained in the Law and the Pro- 
 phets, that the making it a profession or trade to 
 live by, is altogether inaccordant with obedience 
 to the moral precepts contained in the Old Tes- 
 tament. That I may not take up too much of your 
 time, I shall confine the proofs I have to offer, 
 chiefly to the motto I have selected, and to the 
 decalogue. 
 
 To begin with the first commandment. Though, 
 the soldier may not break this, or the second com- 
 mandment, by falling down to a graven image, and 
 worshiping it ; yet is he not guilty of another kind 
 of idolatry, which, in its effects, is frequently more 
 to be deprecated ? In the New Testament, the in- 
 dulgence of certain passions, when they occupy the 
 first place in our affections, is regarded as a species 
 of idolatry. (See Col. iii. 5 ; Phil. iii. 19 ; 2 Cor. 
 iv. 4.) The idolatry there mentioned, when com- 
 pared with an insatiate appetite for military glory, 
 is comparatively innoxious ; it is confined to a limit- 
 ed sphere, and chiefly injures those who indulge in 
 it ; but military idolatry, if the appetite for military 
 fame may be so designated, not only destroys the 
 happiness of its votaries by unfitting them for social 
 and domestic enjoyments, but it renders them inca- 
 pable of making God the supreme object of their 
 love and obedience, and carries with it misery, de- 
 vastation, and death, among unoffending indivi- 
 duals, to an extent almost unlimited. Though pre- 
 tending to be the protector, a military force has 
 generally been found to be the destroyer of religion 
 uud liberty, the parents of happiness and moral
 
 205 
 
 excellence. It may perhaps be doubted, whether, 
 in what is called Christendom, the number of those 
 who "worship the Father in spirit and in truth," is 
 not less than those who worship Mars and Plutus 
 with zeal and fidelity. 
 
 Though soldiers are not now called upon, like 
 the subjects of Nebuchadnezzar, to fall down and 
 worship an image, or, like the Romans, to worship 
 their standards, yet military idolatry transfers to the 
 creature that homage, that absolute obedience, which 
 is alone due to the Creator. Whether a soldier 
 may, at convenient times, be a worshiper of the 
 true God, or of a graven image, it is to his com- 
 manding officer, or to his king, not to his God, that 
 he is taught to look up for honour, for rank, for 
 support : and " his servants we are to whom we 
 obey." 
 
 As to taking God's sacred name in vain, though 
 this practice is greatly diminished among both sol- 
 diers and sailors, and still more so among their 
 officers, it yet prevails to no small extent. . 
 
 As to keeping the sabbath-day holy, a soldier has 
 often no choice whether he will so keep it or not ; 
 for it may be observed, that some of the most san- 
 guinary battles on record have been fought on the 
 day set apart for the worship of " the God of all 
 peace." It is just, however, to observe, that in the 
 military services of all European nations, divine 
 service is performed, with due solemnity, when it 
 does not interfere with the requirements of military 
 duty. 
 
 Instead of honouring father and mother, a soldier
 
 206 
 
 has a dispensation to burn and rob their habitation, 
 or even to kill them, if they happen, by living on 
 different sides of a mountain or river, to be the sub- 
 jects of an unfriendly sovereign. 
 
 By the laws of our country, taking away the lives 
 of others, with malice aforethought, constitutes the 
 crime of murder : where this act is done premedi- 
 tately and deliberately, a judge, or jury, will require 
 no other proof of the malicious intention. Allow- 
 ing, however, that this malicious intention, as it 
 regards soldiers, has no existence, that they go out 
 to fight for glory ; then, does not the crime of mur- 
 der apply to their employers? What a weight of 
 guilt does this seem to lay upon those sovereign 
 princes, who for years not only premeditate taking 
 away the lives of those whom they pronounce to be 
 their enemies, but train up a portion of their sub- 
 jects to the trade of taking away the lives of their 
 brethren and fellow-men, and make the doing this 
 skilfully, the high-road to wealth and honour. Like 
 tigers, or if you please like Frederic, military de- 
 spots "seize occasion ;" and when that is favourable, 
 *' they decide, make war, and leave the care of their 
 justification to some laborious civilian*." If the 
 employers arc herein guilty, in the sight of a just 
 God, can those whom they employ be regarded by 
 him as innocent ? 
 
 As to adultery, though not regarded as a crime 
 by Christian legislators, it is considered, under the 
 Jewish laws, as one of the worst of crimes. With 
 
 Sec Letter II. '. 51.
 
 207 
 
 respect to it, the soldier is placed in a very peculiar 
 and trying situation : the officer of justice tells him, 
 he ought not to be allowed to marry* ! ! 
 
 As to stealing, provided it is from an enemy, 
 and by wholesale, (for petty thefts are by all allowed 
 to be criminal,) it is held to be highly honourable. 
 And as to lying, and bearing false witness, it 
 is held in like honour, if practised to deceive an 
 enemy. 
 
 As to the tenth commandment, the soldier need 
 not much trouble his head about it ; for, in some 
 situations, he is not only permitted to covet, but to 
 take by force, his neighbour's house, his wife, his 
 man-servant, his maid-servant, his ox, his ass, and 
 every thing that is his. And in too many instances 
 may soldiers, in almost all countries, plead not only 
 the license given to them, but the example set them 
 by their employers, to break this commandment. 
 
 How melancholy the consideration, that sovereign 
 princes, and these professing themselves to be the 
 disciples of the humble Jesus, should so frequently, 
 by their manifestoes or declarations of war, have 
 suspended the decalogue, and in its place substi- 
 tuted the articles of war; thus claiming for them- 
 selves, or their representatives, the unconditional 
 obedience which is due to God alone. 
 
 Bishop Newton, Mr. Faber, and many interme- 
 diate commentators on the Prophecies, have taken 
 much pains, and exhibited singular ingenuity, in 
 discovering Antichrist among the different nations 
 
 * Sec Letter VI. p. 118.
 
 208 
 
 and religious sects of Europe. I leave you to de- 
 cide whether they have not bestowed much labour 
 in exhibiting the mote in their brother's eye, which 
 might have been usefully employed in removing 
 the beam from their own. We may exultingly ar- 
 raign His Holiness the Pope, and brand him as the 
 man of sin and the son of perdition ; we may clothe 
 him in a scarlet robe, and call him the old lady of 
 Babylon, and other hard names ; but surely, of the 
 sovereign prince, who publishes a war manifesto, 
 and at one bold stroke annuls the ten command- 
 ments, it may supereminently Be said, that " he 
 exalteth himself above all (or every one) that is 
 called God, or that is worshiped ; so that, as God, 
 he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself 
 that he is God." May not a close personification 
 of this Antichrist be found in every belligerent state 
 and kingdom, from the time of Constantine to the 
 present? nor will the distinguishing characteristics 
 of this enemy of Christianity be found less perfect, 
 if we consult the prophecies of the Old Testament*. 
 Any practice that is incompatible with obedience 
 to the two tables of the law, we may naturally ex- 
 pect to find at variance with the morality inculcated 
 by the inspired prophets. The motto I have se- 
 lected, affords a striking instance of this : for when 
 we consider the orders that a military man may be 
 called upon to execute, it will appear next to a 
 moral impossibility that he can " do justly, love 
 mercy, and walk humbly before God." To lay 
 
 * Isaiah xiv. 13, 11, Dau. vii.
 
 209 
 
 waste the country of others, to burn or plunder their 
 houses, or to take, sink, burn, or destroy their ships, 
 are actions commonly imposed on military men. In 
 executing these, must they not necessarily do un- 
 justly, despise mercy, and walk proudly before God ? 
 
 The conduct of David is often quoted as afford- 
 ing a sanction to war and the military profession : 
 but the beautiful Psalms which are attributed to 
 him, show that he loved, and that he "laboured for 
 peace." From the rejection of his prayer for build- 
 ing the temple, we may infer that God regards that 
 man as less holy who sheds blood in war, than he 
 who refrains from doing so. I might quote many 
 parts of the Old Testament, to show the aversion of 
 pious Jews to war ; but I will conclude the subject 
 with a quotation from the venerable Jeremiah : " I 
 am pained at my heart: I cannot hold my peace, 
 because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of 
 the trumpet, the alarm of war." How different the 
 pathetic remarks of this good old man from the 
 vauntings of some of our patriot divines? What 
 would he have said of the princes and the great 
 men of Israel, had they, like the princes of Europe 
 of the present day, made a trade of war, and re- 
 ceived wages for protecting their own property and 
 country ? The Jewish warriors did not fight for hire, 
 and in their early wars appear to have had the 
 divine sanction ; and when the end for which they 
 engaged in war was accomplished, they returned to 
 their peaceful occupations. Let Christian warriors 
 do the same. Let them, if they will plead the prac- 
 tice of the Jews, as their excuse for engaging in
 
 210 
 
 war, follow the example set them by the early Jew- 
 ish warriors. When Christians shall do this, the 
 time of universal peace will probably not be far 
 d istant. 
 
 Allowing, my dear Sir, that the profession of arms 
 is not so directly repugnant to the decalogue, and 
 the humane precepts that pervade the Old Testa- 
 ment, as to those contained in the Gospel, yet the 
 prophetic writings bear testimony to a fact of the 
 highest importance to Christians ; viz. that under 
 the reign of the Messiah, or under the Christian 
 dispensation, wars were to cease throughout the 
 world. The spread of Christianity, or "the know- 
 ledge of the Lord," was to be so universal as to 
 "cover the earth as the waters cover the sea :" 
 and the consequence of the dissemination of this 
 knowledge was to be, that men would " beat their 
 swords into ploughshares ;" and " that they would 
 learn war no more :" i. e. that they would retire 
 from military employments, and give up studying 
 the art or science of war. 
 
 The prophecies to which I have so often had oc- 
 casion to refer, viz. Isaiah ii. 2 4 ; xi. 5 ; and 
 Micah iv. 1 4 ; are not of doubtful interpretation, 
 and they bear abundant testimony to the justice of 
 the above remarks. They appear to afford an un- 
 answerable argument, that war was to be, under the 
 Christian dispensation, an unlawful thing. If the 
 Christian religion is appointed by God to put an 
 end to war, it may be presumed, a priori, that this 
 religion must, directly or indirectly, condemn the 
 practice of it. To affirm that Christianity sanctions
 
 211 
 
 war, appears to be equivalent to affirming that it 
 cannot be, as has been already remarked, the reli- 
 gion pointed out in these prophecies, which is " to 
 cover the earth" and cause wars to cease. 
 
 Though the profession of arms is not directly 
 prohibited by any positive command contained in 
 either the Old or New Testament, yet its unlawful- 
 ness is more plainly deducible from the precepts of 
 Christ, than from any other source. My remaining 
 Letters will be on this subject: and it is a subject of 
 very high importance to nations and individuals ; 
 and this, whether we regard their interests in this 
 world or in the next. 
 
 Before I quit this subject, permit me to remark, 
 that though what I have said may not prove the 
 utter unlawfulness of war under the Jewish dispen- 
 sation, it will go far to show that no pious Jew could 
 consistently engage in war as a trade to live by. 
 The specific duties which one, so engaged, is bound 
 to perform, appear directly at variance with doing 
 justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly before 
 God ; and also to obedience to the two tables of the 
 law. We may therefore infer, that the man who 
 fulfils the former duties with fidelity, is incapacited 
 from discharging the latter. 
 
 .1 remain, &c.
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 THE PROFESSION OF ARMS, AND ALL WAR, IN- 
 ACCORDANT WITH THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTI- 
 ANITY AND THE PRECEPTS TAUGHT BY CHRIST 
 AND HIS APOSTLES. 
 
 "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. xiii. 10. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 WHEN we consider the analogy between natural 
 and revealed religion, as connected with the ex- 
 istence and attributes of the Deity, we must think 
 it highly probable that war, if contrary to just no- 
 tions of natural religion, must necessarily be at va- 
 riance with the revealed will of God. We may also 
 deem it highly probable that if war, or the profes- 
 sion of arms, be inaccordant with the decalogue and 
 the precepts contained in the Law and the Prophets,- 
 that it must be equally inaccordant with the pre- 
 cepts contained in the Gospel : for its great Author 
 came not to " destroy the law and the prophets, but 
 to fulfil." 
 
