The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1895-02-23
Sometimes Necessary for the Welfare
of Mankind.
1t VIII Pass Away When the Spirit of
the Prince of Peace Shall Per-
meate the Hearts of Men.

Wellington, who had witnessed so
many scenes of human carnage,
once said: Take my word for it,
if you had seen but one day
of war, you would pray to Almighty
God that you might never see such a
thing again, and perhaps would prefer
the hardest terms of peace to just war. "
Before Parliament he said, that 'If I
could avoid by any sacrifice whatever
even one month of civil war in the coun-
try to which am attached, would sacri-
fee my life. | say that there is nothing
that destroys property, prosperity and
demoraliZes character to the degree that
civil war does"
Martial music may inspire patriotism,
and we hear in it the sublime and meas
ured tread of great armies, but there is in
it also this discordant note:
at talks of ravaged plains
And burning towers and ruined swains.
And mapgled limbs, and dying groans,
And widows tears, and orphans means,
And all that Misery's hand bestoWs
To Ill the catalogue OF human woes"
But there is a deep philosophy in Shake
speare's utterance on this subject:
80 war, thou son of hell,
Whom angry heayens do make their min
lster.'
While 1 recognize the fact that
Abstract war is horrid,
sign to that with all my heart"
Yet at the same time we believe that
Civilization does get Jared
Sometimes upon powder cart"
That the Sovereign Ruler of the nations
may give sanction TO war, and use this
terrible weapon in the chaslisement, or
the destruction of nations. cannot we'll be
doubled by those who believe His Word,
or study His dealing with men in the
history of the past.
When j braham returned from the
slaughter ofthe Kings, and the deliverance
of Lot, he was met by MiIchizedek, a
priest Of the Most High God, who blessed
him, and said: Blessed be the Most
High God which hath delivered thine
enemies into thine hand"
The descendants OF Abraham were COM
missIoued by God to enter the land of
Canaan with a war OF determination. OF
one OF these sanguinary struggles it is
recorded: There fell down many slain,
because the war was OF God" The Jews
in their wars with surrounding nations
recognized God as their leader and sup
port, and He is spoken OF as 1.-THE Lord
mighty in battle" 1t does not follow
from what has been said that all wars
have had the divine sanction, but rather
that some wars are not OF God. Nor does
it follow that God approves of the cruel
ties and barOarities often associated with
war: but that war IS not always and abb
soluUely evil. Such wars as have the di-
vine approval must possess an ethical
element, otherwise they would be mimi
cable to divine goodness. Such is the
moral condition OF man that this severe
treatment seems to be necessary tor his
correction and discipline. Desperate
diseases require desperate remedies. But
no one thinks of charging the physician
who prescrIDes them or the surgeon who
performs painful operation with cruelty;
~ hN -
correction 10 the wllIful, disobedient
child with want Of parental affection. To
withhold the rod, we are told, would be
10 hate the child.
II may look hard to see criminal
thrust behind the bars, or hung, or shot
down in resisting the authorities. But
the good OF society demands ii. The
powers that be are ordained Of God. Law
and order must be maintained. In Just
war we only have these things on a larger
scale. We may not always be able to see
the good that Is to come from such APP
parent evil With our limited range of
observation it may seem all wrong and
TO be working only evil. But we should
remember how iar-reaching and compre-
hensIve are the plans OF that One who
''sltteth upon the circle of the earth and
the Inhabitants thereof are as grasshOp-
pers." his plans and purposes reach TO
all time, and eternity as well. As the
H. u
looks TO the welfare Of man as a race, and
IN all his proVldential dealings with us
he seeks the general good. IN carrying
ont his wise and benehcent designs il
may be necessary to lift up one nation
and to cast down another; or to use one
TO chasten or correct another. The de-
strucuOn OF the antedIluyians was q ne
COSTLY II man be preserved upon the
earth and Gods plans and purposes con-
corning the race be carried out.
If Abraham ana his descendants are
chosen as peculiar people, it is because
the general good demands it, for through
them alone can truth be preserved, aud
the worship OF the one true God be main
tanned and the incarnation be secured
The general good of the nations then
living and OF those yet to live on the
earth demanded the destruction of the de-
generate tribes OF the land Of Canaan.
And one VINO has studied the moral de-
Raueracy of these tribes in the light of
modern research, has declared that "the
nations Of the earth to-day ought to
thank GOD that he bloJted them from the
lice OF the earth"
The same law has been working its re-
suits in modern times. We see its effect
in the waning of savage tribes before the
onward march OF Christian civilization.
as in the case OF the American Indians
and the natives OF the Sandwich Islands
and in many other instances. This fur
nlshes no excuse for wrongs perDetrated
against such tribes or neglect on the part
OF civilized nations to try To elevate and
save them, but ii illustrates the principle
IN the divine government that the tree
that VIII not bear fruit shall not be al
lowed to cumber the ground" There is
to-day great siagnanL sea Of humanity
in China which has made no progress for
centuries, but has stood in the way OF
Christian civilization. The Lord seems
TO De using war to stir up this Staunani
pool, and that through peculiar people
who have saved themselves from the con-
sequences OF national degeueracy and in
activity, and are spring!ng suddenly into
new vigorous national life. China
must awake and get out OF the way OF the
onward march OF moral and intellectual
development or be broken in pieces.
War, il has been said. was the first real
CiviliZing power that came TO England
In our own history as a nation we re-
member that the war OF the revolution
secured to us our independence and made
possible that form OF government which
has been a leavenlng influence among
the nations OF the earth, and is still q
patent force in remodeling the Govern.
menis of the world. The war Of Isl.
seemed TO be necessary TO save the Amer
lean lag from insult on the high seas anG
TO demonstrate TO the world that Ameri-
can seamen were theTpeers in yalor auG
patriotism OF those of any other nation.
1t was war that saved :this fair land
from the dominion OF medieval institu-
tons ana established among us the DOW.
erful language, laws and liberties OF the
English race. 1t required d baptism O.
blood 10 atone for the great sin OF slavery
and TO dissolve the letters that bound the
oppressed millions in our land.
We may look back overt scenes in
our calm and quiet moments, and think
what might have been if the wicked pas.