in 1857 given the appointment of Judge of the Supreme Court at Constantinople. So successful was he in his tenure of this post that some eight years later he went to China and Japan to undertake the work of organizing Consular Courts in those countries. He acted as chief Judge of the Supreme Court of China and Japan until his retirement in 1876. The building up of the Consular Court system in these countries, as well as in the Levant, was to a very large extent Sir Edinund Hornby's work, and in many ways it continues to show very evident traces of his influence and discretion. Long residence at Constantinople convinced him of the rottenness of the system of administration prevailing there, and, though he admired the Turks as a nation, he could not speak strongly enough against the Palace intrigues and enervating underground influences by which Turkey was, and is still, being so sorely injured.

Sir Edmund Hornby was a lifelong friend of the late Lord Hannen, and accompanied him to Paris for the sittings of the Behring Sea Arbitration Court. The subject of Arbitration was one that occupied much of his thoughts, and a few years ago he wrote a very valuable paper for the Herald of Peace, advocating the establishment in Switzerland of a school or faculty of international law to be kept up jointly by the Powers. This was subsequently reprinted in pamphlet form.

A FRENCH TESTIMONY RESPECTING THE
CONSCRIPTION.

Lord Wolseley has recently given an interesting and clever lecture on the advantages of military service to the prosperity of a nation. Monsieur le Député Jules Delafosse gives another view of the question; he says:

"I consider obligatory military service, such as we have conceived and practised (in France), the most pernicious agent of social demoralisation and national dissolution that exists in the world. I have the well-considered conviction that if we permit it to continue for twenty years longer the ravages it has already commenced, there will then be no longer either society or army, there will only be a disintegrated mass of people without bond of union, without discipline, and without cohesion.

Military service as at present constituted, separates thousands of young men from the centre where they have grown up, the careers they have commenced, and the simple and upright lives which they ought to follow, and when, after three years of this alienation, it gives them back to civil life, they turn to it no longer. Many of them have become accustomed to the life of towns, and many wish to remain in the cities, and do remain, becoming workmen without work, needy without employment, discontented and unclassed. The destruction of equilibrium appears to me a great danger of the present day, and I do not hesitate to say that I consider obligatory military service as one of the most powerful agents for recruiting the ranks of revolutionary Socialism."

"PEACE, NOT A SWORD."

THE ARBITRATION TREATY, JANUARY, 1897.
Peace, not a Sword! She claims to-day
The crown by Freedom wrought!
Victorious Peace, with power to sway
Free Life, free Speech, free Thought!
The Lord who gave the blind Seer sight
Hath led us up and on,

And, lo! our Milton's dream of Light
Fulfilled at Washington!

In this great hour of righteous pride,
Be hushed, ye Voices vain,
Which still invite the Crucified

To join the feasts of Cain ;
Not by the hypocrite's despair
Shall Love's last gift be priced,

Nay! Cain is Cain, although he wear
The livery of the Christ!

Now, while ye greet your Jingo-god,
Hounds of the mart and street,
We close the bloody winepress, trod
By fratricidal feet!

The strife which savage priests have sung
A thousand years shall cease,

For Glory's banner now is hung

In the great Halls of Peace.

Despair not, Men, though Time should bring.
But part of all ye crave :-
Did not the cry of Hampden ring
As far as Lincoln's grave?

The Voice which saith, "No brother's hand
May shed a brother's blood,"
Shall grow till men in every land

Are one vast Brotherhood!

Lo, now the seed by martyrs sown
Springs up, a goodly tree,

Let every Despot on his throne
Take heed, from sea to sea!
For he who still invokes the Sword
Shall by that same Sword fall,

While he whom Wisdom's Voice and Word
Redeem, must conquer all!

Ring out, glad bells! now Night hath fled,

The rose of Dawn shall bloom!

The Light that halo'd Whitman's head
Shines back on Shelley's tomb!
Under the bloodless Flag we stand
Which martyr-bards unfurled,
Heart linked to heart, hand joined to hand,
The Freedmen of the World!

12th January, 1897.

ROBERT BUCHANAN.

THE PREMIER ON THE TREATY.

