The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-06-06 00:00:00

PEACE SAYINGS' AND WAR DOINGS.

THE conditiOn of this country at the present
time, and the state of public feeling which gene-
rally prevails, present a- curious contrast to the
sayings and doings of only a few years since. So
striking is the change, that one may almost doubt
its reality ; for it is not many years since nothing
was heard, from those I who pretended to be expo-
nents of popular opinions, than egregious eulogies
on the blessings of peace. Conferences were held,
both here and on the tontinent, to advocate the
abolition of all war : it was confidently pronounced
that the promised reign of peace on earth had
actually commenced, and some went so far as to
say that even in case of an invasion it was better
to submit than to resist. 'The absurdity of the
reasoning 'upon which this assumption was based

was almost too glaring for popular credulity, not
withstanding the advocacy of Messrs. COBDEN and
BRIGHT, and the demagogues of the Manchester
school ; but, like 11 political nostrums, it did not
want for sympathisers, however preposterous its
doctrines ; and so successful was the movement
considered by the unthinking many, that immunity
from further warfare, except with the Affghans,
the Kaffirs, or the inhabitants of the Feejee Islands,
was a settled conviction. Many of a higher grade
entertained a similar opinion, and defensive opera-
tions were deemed all that it was necessary to under-
take, even for the remotest possible contingency.
When apprehensions were entertained of an inva-
sion of the country by France, an event which was
deemed by no means improbable, it was not easy to
justify to popular opinion the necessity of increasing
the national defences, and a war was considered
almost impossible, except of a purely defensive
character, and then only upon the direst emer-
gency. The labours of the Peace Society were said
to have imbued the great mass of the people with
such a hatred of war, that governments would of
necessity resort to arbitration in all national quar-
rels ; while aggression, except from savages, was
placed almost beyond the pale of possibilities. A
very short time has since elapsed, and this country
is now in a state of actual and active war, and yet
apparently without an intelligible motive. We have
not been assailed, either at home or in our distant
possessions, and yet we have
,fitted out a warlike
expedition, for the sole purpose of vindicating the
national honour and redressing the insult offered to
an ally ; and all this has been done, not simply to
carry out diplomatic arrangements, which not often
commend themselves to popular approbation, but
with the enthusiastic concurrence of almost the
whole people. Rarely has a war been entered upon
with more of public opinion in its favour, and yet,
with the exception of gratifying a general feeling
of hatred to Russia, it is difficult to show wherein
we shall derive the remotest advantage, even from
a series of brilliant successes. It is clear, therefore,
that the vaunted labours of the Peace-Society have
been worse than useless. So long as we were at
peace we were willing to admit its advantages, and
even to listen with complacency to harangues
descriptive of the horrors of sanguinary strife ; but
the instant the necessity arose, although the point
at issue was the abstruse question of the balance
of power, all was forgotten, and the people buckled
on their armour and submitted to additional taxa-
tion with all the chivalry of ancient days. The
English, as a nation, are essentially a commercial
people, prone to all the arts of peace ; and yet, no
sooner is the tocsin of war sounded at the other
extremity of Europe, than they rush to the scene
of conflict with all the ardour of the young knights
of old, determined to win name and fame at the
sword's point. The glow of this martial spirit is
cheering ; for as our naval supremacy was won
with hard blows, so our commercial greatness can
only be maintained by proving to the wood our
ability to defend it ; and so long as our army and.
navy preserve their well-earned reputation, 'the
prestige of British valour will secure to us the full
advantages of our trade.