actuated towards me. Whether, personally or professionally, they are Christians or Infidels, I neither know nor presume. He was sustained by them and the church to which he belonged, and, until repudiated by them, I, in common with all men of reason and conscience, must regard them as partakers with him in his sins.

I sought nothing from him but justice, and never, for a moment, thought of receiving from him one farthing in the form of damages. No one could induce me to do so: nor did my brethren desire it. All that they wanted, or could consent to, was the payment of the costs to which they might be rendered liable by the prosecution. I gained all, and more than all, I could have asked; and having, in the simple verdict, all that I desired, I, of course, am fully satisfied, because fully vindicated and justified in the decision given. Should they collect it and give it to the poor, they might, indeed, do a good work.

But of this, I presume, there is not much probability. I cannot, however, in dismissing this subject, and in leaving Mr. Robertson to his own destiny, do less than express my sincere thanks to all the brethren in Great Britain for the diligence, assiduous attention and liberality, with which they have prosecuted this unpleasant affair, and sustained my reputation from the aspersions sought, by the enemies of the Gospel which we preach, to throw upon my character, and the cause to which they and I have consecrated our persons, our lives, our talents and our property. In doing which, they have done themselves great honor, and the cause of truth much service. A. C.

PEACE CONGRESS.

Being morally and religiously a Peace Man-against savage and civil war-personal or natural combat, with any other weapons than Logic, Rhetoric and Truth-I commend to the perusal and grave consideration of all my readers the following elegant and sensible address from the President of the Peace Congress, assembled at Paris, August 24th, 1849.

A. C.

Friday, August 24th, 1849, 4 o'clock P. M., the Congress of the friends of Universal Peace, commenced its sittings in Paris. M. V. Hugo, was called to preside, and made an opening speech, characterized by remarkable eloquence and lofty sentiment. We give the following extract:

Gentlemen: Many of you have come from the most remote parts of the globe, your hearts full of a religious and holy thought. You number in your ranks public men, philosophers, ministers of religion, eminent writers, and many of those public men who are the

lights of their nation. You have wished to date from Paris the declarations of this assembly of convinced and serious minds, who desire not only the welfare of one people, but the welfare of all people. You have come to add to the principles which, at the present time, influence statesmen, governors and legislators—a superior principle. You have come to turn over, in some sort, the last and the most august leaf of the gospel-that which enjoins peace on the children of God; and in this city, which has hitherto only decreed the fraternity of citizens, you have come to proclaim the fraternity of men.

Gentlemen, we bid you a hearty welcome.

Gentlemen, in this religious thought of universal peace, of all nations bound to one another by a common bond, of the gospel for our supreme law, of arbitration substituted for war-is this religious thought a practical thought? Is this holy idea capable of being realized? Many positive minds, as they are called-many political men who have grown old in the management of affairs--reply, "No." As for myself, I reply with you, and without hesitation, Yes;" and I shall try to prove the truth of my statement immediately.

66

66

But, I go further: I do not only say that it is an object capable of being realized, but that it is inevitable. All that can be done is to hasten or retard its consummation.

The law of the world is not, and cannot be, distinct from the laws of God; but the law of God is not war, but peace. Men began with struggles, just as creation commenced by chaos. Whence do they come Evidently from war. Whither are they going? Not less evidently to peace.

When you affirm these lofty truths, it is quite plain that your affirmation meets with negation; that your faith meets with incredulity; that, in this hour of our troubles and of our commotions, the idea of universal peace surprises and alarms every one, as being the apparition of something impossible and ideal. It is quite probable that our views will be called Utopian; and, as far as concerns myself, a humble and obscure laborer in the great work of the nineteenth century, I accept this opposition without being either astonished or discouraged by it. Is it possible for you to prevent people turning aside their heads, and closing their dazzled eyes, when, in the midst of the thick darkness which still surrounds us, you suddenly open the radiant gate of the future?

If any one, gentlemen, four centuries ago, during the time when commune waged war against commune, town against town, and province against province-if any one had said to Lorraine, to Picardy, to Normandy to Bretagne, to Auvergne, to Provence, to Dauphiny, to Burgundy: "A day will come when you will no longer make war; when men will no longer bear arms one against the other; when it will no longer be said, 'The Normans have attacked Picardy,' or 'the men of Lorraine have beaten the Burgundians.' You will still have many differences to arrange, many interests to discuss, many disputes to settle, but do you know what you will put in the place of armed men, of infantry and cavalry, of cannon and falconets, of lances, pikes and swords? You will put

in place of all these a little wooden box, which you will call the balloting-box, and from that box will proceed an assembly--an assembly on which you will feel that you all live, which will act as a soul to all of you, a sovereign and a popular council, which will decide, will judge, will settle all questions, which will make the sword fall from the hands of all, and justice rise in every heart; which will say to each man,' Here ends thy right, there begins thy duty.' Lay down your arms! Live in peace! And on that day you will feel that you have common thoughts, common interests, a common destiny. You will embrace one another, you will recognize one another as children of the same blood, and of the same race; on that day you will cease to be hostile tribes--you will be a people. You will no longer be Burgundy, Normandy, Brittany, Provence--you will be France. You will no longer call in the aid of war, but you will summon civilization to assist you."

If any one had said this at that period, gentlemen, all the serious and positive men, all the great politicians of the day, would have cried out, "Oh, the man is dreaming; he is talking arrant nonsense. It is plain that he has very little knowledge of human nature. What a strange piece of folly! What an absurd chimera!" Gentlemen, time has passed on, and we find that this dream, this folly, this chimera, is the reality. And I insist on this--the man who might have delivered this sublime prophecy, would have been declared a fool by the wise men, for having seen into the designs of God.

