ing upon our globe, and led by chance to an European plain, at the point of some great battle, on which, to human eye, reckless and blind to overruling Heaven, the fate of states and empires is suspended. On a sudden the field of combat opens on his astonished vision. It is a field which men call "glorious. A hundred thousand warriors stand in opposed ranks. Light gleams on their burnished steels. Their plumes and banners wave. Hill echoes to hill the noise of moving rank and squadron, the neigh and tramp of steeds, the trumpet, drum, and bugle call. There is a momentary pause ;-a silence, like that which precedes the fall of the thunderbolt; like that awful stillness, which is precursor to the desolating rage of the whirlwind. In an instant, flash succeeding flash pours columns of smoke along the plain. The iron tempest sweeps, heaping man, horse, and car, in undistinguished ruin. In shouts of rushing hosts-in shock of breasting steeds-in peals of musquetry-in artillery's roar-in sabres' clash-in thick and gathering clouds of smoke and dust, all human eye, and ear, and sense, are lost. Man sees not, but the sign of onset. Man hears not, but the cry of—" Onward.” Not so the celestial stranger: His spiritual eye unobscured by artificial night, his spiritual ear unaffected by mechanic noise, witness the real scene, naked, in all its cruel horrors. He sees lopped and bleeding limbs scattered; gashed, dismembered trunks, outspread, gore-clotted, lifeless; brains bursting from crushed skulls; blood gushing from sabred necks; severed heads, whose mouths mutter rage, amidst the palsying of the last agony. He hears the mingled cry of anguish and despair issuing from a thousand bosoms, in which a thousand bayonets turn; the convulsive scream of anguish from heaps of mangled, half-expiring victims, over whom the heavy artillery-wheels lumber, and crush into one mass, bone and muscle and sinew; while the fetlock of the war-horse drips with blood, starting from the last palpitation of the burst heart on which his hoof pivots. "This is not earth!" would not such a celestial stranger exclaim? "this is not earth-this is hell! This is not man, but demon tormenting demon!" Thus exclaiming, would not he speed away to the skies? his immortal nature unable to endure the folly, the crime, and the madness of man. If in this description there be nothing forced, and nothing exaggerated; if all great battles exhibit scenes like these, only multiplied ten thousand times, in every awful form, in every cruel feature, in every heartrending circumstance; will society, in a high state of moral and intellectual improvement, endure their recurrence? As light penetrates the mass, and power with light, and purity with power, will men, in any country, consent to entrust their peace and rights to a soldiery like that of Europe, described as a needy, sensual, vicious cast, reckless of God and man, and mindful only of their officer?" Be not then discouraged, gentlemen. True it is, yesterday's sad event has filled all our hearts with a deep sorrow. He, who at your last anniversary on this occasion, in this place and at this hour, was addressing you, now lies low in death. Heaven has willed, and Gallison* is gone. * John Gallison, Esq. who died on the 24th of December, 1820.-On the 26th instant, the Bar of the county of Suffolk, at a meeting holden, to con sider what measures had become proper in consequence of his decease, unanimously passed the following votes: Voted. That the members of the Bar will attend the funeral of Mr. Gallison; and that crape be worn by the members until the end of the present term of the Supreme Court. Voted. That the following notice of His warm heart is cold. His mortal light is quenched. His pure example lives only in remembrance. He is gone the pious, the excellent, the learned man; an ornament of our bar, a model for our youth, the delight of the aged; one of the choice hopes of our state, whom all honoured, for his worth was at once solid and unobtrusive; whom none envied, for his acquisitions though great and rare, were but the fair harvest of his talents, of his labour, and his virtues. 4 As a fraternity, our strength is impaired; as members of society, we are sorrowers in common with- all who respect learning, integrity, fidelity, piety, and whatsoever tends to adorn and elevate the fellowship of men. "The emanations from Mr. Gallison's mind and heart were so familiar to us, and of such daily experience, that, like some of the most common, though most precious of blessings, it is only by unexpected and irretrievable loss that their just value is perceived. “Professional learning in Mr. Gallison was scarcely a subject of remark. We all felt that he must be learned, for we all knew that he severely exacted of himself to be competent to whatsoever he undertook. Diligence and fidelity were his peculiar qualities; his moral sense made them so: he could never inspire a confidence that he could not fully satisfy. "It is not only a learned, a diligent, a faithful minister of justice, that is lost to us; the public have lost one of the purest and most indefatigable and most capable of all men who have attempted to illus hope, and heirs of the promise. Set before your eyes the glorious nature of the object at which you aim. Absolute failure is impossible, because your purposes concur with all the suggestions of reason, all the indications of nature, all the testimony of history, and all the promises of religion. They are pure, elevated, divine. Your end is the honour and happiness of your race. Your means are the advancement of the moral and intellectual character of man. What though the image you assail be great, and the form thereof terrible, and its brightness dazzling? What though its head be of brass, and its arms and legs and body of iron? Its feet are but clay. The stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall dash it in pieces, and shall itself become a great mountain, and cover the whole earth. 