MEETINGS ON ARBITRATION, ETC. By Mr. ARTHUR O'NEILL, of Birmingham. BRADLEY, NEAR BILSTON.-August 21st, in the Primitive Methodist Chapel. Mr. Fleet presided. Mr. Lavender spoke. WEST SMETHWICK.-On the 30th, a lively meeting in the Primitive Methodist Chapel. Mr. Chamberlain presided. Messrs. Wyatt and Gough spoke. WILLENHALL. September 4th, a good audience in the Primitive Methodist Chapel, Springbank. Mr. Heath spoke earnestly as Chairman.

HAYSEECH, HALESOWEN.-On the 11th, a full Chapel. Mr. Potter presided. Mr. Higgs took part.

ROWLEY REGIS.-Next evening, a good meeting in Hackett Street Chapel. Mr. William Gilliver, of Birmingham, presided. Mr. B. Hadley spoke.

OLDHILL.-Next evening, a large and spirited meeting in St. James's Chapel. Mr. John Gill, of Cornwall, kindly went with the lecturer, and spoke with good effect-twice as Chairman. He has been visiting Sunday Schools in Birmingham for some weeks.

CRAVEN ARMS, SALOP.-On the 18th, the Baptist Chapel, Newton, was nearly filled. Mr. Matthews presided. Much interest was shown by the people.

PRINCE BISMARCK IN AN AMIABLE MOOD.

He had called on the young Emperor, and had to wait for an audience. Meanwhile, through an open door, he heard the merriment of children at play, and he peeped in. There were the Emperor's boys in a bilarious fit. The eldest was grinding a barrel organ, and two younger brothers were dancing to the music. Seeing the Chancellor, the children asked him to join in the dance. The Chancellor pleaded that he was too old, but said he had no objection to play the organ while the Crown Prince tripped it with his brothers. This compromise was welcomed gleefully, and Prince Bismarck was turning music away merrily, when the Emperor arrived on the scene. He must have been delighted at the romping; but he remarked, with droll point, "You begin in good time to make the Heir-Apparent dance to your pipe. Why, this is the fourth generation of Hohenzollerns to whom you devote yourself!"

A WHITBY HERO.

LAST month, there was buried, in Whitby Cemetery, John Storr, one of Whitby's brave lifeboat men. On the day of the funeral, all the shipping and fishing craft of the port lowered their colours half-mast, and many thousands of persons witnessed the passing, to the cemetery, of the funeral procession, which was a remarkably long one. The coffin, bearing the deceased, was carried shoulder-high through the streets, by lifeboat men and fishermen. The funeral rites at the grave-side were performed, and the scene was deeply affecting, for deceased was not only respected for his bravery, but also beloved for his many personal qualities. John Storr was a member of a numerous family of that name, all of whom spent the best years of their lives in the precarious occupation of fishing in the deep

sea;

all of whom had a deserved reputation for unselfish heroism; and many of whom sacrificed their own lives in their attempts to save those of others, who had been cast upon the rocky coast of Whitby, by the angry waves. Storr's own father perished in one of the most brilliant enterprises ever recorded in the national lifeboat annals; while a brother and two uncles lost their lives, in similar deeds of heroism. The deceased, John Storr, was ever to the fore, in times of peril, to those at sea; and, for many years, none of the Whitby lifeboats have gone out to shipwrecks, without having him as one of the crew. He was one of the coxswains, of a crew of brave fellows, that have saved many scores of lives, from vessels which have been beaten on Whitby's shore by the fury of the sea, and there dashed to pieces. He has had many miraculous escapes, one about eight or nine years ago, when the lifeboat, while on one of her adventurous expeditions, was upset by a huge sea. She,

however, soon righted herself again, but four of the crew were missing, among them Storr. He, however, was cast up on the beach, though unconscious. By long and patient nursing, he recovered. The other three poor fellows were drowned. The most memorable feat, accomplished by a lifeboat crew, was that in January, 1881, when the national lifeboat, "Robert Whitworth," was dragged all the way from Whitby to Robin Hood's Bay, a journey of six miles, through banks of snow, standing, in some places, several yards high. A boat, containing the crew of a sunk ship, was off Robin Hood's Bay, in momentary peril of being swamped. The Whitby lifeboat reached the Bay, after encountering difficulties and obstacles hitherto unheard of, and was launched into the terrible waves. Once she was driven back, twice she was driven back, more or less disabled, but still the plucky fellows, urged by Storr, stuck to their work, and again launched into the sea. At last, the frail craft was reached, and a crew of five or six men, half frozen to death, were brought to the shore, amid a tumult of joy that was almost delirious. In other brave deeds, of a similar character, Storr was a prominent actor, and his name will ever be revered, at least in the local annals of the doings of brave men,

SCEPTICISM AND APATHY OUR WORST
OBSTACLES.

