Committee cannot, therefore, more appropriately conclude their Report, than in the words of Christ, "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few; pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."

No. I.

Advice on the Formation of Auxiliary Societies.

Star Court, Bread Street, Cheapside, London, 14th Nov. 1827. SIR,-As some have thought the cause of Peace has suffered through a difference of opinion respecting the resolutions proposed by the Society for the Promotion of Permanent and Universal Peace for the adoption of Auxiliary Societies, I am requested by the Committee of that Society to address a letter to you with a view to remove the difficulty which proceeds from the silence of those resolutions respecting the qualifications necessary to constitute a person a member of the Committee of an Auxiliary-a silence from which it has been inferred by some individuals, that the qualifications requisite to become a member of the Parent Committee, agreeably to the 8th Rule of the Society, applied also to members of Auxiliary Committees. A short review of the origin and final adoption of the present rules will, it is hoped, so explain the intentions of the Parent Society, as to set the question at rest.

On the 22d of November, 1816, a Sub-committee was appointed to draw up a set of rules for the government of the Society. On the 5th of July, 1817, the rules were laid before the Committee for their approbation, which, with some alterations, were agreed to. The rules of the Society that were then adopted have not since been altered; they are printed annually in the Reports of the Society. Of the resolutions proposed for the adoption of Auxiliary Societies, there were nine; the sixth of which was the same as the eighth rule of the Parent Society, which requires of the members of the Committee uniformity of sentiment on the subject of war. In consequence of applications from the country, a Sub-committee was appointed on Feb. 24th, 1818, to revise the rules, and to submit to the next meeting of the Committee any alterations that might appear to them advan tageous. The result of this revision was, that the Committee, on the 14th of March, 1818, expunged from the resolutions proposed for the adoption of Auxiliary Societies, the sixth, which reduced them to their present number of eight instead of nine. Thus the operation of the eighth rule of the Parent Society was removed from the members of the Committees of Auxiliary Societies, so that the latter were at liberty to appoint on their Committees persons whose sentiments made them eligible for members of the Parent Society, agreeably to the 4th rule, which says, "The Society shall consist of persons of every

denomination, who are desirous of uniting in the promotion of peace on earth, and good will towards men."

A satisfactory reason may be assigned for the difference which the rules of the Society make between the members of Auxiliary Committees and those of the London Committee. All the Tracts of the Society receive the sanction of, and emanate from the latter Committee; it is therefore important that the members should be unanimous in the principle "that all war is inconsistent with Christianity," to preserve consistency in their publications, and to prevent them from containing any thing inconsistent with that grand principle of the Society. On the other hand, the members of Auxiliary Committees are, by the third resolution, proposed for the adoption of Auxiliary Societies, "that no publications shall be circulated by this Society but such as have received the sanction of the Society in London," placed in the same relative situation with the Parent Society as the members of the latter; which makes the fourth rule of the Society equally applicable to both, the assistance offered by each being similar, that of disseminating the principles of the Peace Society by the circulation of such publications, and such only, as have received the sanction of its Committee. Some of thèse coadjutors may, perhaps, at first, only see men as trees walking;" but an aversion to war, and a love of peace, with a desire to promote the latter as far as their influence extends, is likely to induce a candid examination of what the Scriptures really teach, and so gradually produce conviction of the whole truth. Our conduct towards such should be rather inviting than forbidding or repulsive, lest we should, unlike our great Exemplar, "break the bruised reed, and quench the smoking flax," and so impede instead of promote the cause of peace. At the same time it is recommended, that any person who is proposed for a member of the Committee of an Auxiliary Society should be informed of the principles as well as object of the Peace Society; that those who co-operate with us may do it with cordiality and a clear understanding of the principles, to the dissemination of which they are called on to lend their aid.

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It is hoped that the above explanation of the rules of the Peace Society will remove the uncertainty which may have hitherto existed respecting their application to Auxiliary Societies, and which has embarrassed the operations of our country coadjutors, to whom we would recommend the establishment of such Societies where it is practicable, as a means, through divine aid, of promoting the pacific reign of Messiah in the earth. Let none be dismayed or discouraged by the opposition they may have to encounter, or by the sceptic laugh that may be raised at their labours, as though they were Utopian and in vain. Let us not sinfully distrust the veracity of the Divine promises, but be zealous in our endeavours to restore the purity of apostolical practice, with which the conduct of Christians for centuries past has so ill accorded, as to deprive them of that distinguishing

mark by which the divine Saviour said they should be known by the world for his disciples.

