Peace

As to waiting for the millennium to put an end to war, without any exertions on our own part, it is
like the sinner’s waiting God’s time for conversion, while he pursues his course of vice and impiety. If
ever there shall be a millennium in which the sword will cease to devour, it will probably be brought
about by the blessing of God on the benevolent exertions of enlightened men. Perhaps no one thing is
now a greater obstacle in the way of the wished for state of the church than the spirit and custom of war,which is maintained by Christians themselves. Isn’t it, then, time that efforts should be made to
enlighten the minds of Christians on a subject of such infinite importance to the happiness of the human
race?
That such a state of things is desirable, no enlightened Christian can deny. That it can be produced
without expensive and persevering efforts is not imagined. But aren’t such efforts to exclude the
miseries of war from the world as laudable as those which have for their object the support of such a
malignant and desolating custom?
The whole amount of property in the United States is probably of far less value than what has been
expended and destroyed within two centuries by wars in Christendom. Suppose, then, that one-fifth of
this amount had been judiciously laid out by peace associations in the different states and nations, in
cultivating the spirit and art of peace, and in exciting a just abhorrence of war. Wouldn’t the other four-
fifths have been in a great measure saved, besides many millions of lives, and an immense portion of
misery? Had the whole value of what has been expended in wars been appropriated to the purpose of
peace, how laudable would have been the appropriation and how blessed the consequences!