MR. HODGSON PRATT writes the following, which is very applicable not only to his own organisation, but to other kindred

ones:

While every man or woman who really cares for the progress of the race in all that is noble and divine, and perceives the fundamental conditions of such progress, must acknowledge the absolute righteousness of our aim, there are immense obstacles in our way. We refer to the widespread and profound scepticism which prevails, as to the utility of any efforts to promote the cause of Peace in the world. In other words, while war and preparation for it undermine our material welfare; while the masses of the people everywhere regard war with horror; and while every ruler and statesman professes to consider peace to be an object of primary importance, nine persons out of ten, among the middle and upper classes, talk of war as an inevitable evil. Hence it is that efforts like ours are regarded with undisguised derision, and we are treated as impracticable dreamers.

Such an attitude of mind, however, has never been that of the great thinkers and teachers of the world, either now or in the past. The substitution of a reign of Law in place of that of Force in the domain of international politics is, in truth, the most reasonable and the most necessary of all reforms. It is in perfect harmony with that gradual growth of civilisation which is the law of human history, looked at as a whole. To say that a reform which is demanded by the highest interests of man, whether material, moral, social, or political, is a dream, indicates the loss of moral and intellectual perception.

Here is the real source of the difficulties which beset our Peace Associations. Men who profess to believe in Christianity, in human intelligence, and in the power of enlightened opinion, do not really believe these things when they declare that mankind are incapable of ceasing to be brutes, or of rescuing themselves from evils which they alone create. They are of the same stock as the men who derided Christ, and every other teacher of great truths; who despise everyone who declares that if a principle or theory is true it must and can be put into practice. These objectors and obstructors believe in their hearts that man is incurably evil, that murder and plunder are irradicable lusts, and that man has always been and always will be a demoniac. Those who talk and think in this fashion are the real enemies of all progress, and the first business of the preacher, the teacher, and the philosopher is to warn society against this deadly scepticism.

It should, if it were possible, open the eyes of such men when they see the Editor of a great Italian daily newspaper leaving his desk and travelling several hundred miles to London to attend a peace meeting. The enthusiasm, united to practical ability and experience, of such men as Signor Moneta and some others of our friends across the Channel, raises in our mind an

ugly doubt whether we are not falling behind other nations in a devotion to great ideals, however they may have characterised us in the past.

The absence of English members of our Association at the meetings we have held, or which foreign societies have held, on the Continent, is a painful fact. Yet, to run about over Europe is the prevailing amusement of all well-to-do Englishmen, while they shun such Congresses as we speak of, as if they were meetings of the "Salvation Army."

Yet our primary object is to create an international organisation of men belonging to different countries who will consent to meet and exchange a knowledge of facts and practical suggestions, and try to co-operate with each other in definite action. How can we hope to accomplish this if our own countrymen hang back, and fight shy of the inconveniences and difficulties involved in such an important experiment ?

Next year there will be a Congress (in Paris) of the representatives of the World's Peace Societies, and we hope that on that occasion our own country will be fully and ably represented. It will be discreditable to us, indeed, if England is not properly represented on the occasion. We know that prejudice exists against such congresses; a feeling that they are distinguished by grave divergencies, if not by dissensions; that there is little chance of fair and dispassionate discussion; and that no practical results follow. Well, there may be some truth in this, and the following is perhaps the explanation of the fact :- "That men of large practical experience in public affairs do not take the trouble to attend these meetings; that those who do, have been too exclusively theorists, however able, and who have never tried to put their theories into practice, with too much vague enthusiasm and too little patient recognition of facts." If so, that is not so much the fault of the enthusiasts who attended but of the passionless and experienced men who stayed away. Men of very various temperament, ability, and attainments are wanted for such a great Evolution as ours; and those who believe that it can and ought to be carried out are cowardly and unfaithful, in standing aside from the peaceful contest of rival theories and statements, fearing that they may be vexed by exaggerations, or irritated by misrepresentation. Englishmen, we think, should be the last to fear the dust and noise of the political arena.