The Lord hath declared that "he will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle-bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the heathen; and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth." And what the Lord hath declared he will assuredly bring to pass; "For," saith the Holy One, "as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

On behalf of the Committee of the Peace Society, I subscribe myself, Sir, yours most respectfully,

JAMES HARGREAVES, Secretary.

AMERICA, No. II.

Eleventh Annual Report of the Massachusetts Peace Society.

MORE than 700 years prior to the advent of the Messiah, the prophets, in foretelling the peaceful state of the world under his reign, made use of this language: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Such were to be the blessed effects of obedience to that gospel which proclaims peace on earth and good-will to men. Eighteen centuries, however, have elapsed since the birth of our Saviour, and many nations have assumed the name of Christian. But, in respect to war, they have not distinguished themselves from Pagans and Mahometans, except it be by surpassing them in the duration of their conflicts, or in doing more to render the barbarous custom glorious and perpetual. Ever since the close of the eighteenth century, all the nations of Christendom have been in arms, slaughtering one another, filling the earth with violence and woe, and glorying in their destructive enterprises.

Can it then be any longer wonderful, that many intelligent men have doubted the Divine authority of those predictions which relate to the reign of the Prince of Peace, and still ask, "Where is the promise of his coming?" And on what ground can Christians vindicate the pacific nature of their religion, against the sarcasms of unbelievers, but by appealing to the examples and precepts of their Lord,-[by] admitting that the wars of Christians have evinced a lamentable departure from the spirit of the gospel, and by shewing that as soon as Christian nations shall act in character as the disciples of Christ, they will "learn war no more." To correct public opinion on this

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subject, by the diffusion of Christian sentiments, and thus to accelerate the accomplishment of prophecy, is the great object for which Peace Societies have been organized. The Committee have, therefore, deemed it proper in this Report to take a brief survey of the origin and progress of Peace Societies, and of some public occurrences favourable to their ultimate suc

cess.

The long and disastrous wars of Europe, prior to 1815, in which our country became eventually involved, might naturally lead many Christians to reflect on the causes and effects of national hostilities, their contrariety to the spirit of the gospel,and then to inquire whether something might not be done to open the eyes of men to their true interest, and thus to prevent the recurrence of such tornadoes of the human passions. From such reflections and inquiries probably originated the Peace Societies in this country and in Great Britain.

The first proposition for Peace Societies, known to the Committee, appeared in an anonymous Tract, entitled, "A Solemn Review of the Custom of War," which was offered for sale in Boston, on Christmas, Dec. 1814. As this work was written in time of war, and published at a period of remarkable party excitement, it might naturally give rise to suspicions in respect to its object. The Committee, however, are authorized to state, that the Tract did not originate from party spirit, nor from unfriendly feelings towards any class of people; and that a particular object of the writer in causing it to be published at that critical period, was to prevent the horrors of civil war from being added to those of war with a foreign power. How early the first proposition for Peace Societies was made in England, the Committee are not able to state. But in July, 1815, a proposition of this kind was published in a periodical work, called, "The Philanthropist." It was contained in a letter to the Editor, dated in April, which was probably earlier than the Solemn Review had been seen in that country.

In August, 1815, the New York Peace Society was privately formed by a few respectable gentlemen, who deemed it prudent to keep the fact a secret for several months. On the second of December, the same year, the Ohio Peace Society was formed by some gentlemen who had read the Solemn Review, and who supposed their Society to be the first of the kind. On the 26th of the same month, the Constitution of the Massachusetts Peace Society was signed by twenty-two persons, the Rev. Dr. Osgood being the first subscriber. The Society for Promoting Permanent and Universal Peace was formed in London on the 14th of June, 1816. Thus four Peace Societies were formed in ten months, in regions far distant from each other.

It is not certainly known to the Committee how many Peace Societies have been formed in the United States; but the whole number reported of all descriptions, independent, auxiliary, and Reading Peace Societies, exceeds fifty. It must, however, be acknowledged with regret, that several of these have discon