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    on the Peace Society Tracts , " which appeared in the Christian Observer for February last , and which , though

    not unanswerable , -will never , I am now persuaded , be fairly answered through the medium of that publication ; I inclose copies of two letters , which were addressed to the Editor

    of the Christian Observer , on the successive appearance of two Numbers , in which there is no other notice of the subject than a mere line of acknowledgment to Correspondents . *

    By this means you will be enabled to judge how far I am justified in transferring this communication to the Monthly Repository , and should you tifcink proper to insert it , I shall be much obliged by its early

    appearance . E . An Apology for the Peace Society . ( Addressed to the Christian Observer , in repfy to the remarks of X . Y . Z ., on the Peace Society Tracts . )

    Tk ( at the universal diffusion of Christianity will have a tendency to promote universal peace , so far as its principles are figfatly apprehended , no one , it is presumed , will deny . And while the Divine Being continues to make use of human agejicyas the

    means of dispensing the blessings of his gospel to the guilty sons of men , \ t is evidently the duty of every individual who has tasted of the heavenly gift , to recomfnend , as he has opportunity , the application of this sovereign

    remed y to all the evils an « l sufferings to which " fallen , afflicted humanity " is exposed . The Christian , whp has imbibed the spirit of his Divine Master , will esteem it at once his duty and his highest privilege to promote , to the utmost extent of his influence ,

    every object connected with the glory of God and the spiritual and temporal interests of his fellow-men ; and while he is steadily and peacefully pursuing the course ttiarked out for him in that wor $ , which is a lamp to his feet and a light to his path , it will ever be easy for him to manifest the perfect

    » M « . H ! ¦»¦! ¦»>¦» - » - ¦« nn » -m . ¦•¦ » * " ¦ —¦ ¦ , ¦ .. , , i . * These were received , hut the insertion Hf them fa not necessary to the readers j afftdtttttftnttitigr ***** Apology ? Accident 4 mr |) rerenteA thi « , miUk several other vadrotU * ii » mmnmcB ^ ior » B from appe * rittg tfarlfer * & *«

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    consistency of his principles and ^ conduct with all the obligations of civil and social life . That He who caTJed the light out of darkness , can , and evidently does , bring good out of natural and moral

    evil , the experience of all ages wiW abundantly testify ; but surely the spirit of that divine precept which forbids us to do evil that good may come * , equally prohibits the toleration of evil , when the remedy is placed

    within our reach . The principle of X . Y . Z ., if pursued to its full extent , would lead us to regard every species of moral evil with a kind of religious veneration ; to view it , in short * as ^ the natural source of those blessings which the merciful Parent of the

    universe is continually bestowing oa his ungrateful and rebellious offspring-If this be a just view of the subject * the efforts of philanthropy may , frotti this moment , cease , and human agency no longer presume to interfere with the designs of Omnipotence .

    By pronouncing * war a necessary evil , the writer under review at once assumes the subject of the controversy , and advances a sentiment contrary , I conceive , to the express declarations of the word of God . Does not the language of prophecy direct our hopes

    to a period when war shall cease unto the ends of the earth , w * hen man , renewed by the knowledge and love of his Creator , shall learn its destructive arts no more ? And when we regard the ordinary operations of Provideiide , as displayed in the government of the

    universe , to what means must we naturally look for the accomplishment of this divine purpose ? Is it not more probable that the end will be effected by human agency , than by ajiy miraculous interposition of the Divine hand ? There are cases in which it

    is plainly our duty to believe , and quietly wait for the salvation or * God i there are others in which our exertiotts should accompany our prayers . A . Ud if human efforts may , by the blessing © f the Almighty , be rendered effectual to the establishment of titfiversa ) and

    permanent tranquillity , why should these efforts ^ be delayed ? Can any future pertod * be niore propitious tfran the present , 4 br the dissemination of just and benign principles , for the correction « tf those angry pastfpns whence warn arise ? Surely the ptiin-

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    An Apology for the Peace Society . 567

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1818, page 507, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2479/page/35/