The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-07-15
SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.
Address of the Society Of Great
Britain to Lovers Of Peace.

Britain to Lovers Of Peace.
Penn. who was SO manifestly used in
uniting your country and ours by links
more lasting than any forged in the
furnace of war, wrote from this land to
his fellow colonists in Pennsylvania as
follows:
"Friends-The eyes of many are upon
you. the people of many nations Of Eu-
rope look on (your) country as land
of ease and quiet, and wish TO them
selves in vain the same blessings which
they conceive you enjoy"
These words still apply in large meas
ure. but over the clear sky of your civil
life has arisen the dark cloud of the
war with Spain.
We desire at this season of stress and
strain to associate ourselves I'm close
sympathy and fraternal greeting with
all who take their stand under the ban
ner of the Prince of Peace, and who
endeavor according to their ability to
save your great nation from the de-
moralizing influence of the war spirit.
You love your country your con-
stitution recognizes the equal rights of
humanity; you, with US, acknowledge
the supremacy of the King of Kings,
and desire To see the kingdom OF Christ
established on the earth. In our own
land we have known full well the trials
and the difficulties which arise when
the claims of conscience and the claims
nf a tasting
son to clash. At the time the pain and
perplexity may be great; in the end
they must disappear before those who
are intent upon seeking the truth with
their faces to the light.
We desire that you, as individuals,
may be strengthened with the might
which comes from above, and the wis
dom which is first pure then peaceable.
in your efforts to spread the glad It'd
ings of peace on earth and good VIII
to men. The prophet, in looking for
ward to the coming OF the Messiah, her.
aided time when "a man should be
as a hiding place from the wind,
covert from the tempest" May II be
your privilege TO stand firm against the
storms OF passion too often loosed by
war; to arrest the drift OF opinion
around you whenever IL may set In un-
worthy directions or towards unworthy
purposes. and to nurture into stronger
growth the desire to establish amity
among all peoples.
We thankfully recognize the efforts
you have made for the preservation Of
peace and for the redress of wrongs by
other means than those OF war. We
note also that in her quarrel with Spain
your country has been moved by the
claims OF the suffering Cubans rather
than by any greed of conquest. But IL
has ever been and IL remains true to-
day, that appeal to the sword is the
abandonment of reason, and that un-
der its sway the innocent suffer far
more than the guilty.
As citizens OF Great Britain we in
deed are in no position to address your
nation on the evils OF war. We ac-
knowledge with humiliation that this
nation has sinned over and over again
in relying upon might rather than right
for the accomplishment of It's purposes,
but as we have urged upon our govern
ment that there are better ways of set
Ting disputes than the barbarous
methods of trial by battle, so with con-
fidence we desire your encouragement
in the appeals which you also may
make.
Mad rivalry over armaments I'm Eu-
rope is impoverishing and embittering
the peoples and spreading jealousy and
mistrust between nations. Under IL the
lOINtS WHICH, tdt diVnt DIfnE
health and strength to communities are
arrested and seem to be endangered.
our late revered fellow member. John
Bright. once pointed out, as I'm striking
contrast TO the oppression engendered
by the armaments OF the Old World.
the grand experiment presented by
the United States of America, where
he beheld many millions OF men happy
and prosperous without great armies
and great navies. without great debt
and without great taxes" We long.
not only for your sakes, but for the
sake of our common humanity. that
such grand experiment may not be
abandoned; but that. on the contrary,
IL may be carried forward with ever
courage and faith.
We earnestly desire that the ties OF
and mutual good will between
your people and ours may grow and
streng then; that the two nations may
agree to refer any disputes
arising hereafter between them TO the
decision OF some carefully appointed
judicial tribunal. and that by so doing
they may together lead the way for the
permanent establishment Of system
for appeals TO justice In the
place OF appeals 20 force among the
nations OF the earth.
IL IL our earnest prayer that by the
generous restraint OF conscious strength
there may be in your great country n
readiness To- end the present conflict.
thus evinclng 10 the world the forbear-
ance OF your nation. the earnestness
and sincerity OF your continued desires
for the promotion OF peace.
May you ever derive strength and en-
from the thought that
those who stand for righteousness are
ON the side of God. and He cannot fail.
CALEB n. KEMP. Clerk.