 When these things are taken in connection with 
 
 O 
 
 the historical evidence, already adduced, that the 
 early Christians, for nearly two centuries, thus re- 
 ceived and acted upon the precepts delivered by
 
 213 
 
 our Lord, we have evidence amounting to a high 
 degree of probability (independently of the Chris- 
 tian revelation) that war and the profession of arms 
 are inaccordant with Christianity. We acquire, at 
 least, that kind of probable evidence on which men 
 generally act in their worldly concerns, and which 
 certainly ought to make reflecting persons pause be- 
 fore they engage in the military profession, if they 
 really believe in a future state of existence, and 
 balance the rewards and punishments attendant upon 
 obedience or disobedience to the commands of God. 
 The rewards are so great on the one hand, and the 
 punishments so terrible on the other, that a degree 
 of evidence amounting to only a bare probability 
 that a man will forfeit the first and incur the last, 
 ought to determine a man of prudence to embrace 
 the safe side. But it is presumed that the evidence 
 here to be offered, though not amounting to demon- 
 stration, is fully sufficient for our guidance. God 
 not having given to Christians any positive com- 
 mands concerning their engaging in national wars, 
 they must search the Scriptures with diligence, sin- 
 cerity and humility, and implicitly obey what, after 
 due examination, they believe to be the will of 
 God, or their duty. And, having no positive com- 
 mand, they must " walk by faith not by sight*." If 
 it were otherwise, there would be no room on this 
 subject for the exercise of faith. 
 
 Considering the precepts and prophecies of the 
 Old Testament in connection with those contained 
 
 * 2 Cor. v. 7. 
 
 Q
 
 814 
 
 in the Gospel, and regarding the former as intro- 
 ductory to the latter*, we might naturally expect 
 that they would be fitted to prepare the minds of 
 men for those more perfect laws of righteousness 
 and mercy, that were peculiarly to distinguish the 
 kingdom of the Prince of Peace. This they are 
 admirably calculated to effect. 
 
 It is an employment, no less pleasing than profit- 
 able, to consider the nature of this kingdom ; the 
 circumstances attending the advent of the appointed 
 Saviour of mankind ; his general conduct while on 
 earth ; and particularly the very peculiar precepts 
 and doctrines which he taught : so peculiar, that 
 those who adopted them were very aptly said to be 
 born again, or to have put on the new man. To 
 compare all these triumphs of Christianity with the 
 predictions of the prophets, is both gratifying and 
 useful to a pious mind. 
 
 If a comparison of the prophecies relating to our 
 Lord, with their exact fulfilment, affords evidence 
 of the truth of the Christian revelation, it also affords 
 evidence, not less decisive, of the pacific nature of 
 the Christian religion, and of the great difficulty, if 
 not the impossibility, of men being, at the same 
 time, warriors and humble followers of a crucified 
 Saviour. Assuredly, it is highly satisfactory to the 
 lover of peace, to find that the Prince of Peace and 
 the Gospel of Peace are in perfect harmony with 
 what the law and the prophets lead us to expect 
 concerning them. 
 
 * Gal. iii. 24.
 
 215 
 
 The great difference, and that which peculiarly 
 distinguishes Christianity from the Jewish, and in- 
 deed from all other religions is, that it teaches 
 universal philanthropy : not only the forgiveness of 
 enemies, but the love of them. Instead of permit- 
 ting us to retaliate injuries, and render ourselves 
 redoubtable by our valour and military prowess, we 
 are commanded to take up our Cross, and follow the 
 example of our great Leader : like him, we are to 
 be meek and lowly of heart ; like him, we are to 
 submit to injuries, and leave to God that vengeance 
 which belongs to him, and which, in due time HE 
 will repay. But Christians, by their conduct, seem 
 to reproach the Almighty for being too slow to pu- 
 nish : to act on the forbearing principle that God 
 observes towards them, would be considered as pu- 
 sillanimous, and degrading to national character. 
 
 It not having pleased the Almighty Ruler of the 
 world to give to individual Christians any positive 
 precepts or injunctions concerning the lawfulness of 
 their engaging in national wars, the only evidence 
 of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of their being par- 
 ties in them, is circumstantial or probable evidence ; 
 a species of evidence, in many cases, no less to be 
 relied on than direct evidence, and on which the 
 truth of Christianity itself very much depends. 
 
 Speaking of this kind of evidence, Bishop Butler, 
 in the Introduction to his Analogy of Religion, says : 
 
 " Probable evidence is essentially distinguished from de- 
 monstrative by this, that it admits of degrees ; and of all 
 variety of them, from the highest moral certainty, to the very 
 lowest presumption. We cannot indeed say a thing is pro- 
 
 Q2
 
 216 
 
 bably true upon one very slight presumption for it ; because, 
 as there may be probabilities on both sides of a question, 
 there may be some against it : and though there be not, yet 
 a slight presumption does not beget that degree of convic- 
 tion, which is implied in saying a thing is probably true. 
 But that the slightest presumption is of the nature of a pro- 
 bability, appears from hence; that such a low presumption, 
 often repeated, will amount even to moral certainty *." 
 
 The evidence of the unlawfulness of war is of the 
 nature here mentioned : and if it can be shown 
 that war is destructive of every virtue which the 
 Gospel inculcates, and that it interferes with obe- 
 dience to the precepts given us by Christ for our 
 guidance, Christians may presume that they cannot 
 innocently engage in it. This it will be my endea- 
 vour to show in the following Letters. But before I 
 proceed to do this, I will offer a few remarks arising 
 out of the parental character of God, as affording 
 probable evidence that war must be displeasing to 
 him as the universal parent of all the nations of 
 the earth. 
 
 Though some highly gifted men among the hea- 
 thens had confused notions concerning this parental 
 character of the Deity, yet this knowledge was not 
 only confined to a few, but with them was mixed 
 up with opinions derogatory to the character of a 
 parent. This character of God, though revealed in 
 the Jewish Scriptures, was imperfectly displayed ; 
 for the Jews supposed that they alone were the fa- 
 voured children of God, and they regarded other 
 
 * See Analogy of Religion, &c. Introduction, p. 1.
 
 21? 
 
 nations as aliens, and out of the pale of his peculiar 
 protection ; and their hopes and views were not 
 extended beyond the present state of existence. The 
 Gospel alone teaches the great and glorious truth, 
 that one God has not only created all men, but 
 that his fatherly care will be extended over all his 
 offspring beyond the grave. In the doctrine of the 
 Resurrection from the dead, we behold the love of 
 our Heavenly Father as far transcending that of an 
 earthly parent, as eternity does the short period of 
 human life. This ought to be to Christians a supe- 
 rior motive to obedience and purity of conduct. 
 
 The parental character of the Deity shines forth 
 in every page of the New Testament : it is to our 
 Father that we are to pray and to render thanks*; 
 and unless we imagine our Heavenly Father to be 
 less concerned for the welfare and happiness of 
 mankind than an earthly parent is for his offspring, 
 we cannot reasonably suppose that mankind, (who 
 are all of the family of one parent,) whilst slaugh- 
 tering each other, can be acting agreeably to the 
 plans of the divine government, otherwise than as a 
 corrective or punishment for crime. That the Great 
 Parent of all has implanted in human parents feel- 
 ings of affection for their offspring that he has 
 extended these feelings even to irrational animals, 
 affords a strong presumption that he entertains the 
 feelings of a Father for all. And if an earthly pa- 
 rent feel displeasure with his children for their want 
 of kindness and brotherly affection we may, from
 
 218 
 
 analogy, conclude that our Heavenly Father, who 
 "is Love and dwelleth in love," must feel displea- 
 sure when his children, instead of dwelling in love, 
 slaughter each other without the least remorse. It 
 is the constant theme of our Saviour's exhortations 
 to his disciples, that they should "love one another." 
 Every precept that he has given us has a direct 
 tendency in this way to produce " peace on earth." 
 As to war among Christians, it seems not merely 
 a disregard to one or two particular precepts, but a 
 dissolution of all the laws and precepts that Christ 
 has given to mankind. To say that war among 
 Christians is lawful, or, in other words, to maintain 
 that " It is lawful for Christian men at the com- 
 mandment of the magistrate to wear weapons, and 
 to serve in war," seems, at the same time, to be an 
 interference with the prerogative of our Great Law- 
 giver, a denial of the paternal character of God, 
 and a declaration to the world that all men are not 
 brethren, nor children of the same common parent. 
 For if no earthly parent can be imagined so un- 
 natural as to sanction his children to slaughter each 
 other, we cannot surely think so degradingly of our 
 Heavenly Father, " the God of all mercies," as to 
 believe that he is less humane and less benevolent 
 than the earthly parent. It is, my dear Sir, for you, 
 and every minister of the church of which you are 
 a member, duly to consider whether, in subscribing 
 to this dogma, you are promoting the interests of 
 Jesus Christ or of Antichrist. If upon due exami- 
 nation you find you have been in error, you ought, 
 though thrones and mitres should interfere, to re-
 
 219 
 
 trace your steps : you ought to " cry aloud and 
 spare not." What you find in the sacred pages of 
 revelation" what you hear in the ear, you ought 
 to proclaim on the house-tops." 
 
 If we examine or analyse the nature and tendency 
 of the leading duties enjoined by our holy religion, 
 we shall find that a state of warfare, or the profes- 
 sion of arms, entirely undermines or subverts the 
 greater part of them, rendering obedience to them 
 impossible. The first great duty of this kind en- 
 joined by our Saviour which I propose here to no- 
 tice, is our taking up our Cross and following Christ 
 As the doing this may be considered as a summary of 
 the duties of a Christian, permit me to make a few 
 remarks on this very interesting topic. 
 
 We read much, not only in the Christian Scrip*- 
 tures, but in the writings of Christians of all periods, 
 concerning the Cross of Christ. Ever since the 
 time of Constantine, who impiously displayed it as 
 a military standard, the exhibiting the figure of a 
 cross has been superstitiously considered by some 
 as a security from danger and disease, and even 
 from death. Like the phylacteries of the Jews, and 
 with as much consistency, this symbol has been re- 
 garded as a mark of inward purity and holiness. 
 Though these fopperies of religion are now nearly 
 banished from a large portion of what is called 
 Christendom, yet the ministers of Christ very pro- 
 perly still maintain the necessity of Christians taking 
 up their Cross, and following their divine Master. 
 
 To take up the Cross and follow Christ, no doubt 
 includes (along with other duties) a renunciation of
 
 all the evil passions to which, by nature or habit, 
 we are subject, to crucify the flesh with the lusts 
 thereof. Among these we may certainly reckon 
 pride, covetousness, and revenge. In subjugating 
 these, I think you will allow that we imitate Christ, 
 or take up our Cross and follow him, in a part of 
 our duty perhaps the most difficult of attainment. 
 A tame submission to injuries or insults was consi- 
 dered, not only by the Greeks and Romans but also 
 by the Jews, as a mark of cowardice ; and, as such, 
 deserving of contempt : nor is it regarded in any 
 other light by the generality of Christians. Among 
 these, the heroic, though the very reverse of the 
 Christian character, is esteemed and patronized. 
 Whatever difference of opinion there may be con- 
 cerning the extent of the duties implied in taking 
 up our Cross and following Christ, I run no risk in 
 affirming, that no one can be said to comply with 
 this injunction, who does not practise the forgive- 
 ness of injuries and insults, leaving the avenging 
 of them to the great Lord of heaven and earth. But 
 soldiers and their employers take vengeance into 
 their own hands ; and instead of taking up the 
 Cross, take up the musket. Should a soldier (in 
 any sense that can be rationally put upon this figu- 
 rative expression) take up his Cross, he must, for 
 military purposes, become useless ; for he is wanted, 
 if not to avenge his own wrongs, to avenge those of 
 others. 
 
 If a soldier cannot take up his Cross and follow 
 his Lord, neither can he cultivate that Charity, or 
 Love, which his religion enjoins as of primary im-
 
 portance. The excellences of this virtue are ably 
 summed up by Dr. Paley * ; but they are still more 
 forcibly delineated by St. Paul, when he says, "Cha- 
 rity suffereth long, and is kind ; charity envieth not ; 
 charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up: cloth 
 not behave itself unseemly ; seeketh not her own ; 
 is not easily provoked; thinketh no evil. Rejoiceth 
 not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth: Beareth 
 all things, believeth all things, endureth all things. 
 Charity never faileth." This is not only the pecu- 
 liar and distinguishing characteristic of our holy re- 
 ligion and its divine Founder, but it is the character 
 of God himself. GOD is LOVE. Of his love to man- 
 kind, daily and hourly experienced by us, he has 
 given us a capacity of judging, and we are to make 
 this love of God the standard of our love to our fel- 
 low-creatures ; towards them we are, if we expect to 
 receive mercy, to be " merciful, as our Father also is 
 merciful." 
 
 In our holy religion, Love love to God and to 
 our fellow-creatures, may be regarded as a lead- 
 ing principle, without which other religious attain- 
 ments may be held as of little value : if we have not 
 charity, or love, we are " as sounding brass, or a 
 tinkling cymbal." If we consider the practice of 
 this divine virtue as a cause, and it is perhaps im- 
 possible to imagine a more powerful one, whether it 
 be to procure friends or conciliate enemies, we have 
 its effects described beforehand, in those cheering 
 prophecies to which I have so repeatedly alluded. 
 
 * See an extract from the Christian Evidences, in Letter III. pp. 62, fri.
 