Lord Salisbury concluded his address in the debate on the Queen's Speech as follows:-"The power of immediately going to a tribunal to settle these things would prevent a process so injurious to the goodwill of nations, and especially between two nations who understand each other unfortunately so well that if we are not friends it is almost inevitable we should be enemies.

A BULWARK AGAINST JINGOES.

"But there is still a further reason and advantage in the existence of the arbitration system; and this arises from the prevalence of popular institutions in most of the countries of the world. In most countries of the world there are Ministers who govern, and there are members of Parliament and others who criticise them. Those members of Parliament are of various shades of thought, but their body generally contains one special section of whom I speak with all respect, though I must give them a familiar name-they are known as 'Jingoes' in popular estimation. They are very patriotic men, and the warmth of their patriotism sometimes clouds their appreciation of details; but they exist in all countries. You will always find when you are discussing a matter with a Minister, that one of the principal subjects which preoccupies him is, how he is to furnish an account of the matter which shall be sufficiently soothing to this very excitable portion of his critics. Now, my belief is that a well working arbitration system would be an invaluable bulwark to defend the Minister from the Jingoes.' It would be impossible for them to accuse him of having trifled with the honour of the country, or with surrendering substantial advantages, if he could Well, I submitted the matter to an impartial tribunal as provided by treaty, and unfortunately the decision went against us.' It is impossible not to feel that a Minister, even of the most sturdy and patriotic character, would negotiate with a freer hand, and with more determination, if he were absolutely secured from danger or interference of this kind. But I am not saying this with any reference to our own country; because I think that in this country less than in others Ministers' hands are forced by criticisms of this sort.

say:

A LARGER VIEW.

"But take a larger view. What would you say is the great change which has passed over Europe since the older of us were young men? It is this tremendous increase in the burdens, which the necessity of self-defence has cast upon every nation of the world.' That burden goes on getting higher and higher; a larger and larger part of the population is devoted to military service; more and more money has to be spent in the provision of the mechanical apparatus of war; and, as the conquests of science are extended, not only are all previous efforts determined to be obsolete, and have to be thrown away, and something new introduced in their place, but a larger and larger proportion of the public wealth has to be devoted to this unremunerative purpose. The burden has become so serious to many nations that many have thought, that the day will come when nations will rather rush into war and provoke a decision once for all, than continue to groan under the sufferings which modern necessity forces upon them. I do not say that arbitration will put an end to this; but, while the evil is growing, surely it is our duty to make an effort, as time and opportunity offer, to provide some system which shall be in some degree a substitute for this ruinous necessity, and so apply to public war that remedy which was applied by the same means to private war many centuries ago. I believe that the measure we have taken will be principally valuable in this-that it will lead to other meisures of the sime kind, and that we- those of us who liveshall have the advantage of seeing the necessity for those vast armaments gradually disappear before the growth of that which we have begun, within the bounds of our own nation, to regard as a necessity of civilised life-the substitution of judicial decisions for the coarse arbitrament of force. This, my lords, if we achieve it, will be an achievement on which it will be pleasant to look back. I hope that this effort, small as it is, will be successful, and that others will have the privilege of carrying it out still further and of making its efficacy still greater."

BIRMINGHAM AUXILIARY OF THE PEACE SOCIETY. Our Agent, Rev. J. J. Ellis, sends the following report :November 23rd.-I visited the Social Club connected with Clark Street Adult Sunday Morning School, Ledsam Street, when the question "Shall England Adopt Compulsory Military Service," was the subject of debate.

November 25th. I attended a Conference of the Worcester and District Evangelical Free Churches; and in the evening availed myself of an offer to speak at a Gospel Temperance Meeting in the Public Hall, on "Changing Opinion on Social and other Question," the Rev. W. H. Neale, M.A., occupying the chair, November 26th.-Called on friends at Leigh-Sinton and Leigh; in the evening addressed a small meeting at Bromyard.

November 30th.-Attended a Conference of Free Churchmen at Wednesbury; in the evening addressed a meeting in the United Methodist Free Church on "Sympathy and Brotherhood." December 7th.-Rubery: Evangelistic Services, at which I spoke on "The War Spirit of Europe as Anti-Christian," in the second part on Some Victories of Faith." Next day, December 8th, I devoted to chats with nailers at their forge, &c., and left Peace literature at about four-fifths of the houses in Rubery and Rednall.

