fused to yield to his demands (as they had a perfect right to do), he has caused thousands of them to be slaughtered. In my opinion this was a clear case of wholesale murder. The verdict was right in itself, and necessary to deter other rulers from similar crimes.”

The next speaker was Alfred the Great. Of this prince it has been said: "He lived solely for the good of his people. He is the first instance in the history of Christendom of the Christian king; of a ruler who put aside every personal aim or ambition, to devote himself to the welfare of those whom he ruled. So long as he lived he strove 'to live worthily'; but in his mouth a life of worthiness meant a life of justice, temperance, self-sacrifice. The Peace of Wedmore at once marked the temper of the man. Ardent warrior as he was, with a disorganized England before him, he set aside, at thirty-one, the dream of conquest, to leave behind him the memory, not of victories, but of 'good works,' of daily toils, by which he secured peace, good government, education for his people. His policy was one of peace."

This is a very high eulogy, but it is just and true. In the moral grandeur of his character, Alfred never had an equal among the kings of England, and perhaps never had a superior among the rulers of the world in all countries and all ages. And who is that ruler now living (if any) who, in this respect, is his equal?

SPEECH OF ALFRED THE GREAT.

The appearance of Alfred created great interest, and his remarks made a deep impression upon the andience.

He said that his experience in war had been so long and so severe that he had very decided convictions on that subject. When he came to the throne of England his country long had been, and then was, subject to the incursions of the Danes, who made frequent and destructive invasions and wars against his people. He was forced to fight them for years, to save his countrymen from utter ruin. At one time they pressed him so hard that he was obliged to seek safety in a little island in a swamp and remain concealed for a year. At last he succeeded in quietly raising a new army, defeated the Danes in a great battle, besieged them in their camp, and reduced them to the last extremity. He then gave them their lives and liberty upon condition that they would settle in and cultivate that part of the kingdom which they had laid waste and depopulated and become quiet, useful, and Christian people. This they agreed to do, and, to their credit be it spoken, they gave him but little trouble for many years. (This is what historians call "The Peace of Wedmore.") This settlement with the Danes gave him the opportunity to improve his own people in all the works of peace, and to devote himself to science, learning, and law; to restore order, educate his countrymen, and to encourage men of learning, wisdom, and piety.

The Anglo-Saxons and the Danes were very ignorant and brutal, and he esteemed what he did to raise them from their low intellectual and moral debasement of far

more value to his country than his services in war. In order to educate his people, he was obliged to improve himself in science and literature, and he had come to the conclusion that education was the noblest work in which man or woman could engage. He said:

"It was much easier to subdue the Danes than to conquer the ignorance of the Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes, who by brute force had driven out the ancient Britons and taken possession of their country.

"Nearly all wars are the offspring of ignorance and rapacity. It was the rapacity of the English kings and the ignorance of the English people that caused the Hundred Years' War to conquer France. Besotted by ignorance, poverty, and vice, the deluded people did not know any better than to desire this conquest, and they committed fearful crimes and cruelties to that end, although themselves, as well as the rulers whom they followed and obeyed, were nominally Christians. They were too ignorant and brutal to realize the wickedness and cruelty of their invasion of and ravages in the country of another professedly Christian people; and it might be said with truth, as a reason for forgiving them, "They know not what they do.'

"The war against the Philippines was very much like the war of the Anglo-Saxons against the ancient Britons, in its origin and objects. The Saxons and Britons had been allies in a war against the Picts and Scots, and had driven those fierce marauders out of Britain. The Saxons then demanded the country of the Britons for themselves, and, because the Britons refused to yield to their demand, waged a

war of extermination against them, conquered them, and took possession of their country. The people who committed this atrocity have always been considered robbers and murderers, and the English historians call them 'pirates.'

"In like manner the Americans and the Filipinos had been allies in the war against Spain. At the end of the war, the rulers of America demanded the Philippine Islands for themselves; and, when their demand was refused, the defendant in this case made war upon them and committed the crimes charged in the indictment.

"If the people of the United States who favor the war made by the defendant really believe in it, they need education in the ways of truth and justice as much as those re mote Anglo-Saxon ancestors from whom they are said to be descended.

"I will leave with the speakers who are to follow me to answer the many defenses and excuses which have been made for this war. There was one, however, so remarkable that I will notice it. It was said that such wars always had been and always would be. And, to support this argument, the saying of Solomon had been quoted to this effect: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done.'

"If this reasoning is good to sustain one evil, it is good to sustain many others. Its general adoption and application would prevent any improvement in morals, or any amelioration of the condition of the mass of mankind. The better doctrine is that whatever 'has been' that is wrong should be righted; and that neither time, nor custom, nor authority can 'blazon evil deeds, or consecrate a crime.'

"The war against the Filipinos was a crime; the deaths caused by it were properly charged to the author of that war, and were correctly characterized in the indictment as murder. The verdict should be sustained by the people, as it has been by the Court, and all such wars should be put under the universal ban of the civilized world."

SPEECH OF CINCINNATUS.

Cincinnatus said that he had been obliged to leave his farm twice and go to war, but he had done so with reluctance, and as soon as the emergency was over, gladly returned to his plow. That he was opposed to all wars of ag gression and conquest as unnecessary, criminal, and ultimately ruinous to the country that made them, though at first apparently an advantage. Such wars had ruined Rome. The spoils of the conquered nations corrupted the Romans, made them luxurious, profligate, and brutal, and an easy prey to the barbarians of the North. War is the worst occupation of human life, and farming is the best. The first is for the destruction of the human family, and the last for its preservation. He would advise every soldier to leave the army as soon as he could and go to farming or some other useful employment. He continued:

"It may be true, as Alfred says, that the work of education is the noblest employment of man, but few soldiers are capable of becoming teachers. General Washington set an excellent example to his countrymen after the close of the Revolutionary War, in resigning his commission, retiring to