of international law-it was the Christian religion—the general progress of civil law-the rising light of learning-the increasing spirit of commerce-the advancement of civil liberty; to these causes nations are chiefly indebted for that measure of security which they now enjoy. These causes, in their effect upon international law and intercourse, have accomplished what war never could accomplish. War could destroy the enemy-it could exterminate him, if waged with sufficient force, energy, skill, and perseverance; it never could operate in the way of penalty to teach him to respect our rights, or to render him pacific. These causes have done much to induce a regard to justice, and to diffuse a pacific spirit. They are able to do more.

It will be recollected that we have been speaking of war as a penalty for wrongs already suffered, and with a view to prevent their repetition. It has been our object to show that for such a purpose it is unavailing. It cannot in truth be called penalty. There is a broad distinction between the discriminating stroke of justice, and the indiscriminating violence of war between the relation of the executioner of the law to the convict, and that of the combatants on the field of battle.-Let not the advocate of peace be charged with attempting to undermine the law. His aim, and the tendency of his efforts, is to lay broader the foundations of the law. He seeks to bind nations together by the bonds which unite men in civil society; to extend still more largely to international intercourse the benefit of those principles which now prevail between man and man; to incorporate into the international code, principles akin to the principles of the English law-a law which stipulates so largely in favor of humanity, separating with such cautious, discriminating process between the innocent and the guilty. He seeks to substitute for notions of chivalry and honor, the maxims of common sense and of common honesty; to counteract a spirit of pride, revenge and vain glory, inculcating the duty of Christian meekness and forbearance, and illustrating the nature of true, substantial, glory. It enters into his plan to show the bearings of war on the progress of the Christian

religion; and in the light of that religion to hold up the value of human life, and the momentous responsibility which men assume, when they terminate the probation allotted to their fellow men by the Deity. The genuine advocate of peace aims to substitute the spirit of patient justice for the spirit of fight; to render deep, permanent, and universal, in the minds of men, the conviction that a tribunal of intelligence and reason is always better for the settlement of differences than blind and brutal force. By so doing, does he make void the law? God forbid; yea, rather he establishes the law. He does not encourage the mob in their indiscriminating violence; but by doing away a system of procedure so analogous to theirs, he would deprive them of all precedent and example, and present to the eyes of the multitude, the venerable temple of justice, under the aspect of inviolable sacredness.

We rejoice, while thus engaged, that we live in an age when the current of affairs is beginning to set in the direction of the course which we have indicated. The proffered mediation of a great and powerful government, accepted by two other great and powerful governments, shows that nations have learned that power is not the sole and single arbiter of international disputes. Two nations, each powerful enough to settle its own disputes in its own way, choose rather to submit to the voice of reason, speaking in the person of their common friend. In proffering this friendly mediation, the British government saw nothing inconsistent with its own high and illustrious character. It perceived nothing in the office of a peace-maker to sully the splendor of its renown. In accepting the mediation, and consenting to forego the great and glorious advantages of battle and of bloodshed, neither France nor America felt that they rendered themselves chargeable with meanness; they perceived, in their bosoms, no lowering down of the sentiment of self-respect, no terrifying apprehensions of dishonor and disgrace. The proffering of the mediation was a noble and a beautiful act. There is, perhaps, no transaction of human government comparable to acts like this.-Once, France and Britain regarded each other as natural enemies, separated, in

deed, by a narrow sea, but a sea washing shores whose inhabitants burned against each other with the fires of eternal hatred. Once, Britain regarded America as a proud and unnatural daughter, and looked upon her with feelings of disdain. Now, she has forgotten her hatred of France; she has laid aside her disdain of America; she speaks to both in the language of conciliation, and offers her friendly services to enable them to become reconciled to each other. It was a beautiful act in Britain thus to speak, on the one hand, to her neighbor, and on the other, to her daughter. We feel our filial affections. reviving as we speak we feel the blood coursing in our veins and mantling in our cheeks, and we are proud to remember that it is British blood. In the name and behalf of the friends of peace, we thank the British king; we thank the British ministry; we thank Britain herself, for the proffered mediation. In the name and behalf of the friends of peace, we promise her to hold it in everlasting and grateful remembrance. By this act of hers, she has spread the olive wreath all over her bloodstained laurels, and concealed them from our view. There let it remain forever; to be covered with fresh wreaths as often as the nations of the earth shall menace each other in the muttering tones of war. We will look upon it, and we will hail it as the signal of a better age.

