A COLLEGE OF JUSTICE 361 



unknown among the Greeks, and exercised in later times 

 the minds of French jurists and of the Abbe de St. Pierre ; 

 indeed the grand scheme of Sully might even have been 

 attempted, had not his master Henry IV. been slain in 

 1610. It was often discussed by the philosophers of 

 Fothergill's century. He had perhaps in mind Penn's 

 Essay towards the Establishment of an European Diet, 

 Parliament or Estates, published in 1693. The purpose 

 of this Diet was to maintain peace by justice, and it was 

 to consist of some ninety persons or votes, distributed 

 among the states of Europe. Should one state refuse 

 to submit to its decision, all the others, united as one 

 strength, would compel obedience ; no state could resist 

 this, and so peace would be preserved. 1 



A few weeks after he had written this letter the wise 

 and benevolent spirit of Fothergill passed away. Amongst 

 the many works and influences with which his life was 

 filled his friendship with Franklin was not the least. If 

 the American held one of the foremost places in the 

 history of his century, it is no small thing that his English 

 friend, during many years of intercourse, should have 

 done something to strengthen his character on the spiritual 

 side, and to hold up a mirror of love and truth of which 

 he was not unheedful. 



When Dr. Waterhouse wrote from Leyden to tell 

 Franklin of the death of his uncle, his " director, guide 

 and friend," Franklin replied : "I think a worthier man 

 never lived. For besides his constant readiness to serve 



1 Another Friend, John Bellers, published in 1710 a proposal for a like 

 object. The Hague Tribunal of our own day has not fulfilled all the hopes of 

 its promoters, yet probably it has prevented several wars. The action of the 

 Concert of Europe in bringing the Balkan War of 1913 to a close and settling 

 the terms of peace (although in the event these were not adhered to) marked 

 some progress in international justice. The Powers worked for " the common 

 peace which was their common object " (Sir Edward Grey) ; and this by 

 regarding what was just to the states concerned, taking nothing for themselves ; 

 rather than by the old principle of the balance of power. President Woodrow 

 Wilson has done much in his messages and speeches to obtain recognition for 

 a standard of justice in foreign relations. Such phrases as " British interests," 

 " American interests," no longer rule paramount. The League of Nations if 

 it comes to pass will be the fruit of a long growth of thought, in which Penn 

 and Fothergill took their part. Notes on the history of the subject may be 

 found in W. A. Phillips, The Confederation of Europe, and Havelock Ellis, The 

 Task of Social Hygiene. 