 222 
 
 Let us, my dear Sir, examine how far the exercise 
 of this first of Christian graces is practicable to a 
 warrior by profession ; for if it cannot be practised 
 in the military profession, we may conclude that 
 that profession is inaccordant with Christianity. 
 
 First : " Charity suffereth long, and is kind." 
 Can this be applied to the soldier? His duty is to 
 uvcnge insults and injuries, and to do it quickly : 
 if offered to his country, to maintain her honour; 
 if to himself, to maintain unsullied his own repu- 
 tation. In either case, to suffer long and be kind, 
 would subject the soldier, whether private or officer, 
 to utter contempt and derision. Should it be said 
 that this exercise of charity is only applicable to 
 individuals in their private capacities, I ask to be 
 informed on what authority this is advanced : the 
 Christian Scriptures and the precepts of Christ, 
 which teach long-suffering and kindness to others, 
 give no sanction to such a restriction. The great- 
 est prince, if professing Christianity, is, notwith- 
 standing his high station, an individual Christian, 
 and answerable, as well as his meanest subject, at 
 the awful tribunal of God* ; and if not permitted to 
 avenge his own wrongs, we must infer that he cannot, 
 innocently, employ others to avenge him. Or if we, 
 as individual Christians, are forbidden to avenge 
 our own wrongs, and commanded to suffer long, and 
 be kind, can we with consistency, can we with inno- 
 cence, avenge the wrongs of another, either gratui- 
 tously or for wages ? 
 
 * Job xxxiv. 19.
 
 223 
 
 Secondly: " Charity vaunteth not itself, is not 
 puffed up : doth not behave itself unseemly." Though 
 military men of education or discretion may not 
 indulge in that kind of foolish boasting which is 
 common with their inferiors, yet it is essential to 
 the warlike or heroic spirit to be purled up, and to 
 look down on others. Every man in command is 
 desirous to promote a vaunting spirit, and to per- 
 suade those under him, that four of them are more 
 than equal to six of their enemies. To tell them that 
 all men are brethren, that they must love their ene- 
 mies, as Christ has commanded, would be considered 
 as little short of mutiny or high treason. 
 
 Thirdly : "Charity beareth all things,believeth all 
 things, endureth all things." This is much to the 
 same purport as to say, " Charity suffereth long, and 
 is kind ;" and it is alike inapplicable to the military 
 character. The soldier of a meek and forgiving 
 temper, who should, as a Christian, be ready to for- 
 give injuries and insults, whether offered to himself 
 or his superiors, though an ornament to his Chris- 
 tian profession, would soon be discarded from his 
 military one. In whatever way we consider the 
 heroic spirit, which is essential to him who embraces 
 the profession of arms, it appears to be in direct op- 
 position to the practice of this divine virtue, which 
 is emphatically said to be the fulfilling of the law. 
 For a soldier to practise charity, this first of Chris- 
 tian graces, and at the same time faithfully obey his 
 superiors, seems to be as impossible as it is for him 
 to serve two masters, whose commands are in direct
 
 224 
 
 opposition ; as impossible, if I may be permitted 
 the comparison, as for him to serve God and mam- 
 mon. 
 
 If the life of a soldier is opposed to the practice 
 of charity, it is also opposed to obedience to the two 
 great commandments. When asked which was the 
 first and great commandment, our Lord replied, iu 
 the very words of Moses : " Hear, O Israel ; the 
 Lord our God is one Lord : and Thou shalt love the 
 Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
 soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. 
 This is the first and great commandment. And the 
 second is like, namely this : Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour as thyself." For a soldier who is not 
 permitted to act upon religious scruples, and whose 
 first duty it is to obey his commanding officer to 
 talk of loving God with all his heart, seems to be 
 inconsistent with sincerity towards that God, who 
 " knoweth the secrets of all hearts." The soldier may, 
 from long and deeply rooted prejudices, sanctioned 
 by general opinion, suppose, that in obeying his 
 superiors he is fulfilling this first of all command- 
 ments. But it is his duty, as much as it is the duty 
 of a Christian minister, to consult his Bible, and 
 learn from it the duties imposed upon him by his 
 Christian profession; and having ascertained these, 
 he is bound to obey them. No human authority 
 can excuse, or palliate his disobedience ; he must 
 take up his Cross, and persevere in the straight nar- 
 row path pointed out to him ; and if necessary, he 
 must give up friends, fortune, and even life itself,
 
 225 
 
 rather than compromise his duty to God. This did 
 the early Christians, as has been already shown, 
 (See Letter IX and X) rather than engage in war. 
 
 For a soldier to fulfil the second great com- 
 mandment, or to love his neighbour as himself, is 
 as impossible as for him to love God with all his 
 heart. Were warriors by profession to consider all 
 human beings not only as their neighbours, but as 
 brethren, and to treat them as such, it would be im- 
 possible for them to remain members of a profession 
 which virtually annihilates this sacred duty. For 
 how can a man, who for wages engages to shoot his 
 neighbour, be supposed capable of loving him as he 
 loves himself, or to love him at all ? 
 
 Though what I have said may convince impar- 
 tial persons that the practice of war, in any shape, 
 is irreconcilable with the spirit and fundamental 
 precepts of the Christian religion, yet, so strong are 
 the prejudices on this subject, and so unconquerable 
 the apathy to discuss it, even by persons of serious 
 and religious habits, that I hope I may be permitted 
 to offer a further proof of the unlawfulness of war. 
 
 I may, I think, be allowed to take it for granted, 
 that you will readily admit that no person profess- 
 ing Christianity ought to engage in any act, or 
 follow any profession, that may disqualify him from 
 offering up, with piety and sincerity, the petitions 
 to the Deity contained in that divine summary of 
 prayer taught by our great Lord and Master. From 
 the following extract from Erasmus, he appears to 
 be decidedly of opinion that a soldier is placed in 
 this situation.
 
 226 
 
 After mentioning the absurdity of Christians using 
 the Cross as a military standard, and the impiety of 
 divine service being performed by adverse armies, 
 lie adds : 
 
 " Let us now imagine we hear a soldier among these fight- 
 ing Christians saying the Lord's Prayer. <OUK FATHER/ 
 says he. O hardened wretch ! can you call him Father, 
 when you are just going to cut your brother's throat? 
 ' Hallowed be thy name.' How can the name of God be 
 more impiously unhallowed, than by mutual, bloody murder 
 among you, his sons ? ' Thy kingdom come. Do you pray 
 for the coming of his kingdom, while you are endeavouring to 
 establish an earthly despotism, by the shedding of the blood 
 of God's sons and subjects ? ' Thy Kill be done on earth 
 as it is in heaven. 1 His will in heaven is for peace, but 
 you are meditating zrar. Dare you say to your Father in 
 heaven,.* Give us this day our daily bread,' when you are 
 going the next minute to burn your brother's corn-fields; 
 and had rather lose the benefit of them yourself, than suffer 
 him to enjoy them unmolested ? With what face can you 
 say, ( Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that tres- 
 pass against us;' when, so far from forgiving your brother, 
 you are going, with all the haste you can, to murder him in 
 cold blood, for an alleged trespass, which after all, is but 
 imaginary ? Do you presume to deprecate the danger of 
 ' temptation,' who, not without danger to yourself, are doing 
 all you can to force your brother into danger : Do you de- 
 serve to be preserved 'from evil,' that is from the evil being, 
 to whose influence you submit yourself, and by whose spirit 
 you are guided, in contriving the greatest possible evil to your 
 brother ?" 
 
 Many similar arguments might be adduced; but 
 I trust, my dear Sir, I have fully shown that the 
 profession of arms, and all war, offensive or de-
 
 227 
 
 fensive, are directly opposed to the spirit of Chris- 
 tianity, and therefore that it is, at least, highly 
 probable that a Christian cannot engage in it with- 
 out becoming obnoxious to the displeasure of God. 
 
 Being desirous to meet every objection to the 
 principles I have advocated, I propose, in my sub- 
 sequent Letters, to examine some other arguments 
 advanced in favour of defensive war, particularly 
 those of Mr. Sheppard, in a work entitled, An 
 Inquiry on the Duty of Christians with respect to 
 War* which I recommend to your impartial pe- 
 rusal. 
 
 I remain, &c. 
 
 * Published by T. Hammond, Paternoster-Row, London.
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. 
 
 Remarks on a tvork entitled "An Inquiry on the Duty of Chris- 
 tians with respect to JVar, by J. SHEPPARD." 
 
 "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do 
 well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place." 
 2 Pet. i. 19. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 THE arguments of ,Mr. Sheppard, alluded to in my 
 last Letter, are founded on the presumption that some 
 of the precepts delivered by Christ, particularly 
 some of those delivered by him in his Sermon on the 
 Mount, do not strictly apply to Christians of the 
 present day, but are to be received, with certain li- 
 mitations and restrictions, sanctioning Christians to 
 use military force, or violence, in defending them- 
 selves or others ; and consequently, authorising de- 
 fensive warfare. 
 
 I have read this work of Mr. Sheppard with at- 
 tention and interest, and also with pleasure. This 
 pleasure has arisen, in no small degree, from its ten- 
 dency to call attention to a subject which has been 
 little investigated by men of learning and research, 
 though connected with the best interests of the
 
 world : this pleasure has been further increased, by 
 finding that the views of Mr. S. are very similar to 
 those I entertained some years ago, particularly on 
 the unlawfulness of men engaging in unlimited mi- 
 litary service. In regard to defensive war, I feel 
 the more fully convinced, after having carefully ex- 
 amined the arguments of Mr. S., that the Christian 
 ought to refrain from it, and leave retributive jus- 
 tice in the hands of the Almighty*. The perusal 
 of the Inquiry has, indeed, served to convince me 
 that, on the subject of war, there is no half-way 
 house called defensive war ; and that the Christian 
 can find no rest for the sole of his foot, short of 
 abandoning war altogether, and leaving vengeance 
 to the Lord, who will in due time repay it. 
 
 It is not my intention to examine all the grounds 
 on which the author of the Inquiry pronounces that 
 the principle of the Peace Societies requires limita- 
 tion ; neither do I propose to notice the plans of 
 limited service recommended by Mr. S. Suffice it 
 to say, that I think the political evils arising out of 
 them, would by no means be less than those attend- 
 ing the present military system. But Mr. S. hav- 
 ing assumed, for reasons which he has stated, that 
 some particular precepts of our Lord, bearing di- 
 rectly on the subject of war, are to be received in a 
 limited sense, or that they apply exclusively to the 
 apostolic age; it will be my aim in the following 
 Letters to show that he is in error, and that his con- 
 clusions are unauthorised. 
 
 * Rom. xii. 19. 
 R
 
 230 
 
 Instead of examining, in order, the different argu- 
 ments brought forward by Mr. S., I shall merely 
 quote some of the Christian precepts referred to by 
 him, on which the argument chiefly rests, and give 
 what I consider their true meaning and their pro- 
 bable application, not to the early Christians only, 
 but to Christians in all ages. If these are found to 
 be at variance with the assumptions of Mr. S., it 
 will follow that one of us must necessarily be in 
 error, and it will be left to the searcher after truth 
 to examine the arguments on both sides, and de- 
 cide for himself. I am aware that it is a subject on 
 which wise and good men have differed ; and so far 
 from entering upon it with confidence, it is with 
 diffidence I approach it. My diffidence, however, 
 arises not from any fear of a want of Scriptural evi- 
 dence on the subject, but from an apprehension 
 that I may want ability to place this evidence in its 
 just and proper light, so as to produce that convic- 
 tion upon others which it is calculated to convey. 
 
 The precepts which most directly apply to the 
 question on which I am now at issue with Mr. S., 
 are contained in the last eleven verses of the fifth 
 chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. A paraphrase of 
 these appears to me the best way of conveying what 
 I believe to be their meaning. Though there may 
 appear to be some degree of presumption in my 
 offering a paraphrase to you, I cannot doubt but it 
 will be received and read with candour. Should I 
 stray from the path of correct interpretation, I lay 
 myself open to your correction, and shall thankfully 
 receive it from you, or from any lover of truth.
 
