the privileged classes, for those who loved them and made their profit out of them.

"In the war spirit, political parties lived, moved, and had their being. The bloated armaments of this country constituted a gigantic system of out-door relief for the privileged classes, and were only for the benefit of the idle and privileged classes of the country.

"The Liberals were not one whit better than the Tories. There were 670 members of the English House of Commons, and last week there were not above 40 men to protest against the expenditure of 21 millions for new ships which, when they were built would not float, and for guns which would burst the first day they were fired. He proceeded to say that political parties would not dare to oppose that expenditure for fear of losing favour in the country, and it would only be when the people rose in their strength on such questions that politicians would be glad to obey them."

JOHN BRIGHT ON THE WAR IN EGYPT.

MR. SMALLEY contributes some interesting reminiscences of John Bright to the New York Tribune, from which we make the following extracts :

"It was the morning after he resigned office, on account of the bombardment of the forts at Alexandria. I called on him at his rooms in Piccadilly. It was a sunny July morning; brighter than is often to be seen in London; the sun streaming in through the three large windows. Bright was in his dressing-gown-a garment to which, like Carlyle, he was much attached; not a fashionable short smoking jacket, but an ample robe that fell below his knees. He was not given to making conventional speeches, but he said as the door opened, 'Ah, you are very good to call on a Minister out of office. Sit down,' he said, and forthwith began on his resignation and the Egyptian business generally. Mr. Gladstone and he were united by almost lifelong ties. His attachment to his chief was as strong as it is possible for such an attachment to be. He said :

"You know something about the relations between us. You know what I expected from his Government. You know what it cost me to part from it and from him. I could not sleep for the roar of those guns.'

"Then why resign?'

"He got up from his chair, walked to the window, and stood there looking out on the green fields and blue sky. Then he turned, walked back with a flushed face and flaming eyes, and burst out :

"Do you think I am going to be a party to an act like the bombardment of Alexandria? If it were just, if it were necessary, I should hate to be responsible for it in the least degree. It is not just, it is not necessary. It is a wanton and wicked outrage on a nation which has a right to be free. I have borne witness against war all my life long. I abhor it. None of our wars have been just. There has not been a just war since William III., except your war to put down the Rebellion. My legacy to my children is a message of peace. Do you think, do you think, at my age I am going to be false to all my principles, to go back on all my record, to retract all I have said, to sanction such an act as this, to leave my children a heritage of shame and disgrace, to leave behind me for them the memory that their father was a traitor and a renegade? Never!'

"His voice was hoarse with passion, with the passion of a great nature stirred to its depths. The smooth tones had become rough and hard. He spoke with all the energy of sorrowful indignation at a great wrong which he was powerless to prevent. He had tried to prevent it and failed, and grief and righteous anger surged and boiled within him. I had never, anywhere, on the platform or in the House, seen him in this mood, nor heard such tones, nor seen such gestures. He went on :

"I have spoken to nobody as I speak to you. Of course. I have protested. I have argued, entreated, remonstrated, all in vain. I believe I threatened. It was equally vain. I appealed to Gladstone. He listened, but I could not move him. I do

not censure him; not a word of what I say about the war is meant for censure on Gladstone. There is no purer soul than his. He believes himself right. Nothing would induce him to fire a shot if he did not. But I must judge for myself. I resigned three days ago, but it is only this morning the world is allowed to know it. I could not sleep for the roar of those English guns at Alexandria. It is the end of my public life. I never shall taste office again. My work is done."

ADMIRALTY EXPENDITURE.

THE inadequate and misleading character of the reply given by Lord George Hamilton to a question addressed to him on Thursday last leads me to ask permission to state the facts of the case, which very well illustrates the methods adopted by the Admiralty in dealing with public money. In the year

