noon" meeting in the Congregational Chapel, on EXETER.-October 20th, Mr. Pollard lectured at the Public War." BRADFORD.-On Sunday evening, October 26th, Mr. Pollard gave his address, "Can Christianity put down War?" to a large audience in the Friends' Meeting House. On Monday evening, the 27th, Mr. Pollard lectured on "The Story of William Penn." Mr. H. B. Priestman presided. WOOLDALE.-October 28th, Mr. Pollard lectured on "William Penn," in the Friends' Meeting House. Mr. Burtt presided, and there was a good attendance. 66 KENDAL.-November 4th, Mr. Pollard introduced a public discussion in the newly-instituted People's Palace, on Wars and Earthquakes: Can they be abolished?" A lively opportunity followed, when a number of difficulties and objections were raised and replied to. At the close a number of striking slides were shown, illustrative of incidents in War, &c. Rev. H. V. Mills presided. The hall was crowded by a deeply attentive audience. OLDHAM.-November 9th, Mr. Pollard addressed a meeting in the Free Methodist Church on "War and Christianity." Many questions were asked after the address, and much interest was manifested. The following resolution has been adopted by the Manchester Committee, in reference to their recently deceased colleague, Mr. B. Glover :-" This Committee has heard with sorrow of the decease of their honoured friend and colleague, the Rev. B. Glover, and desire to present their respectful condolences to his widow and relatives. They recall with SOUTHPORT.-REV. C. F. AKED. An interesting lecture on Peace was delivered last month by the Rev. C. F. Aked, of Liverpool. Mr. H. G. Coventry, of Birkdale, presided. Mr. Aked said that if they wanted to know the latest style in folly, they must not go to the milliner's establishment, but to the dockyard. The fashion in bonnets was nothing as compared with the fashion in battle-ships. There was something grotesque about the way in which people first suffered from the war scare themselves, and then created something like a panic in the breasts of other persons. They had allowed the war spirit to lay hold of the nation, and those in high places took good care to keep alive that spirit. In the House of Commons there were 128 Members who were directly or indirectly connected with the fighting interest of the country, and who wanted the costly armaments and mighty engines of destruction kept up because their pockets were concerned. These men, if wounded in the pockets, would shout out, and the people had allowed them to obtain influence and power while they themselves had been asleep. Lord Wolseley stumped the country trying to arouse the slumbering Jingoism of the nation and to terrify the taxpayer, and scoffed and sneered at the advocates of Peace, and stigmatised their views and objections to the maintenance of huge armaments as sickly sentimentality. There was nothing more incredible in English national life than the way in which the people refused to see what was the purpose with which the army and navy were managed and on whose behalf the wires were pulled. The army and navy existed in order that young sprigs of the aristocracy might have comfortable livings provided for them at the expense of the nation. They were managed, as John Bright said years ago, as a gigantic system of outdoor relief for the aristocracy. If these people had to come into fair competition with the business and professional men of the country, the latter would show them in quicker and smarter time than they had ever done it before "right about face!" Dealing with the statistics respecting the awful sacrifice of life and the vast expenditure of money incurred, in the great wars since 1855, he remarked that it was exceedingly difficult to get at the true state of affairs, because the figures were muddled-and, he believed, designedly muddled-so as to help in the fooling of John Bull. Did the people of this country know what England's war expenditure meant to them? It meant that they had to give an hour and a half's labour daily towards paying the interest and principal of the National Debt. GLEANINGS. Glover's earnest and valuable efforts on the platfonction Mr. One of the best things in Mr. Andrew Lang's "Life of Lord other ways, during many years, to press forward the cause of Peace." It may be mentioned that it was at one of Mr. Glover's meetings at Llandudno, in 1876, that the Right Hon. John Bright presided, and gave his well-known address on the "Eastern Question," which is still circulated in tract form. Mr. Glover died at Prestatyn, in North Wales, to which place he had only recently removed from Chester. THE NEWCASTLE PEACE AUXILIARY. Iddesleigh" is the letter which Sir Stafford wrote to his wife from