war and the beauties of peace, they expand and improve their own minds, and store them with a fund of scriptural and historical information which will aid them much in the adoption of a proper course of education for their children. Their sons will feel the benefit resulting from it; and nations, in whose councils these sons may one day sit, may be enabled to attribute their preservation from war, with all its direful calamities, to the persuasive reasoning, the calm, dignified and irresistible eloquence of statesmen tutored by mothers professedly advocates of the principles of peace.

The Philadelphia Ladies' Peace Society, auxiliary to the American Peace Society, was formed in the beginning of March, 1836, after the delivery of an address on the subject of peace by Mr. Ladd, General Agent of the parent society. A constitution was formed similar to that of most other ladies' peace societies, embodying those principles above alluded to, as being in entire conformity with the gospel of peace. The subscription is fifty cents a year; the Advocate to be sent to those paying one dollar a year; for life-membership, ten dollars. The society is yet very small, numbering only about thirty annual, with four life-members. They are required by the constitution to meet once a quarter. The society being so small, and consequently low in funds, has been able to spare as yet, from contingent expenses, but fifty dollars to pay the parent society; but trusts, notwithstanding much depression, that by patient perseverance in the good cause, it will be enabled soon to contribute something further in aid. The society has to lament that so few books, tracts, and other publications, have been received for circulation in this city. It is believed the cause would be much promoted by a distribution of such; and we hope before long to be better prepared to meet the wishes of our friends in placing such before them.

The abolition of war from the earth, with its invariable attendants, rapine, murder and bloodshed, we may never see; it may not be in our day or generation; but we must believe the promise of God, that the blissful time will come, when the "nations shall learn war no more. And we are emboldened

to hope that our feeble efforts may be as one instrument, though weak in his hand, to work for the promotion of that blissful time.

In closing this report, we cannot offer a more appropriate address to heaven for preservation from the calamity of war, than that in the beautiful language of Dr. Hunter:-" And must it be? Father of mercies! must it needs be that war should continue to waste the nations? Shall the earth be for ever a field of blood? Must the peace of private families, and the repose of kingdoms be eternally disturbed by lust and pride, avarice and ambition, envy and revenge? Blessed God! send forth the spirit of thy Son into the hearts of men. Prince of peace! command this troubled ocean into a calm. Spirit of love! put a full end to bitterness and wrath. Subdue this carnal mind, which is enmity against God. Glorious gospel of salvation! as thou bringest good tidings from God to men, restore good-will to men among themselves."

Philadelphia, May 31, 1837.

Reports from Agents of the Society.

Of these reports, though fuller and more encouraging than usual, our limits will allow us to give only a meagre abstract.

Mr. WILLIAM WARREN, whose services were secured for our cause during the recent spring vacation in the seminary at Andover, spent most of his time in the county of Essex, Mass. He delivered eleven lectures, usually to respectable and attentive audiences, and was received with general favor. The pressure of the times deterred him from soliciting much pecuniary aid; but the friends of the cause where he went, contributed enough to defray all the expenses incident to the agency.

Mr. W. spent a part of his time in public and private correspondence on the subject of peace; and he finds “the sentiment of the public mind to be, that war, in general, is a sin, and always a great evil both in a physical and moral point of view; but the impression that war is sometimes indispensable and innocent, perverts and depraves essentially the public sentiment, and forms a

powerful barrier to the prevalence and triumph of pacific principles," very much, he thinks, as the supposition of its being innocent and necessary to use ardent spirits moderately, held back the temperance reform.

The General Agent of our society, who lives by toiling for the cause, has been at work with even more than bis usual assiduity and acceptance. Both the press and the pulpit bear witness almost every week to his untiring zeal in behalf of " peace on earth, and good-will to men. He attended on our behalf the General Conference of Maine, where the cause "met with cordial notice in the reports concerning the state of religion, and in the speeches and prayers made on the occasion; and two resolves were passed after a short speech" from Mr. Ladd. "I expect," he says, "to lecture every Sabbath, and have made engagements for two months to come." He speaks of some of our friends in Maine as "taking a fresh start in the cause," and of one purposing to contribute one hundred dollars a year to its aid. Cannot a score or two of our friends "do likewise?"