 231 
 
 If we read the whole of the beautiful chapter al- 
 luded to, (Matt, v.) with attention ; we shall find in 
 it, after making due allowance for the oriental and 
 hyperbolical style of writing, the most perfect con- 
 sistency and harmony. In the beginning of it, our 
 Lord pronounces certain beatitudes as the unavoid- 
 able result of the practice of particular virtues. The 
 latter part of the chapter, which is in close con- 
 nection with the beginning, gives us very plain di- 
 rections for the attainment of those particular vir- 
 tues there recommended ; and the last four verses 
 are explanatory, and contain plain and positive 
 rules for our guidance in obeying the preceding 
 precepts. In the last verse, these rules are summed 
 up in one : " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
 Father which is in heaven is perfect :" i. e. in the 
 practice of those benevolent virtues which our Lord 
 had just mentioned ; for it is in these only that men 
 are capable of attaining any faint resemblance of 
 their merciful Creator. That this is the true mean- 
 ing, we may gather from the parallel place in St. 
 Luke's Gospel, (Luke vi. 36,) who has it. " Be ye 
 therefore merciful, as your Father which is in heaven 
 is merciful." This, in every instance to which it is 
 applicable, appears to be a plain, intelligible, prac- 
 ticable rule ; a rule not intended exclusively for the 
 use of the Apostles and their first converts, but 
 for the followers of Christ in all ages, whether as 
 individuals, or united in nations ; a rule equally 
 imperative on the prince on the throne, and on the 
 lowest of his subjects, to the end of time. All 
 these may and ought to endeavour to be merciful 
 to others, as God is merciful to them. 
 
 R 2
 
 PARAPHRASE. 
 
 88. Ye have 38. When you are injured or insulted, in- 
 steacl ^ snow ' n g resentment, or demanding 
 
 for an eye, and a satisfaction ; or instead of returning a blow for 
 tooth for a tooth : . 
 
 a blow, or exacting as your law allows you, 
 " an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth," 
 you are to suffer with patience. This may be 
 considered as meanness and cowardice by 
 men of the world ; but for your consolation, 
 remember what I have just told you, that 
 " Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall 
 see God." 
 
 39. But I say 39. Instead, therefore, of avenging your- 
 
 unto you, That ye , T nn _ . -j 
 
 resist not evil: but selves, 1 say unto you, 1 hat ye resist not evil : 
 whosoever shall faf ( as tne proverb* says) whosoever shall smite 
 
 smite thee on thy '. , 
 
 right cheek, turn thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other 
 also. Your enemies may revile you for such 
 pusillanimous conduct ; but remember for your 
 comfort, that " Blessed are the meek, for they 
 shall inherit the earth." You, my apostles, in 
 particular, will have severe trials of your pa- 
 tience to endure ; but I say these things in the 
 presence of this assembled multitude, in order 
 that it may be understood by my followers in 
 all future ages, that whenever they feel an in- 
 clination to return evil for evil, they may not 
 only remember my command and example, but 
 may also call to mind their own offences to- 
 wards God ; and make his forbearance to- 
 wards them, the standard of their forgiveness 
 against an offending brother ; that " they may 
 be merciful, even as their Father is merciful." 
 
 See Doddridge'3 Family Rrpotifor in loco.
 
 233 
 
 40. And if any 40. If you adopt tliis truly divine principle, 
 aTthe 1 law* Vnd f imitating the forbearance and long-suffering 
 
 take away thy o f Q O( ] towards sinful men, you will not only 
 coat, let him have , .. 
 
 thy cloak also. be averse to the use or lorce, but also to all 
 
 strife and litigation ; so that if a man should 
 sue you at the law, you will quietly submit to 
 a small loss, and suffer yourselves to be de- 
 frauded, rather than go to law with him. 
 
 41. And who- 4i. And whosoever shall ask of you a small 
 
 soever shall com- .. . 1-11 
 
 pel thee to go with favour, grant it, and even more than is asked. 
 him a mile, go p or example, if a man shall urge you to so 
 
 with him twain. '. . . J 
 
 with him a mile, go with him twain. 
 
 42. Give to him 42. Give to him that asketh, according to 
 
 ability and his necessity, not weighing his 
 
 would borrow of demerits ; for this is the merciful rule by which 
 
 thee turn not . -r- i i 
 
 thouaway. your compassionate rather in heaven acts 
 
 towards ungrateful and wicked men in this 
 world. 
 
 43. Ye have 43. As you may suppose, from what I have 
 told you concerning the not resisting of 
 
 shait love thy ev \\ } that you are only called upon to exercise 
 
 neighbour, and _ . . 
 
 hate thine enemy: forbearance towards those of your own nation 
 in trifling matters ; such as if a man should 
 strike you on the right cheek ; or sue you at 
 the law, to take away your coat ; or compel 
 you to go with him a mile : 
 
 4-1. But I say 44. I, therefore, say unto you, That it is 
 
 unto you, Love . . , . c .,, ', , . .. 
 
 your enemies, y our positive duty, if you will indeed be my dis- 
 bless them that c ipl e s, to love your enemies, whether national or 
 
 curse you, and ..... . . . . . ... 
 
 pray for them individual, by doing them all the good in your 
 
 Siy'listyoltand P ower > and P ra y in g for them - You are even 
 persecute you ; to act thus towards the Samaritans, whom ye 
 have been accustomed to hate and despise.
 
 234 
 
 45. That ye may 4.'>. This is the true way for you to become 
 of your Father m y disciples, and the children of your Father 
 which is in hem- w ho is in heaven. In your intercourse with 
 
 ven : for he ma- , , .. 
 
 keth his sun to each other, when you are disposed to act with 
 
 rise on the evil severity consider the lenity of God towards 
 
 and on the good, 
 
 and sendeth rain yourselves ; and endeavour, not only to the 
 
 , but also to the evil, to be merciful, as he 
 is merciful. 
 
 46. For if ye 46. By thus acting, you imitate the conduct 
 
 love u? wha of y our Father who is in heaven, and will 
 reward have ye? have the high honour of being regarded as his 
 
 do not even the . .. , r> i 
 
 publicans the children. But in merely loving them that love 
 saroe? you, you can hope for no reward, for even the 
 
 publicans and irreligious men act on this prin- 
 
 ciple : 
 
 47. And if yc 4?. They salute their brethren, and are kind 
 salute your bre- to those from whom they receive kindness; but 
 
 thren only, what 
 
 reward have ye the children of God are not thus to confine 
 more than others? th j benevolence. Though their ability to do 
 
 do not even the * 
 
 publicans so? good may be small, all have it in their power 
 to refrain from offering injury or insult to 
 others ; all may pray for their enemies, and re- 
 turn blessing for cursing. 
 
 48. Be ye 48. All of you have it in your power, hovv- 
 therefore perfect, ever imperfectly, to imitate the perfections of 
 
 even as your fa- 
 
 ther which is in God, by being merciful to others, even as God 
 heaven is perfect. ig mercifu i to you As the benevolence of God 
 
 extends to all nations, and to people of all lan- 
 guages and colours, so also ought yours to be, 
 and not confined to your own nation or kin- 
 dred ; for the inhabitants of the world arc all 
 brethren, children of the same universal parent. 
 It is therefore your duty to be kind and HUT-
 
 235 
 
 ciful to all; and for your encouragement I 
 have already told you, that " Blessed are the 
 merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." 
 
 In the words of Dr. Paley, I may with justice 
 observe, " This is no common-place morality. It is 
 very original. It shows at least, that no two things 
 can be more different than the heroic and the Chris- 
 tian character." This originality will, I think, cease, 
 if we admit the limitation proposed by Mr. Shep- 
 pard, to the precept " Resist not evil ;" which limi- 
 tation I now proceed to examine. 
 
 After some remarks on Scripture language, and 
 assigning his reasons why some of the precepts of 
 Christ are to be exclusively applied to the apostoli- 
 cal age, and others to be received with certain limi- 
 tations, (such as John vi. 27, Luke xiv. 33, and 
 some others,) he says, speaking of the precept " Re- 
 sist not evil," "We might consider it as abbrevifltive, 
 and introduce the following limitation : ' Resist not 
 evil' (from the impulse of any bad passion, as re- 
 venge or pride). This is not a more cpnsiderable 
 limitation than must be annexed to the following 
 precept, (Luke xii.) ' Seek not what ye shall eat, nor 
 what ye shall drink' (with an undue and distrust- 
 ful anxiety). Limitations must at least be tacitly 
 understood by us in these and several before-cited 
 passages, as well as in others which have not been 
 adduced ; nor do I perceive that any sound reason 
 can be offered, why none should be admitted of this 
 particular case." At p. 31, speaking of the same 
 precept, and of its application to the doctrine of
 
 non-resistance, Mr. S. says: "Thus, I think, we 
 have found, that the interpretation contended for, 
 rests upon no general reason, but is insulated and 
 arbitrary. For so it must be accounted, till a solid 
 reason be given for it, inapplicable to those precepts 
 which its supporters join us in interpreting differ- 
 ently, or else till a solid reason be given for the dif- 
 ferent interpretation of those other precepts inappli- 
 cable to this." 
 
 I agree with Mr. S., that unless a solid reason to 
 the contrary can be given, the precept in question 
 might be received with the limitation he proposes. 
 But I consider this precept, and the precepts con- 
 tained in the five following verses, in one particular, 
 as insulated precepts ; i. e. there are special rules 
 given for understanding and applying them ; and 
 these rules are contained in the last four verses of 
 the chapter, which are explanatory, and the whole 
 is summed up in the comprehensive command " Be 
 ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven 
 is perfect." It is for the purpose of showing and 
 applying this, that I have given the preceding para- 
 phrase. 
 
 To try the limitation proposed by Mr. S. by the 
 above rules, rules laid down by our Saviour him- 
 self, will, I think, demonstrate the inadmissibility 
 of Mr. S.'s hypothesis. For how strange would it 
 appear to say, " Resist not evil "from the impulse of 
 any bad passion, as revenge or pride, in order that 
 you may show yourselves to "be merciful, as your 
 Father also is merciful." It is certain that God 
 cannot resist evil from the impulse of any bad pas-
 
 237 
 
 sion, for such passions dwell not with him : and no 
 part of our duty is more explicitly shown, than that 
 the mercy and forbearance of God ought, in all cases 
 to which it can be applied, to be made the standard 
 of our conduct towards our fellow-creatures. Again : 
 if we consider the precept " Resist not evil" in con- 
 nection with what immediately follows in the same 
 and the following verses, we may consider the latter 
 as explanatory of the former, and affording another 
 rule for interpreting this precept. If we do this, 
 we shall find it impossible to admit the limitation 
 of Mr. S. Its admission would neutralize, or de- 
 stroy, the precept itself; for how inconsistent it 
 would be to say " Resist not evil : but whosoever 
 shall smite thee on thy right cheek," smite him again, 
 only do not act "from the impulse of any bad pas- 
 sion, as revenge or pride." Such a limitation, it is 
 evident, destroys the meaning and spirit of the pre- 
 cept, and runs counter to other plain commands of 
 our Lord. It makes the gate wide and way broad 
 that leads to eternal life, and the warrior may be 
 admitted to travel it, as well as the humble and 
 self-denying Christian. It would be equally incon- 
 sistent to say " Resist not evil : but whosoever 
 shall smite thee on thy right cheek," smite him again, 
 to show that you love your enemies, that you 
 " bless them that curse you, and pray for them 
 which despitefully use you and persecute you." 
 
 The hypothesis of Mr. S., so far from squaring 
 with the divine rules given us by our Saviour for un- 
 derstanding and applying this precept (or summary 
 of many precepts), seems at variance with the spirit
 
 238 
 
 and letter of his commands : we may therefore, I 
 think, safely reject the limitation which he has pro- 
 posed. Should it be asked to what length we are 
 to carry this principle of non-resistance, it is suffi- 
 cient, for the present purpose, to answer, that we 
 must unavoidably break the rule here laid down, if 
 we resist so far as to take away or endanger the 
 life of our brother ; consequently, it virtually pro- 
 hibits the profession of arms. 
 
 Should it be said that the precept "Resist not 
 evil" is applicable only to minor injuries and in- 
 sults offered by one individual to another, and that 
 this is to be inferred from the verses immediately 
 following; and should it be granted that this was 
 our Lord's meaning, permit me to ask you, what 
 would be the consequence, if all the youth in a na- 
 tion, from the heir to the throne down to the peasant, 
 were to be brought up under the impression, that it 
 is not only directly contrary to their Christian pro- 
 fession, but also dishonourable to them as Chris- 
 tians, to resent minor injuries or insults ? Would 
 not the consequence be, that the next generation 
 would become a race of men substantially different 
 from the present; and that there would not be found 
 a man to unsheathe the sword in anger ? The spirit 
 of litigation would also cease, and our high court 
 of chancery, like the famed temple of Janus, would 
 be shut : our judges would enjoy their situations 
 as sinecures; and our lawyers, instead of being an- 
 noyed by vexatious quarrels, would have the happi- 
 ness of seeing mankind living in harmony and se- 
 curitv. This is not vain declamation. It is in strict
 
 239 
 
 accordance with hopes founded on rational grounds, 
 on the spread of Christian principles and religious 
 education ; and above all, the cheering spirit of pro- 
 phecy assures the realization of these delightful hopes. 
 As a Christian minister, you must admit that the 
 highest monarch, if he is a believer in the Christian 
 revelation, is, as an individual, equally accountable 
 for all his actions, with the most obscure person ; for 
 " God accepteth not the persons of princes, nor re- 
 gardeth the rich more than the poor*." So far, 
 indeed, from high station exempting men from obe- 
 dience to the great King of kings, it appears to 
 augment their responsibility ; for they are to be re- 
 garded as " God's ministers." If, therefore, a king 
 has not permission, as an individual, to exercise ven- 
 geance on foreign enemies, it seems anomalous to 
 suppose that he should possess the power of deputing 
 it to others. This would involve the absurdity and 
 impiety, that nations or societies of Christians may 
 lawfully do that, which to each individual is un- 
 lawful. This, as far as sovereigns and nations are 
 concerned, appears to render the morality of the 
 Gospel an inanity f. The splendour of sovereigns, 
 of nations, or of armies, may throw a mist over our 
 mental vision, and render us blind to the most pal- 
 
 * Job xxxiv. 19. 
 
 f Dr. Paley says: "It maybe necessary for individuals to unite 
 their force, and, for this end, to resign themselves to the direction 
 of one common will ; and yet it may be true, that that will is often 
 actuated !>y criminal motives, and often determined by destructive 
 purposes." See Letter VIII. 
 