Washington, after the settlement of the "Alabama" claims. He had then been married nearly thirty years :-"Washington, May 8th, 1871. My own C-,-The first and only use I make of this pen, after signing the treaty with it, is to send you a notification of the fact. Your devoted, Stafford H. Northcote." The Trieste Press, the leading journal of Austria, uses up miles each) for its edition. This body has issued a report, in which it is stated that "it A modern writer says: "Give me the money that has been is evident that new thoughts, new and ardent desires are stirring, that the blessings of Christ's kingdom should be made to reach all whom we, as a Christian nation, touch at any point; therefore we feel bound still further to encourage and stimulate those who have acknowledged that they so care for the progress of concord among mankind, urging them to labour on in their measure to extend the area of belief in the power of Arbitration and International Law. We feel the presence of Dr. Westcott, the Bishop of Durham, in our neighbourhood, cannot fail to have a marked influence in favour of bringing Christian teaching to bear on international relations, and it stimulates our efforts to lift, in Christ's name, His Cross against the sword," spent in war, and I will purchase every foot of land upon the globe. I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens would be proud. I will build a school-house on every hill-side and in every valley, over the whole earth. I will build an academy in every town and endow it; a college in every state and fill it with able professors. I will crown every hill with a place of worship, consecrated to the promulgation of the Gospel of peace. I will support in every pulpit an able teacher of righteousness, so that on every Sabbath morning the chime on one hill should answer to the chime on another, round the earth's wide circumference, and the voice of prayer and the song of praise should ascend like a holocaust to heaven." OF PEACE HERALD OF AND INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION. PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE PEACE SOCIETY. ADDRESS OF THE BISHOP OF DURHAM, at the Annual Meeting of the Newcastle and Gateshead Auxiliary of the Peace Society. 4 pp. 1s. per 100. SERMON, delivered before the UNIVERSAL PEACE CONGRESS, at the City Temple, London, July 16th, 1890. By REV. REUEN THOMAS, D.D. In neat cover, 16 pages. 1d. each. THE BROTHERHOOD OF MEN; How to Promote it. By EDWARD BUTLER, By W. EVANS DARBY. 8 pp. 2s. per 100. BOY SOLDIERS. By REV. J. P. GLEDSTONE. 12 pp. 2s. 6d. per 100. SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DONATIONS TO THE PEACE SOCIETY, Received from November 26th to December 27th, 1890. Remittances to be sent to MR. HENRY CATFORD, at the Office of the Peace Society, 47, New Broad AND INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION. "Put up thy sword into his place for all they who take the sword shall perish with the sword."-MATT. xxvi. 52. "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."-ISAIAH ii. 4. No. 497. NEW SERIES. JANUARY 1ST, 1891. [PRICE 2d. CURRENT NOTES. REV. DR. TYLER. THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY AND THE PEACE SOCIETY. During December, a Deputation from the Committee of the Peace Society waited upon the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Lambeth Palace, to invite his encouragement of the observance, in the Church of England, of a Peace Sunday. The Archbishop's reception of the Deputation was of a very courteous and agreeable nature. But, at his own suggestion, the interview was to be regarded as rather of a private than of a public nature. CARDINAL MANNING. The Committee of the Peace Society, through a Deputation, have also had an interview with Cardinal Manning on the subject of a Peace Sunday. The Cardinal entered very pleasantly into the question, and promised to bring it before his colleagues, the Catholic Bishops, and also, on a suitable occasion, to issue a Pastoral Letter on the subject. THE SECRETARY'S LABours. The past month has been a very laborious time for the Secretary of the Peace Society, who has been actively labouring in the Midlands and the Eastern Counties, and in spite of the extraordinary inclemency of the weather. Mr. Darby has delivered addresses at Kettering, Wellingborough, Northampton, Chesham, Wisbeach, Kelvedon, Coggeshall, Tiptree, Sudbury, Earl's Colne, Woodbridge, Colchester, and Copford. The local newspapers have very favourably noticed these addresses. THE "PEACE SUNDAY." The Thanks to the earnest co-operation of our excellent friends in so many parts of the Kingdom, the Peace Sunday of December 21st, 1890, was a grand