e which commemorates the martyred
Teacher of the law of love? Are they not our brethren, the neighbors
to whom the command applies, "Love thy neighbor as thyself"? Is this
our Christian love, to spend a hundred and twenty millions for the
assassination of our beloved brethren--avowedly for that purpose? It
is needless to object to the word _assassination_,--wholesale murder
by armies is substantially the same thing as separate murders by each
individual of the army.

But, it is urged, we are in danger of invasion, and the bombardment of
our cities. Does any one seriously believe that a powerful nation intent
on peace--the strongest power in the world, the friend of all mankind,
ready to submit any international question to arbitration--would be in
danger of an unjust, lawless, causeless assault from the Christian
nations of Europe, who have so much to lose and nothing to gain by
war, and who have already, in their groaning, tax-burdened people, a
sufficient reminder of the folly and criminality of war? They have not
money for another war, which would bring on the dangers of bankruptcy
and the revolt of the oppressed masses.

It must be that this is seriously apprehended, or else that it is
feared that the arrogant and bullying temper of our own people or our
politicians may originate and exasperate international irritation to
the insane extreme of war.

What a horrible theory is this! Is all the civilization,
statesmanship, and Christianity of the leading nations of the earth
incapable of withholding them from such gigantic crimes? Is
Christendom the only dangerous portion of the world, where an
honorable and peaceful nation cannot exist in safety?

The heathen nations are not a source of danger. If Christendom were
annihilated to-morrow, there would be no occasion to speak of
defending our coasts or building up a powerful navy. It is apparent,
then--it is confessed--that it is very dangerous to live among these
Christian nations, or in other words, it is very _dangerous to live
among Christians_, as they are called! But do our statesmen or our
clergy suggest this view? Do they recoil from war or inspire the
people with thoughts of peace? Never! One of the conspicuous clergymen
of England was the fiercest advocate of war with Russia. The
fundamental principle of the Christianity of Jesus is dead in the
so-called Christian church, except in that little fragment, the church
of the Quakers, who, for their fidelity to