Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-07
PRELATE'S PLEA FOR PEACE
CARDINAL GIBBONS breaches A
SERMON AGAINST WAR.
He Reviews the Great Struggles of tn
Past Century-Future Looks
OminOus.


sermon at high mass in the Cathedral in
Baltimore in which he reviewed briefly
the events of the century just closed, with
special reference to the wars which have
been waged during that period, as a pref
ace to an urgent plea for universal peace.
He incidentally touched upon the subject
OF the proposed increase of the standing
army in this country, pointing out the evil
results arising from the maintenance of
large bodies of armed men in Europe, aE1
expressed the hope that similar conditions
may never obtain in this country. The SER
mon was as follows:
Isaiah, chapter 40: The mission of Jesus
Christ on earth was a mission Of peace.
He came to establish in our hearts triple
peace, peace with God, peace with our
nelghbOr, and peace with ourselves. Mans
peace with God was dissolved by his re-
bellion against his Maker Christ came to
restore man to the friendship of God by
sacrifice of His life the cross. He tells
US that this peace is to be maintained by
the observance of the commandments.
There is much peace, LORD, To those that
keep Thy law, and for them there is no
stumbling block
He has taught us to have peace with
our neIghbor by observing the eternal prin-
clples or justice and charity, by dong unto
others what We would wish others to do
unto us. And He tells us that we will have
peace with ourselves by keeping our pas
slOnS subject TO reason, and our reason
subject to faith
But Christ's mission of peace had a
wider scope than to the individual man.
HIS mission was also to bring peace to the
family and society. AS the God Of Peace.
which He is called by st. Paul, He brings
peace to the human neart AS the ra,ner
Of Peace. He brings peace to the family,
-and as the Prince Of Peace, as He is called
nv aia He hrin 70
the commonwealth.
Before the advent Of Christ war was the
rule, peace the exception, throughout The
world. So regular, incessant and haoItual
was war before the coming of our Savior
that the sacred writer in the Book of Kings
speaks of certain season of the year as
the usual period for the reopenipg Of hos
tiities.
I'm pagan Rome the Temple of Janus was
closed in time Of peace and kept open in
time Of war. From the reign of Tullus Hos
titus, the third King of Rome, to Augustus
Caesar, a period covering $50 years the
temple was closed only for six years SO
that Rome enjoyed only six years of tram
quillity against GA OF warfare"
After reviewing the wars Of the past
century he continued: 1T is a subject of
of peace that Christian Europe presents
today the spectacle of a huge military
camp. All the nations OF the continent,
as we'll as England, are armed to the teet h.
and are living in mutual dread and distrus
of one another. They are devoured by an
Unsuitable ambition Of conquest and do
minion, or by fear of invasion. When You
see heavy clouds surcharged with the cleo
trcity OF war hanging over these nations
you may expect the thunderclap Of battle
to resound at any moment. Armed nations,
like armed individuals. are a constant men-
ace to one another, and are easily provoked
to fight.
And these military forces, instead OF di-
minishing, are, unhappily. increasing every
year. AS soon as one nation augmentS its
armament It's neighbor feels impelled to do
likewise in sef-protection. According to a
report compiled and published in 1887 from
official sources the army list of Europe on
a war footing comprised nearly fourteen
millions of men, and the annual cost of
maintaining the military establishments,
even in time of peace, exceeded SIX hundred
millions Of dollars. At the present time
the cost would probably amount to one
thousand millions.
when we consider the immense Lumber
of men that are torn from the bosom #
their families in the prime of life and
withdrawn from active industrial pursuits;
when we see these young men negotiating in
ideness in time of peace and luxurlating in
license and dissipation In time Of war, We
may form some idea of the moral, material
and social evils resulting from such sys-
tenn. In contemplating these standing
armies the CAIN observer might be forced
to conclude that European governments
were primarily esta blished to destroy rather
than to save lie, 10 FOSTER happiness ana
develop the resources of a country.
May God so guide our legislators and
statesmen that they may never be be-
trayed into initiating European govern
ments by the establishment Of formidable
standing armies. God forbid that we our-
selves flushed with recent victories, should
ever become intoxicated with the willie OF
imperialism or militarism, but may we al
WAYS follow the traditions of the fathers
of the republic.
Hitherto we have presented to the
world a beautiful spectacle. Europeans. ac-
customed at home to meet soldier or gen.
darme at every street corner, on arriving
in this country have been filed with sur
prise and admiration that nation of so
vast an extent and with such an immense
population contains an army Of only 25,DV'
men. They have been forcibly impressed
with the fact that they can travel from
Maine to California without meeting SIN
gle soldier. They see that every citizen of
the United States is soldier without uni
form, engaged in the active pursuits of
life and ready at moments notice to de-
fend his country. They would feel that we
are a strong nation because we cheerfully
bow to the majesty Of the law and are not
confronted and intimidated by military sa-
traps May this fair picture never be de-
faced"