We trust that these remarks may awaken the consciences of some of our readers, and that in any future meetings which are held on the Continent, Englishmen may take their share in a common work and a common duty.

A RETURNED CANNON BALL.

JUNE 17th, 1775, a British man-of-war, lying in the Mystic River, threw a cannon ball at the little American army intrenched on Bunker Hill. The ship threw more than one ball, but this particular one was picked up after the fight and saved. In 1888, at the 250th anniversary of the Boston ancient Artillery Company, this veritable ball was returned to a party of British artillerymen who had come over to help celebrate the occasion. The presentation was made at the dinner by Colonel Walker. "I hold in my hand," said Colonel Walker, " a cannon-ball thrown by a British ship-ofwar at the patriot army on Bunker Hill, June 17th, 1775. Through the kindness of Mr. Hassam, who gives it to this company to present to you, I give it to you to carry home as a memento (handing the cannon-ball to Major Durrant amid hearty cheers and applause). It was thrown at us in war. give it to you in peace as a token of the amity which lives today between our great nations, and which we all pray may live for ever. "There is time for wonderful changes in a hundred years," says the Newhaven Palladium, in commenting on the above. "It would have given the grizzled old fighters of the British war-ship a queer feeling if they could have known, when they touched her off,' and sent that ball screeching at the Yankee breast works on that June day, 1775, that a hundred years later the ball would be handed back over a friendly dinner table as a token of amity and concord between the two greatest and most enlightened powers of the earth.”—Army and Navy Register, New York.

We

THE DEAD SOLDIER.
THINE was the death that many meet,
That many deem the best,
To lay them down at glory's feet,
To their unending rest;

For glory's glitt'ring toy to rave,
And find the bauble in the grave.

Why liest thou stiff and idle there,
Thy hand upon thy sword,
While rapine shouts upon the air,

Its fearful signal word?
Up, up, and join the gathering clan.
Of human fiends that prey on man.
Up and away! the squadroned horse
Approach in fierce array;

They'll mar thy poor, dishonoured corse,
And tread thy form away;
Madly o'er faint and dead they pour,
And hoof and fetlock smoke with gore.

Up, up, the Paan rings aloud,

The battlefield is won!

Up, up, and join the furious crowd
Before the booty's done;

Thy leader shouts "Away! Away!"
Ah, soldier, thou canst not obey.
An hour ago thou wast all life,
With fiery soul and eye,
Rushing amid the kindling strife,
To do thy best, and die;
But now, a gory thing of clay
Is stretched upon the warrior's way.
What were the trappings on thy form?
Thy harness could not shield,
Nor shroud thee from the iron storm
That hurtled o'er the field;
Men fled the terrors of thy brow-
The vulture does not fear thee now.

A thousand like thyself, ah me!
Are stretched upon the ground,
While the glad trump of victory

Is pealing 'round and 'round;
Thy leader shouts "Away! Away!'
Ah, soldier, thou canst not obey.
Silent and grim, and sad to view,
Thou liest upon the plain,
To bleach and fester in the dew,

The sun, the winds, the rain;
Thou liest prone upon the sod,
Thy soul must answer unto God.

D. J.

-U.S. Messenger of Peace.

A CANNON TO SHOOT TWELVE MILES. "WE are now," said the director of the Pittsburgh works, "making a cannon for the American Emensite Company. It will be used to demonstrate the value of that new explosive. It is a smooth-bore, 3 inches in diameter and 100 inches long, and it will throw a 6-inch shell with emensite from 10 to 12 miles.

"In ordinary rifled cannon the shell turns 1 times in the length of the gun. This gives it a terrific tortional strain and necessitates a corresponding thickness and strength of the shell and a proportionate reduction of space for the explosive. In other words, the internal space for the explosive is reduced one. half to secure the necessary strength. Now the Emensite Company proposes to avoid this trouble by returning t smooth-bore cannon, and at the same time to secu sary range by the increased power of their ex new gun they expect to throw a dynamite shell as cannon."-Pittsburgh Dispatch.

