THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL. Some of our friends and helpers who three years ago, when the question of Disarmament was under discussion, worked hard to obtain signatures to the National Memorial for arresting the growth of European arinaments, have naturally felt and expressed disappointment that their labour seemed wasted, because no opportunity was found of presenting the Memorial. They will be gratified to hear that this has at length been done. It was presented to Lord Salisbury on the 10th ult., together with a covering letter in which Dr. Darby wrote :

"I have already sent your Lordship an analysis of the signatures, and, therefore, need only recall to your notice the fact that the wording of the Memorial relating to an Arrest of Armaments is that which was submitted to you by Mr. W. T. Stead some time ago, when the late Government was in power, but no opportunity offered itself for presenting the Memorial, and the changes which followed still further postponed its presentation.

"It is, therefore, a little out of date in form of expression, but, as conveying to your Lordship and your colleagues a strong expression of opinion on the subject, it is as valid as ever.

"I am glad to think that the terms of the other memorial will secure the sympathy of Her Majesty's Government, and I could earnestly wish that this also were looked upon with equal favour, and that some means could be initiated for lessening these tremendous burdens, which, it is to be feared, are preparing the way for great social and national difficulties in the future."

This Memorial bore 34,390 separate signatures, including Protestant (2) and Catholic (6) Archbishops, Protestant (11) and Catholic (24) Bishops, Deans (9) and Canons (10), and Ministers of all denominations (500); Members of the House of Lords (10) and of the Commons (89); Chairman, Deputy Chairman, and Members (22) of the London County Council, and Members (26) of the Common Council, Chairman of the London Labour Conciliation and Arbitration Board; Justices of the Peace (175), Aldermen (25), Sheriff, Governor, Chairmen of Local Boards, School Boards, and Boards of Guardians, Presidents and Secretaries of the Y.M.C.A, Political Associations, Chambers of Commerce, and other Bodies: besides Town Councillors (43), Guardians of the Poor, Members of Local Boards, Town Clerks (5), Doctors of Medicine (44), Principals of Colleges (4), Professors of Science (16), Newspaper Editors (56), Novelists (17), Critics (9), Poets (7), together with a number of others, representing 130,729 persons, besides a number of representative signatures where the exact number represented cannot be ascertained, making a total of 165,119.

THE ANGLO-AMERICAN MEMORIAL.

The "other Memorial" referred to in the above letter was that promoted by Mr. Stead and others after the agitation following President Cleveland's message to Congress, which was completed by Dr. Darby and presented to Lord Salisbury at the

same time (November 10th). A rough analysis showed that it had been signed by 14 Bishops, 756 Clergy and Ministers, 16 Peers, 237 Members of Parliament, 259 Mayors and Magistrates, 17 Barristers and Solicitors, 141 Members of Public Bodies and Public Bodies signing by attachment of seal, 39 Public Officers, 110 Professors and Members of learned Societies, 38 Merchants, 31 Chambers of Commerce, 13 Members of Commerce, 13 Army and Navy Officers, 28 Bankers, etc., and 60,927 unclassified. PHOTOGRAPHS.

Both these Memorials were photographed in the Peace Society's offices before presentation; and copies have been preserved. ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

The following letter of acknowledgment has been received :--FOREIGN OFFICE,

November 16th, 1897.

SIR, I am directed by the Marquess of Salisbury to acknowledge the receipt of the two Memorials which accompanied your letter of the 10th instant.

His Lordship notes your statement that the Memorial relating to Arbitration on questions at issue with the United States represents 64,568 persons, and that the National Memorial for the Arrest of Armaments is signed by 34,390 persons, representing, at least, 165,000.

Lord Salisbury desires me to request that you will assure the Arbitration Alliance and the Peace Society that these Memorials will receive his best consideration.

ABOUT THE COST OF WAR.

"As lots of people in this country," says the New York Summary, "are talking war" nowadays in such a light and airy style, let us set down a thing or two worth remembering.

