It was the small beginning of a great matter when, on December 22nd,
1620, a hundred Puritans landed from the ship _Mayflower_ upon the
rocky shore of the New World, having, during the voyage, signed a
constitution to be observed by the colonists.
These pious pilgrims were guided by the conception of religious freedom
which should construct for them there a new kingdom. They had, say the
annalists of the colony, crossed the world's sea and had reached their
goal; but no friend came forth to meet them; no house offered them
shelter. And it was mid-winter. Those who know that distant clime, know
how bitter are the winters and how dangerous the storms which at that
season ravage the coast. It were bad enough in similar circumstances
to travel in a well-known region; but how much worse when it is a
question of seeking to settle on an entirely unknown shore.
They saw around them only a bare, cheerless country, filled with wild
animals and inhabited by men of questionable disposition and in unknown
numbers. The country was frozen and overgrown with woods and thickets.
The whole aspect was wild; and behind them lay the measureless ocean,
which severed them from the civilized world. Comfort and hope were to
be found only in turning their gaze heavenward.
That they did conquer that ungrateful land and open the way for the
boundless stream of immigration which for wellnigh three centuries has
unceasingly poured in, must find its explanation in the faith that
upheld their ways amid the dangers of the wilderness, amid the hunger,
cold, and all manner of disheartening things, and gave them that power
which removed mountains and made the desert bloom.
These Puritans, strong in faith, were the founders of the New World's
greatness; and their spirit spoke out to the Old World in the greeting
with which the President of the United States consecrated the first
transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866:--
"Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill to men."
When this message came to us, the roar of cannon was but newly hushed,
and the man of "blood and iron" had victoriously set his foot upon one
of Europe's great powers; the same Austria which since then has, by the
Triple Alliance, united its warlike strength with Germany.
But that message has not been an unheeded sound to all; especially
to those whose warning voices the people never listen to before the
misfortune falls, but who are always justified after it has struck.
Yes! perchance in the near future it may again appeal to their reason,
and find a hearing only when Europe has fallen into untold miseries
after another war.
While menacing forebodings of this long expected war were spreading in
the summer of 1887 through various parts of our continent, a little
company of courageous men, strong in faith, like the pious pilgrims of
the _Mayflower_, gathered together for the voyage across the sea to
the New World, there to lay the foundation of a lasting work for peace.
Their first object was to present to the President of the United States
and to Congress an address aiming at the establishment of a Court of
Arbitration, qualified to deal with disputes which might arise between
Great Britain and the United States of North America. In that address,
signed by 270 Members of the British Parliament, allusion was made to
the resolutions on peace which from time to time had been brought into
Congress; and those who undersigned it declared themselves ready to
bring all their influence to bear in inducing the Government of Great
Britain to accept the proposition which should come from the Congress.
Amongst those who signed it were, besides many distinguished Members of
the House of Commons, several peers, including some of the bishops.
The address was presented to President Cleveland on October 31st, by
a deputation of twelve Members of Parliament, whose spokesman, Mr.
Andrew Carnegie, in his introductory speech, said: "Few events in the
world's history would rank with the making of such a treaty. Perhaps
only two in our own country's history could fitly be compared with
it. Washington's administration established the republic; Lincoln's
administration abolished human slavery. We fondly hope, sir, that
it may be reserved for yours to conclude a treaty not only with the
government of the other great English-speaking nation, but with other
lands as well, which shall henceforth and for ever secure to those
nations the blessings of mutual peace and goodwill. The conclusion of
such a treaty will have done much to remove from humanity its greatest
stain--the killing of man by man. And we venture to hope, that if the
two great nations here represented set such an example, other nations
may be induced to follow it, and war be thus ultimately banished from
the face of the earth."
In the President's favourable answer he mentioned that no nation in its
moral and material development could show more victories in the domain
of peace than the American; and it appeared to him that the land which
had produced such proofs of the blessings of peace, and therefore need
not fear being accused of weakness, must be in a specially favourable
position to listen to a proposal like the present; wherefore he
received it with pleasure and satisfaction.
A week later, Nov. 8th, the son-in-law of Queen Victoria, the Marquis
of Lorne, presided over a great meeting in London, at which many
eminent men were present. The chairman emphatically remarked in his
speech, that the settlement of international disputes by a Court
of Arbitration has the advantage that, through the delay which is
necessary, the first excitement has time to cool. The meeting declared
itself unanimously in favour of the proposed memorial. Thereupon
followed many similar expressions of opinion in England, whilst
simultaneously in twenty of the largest cities of North America mass
meetings were held, which with unanimous enthusiasm gave adhesion
to the cause, and petitions of the same character flowed in to the
President and Congress from the various parts of the great republic.
Encouraged by these preparatory movements amongst the two great
English-speaking peoples, M. Frédéric Passy, with other Members of
the Legislative Assembly of France, placed himself at the head of a
movement to petition the French Government, requesting that it should
conclude an Arbitration Treaty with the United States.
Such a memorial, bearing the signatures of 112 deputies and 16
senators, was received with much interest by the President.
On April 21st, 1888, Passy and forty-four other deputies moved a
resolution in the Chamber to the same effect; and the idea has been
carried forward in many ways since then, especially by a petition to
the President of the United States from three International Congresses
held in Paris, June 23rd-30th, 1889.