1887-8 there was a surplus of estimate over expenditure of £146,000, under the head of "machinery and ships by contract." This surplus was mainly due to the postponement of purchases of machinery and to less progress having been made with ships than had been anticipated. It was not therefore a "saving" properly so called, but in any case, whether a "saving" or not, the surplus should have been surrendered to the Exchequer. It was not surrendered, however, but the Admiralty, without any authority, spent the money in purchasing naval stores. This expenditure has been properly stigmatised by the Comptroller and Auditor-General as "in point of law an act of misappropriation." But now comes the most significant part of the story. The Admiralty endeavour to extenuate their action on the ground of the necessity to "replenish stocks," and the Treasury (which seem at present to be hand-in-glove with the Admiralty) remark that "notwithstanding the large excess purchases the value of stocks has fallen in value during the year to the extent of £63,775." But what are the facts? At the beginning of the year in question, when the Navy Estimates were before the House, we were informed that the stocks were excessive, and that they were consequently to be reduced in the course of the year to the extent of £208,000. But that is not all. In July, 1888, Mr. McHardy, the Director of Stores, was examined before the Committee on Navy Estimates, and he stated that the stocks were then (i.e., five months after this unauthorised expenditure had been incurred, professedly to "replenish stocks") excessive, and that in the course of that year it was intended to reduce them to the extent of £350,0001 Thus the Admiralty play fast-and-loose with the House of Commons, and make ducks and drakes of the taxpayers' money. E. H. PICKERSGILL. House of Commons, 13th April.

The

MORE ADMIRALTY BLUNDERING. THE story of H.M.S. "Briton" is a powerful argument against giving the Admiralty muddlers twenty millions down. "Briton" was completed in 1871, at a cost of £66,726. Between that date and 1886 she cost £50,189 in repairs. At the beginning of 1887 another £1,745 was spent in repairs, after which she was condemned and sold for £3,541 in August, 1887. Lord George Hamilton appears to imagine that he has triumphantly justified the spending of £1,745 in repairing a ship and selling her six months later for £3,541 when he states (1) that it was only "after careful consideration" that the outlay was incurred; (2) that the vessel was sold because she was "hopelessly infested with white ants," as though they quite believe at Whitehall that a ship may become "hopelessly infested with white ants" in the course of six months. If this is a sample of the way they act at the Admiralty "after careful consideration," heaven help us all when they have to act on the spur of the moment!-Star.

ST. JAMES'S HALL.

We invite attention to the announcement, in our advertisement columns, of the great Peace Meeting, in St. James's Hall, London, on Sunday afternoon, May 19th, at three o'clock.

MR. R. B. HOWARD ON WAR BURDENS. THE Secretary of the American (Boston) Peace Society, Mr. R. B. Howard, remarks, in a recent paper :

"It was in the cemetery at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, standing between graves, with eyes on the dead and dying, and ears full of groans and curses, around me the spitting of Minnie bullets and the scream of hurtling shells, that the inquiry was started in my own mind: 'Is there not a more excellent way for Christians to settle their differences?"

"In twenty-five years the cost of national armaments has increased by one-fourth. A single iron-clad of the first class costs as much as a university; a single discharge of the greatest gun £200. It is soberly proposed to expend £2,000,000 imme. diately for the defence of Boston, and £100,000,000 for that of the entire United States. If war is our method and resource, especially as against England, the sums are confessedly too small and mean to be seriously considered. United Italy starves her peasantry and bankrupts her treasury. France tries to pay for her last war and shudderingly levies taxes for another. Great Britain covers the seas with iron-clads and threatens conscription to fill her armies. Her Government has just obtained £21,000,000 extra for her fleet. Germany drives away her best blood and sinew by taxation and conscription. Russia puts her serfs into the worse slavery of her camps, and banishes her brightest subjects to Siberian mines and prisons. America looks on, and by certain of her so-called 'organs of public opinion' cries out for similar armaments, similar taxation, and similar power to threaten war. Her proposed forts will need a standing army of 100,000. It is at this point the words of George Washington ring in our ears, as we celebrate his inauguration-viz.: Overgrown military establishments are inauspicious to liberty, and especially so to republican liberty.""

BIRKENHEAD.

A LECTURE was lately delivered by Miss Frances Thompson, president of the Ladies' Liverpool and Birkenhead Peace Society, at the Queen's Hall, Birkenhead, the subject being "The Military System and its bearings on the Temperance Question." The chair was taken by Mr. WILLIAM P. THOMPSON.