"The Civil War cost the North alone half a million lives and the expenditure ef two thousand six hundred and seventy-five million of dollars (or five hundred and thirty-five millions of pounds). We say nothing of the myriads of maimed soldiers, or the legacy of pensions, the payment of which even now is an alinost intolerable burden upon the United States.

"Had the Jingoes, the other day, forced this country into a war with Spain, what would it have cost in cash? Assume that it would be one-fourth as much as the great Civil War imposed upon the North alone. This would mean the accumulation of a little bill like this:Immediate cash outlay Destruction of property. Depreciation of silver and paper

Loss by derangement of trade and industry

...

...

...

$670,000,000 or £134,000,000 100,000,000 20,000,000 300,000,000 60,000,000

5,000,000,000,, 1,000,000,000

Total $6,070,000,000 £1,214,000,000 "What is Cuba worth anyhow? Its maximum revenue is about $20,000,000 (£4,000,000) a year, but it is mortgaged to French and other bankers for upwards of $350,000,000 (£70,000,000) upon which Spain pays more in yearly interest than the said $20,000,000 (£4,000,000) of maximum revenue. Fix the value of Cuba at twenty times its maximum yearly revenue as aforesaid, and you find it is worth only $400,000,000 (£80,000,000). In other words, it is worth less than one-seventeenth of the expense which the war would inflict upon the United States alone, to say nothing of its cost to Spain.

"You answer: 'Oh yes, Spain would have to pay all the expense.' How could Spain pay it if she hadn't the money wherewith to do it?"

TELEGRAPH BOYS AND THE ARMY.

A paragraph having appeared in the Yorkshire Post, and, virtually to the same effect, in other papers, stating, amongst other things, that it was intended by the Post Office Authorities to engage boys with an undertaking that after a certain number of years' service they would enter the Army, Mr. Arthur Pease, M.P, wrote to the Duke of Norfolk, Postmaster-General, enclosing the paragraph, asking whether it was correct, and stating that great exception would be taken to any arrangement which prevented boys entering the Post Office Service who did not The followdesire subsequently to enter upon a military career. ing reply has been received :—

HER MAJESTY'S POSTMASTER GENERAL, 27th October, 1837. DEAR MR. PEASE, -It is the fact that the Government recently decided that one-half of the vacancies in the Post Office Service were to be reserved for men who have served in the Army or Navy, and in future it will not be possible to give as many permanent situations as hitherto to telegraph messengers at the end of their service as messengers.

Those who cannot be kept on permanently will be employed only till the age of 16 or thereabouts, instead of being kept on until they are 18 or 19, as it will be casier for them to get other work at the earlier age; but it is wholly untrue that, as is stated in the newspaper extract you have sent to me, any pressure is being, or will be, put upon the lads to induce them to enlist. Believe me, Yours very truly,

NORFOLK.

Arthur Pease, Esq., M.P. The Daily Mail of the 25th November has, however, the following paragraph :—

"The Duke of Norfolk, Postmaster-General, at the inspection of the boy messengers of the Savings Bank Department last night, said that the change which was about to take place in the Postal Service, by which Army Reserve men would fill many of the offices to which boys had hitherto aspired, would necessitate many of them being obliged to enter the Army or adopt other methods to procure a livelihood.

"Whichever plan they adopted they would derive great advantage from the lessons they had learnt in drill, athletics, and obedience. Should they in time to come resume their connection with the Post Office, they would remember the early days spent in St. Martin's-le-Grand, which would render them more useful and their services more advantageous to the State."

THE CONQUERED.

A "DREAM," by MARY MORRison.

"The Langbergen prisoners

were to be sent in batches to a depôt at Capetown, or somewhere else, from which, upon application, they would be distributed among the farmers."-Cape Times. I sat in the shade of the green kloof, and the shadows creeping up the hillside showed that the day was speeding to its close. In the patch of sunlight beyond lay a full-throated lizard basking on a rock, and the clicking hum of the cicala buzzed its monotone around me, while the brawling brook rippled and sang at my feet. In my hand I held a writing, the words of one in whose hands lay the making of our laws, written so that all men far and near might read them, and my thoughts centred round those words, and another word which summed up those words the word "indentured."