ACTIVE PEACE PROPAGANDISM. IT is a very encouraging circumstance to the friends of Ir Peace to observe that, during the past three months, the propagandism of their principles has been maintained, and indeed extended, with a measure of activity and zeal perhaps never exceeded in any preceding period. This is the more satisfactory, inasmuch as it indicates that the advocates of the cause have not been led to relax their labours in consequence of the sorrowful loss of their late honoured leader, Mr. Henry Richard. On the contrary, the members of this and of kindred organisations have felt and shown that this and other recent events should stimulate them to fresh endeavours and further energy.

And well have these been put forth, in various parts of the kingdom. The columns of the Herald show that the two travelling lecturers of the Peace Society, Mr. Arthur O'Neill and Mr. William Pollard, have been vigorously organising lecturing campaigns in the north, south, east, and west of England. In these efforts they have been very earnestly sustained and helped by many kind sympathisers.

Meanwhile, the Yorkshire supporters of this Society have held an important Peace Conference at Bradford, in which Mr. Alfred Illingworth, M.P., Miss P. H. Peckover, and the Messrs. Priestman took a leading and very useful part.

In Lancashire and Cheshire the local meetings of the Society of Friends have, during the same period, manifested a most praiseworthy diligence in devising various intelligent methods of awakening increased public interest in this question. The columns of the Friend, the British Friend, and of the Herald bear testimony to the nature and extent of these operations.

Collaterally with these movements, the efforts of the kindred organisations, under the leadership of Mr. Hodgson Pratt and Mr. Cremer, M.P., have also been actively put forth in different localities, in several of which, and especially at Bristol, Liverpool, and Newcastle they have found special encouragement from the members of the Peace Society. Indeed, it is but just that the truth should continuously be borne in mind, by all parties concerned, that the labours and successes of these organisations, together with those of similar ones in foreign countries, have in great degree derived their origin and their earliest support from the moral and material aid and stimulus furnished by the y and its friends. This gratefully and per

fact should manently

[PRICE 2d.

These united endeavours to influence opinion in the right direction have manifestly been attended by a cheering degree of success, in spite of still continuing obstacles on a large scale. For it is evident that, of recent years, a marked change for the better has come over public opinion, and over the leading organs of the press. These are

at least seen to be incomparably more respectful to, and appreciative of, the aims and motives of pacific advocates, than was the case at a comparatively recent period. The leaven of concord and international conciliation is obviously extending, both at home and abroad, and the proofs of this are already sufficient to animate the friends of peace everywhere to continued perseverance and zeal.

THE BRADFORD PEACE CONFERENCES.

A CONFERENCE of Christian ministers and other members of the churches in Bradford was held at the Royal Hotel, Bradford, on October 16, to consider the subject of International Peace.

Mr. S. P. MYERS (Chairman of the School Board) presided, and there was an attendance of a number of ministers and others.

On the motion of Mr. Joseph Edmondson (of Halifax), seconded by Mr. A. K. Brown (of Leeds), a resolution was adopted deploring the horrors and calamities inflicted by war, and expressing the belief that it is incumbent on Christians of whatever name to make earnest and continuous efforts to promote the extinction of war. In the opinion of the Conference this object might be furthered, among other methods (1) by persistently comparing, in private and in public, the operations and results of war with the Gospel standards of virtue and its precepts in reference to the treatment of enemies; (2) by ceasing to speak of the "glories," the "brilliant exploits," the "splendid victories" of war-expressions which uphold a false estimate of its character-and by endeavouring to maintain in the public mind an abiding sense of its essential carnage, cruelty, barbarism, and recklessness of human woe; (3) by discouraging the use of military toys by children, as tending to imbue them in early life with a warlike spirit; (4) by encouraging the use in our public schools of reading books which inculcate the principles and practice of forbearance, brotherly kindness, and forgiveness, instead of the resentment of injuries; (5) by forming, and actively working on, committees for promoting international peace; (6) by promoting the return to Parliament of men pledged to support the reference to arbitration of all international disputes, and whose pecuniary interests are not favoured by war or preparations for war.

In the evening a PUBLIC MEETING was held in the Technical College, at which Alfred Illingworth, Esq., M.P., occupied the chair. He was supported by the Rev. Joseph Ellis, Mr. Edward Priestman, Mr. Alfred Priestman, Miss Peckover (Wisbech), Mrs. Alfred Priestman, Miss Ellis (Leicester), Mr. Jos. Edmondson (Halifax), and others.

