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Thomas a'Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, used to join in reaping 

 corn and making hay. But it is only of late years that the ai-ts of 

 peace have received due honor. In the classic age, Ceres had her tem- 

 ples, but Mars was a more popular deity. While chivalry lasted, crowds 

 met, not to witness a display of products of the soil and the loom, and 

 for friendly matches between drivers of the plough, but to look on at 

 feats of arms, or take a part in mimic battles. The arts of war and 

 destruction were preferred to the ai-ts of peace and preservation. Now, 

 thanks to the religion of Jesus, the anniversaries of human slaughter 

 are less frequent and less splendid, while the honor that once belonged 

 exclusively to the warrior, is often given to the ablest ploughman, and 

 the most skillful reaper. I hail the gradual coming of the Kingdom 

 of the Prince of Peace, with exceeding joy. May it continue to ad- 

 vance, until, throughout the wide world, "they shall beat their swords 

 into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall 

 not hft up sword against nation — neither shall they learn war any 

 more." 



