LITMIR.BIZ

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in allowing thofe, who, by the Doftrine of our Saviour JESUS CHRIST , are pcnuaded in their Conferences to love their Enemies, and not to refift EvUr to enjoy the Liberty of their Confcience, for which, as alfo for all the good Things we enjoyed un der their Care, we heartily thank that worthy Body-of Affembly, and all high and low in Of fice, who have advifed to fuch a peaceful! Meafure, hoping and confiding that they, and all others enrrufted with Power in this hitherto blcffed Province, may be moved by the fame Spirit of.Grace, which animated the firft Founder of this Province, our late worthy Proprietor Wdliam Pain, to grant Liberty of Confcience to all ks Inhabitants, that they may in the great and memorable Day of Judgment be put on the right Hand of the juu Judge, who judgeth without Refpect of Perfon, andJTear>of him thcfe blefled Words. Come, ye blcfled of my Father > -inherit the Kingdom prebg/rc d for you, jV. f-i^at ye have done mnto one of the lea/1 of tbefe my ^rt/^r. /L ye have done unto mi, among which Number (i.e. the teajl of Ckrift's Brethren) we by m? Grace hope to be ranked; and every Lenity and Favour (hewn to fuch tender confcienced, although weak Followers of tlus our blofled Saviour, will not be forgotten by him in that great Day.

      XThe Aavrcr-ro rhofc who do not ft__*. *rcedom of Cg^^K.c_u>HBdsp;wp-$irriK, that rf><?T ought to be helpfull .to rhofe who are Tn SJeed and dilrreffed Lircumftances, we receive wiin Chearfulnefs towards all Men of what Station they may be it being our Principle to feed the Hungry and give the Thirfty Drink; we have dedicated ounelves to ferve all Men, in every Thing that can be helpful to th JPrefcrvation of Men's Lives, but we find no Free dom in giving, or doing, or afltiHng i*: Ay Thing by which Men's Lives are deftroycdoc tun. - We beg the I aticnce of all tbofe who believe we err in this Point.

      We are alwavs ready, according to CHRIST's Command to refer, to pay the Tribure> that we may .offend no Man, and fo we are willing to pay Taxes, S3 1 to rtnJer unto Caefar ibofe Tbingttbat are Cnefar s, and to GoJ (Me 7T>ings that are God s, although we thinkour- fefves very weak to give GOD his due Honour, he being a Spirit and iofc, and we only Duft and A/hes.

      We are alfo willing to be (ubjcft to the higher Powers, and to give in the manner Paid l- rcQs US ; for be tearetb the Su>orJ not in vain, for IK is tie Minijier of God> a Revenger f tyecyfe ffratb upon him that tloetb Evil.

      This Tcftimony we lay down before oar worthy Aflembly, and all other Pcrfbns in Go vernment, letting them know, that we are thankfullasabove-mentioned, and that wearenot at Liberty in Confcience to take up Arms to conquer our Enemies, but rather to prayf* GOD, who has Power in Heaven and on Earth, for US and THEM.

      We alfo crave the Patience of all the Inhabitants of this Country, - what they think n> lee clearer in the Doftrine of the blefled JESUS CHRIST, we will leave to them and GOD, finding ourfelves very poor; for Faith is to proceed out of the Word of GOD, which b life and Spirit, and a Power of GOD, ao4.our Confciencc is to be iojftniftcdby the fame* therefore we beg for Patience.

      Our fmall Gift, which we have given, we. gave n rhoft who have Power over us, that we may not offend them, as CHRIST taught us by the Tribute Penny.

      We heartily pray that GOD would govern all Hearts of our Rulers, be they high or kjr, CO meditate thofe good Things which will pertain to OUR and. THEIR Happiaels.*

      77r afavt Dnlaraux, firntJ hj a Number of EUeri mil Tiectxn tftht Sottttr if Mamalh* out ftmt-tf At German Bnfti/!,. frefmui 1, tbt IkiurM Hfuf, ,f Jtjjanklj m ttt -}lh Daj of A fimOtr. I ; 7( . < if

      1 ↑ See page 38.

THE WORLD WAR

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The Seeming Cause

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      Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth." A dozen policemen meet a mob and a battle follows. Two of the policemen are killed. Several arrests are made, the newspapers give a thrilling account of the affair, the criminals are tried and executed, another account is given in the newspapers and the matter is soon forgotten. No one thinks of starting a war on account of the riot. But not so, when on June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife were murdered while driving through the streets of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. The deed was committed by a Serbian youth who rushed up to the automobile in which the royal pair were riding and fired the two shots, both of which proved fatal.

Underlying Causes

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      Such deeds are always to be deplored. They are never justifiable, but the slaying of one man and one woman could not for one moment be considered sufficient cause for a declaration of war, had there not been other and more deeply rooted causes. Yet the war had been in progress for some time before its real causes were fully understood.

      War was fast becoming unpopular too much so to suit the warlords of Europe. Jealousy was encouraged. "National honor" was disgraced and must be avenged, and just one month later (July 28, 1914) Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Alliances had been formed between nations so that rivals were on opposite sides. Some countries remained neutral for a time but were finally drawn into the conflict.

      Jealousy was not alone responsible. Greed also had a large part in bringing on the conflict. Germany had a decided lead in the manufacture of cer tain articles which were used the world over, and her favorite mark was, "Made in Germany." England also had the lead in some articles. The same might be said of some other countries. Nations were jealous of each other's commercial aggrandize ment as well as of their man power. Secret recipes, geographical advantages, and a number of other things tended to fan into a flame the smoking embers. Germany saw an opportunity to humiliate Russia during the Russo-Japanese war, and Russia never forgot that. A little fanning on the part of the war-lords soon had all Europe ablaze. Thus one nation after another became involved until twenty-three nations of the world had either declared war or announced that a state of war existed between them and some other country.

      Germany had a superior army, England must have a superior navy. France had her possessions in Africa. Russia must get a part of China, especially Manchuria, and thus it goes on almost indefinitely. The real cause for the war was in these things, much more than in the murder of a man and his wife by a young anarchist. In addition it should be remembered that constant military training and study in the intrigues and strategies of war create a desire to try the practicability of such knowledge. The thought of superiority creates a desire to show it to others. The study of the methods of warfare are no exception to this rule.

The United States Drawn in

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      For a time the United States was not involved, but she was too influential to be left in quietude. Complaints came from both sides of the conflict asking President Wilson to use his "good offices" to get the other side to cease its injustice. There was a cry for humane warfare, but almost with the same breath came Germany's "Schrecklichkeit," which implied that she expected to terrify the enemy. She committed insults at sea against other nations without considering whether they were neutral or foe. Many people became jealous of America's national honor, and frequently in the halls of congress, in the pulpits, and in common conversation came cries for war and revenge. On the other hand, there were a great many people who were seriously opposed to this country allowing itself to be drawn into the struggle. In 1916, the Presidential election came on, and one of the favorite expressions of the campaign waa, "Vote for Wilson; he kept us out of war." Many ascribe his re-election to that claim.

War Declared Preparation

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