December 9th and 10th.-Dropped in at Council and social gatherings, that I might speak with ministers, and others about Peace Sunday.

I have attended ten gatherings in three weeks, and have booked about twenty engagements for January and February, 1897.

LIVERPOOL PEACE SOCIETY.

January 12th.-Mr. Thomas Crosfield delivered a lecture on "Jameson's Raid" to the St. Simon and St. Jude's Literary Society. The Rev. F. L. Downham presided, and the lecturer was supported by Mr. Arthur Boden and Mr. Thomas Pritchard. Mr. William Lewis addressed the members and friends of the Earle Road Presbyterian Band of Hope on Peace Principles.

THE LEEDS WOMEN'S PEACE AND ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION.

The Annual Meeting of the Leeds Women's Peace Association was held in the Library of the Friends' Meeting House, Carlton Hill, on Monday evening, the 4th January, the members and their friends numbering between sixty and seventy, first taking tea together, arranged by the ladies' committee. Subsequently, the business of the evening was proceeded with, Mrs. Lucy Walker, the President, in the chair. The Report alluded to work done during the past year, such as lectures and the distribution of literature, and contained an approving reference to the peaceful attitude of the local press, particularly the Yorkshire Post, on the Armenian question, which had persistently advocated the settlement without an appeal to war.

The judgment thrones are set, the sons of heaven
Shout for the joy on earth that shall not cease,
For now old Bethlehem's seed of holy Peace,
Dormant too long, has gloriously thriven;
And all the heroes who for Peace have striven
Come from their graves to tell us they have case,
And they whose hate forbade the fruits increase,
Sheathe their dark swords perforce, and are forgiven.
Star of the East! while still the angels' song

Was fresh in air, the wise men by thy light
Sought out the Prince of Peace, an infant weak.
Star of the West! by thee our wise men seek
To find the Christ in nations grown and strong;
And love and life triumphant over might.

II. D. RAWNSLEY, in the Star.

THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR ON THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATIONS.

The American Minister, the Hon. T. F. Bayard, who recently attended a dinner, at the Hotel Cecil, of the Article Club, in response to a toast, "The People of the United States," proposed by Cardinal Vaughan, said :—

"Well might his Eminence speak of their kith and kin beyond the Atlantic. They called us sincerely their cousins, and when they came nearer to their home and turned to Canada, it was not merely to their cousins, but to their half-brothers at least. There was nothing in the growth of Canada that ought not to awaken sympathy, pride and pleasure in the breast of a citizen of the United States. Between the people of the United States and of Canada and of Great Britain there ought to be no just obstruction and no obscuration. Depend upon it that what they needed, and almost the only thing that they needed, was a fair and clear understanding of what each desired. Let them not be kept apart by sharp phrases, which sometimes cut deeper than sharp swords. Let them, if they were to be honourable contestants in the cause of civilisation, resolve that their contest should be a fair, manly, gentlemanly, and generous contest. Most glad was he that he was selected to come to this country. He came from a friendly country to a friendly country. He would have been false to his duty if he had not spoken with the voice of a friend. He would have been insincere if he had not spoken that which he not only thought, but that which he felt. If in doing so he had evoked the displeasure of some, he might regret their displeasure in one sense, but he could not say that he was very sorry for it in another. If a man was to be censured for fidelity to the cause of amity between his nation and the nation to which he was supposed to be a friendly envoy, he thought he was rather to be congratulated. It was in no poor weik spirit of defiance, but rather in the sedate well-considered spirit of gratitude, that he reflected that in the performance of an international duty he had done something to bring the hands and hearts of the people of two countries closer together. In that reflection was his reward. It was his own. It belonged to him. He brought it here and he should carry it away from here, and he would keep it wherever he went.

JUST APPRECIATION.