The CHAIRMAN (ALFRED ILLINGWORTH, Esq., M.P.), in opening the proceedings, said: It was unfortunately felt almost universally that to alter the war system was a superhuman task. This idea was so ingrained throughout the civilised world-and there appeared to be so little faith in the principles of Christianity that it was only here and there that individuals were found possessing the hope and courage to anticipate a future in which a better condition of things might be realised. And yet happily there were not only individuals, but Associations, who had this faith.

Mr. Illingworth went on to refer to the great loss which the peace cause had sustained by the recent death of Mr. Henry Richard.

He then said that although it was true that since the Crimean War there had probably been only something under 12 months of actual warfare in Europe, it had involved a prodigious waste of human life, and an incalculable loss to the wealth of Europe. If we considered what these wars and this war system had cost, the figures were so appalling and so impossible to realise that we were really lost in their consideration. At this moment there were in Europe more than 4,000,000 men under arms, in addition to which there were 12,000,000 men in the reserve forces. The expenditure incurred in keeping up these gigantic armaments was 400,000,000l. per annum. To this must be added the interest upon the debts resulting from various wars. There were accumulated debts in Europe amounting to 5,000,000,000Z., nearly the whole-if not the whole-of which was due to this profligate expenditure and to this supposed need. Our own share of this huge debt was about one-seventh. Our National Debt was considerably over 700,000,000., and one Chancellor of the Exchequer after another had endeavoured to gather to himself great renown by attempting some slight reduction of it. The expenditure of Great Britain upon the army and navy alone-leaving out of question the sum we were called upon to pay in the shape of interest on and reduction of our National Debt-was over 900,000,0001. during thirty years, the average lifetime in this country. Consequently, during a single lifetime we impoverished the people to a figure very much larger than the total of our National Debt, which we regarded as such a vast and immovable burden. One fact more. Out of every 20s. collected into the national exchequer in the shape of taxation, 16s. was swallowed up by war expenditure and the interest on the National Debt, and less than 4s. was required for carrying on every branch of the civil government.

The consideration of these facts, although they do not appeal to us on the highest plane on which this question could be examined, must strike the mind of every one who took the trouble to reflect upon the subject, as a condition of things which ought not to be tolerated a moment longer than is necessary. He must leave it to his hearers to picture the indirect consequences and losses of war. Those who were best fitted to offer an opinion on the subject were of opinion that the indirect losses and burdens of war were larger than the figures which he had given as the direct charges.

A soldier is an expensive luxury. He used to cost us something like 801. or 901. a year, and he now costs us considerably over 1001. a year. The sum was ever on the increase. The soldier must be paid a higher figure in order to tempt him into the army, and the perpetual improvement and revolutions in the instruments of war entailed a constantly-increasing expense.

After also referring to the loss occasioned by turning capable men into wealth consumers instead of wealth producers, Mr. Illingworth went on to examine the grounds of hope for the future.

He said that, since the peace of 1815, there had been more than sixty instances of resort to Arbitration by nations having misunderstandings with each other. That was a most encouraging fact, but during the same period this country had engaged in more than sixty struggles, only one of which, however, had taken place in Europe. We had therefore a huge responsibility upon our shoulders in this matter.

Christians of all denominations claimed for this country the most advanced position with regard to the adoption of Christian principles. There might be great truth in the claim, but with regard to the war system, he was unable to see that we occupied

a position any better than that of the Continental nations. It was true that we had not been frequently involved in wars with European nations, but we had undertaken many wars which, judged by the ordinary standard of morality, would not bear examination for a moment. We had two wars on hand on our Indian frontiers. We seemed to be unable to curb the policy of our governors in India, and the folly was ever going on of increasing our territory and our liability to wars and disturbances upon our borders. Mr. Illingworth subsequently proceeded to appeal against the war system, on the ground of Christianity, and said that it could not for one moment be reconciled with the teaching of the New Testament.

It was from the people that pressure on this question would have to come. The House of Commons was almost helpless in the matter; probably nearly 200 Members of it were identified with, or in some way interested in, the military system; and, besides this, like most assemblies overcrowded with work, the House of Commons did not give its time and attention to subjects in proportion to their value, but often in an inverse ratio to it. The House of Commons was the creature and not the creator of any policy which had been in the past, and which would be in the future, worthy of this great nation.