The Corresponding Secretary has devoted his whole time to the cause. Beside laboring in this vicinity seven weeks, he has taken a tour into the western part of Massachusetts, and returned through Vermont and New Hampshire, having travelled in our service since the annual meeting fourteen hundred and thirty-nine miles, and delivered forty-nine lectures and addresses on the subject of peace.

One Sabbath he spent in Franklin county, Mass., and found in Charlemont and Heath, the places where he labored, a disposition to lend a favorable ear to the claims of our cause. In Berkshire county, he spent a month, visiting the most important places, and delivering seventeen lectures and addresses in Sheffield, Great Barrington, Stockbridge, Curtisville, Lee, Lenox, and Pittsfield. In every one of those places, the cause was received with favor, and the people, though before unacquainted with its claims as a distinct department of Christian benevolence and reform, contributed to the funds of the society, and in some instances made their pastors life-members;-an example which we hope will be imitated through the county and the land.

The Secretary, also, attended the Peace Convention in Middlebury, Vt., delivered an address at its opening, and took part in its deliberations. He thinks the State ripening for a rich harvest in the cause, and hopes for important and decisive results from the State Auxiliary just organized there, if the friends of peace do their duty by coming up to the work in solid phalanx. He was also present at the General Association of New Hampshire in Claremont on the 22d ult., and delivered an address before that body in explanation of our object, and the measures by which we hope to see it accomplished.

Encouragements. The public mind is waking more and more to the subject of peace. Ministers cheerfully admit it into their pulpits like any other part of the gospel, begin to examine it for themselves, and are in most cases willing to preach upon it as a distinct and important part of their message from the God of peace. The great mass of the community seem ready to hear with candor and kindness on the subject; nearly all the congregations addressed by our Secretary, have shown a willingness, even amidst the pressure of the times, to afford pecuniary aid; and nothing is needed but the blessing of God, promised in answer to prayer, upon a right and vigorous use of the means he has himself appointed for the spread of peace wherever the gospel itself prevails.

Discouragements. Want of funds to carry on our operations with the vigor, and to the extent necessary for any decisive impression on the whole community-want of agents to rouse the public mind from its strange lethargy on this subject, and put them upon such inquiries as will ere-long set them right both in theory and practice;-want of publications sufficient in number, variety, and range of circulation, to meet the existing demand of minds already awake more or less to this cause;-ignorance, or misconception of our object, principles and measures, arising mainly from culpable neglect on the part even of leading men in the ministry and the church to examine what the Society has published. Discouragements from such causes ought not to exist; and we trust that the Christian community will not suffer them to exist much longer.

2. RESOLUTIONS ON PEACE.

"The Mass. Baptist Convention held its thirty-fifth anniversary in Boston, June 1, 1837. The President, LEVI FARWELL, in the chair.

Rev. Addison Parker introduced the Rev. Thomas Thompson to the convention, who offered a set of resolutions upon the subject of peace; upon which Rev. Messrs. Professor Knowles and A. Sampson were appointed a committee to confer upon the subject with the Rev. Mr. Thompson. The committee reported the following preamble and resolution, which were unanimously adopted by the convention:

Whereas the members of this convention regard the custom of deciding international disputes by an appeal to arms as a relic of barbarisin, and unworthy the countenance of civilized and Christian communities; believing that war is in opposition to the spirit and precepts of Christianity, an insuperable hindrance to missionary efforts, and to the spread and firm establishment of the Christian religion; that it produces a disregard of the duties of the individual to himself, to his neighbor, and to God; that it tolerates a constant neglect, and often induces an utter profanation of the Sabbath; that it engenders looseness of principle, licentiousness of manners, and brutality of conduct, thus destroying moral and religious sentiment, degrading the character, and debasing the soul; therefore,

Resolved, That this convention recommend to their brethren and friends, throughout the State, to promote by all proper means the cause of peace."

Resolves of the Woburn Association, June 6, 1837.

1. That, as only an application of the gospel to the intercourse of nations can ever put an end to the custom of war, such an application ought in our view to be made without delay by every Christian nation.

