Reply of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia. Aix-la-Chapelle, the 6th-18th Oct. 1818. I RECEIVED, Sir, with satisfaction, the communications of a Society established upon principles conducive to permanent and universal Peace. The mixture of good and evil observable in recent events, has exemplified, in a signal manner, the discriminating dispensation of Divine Providence, in mercy and judgment. As a Christian, I cannot but desire the establishment of Peace on earth by every lawful and practicable means. As a Christian Sovereign, I must anticipate a time when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. The unanimity of other Christian Powers is yet uninterrupted; and, founded on the precepts of our holy faith, has the fairest prospect of stability. Permanent and universal Peace is not altogether at man's disposal: it is encouraging to observe the growth of pacific dispositions in the world; and societies, conducted in a temperate and Christian spirit, may contribute to their extension and maintenance. With these views, the object of your Society cannot fail of my cordial approbation, without involving an implied concurrence in measures adopted for its attainment, over which I have no control. To Robert Marsden, Esq. London. ALEXANDER. To their Imperial and Royal Majesties, and their Representatives, at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. ILLUSTRIOUS Sovereigns, YOUR Majesties are again assembled to deliberate for the interests of mankind, and for the repose and welfare of the world. May the wisdom that is from above preside in your councils, and the charities of the Gospel open your hearts to every variety of human suffering, and inspire them with benevolent plans of alleviation! Eighteen centuries have elapsed, since the Religion of Jesus was first announced with tidings of great joy to the whole earth. The first ages of Christianity alone saw the scattered communities of the church united in the bonds of love and harmony. When peace was within its borders, no violence of man could prevent their enlargement. But from that time it has been torn with dissension, desolated with intestine slaughter, and dishonoured in the eyes of Pagans and Idolaters. In the good providence of God, it was reserved for your Majesties to proclaim anew the divine authority of its precepts, and to advance a most signal step towards the establishment of universal Peace. You have accordingly entered into solemn covenant, to make the precepts of Christianity the rules of private administration in your respective dominions, and of political intercourse and relation with each other and with foreign States. Wise and admirable policy! developed by the influence of Gospel-light, after a long and tempestuous season of darkness and desolation! Your Majesties have felt the evils of war, and have deplored its calamities. You have seen its temporary successes to be without profit and without honour,. You have, therefore, wisely determined to oppose a barrier to its future encroachments and devastations.-And how is this barrier to be formed? Will your Majesties condescend to take an example from the administration of justice in small communities? As the maxims of jurisprudence decide between man and man, so, may not the laws of a sound and Christian policy determine, between contending kingdoms before the high general tribunal of arbiters, whom your Majesties may select for that dignified and especial office. And as the estates of a kingdom are assembled from time to time, to hear complaints and to redress wrongs-so your Majesties, by assembling in person, or by distinguished representatives, will stand as Umpires, to whom will be referred all disputes in the great Christian commonwealth; and thus a perpetual Congress will be established, to arbitrate between contending States, and to promote the happiness of the world. For, indeed, your Majesties have been pleased to consider your own and other Christian States as only forming one great Christian Nation; to acknowledge yourselves as delegated by Providence, to govern the several great branches as fathers of this one family; and "to confess that in reality, there is no other Sovereign than Him to whom alone belongs all power, because in Him alone, are found all the treasures of love, science, and infinite wisdom." London 28th Sept. 1818. Address of the Glasgow Peace Society. IN announcing the formation and design of this Society, the Friends of Peace in Glasgow, are aware, that, from the general popularity of war, and the adventitious glory with which it has been invested, it will be difficult to lead men to entertain a just impression of its evils and enormities. Poets, by their sublime and imposing descriptions of war, and historians, by their brilliant and fascinating exhibitions of heroism and valour, have not only softened its horrid features, and disguised its savage and ferocious character, but have invested its awful scenes of misery and bloodshed with such an aspect of grandeur and magnificence, that although there is no evil which has inflicted more misery and wretchedness on mankind, which is more injurious to the welfare and prosperity of a nation, which exerts a more baneful influence over the morals of a people, and which is more opposite to the design and tendency of the Gospel, yet, there is no evil of which such delusive ideas have been entertained, either respecting its justice or necessity, or with regard to which such a melancholy indifference has been manifested, in reference to the crimes and miseries that are inseparable from its prosecution. As even those who have lamented the existence of war have generally considered it as a necessary evil, its nature and expediency have seldom been examined by the light of Christian truth. People have considered it vain to question the lawfulness and necessity of a practice which has prevailed to such an extent, and which is universally sanetioned even by Christian nations. Yet many who have examined the practice by the light which the Gospel sheds over it, have arrived at an entire and decided conviction of its being directly opposed to the spirit and precepts of the Gospel, and that it is incapable of being justified upon Christian principles. It is the great design and tendency of the Gospel to eradicate those lusts and passions in which wars and fightings have their origin; and there is no disposition of mind which the Prince of Peace was more careful to impress and to cherish in his disciples, than that meekness, and forbearance, and love, which they were called to exercise, not only towards each other, but towards their enemies. It ought also to be observed, that the character, example, and precepts of Christ, all combine to illustrate the truth of the angelic announcement, which accompanied his advent on earth, that the gracious and heavenly dispensation which he came to introduce, was designed to promote, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good-will towards men." Independently of those arguments in favour of their principles and sentiments, which are purely of a Christian nature, the Friends of Peace might adduce many considerations, for producing a conviction of the evil and unprofitable nature of war, which would weigh with those who judge of its criminality, more by its injurious influence on their interests, or its pernicious effects on