He did not despair. There was a growing intelligence, which would count for a great deal,-and growing communication between the peoples of various countries. The United States, he believed, could be relied upon to join us in any efforts towards abating the war system. What we had to do was to force the question upon Parliament-to bring it up at every meeting in support of a Parliamentary candidate, and to let our members feel everywhere the sentiment on this subject. He had a strong desire to see something more done than had been attempted yet, in his own town, and in the great active and influential parts of the North of England, and if that meeting advanced the question a single step in Bradford they ought to be satisfied. He hoped that that would be the result, and that their example would be followed elsewhere.

Miss PECKOVER then addressed the meeting. She attributed the conviction held by many people that the task of substituting pacific settlement for war was practically impossible, to their ignorance of the feeling prevailing among other nations. A large number of people had the impression that other nations loving nation. This was exactly the feeling in other countries, were opposed to such a course, and that we were only the peaceand was engendered by the action of the military and governmental classes. To get from between this parade of militarism to the peoples themselves, and to let them see that they did not really wish to fight each other, was a most important work in promoting the cause of international peace. During the course of further remarks, Miss Peckover pointed out that much had already been done which was tending towards the promotion of this cause-by amicable arrangement, arbitration, neutralisation, and in other ways. Among the instances which she cited were the introduction of Arbitration Clauses into commercial treaties, the English petition presented in the United States for an Anglo-American treaty, the bringing forward of a Franco-American treaty in the French Parliament, the proposition brought before the American Congress for an AngloFranco-American treaty, and the efforts which were being made to unite Norway, Sweden, and Denmark in the bonds of peace. All these were real practical steps in the direction of the abolition of war, and would facilitate its progress in the future. Miss Peckover concluded her address with a powerful appeal, on Christian grounds, to her hearers, to use their efforts to further the pacific settlement of international disputes.

Mr. EDWARD PRIESTMAN moved the following resolution:

"In view of the inherent cruelty and barbarity of war, and the impossibility of equitably deciding disputes by its means, this meeting is of opinion that a solemn duty rests upon the citizens of every party, religious and political, to promote by all lawful means the extinction of so great a scourge of humanity. The meeting believes that this object may be largely accomplished by the reference of all international disputes to Arbitration—a method in its opinion, alike honourable and humane."

Mr. PRIESTMAN said he thought the apathy on this question

in our country was, perhaps, largely to be attributed to the fact that war had not been brought within our own borders for a long period. He hoped the efforts to create a wiser and better sentiment on this great question would be continued, and would meet with increased success.

Mr. JOSEPH EDMONDSON seconded the resolution, which was supported by

The Rev. J. ELLIS, who said that our private morality was very far ahead of our public morality, and he thought that if we tried to bring our public morality more on to a level with it we should approach nearer to quietness and welfare than we did at present.

The resolution was carried, with one dissentient.

SHERBORNE.-DORSET.

LAST month an interesting address was delivered before a full audience at Sherborne, by Mr. William Pollard, of Manchester, one of the lecturers of the Peace Society. The chair was occupied by Dr. WILLIAMS, who, in the course of an appropriate opening address, said the only reason he could think of for his being asked to fill that position was that he had recently been called on to retire from one arm of Her Majesty's services, after having held a commission, as an officer, in the military forces of the country for nearly a quarter of a century, and he might therefore be presumed to have come down to the ranks of peace. We in this country looked upon a resort to the use of fists in the settlement of disputes as belonging to a low order of civilisation, but when it came to a question of thousands or tens of thousands of men being engaged in warlike combat it was regarded as a matter of military glory and national honour, and it was exalted at once to a high pinnacle in the estimation of men. Surely the time had come when they might reopen this question, and consider whether they would be content to remain in the matter of the settlement of international disputes just where their forefathers stood. There were great difficulties in the way of altering public opinion on the question of peace or war, but after the Divine assurance that the time would come when people should learn war no more, one felt confident that the day would come when this question would be looked upon in a different way. The Peace Society had lost recently a great and good man in Mr. Henry Richard, M.P., who succeeded in carrying in the House of Commons a Resolution that it was desirable Arbitration should take the place of war in the case of international disputes. That surely was an advance, and they might expect still further advances year by year. The subject was one which spoke home to every taxpayer, and therefore to every subject of the United Kingdom.