No one of the workers in the Peace Movement, of whose labours in the formation of public opinion the Anglo-American Treaty is a result, has personally contributed more to its success than our esteemed Vice-President, Miss P. H. Peckover, of Wisbech. And this is what the Wisbech Advertiser justly says of it, and of her :

"In connection with this remarkable event, a paragraph in the Women's Column of a Cambridge paper may be quoted, bearing testimony to the indefatigable labours of Miss P. H. Peckover. Looking back for nearly half a century, the Peace Society has had consistent adherents in this town among the Society of Friends, who have been instant, in season and out of season, in disseminating the principles of peace, until to-day the Society has become a force that may be said to influence Sovereigns as well as Statesmen. Of the President of the Wisbech Peace Society 'Pertilote' writes as follows:-Those good women of large faith and quiet courage, like Miss Peckover, who long years ago went about talking of Arbitration versus War, and who were sneered at by many and pitied as foolish visionaries, are rejoicing to-day. I was going to say they were triumphing, but I do not think these women triumph in the ordinary sense, which is best described in that delicious slang word so dear to the lovers of "Alice Through the Looking-glass"-chortling. But they must feel suffused with joy as they read the new Treaty. England is to-day on the side of these gentle advocates of sense over force. God bless them. May it be now impossible that the English-speaking peoples should ever agaia draw the sword against one another, and may the friends of Peace, encouraged by this victory, carry their doctrines around the whole world.""

The Wisbech Local Peace Associasion distributed on Sunday, the 17th inst., among its juvenile members in the Sunday Schools, an ornamental card bearing the following inscription:-"In commemoration of the signing of the Anglo American Arbitration

Treaty, at Washington, January 11th, 1897-on behalf of Great Britain by Sir Julian Pauncefote, on behalf of the United States by Mr. Richard Olney, in the sixtieth year of Queen Victoria's reign." Reference was made to the circumstances under which the card was presented, and of which it is intended to be preserved as a memorial.

MR. COURTNEY'S APPEAL.

In an address to his constituents at Lostwithiel, in the first week of the year, Mr. Leonard Courtney made a noble appeal for Peace, which will awaken a response in the hearts of all lovers of humanity. After referring to the emotions which had been awakened by foreign questions and occurrences, Mr. Courtney continued::-

But emotions such as we have had, unless they led to something in the way of action, inight in the end prove more injurious than beneficial. Unless our good sentiment came to some action, our good sentiment left us worse men than when it came to us; and this emotion over Armenia would, he hoped, lead our countrymen to take a serious view, not merely of what our feelings should be towards others, but what our action should be, and to make us ready to join any demonstrations of international friendship, to give pledges of our sincerity in respect of desiring nothing for our own advantage, but in desiring above all to promote Peace and good-will among men. He had been warned that, in dealing with foreign affairs there, he might be treading on delicate ground, but he was confident that if he made an appeal to them to look at this matter as men, that appeal would not be in vain. As he had pointed out to them, Lord Salisbury had distinguished himself in a very good way throughout the whole of this matter, and he did not look on Lord Salisbury in that respect as differing from other statesmen if they had had the like responsibility. The appeal he (Mr. Courtney) made did not involve any question between Liberal and Conservative, any question between Home Rulers and Unionists; it was simply a question of humanity, and should he be afraid of an appeal to humanity, wherever made, in that constituency, or throughout the whole of the land? He was not; but when he looked abroad, and saw how nation was arming against nation, how the German Ministers were clamouring for an increase of their navy, how France was going to spend eight millions on her navy, and how we were invited to spend more on our navy, and how more and more nations were arming to the teeth against each other-when he called to mind the international jealousy of the European Powers, he could not shrink from appealing to them as men, as brethren, as Christians, to remember what their responsibility was, and what their duties might call upon them to perform, especially at this season of the year. He could not but believe that a serious appeal in such a matter would meet with a serious response, that all would feel that there was something incumbent on them to vindicate their sincerity, to show that they really meant what they said. The clergy, he thought, might do something in that matter. Hearing their sermons, he sometimes missed from them the note of international friendship, and he would ask them to use their powers to promote good feeling and to direct their efforts so as to promote the union of Peace amongst all the human family.