 If this does not mean that subjects may occasionally, or when it is
 
 240 
 
 pable truths ; but if we apply the principle alluded to, 
 to common life, its evils will be apparent. Suppose, 
 for instance, that the proprietors of two rival manu- 
 factories, each employing a thousand men, should 
 contend, that though, as individual Christians, they 
 were not permitted to resist or resent injuries or in- 
 sults, yet that they might when united with those 
 under them, as a body of men, take up the cause of 
 vengeance. The manufacturer, it is true, can only 
 bring his thousand men into action ; which, on the 
 principles of Bishop Porteus, places him on a kind 
 of neutral ground between a villain and a hero *. 
 It seems to place him in about the same situation as 
 the ancient English barons : but instead of regard- 
 ing him as a half hero, the laws of any country 
 would now consign both him and his followers to 
 the gallows. In what would he be more criminal 
 than the whole hero ? 
 
 Mr. S., I anticipate, will say that there is no ana- 
 logy between the hero and the manufacturer ; the 
 one having a legal tribunal to afford him redress, 
 the other none. The answer to this specious reason- 
 ing is, that the highest prince, if a Christian, as 
 well as the lowest manufacturer, is bound by those 
 Scriptures, which are given to all " for reproof, for 
 correction, for instruction in all righteousness ; that 
 
 expedient to do so, obey men rather than God, it appears to have no 
 intelligible meaning. Ought not the conscientious Christian to say 
 to the defenders of such principles, "O my soul, come not thou into 
 their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united." 
 
 * " One murder made a villain, 
 
 Millions a hero."
 
 the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fur- 
 nished unto all good works." All agree that it is a 
 crime for an individual to take away the life of an- 
 other; and proof is wanting from the Christian 
 Scriptures, much stronger than any brought for- 
 ward by Mr. S., that a Christian can innocently kill 
 his brother in battle. 
 
 I trust, my dear Sir, I have shown that the prin- 
 ciple on which Mr. S. limits the application of cer- 
 tain precepts delivered by our Lord, particularly 
 that of " Resist not evil," is founded in error. I will 
 now endeavour to show that the passage he has 
 quoted from the Epistle to the Romans, (chap. xiii. 
 1 -7,) is inapplicable to the purpose for which he 
 has quoted it; viz. to show, that because men are 
 commanded to be subject to, or submissive to the 
 civil magistrate, it is their duty to render active 
 obedience. In doing this, I shall pursue the plan I 
 have already observed, viz. by giving, in a para- 
 phrase, what I take to be the true meaning of the 
 passage, leaving the reader to decide for himself. 
 
 In the concluding part of chapter xii. the Apo- 
 stle (though not in the same words, yet in substance) 
 enforces the practice of the very precepts which I 
 have already quoted in this Letter : and he con- 
 cludes with "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, 
 but rather give place unto wrath : for it is written, 
 Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 
 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he 
 thirst, give him drink : for in so doing thou shalt 
 heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of 
 evil, but overcome evil with oood." 
 
 ' O
 
 After this excellent advice to the Roman converts 
 for their conduct in their intercourse with each 
 other, he proceeds to give them directions for their 
 behaviour towards their rulers; who, it is to be borne 
 in mind, were pagans ; and Nero, their reigning 
 emperor. 
 
 PARAPHRASE. 
 
 CHAP XIII 
 
 i. Let every ' ' l ls particularly the duty of the followers 
 oul be subject o f Christ to be subject to men in authority; 
 
 unto the higher 
 
 powers. For there for all magistrates, whether good or bad, hold- 
 
 God ^thfpower in g their offices b ? the P enniss i n of God, may 
 
 that be are or- be said to be ordained by him. But, in ren- 
 
 dering to Caesar the things that are Ctesar's, 
 
 they must remember to render unto God the 
 
 things that are God's. 
 
 2 whosoever 2 - Though placed under the dominion of a 
 therefore resist- pagan ; a man, also, of a sanguinary disposi- 
 
 etli the power, *. e 
 
 resisteth the or- tion, and an enemy to our religion ; yet, you 
 dinance of God : are stil | to bear j n mmd th t -f j t h ' 
 
 and they that re- . * 
 
 shall receive power you resist the ordinance of God; and 
 
 tne y w ^ 10 ieslst will, a ' the same- time, incur 
 the divine displeasure, and receive to them- 
 selves that legal condemnation and punish- 
 ment which the magistrate has the power to 
 inflict. 
 
 3. For rulers 3. For rulers are not a terror to subjects of 
 are not a terror q U i e t ant | inoffensive habits, but only to those 
 
 to good works, f 
 
 but to the evil, of a contrary disposition. If, therefore, you 
 
 Wilt tliou. then i- i ^i xi 
 
 not be afraid of llve peaceably and quietly, and pay the accus- 
 
 the power; do tomed tributes, so far from having cause to be 
 
 that which is _ . , , 
 
 good, and thou afraid of your rulers, you may hope to obtain 
 P ralse as we " as tne "' protection.
 
 243 
 
 4. For he is the 4. All rulers, though they may be wicked 
 
 minister of God are ^ tQ be regar d ec j by YOU 33 the 
 
 to thee for good. / J J 
 
 But if thou do ministers of God to you for good. But if you 
 ! 1 forte do that which is evil > b y refusing to render to 
 
 beareth not the them the honour and obedience to which they 
 
 sword in vain: . . . ,. ,, . ,. , . . 
 
 for he is the mi- areentitled, from all wholive under their protec- 
 mster of God, a t j on v OU w ill then have just cause to be afraid, 
 
 revenger to exe- 
 
 cute wrath upon and you will find that they have ample power 
 
 him that doeth tQ p umsn yoU) anc j tnat t h e y ]j ear not fae sword 
 
 in vain. I repeat it to you, that you must, by 
 all means, regard them as the ministers of God, 
 and as revengers to execute wrath upon him 
 that doeth evil. 
 
 5. Wherefore 5. Andyou will find the passive submission 
 
 ye must needs be r . . ,, 
 
 subject, not only * recommend, not only the best means or pre- 
 
 for wrath, but also serving you from the penalties of the law, but 
 
 tor conscience . . 
 
 sake. it will also secure to you the high satisfaction 
 
 arising from the conscientious discharge of your 
 duty. It will be well-pleasing in the sight of 
 God. 
 
 6. For this 6. Wherefore, remembering that you are 
 bute* also- 5 for"" continually receiving protection from your 
 they are God's rulers, against the aggressions of all enemies, 
 
 ministers, attend- c . , c 
 
 ing continually loreign or domestic, you must cheerfully pay 
 
 upon this very lne accus tomed tribute, as our Lord himself 
 thing. ... 
 
 did. 
 
 7. Render 7. And you must not only pay the tribute- 
 
 therefore to all money, but you must render unto all men in 
 
 their dues: tribute J ' ? 
 
 to whom tribute power their just dues; custom to whom cus- 
 to whom custom ; tom is due 5 fear to wllom fear 5 honour to 
 
 fear to whom whom honour, 
 fear; honour to 
 whom honour.
 
 244 
 
 1 can see nothing- in the above passage, which is 
 applicable to the purpose for which Mr. S. has 
 quoted it; viz. to show that Christians might en- 
 gage in military service. To this service the words 
 of St. Paul have no reference. It is passive submis- 
 sion, not active obedience, that St. Paul enforces ; for 
 we may rest assured that he would never have sanc- 
 tioned the Christian converts, to whom he writes, to 
 fight under the banners of Nero. 
 
 Mr. S. appears to disapprove of the doctrine of 
 non-resistance ; but if we begin at the 14th verse of 
 the preceding chapter, which to understand the 
 Apostle's meaning we ought to do, it was scarcely 
 possible for him to have produced any part of Scrip- 
 ture more favourable to the establishment of this 
 doctrine, than the passage just quoted, if the para- 
 phrase given of it be admissible. 
 
 At page 180, Mr. S. says " that the non-resist- 
 ance of the Friends, insures a certain kind of passive 
 obedience, not unpleasing to the politicians in ques- 
 tion. 1 ' So far from this being the case, I apprehend 
 the principle of non-resistance, as understood by the 
 Society of Friends, and generally received by the 
 Peace Societies, to be closely connected, not with the 
 doctrine of passive obedience, but with that of passive 
 resistance, if I may use the term. It was by acting 
 upon this principle, which appears to have been the 
 very principle on which our Saviour and his Apo- 
 stles acted, that the early Christians opposed war. 
 For this, they were severely censured by Celsus, 
 who tells them " that if the rest of the empire were 
 of their opinion, it would soon be overrun by the
 
 245 
 
 barbarians." (See Letter IX. page 176.) The Chris- 
 tians were, at the time of Celsus, living under the 
 protection of the Roman government, and military 
 force was then essential for their defence, in com- 
 mon with the defence of other Roman subjects; and 
 it appears to be on the very principle on which 
 Celsus condemns the early Christians, that Mr. S. 
 now censures the Peace Societies. If these cen- 
 sures are just, they apply not only to these Societies, 
 but also to the early Christians, and to the Chris- 
 tian Fathers ; to men for whose opinions Mr. S., I 
 doubt not, entertains a very high respect. I am 
 almost led to suppose that Mr. S. considers the doc- 
 trines of non-resistance and passive obedience in 
 the same disgraceful and degrading light ; but cer- 
 tainly they are essentially different doctrines. 
 
 The principle of passive or moral resistance, so 
 far from being pleasing to politicians, would, if 
 generally acted upon, be more fatal to the schemes 
 of ambitious princes and statesmen, than the oppo- 
 sition of physical force ; for, whenever the religious 
 principle that dictates it shall become general, these 
 men will want the tools with which they have hi- 
 therto worked. And thus Christianity will effect, 
 without bloodshed, what the experience of ages has 
 shown that the sword has never yet been able to 
 accomplish. This is not a visionary case ; for we 
 have it on indubitable authority, that hereafter men 
 will beat their swords into ploughshares, and also 
 that they will dwell in safety. 
 
 The non-resistance of evil, which Mr. S. connects 
 with the degrading doctrine of passive obedience,
 
 246 
 
 appears to be not only one of the peculiar doctrines 
 of the Gospel, but one of its grand and distinguish- 
 ing characteristics. It seems an essential part of 
 every Christian grace and virtue. It identifies itself 
 with the forgiveness of injuries ; it seems to be the 
 first-born of charity, it"suffereth long and is kind; 
 it vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not be- 
 have itself unseemly ; beareth all things, endureth 
 all things ;" and, like its parent, may be said to be 
 "the bond of perfectness." It would seem that the 
 man who does not practise this virtue, or who un-. 
 duly limits its bounds, cannot possess charity, and, 
 therefore, is "as sounding brass and a tinkling 
 
 * O O 
 
 cymbal." There can hardly be two principles of 
 action more discordant than those of non-resistance 
 and passive obedience. The former attaches itself 
 to every thing that is great and excellent; the latter 
 to what is mean and grovelling. The former pro- 
 hibits the shedding of human blood ; the latter per- 
 mits us to shed it in torrents. The former is con- 
 sistent with liberty, civil and religious ; the latter is 
 the handmaid of slavery and moral degradation. The 
 former teaches us to obey God rather than man ; the 
 latter to obey man rather than God. If this great, 
 this original doctrine of the Gospel is now despised 
 and rejected of men, so also was the divine Teacher 
 who promulgated it. 
 
 After repeating the precept " Resist not evil," and 
 what immediately follows, and strongly marking 
 the difference between the heroic and Christian, 
 character (see Preface), Dr. Paley concludes in the 
 words of Soawe Jenni?igs :
 
 247 
 
 I. " If this (the Christian} disposition were universal, the 
 case is clear; the world would be a society of friends. 
 Whereas, if the other disposition were universal, it would 
 produce a scene of universal contention. The world could 
 not hold a generation of such men." 
 