The LECTURER began by reminding her audience that the working class bore far the largest share of the fighting and the suffering entailed by warfare. Modern invention had completely changed the character of war. Instead of giving opportunity for the display of individual bravery, it was now merely killing by machinery. England spent £1 7s. per head of the population on war, as compared with 2s. 10d. on education. This enormous outlay was greatly facilitated by the drink traffic. The amount raised by customs and excise duties, £28,797,301, just about covered the interest on the National Debt. It had been estimated that one hour and twentynine minutes of the daily labour of each British working_man went to pay taxes, two-thirds of which were war taxes. What was the reason they were temperance men? Was it not because the best moral feelings were destroyed by drink? It was the same as regards war. It blunted men's moral sensibilities. In Cairo 400 grog-shops had been opened for the use of British troops, and drunkenness and immorality had marked their presence in Egypt, as elsewhere. The demoralisation of garrison towns was proverbial. The practical remedy was international arbitration. While war left bitter memories and longings for revenge behind it, arbitration made nations better friends than ever.

A NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL, ON THE PEACE SOCIETY.

THE Evening Press, Wellington, New Zealand, remarks, in a leading article, February 26th, 1889:

"Those who have any acquaintance with the marvellous progress of the humanitarian movement in England, during the present century, must have watched with intense interest the efforts of the Peace Society to arouse a world-wide feeling against war and in favour of International Arbitration as a reasonable, beneficent, and altogether satisfactory substitute. Those who have no acquaintance with the progress of the humanitarian movement, or the efforts of the Peace Society, have a great deal to learn, and a new world of most pleasurable ideas to be introduced to.

"There is one amongst us here, at the present time, who is singularly well fitted, both by his experience and by his enthusiasm, to enlarge the mind of his fellow-countrymen in the colonies on that subject. This is William Jones, the benevolent Quaker, who succeeded the late Henry Richard, M.P., as Secretary of the Peace Society of England, and whose services in the cause of Peace, in the face of war, entitle him to the respect of all good people everywhere, whilst at the same time they surround him with a unique personal interest. As a Commissioner to distribute the fund of £100,000 which was raised in England for the relief of the sufferers by the Franco-German War, he was present at some of the most terrible scenes of that most awful conflict. Again, in 1876-7 he executed a similar mission in Bulgaria, and fearlessly and faithfully devoted himself to the work of love and mercy in the midst of evil passions, horrors, and desolation, which can neither be described nor imagined by anyone who has not actually witnessed them. He has seen life on its inner side, among the most dangerous classes of the most backward races, among Sicilian brigands and Circassian assassins, as well as among peoples brutalised by tyranny or demoralised by war. He came to the colonies some months ago, as the representative of the Society of Friends in England, commonly called Quakers, to the Conference of the Society in Australia; and he is now on his return journey, via China and Japan, pursuing his religious and humanitarian objects as he goes. It is very gratifying to learn that he is to speak to the people here on the great question of International Arbitration as a substitute for war, and to inform them of the arguments in favour of that movement drawn from his own unrivalled experience. There could hardly be a more interesting or valuable discourse, and we cannot doubt that the public of the capital of New Zealand will most highly appreciate the privilege of hearing it. To add to the interest of it, Sir William Jervois (Governor of New Zealand), as humane as a man as he is distinguished as a soldier, will preside. We shall then have War represented in the chair, and Peace on the platform, in the person of two men whose sentiments of good will toward man, we are sure, are in common; and the appeal of the speaker to the audience to realise that the military art is a waste of human genius will be none the less effective because made under the auspices of the greatest authority on the military art in this quarter of the globe. We are confident we only echo the public feeling when we say that Friend William Jones is heartily welcome here, and that his address on International Arbitration in lieu of war will be received by sympathetic minds.”

PROGRESS OF THE PEACE SOCIETY. THE “WELLINGTON (NEW ZEALAND) POST.” ANOTHER New Zealand paper, the Wellington Evening Post, says:

"The visit to the Australasian Colonies of Mr. Wm. Jones, formerly Secretary of the Peace Society, who is now in Wellington, has already resulted in the formation of several promising branches of the Society in the principal centres of population. Originally Mr. Jones came to Australia to attend a conference, which was held in Melbourne about three months ago, in connection with the Society of Friends. That business having been

Jones, for the purpose of recreation, and at the same time

taking such opportunities as may offer, for publicly lecturing on the aims and objects of the Peace Society.