I dreamt a dream in that green kloof that sunny day, and behold! I was, in my dream, on a great plain, so dry, so barren, that the hot air shimmered above it. A great white, dusty, weary, road wound through this plain, and there was a mighty assemblage at this place. Adown the road came a band of people. There were many of them, and they were footsore and weary, and their sullen heads hung down-men, and women, and little children.

And I spoke aloud and said, "Who are these, so sullen and despairing, these that are urged forward like a great flock of sheep.

And someone, I know not whom, replied to me : They are the conquered, and they come from freedom in the blue mountains yonder to bondage in the green vineyards and yellow cornfields to which the road leads."

"And what is their fault," I asked, "the fault of those conquered, these men and women and little children?"

They followed one whom they had ever followed, and did his bidding like the blind, unreasoning sheep following the foremost, and he has led them into captivity." Then my heart was filled with strong pity for these poor sheep, and I looked about for someone to help them.

The road divided two peoples, and there was much enmity and bitter talking between them, for whisperers and strifemongers ran about among them speaking of plots and stirring up dissensions between them.

Between them, now leaning to the one side and now to the other, and throwing them sops alternately, with much speaking, stood the rulers of the country, by whose commands the conquered came down the road.

And I looked to the one people for help, but their faces were full of triumph as they looked toward the conquered, and their hands grasped the sjambok and made ready the yoke, and the words of the Holy Bible were on their tongue, and they thanked God for the prosperity that would come again to them when they And I turned once more had bond-servants like Abram of old. from them to the other people, who sang in their native tongue a song of freedom and liberty, and whose forefathers had set the captive free in this same land, but alas! a sore famine threatened them, and they heeded not the conquered, for they struggled for their daily bread.

And their leaders and wise men feared, and said among themselves, "If we drive these rulers away for this deed worse may arise in their place." Then when I saw none of these would help me in this thing, I cried to a woman who loved the poor heathen and captive, and whose burning words would, I hoped, call on both people to arise and put this cursed thing from the land, but she turned her head coldly from the conquered, and said, "The man I hate has not done this thing; therefore I have other things to attend to."

And so said they one and all, and like the Levite and Sadducee passed by on the other side. And my heart was sore with indignation, and the day grew oppressive, and a great black cloud -the cloud of slavery- -arose on the horizon. Then I heard a voice, like the voice of the angel of the Lord, which said, “O thou Christian people! What answer wilt thou give to thy Maker when he asks of thee in time to come, where is thy brother, the conquered heathen?"

I awoke from my dream, and the long shadows brooded over the hillside and the green kloof, and the lizard had fled away and the cicala was mute, and I wended my way home, the writing in my hands.

SLAVERY AT THE CAPE.

AN OPEN LETTER TO SIR JAMES SIVEWRIGHT. The Cape Times publishes the following open letter which has been addressed to Sir James Sivewright

Wynberg, August 20th.

DEAR SIR JAMES SIVEWRIGHT.-You will, I presume, grant that this country once belonged to the black man. "Yes," you will reply, "but Providence intended that the white man should take it from the black man." Did Providence mean us to take the country from the weaker race in as inean and dastardly a manner as was possible? To come to the annexation of Bechuanaland two years ago, were there not some needlessly irritating and unkind things done to the Bechuanas? For instance, the removal of the Resident Magistrate at Taung, a life-long friend of the natives, the Rev. J. S. Moffat. Then there was the wholesale indiscriminate shooting of healthy cattle by thoughtle s police without (in many cases) compensation. As Luka Jantje once said to Mr. Moffat in connection with a former rebellion, “Drive a dog into a corner and he will bite." This is just what the outbreak or so-called rebellion means-it is the poor, goaded dog biting, the only thing left for him to do. The Colonial Government did its best to encourage the rebellious feeling. I need only instance Sir Gordon Sprigg's speech to the farmers on board the "Dunottar Castle a few months ago, and when he said the beautiful Phokwane district would be taken from the natives and would be given to white men. He had given orders that no native was to be allowed to come back; if even a hut were put up it was to be burnt.