A

Well, you say at the present day, and I join with you in saying it-all of us who are here present, speak to France, to England, to Prussia, to Austria, to Spain, to Italy, to Russia, and say: A day will come when arms will fall from your hands also, when war will appear as absurd, and will appear as impossible between Paris and London, between Vienna and Turin, or between Petersburgh and Berlin, as it would now be impossible and appear absurd, between Rouen and Amiens, or between Boston and Philadelphia. A day will come, when France, Russia, Italy, England, Germany, all the nations of the continent, without losing their distinguishing characteristics, and their glorious individuality, will coalesce into a superior unity, and will constitute an European fraternity, precisely in the same manner as Normandy, Brittany, Burgundy, Lorraine, Alsace, and all the other provinces have coalesced into France. day will come when there will be no other battle-fields than markets opening for commerce, and minds opening for the reception of ideas. A day will come when bullets and homb-shells will be superseded by votes, by the universal suffrage of nations, by the venerable arbitration of a grand sovereign senate, which shall be to Europe what the Parliament is to England, what the Diet is to Germany, what the Legislative Assembly is to France. A day will come when cannon will be shown in museums, just as instruments of torture are shown now-a-days. A day will come when men will behold those immense groups, the United States of America, shaking hands across the ocean, exchanging their produce, their commerce, their industry, their arts, their talents, combining together for the common welfare of all those two infinitely powerful forces, the fraternity of men and the power of God.

And we shall not want four hundred years to bring about the day, for we live in stirring times; we live during the most impetuous course of events and ideas which has ever occurred, and in these our times, a year sometimes does the work of ages.

And French, English, Belgians, Germans, Russians, Slavonians, Europeans, Americans, what must we do to arrive, as soon as possible, at this great day? We must love one another. Love one another in this immense work of pacification--this is the best way of aiding God. For God wills it--this sublime end. And see what he is doing on all sides, to lead to its attainment. Look at the vast number of discoveries which he causes to be made by human genius, and which all tend to peace. What great progress! What numerous simplifications! How nature allows herself gradually to be subdued by man! How matters become more and more the slave of intelligence and the servant of civilization. How the causes of war disappear together with the causes of suffering-how near distant nations are brought to one another-how distances are diminished. All this is the beginning of fraternity!

Thanks to railroads, Europe will soon be no larger than was France during the middle ages. Thanks to steamboats, we can now traverse the ocean more easily than persons could formerly traverse the Mediterranean. Before long, man will go through the earth like the gods of Homer went through the heavens, in three steps. A few years more, and the electric thread of concord will surround the globe, and encircle the world.

Yes, the era of revolutions is drawing to a close; the era of improvements is beginning. The improvement of nations leaves the violent form and takes a peaceful form; the time is come when Providence will substitute for the disorderly action of agitators, the religious and calm action of peace-makers.

Henceforward, this will be the object of true politics; the recognition of all nationalities; the restoration of the historical unity of the people; the connection of this unity with civilization, by means of peace; the incessant enlargement of the civilized world; the giving of a good example to nations that are still barbarians; the substitution of arbitration for battles; and, to crown the whole, the utterance by justice of the last word which the ancient world uttered by force.

Gentlemen, I say, in conclusion-and let this thought encourage us-it is to-day that the human race is traversing this providential road. In our old Europe, England has taken the first step, and has said to the people, "You are free." France has taken the second step, and said to the people, "You are sovereigns." Now let us take the third step, and let France, England, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Europe, America, all unite in saying to the people, “You are brethren."

It is one thing to sin, another to be overtaken by sin, and another to be overcome by sin.

LETTER FROM BROTHER BURNET.

HYGEIA, Mt. Healthy, O., Oct. 29, 1849. BRO. A. CAMPBELL-My Dear Sir: We were much disappointed that you were not at the Bible Society Anniversary and the General Convention. Indeed, we expected you to be with us at Christian Chapel the Sunday preceding. When Bro. Pendleton appeared in the Convention, and informed us that your absence occurred in consequence of illness, from which you had recovered before his departure, we felt gratified for your recovery, though compelled to sympathize with you in an affliction which was a disaster to us, as it deprived the Convention of your society and counsel. The Convention, over which you were elected President, has requested me to assure you of their sympathy and prayers-a duty most genial to my feelings, the more especially as I can, in the same communication, contribute to your joy, by announcing a happy issue of our meeting. About five thousand dollars were raised in money, and pledges for our various enterprizes, but especially for the Bible and Missionary Societies, which shared about equally in the munificence. I never knew so fine a meeting. It lasted one week, and filled us full of joy and love. The representatives of the churches from abroad, amounted to about two hundred.

Suffer me, then, my dear brother, in behalf of the Convention, to express their sympathies with your sorrow, and their joy at your recovery; and, through you, to your numerous readers, the joyful news of our incipient success in the kindred enterprises of the Bible and Missionary causes. For the Convention,

D. S. BURNET,

First Vice President, but acting President.

CHURCH OF NASHVILLE.

Brother A. Campbell: For three years past, there has been a steady and gradual increase in the church in this place. We have, however, been under the painful necessity of withdrawing our fellowship from some whose walk was unbecoming their profession; yet, notwithstanding this, we have been prospered in our membership, and in gaining favor with the public, until our present house of worship has become quite too small, and many go away every Lord's day, unable to procure seats. On last Lord's day, Elder J. B. Fer