Advocate of Peace and Universal Brotherhood

THE BATTLE-FIELD.

BY W. C. BRYANT.

Once this soft turf, this rivulet's sands,
Were trampled by a hurrying crowd,
And fiery hearts and armed hands
Encountered in the battle cloud.

Now all is calm, and fresh, and still;
Alone the chirp of flitting bird,

And talk of children on the hill,

And bell of wandering kine are heard.

No solemn host goes trailing by

The black mouthed gun and staggering wain;

Men start not at the battle-cry,

Oh, be it never heard again!

Soon rested those who fought; but thou
Who minglest in the harder strife
For truths which men recieve not now,
Thy warfare only ends with life.

A friendless warfare! lingering long
Through weary day and weary year,
A wild and many-weaponed throng
Hang on thy front, and flank, and rear.

Yet nerve thy spirit to the proof,
And blench not at thy chosen lot;

The timid good may stand aloof,

The sage may frown, yet faint thou not.

Nor heed the shaft too surely cast,

The foul and hissing bolt of scorn;

For with thy side shall dwell, at last,
The victory of endurance born.

Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again;
The eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes with pain,
And dies among his worshippers.

Yes, though thou lie upon the dust,

When they who helped thee flee in fear,

Die full of hope and manly trust,

Like those who fell in battle here.

Another hand thy sword shall wield,
Another hand the standard wave,
Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed
The blast of triumph o'er thy grave.

COST OF THE ITALIAN WAR.

WE find in a German paper (Allgemeine Zeitung) a rough estimate of what this war must have cost; an estimate very far below the truth, yet reaching a pretty large sum for two months of fighting

"It is impossible," says the writer, "to estimate the absolute cost of a war, since its influence on trade and industry, though immense, is indefinite. Considering only the sums actually expended in supporting the campaign, he says that Austria, without reckoning the loan she raised in England at the beginning of 1859, has expended 200,000,000 gulden for the purposes of war. France has applied 500,000,000f. to the same purpose. Piedmont, it is known, had access to the French military chest; but, besides this, she increased her loan by 50,000,000f., and her debt to the Turin Bank by 33,000,000f. The exact sums spent by the other Italian States cannot be ascertained with precision; but reckoning the 5,800,000f. added to the Bolognese loans, 20.000,000f. cannot be an over-estimate. With regard now to the neutral Powers, Russia gives us no means of making an accurate estimate; but, considering the additions to her various army corps, the cost to her must have been 15,000,000 thalers. Finally, the sums raised by the German States for the purpose of putting their forces on a war footing, may be taken together at 90,000,000 gulden, about a third of which still remains unspent."

These conclusions the German paper arranges in a table as follows. We translate francs into dollars :—

If we take everything into view, the 200,000 lives sacrificed, and their mere financial value to the State, the destruction of property, the suspension or derangement of business, and the nameless other items of direct and indirect loss, we shall probably find those two months of fighting in Italy to have sacrificed, in one way and another, a thousand million dollars. What good can the advocates of war show to compensate this alone?

THE SOCIETY'S OPERATIONS.

We are aware how little we can do of the much that is needed in our cause; but we economise our resources as well as we can, and are thus able to carry on a much larger scale of operations than could have been expected from our slender means. We seldom go into details respecting our opertions; but, at this season of the year, selected for the annual contributions from our friends, it may be well to give a passing glance at what we are doing or attempting.

AGENCIES. We are of course obliged to have an agent at the Society's office; but the Secretary who superintends its correspondence, publications and general affairs, divides his time between its head-quarters, and labors

abroad. It would be wise, if practicable, to relieve him from many of these details, and give him leisure for more important services; but our exigen ces compel us to make him a man of all work. We have, aiso, under commission four Lecturing Agents, though not fully or constantly at work; and in addition to these, we have eight Local Agents, who do more or less for our cause by lecturing in their immediate vicinity, and otherwise promoting its interests.

PUBLICATIONS -- have ever been our chief department. We have, from the rise of our cause, issued without interruption a periodical devoted to the advocacy of its claims. Its circulation has varied from only hundreds up to twelve or fifteen thousand at times; and now it goes, with its storehouse of facts, statistics and arguments, to the leading centers and high places of influence through the land, Such an organ is quite indispensable; and its circulation we are exceedingly anxious to extend far beyond its present limits. Of our stereotyped publications, we are occasionally issuing new editions- of only one volume the present year, but of some fifteen of our tracts.