These words, spoken by the Premier of the Colony, would not lose in the telling; besides, many of the rebels can read English. And now that the poor dog has been pulled out of his corner, we have the sequel.

Mr. P. Myburgh asked what would be done with the Langberg prisoners. The farmers were interested in that question, for they were badly in need of labour.

Mr. Faure replied that they were to be sent to Capetown or somewhere else, from where, upon application, they would be distributed among the farmers.

Then there is the notice in the Cape Times:-"Native Labourers. -It is hereby notified, for the information of farmers and others, that a number of surrendered Bechuana rebels will be available as farm servants, etc. The period of indenture is fixed for five years, and wages are at the rate of 10s. per month, &c.

In conclusion, I boldly say this means nothing else but slavery. I dear Sir James Sivewright, truly yours, am,

ELIZABETH HEPBURN.

A PICTURE OF PEACE.

While we are hearing so much of the slaughter of the tribes on our Indian frontier, it is delightful to come across a picture of Peace such as we have in the following lines from the American Friend"In 1867 the troops were ordered away from Fort Knox, Maine. Since then the robins have inhabited the granite casements, building their nests in the embrasures and ventilation holes, and also in the muzzles of the two eight-inch Rodman guns. At the rear of the cannons are pyramidal piles of ten-inch shell that were never filled with powder. Here the bluebirds have nested undisturbed for more than a quarter of a century, one bird inhabiting a shell, and as many as a dozen families keeping house in the same pile." The devout heart yearns for the time, so long foretold, when nations "shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks," and learn war no more (Isaiah ii., 4); and prays for the hastening into fact of the lovely prophetic ideal when "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah xi., 6, 9.)

The two principal German fortresses on the Baltic Sea are at Konisberg and Danzig; on the French frontier, Metz and Strasburg; and on the Belgian frontier, Cologne and Coblentz.

THE FRENCH INVASION OF 1797.

An esteemed correspondent and member of the Peace Society, Mr. John S. Southall, of Newport, Mon., sends the following interesting addition to the accounts of the above event which appear in the popular histories.

It was obtained from an acquaintance named John Griffiths, now living at Pontywain, and he had received it from his grandmother, who had lived with him during the latter years of her life, and died about 1883, aged 99 years.

In her early youth the old lady lived by the seaside, near Fishguard, and well remembered the landing of the French. They had begun to bombard the town, she used to narrate, but not a single person was killed. Their shells struck the ground or rock, and rebounded in a way that excited astonishment.

The inhabitants were panic-stricken, for they were shut off from the rest of the world in their little sea-washed corner at the very end of the kingdom, and means of communication and intercourse were very different from what they are to-day. The people of Fishguard might well be terrified, for the danger was imminent. Indeed the writer of this recollects the very vivid accounts given by members of his own family in his youth of the panic which the landing of the French created all through the counties of Pembroke, Cardigan, and even Carmarthen, and the devices adopted by some to escape the compulsory service which the invasion involved, even to the extent of personal maiming. Those on the spot, at the very muzzles of the French guns, may be pardoned for being anxious as to their safety.

It was, therefore, proposed to the Fishguard folks, to send a deputation to parley with the French, and because the parish parson was a disreputable man, it fell to the lot of others to act on behalf of their fellow-townsmen. The deputation told the French commanders that they had nothing to fight with but picks and hatchets, and had no one in whom to trust but in the name of the living God.

They were assured by the French that if this was their confidence they should not be attacked, and this engagement was carried out.

Only one Welshman lost his life. He in a spirit of bravado, as we should be told, like a true hero, declared that he would kill at least one Frenchman. Accordingly he 'evelled his piece at a French soldier and shot him dead. The brother of the slain man saw the action, returned the fire, the assailant fell dead, and the unprovoked assault was avenged.

Our correspondent writes, "There appears in the whole incident a very clear indication of a protecting Providence influencing the hearts of men and honouring confidence in Himself, although these people had not wholly learned to dispense with carnal weapons altogether."