2. That the professed followers of the Prince of peace cannot consistently remain silent concerning this custom in the heart of Christendom, but ought to bear their decided testimony against it as contrary to the spirit of the gospel, highly offensive to God, and deeply injurious both to the temporal and the spiritual interests of mankind.

3. That the subject of peace, being in its strictly evangelical principles and bearings a part of the gospel, ought to be discussed in the pulpit by ministers on the Sabbath just like the other principles of the Bible, although some of its secular aspects and connections should be brought forward only on other days of the week.

4. That the whole church of Christ, so long indifferent to this part of the gospel, ought without delay to examine the subject of peace in the light of the Bible, and, having ascertained what it teaches concerning the custom of war, to put in practice its pacific principles, and use the means best adapted to make them influential wherever Christianity prevails.

5. That Christian parents and teachers ought to take special pains in educating all the young under their care to an habitual abhorrence of war, and love of peace, by inculcating the principles laid down by our Saviour in his sermon on the mount, and guarding them against the bad influence of toys, and pictures, and books, and military parades calculated to foster a war-spirit. 6. That we highly approve the object of the American Peace Society, and commend it to the prayers and patronage of our brethren in the churches.

General Conference of Maine, at North Yarmouth, June 27, 1837. At 8 o'clock the business transactions of the conference were resumed. After prayer by Rev. C. Hobart, Mr. Ladd addressed the auditory on his favorite and essentially important subject. His statements included reasons for the following resolutions, which on his motion were adopted:

1. That we have great reason to thank God and take courage in view of the great success which has attended the cause of peace during the past year. 2. That this conference recommend that ministers should continue to preach, Christians to pray, and all to contribute in favor of the cause of permanent and universal peace.

From the Report to the Conference on the state of religion in Maine. A delightful harmony reigns among Christians, which is not enjoyed in some other parts of our country, through the discussion of agitating questions; and this blessing we enjoy, not because the topics discussed are not known and examined here, but because of the grace of God bestowed upon the churches; and in part, without doubt, because, through divine goodness, the principles of peace have been propagated, studied and adopted. It has been said by one best qualified to judge, that these principles have prevailed more widely here than in any other part of our country; and we are therefore probably in advance of every other community on earth in the heavenly cause of peace. Resolutions of the Gen. Association of N. H. in Claremont, Aug. 22, 1837. 1. That the Bible, and the present circumstances of Christendom, call for energetic efforts in the cause of peace.

2. That Christian parents are especially bound to train their children in the principles of peace, and carefully guard them against the manifold and insidious influences calculated to excite a love for military glory, and a spirit of war.

3. That we commend the American Peace Society to the efficient support of ministers and Christians in our connection, and that we recommend to ministers to preach annually upon the pacific principles of the gospel, and to the churches to observe the concert of prayer on or near the 25th of December in each year for the universal prevalence of peace.

3. NEW SOCIETIES ORGANIZED.

A Convention, called at the request of nearly three hundred friends of peace in Vermont, met in Middlebury on the 15th of August, and, after an address from Rev. Geo. C. Beckwith, was organized by the choice of Rev. THOMAS A. MERRILL, D. D., Chairman, and Rev. O. S. MURRAY, Secretary. After appointing committees, and inviting the friends of the cause from other States to take part in its deliberations, the Convention adjourned over the exercises of Commencement in the college to Wednesday evening, when addresses were made, and several resolutions adopted.

On Thursday morning, the Hon. WILLIAM SLADE, in the absence of Dr. Merrill, was called to the chair, and the greater part of the day spent in discussing the principles on which the proposed society should be organized. The members were unanimous in thinking it expedient to form a State Peace Society, and disagreed only on the question, whether friends of peace, while doubting the unlawfulness of wars purely defensive, yet desirous to cooperate in behalf of a great common object with those who deny the right of self-defence unto death in any case, should be admitted to membership. The discussion, though earnest and protracted, was in the best spirit of fraternal caudor and kindness, and resulted in the adoption of the following constitution.

ART. 1. This society shall be called the VERMONT PEACE SOCIETY, auxiliary to the American Peace Society.