success. number of Peace Sermons preached in the churches and chapels of the various denominations exceeded the expectations even of sanguine friends of the cause. Our veteran colleague, Mr. Arthur O'Neill, advertised more than one hundred churches in the Birmingham district alone, where such sermons would be delivered. At Liverpool about eighty such churches were announced in the daily papers. At Lancaster and other localities similar extensive arrangements were made and followed by great success. On December 15th, at the ripe age of seventy-nine, the Rev. Dr. William Tyler died at Holloway. He was one of the oldest members of the Executive Committee of the Peace Society, and was greatly esteemed by his colleagues. For half a century he had laboured gratuitously, as a Congregational Minister in Bethnal Green, and he was sometimes termed "The Bishop of East London." He used to speak very encouragingly of the social and religious progress which he had observed in that district, during his long residence there. MAGIC LANTERN LECTURES. The Peace Society's magic lantern slides, for illustrating lectures on War and Peace, have been in good request during the past few weeks, particularly in the counties of Surrey and Sussex. This means of popularising the Society's propagandism is very useful, especially amongst young persons. The Secretary is now preparing a further series of similar slides. NEW TRACTS. The Peace Society has just issued ten new tracts and reprints. These include the Sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. R. Thomas before the recent Peace Congress (a pamphlet of 16 pages); also the Address of the Bishop of Durham, at a Peace Society's meeting, and Mr. Session's Essay on the "Duties of Ministers of Religion with regard to Peace and War" (8 pages), together with the papers"Thomas Carlyle on War," "Opinions on International Arbitration," "Boys' Brigades," "Cost of Recent Wars," "What is War?" "Romance and Reality in War," and "The Curse of Conscription." PEACE CALENDAR FOR THE POCKET The Peace Society has issued a very tastefully designed Calendar for 1891. It is a folding gilt-edged card for the pocket, and may be obtained at the offices, 47, New Broad Street, London, E.C., at the rate of twenty for a shilling. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. The following protest against the proposal to place a sum on the Estimates to provide public school children with rifles has been forwarded to the South Australian Minister of Education :-"The South Australian Peace Society hereby protests against the attempt that is being made to stimulate the war spirit in our public schools by associating drill with warlike proceedings, putting into the hands of our children instruments of death, and teaching them that the natural and right method of settling international disputes is by the sword only, forgetting the injunction of Christ, 'Love your enemies.' The legitimate objects of public instruction are to train the mind to reflect and reason, and to prepare the young for the pursuit of the useful industries of life. The above proposal is a wide departure from these objects. The Society strongly urges Christian parents to take steps to prevent the minds of their children becoming familiarised with the idea of the slaughter of their enemies." STRIKES AND CONCILIATION. The The year 1890 has been a period of many strikes. total number of these, in the United Kingdom, was 1,150. But during December a very hopeful event occurred in the formation of a "London Conciliation Board," under the management of representatives both of the chief employers of labour and of the principal industrial bodies. Amongst the former are Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., Sir Albert K. Rollitt, M.P., and others. It has taken fifteen months of zealous and persevering effort, on the part of the Chamber of Commerce, aided by leading members of the working classes, in order to succeed in constituting the Conciliation Board. Capital and Labour are equally represented on itthe first by employers elected by the Chamber of Commerce, and the second by working-men appointed by groups of trade unions. In the choice of the working-class members, as many as fifty-two Trade Unions and Societies participated. The first chairman, Mr. S. B. Boulton, is an employer, and the vice-chairman, Mr. W. S. de Mattos, a railway worker. Important public services, both in the prevention and settlement of strikes, may be hoped for from the establishment of this Board. GREAT BRITAIN AND PORTUGAL. The news of the orders given by the British Government to the South Africa Company to withdraw its armed force from Massikesse and to evacuate that district, and also