It would therefore appear, that, whenever a stand has been conscientiously made on the one single testimony against War, either by many or by few, preservation of life has, in a remarkable manner, been experienced. And it may be for this reason, that there is no other Christian testimony, in the support of which the meek and humble disciple is led to evince, more conspicuously, his allegiance, and child-like dependence upon the immediate protection of an Almighty Parent; no other testimony which is more calculated to win the disaffected, to tame the cruel, and to soften the violent.

And, on this ground, which seems to have more reference to the natural effects of peaceable conduct, than to the principle as a Christian tenet, an objection may be noticed, which is sometimes put forward, in the shape of a conclusive argument, against the disciple of Peace, by his opponents.

They suppose a man, who may suddenly profess to act according to peaceable principles, to be all at once involved in some serious crisis of difficulty and danger; and, under these circumstances, if he cannot escape from the difficulty, by a strict adherence to his Christian principles, they are ready, forthwith, to question the doctrine and its practical application. For, they hastily conclude, that his principles, being, as they suppose, too refined for use, cannot be maintained in practice; without considering that he might have been instrumental in bringing upon himself the dangers in which he is involved, by giving way to principles of an opposite tendency in his previous conduct.

Now, this is not a fair supposition, nor is it a fair predicament in which to place him.

We

We have before said, that a man cannot at once be brought to see that it is wrong to take away the life of a remorseless assassin. now say, on the other hand, that when a man has been for a long time sowing the seeds of contention, and has in this way made himself liable to the consequences; and then, impelled by fear or by a better motive, suddenly repents of his antichristian conduct, and takes up a resolution to change it; he ought not to expect that he should instantly reap the fruits of Peace, nor ought he (if, indeed, ever) to presume upon Divine protection, in such circumstances.

For, in so far as the systematic lover of Peace may be concerned

in the affairs of life, and be allowed to throw the weight of his influence into the scale of events, whether civil or political, it is obvious, that if the principles of peace and good-will should be acted upon in good faith, between those who might be otherwise disposed to contend, the danger and the extremity, and the predicament in question, through the medium of his influence, would not

occur.

It is not fair, therefore, to place the follower of Peace in a difficulty, into which his own principles would never lead him, and then, as if the validity of his principles were to be staked upon the event, to challenge him to extricate himself from the outward perplexity, by any other means than what his opponents denominate the lawful struggle of violence for the maintenance of civil order, against those who would break down its barriers and overturn the most sacred institutions of human society. For it cannot, in reason, be expected, that a sudden adoption of pacific sentiments, accompanied by a momentary fervour of piety, and impassioned invocation of the Great Name, should be availing towards the preservation of any, who are in the extremity of danger from barbarian cruelty, when they may have been living for a long time in systematic opposition to the very principles, and in direct violation of the laws, which they are thus hastily acknowledging. Humble reliance upon Providence, is not a duty to be observed only in the hour of danger; it is as necessary to the right-minded in the season of outward Peace, as in that of War. It is not while the storm is raging, that prayer is likely to be effectual, when it is offered by those, who, in the time of prosperity, never approach the throne of mercy to acknowledge the blessings showered upon them by Divine favour. Neither is it in the hour of imminent danger that we can expect a passive submission will be availing to disarm and conciliate the ferocious; unless the mind is at the same time deeply imbued with Christian meekness, and resignation, and humble reliance upon Providence.

Now, we are not disposed to argue upon this point with those, who cannot conceive this latter state, and who only reason as if the impulse of mere human indignation against wrong, afforded sufficient grounds to justify retaliation. We cannot expect to convince men against the force of the whole practical

principles of their lives. If they have been outward in their views of the protection of either property or life,-outward in all their ca.culations of expediency,-outward in every plan of earthly aggran dizement so that they are almost ready triumphantly to boast themselves independent of the care and notice of their Heavenly Father ;we no more suppose that they will become suddenly the reverse, and capable of seeing the exact relation between a disciple of the Prince of Peace, and a misguided fellow-creature, than that an eye, long used to darkness, should at once be able to endure the light, or an untutored Indian to comprehend the profoundest principles of philosophy.

We do, however, expect that those, who have examined the genuine principles of the Gospel, and have seen that they are all of a self-denying tendency, should pause a moment, before they sanction the doctrine, that a meek and consistent follower of Jesus Christ, is at all to be justified in avenging either himself, or his brother, or his country, with the sword,-in other words, is at liberty to oppose violence to violence, cruelty to cruelty, and murder to murder.