"This world-renowned institution, he explained in conversation with an Evening Post reporter, was organised in London in the year 1816, and was the direct outcome of the feeling of horror awakened by the appalling slaughter at the battle of Waterloo. Its objects are to enlighten the public as to the deplorable results of war, by the dissemination of peace literature, and by bringing to the surface the latent peace sentiment which exists in every community, to ultimately lead up to the substitution of Arbitration for force of arms in the settlement of international disputes.

"For about forty years its Secretary was Mr. Henry Richard, M.P., whose name was a synonym for Arbitration throughout the countries of Europe. In 1883 Mr. Jones, who has been a member of the Society nearly all his life, was appointed Secretary, and he continued in office until last year. So far, his labours in Australasia have been confined to Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, but he intends to visit New South Wales and Queensland, China and Japan, and return home via America. In each of the principal towns of the colonies already traversed, local Peace Associations have been formed. Similar bodies, beginning with a nucleus of about 100 members each, have lately been enrolled in Dunedin and Christchurch, and an effort will be made to form another in Wellington this week. Mr. Jones expresses great admiration for the magnificent scenery which he has witnessed in the West Coast and Sounds district and the vicinity of the Otira Gorge, and the warmest gratification with the hearty reception which has everywhere been accorded to him.

"WHAT THE PEACE SOCIETY HAS ACCOMPLISHED.

"In 1887 Mr. Jones, in his capacity as Secretary of the Peace Society, accompanied a Deputation of eleven members of Parliament to present a memorial to President Cleveland, at Washington, U.S.A., urging that a treaty should be established between Great Britain and the United States for the adjustment of all future difficulties between these Powers by peaceable means. The Society has extended its ramifications to the Continent, and has encouraged branches in France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Holland, but it has eminent corresponding members in other countries. Signor Mancini, late Minister for War in Italy, who died last year, was amongst its adherents, and he informed Mr. Jones, in an interview which took place about three years ago, that through the way having been prepared by the leaders of the Peace Society, Italy had been enabled to conclude nineteen treaties of commerce containing clauses for Arbitration with other nations, the latest of these being one with Great Britain."

NÎMES. FRANCE.

A SUCCESSFUL peace meeting was recently held at Nîmes, under the auspices of Les Jeunes Amis and La Bourse du Travail, a workmen's society, to hear M. Gaillard, Member of the French Parliament for Vancluse. More than 1,800 persons crowded the Lyceum, and hundreds could not get in. He expressed his convictions that the armed peace, now in France, meant ruin.

TESTIMONY OF AN AMERICAN WOMAN

"I WISH I could regard my sex as free from responsibility for the custom of war; but I fear they have their full share, if not in its origin, yet in its continuance and support. Their admiration of war exploits, their presence at military parades and balls, their smiles upon the warrior in his harlequin dress, their strange yet well-known preference of officers as companions for life, all conspire to throw a charm around this trade of blood."

Sir Wilfrid Lawson has said: "The work of the Peace Society is the noblest work in which a rational being can be engaged."

ROUEN.-BARBARITY OF WARFARE. ROUEN soon began to feel the pressure of famine. Its governor made an attempt to relieve it by expelling from the town 12,000 non-combatants. Henry V. refused to let these miserable creatures pass through his lines, and they perished by degrees under the walls. The story of their fate is pitiable in the extreme. Some of them lingered on till the very end of the siege. Many of the soldiers, on either side, had hearts more tender, or, perhaps, it should be said, intelligences less alive to the necessities of the military situation, than the generals who directed the attack and the defence of Rouen. These secretly supplied the outcasts with such provisions as they could spare. Henry himself departed from the severity of

his policy by furnishing the few who were left alive on Christmas Day with a meal. But neither the Governor nor the King relented. It may be mentioned, as an incident eminently characteristic of the time, that new-born children were raised in baskets to the top of the walls, duly baptised, and then let down again to perish of hunger. Henry has been severely blamed for the inhumanity that he is said to have displayed on this occasion. It may be allowed that there have been great soldiers who would sooner have relinquished a military advantage than allow such misery to exist under their eyes, but Henry was not of this type. He was a soldier first; and to his conception of a soldier's duty, which was to use every military advantage that fell in his way, he subordinated everything. For wanton cruelty he had no taste; it did not come within the scope of his business; but from cruelty that was not wanton—that is, dictated by some consideration of necessity or expediency-he never shrankA. J. Church.

