The Washington herald., 1908-04-05

a yigor and devotion, at three score and
fifteen. which put younger men to shame.
On one Sunday he addressed IN the. morn
ing a great congregation In New York, IN
the evening In Philadelphia On the next
Monday morning ne was inspiring the
Philadelphia editors to service, and one
of the most eminent Of their number
wrote:
-'Dr Edward Everett Hale, the knight
errant of all things good. and especially
of promising causes III present need of a
defender, stopped into our editors room
last Monday morning with a word in be-
half Of project TO which he is devoting
several months OF his valuable time. DIR.
Hale Is a lifelong reformer and enthusi-
asst. but he does not suggest nor press on
their course things ehimeFicai or that are
without practical value. 1t Is said Of
him that he has Initiated or lent hand
to more good causes than any living man,
and we can well credit the assertion. He
is working now. in the evening of long
and fruitful life, with all the enthusiasm
of youth. and with q superb negligence Of
himself, for great project that is just
as sure to come as the twentieth century
dawns-the establishment of an inteFna-
tional law court Just as certain as that
the reign of law has spread its blessed IN
tiuence over regions of human activity
once dark and bloody with un-Christian
strife and discOrd Is il that ultimately IL
will enter and control this last refuge of
lanarchv. The signs are evident that reason
and Justice and law viii in this interna-
tienal realm supplant the awful arbiter
that now determines too many disputes
and crushes TO the earth whole peoples
by the weight of military preparation.
But DR.. Hale wants to bring that happy
day TO the world sooner than it viii come
If he and others stay foolishly content
with the present IL is a day that he
may not and probably viii not. live 10
see. All the finer, then, is the picture
Of this grand old man, at time of
life when most Of Us lose faith IN
the future, or at least wish to be free
from its burdens, serenely putting on his
harness afresh in the service Of a great
cause. Where he leads surely there viii
be many 10 follow.
This was written nine years ago. and at
eighty-slx Dr. Hale is just as earnest and
active in the cause as he was at seventy
seven.
It was in the same spring of 1899 that
DR. Hale started his little weekly paper
The Peace Crusade, which he kept going
indefatigably until The Hague tribunal
was an accomplished fact. The half
dozen of us whom he pressed into service
TO help him will never forget those week
~ meetings I'm the dingy Bedford street
office. which he made so fruitful and in
spring II was a puzzle 10 me how his
bills We're to bee paid. bat some angel Of
the treasury seemed always to turn up in
the pinch. and he had a quite Galilean
{ 81.
was about his Fathers business the
morrow somehow would take care of it
self From that time TO this he has made
the peace cause the most prominent one
tn his little Lend-a-Hand Record Some
times almost the entire number has been
given up 20 it, and iatteTly he has taken
TO sending out monthly broadsides full Of
material concerning the cause 10 hun
dreds of the newspaper offices OF the
country. I sometimes wonder how many,
even OF his dear Boston and Washington
/ friends. realize what an immense work he
/ has done and is doing in this field
/ For years before 1859 DIR. Hale had been
the conspicuous preacher in America of
the gospel which The Hague conference
met 20 put into practice In the spring
of 1859. just before the celebration Of the
! centennial Of the Inauguration Of Wash
ington, he preached a sermon in the city
/ OF Washington on The twentieth cen
! tury." in the course of which he uttered
! the following significant prophecy Of a
permanent international tribunal,
The twentieth century VIII apply the
word OF the Prince of Peace 10 interns-
tional life The wisdom Of statesmen win