'trate the utility of professional learning, to prove the beauty and fitness of morality, and to give new attraction to the truth of revealed sanctions. It was among the favourite pursuits and objects of our deceased brother, to trace the connexion and dependence which exist between learning, religion, morality, civil free. dom, and human happiness. "The very virtues which we admired are the cause of our present regret. His labours were incessant; and through these his course is terminated at an early age. However brief, his life has been long enough to furnish a valuable commentary on our professional, moral, and political institutions. He lived long enough to prove that an unaided individual, of such qualities as those which we are called on to regret, will find a just place in the community. He has proved, that an unassuming citizen of chastened temper, amiable deportment, indefatigable industry, incorruptible integrity, and sincere attachment to the public welfare, will always be felt, known, and honoured. He has proved, that a man who was never known among his contemporaries, associates, and rivals, to have refused to others what belonged to them, or to have assumed to himself what was not his own, cannot go down to the tomb unattended by general and heartfelt regret." A copy of the records. W. J. SPOONER, Secretary. Reflections on the Reign of King William III. THE attention of the readers of the Herald has been more than once called to the subject of History, as connected with the important topic of Universal Peace. In its capacious storehouse are to be found, exhibitions of the horrible nature and baneful consequences of War; though it is to be greatly lamented that Historians have employed their talents in adorning and honouring a practice which deserves only the abhorrence and execration of the wise and virtuous. From this charge, it has been already observed, the Author of "Studies in History" is exempt. His pen is frequently employed in reprobating the most unnatural warfare of Man with Man, and in advocating the pacific reign of the Prince of Peace. Already have some quotations been made in the Herald from the second volume of his History of England, and the following will, we are persuaded, be equally acceptable to our Readers. In his reflections upon the Campaign of William the Third in Ireland, which terminated in the complete discomfiture of the army of James, he thus concludes : O with what sentiments of unmingled horror and detestation should we contemplate the hideous monster, War, if we could realize all the private distresses, as well as the public calamities that follow in his malignant train—if we could estimate, by how vast an accumulation of human miséry one splendid victory is purchased; how many maternal and conjugal bosoms have been rent, tortured, and agonized by an event, which historians record, and poets celebrate, in joyous and triumphal strains! To war, not less than to slavery, may be fitly applied the impassioned language of a distinguished modern writer: "O, War! War! disguise thee as thou wilt, still thou art a bitter draught; and though thousands in all ages have been made to drink of thee, thou art not the less bitter on that account!" Happy happy day, when the spear VOL. III, shalt be broken asunder, the chariot burned in the fire, and wars shall cease finally and for ever, to the ends of the earth! The history of William's continental operations is a painful and distressing picture of the emptiness and inutility of military glory, after all the outrages it has committed against the tranquillity and happiness of individuals and nations. of this abridged history will admit Neither the design nor the limits of a detailed narrative of those continental wars in which England has unhappily been involved; though it may be necessary occasionally to allude to them as illustrative of her foreign policy. With reference to that which commenced at the period which this sufficient to state, that the contest essay embraces, it will be was carried on with various and doubtful success during several campaigns; that king William, who annually visited the continent for the purpose of conducting its operations, gave full proof of his military science and personal bravery, though he did not obtain any splendid triumphs; and that after an immense expenditure of national treasures, and a profligate waste of human life-after a few barren and blood-stained laurels had been won on either side, the belligerent powers found themselves in circumstances nearly similar to those in which they had been placed at the commencement of hostilities. After his reflections upon the affecting, though happy death of the Queen, he concludes with the following very striking animadversions upon the character and career of her royal consort. But instead of pursuing this train of reflections, grateful as they may be to our feelings, compared with those which the contemplation of the crimes. and miseries of mankind are calculated to awaken, we must return to the less pleasing schemes of worldly ambition, political intrigue, and martial devastation. It is impossible to 2 A review the principal occurrences of this reign, without perceiving that the most generous mind may be perverted and debased—the kindliest feelings of the human heart suppressed and subdued by long familiarity with the sanguinary arts of war. To this demoralizing practice are evidently to be attributed the unlovely traits which are sometimes discernible in the moral character of William II. That his natural disposition was tender and affectionate, that he was susceptible in a high degree of all the charities and sympathies that glow in the most humane and generous bosom, will be denied by none who have attentively studied his character. These better qualities of his heart appeared in all their attractions at some of those interesting moments of his eventful life, which have been already adverted to; and that they did not uniformly operate, can only be attributed to some malignant counteracting influence, by which his feelings