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SOUTHPORT.-LADIES' MEETING.

AT a meeting held last month at Southport, Mrs. Rimmer read a paper on "Peace v. War," which was listened to with great attention throughout. She said that women, with their sensitive natures, might be expected to shrink from all the horrors of bloodshed, so much that all their efforts would be directed to prevent it, and discourage a warlike spirit. History, alas, had proved it otherwise. The horrors of war were far away--they saw not the desolation, wretchedness, and misery it made, and though now and then they met with a family who mourned one killed in battle, yet they could not comprehend the sorrow of lands where, as in the United States, during the civil war, or in France and Germany, during the war of 1870-71, there was scarcely a house where there was not one dead." The women here saw only the march past, with flying colours, and, excited by the pageantry and glory, urged on the combatants, fostered the military system, and turned a deaf ear to the groans of those who suffered under it. Surely it was time that our women (so many of whom professed to be followers of the Prince of Peace) turned their attention to the subject of "Peace versus War." She was not going to advance the opinion that in the present state of the world every war could be avoided. There were cases where civilised nations had to deal with the inroads of savages upon their colonies, and where recourse to arms was the only way of defending the homes of the colonials. But even these cases might be reduced to a very small number, if savage tribes were treated with fairness and consideration. We supported more admirals than lineof-battle ships, and in addition to 400 generals on the active list, and the same number on the retired list, there were 1,000 described as retiring on full pay or pension. So early as 1841 Sir Robert Peel said, "that the true interest of Europe was to come to a common accord, so as to enable every country to reduce its armaments." Towards this object, the Peace Society had long been working, and if the European Governments would, instead of spending so much time and money on preparing for war, turn their attention towards the formation of tribunals to which international disputes could be referred, and where arrangements could be made for the limitation of armies and fleets, Europe would be relieved from an intolerable bur den which ere long must culminate in a war so deadly, that we could not contemplate its possibility with any feeling but that

of horror.

Further speeches were made by Mrs. BUTTERWORTH, Miss BENTHAM, Miss HOUGHTON, and others.

MR. JONES.

MR. WILLIAM JONES, late Secretary of the Peace Society, has, during the past few months, given a series of interesting addresses in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, on the subject of his personal reminiscences of war scenes in France in 1870-71. His discourses have been listened to with much interest, and have been attended by many persons of influence in the Colonies visited by him and by Mrs. Jones,

FLORENCE.

It

M. GIULIO BARROIL, of Florence, sends us a little pamphlet in Italian, against the barbarous practice of bull-fighting. is satisfactory to find a voice in favour of mercy to animals raised in any part of Southern Europe, and especially in either Italy or Spain. In these countries brutal and terrible cruelties are practised. In the latter country, bull-fighting is the favourite recreation of both men and women, whilst in Italy the fiendish practice of vivisection is carried on to a frightful extent. Even Catholic priests stand aloof from any interference with these brutalities, and if remonstrated with by an English visitor, reply, with a shrug of the shoulders, "The dumb animals are not Christians, therefore they have no rights!" These persons appear to ignore the universal responsibility of all men before God for the treatment of all His creatures, whether rational or irrational.

SOUTHPORT AUXILIARY.

THE Southport Peace Auxiliary reports :- "Thanks to the suggestion of a member of the Liverpool Committee, our Committee Meetings are held more frequently than formerly, which. with the addition of a few valuable names to the Committee, bas resulted in increased endeavours to bring the cause of Peace more prominently before the public. In the autumn, our President held a Drawing-room Meeting for Ladies, when Miss Robinson of Blundellsands, and Miss Thompson, of Birkenhead, attended as a deputation, with a view to organising a Ladies' Peace Society.