JOHN BRIGHT ON CAREFUL PREPARATION. Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., in a recent speech at Birmingham, referring to John Bright, said he took infinite pains in the preparation of his speeches, giving a week or more to the elaboration of his thoughts. Mr. Bright once told him in regard to his method that his object was in the first place to grasp clearly the central idea and main principle that he wished to impress upon his hearers, then to state it in the simplest words he could find in order that it might be understanded of all the people, and lastly, while avoiding every surplus word and unnecessary argument, to reinforce the text by such illustrations and arguments as suggested themselves to his mind. It was not all of them who could draw the bow of Ulysses. They could not hope to emulate Mr. Bright in his highest flights, but they could all follow his example in grudging no labour and no time in order to make absolutely clear to others the truth as it appeared to them.

CONTENTS.

Peace-Day, February 22nd

PAGE 201 203

In the latest letter received from Mr. Alfred E. Pease, the member for the Cleveland Division of Yorkshire, which was written on the day of the polling in Cleveland, but in ignorance of his nomination for the seat, he reported that, along with his travelling companion, Sir Edmund Loder, he was about to act as mediator or arbitrator in a tribal dispute. He represented the natives as friendly to the English in general, and especially to his party, and he hoped to succeed in his work as a pacificator.

THE BEHRING SEA CLAIMS COMMISSION. The Behring Sea Claims Commission celebrated the conclusion of its sittings at Victoria, B.C., on February 1st, with a farewell dinner. The written argument for Great Britain is to be sent in by March 31st, and that for the United States by the 10th of May.

ARBITRATION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND

COLOMBIA.

The Swiss Federal Council has appointed a court of Arbitration to settle the question pending between Great Britain and Colombia with regard to the construction of a railway between the River Magdalena and the

[PRICE 1d.

town of Medellin. The court consists of Dr. Schmid, Vice-president of the Federal Tribunal at Lausanne, Dr. Weber, Chief of the Legislative Section in the Justice and Police Department at Berne, and M. Weissenbach, ex-Director of the Central Railway.

THE MANICA ARBITRATION.

The award of Senator Vigliani in the Arbitration of the Manica land frontier dispute between Great Britain and Portugal, was given on the 30th January last. The decision, says Prof. Corsi, who acted as Signor Vigliani's secretary,was for the most part in favour of Great Britain. Taking the whole land in question, she has obtained four-fifths and even more of her claim, Portugal, however, has obtained the district of Massi Kessi, which had been the principal locality in dispute. The English delegate, Major Leverton, has expressed himself satisfied with the decision as just and equitable.

THE DELAGOA BAY ARBITRATION.

From Berne, under date February 20th, we are informed that "M. Nicole, the Swiss railway engineer, who was sent out at the beginning of the winter to report on the Delagoa Bay and Cape lines to the Transvaal, inspected the line from Lorenço Marques early in January. He has prepared his report, which deals with the difficult question of the amount to be paid by the Portuguese Government, as 'consequential losses,' to the English company and shareholders, and which will enable the Court of Arbitration to form some idea from an independent source. It is believed that on receiving M. Nicole's repert the Arbitration Court will at once come to a decision, and thus wind up the long-pending

The American Arbitrators, it is understood, will be Chief Justice Fuller and Justice Brewer, of the Supreme Court. King Oscar of Sweeden and Norway will act as fifth arbitrator in case of need.

The Arbitration will probably occupy a year and a-half, as the agents of Great Britain and Venezuela must deliver the complete statement of their respective cases in Paris, where the Arbitration Court will meet within eight months of the date of the ratification of the treaty. Three months additional are allowed for the submission of counter cases.

The signatures were written with a pen tipped with an eagle's feather and ornamented with a golden heart studded with diamonds. This was a present from the Venezuelan Government, and is now the property of Señor Andrade's brother.

THE GENERAL ARBITRATION TREATY.

This Treaty is still under discussion in the Senate. The Friends of Peace would do well not to be discouraged by the delay, and not to listen to all that is said about the Treaty being defeated, dead, or what not. It is simply going through the Constitutional course in the United States, where not the President or any other official has the power of ratification, but the representatives of the forty Sovereign States, to whom each Senator will have to account for his vote. No one would desire, at any rate ought to desire, the ratification to take place without due deliberation and discussion, which take time, and, as yet, little time has elapsed, scarcely over a month. In estimating the probable fate of the Treaty, one should rather look to the actual opinion and feeling of the constituencies than listen to the noise of debate-and the constituencies are safe. The people of the United States desire the ratification of the Treaty, and ratified it will be, therefore. Meanwhile, the delay and the discussion call attention to the principle of Arbitration, and will make the ratification all the more effective.