ART. 2. This society, being founded on the principle that all war is contrary to the spirit of the gospel, shall have for its object to illustrate the inconsistency of war with Christianity, to show its baleful influence on all the great interests of mankind, and to devise means for insuring universal and permanent peace.

ART. 3. Any person may become a member of this society, by signing its constitution, conforming to the spirit of the foregoing article, and paying one dollar at the time of signing, and one dollar annually thereafter.

ART. 4. Every member shall be entitled, without further charge, to some peace periodical, and every contributor, to one half the amount of what he contributes, in the publications of the American Peace Society.

ART. 5. The officers of the society shall be a President, Vice Presidents, a Corresponding Secretary, a Treasurer, and an Executive Committee of not less than five, with power to supply all vacancies in any office of the society, and to superintend its general concerns until successors are chosen.

ART. 6. The annual meeting of this society, for the choice of officers, the hearing of reports from the Secretary and Treasurer, and the transaction of

the incidental business, shall be held at such time and place as the Executive Committee may appoint.

ART. 7. Any member may withdraw from this society, by notifying the Secretary of his wish to that effect.

ART. 8. This constitution may be altered, on recommendation of the Executive Committee, or of any six members of the society, by a vote of two thirds present at any regular meeting.

OFFICERS.-Rev. THOMAS A. MERRILL, D. D., President.

Vice Presidents-Hon. Jeduthun Loomis, Montpelier; Rev. Burton Carpenter, Addison; Rev. Charles Walker, Brattleborough; Timothy Goodale, Esq., Jamaica; Dea. Asahel Bingham, Cornwall.

Professor J. Hough, Middlebury, Corresponding Secretary.

E. W. Drury, Esq., Middlebury, Treasurer.

Executive Committee-Dr. J. A. Allen, Rev. J. F. Goodhue, W. G. Johnson, John Frazer, B. F. Haskell.

The convention adopted a series of important resolutions, only a part of which can we insert in our present number.

1. That the evils of war, physical, political and moral, call upon patriots, philanthropists and Christians, to unite their efforts for its abolition.

2. That we deem it as practicable to abolish war as any other evil custom. 3. That as our only hope of success, in our efforts for the removal of this evil, is in the power of truth, and as wrong views on this subject are extensively prevalent even in the church, we must regard it as an imperious duty, that special means should be employed to explain and enforce the principles of the Christian religion on this subject.

4. That we request all ministers of the gospel within the State to preach on the subject of peace, on or near the 25th of December of each year; and all churches of every name to unite on that day in the annual concert of prayer for the general prevalence of peace through the world, and to take up a collection after the sermon or the concert, in aid of the American Peace Society.

5. That we respectfully invite the associations of ministers and churches, connected with the several religious denominations in this State, to take up this subject at the first convenient opportunity, and adopt such measures as they may think best for the furtherance of this common cause.

6. That we request the friends of peace in this State to use their efforts in extending the circulation of the Advocate of Peace, and other publications of the American Peace Society.

We hope our friends of every denomination in Vermont will rally under the society, nor suffer any obstacle to prevent the cordial and efficient coöperation of those who equally desire the prevalence of peace through the world. Perfect coincidence of views can never be expected on every point of a subject so vast, complicated and difficult; but the ground of common views, and measures, and efforts, is broad enough for all the friends of peace to stand upon, and work together in accomplishing the object of the society. Vermont opens a promising field; and we trust in the wisdom and zeal of our friends there to cultivate it with success.

A Society, called the New-York Peace Society, has been organized in the city of New-York. We have no space in this number for its constitution, but would just say, that one of its specified and favorite objects is, "to urge the establishment of a Congress of Nations.” We have not received a list of the officers; but from its Corresponding Secretary, we learn, that there are now about one hundred and seventy members; that the society holds a weekly meeting for discussion; that funds have been pledged for the temporary support of an agent; and that other measures are in train for promoting the cause. Our friends in New York, though few in the society at present, seem in good spirits. "We find," says our correspondent, "that we are pulling the right string. Reference of disputes, not sacrifice of rights, proves to be the taking thing, and is, I believe, the wise thing, and the right thing." May God speed any efforts, not wrong in themselves, for the accomplishment of the great object before us!