"On November 15th, a lecture by Mr. Alfred Smith, of Birkdale, on War and its Cost,' embracing personal recollections of thirteen years of military service in India, was well attended, and at the close a wish was expressed for a continuation of the same at some future period. This was followed in January by Mr. J. W. S. Callie's powerful and telling lecture on The National Millstone,' explaining the origin and growth of the National Debt and military armaments; the attendance was fair, and the lecture fully reported in the Southport Guardian."

LIVERPOOL PEACE COMMITTEE, 1889.

THE Committee remark, in their Annual Report for 1889, that: "In the work of promoting a healthy public opinion upon international and national relations which tell against war, the Committee has not ceased to employ all the means and influence within its power, by meetings in and around Liverpool and Southport; by the distribution of literature; and by assistance to others who have advocated the principles of Arbitration and Peace at literary societies or other public meetings.

In response to invitations from Ireland, the President, Mr. Thomas Snape, and the Vice-President, Mr. Thomas Crosfield, paid a visit to that country and addressed a series of meetings in Ulster and Dublin, the one at Belfast being specially large and influential, the Mayor of that city occupying the chair.

"The Committee feel more deeply than ever the need for greater help and for more recruits to the number of Peace advocates. The loss, during the year, of their venerated leader, the Honorary Secretary of the London Peace Society, Mr. Henry Richard, M.P., has been a source of great grief to all those who were honoured by his friendship, or privileged to be co-workers with him in the sacred cause to which he devoted his life. The homage universally rendered to his memory was not only a well earned tribute to his character, but also a conclusive proof-the stronger because it was involuntary-of the influence he had won for Peace principles, both at home and abroad.

"It is the desire of the Committee to extend that influence until armaments are reduced, international arbitration adopted, and until peace and concord prevail amongst all nations of men. To aid in the realisation of that desire, the Committee urgently renews its appeal for the co-operation of every friend of humanity, and of every follower of the Prince of Peace. "THOMAS SNAPE, President,"

LIVERPOOL AND BIRKENHEAD WOMEN'S PEACE SOCIETY, 1889.

THIS local Society of Ladies report that they have, during the past year, held five public meetings with the working classes in Birkenhead and its neighbourhood, besides some others. All these gatherings were characterised by the earnest and deep attention of the audience, and at two of them petitions to the House of Commons against the proposed increase in naval and military armaments were unanimously adopted. Addresses have also been delivered at various Mothers' Meetings, and at a gathering of railway officials and others held at Exchange Station, Liverpool. Large numbers of tracts and other publications bearing on the subjects of Peace and Arbitration have been distributed by the Committee and members of the Society. In addition to her work in connection with this Society, Miss E. Robinson has, under the auspices of the Peace Organisation of the Society of Friends, addressed about seventy public meetings in various parts of England.

FRANCIS THOMPSON, President.

MR. WILLIAM POLLARD'S MEETINGS. WIGAN.-On Sunday evening, March 24th, Mr. Pollard addressed a large audience, in the Free Methodist Church, on "Christianity versus War." Much interest was evinced, and the friends who had suggested the meeting were invited to pay another visit.

MANCHESTER.-March 25th, a meeting of the General Committee and other friends met at the Reform Club to welcome Mr. Darby, the newly appointed Secretary of the Peace Society, and to confer with him as to the best ways for advancing the cause of Peace. A useful conference was held, and many valuable suggestions were offered.

ELSENHAM.-On Saturday, April 6th, Mr. Pollard gave his lantern-lecture on (6 Peace, War, and True Heroism," in the Friends' Meeting House.

THAXTED-April 7th, Mr. Pollard gave an address in the Baptist Chapel to a large congregation on "Christianty versus War."

SAFFRON WALDEN.-Mr. Pollard gave his lantern-lecture in the Lecture Hall of the Friends' School on Monday, April 8th. A number of visitors were also present.

SUDBURY.-On April 9th, Mr. Pollard lectured in the Friends' Meeting House on "War and its Remedies.' The chair was taken by Mr. Robt. Mattingley, who made a sympathetic introductory speech. Resolutions against increased expenditure on war preparations, and in favour of a system of arbitration, were proposed by Mr. Thurlow, and unanimously adopted.