NEW TRACTS. Since our last Advocate, we have stereotyped the following tracts, apublished several thousand copies of each :

1. SYSTEM OF MEANS IN PEACE; or the chief Instrumentalities employed in the Cause of Peace, 4 pp. No. 72 in our series of stereotyped 12mo. tracts. We publish this tract as the second article in our present number of the Advocate.

2. SUCCESS IN THE CAUSE OF PEACE: or how much it has already accomplished, 8 pp. No. 73 of our tract series.

ANNUAL EFFORTS FOR PEACE.

We need not remind our readers that the month of December is the time for a special remembrance of our cause in the way of Preaching, Prayer and Contribution. All these are indispensable, each in its place; and we trust that none of them will be neglected at the close of a year which has witnessed such startling illustrations of the mighty and terrible eviwe are combatting. Never has there been a louder call for effort, and seldom have we seen larger or more hopeful opportunities than now for usefulness in this cause. Will not the children of the God of Peace promptl. respond to such calls of his providence?

PREACHING. Having already devoted a brief article to this subject, we will barely express here the hope and trust that at least all ministers who receive the Advocate, will this year, if they never did before, make a set and strenuous effort to press upon their people the claims of Peace. Each will do so, of course, in his own way; but let him be sure to do it at all events in some way, and as well as he can. There is, we fear, a soft, easy palaver about peace that means very little, and is hardly worth the breath spent in giving it utterance. We need, and our cause must have in time something more-an earnest, habitual, effective advocacy from every Christian pulpit.

CONCERT OF PRAYER FOR PEACE.-In accordance with repeated recom. mendations of many ecclesiastical bodies, and in pursuance of our own practice for more than a quarter of a century, we would anew urge all Christians of every name to unite, on or near Christmas, in praying for the permanent reign of peace, at least in every land blest with the light of the gospel. Why not pray for this cause as well as for any other? Can it prosper and triumph without God's blessing? Can we expect that blessing except in answer to prayer? We have monthly concerts of prayer for several kindred objects; why not a concert at least once a year for the world's peace? For this there should be made due arrangements in season, either for a concert of prayer in each church, or a joint concert of several churches. Will not pastors bear this early in mind?

CONTRIBUTIONS.-Our alms should ever accompany our prayers; and so much do we need aid beyond what we are now receiving, or ever have received, that we hope none will forget our pressing necessities. Every sermon of peace and every concert of prayer for universal peace, ought in consistency to be followed by a contribution in some way to our cause. Will not our friends in the ministry and the church see that this is done? The contribution in a given case may be small; but the aggregate, if the practice were general, would largely increase our income. Every minister preaching on the subject, and taking up a collection for our Society, is en titled to the Advocate of Peace for one year, as a regular member.

OUR SPECIAL NEED NOW.-We have been making of late very special efforts to spread our cause before the community through the press in particular. We thank individual friends for the aid they have rendered us in these efforts; but we shall need a much larger increase of funds to carry the plan into anything like full effect. We can, of course, do no more than our friends shall enable us to do; but there clearly ought to be tenfold more done than has ever yet been attempted in this cause. From Mr. Ladd's legacy we have as yet received nothing, and fear we never shall much.

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS.-Our Constitution prescribes $2 a year for membership, payable in December. From donors, also, we receive from one dollar to ten or twenty a year, occasionally more; and on these we chiefly rely to sustain our operations. The sum in each case is so small, and yet in the aggregate so essential to us, that we hope none will neglect to forward, sooner or later, at least his usual gift, by mail as the best mode. RECEIVERS OF THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE.-Not a few persons have for years received the Advocate in consequence of having contributed at some time one dollar or more to our cause. It has been all along our practice to promise every such contributor the Advocate for one year, and longer, if we chose, without charge. On such persons, however long they may have received it, and some of them have for years, we make no charge; and yet we deem it right to say we sent it in every case only in the hope of awaking such an iuterest as would induce them to cont nue, if not increase, their aid to our cause from year to year. Having received it so long without charge, will they not now choose to help us more or less? If they say no, we shall not complain, but only the more earnestly pray the God of Peace to give them ere long more interest in a cause that we deem so important.

CONTENTS OF THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE.

1858-9.

Anniversary of A. P. S., 125, 286, 300, Jay, Judge, death of,