SENATOR SHERMAN'S STATEMENT.

February 21st.-This evidently is the view of Senator Sherman, who, a few days ago, made a statement with regard to the Arbitration Treaty which gives encouragement to its supporters, and which obviously derives importance from Mr. Sherman's position as prospective Secretary of State. He intimates in this pronouncement that the influence of Mr. McKinley's Government will be exerted in favour of the Treaty, which, in Mr. Sherman's opinion, is certain eventually to receive ratification. There is already, he says, a two-thirds majority in its favour in the Senate, and it will have even more friends after the new Administration comes into power on March 4th than it has now. It is clear that a postponement of the question is not alone advocated by those who are hostile to the Treaty. Some of the staunchest friends of Arbitration desire that the Treaty in its present form should be further discussed before it is ratified, and that this should be done now is impossible, owing to the necessity for considering the Appropriation Bills.

MORE LITTLE WARS.

"Civilisation doo3 git forrid," said the American humourist," sometimes upon a powder cart." That, according to the modern Jingo theory, is her recognised and proper way of getting forward; and Great Britain

is her missionary. So, indeed, it would seem. During the last month she has had three little wars in hand in the Niger district in Western Africa. Concerning that against the Foulahs, it is announced, that a treaty of peace with Nupé was signed on the 5th inst. The treaty declares that the Emir Abu Bekri, having fled the country, is deposed, and that Muhammed is made Emir in his stead. The Royal Niger Company is to administer Southern Nupé, as well as a strip of country three miles wide on the northern bank of the river. Muhammed is to administer the remainder of the country under the direction of the Company. A third expedition proceeds against Ilorin with, it is said, only 300 troops, two guns, and four Maxims, inasmuch as a pacific occupation of the town was expected. It appears that Sir George Goldie determined to seize the occasion of the assemblage of a strong force to crush the Ilorins as well as the Foulahs; and, it is added, "It would certainly be a pity to miss the opportunity of consolidating British influence here while we have a victorious force on hand."

THE BENIN EXPEDITION.

The circumstances attending the sending of the first of the three expeditions, that against Benin, will be fresh in our readers' memories. The inevitable result has followed. Benin City has been taken by a British force, after a determined resistance. The natives were mostly armed with breech-loaders, and were perched on trees, more especially amid the dense foliage. They met the British troops by a hot fusilade. When the force entered the city horrible scenes were witnessed; the ghastly spectacle appalled even men accustomed to the horrors of the battle-field. Alas, for the progress of Christian civilisation!

SOUTH AFRICA.

The troubles are not yet ended in the south of the continent. In Bechuanaland, where Robert Moffat laboured for a life-time, and the work of Christian civilisation was supposed to be tolerably complete, there is fresh “rebellion." The Bechuana chief Galishwe was thought to have been quite subdued; but he appears to have beaten a patrol of the Cape Mounted Rifles, and a field force has been despatched against him. The rebel chief, requested to surrender, has replied, "No, I will not surrender. I know I must die, and I intend to die here fighting the Government." These natives take a great deal of subjugation, which, in the English, is a "glorious" characteristic. "It would seem," said an official of one of the Missionary Societies recently, "as if the Matabele will have to be broken by force before they accept Christianity; they have hitherto absolutely resisted it, and no headway has been made among them." His account of the process was, first, the missionary appears on the scene, the trader follows, and then, fighting is inevitable. And the bitter, bitter irony of it all! But where is the Christianity?

A TERRIBLE INDICTMENT.

Perhaps the answer may be found in Olive Schreiner's appeal, on the whole question, in her new book," Trooper Peter Halkett, of Mashonaland," which has just appeared, and is a most powerful commentory, exposition, and denunciation as to what is taking place before the Special Committee of the House of Commons. The book, says a contemporary, "is