BENTHAM.-On Monday, April 15th, Mr. Pollard gave a lecture, entitled, "John Bright on War and Arbitration," in the Friends' Meeting House. Mr. B. Ford presided. The lecturer gave many quotations from John Bright's speeches on these subjects.

MEETINGS AGAINST INCREASE OF NAVY. By MR. ARTHUR O'NEILL, of Birmingham. SELBY PARK, BIRMINGHAM.-By invitation of the Mutual Improvement Society a lecture was given on March 19th. Mr. Collins presided. Messrs. Manley, Hill, Sargent, and Leech spoke, and the petition against voting 21 millions for the navy was adopted.

HIGHGATE STREET, BIRMINGHAM.-On the 23rd Mr. O'Neill spoke at a large and earnest meeting in the Mission Hall. Mr. Barrow Cadbury presided. Messrs. Locke, Gilliver, and Shorthouse spoke, and the petition was passed.

OAKENGATES, SALOP.-On the 25th a lively audience in the Baptist Chapel, Mr. Blakemore in the chair. Mr. Beach and another spoke on the petition, and it was carried.

HANDSWORTH.-Next evening a good meeting in the Primitive Methodist Chapel. Mr. R. H. Kirton presided. Mr. Holcroft and others spoke, and the petition was adopted.

LEA BROOK, WEDNESBURY.-On the 28th a spirited meeting. Mr. Wheeler presided. Messrs. Miklewright and Plant proposed the petition, which was passed.

BIRMINGHAM. On the 29th a largely-attended meeting adopted a resolution on the eminent services rendered to Peace by the late John Bright. Mr. W. Morgan presided. The following took part, viz. :-Revs. J. J. Brown and M. N. Hennessy, Councillors Martineau and Bloor, Messrs. Gilliver, Frank Wright, and Mr. O'Neill.

BORDESLEY.-April 2nd Mr. O'Neill addressed a public meeting here. Councillor Martineau presided. Messrs. Frederick Impey, W. Gilliver, W. Glover, Tibbetts, and Oxford took part, and the petition was adopted.

WALSALL. On the 9th Mr. O'Neill lectured to a good and spirited audience at the Young Men's Christian Association Hall. Mr. Shaw presided. Messrs. Hanley, Bull, and Brown spoke, and the petition was carried.

QUINTON.-Next evening a large meeting. Mr. Middleton, Principal of Bourne College, presided. Messrs. Price, Green, Perry, and Dingley took part, and the petition was passed.

CHADSMOOR, CANNOCK.-Next evening the Baptist Chapel was filled. Mr. Walters presided. Mr. C. Cook and another friend spoke, and the petition was adopted.

ROWLEY REGIS.-On the 18th a lively meeting in the Union Chapel, Mr. J. Price in the chair. The petition was carried after speeches by Messrs. Carter and Hadley.

LIVERPOOL PEACE SOCIETY.

THE annual public meeting of the Liverpool Peace Society was held on March 26th. The chair was occupied by Mr. Crosfield, J.P. There was a good gathering of subscribers and friends, including Mr. W. Evans Darby (Secretary of the London Peace Society), Rev. Robt. Lewis, Mr. Thomas Snape, County Councillor (president), Mr. Thomas Crosfield, Mr. Mark Howarth, Miss F. Thompson, Mr. Edward Mounsey, Mr. John Cripps, J.P., Messrs. John Carson, Richard Eastley, J. G. Crosfield, S. W. Davies, R. H. Davis, George Legge, Dr. Thorpe, W. P. Thompson, &c. Various resolutions were proposed and adopted.

A few days later, the Committee adopted the following resolution :- "That the Committee convey to the family of the Right Hon. John Bright the expression of deep sympathy of the Liverpool Peace Society with them in their bereavement, and of the high and grateful regard in which the Society held his pre-eminent services to the cause of Peace. The Committee mourn his loss as that of one whose powerful influence was ever exercised on the side of justice and international amity, and whom no unpopularity or contumely could deter from the fearless advocacy of those principles of righteousness and peace, upon which the progress and happiness of mankind depend." At Mr. Bright's funeral, the Liverpool Peace Society was represented by Mr. Thomas Crosfield and Mr. M. Howarth.