 II. "If, what is the fact, the disposition be partial; if a 
 few be actuated by it, amongst a multitude who are not; in 
 whatever degree it does prevail, in the same proportion it 
 prevents, allays, and terminates quarrels, the great disturbers 
 of human happiness, and the great sources of human misery, 
 so far as man's happiness and misery depend upon man. 
 Without this disposition, enmities must not only be frequent, 
 but, once begun, must be eternal ; for each retaliation being 
 a fresh injury, and, consequently, requiring a fresh satisfaction, 
 no period can be assigned to the reciprocation of affronts, 
 and to the progress of hatred, but that which closes the lives, 
 or at least the intercourse of the parties." 
 
 From these remarks it may be inferred that Dr. 
 Paley and Soame Jennings entertained opinions 
 concerning the doctrine of non-resistance not mate- 
 rially different from those expressed in these Let- 
 ters. (See Christian Evidences, Chapter on the 
 Morality of the Gospel.) 
 
 If, my dear sir, I have dwelt longer on this sub- 
 ject than may appear necessary, my apology is, 
 that I apprehend this doctrine to be very generally 
 misunderstood; and I consider right views con- 
 cerning it, as of the highest moment in the present 
 discussion. 
 
 There is one species of evidence bearing directly 
 on the question of the lawfulness of war, which Mr. 
 S. and the advocates for defensive warfare (men- 
 tioned in Letters VII. and VIII.) have passed over 
 in perfect silence, this is Prophecy. Their silence 
 
 s2
 
 248 
 
 seems difficult to be accounted for, as prophecy may 
 be considered a test not only of Christian doctrines, 
 but of Christianity itself; for to it the apostles, and 
 also our Lord himself, frequently appeal for the 
 truth of what they taught. I have elsewhere briefly 
 noticed this, and I propose now to offer a few addi- 
 tional remarks. 
 
 Although we are not fully informed of the parti- 
 cular circumstances under which the various prophe- 
 cies of the Old and New Testaments were delivered, 
 and of the events to which they relate ; we may 
 conclude, that they all originated in the wisdom, 
 the goodness, and the mercy of God : and that, like 
 all the inspired writings, the prophecies are to be 
 considered as "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, 
 for correction, for instruction in righteousness ;" 
 and, consequently, that they ought so to be received 
 by us. If we duly consider those prophecies which 
 relate to the advent of our Saviour, and the circum- 
 stances attending that advent ; we shall have abun- 
 dant cause to admire the wisdom and goodness of 
 God, towards a world immersed in vice and sensu- 
 ality, in thus preparing the minds of men for the 
 reception of the Messiah, and a more perfect reli- 
 gion. 
 
 Though a long night of mental and gross dark- 
 ness has, for many centuries, nearly covered the 
 earth, and men have been rivalling the brute creation 
 in murdering and destroying each other; yet, for 
 our assurance that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed 
 the true Messiah, the Prince of Peace, God has 
 graciously given us prophecies predicting a great
 
 249 
 
 apostasy from the humane religion of his Son. He 
 has, in the abundance of his mercy, done more than 
 this. He has told us, not in figurative or symboli- 
 cal language, admitting of a variety of explana- 
 tions ; but in terms that cannot be misunderstood, 
 that (notwithstanding this apostasy) a time of 
 great light and happiness is yet to take place, 
 when " the earth shall be full of the knowledge of 
 the Lord ;" and when men are to cease from learning 
 war. 
 
 The general use that commentators have made of 
 the prophecies, is, to apply them as evidences of 
 the truth of Christianity. This is, no doubt, highly 
 important ; but it happens that the prophecies to 
 which I have so often alluded (viz. Isaiah ii. and 
 Micah iv.), so far from answering the purpose of 
 commentators, by showing that Jesus was the pro- 
 mised Messiah, on the evidence of history, they bear 
 a contrary testimony. These prophecies are uni- 
 formly appealed to by Jews and unbelievers, to 
 prove that the religion taught by Jesus could not be 
 the religion pointed out by prophecy, on the sure 
 principle that a tree is known by its fruit. This 
 argument it seems difficult to rebut; for to tell unbe- 
 lievers that the reason why Christians continue to 
 practise war, is because the spirit of Christianity 
 has not yet exerted its proper influence over the 
 minds of those who profess it, to tell this, I say, 
 to Jews or Pagans, is little likely to recommend the 
 religion of Christ to them. Will they not naturally 
 retort ; " We will wait till we see you influenced 
 by this religion, which it seems you yourselves do
 
 not believe in, or you would no doubt practise 
 it*." 
 
 Dr. Priestley, in his Letters to the Jews, and Mr. 
 Faber, in a Sermon preached at St. Paul's, before 
 the Society for converting the Jews to Christianity. 
 
 if V * 
 
 have quoted these prophecies, and have founded 
 arguments upon them to induce the Jews to embrace 
 their religion. When the admirers of Mr. Faber 
 and of Dr. Priestley can show, by the practice of 
 Christians, that they do indeed believe the Gospel 
 of Peace, their arguments will apply : and they may 
 have ground to expect the conversion, not only of 
 the Jews, but of all the nations of the earth, to true 
 Christianity; to Christianity which will be most 
 certainly known by its fruits. Then will it appear 
 that the true use of these prophecies is, that they may 
 be " profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
 for instruction in righteousness/' Taken as prophe- 
 tic history, they are, as already observed, at variance 
 with real history, and, consequently, militate against 
 our religion ; and belligerent nations would do well 
 
 * See Letter from a Jew, p. 119, 120. 
 
 INIr. Faber, in his Preface to his Duscrtation on the Prophecies, lays 
 it down as a rule for interpreting them, " To allow no interpretation 
 of a prophecy to be valid, except the prophecy agree in every particu- 
 lar with the event to which it is supposed to relate." Now it is evi- 
 dent that these prophecies, so far from agreeing with the event to which 
 they relate in every particular, are in every particular at variance with 
 Church history; and the writer of the above Letter is borne out in his 
 conclusions by the canon of Mr. F. There appears to be no alterna- 
 tive to the inquirer after truth, but to suppose, either that the Mes- 
 siah is not yet come into the world, or that nations professing to be 
 his subjects have thrown oft" their allegiance to him.
 
 251 
 
 to consider whether, in the present state of Christi- 
 anity, they act wisely in sending out missionaries to 
 make converts. Do we not want missionaries at 
 home ? And ought not our Church missionaries to 
 ask themselves the question, whether the Gospel of 
 Peace is preached in their own country ? 
 
 Taken as commands or admonitions, these pro- 
 phecies appear to throw light on the precepts taught 
 by Christ, already alluded to ; at least, they seem 
 to be in strict accordance with them. To tell men 
 not to resist evil, and to submit patiently to injuries 
 and insults, appears to be equivalent to telling them 
 to beat their swords into ploughshares, and to cease 
 to learn war. If we believe God, the giver of all 
 prophecy, to be a good and gracious being, we must 
 necessarily consider these prophecies as given for 
 wise and benevolent purposes. Keeping this in 
 view, and considering the nature of the Messiah's 
 kingdom, as plainly pointed out in these prophecies, 
 we can hardly receive them in any other light than 
 as divine commands or admonitions, perfectly har- 
 monizing with the precepts inculcated by our Sa- 
 viour. If these remarks are just, I think they afford 
 irrefragable proof that the limitation of the precept 
 " Resist not evil," proposed by Mr. S., is altogether 
 inadmissible. 
 
 As our Lord and his apostles were in the constant 
 habit of appealing to the prophecies of the Old 
 Testament, I think I may, without presumption, re- 
 commend to Mr. S., and all who, like him, may 
 write in favour of defensive war, the advice of St. 
 Peter, who says : " We have a sure word of pro-
 
 phecy ; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as 
 unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the 
 day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts ; 
 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is 
 of any private interpretation. For the prophecy 
 came not in old time by the will of man ; but holy 
 men of God spake as they were moved of the Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 That God acted upon a wise and merciful princi- 
 ple in giving to mankind the knowledge of future 
 events, might be shown in various prophecies of the 
 Old Testament : I shall, however, confine myself to 
 those which relate to the appearance of the Messiah. 
 Graciously forewarned by prophecy, the minds of 
 the Jews were prepared to expect him. In this was 
 evinced the wisdom, as well as the goodness of God. 
 The exercise of the same divine attributes are ap- 
 parent at the present period. Enlightened by "the 
 day-star of prophecy," the best commentators on 
 these sacred writings lead us to hope that, at no 
 very remote period of time, the Christian religion, 
 which during so many ages has been in abeyance, or 
 obscured and disgraced by the ignorance, the vice, 
 and the sanguinary character of a large portion of its 
 professors, will be restored to its pristine excellence, 
 and will become universal ; that it will put an end 
 to the reign of antichrist, and regenerate the whole 
 world, causing men to beat their swords into plough- 
 shares, and to cease learning war. Although gra- 
 ciously forewarned by prophecy, although experi- 
 encing the calamities arising out of a long and 
 sanguinary war, and threatened with evils inculcu-
 
 253 
 
 Jable from other wars, still nations and individuals, 
 like Gallic, seem " to care for none of these things," 
 or to ask themselves the all-important question, " Is 
 war lawful ?" 
 
 If the Jews, who had the light of prophecy and 
 the evidence of the miraculous powers bestowed on 
 Jesus, were signally punished for rejecting him ; if 
 they, on this account, remain in their present de- 
 graded state, can Christians hope to go unpunished? 
 Christians, who have not only the day-star of pro- 
 phecy, but the glorious hopes of a resurrection from 
 the dead ! Can they who, notwithstanding the joy 
 that is set before them, rival tigers and wolves in 
 murdering each other, can they hope for the favour 
 and approbation of a just and a good God ? 
 . This Letter has arrived at a length which I did 
 not anticipate when I began it; and as I find there 
 are other matters closely connected with the subject 
 of the unlawfulness of war to be considered, I must 
 trespass further upon your patience. 
 
 I remain, &c.
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 THE SUBJECT OF THE UNLAWFULNESS OF WAR 
 &c. CONCLUDED. 
 
 "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty 
 man glory in his might : let not the rich man glory in his riches." 
 Jer. ix. 23. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 HAVING, I trust, shown in my last Letter, that cer- 
 tain of our Lord's precepts, and particularly that of 
 " Resist not evil," are not to be received with the 
 limitations proposed by Mr. Sheppard, it will follow, 
 that his conclusions respecting the duty of private 
 Christians engaging in war (being founded on these 
 limitations) will be erroneous. This being the main 
 question discussed in the Inquiry, which I proposed 
 to examine, I shall decline offering any remarks on 
 the other parts of Mr. S.'s work, which may be con- 
 sidered rather of a political, than a religious nature. 
 In adopting this line of conduct, I think I am justi- 
 fied by Mr. S. himself. At page 21, he very pro- 
 perly says : " Professing, as we do, to believe in the 
 divine authority of these precepts, it is evidently 
 our duty to judge conscientiously of their meaning, 
 extent, and relation to our own circumstances ; and,
 
 255 
 
 \vlien we have done this, unreservedly to obey them." 
 If I have succeeded, and shown that the grand 
 fortress of Mr. S. is untenable, I need not take up 
 your time or my own, by attacking his outworks. 
 I however consider the whole of the Inquiry as every 
 way deserving of attention. 
 
 If I may be permitted to offer an opinion con- 
 cerning the source of the error of Mr. S., (if he be 
 in error,) it is excess of patriotism ; and this will 
 probably secure to him a larger portion of appro- 
 bation than of censure. That many of the vices 
 which prevail in the world arise from the excess or 
 abuse of certain virtues, is a truth generally ad- 
 mitted. Thus ceconomy carried to excess, degene- 
 rates into avarice ; generosity into extravagance ; 
 religious zeal into fanaticism. All these are in- 
 trinsically good, and consonant to the precepts of 
 Christ ; but, when carried to excess, they cease to 
 be Christian virtues, and become destructive of pub- 
 lic and private happiness. 
 
 These remarks apply with great force to the vir- 
 tue of patriotism ; which, instead of promoting the 
 peace of mankind, has, from not being tempered by 
 the spirit of Christianity, produced confusion and 
 bloodshed. When patriotism attempts to establish 
 the prosperity or independence of one nation at the 
 expense of another, it cannot be too much depre- 
 cated, as a sure source of war. If I rightly under- 
 stand the subject, some of our enlightened statesmen 
 have of late honourably employed themselves in 
 counteracting the elfects of this kind of patriotism, 
 by removing those restrictions on trade, which found
 
 256 
 
 the prosperity of one country on the ruin of another ; 
 and which, instead of leading to friendship between 
 nations, have hitherto been productive of jealousy 
 and hatred. However this may be, this virtue, so 
 highly extolled by statesmen, by orators, and poets, 
 derives little support from the religion of Christ. 
 Speaking of this virtue, Bishop Watson says, that 
 
 " Christianity, in its regards, steps beyond the bounds of 
 national advantage, in quest of universal good ; it does not 
 encourage patriotism in opposition to general benignity ; or 
 prompt to love our country at the expense of our integrity ; 
 or allow us to indulge our passions to the detriment of 
 thousands. It looks upon all the human race as children of 
 the same Father, and wishes them equal blessings ; in order- 
 ing us to do good, to love as brethren, to forgive injuries, 
 and to study peace, it quite annihilates the disposition for 
 martial glory, and utterly debases the pomp of war." 
 
