Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1848-04-19

+: unvoidab. the trial been made and found ,
, be impra -sicablea
1, is ina> ed to be regretted. that instance
strictly nat. onal character has yet occurred. 4
test the praci.,.abilty Of the principle for whic
We plead, an are asoning reliance upon the On,
nipotont Arm for protection ard defence. Their
is, however, case to which may refer, OF
: strong character, and sufficiently national 70
all the purposes of our argument. Pennsylva
MIA, it is Ill known, was settled by men VIII
believed that Christianity forbade war under an,
and every pre;ext. They >c,ed in strict accor
dance with this belief They planted themselves
in the midst of savages. They were surroun
ded by men who knew nothing Of written trsa
ties, obligationSof releaved religion: by mer
who were addicted to war in its most sangnin.
airy and revolving forms;-and yet for than
seventy years. and up to the time that the govern
NEXT Of the Colony passed into other hands
they enjoyed uninterrupted peace,
/ 1.-The Pennsylvanians." says Clarkson, "be-
s.rond, thcrgh without strength; they became
came armed, though without arms; they bee anne
safe, without the ordinary means Of safety. For
the greater part of 4 century. and never, during
the administration Of William Penn, or that OF
! his proper successors, was there quarrel Q
war" whatever the quarrels of the Penn
sylvana Indiars were with others they uniform
ly respected, g. h>ld sacred, it were, the terri
/ tories Of William Pens."
/ The settlers of Pennsy lvania, relying upon
Divine protection, placed then. selves in the midst
of savages. without the means Z, resistine3 ag-
gTession;-and even savage magnanirri:v felt the
apPea--sup pressed the war-cry--and permitted
What a Ic sson, may we no, ask, to Christian ma
tons!
! How painfully, how indistructibly, docs the
situation Of other American colonies contrast
with this! We will not attempt to portra it;
but refer to the bloodstaned pages Of colonial
history.
Will il be said that the same confiding spirit,
and pcaceable depor tment, if practised in sim
cerity and truth, towards nations protesting the
benign religion Of the Gospel, would be more
dangerous, or less successful? We trust not
such conclusion would be libel upon man.
kinda denial of the efficacy of the Christian
/ reigion-and an inexcusabIe distrust of the
Providence and moral government of God.
! 1t is not unusual to attempt a Justification Of
war under the Gospel dispe nsaton, by referring
to the wars of the Jews, under the dspe nsati n
Of the law. 1t is conceded that many Of these
wars were authorized by the Supreme Ruler Of
the universe, for purposes of his own inscruta-
BILE wisdom; but this high authority cannot be
claimed by Christian nations; and it has been
shown that the two dispensations essentially
different--that holy men during the continuance
Of the legal disPe nsation, predicted, under the
influence Of the spirit of prophecy, that the time
would come when nation should cease to lift up
sword against nation. or TO learn war any more.
We have seen that the Divine Author and Foun-
der Of the existing dspensa,ion called the at
tention Of his followers to those violent and vim
dictive passions, the indulge nee. Of which were
allowed under the Law, for the express purpose
Of excluding them from the code of morals
which it was His purpose to establish, and that
His immediate followers and their successors for
nearly two centuries, firmly believed that war
was forbidden by their Divine Master. We have
ed upon their conscences, that when called by
the rulers Of that day to serve soldiers. no
earthly consideration suffering could induce
them to swerve from this article Of primitive
Christian faith
And the early writers, Ireneus, Justin Martyr,
and Tertullian, affirm their belief that the
prophecy which declares that men should turn
their swords into p!oughshares, and their spears
into pruning hooks, was then fulfilled.
With the hope of enforcing our views upon
this subject, and for the purpose of shcwi ing that
they are neither wild nor visionary, we here Of
fer the sentiments Of persons respecting it, who
lived at different periods of time, and were emf
nent for their piety or learning.
"War," says Erasmus, "does more harm to
the morals of men than even to their property
and persons. and again, "They who defend
war, must defend the dispositions which lead to
war. and these dispositions are absolutely forbid.
den by the Gospel"
Richard Watson, Bishop Of Landau, asserts
that "W ar has practices and principles peculiar
to itself, which but ill quadrate with the rules
of moral recttude, and are quite abhorent to the
benignity of Christianity.'
Edward Hyde, Earl of Claredon and Lord
high Chancellor of England, says, that, "War
introduces and propagates opinions and practices
as much against Heaven against earth. it lays
our nature and our manners as waste as our gar
de ana habitations and We can as easily pre-
serve the beauty of the ono. a. the integrity Of
the other. under the cursed jurisdiction of drums
and tYumpets"
W iliam Law, pious minister OF the church
of England. and well know as the author of"A
Practical Treatise on Christianity" ayers that
"There is not virtue Of Gospel goodness, but
has its deathblow from war"
Tho eminent Dr.. v. Knox. after Remaining
that almost all the professors have some charae.
teristic manner. observes, "lt happens, unforto-
natey, that prodigacy, Ibe rtinism, and infideli-
ty, are thought by weaker minds, almost a. ne
cessary apart ofa soldiers uniform, az his shoul-
der knot. To hesitate at an oath, to decline in-
toxication, to profess a regard for religion would
be almost ~ ignominious to refuse 4 chal-
ie nge-"
Tho British poet Southey, notwithstanding he
had en- logized the heroes Of his native land, was
constrained to speak in terms Of high common
dation Of those who refuse to fight, and he de-