were rendered callous, and the best affections of his heart were held in continual restraint. Nor is it difficult to discover the cause which secretly, but powerfully operated to produce these baneful effects, in those antisocial, unchristian employments, which constituted the principal business of his life. How truly glorious might the reign of this distinguished sovereign have been-how richly fraught with blessings to himself, to his empire, and to mankind;-if those energies of body and mind with which he was eminently endowed, instead of being employed in the work of destruction, had been exerted in works of benevolence and mercy-if instead of wielding through life the homicidal sword, he had grasped the olive branch of peace-and if instead of forming confederacies for military achievements, he had induced the princes of Europe to concur in efforts to promote the welfare and happiness of the human race! It were surely a worthier, a nobler object of his ambition, to allay the animosities of rival factions, and harmonize the jarring passions of contentious statesmen, by the soothing influence of a pacific temper, and yet more hallowed influence of a well regulated conversation, than to reap the most flourishing laurels on the embattled plain, or climb the highest pinnacle of military glory! Christianity versus War. [Original.] A DISPUTE had for some time been pending, between War and Christianity, the latter denying the right of War to carry on his profession, because, in his opinion, it was at variance with both the letter and spirit of the law; and at length it was resolved to bring the affair to an issue, by referring it to the decision of the High Court of Equity, at which Lord Chief Justice presided. A case of such moment could not but excite great interest; and on the day appointed for hearing it, the Court was excessively crowded. In a short time War entered, attended by his Counsel, Custom, Necessity and Prejudice; and so manly and heroic was his deportment, so gorgeous his military attire, that he was received by the spectators with a general burst of applause ; yet to the attentive observer there was a piercing cruelty in his eye, a sullen, imperious frown on his brow, which, evincing he was accustomed to scenes of bloodshed, pourtrayed a hard and unrelenting heart. On the contrary, though there was nothing superfluous or dazzling in the appearances of Christianity; his deportment was serious and unassuming, and there was that serenity and mildness depicted in his features, the characteristics of a virtuous mind, which inspired general respect and silent admiration. He also was attended by his Counsel, Religion, Humanity, and Reason. Religion opened the proceedings by thus addressing the Court. Aware, my Lord, how much depends upon the part I take in this important affair, I feel myself called upon to state most unequivocally, that the professions of War and Christianity are completely at variance; as opposite as light and darkness, as love and hatred, can possibly be: it is my more imperative duty to make this avowal, because it has often been boldly and fearlessly asserted, that they are perfectly in unison, and their practices consistent with each other. It is to this position, so generally received, that War is indebted for the respect and attention of those, who, having a high regard for Christianity, had they known the character of this his deadly enemy, would have held him in that abhorrence which he so justly deserves. I trust how ever that the investigation of the present subject will expose the fallacy of the assertion, and redeem Christianity from so foul and reproachful a stigma. Let us then, in the first place, take a survey of that system of laws by which the decisions of this Court must be governed. The advent of their Founder is announced with Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men,' Luke ii. 14. Does this imply that War shall claim pre-eminence over every other profession? that desolation and ruin shall spread around, and enmity and murder be allowed amongst men? No, it means that the laws which were then introducing, were to annihilate the system of retaliation and violence, that instead of an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,' we should not resist evil.' Look through the whole code, look at the life of its Founder, and say if one act of aggression or revenge is practised, recommended, or allowed. If then in his life all is peaceable and forgiving, what shall we say of his death? Treated with contumely and barbarity, and finally crucified, we read that his last petition was for his enemies, his legacy 6 your ene In ; to his followers was peace. But to enter more into detail; we find in Matt. v. 38, 39–43, 44. Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love mies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.' opposition to this mild and excellent precept, we will refer to the testimony of History, respecting the actions of War: He kills his enemies by every means in his power, he burns their cities, lays waste their fertile plains, and, for a slight aggression, retaliates by shedding the blood of unoffending thousands. Again we have it recorded in Luke ix. 56, That the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.' If then he who was, and is, the Sovereign Lord of the whole earth, came not to destroy, but to save life, how repugnant to his spirit must be the conduct of his pretended followers, who, to satisfy their unsatiable thirst for ambition and revenge, have espoused a system, which in a late campaign, occasioned the death of upwards of half a million of their fellow creatures, in the space of 173 successive days. It is not my intention to dilate upon every injunction which I shall bring forward, but, laying them before your Lordship, shall only make such observations as may appear needful. Matt. xxvi. 52.- All they that take the sword, shall perish with the sword." Romans xii. 19, 20, 21. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.' James |