ARTICLE II.

ANALOGY BETWEEN WAR, AS A MEANS OF VINDI. CATING RIGHT, AND PENAL LAW.

THE system of penal law is a system of discrimination. Truth is the basis of justice, and truth can seldom be found unmingled. With the innumerable complications of human affairs, error and falsehood easily entwine themselves—and

over the whole, prejudice and passion cast their misty shades or their specious coloring. These shades are to be dispersed—this coloring is to be removed-and the intertwining wreath is to be severed from its hold, before you can arrive at truth, on which alone a just decision can be founded.

Hence a principal object of the institution of civil governments. It was once said, and certainly not without much truth, that the whole machinery of State, with all its various workings, ends simply in bringing twelve good men into a box. To ensure the highest attainable degree of discrimination between right and wrong, both in theory and practice, civil government was divided into its different branches-the legislative-the judicial--the executive-pursuing each its specific object, with undivided attention, and all mutually serving as checks and balances. What is the great object at which the judicial system aims? It is discrimination between truth and error-between right and wrong. Hence the rules of penal law-the growth of centuries-the embodied wisdom of ageselucidated by the interpretations of many upright and learned judges. Hence, too, the pains taken to ensure the independence, the integrity, and the wisdom of the judicial powershence the different grades of courts-hence the different stages of legal proceedings-hence the rules of evidence and the solemn interrogation of witnesses-hence the right of trial by jury-hence the right of appeal-hence the powers of reprieve and pardon-hence the mode of executing the decision of the court, no less according to law than the decision itself-hence, in a word, the whole system of judicial redress, in all its parts, arranged and adjusted as they are with admirable wisdom.* Discrimination is its great object. Its language is, If thou doest well, be not afraid; if thou doest evil, be afraid. Thus the man, conscious of innocence, walks fearlessly abroad— breathing the free air of liberty, and rejoicing in her sun light, while the wrong doer starts at every rustling noise, and hides

It must be observed, that I speak of the system as a whole. In many of its rules, there is, no doubt, room for much improvement.

himself from the presence of the day. It is this discrimination which encourages industry-spreads the aspect of beauty and of plenty over the soil-excites the busy hum of commerce-in a word, which gives to every man the assurance, that while he does well, he shall enjoy his own without molestation. Do you ask for an example?

Look at Greece as she was-under the Sultan and the Pacha. What stimulates to industry? Is it the desire of property? The possession of property is one of the highest crimes known to the system of Turkish justice. Will any one acquire property, he must do it secretly. When acquired, he must conceal it. If he be known to possess a treasure, some rapacious Pacha-self-constituted heir to his estate-and anxious to hasten the descent of the inheritance-will, under the pretence of executing justice, send a commission for his head. Turkish justice knows no rule but Turkish avarice and lust. In selecting objects for these passions, consists the only discrimination which she employs. If the vales of Greece still retain their beauty, it is the beauty of nature, which exists despite the neglect of man. The soil bears not the marks of a well ordered cultivation; it exhibits not the sight of rich and plenteous harvests. The useful arts, with their civilizing influence, and their ten thousand comforts, flourish not, if they exist. And even for the privilege of enduring this oppression, the Greek is compelled to pay. The genius of Grecian liberty, incapable of submitting to such indignity, forsakes the valleys and the plains--ascends the heights--dwells among the mountain rocks--and breathes forth upon the mountain air her aspirations for the deliverance of the country.

Look now at yourselves--appeal to your own consciousness --cast your eye abroad over the face of the land-enter the courts--see the process of discriminating truth from error, right from wrong. Observe the record—observe the judge--observe

The males, after their fifteenth year, had to pay to the Sultan a heavy poll tax, under the name of exemption from beheading —See Amer. Encyc. Art. Greece.