Which question shall I answer first? It needs a very wise Postmistress
indeed to decide which has done the most for the world, peace or war;
and to answer the question decidedly, we would have to be familiar with
all the histories that have ever been written, and all the systems of
political economy which have governed different nations and countries in
ancient and modern times. It carries our thoughts back to the days of
knight-errantry, to the Middle Ages, to the period of Rome's glory, to
Alexander the Great, to Babylon and Nineveh, and to Egypt and the
Pharaohs. A young friend was talking with me the other day on this very
subject, and he said, "I think there is a great deal more told in
history about war than about peace." So there is. Wars are like storms
or fierce tornadoes. They do an immense amount of damage. They devastate
vast regions, and they cause many broken hearts. There is nothing more
terrible than war. Still, wars are sometimes necessary. They clear the
moral atmosphere; they settle questions which can be settled only by the
sword, which decides which party is the stronger; and they prepare the
way for peace. Some great wars have sent scholars and artisans into
exile, and thus learning and useful arts have been carried to new lands,
and mankind has been benefited in the end. Peace gives time for the
growth of that which is best in the life of nations. Science,
literature, and industry flourish in an era of peace, and home happiness
and good morals prevail. More and more, as the world becomes highly
civilized, and the religion of Christ is spreading from land to land,
peace obtains victories, and war goes out of fashion. Nations resort to
arbitration about disputed matters, and rulers learn that they can not
be allowed to plunge thousands of people into distress and poverty to
satisfy their personal ambition. But the thunder makes itself heard,
while the dew is distilled silently, and the wheat which makes the
world's bread grows without any sound, and there, after all, is the
difference between war and peace.
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