Mr. POLLARD, in an address of an hour's duration, said the object of the Peace Society was to get rid of war in adopting a better way of settling international disputes. To say that Europe was spending 500 millions sterling a year by keeping up gigantic armies gave no definite idea of the real cost of the war system. To get at that they must see the misery caused by the system in some countries. Last year 56 million pounds were spent on the maintenance of the military system in England, this amount, including the interest on the National Debt, caused by past wars. They spent a million a week in this country on the system, which it was generally admitted was a barbarous one. That was the cost in money, and let them look at the loss of life. During the past thirty years two millions of people have been slaughtered in war, an average of 700,000 a year mowed down and hurried into a primature grave as the result of this horrid system.

He sometimes thought the Christian Churches ought to be the real Peace Society, but unfortunately the Christian Churches-with the exception of the Society of Friends-were almost dumb on this question; or, if they spoke at all, then too often their teaching on the subject was different from that of the Master.

The Peace Society was set on foot in 1816, when the nation was emerging from the struggle with France-known as the long French war-and its aim was to adopt a just and courteous foreign policy in the place of what used to be called

a spirited foreign policy. Lord Salisbury said a few months ago that it was the duty of this country to promote a neighbourly policy with other nations, and he could not have better summed up the aims of the Peace Society. Besides, a courteous and neighbourly foreign policy, they wanted a system of International Arbitration, established by treaty. War settled a lot of brave fellows, but it did not settle a dispute on its merits. They wanted a reduction of the enormous armaments, by agreement. Duelling, which was private war, had been abolished by the power of public opinion, and war between nations was only duelling on a gigantic scale. They wanted explanations made and a treaty drawn up, before the bloody affray-instead of after it, and he thought that was a reasonable proposal.

Since the Peace Society had been established, Arbitration had been adopted in about fifty cases of disputes between nations, and this was mainly due to the work of the Society, notably so in the Alabama case. England used to meddle in every war, and that was how we accumulated our great National Debt, but there had been five or six wars in recent years from which the country had kept carefully aloof. This altered tone of public opinion was no doubt largely traceable to the teachings of the Peace Society, which was in favour of just and fair and conciliatory conduct between nations, and simultaneous disarmament, established by treaty.

The CHAIRMAN proposed a vote of thanks to the lecturer for his interesting, instructive, and able address, which he considered was most convincing, and he hoped would have its influence in the neighbourhood.

Mr. E. B. Dingley seconded the vote of thanks, which was carried by acclamation; and Mr. Pollard returned thanks.

Mr. LEATHERDALE made a short speech expressive of the interest he had felt for some years in the work of the Peace Society. He said he had succeeded in establishing a branch of the Society, with 100 members, in a village about twenty miles distant, and it was his intention to endeavour to establish a branch in Sherborne; and he hoped that he should succeed in obtaining many members.

THE LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE FRIENDS
AND PEACE.

THE Friends of the Lancashire District report as follows:"In five Monthly Meetings' Committees on Peace have been appointed.

"In Cheshire Monthly Meeting much vigorous work has been done. Meetings with the public have been held at Crewe, Nantwich, Northwich, Stockport, and Wilmslow. At Crewe two successful public meetings were held, one of which was presided over by Mr. W. S. B. M'Laren, M.P., and they have been followed by the formation of a Peace Association, with an influential Committee, which intends to work the district. We would commend this very practical and useful outcome of the holding of public meetings to the careful attention of workers in other localities. The Friends of Stockport were already actively working the 'Stockport and District Peace Association' (now numbering 350 members) at the time of our appointment. Two meetings have been held in a public hall, and a series of six lectures was delivered on Sunday evenings. These addresses received considerable notice from the press, but were especially gratifying from the interest they seemed to awake in some of the ministers of the town. As a consequence, Miss Ellen Robinson was invited to give an address at Hanover Chapel, and Mr. William Pollard at Wycliffe Chapel (both Congregational), and both had large audiences. The minister of the former, at a subsequent meeting of the Peace Association, moved: 'That the Association request the ministers of all denominations in Stockport and the district to give at least one service a year for the promulgation of Peace principles.'

"The Committee of Hardshaw East Monthly Meeting has held public meetings at Warrington, Eccles, and in Manchester. The two held at Warrington, and that in Manchester, were on Sundays, and were very well attended. The work at Eccles received a useful stimulus through the holding of a drawing