This is the Christian view, and unquestionably the right one. The easy victory over the French is attributed to the Castlemartin Yeomanry and the bluster of "brave Earl Cawdor," and the expedient of marching the Welshwomen with red cloaks round a hill, so as to give the appearance of an approaching army, and to strike terror into the "cowardly" French invaders, who, as usnal in warfare, are represented as being a crowd of disreputable characters. That is the received account.

The facts, however, as related by the grandmother of Mr. John Griffiths, and, indeed, by the accounts generally, remain, and they have to be accounted for. For the French had ample time to do irreparable mischief before any English troops appeared. It would have been military policy for them to have done so, and so strike terror into the invaded people, and if the accepted histories are right as to their character, they would have done so. The histories prove too much. Why did they not?

The answer is here supplied, and it is in full accord with the simple, Godfearing character of the people of the Principality, especially those of the quiet, outlying country districts, where the fear of God lay like a shaft of light across the land, and the contamination and blasphemies of great towns were wholly unknown.

What the people of Wales were in those days, thanks to their great preachers, their itinerant apostles, is also matter of history.

The old Fishguard lady who narrated the occurrence, was herself a typical instance of that native piety. Her grandson describes her as being a woman of singular devotion. Her

knowledge of Scripture, he says, was very considerable; and he believes that there was not a prominent passage in the Bible of which she did not know every verse. One of her last expressions in life, spoken of course in Welsh, for her knowledge of English was very limited, was "Jesu anwyl wy'n dod," "looking upwards as though she saw the beloved of her soul."

Among such people, and presumably she was neither better nor worse than her neighbours, in a time of great peril, with an invading host thundering at their doors, what more natural, not to "keep their powder dry," for they had none, nor to use their trusty swords, for these too were absent, but to obey the habit of their lives and trust in the name of the living God," and, trusting in Him, they were protected, as even popular history admits.

AGENTS AND AUXILIARIES.
BIRMINGHAM.

On Sunday, October 15th. At the Mission Hall, Upper Highgate, BIRMINGHAM, the Rev. J. J. Ellis gave an address on The Progress of Peace Societies."

On Sunday, October 17th. He lectured at Burlington Hall, BIRMINGHAM, on "European Landgrabbers."

On Tuesday, October 19th. At the Methodist New Connexion Church, Blackheath, BIRMINGHAM, on "Public Morality," the chair being occupied by the Rev. W. Smith.

On Wednesday, October 20th, at the Congregational Lecture Hall, BRIERLEY HILL, on "Soldiers of Peace." The Rev. B. D. Morris in the chair.

On Monday, October 25th. At the People's Service in the Burlington Street Board School, BIRMINGHAM, on "Regeneration and Peace."

On Sunday, October 31st. At the Primitive Methodist P.S.A., Sparkhill, BIRMINGHAM, on "The Scramble for Africa," Mr. Green, chairman.

And on Sunday, November 7th. At the P.S.A. of the Midland Institute, Y.M.C.A., Birmingham on "Changed Customs and Customs to be Changed," Mr. Whitwell in the chair.

MANCHESTER.

Mr. Charles Stevenson reports the following lectures and meetings:

September 19th. At the P.S.A. connnected with the Great Ancoats Mission, MANCHESTER, an address on "Peace."

September 26th. At the P.S.A., HEATON NORRIS, an address on "Peace." Mr. Hudlas in the chair.

October 7th. At the Manchester Women's Peace Association in the Y.M.C.A. Hall, Manchester, an address by himself, Rev. James Clark, Mr. Solly, and others.

October 10th. At the Queen Street Institute P.S.A., SALFORD, an address, Mr. W. H. Southern in the chair.

October 12th. At St. Luke's Mission, CHADDERTON, Near Oldham, a lecture on "Arbitration, Industrial and International.” The Rev. G. F. Holme, M.A. in the chair.