For, as a kingdom of Peace is most assuredly to be established, and must be established, by pure means, upon the earth; the followers of this peaceable kingdom are not to lower the standard' held out to them to bear, by resorting to the self-same means which are employed by others, not only to secure their secular interests, but to promote disunion and moral evil, the means of violence and bloodshed.

The ground-work of Peace was laid in the institutions of the Prince of Peace himself. The spirit and the love of Peace are inculcated upon all his followers. The least envying, or jealousy, or disposition to retaliation, is therefore a signal of revolt—a defection from his pure standard-the beginning of a desertion to that side, which is wholly engrossed with the world and its maxims, its pursuits, its possessions,-its enjoyments, and its turbulent principles of action. Can any reasonable man conceive that the pure principles of Christianity can admit of any compromise,-any safe coalition with practices, which, in whatever way they begin, and how. ever innocent their cause, have a tendency to rouse the worst passiong of the mind, and to produce the greatest amount of moral evil?

Men must be one thing or the other: they cannot be faithful to two masters: they cannot serve God and Mammon. It is better perhaps to be Pagan in profession, if Christian in practice; than Christian in profession, if only Pagan in life and conduct.

In conclusion, let us ask any man, after he may have been perusing the instances recorded, however hackneyed in the modes of thinking common to the world, and however ill-disposed to risk his life on such terms; yet, when cooly reflecting on the circumstances, and ready to appear before the Supreme Judge of the earth, whether he would not infinitely prefer, to have been a peaceful actor in such a strife, and to merit the praise and the glorious reward of such a character, than to have been the greatest military hero that ever triumphed in a field of battle.

It cannot be said that these individuals were pusillanimous, and wanted personal courage. Some of them, it is clear, displayed exemplary fortitude: for, unarmed, they presented their bodies fearlessly and nobly, before the pike and the gun. And what gave them this fortitude, but the sustaining conviction, that their hearts were upright, however simple their intentions, before the Lord; and that his omnipotent aim was their shield, and able to defend them in the very darkest extremity?

I shall conclude with a few extracts from the Primitive Christianity" of an eminent writer in the English Church, William Cave, D.D. on the practice of the early Christians.

He gives this testimony concerning them: "No sooner did the Gospel fly abroad into the world, but the love and charity of Christians became notorious even to a proverb, the heathens taking notice of the Christians of those times with this particular remark, See how these Christians love one another.' ." There's one circumstance yet behind, concerning the love and charity of those times, very worthy to be taken notice of, and that is, the universal extent of it; they did good to all, though more especially to them of the household of faith, i. e. to Christians; they did not confine their bounty within the narrow limits of a party, this or that sect of men, but embraced an object of pity and love wherever they met it: they were kind to all men, yea, to their bitterest enemies, and that with a

IX.--PART III.

charity as large as the circles of the sun that visits all parts of the world :—this, indeed, is the proper goodness and excellency of Christianity, as Tertullian observes, it being common to all men to love their friends, but peculiar only to Christians to love their enemies.

"And Athenagoras principally makes use of this argument to prove the divinity of the Christian religion, and challenges all the great masters of reason and learning amongst the heathens to produce any, either of themselves or their disciples, of so pure and refined a temper, as could, instead of hating, love their enemies, bear curses and revilings with an undisturbed mind, and, instead of reviling again, to bless and speak well of them, and to pray for them who lay in wait to take away their lives. And yet this did Christians; they embraced their enemies, and pardoned and prayed for them. Nay, they did not think it enough not to return evil for evil, or barely to forgive their enemies, unless they did them all the kindness that lay in their power. We read of one Pachomius, an heathen soldier, in the first times of Constantine, that the army being nearly starved for want of necessary provisions, and coming to a city that was mostly inhabited by Christians, they freely and speedily gave them whatever they wanted for the accommodation of the army. Amazed with this strange and unwonted charity, and being told that the people that had done it were Christians, whom they generally preyed upon, and whose profession it was to hurt no man, and to do good to every man, he threw away his arms, became an anchoret, and gave up himself to the strictest severities of religion. This also Julian the emperor plainly confesses; for, urging Arsaicus, the Chief Priest of Galatia, to take care of the poor, and to build hospitals in every city, for the entertaining of poor strangers and travellers, both of their own and other religions; he adds, for it is a shame, that when the Jews suffer none of theirs to beg, and the wicked Galatians (Christians) relieve not only their own, but also those of our party, that we only should be wanting in so necessary a duty.' So prevalent is truth, as to extort a confession from its most bitter and virulent Of this I shall only add one instance or two more, proper opposers. enough to be inserted here.

""

'Eusebius, speaking of that dreadful plague and famine that happened in the east under the Emperor Maximinus, wherein so many whole families miserably perished and were swept away at once; he