January 31st.-St. Helen's.-A deputation, consisting of Messrs. Thomas Crosfield, J. Carson, and M. Howarth, met a contingent of debaters to discuss the relation of Christianity to war. There was a good attendance of hearers, who showed great interest in the debate.

"The

February 21st.-Y.M.C.A., Liverpool.-A debate on approval of works of public usefulness, even though condemned on military grounds," was ably conducted on the affirmative side by Messrs. T. Snape, J. Carson, M. Howarth, and Wm. Lewis; Messrs. S. W. Davis, George Legge, and J. T. Marsh were also present and took part in the proceedings.

March 4th.-St. Andrews' Scotch Church.-A lecture was delivered by Mr. T. Snape on "The Heroes of Peace and War" to an appreciative audience. After the lecture many questions were asked, which were answered by Messrs. Carson, Crosfield, and Marsh, as well as by the lecturer, in a very effective reply.

WANDSWORTH (LONDON).

A PUBLIC conference, in furtherance of International Peace, was held recently at Wandsworth. The particular subject prescribed for consideration was "Our duty as Christians in regard to War." The attendance was cheering in point of numbers.

The chair was taken by Mr. E. R. RANSOME; and an influential platform included Mr. George Gillett, Mr. W. E. Darby (Secretary of the Peace Society), Mr. Caleb Wright, M.P., for West Lancashire, Mrs. Wright, Mr. and Mrs. Bowles (from California), Mr. D. Milligan, and others.

Mr. G. GILLETT argued, from Scriptural grounds, that the system of war was condemned by God. Passing to our own military system, he described it as a crushing burden on the nations of Europe, and he urged that we ought to make as strong a protest against this armed peace as against the state of war itself. If peace were desired, we must have We statesmen who would legislate on the lines of peace. need to study what the statesmen of the day were calling a state of peace. It was a caricature of peace, what in France is called guerre sèche, "dry war."

Mr. CALEB WRIGHT, M.P., was introduced by the chairman as one of the twenty-three Members of Parliament who went over to the United States to ask the President to use his influence on behalf of Arbitration and Peace. He submitted, among other things, that ministers of the Gospel have not been sufficiently penetrated with the spirit of peace. They have been ready to sing Te Deums upon victories, and have condemned war only when it was directed against those interests in which they were concerned. He concluded with a touching tribute to the late Mr. John Bright, who had contended nobly for peace and to secure the happiness of mankind. The CHAIRMAN took up the eulogy, and remarked that Mr. Bright took his statesmanship from the Bible.

Mr. DARBY said he considered the meeting a most interesting one. They were met as disciples and friends of Christ, as pupil teachers in His school, pupils having much to learn of His truth, and teachers whose commission ran, "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." The teachings and commands of Christ as to Peace were unmistakable. It was impossible to keep the ten commandments and be a soldier. So as to the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the peacemakers." The Lord's Prayer and the whole teachings of Christ were opposed to the war system of the day. Not one word of sanction for war appeared in His whole teaching, and the whole example of His life condemned it. Taking up the tribute to John Bright, he pointed to him as a friend of peace, who sacrificed place and power rather than yield his principles, who had lived a noble life, and done a noble work.

Mr. BOWLES having offered a few words, remarking on the peace friends in America, and the party of force there;

Mrs. BOWLES addressed herself to the interests of women, who were concerned to keep men from the influence of war. She pointed out that in Germany, the land of Blood and Iron, the position of women was the worst of any Christian country. The spirit of militarism turned and looked on woman as the neglected women in the domestic circle, in order to make drudge and not as the companion of man. The men there companions of men; and she declared that wherever men assembled without the influence of women, they went to the bad.

MR. GLADSTONE ON MILITARISM.

A CORRESPONDENT having forwarded to Mr. Gladstone a copy of the reprint of Dymond's "Essay on War" (with preface by John Bright), recently published by John Heywood, of Manchester, on behalf of the Lancashire Friends, the right honourable gentleman has replied as follows:

"April 16, 1889. "Dear Sir, I thank you, and am glad that the advocates of Peace are active; for militarism is the most conspicuous tyrant of the age, and it is the road to war.

"Yours faithfully,

"W. E. GLADSTONE."