 I am induced to make these remarks, from a sus- 
 picion that the benevolent author of the Inquiry 
 has unconsciously, in what he has written, been 
 biassed not only by national patriotism and political 
 expedience; but I even think that a portion of the 
 heroic spirit, however little he may be aware of it, 
 is discernible in him. For such a remark, it is pro- 
 per that I should assign a reason. 
 
 At page 140, Mr. S. quotes, and, I conclude, 
 with sentiments of approbation, the following pas- 
 sage from a Sermon, preached in 1816 by Dr. Chal- 
 mers : " Such are the mighty resources of defensive 
 war, that though the whole transportable force of 
 Europe were landed upon our borders, the result of 
 the experiment would be such that it would never
 
 257 
 
 be repeated ; the rallying population of Britain 
 would sweep them all from the face of its territory, 
 and a whole myriad of invaders would melt away 
 under the power of such a government as ours, 
 trenched behind the loyalty of her defenders, and 
 strong, as she deserves to be, in the love and con- 
 fidence of all her children." 
 
 Whether these remarks are dictated in that spirit 
 of meekness which our Lord would have approved, 
 or whether they would have called forth the reproof 
 addressed to his disciples, " Ye know not what man- 
 ner of spirit ye are of," I leave to the admirers of 
 Dr. C. to decide. Remarks like these, from a highly- 
 gifted and popular preacher, are greatly to be de- 
 precated. They have a direct tendency to foster 
 a warlike and heroic spirit ; and, consequently, are 
 opposed to that spirit of meekness and humility 
 taught and practised by Christ. Though these re- 
 marks of Dr. C. may assimilate with the views of 
 the patriot; yet it will, I think, be very difficult to 
 make them harmonize with the spirit of that heavenly 
 charity, which " suifereth long and is kind ; which 
 vaunteth not itself, and is not puffed up." And 
 are not such boastings to be greatly deprecated for 
 their folly ? For what folly can be more evident than 
 to suppose that the thousands of armed men of 
 Britain could vanquish, if landed on their territory, 
 the millions of armed men of Europe ? May I be 
 permitted to offer to Dr. C. and those who approve 
 this kind of boasting, which cannot give security or 
 elevate us in the estimation of foreigners, the advice 
 contained in my motto to this Letter ; u Let not the
 
 258 
 
 wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty 
 man glory in his might/' 
 
 After the most diligent and impartial consideration 
 I am able to give to this interesting subject, there 
 does not appear to be any safe halting-place of 
 limited military service, at which, according to Mr. 
 S., a Christian may take his station. To speak of 
 fighting Christians, appears to be as great a con- 
 tradiction, as to speak of believing infidels, or 
 Christian pagans. On the subject of the non-resist- 
 ance of evils T the prominent doctrine of Christianity, 
 its professors may learn wisdom from a nation re- 
 garded as barbarous. 
 
 " Whilst the Romans carried on war against the Volsci, 
 they made themselves masters, not only of the field of battle, 
 but of the enemy's camp. Among the prisoners were dis- 
 covered some Tusculans, who confessed that they had aided 
 the Volsci, by order of the public and the authority of their 
 magistrates. The senate, on this report, thought it neces- 
 sary to declare war against Tusculum, and charged Camillus 
 with the expedition. The Tusculans opposed the Roman 
 army by a method that made it impossible to commit hosti- 
 lities against them. When the troops entered their country, 
 the inhabitants neither abandoned their places, nor desisted 
 from cultivating their lands. A great number of their citi- 
 zens, drest as in time of peace, came out to meet the generals. 
 Camillus having encamped before their gates, which \\ere 
 open, and desiring to know whether the same tranquillity 
 prevailed within their walls, as he found in the country, -b 
 entered the city. All the houses and shops were open, and 
 all the artificers were intent upon their trades ; the schools 
 resounded with the voices of children at their books ; the 
 streets were full of people going backwards and forwards on 
 business, without any signs of terror, or even amazement;
 
 259 
 
 and not the least trace of war was to be seen. Every thing 
 was tranquil and pacific. Camillas, surprised at such a sight, 
 and overcome by the enemy's patience, caused the assembly 
 to be summoned by the magistrates. ' Tusculans/ said he, 
 ' you are the only people who till now have found out the 
 true arms and forces capable of securing them against the 
 Romans.'" (Doddridge's Works, vol. v. p. 282, Note by 
 Dr. Williams.) 
 
 We have one proof, but I grieve to say only one, 
 of Christians, upon an extensive scale, acting upon 
 similar principles. When William Penn and his 
 peaceful followers first settled themselves in Penn- 
 sylvania, instead of building a fort and establishing 
 a military force for their protection, agreeably to 
 the general custom of Europeans, they entirely di- 
 vested themselves of all warlike instruments, whe- 
 ther for offence or defence. Though they were sur- 
 rounded by tribes of Indians of a warlike and fero- 
 cious character, and who were in the habit of visit- 
 ing other European settlers with destruction and 
 death, yet William Perm and his men of peace 
 dwelt among them in security, without sword or 
 gun, bolt or lock. Mr. Clarkson says, " Whatever 
 the quarrels of the Pennsylvanian Indians were with 
 others, they uniformly respected, and held as it were 
 sacred, the territories of William Penn." "The 
 Pennsylvanians," says Oldmixon, " never lost man, 
 woman, or child, which neither the colony of Mary- 
 land, nor that of Virginia could say, no more than 
 the great colony of New England." 
 
 Although many instances might here be adduced, 
 of smaller bodies of men, and of individuals, placing
 
 260 
 
 implicit reliance on the providence of God, having 
 been delivered in cases of great danger ; yet, it 
 may also be remarked, that to such facts may be op- 
 posed others, where men, placing their trust in God, 
 .instead of being thus delivered, have been exposed 
 to every species of suffering, and even to death it- 
 self. This was the case with the Society of Friends 
 at their first rise ; and this, to their great disgrace, 
 among Protestants : it was the case with the Pro- 
 testants themselves at the time of the Reformation: 
 it was the case with the early Christian Martyrs : 
 it was the case with our Lord and his Apostles. 
 In adverting to the preceding historical facts, I am 
 therefore far from wishing you to infer that I ima- 
 gine that an implicit trust in God, and a patient ac- 
 quiescence in the arbitrary proceedings of those in 
 power, will uniformly secure to us indemnity from 
 suffering. This would be to expect what is con- 
 trary to daily experience, and to indulge in vision- 
 ary hopes : hopes which, instead of being sanctioned, 
 are condemned by our religion. This would be to 
 expect our reward in this world, instead of looking 
 Forward to it in the next. 
 
 Though the facts which have been stated may 
 not prove that God, at all times, delivers those who 
 trust in him in cases of imminent peril ; yet they 
 plainly show that he frequently, and under very 
 unpromising appearances, protects those who rely 
 on him: they also exhibit, in a very striking point 
 of view, the surprising effect that the non-resist- 
 ance of evil has in subduing angry and revenge- 
 ful feelings, even in minds the most savage and tin- 
 
 O r O
 
 261 
 
 tutored. Though relying on this principle may not, 
 in all cases, secure men from violence, yet it will 
 be found, on the aggregate, like all the principles 
 and precepts delivered by our Lord, to be the very 
 best to promote our temporal interests. Our reli- 
 gion, however, so far from promising worldly pros- 
 perity, as the reward of our obedience, teaches us 
 that suffering is the appointed path to moral per- 
 fection. That it is, in the established course of the 
 divine government, necessary to the formation of 
 exalted virtue, we must conclude, from God making 
 " the Captain of our salvation perfect through suf- 
 ferings *." 
 
 Before I dismiss the subject of the unlawfulness 
 of all war, it is proper that I should answer a ques- 
 tion you have asked, and which has repeatedly been 
 asked me; and with a kind of triumph, as if it 
 were perfectly unanswerable. The question is this : 
 " What would you do in case a robber, probably 
 an assassin, were to break into your house ? Would 
 you not, if possessed of arms, shoot such a one, as 
 the best means of preserving not only your own life 
 and property, but the lives of your wife, your chil- 
 dren, and domestics?" In the way this question, 
 this argummtum ad hominem. is put, I confess to 
 you I feel some difficulty in giving it a direct answer. 
 Perhaps it would be best for me to say, that I do 
 not know how I should act in such an extreme case, 
 never having experienced it. Should you ask me 
 what, in such a situation, a Christian ought to do, I 
 should feel less difficulty in answering you. If he 
 
 * Heb. ii. 10. 
 T
 
 were possessed of Christian courage, and that sub- 
 lime charity which " beareth all things, believcth 
 all things, endureth all things, and which never 
 faileth ;" if, I say, he were imbued with this sublime 
 and Christian virtue, the true believer, even in this 
 perilous and trying situation, would refrain from 
 shedding a brother's blood. 
 
 If the view I have taken of the precept " Resist 
 not evil," be a just one, the man who should thus act, 
 would simply obey this precept of our Lord ; he 
 would, for his consolation and encouragement, have 
 the high honour of acting as Jesus did, in a situation 
 of similar difficulty. He would also act in obedi- 
 ence to the sixth commandment, which our Saviour 
 has left in full force. And we must bear in mind 
 that " he came not to destroy the law or the prophets, 
 but to fulfil," or establish them. 
 
 One very general objection to the doctrine of non- 
 resistance is, that it is unnatural ; and that self- 
 defence is one of the first principles implanted by 
 the great Creator, not only in man, but in the whole 
 animal creation. The question for the consideration 
 of a Christian is, not what the -laws of nature 
 seem to permit, but what the laws of God actually 
 command. And I would ask of you, whether one 
 great purpose of the Gospel is not to enable its pro- 
 fessors to overcome those evil propensities, which, 
 whether natural, or acquired by habit or education, 
 tend to make men unhappy here, and to unfit them 
 for a state of superior happiness hereafter. To say 
 that any action is lawful, because it is natural, is 
 a conclusion that Christianity does not sanction ; 
 and the assertion ought to excite suspicion and in- 

 
 263 
 
 quiry. There are many propensities of a sensual 
 nature, which arc equally as natural to us as the 
 principle of self-defence, which no well-informed 
 Christian will think of defending. To admit the 
 principle of self-defence, or to allow the limitation 
 of Mr. S. to the precept " Resist not evil/' appears 
 to rob the Gospel of one of its peculiar doctrines, 
 of its original morality ; and merely to adopt a plan 
 already recommended by many of the sages of anti- 
 quity; a plan of common-place morality, which, in- 
 stead of allaying jealousy and the angry passions, is 
 likely to keep them in continual action. Of this kind 
 the system of Mr. S. appears to be. To act upon 
 it, and endeavour to be merciful as God is merciful, 
 seems to be as impossible as it is to serve two masters. 
 Another objection to the doctrine of non-resist- 
 ance is, that, though it might be very safe and proper 
 for individuals to adopt it, it would be ruinous for 
 nations : that their enemies, taking advantage of 
 
 7 ' O O 
 
 their simplicity, would make them "hewers ofwotid 
 and drawers of water." This apprehension appearfe 
 to arise out of a practical disbelief of the superin- 
 tending providence of God, and from men enter- 
 taining wrong views of the paternal character of the 
 Deity, and of their duty to each other as brethren. 
 Nations, with great complacency, admit that the 
 wise Creator is capable of ruling in heaven; but, 
 from their conduct, they seem to think that they are 
 much more competent to form laws for the govern- 
 ment of this lower world, than those which he has 
 graciously given us. The great misfortune is, that 
 men think themselves of too much consequence; 
 and, intent upon reforming nations, they neglect Or 
 
 T2
 
 overlook their own reformation. The question for 
 the consideration of individuals is, what the reveal- 
 ed will of God requires of them in their capacity 
 of private Christians ; and having ascertained this, 
 which is no very difficult task, to pursue the path of 
 duty through good report and evil report, regardless 
 of personal advantages or disadvantages. When 
 individuals shall thus act, the road to national re- 
 formation will become easy and bloodless ; and the 
 path to universal and permanent peace direct and 
 certain. 
 