declaring that the British flag cannot be maintained there, has produced great enthusiasm in Lisbon and a much better feeling towards England. The Portuguese Journal of Commerce says that this action does the British Government great honour and gives a good example to Portugal; and the journal adds that it is to be hoped that the Portuguese Government will profit by these auspicious circumstances to terminate the dispute in a successful and honourable manner for both nations. The journal also says that the action of the Portuguese Government is now reduced to a pacific maintenance of the status quo, and that no violent action is necessary, since England has undertaken to order the withdrawal of the forces of the South Africa Company from Manica. THE BEHRING SEA DISPUTE. It is to be regretted that the American Secretary of State, Mr. Blaine, continues to manifest an unconciliatory attitude in reference to this difficulty. The New York Herald says, "The acerbity of the recent correspondence between the Governments of Washington and London is a consequence of the desire on the part of the Republicans now in office to withdraw public attention from their discredited policy regarding the tariff and federal control of the elections, by exciting the popular feeling against England. Hence, the singular tone towards the British Goverment, which characterises the Note recently telegraphed, was intended primarily for American readers. Some passages in the Note in question were adapted, if not designed, to irritate the relations of the United States with Canada." There is need for the prompt exercise of the influence of all right-minded Americans with their Foreign Secretary. STILL, THE PANIC-MONGERS! There are some men, such as Sir Charles Dilke and Lord Wolseley, who seem never tired of alarming their countrymen in regard to the national defences. At a recent meeting of the Royal Statistical Society, Sir Charles Dilke again complained of the small results of the money spent upon the Army by the British taxpayer. He said that "The English artillery is not superior to that of Roumania or Switzerland; that Germany, or France, for an annual expenditure of twenty-eight millions sterling, has command of a mobile trained force of two million men, while the armies of the British Empire (not including Volunteers and Militia) do not exceed 150,000 men, and yet cost us more than 35 millions sterling." And the speaker appeared to convey the impression that the country will never be safe until the Conscription is adopted in England-that horrible and burdensome system which is the plague and curse of Continental nations! A POOR PROSPECT FOR TAXPAYERS. The battle between guns and armour shows no sign of ceasing. The latest experiments, the details of which have been received from America, are held to prove that compound armour-plates are doomed. The experiments, which were carried out at Annapolis, Maryland, by direction of the Secretary of the United States Navy, were a contest between the Holtzer steel projectile and armourplates of different construction, including the British type of compound armour-plates of steel and iron. The experiment showed that the latter type of armour was a complete wreck after four shots had been fired. The result arrived at seems to be that the compound plates are doomed, that the British Navy will have to be reconstituted, and that a further enormous outlay for armaments will have to be endured by the ever-patient taxpayer. ADMIRALTY TURTLES. Mr. Labouchere, M.P., remarks that a number of turtles, which were being brought from Ascension on H.M. storeship Wye' for the Queen, the Lords of the Admiralty, and other distinguished persons,' were frozen to death off Portsmouth. He adds, "It might be well to learn how many perquisites of this nature are enjoyed by Lords of the Admiralty and other distinguished persons.' These turtles must have cost money. Very probably the 'Wye' made the voyage from Ascension solely to bring them here. We pay Lord George Hamilton and Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett a very handsome salary for what they do. I see no reason why we should supplement it by providing them with turtles to convert into soup. Nor do I perceive why 'persons' should not pay for their own turtle-soup, even though they may be distinguished.' There are plenty of people at Christmas who would be glad of a penny plate of soup. Surely it would be more reasonable to give it to them, if we are in a charitable mood, than to bestow on Lord George Hamilton, Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett, and other distinguished persons,' tureens full of turtle-soup, costing us probably about twenty shillings per plate." |