October 17th. At the Heyrod Street P.S.A., MANCHESTER, an address on "Provoking and Preventing Quarrels." Mr. W. O. Hanlon in the chair.

October 19th. At the Congregational School, Longsight, a lantern lecture "What is War?" Rev. Walter Pearson in the chair.

October 26th. At the St. Bartholomew Schools, EGERTON, Manchester, lantern lecture, "What is War?" Rev. E. H. Murdoch, B.A. in the chair.

November 12th. At the Wesleyan School, STRETFORD, an address by the Rev. J. W. Kiddle on "International Arbitration." November 14th. At North Manchester Labour Hall, MANCHESTER, an address by himself on "Penn, the Pioneer of Peace." Mr. Scullery in the chair.

November 15th. At the Congregational School, GREENHEYS, Manchester. Mr. Edward Leicester gave his lecture on "War," etc. Rev. J. Ferguson, B.A., B.D., in the chair.

And November 16th, at the St. Mark's Pleasant Tuesday Evening, Levenshulme, lantern lecture, "What is War?" by Mr. C. Stevenson. Rev. H. Hickling in the chair.

LIVERPOOL PEACE SOCIETY.

October 30th. Mr. Alderman Thomas Snape, J.P., delivered an address on "International Arbitration," at a meeting of the Toynbee Society, Manchester. Mr. J. K. Slater and Mr. Mark Howarth also attended.

November 10th. Mr. William Lewis addressed the Aigburth Wesleyan Senior Band of Hope on "Peace Principles"; about 100 present.

November 12th. A debate was held with the Southport "Forum," on the question, "Is the excessive and increasing size of the British Navy a source of national weakness and danger? A fair attendance and a warm discession. The Peace Society was represented by Messrs. Thomas Crosfield, William Lewis, and W. G. Jones.

November 19th. The same subject, except that the word present was substituted for the word "excessive," was debated with the Seacombe Wesleyan Literary Society.

November 20th. Mr. Thomas Crosfield addressed a large audience at the Parochial Rooms, Widnes, the meeting being one of a series of Pleasant Saturday Evening Entertainments.

November 22nd. A lecture by Mr. Thomas Crosfield entitled "Jameson's Raid" was delivered to the New Ferry Wesleyan Literary Society and followed by a discussion.

November 26th. A debate opened by Mr. Crosfield with a short lecture on the subject of "The Present and Increasing Size of the British Navy a source of National Weakness and Danger," took place with the St. John's Wesleyan Literary Society.

November 26th. Mr. Arthur Boden delivered a lecture on "Are the Principles of Christianity opposed to all War?" to the Cranmer Mutual Improvement Society. A discussion took place at the close of the lecture.

BOOK NOTICES.

THE PRIZE RECITER, READER, AND SPEAKER (Second Series) published by A. W. Hall, 28, Hutton Street, London, E.C., the new yearly volume of the illustrated monthly, edited by Joseph Malins, and in cloth gilt, is a cheap 2s. gift or prize, containing, as it does, 300 temperance, religious, and general recitations for young and old, besides Short Stories, Aids to Oratory, and Splinters for Speakers. Names are given of over 1,000 persons who have won silver medals by reciting the pieces. The longer poems, such as "Bodgy," "The Gutter Cornet Player," "Brother Antonio,' "The False Light of Rosilly," "The Ghost of the Cabman's Wife," etc." are of exceptional merit and—like the Short Storieswould serve for penny readings. The Editor is a member of the Peace Society, and the whole volume does not contain a single piece breathing the spirit of bloodshed.

OUR LIBRARY.

We are deeply indebted to our veteran friend, Mr. W. E. Corner, for his generous response to our appeal in the last issue of the HERALD OF PEACE, respecting the above, by presenting us with 26 volumes of the "Annual Register," from 1758 to 1783 inclusive. We hope our friends will not forget our appeal.

Rain has fallen twice in twenty-nine years at Aden, Africa. The last rainfall occurred in 1888; previous to that there was a period of dry weather which lasted twenty-six years.

To reflecting ninds the moral debasement incident to all war is one of its chief evils.