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“UNIVERSAL PEACE” 
BY REV. LOUIS H. RUGE, PASTOR OF CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA 
[Printed by request, it having made 
more than ordinary impression by its 
timely importance and insight into the 
situation.— Ed. ] 
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‘‘They shall beat their swords into 
ploughshares and their spears into pruning 
hooks; nation shall not lift up sword 
against nation, neither shall they learn 
war any more.’’—Isaiah II 4. 
The prophets of peace have never 
been popular. The sanguinary have 
sneered at them for a lack of patri- 
otism and impugned their loyalty 
and courage. Their ideals have been 
ridiculed as visionary. 
Because of this lingering animal 
nature of the fighter it may be some 
time yet before the orator of peace 
becomes as popular as the orator of 
war and the anthem of peace super- 
sedes the war song. 
But the day of peace is dawning 
and traditional views are giving 
way to this truth of the prophets’ 
vision. Peace poets, not war ulti- 
matiums, are the order of the day. 
All honor and praise to President 
Taft, the great Peace President of 
our nation. In a day he appears up- 
on the scene of historic events truly 
like an anointed prophet of old, and 
‘his name shall become immortal by 
this Peace Poet between England 
and the United States as no name 
has been made immortal by a war 
measure. Few may be able to appre- 
hend this today, but history shall 
prove it true. 
This peace movement is one of 
the great epochs in history; but we 
cannot seem to realize it because we 
are too close to it. A few students 
of passing events stand in awe of its 
significance and feel almost as if it 
was a dream still in which they dare 
scarcely to breathe for fear of 
breaking the sublime spell. It 
seems reasonable to expect this after 
so many centuries of Gospel teach- 
ing and yet it is as if we were tread- 
ing upon the borders of the millen- 
nium. 
We face the most sublime issue ‘of 
the ages. England and America 
have come to another crisis as new 
world leaders. Shall the English 
speaking race be for war or peace? 
In this Peace Poet this race becomes 
the harbinger of universal peace. 
Others must follow or be left be- 
hind in the progress of man. It is 
this truth of the higher intelligence 
and reason and humanity that must 
shame the nations of the world into 
accord with such a policy if for ng 
higher reason. And not to follow, 
but to keep step with us France and 
Japan are ready to fall into line. 
And this policy will become more 
pronounced. It will soon be ap- 
parent to our economic sense as 
well as our moral sense that a policy 
partly for war and partly for peace 
will not do. And the English speak- 
ing race joined by other powerful 
nations can well afford to run a risk 
by turning their war appropriations 
into channels of peaceful arts. 
I do not forget, nor am I liable to 
forget, with the naval maneuvers 
within sight and sound, that thous- 
ands and tens of thousands of lives 
are linked to this bloody art of war. 
Armaments are on the increase 
and the war makers are demanding 
larger armies and appropriations. 
We have a very aggressive national 
element, called alarmists today, 
however, which is significant,—who 
tells us that war is inevitable and 
will never cease. But one man like 
Taft can chase a thousand alarm- 
ists and two like Taft and Grey can 
put ten thousand war-makers to 
flight. 
Of all world disasters,— famine, 
fire, earthquake, pestilence, oppres- 
sion and the like,—war is the worst. 
It has shed more blood, it has blasted 
more homes, spread more disaster, it 
has ravished more treasure and 
caused more suffering than anything 
else. It has excited more passion 
and left more poisoned arrows rank- 
ling in human hearts than anything 
else. 
But the portends of peace are ap- 
parent. Universal public opinion is 
more pronounced against it. The 
spirit of democracy and _ personal 
freedom brooks it no longer. The 
war makers can no longer play their 
bloody game of chess and move their 
servile subjects about on a bloody 
chessboard to settle their hatreds 
and disputes by the _ sacrifice of 
others and there must be much 
weightier causes for war today than 
formerly before men will unquestion- 
ing offer themselves for slaughter. 
A new world consciousness of war 
as wholesale murder is awakened. 
Before this new consciousness the 
mightiest armadas must go down. 
There is a higher and holier uplift 
to the world, a concerted universal 
movement toward better things. 
The religious conscience jis also 
asserting a more positive influence 
against this world crime, The seed 
of Christs’ Gospel of mercy, helpful- 
ness, humanity and _ brotherhood, 
sown for centuries now, is beginning 
to bear fruit. — 
Other world evils have been left 
behind. Religious intolerance, thank 
God, is a thing of the past. Duelling, 
as a code of honor in disputes, is no 
longer tolerated, when but recently 
to be a sword and pistol expert was 
part of a presumed gentlemanly edu- 
cation. Slavery has been forever 
driven back. And as one great world 
crime after another is stamped out 
by the heel of human progress so 
must war be stamped out and peace 
become universal. 
Those nerve racking shocks on our 
coast, that shake our houses vio- 
lently to their foundations and shook 
the very pen and paper under my 
hand as I wrote these lines, I be- 
lieve are the paroxysms of a dying 
monster. 
Compare the horrors of war with 
the blessings of peace when war’s 
appropriations shall flow into ‘the 
channels of peace. What rivers and 
harbors can then be improved for 
the ships of trade. What deserts can 
then be drenched with cooling 
streams whence now the blistering 
siroceco sweeps across a continent to 
wilt and wither and take its toll of 
night. What ‘energies from war 
service can be turned into service for 
peaceful pursuits. What progress 
in building the city beautiful’ and 
national development. What nation- 
al funds for altruistic service to the 
still struggling, semi-barbaric peo- 
ple of the earth. . 
We stand before the dawn of the 
fulfillment of Isaiah’s vision. The 
night cannot receed, the dawn is 
here. The earth cannot turn back 
upon its orbit nor halt upon its ax- 
is. Ancient traditional and heathen- 
ish evils cannot return, and it is 
every Christian’s duty to take a 
positive stand against this monumen- 
tal national crime of war. 
It is time to teach our children less 
about the art and glory of war and 
more about the blessings and grand- 
uer of peace and the Prince of Peace. 
Let us look upon war as savage, 
uncivilized, and upon peace as an 
evidence of human progress and ex- 
altation. 
As we have taught other nations 
the science of warfare, until we 
stand appalled at the monsters of 
magazine gems and dreadnoughts let 
loose, may us now as truly teach 