 It may be highly important, not only to indivi- 
 ,duals, but to legislators, and to ministers of the 
 Gospel, to examine whether this principle of self- 
 defence, so natural to animals, and so zealously con- 
 tended for by men, is not the probable cause of a 
 .yery large portion of the barbarous murders that 
 .Disgrace Christian nations. Is it not to save his 
 life? Is it not on this very principle of self-defence, 
 this natural principle, that the robber is converted 
 into the assassin ? It may also be justly questioned 
 whether, in most cases, forbearance is not more 
 likely than resistance, to save life. 
 
 Were it possible to imagine that there could be 
 found a grave lawyer, or legislator, deeply read in 
 tljie statutes at large, but entirely uninformed con- 
 cerning the jurisprudence contained in the Old and 
 New Testaments ; such a one, if such a one could 
 be found, being led to look upon Christianity as it 
 is technically said to be part and parcel of our laws, 
 would naturally expect to find in our Scriptures, 
 that house-breaking, horse-stealing, poaching, &c. 
 &c. would be treated as deserving of the highest
 
 penalty of the law. With what astonishment would 
 such a one read the following : " If a thief be found 
 breaking up, and he be smitten that he die, there 
 shall no blood be shed for him. If the sun be risen 
 upon him, there shall be blood shed for him : for 
 he should make full restitution ; if he have nothing, 
 then he shall be sold for his theft. If the theft be 
 certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, 
 or ass, or sheep, he shall (not be hung by the neck till 
 he is dead, but) RESTORE DOUBLE*." What would 
 the Jewish legislator, were he now to appear, say 
 to our sanguinary code, to our spring-guns, men- 
 traps, and instruments of human destruction? When 
 we consider the lenity of the Jewish laws, and that 
 the crime of murder was then of rare occurrence, 
 may we not conclude that the great severity of mo- 
 dern laws, instead of checking, incites to crime, and 
 blunts those sensibilities which God has mercifully 
 planted in the human breast. When legislators 
 make so light of shedding human blood, can we 
 wonder at the frequent occurrence of murder and 
 assassination ? But the Jewish laws were the laws 
 of God ; modem laws are merely human laws ; and 
 many of them are neither part nor parcel of Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 And now, my dear Sir, having answered your 
 question, permit me to ask you one in return. Should 
 you ever be placed in the trying situation of having 
 a robber, perhaps an assassin, breaking into your 
 house, what would you, as a minister of the Gospel 
 of Peace, do ? Looking up to Jesus as your guide 
 
 * Exod. xxii. 24.
 
 SC6 
 
 and pattern, and endeavouring- to regulate your ac- 
 tions by the. same benevolent spirit which governed 
 him, could you, as his disciple, think yourself justi- 
 fied in taking- away the life of a 'brother? Should 
 you, however, thus situated, and sanctioned by the 
 laws of your country, have sent your BROTHER un- 
 prepared into his Maker's presence ; would the re- 
 collection afford you pleasure or pain, when you 
 approach that crisis to which you and I are fast 
 hastening? Is it not likely, when summoned from 
 this world, you would wish that Christian forbear- 
 ance had triumphed over worldly caution ; that you 
 had acted upon the principles that our Saviour 
 taught and exemplified; that you had afforded your 
 brother the opportunity of repentance ; and that you 
 had, a few years sooner, died a Christian martyr. 
 
 If there is any thing of fanaticism, or of zeal 
 without knowledge, in thus receiving the precept 
 " Resist not evil," I entreat you to point it out to 
 me. For my own part, after bestowing much and 
 patient consideration on the question, I perceive 
 nothing fanatical, nothing unreasonable, in receiv- 
 ing and acting upon this precept to the extent I 
 have mentioned. The conduct recommended, seems 
 to be the natural consequence of faith ; of faith of 
 the most simple and obvious kind ; viz. a faith that 
 teaches " that God is ; and that he is a rewarder of 
 them that diligently seek him*." 
 
 The soldier, when ordered on the forlorn hope, 
 impelled either by the sense of military duty, or the 
 fear of punishment, or by the hope of the praise of 
 
 * Hfb. xi. 0.
 
 267 
 
 his fellow-creatures, or the dread of their censure, 
 meets death without flinching* The Christian, con- 
 scious that the eye of God is ever upon him, instead 
 of sacrificing the life of another to save his own, 
 with heroism awaits a death which seems unavoid- 
 able. Which, I beseech you, is chargeable with 
 fanaticism? He who sacrifices his life to the bubble 
 called honour, and to his duty to man? or he who 
 loses his life, from a sense of duty to that Being, 
 who can and will reward him, he who loseth his 
 life in order that he may find it ? 
 
 The question of the lawfulness, or the unlawful- 
 ness of war, or of the profession of arms, is a ques- 
 tion exclusively religious ; and in determining it, 
 worldly policy and expedience ought to be banished 
 from the counsels of the individual. He is to obey 
 God rather than man. I am painfully aware that 
 the cause I have advocated, though sanctioned by 
 the Gospel of Peace, is a very unpopular one ; but 
 cheered by the spirit of prophecy, which is the tes- 
 timony of Jesus*, I have persevered in writing these 
 Letters, in the sure and certain hope that the prin- 
 ciples they defend, will ultimately become as exten- 
 sive as Christianity itself, and useful (if not to the 
 present) to future generations. n uteri o. 
 
 The hero and the statesman may yet, for ages to 
 come, triumph over Christianity, over humanity, 
 and over peace. The wise man may still continue 
 to glory in his wisdom, the mighty man in his might, 
 and the rich man in his riches ; but let the Chris- 
 tian bear in mind, that "the wisdom of the world 
 
 * Rev. xix. 10.
 
 268 
 
 is foolishness with God," and that, as in the propa- 
 gation of the Gospel, " God hath chosen tlie foolish 
 tilings of the world to confound the wise," so it is 
 probable that he will, by the same means, restore it 
 to its pristine purity and energy over the human 
 mind. For his consolation, the advocate for peace 
 knows, on evidence as sure as that on which Chris- 
 tianity is established, that the folly of the present 
 belligerent and inhuman system will be made mani- 
 fest by that " knowledge of the Lord," of which the 
 whole earth shall be full. And though the time 
 may be distant, he is assured that God " shall judge 
 among the nations; and shall work conviction in 
 many peoples : and they shall beat their swords 
 into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning- 
 hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 
 neither shall they learn war any more." 
 
 Though no one now living may hope to see the 
 accomplishment of this prophecy, yet the duties it 
 imposes are imperative on all who believe in its 
 truth. And though they may not experience the 
 happiness arising out of this new state of things, 
 this new creation, they may anticipate the more 
 substantial bliss promised by our Saviour, " Blessed 
 are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the 
 children of God." 
 
 AFTKII publishing my "Letter to the King," it 
 seemed incumbent upon me, in the very peculiar and 
 insulated situation in which that Letter placed me, 
 to show to the world by farther discussion, that in 
 withdrawing myself from the profession of arms, I 
 had not only acted according to the dictates of
 
 269 
 
 conscience, but that I had also been guided by 
 sound principles of religion and morality; that I 
 was not an enthusiast, but that 1 had studied the 
 sacred word of truth, had regulated my conduct by 
 it, and had, as I professed, " spoken forth the words 
 of truth and soberness :" that, weighing the in- 
 terests of a future life against those of the present, I 
 had not acted unwisely in preferring the former. 
 It also appeared incumbent upon me, in discharging 
 what I considered a positive duty, that I should not 
 only use great plainness of speech, but that I should 
 cautiously avoid giving offence to any one ; so as to 
 give my arguments a fair chance of being examined 
 with the calmness and impartiality the subject de- 
 serves. That I should, in such an undertaking, 
 succeed, or escape all blame, is more than I could 
 reasonably hope ; but not dreading undeserved 
 censure, nor looking for applause, I have persevered 
 in writing these Letters, and have accomplished my 
 task to the best of my abilities. I have now only 
 to implore the Giver of all good, the " God of 
 Peace,"- to bestow his blessing on my humble en- 
 deavours, believing them calculated to increase the 
 happiness of his rational creatures, and consequently 
 the glory of the Creator. 
 
 I am as sensible as you, or any one can be, that 
 the matter these Letters contain might have been 
 better arranged, and the arguments used more skil- 
 fully and forcibly urged ; but I have done my best 
 in advocating a cause, on which not only the pros- 
 perity, but even the existence of our country as a 
 great nation, in no small degree, depends : for this 
 religion is intrinsically a religion of peace; it is 
 
 u
 
 270 
 
 called " the Gospel of Peace ;" it was established 
 by the "Prince of Peace;" it is destined by the 
 great Ruler of the universe to " cover the earth as 
 the waters cover the sea ;" and along with " glory 
 to God in the highest," to establish " peace on earth 
 and good-will among men." 
 
 The progress of this religion, and the establish- 
 ment of peace, have long been impeded by the un- 
 worthy conduct, and the erroneous opinions, of its 
 professors. Expedience has by them been substi- 
 tuted for obedience ; and subservient as the au- 
 thorized teachers of religion have long been to bel- 
 ligerent princes, Christianity cannot long remain 
 stationary. Either the savage system of deliberate 
 murder by wholesale, or Christianity itself, must 
 be given up. For the Christian's consolation, pro- 
 phecy, which shines through the present darkness, 
 assures him that Christianity will be triumphant; 
 that men "will beat their swords into ploughshares;" 
 that they shall cease to learn war, and that " the 
 kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms 
 of our Lord and his Christ." 
 
 The signs of the times also afford consolation to 
 the Christian. The present rapid increase of science 
 and knowledge affords better grounds of hope than 
 our forefathers could reasonably entertain, that "the 
 knowledge of the Lord (or Christianity) will finally 
 cover the earth." Christianity, when the handmaid 
 of power and associated with ignorance, if it has 
 not produced, has failed to destroy, superstition, sla- 
 very, war, and innumerable evils resulting there- 
 from ; and the world continues, as in the darkest 
 ages, an Aceldama; and the conversion of Jews,
 
 271 
 
 Mohammedans, and Pagans, is yet to effect. When 
 Christianity shall become associated with science 
 and knowledge, we may rationally anticipate the 
 reverse ; and that sound religion will be the parent 
 of peace, safety, and liberty ; that, in the language 
 of the Psalmist, " righteousness and peace will kiss 
 each other ;" and that the Christian graces of long- 
 suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, tem- 
 perance, will extinguish the heroic spirit, will ba- 
 nish war from the face of the earth, and, rendering; 
 
 * * O 
 
 the spread of Christianity certain and rapid, will 
 hasten that period when " they shall sit every man 
 under his vine, and under his fig-tree, and none 
 shall make them afraid ; for the mouth of the Lord 
 of Hosts hath spoken it." Such, on the highest 
 evidence, are to be the glorious triumphs of know- 
 ledge over ignorance, of truth over error, of faith 
 over unbelief, of humanity over cruelty, of the meek 
 and forbearing over the martial and heroic spirit, 
 of Christianity over every obstacle. 
 
 As we are led to believe that the Christian reve- 
 lation, as it is the most perfect, will also be the last 
 that will be granted to mankind, we may therefore 
 conclude that the triumphs I have enumerated will, 
 as has been already observed, be achieved by human 
 agency in the ordinary course of God's providence. 
 This consideration ought to stimulate all good men, 
 and particularly Christian ministers, to " labour fdr 
 peace." What particular nation, or what class of 
 persons, will have the honour of being selected as 
 labourers in this glorious cause, we are not informed. 
 Whether those who proclaim to the world that " it 
 is lawful for Christian men, at the commandment
 
 272 
 
 of the magistrate, to wear weapons and serve in 
 wars ;" whether you, and those who make this de- 
 claration, a declaration unauthorized by the word of 
 God, will be selected for this "labour of love," and, 
 as " peacemakers," to be called " the children of 
 God," I leave to your and their most serious consi- 
 deration. 
 
 Regarding the revealed will of God as the stand- 
 ard for human actions, and paramount to all human 
 ordinances, I have with diligence and fidelity en- 
 deavoured to ascertain what this will is on the 
 subject of private Christians engaging in national 
 wars, or becoming permanent members of stand- 
 ing armies. The result of mv endeavours is to be 
 
 J 
 
 found in these Letters. If they contain any truths 
 that may have escaped the observation of you, or of 
 any candid and diligent inquirer after truth, I feel 
 confident that such inquirers will, with me, feel 
 gratitude to the Father of lights, for his condescen- 
 sion to our understandings. If upon a fair and 
 candid examination you, or any one, should find 
 that I have mistaken, or misapplied, the precepts of 
 our holy religion, I beseech you, I beseech my 
 readers, as Christians, and in the spirit of the Go- 
 spel, which is that of peace, to point out to me my 
 errors. Should you, or any one, condescend to do 
 this, you will confer an obligation which I shall be 
 ready gratefully and publicly to acknowledge. 
 
 I remain, &c. 
 
 THOMAS THRUSH. 
 
 Printed by RICHARD TAYLOR, 
 Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
 
 

 
 A 000089076 
 
 
 
 
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