society, than by its opposition to the Divine law. They might exhibit its demoralizing influence on the minds and characters of a people; they might prove its effects in diminishing the average degree of a nation's comfort and happiness, by the exhaustion of its resources on the work of destruction; they might describe the horrors and desolations, which mark its progress through thcose ountries which unhappily become the theatre of its operations; and they might point the eye of humanity, to the wounded and agonized sufferers which cover the field of battle, or to the misery and wretchedness of those destitute widows and orphans whom the cruelties of war have bereft of their support. Nor is the practice more pernicious in its effects than unreasonable in its nature. Who does not perceive the absurdity of adopting such a practice for adjusting the differences of nations, and for determining the reasonableness of their respective claims? How shocking now appears the barbarous custom of our ancestors, who determined the rights of justice, and decided the truth of opposing sentiments, by judicial combat; but equally monstrous is the practice of Christian nations in this more enlightened age, of deciding the justice of their respective claims by the sword, and of appealing to force for the determination of right and wrong. How much more consistent with the pacific spirit of the Gospel of Him who came not to destroy men's lives but to save them, would be the conduct of Christian nations, to determine their differences with reason and justice, by referring them to arbitration, instead of imitating the jurisprudence of barbarians and savages, with whom might is right, and successful violence constitutes the only legitimate claim to possession. Considering particularly the peaceful nature and design of the Gospel, it certainly becomes Christians solemnly to inquire, how far the practice of war is reconcileable with the doctrines and principles of Christianity; and to encourage and assist this inquiry, by printing and circulating Tracts illustrative of this great and important question, is the design of the Friends of Peace in establishing this Society. While they have been induced to direct the public attention to this measure, from a conviction that war is inconsistent with the character and design of the Gospel, they have been encouraged by the establishment of many Peace Societies both in England and America, by whose exertions a variety of Tracts, and other publications illustrative of the subject, have been printed and extensively circulated. The pacific spirit also manifested by several of the European monarchs, and other favourable circumstances, which indicate a growing conviction of the folly and unprofitableness of war, encourage the hope that a change may soon be effected in the public mind, respecting the nature of this unchristian practice. The Friends of Peace are fully convinced, that Christianity, the animating principle of all that is good and happy in the world, is the mighty instrument, which the Infinite Wisdom hath designedfor working such a great and benign change, on the hearts and characters of men, as to make injustice, aggression, bloodshed, and war, to cease to the ends of the earth; and they would look with greater hopelessness on the success of their designs, did they not contemplate the contemporaneous existence of those numerous Christian institutions, which are employed in disseminating the light of Divine truth over the world. But though they are aware, that nothing but the powerful operation of Christian principles can cast out the evil spirit of war, which has so completely possessed the minds of men, yet they are persuaded that judicious and Christian publications, illustrating the pacific nature of the gospel, exhibiting the criminality, uuprofitableness, and miseries of war, and leading men to explore, with a resolute eye, its nature and consequences, may produce a beneficial impression on public sentiment at this eventful and important crisis, and by forming in the minds of men, an enlightened conviction of its evil and antichristian nature, may turn the torrent of popular opinion, and direct it in one full tide of abhorrence against this destructive and inhuman custom. Relying on the Divine blessing, and resting their hopes on the sure Word of Prophecy, that a period will come, when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more," the Friends of Peace entertain no painful or embarrassing fears of the ultimate success of their design. And as there is a distinct portion allotted to human agency, in the accomplishment o fall God's merciful designs towards mankind, this prophecy forms an imperative call on every believer in Revelation, to accelerate the advent of this blissful era. Their countrymen are laudably engaged in abolishing the cruel and sanguinary customs of superstition and idolatry, by the diffusion of Divine truth; and can they allow a custom to exist among themselves, which inflicts more misery, and destroys more human life, than all the superstitious and idolatrous practices of the heathen? And they know not a nobler and more interesting object, to which the industry and intelligence of Chris tians can be directed, than to aspire to the character and blessedness of Peace-makers, by diffusing around them the charities of the Gospel, and causing the sacred principle of good-will to circulate among mankind, and thus endeavour to banish from the earth the greatest evil, and the severest scourge, that ever afflicted and desolated the human race. They cannot conclude without stating, that as their design is wholly of a Christian nature, they disavow all connexion or interference with the politics or political institutions of earthly governments. Their great and exclusive aim is to promote "Peace on earth and good will among men ;" and whatever diversity of sentiment may prevail respecting the lawfulness or expediency of war in particular circumstances, such as the alleged necessity of self-defence, they earnestly invite the co-operation of all who are friendly to the general design of the Institution, and who are desirous of promoting permanent and universal peace. Christians ought not to remain inactive under a conviction of the unutterable evils of war, but should combine their talents, their influence, and their exertions, with other bodies of Christians throughout the world, to disseminate pacific principles, that, under the blessing of the God of Peace, the general prevalence of these sentiments, may influence the minds of the rulers of nations, and lead them not only to regulate the internal policy of their governments, but their whole intercourse and negociations with foreign countries, by the peaceful principles of the Gospel of Christ, and thus hasten the arrival of that glorious period, when the universal reign of righteousness and peace shall be established in the earth-when men shall "beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks, and nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Rev. Dr. BURNS, Chairman of the Committee. PATRICK FALCONER, Treasurer, 10, Ingram Street. ANDREW TENNENT, 13, Ingram Street, Secretary for Foreign ANTHONY WIGHAM, South Hanover Street, Secretary for Home WILLIAM COLLINS, 4, Campbell Street, Secretary for the So- Rev. A. PERRY, Charlotte Street, Recording Secretary. Glasgow, 12th March, 1819. |