not confined by geographical boundaries, natural or artificial, but seek "the greatest good of the greatest number."

For this purpose, our operations shall be directed to the collection and diffusion of light on the subjects of peace and war; the printing and distributing of useful tracts on those subjects; and a periodical publication, edited by a person appointed by this board, shall be the vehicle of the society's communications to the public, in which will be collected the light that is shed by foreign Peace Societies, news concerning the diffusion of pacific principles at home and abroad, of the decay of error, and the dissipation of those clouds of delusion, which have so astonishingly enshrouded a fallen world.

If we are asked, what are our EXPECTATIONS? We answer, that we hope, by God's blessing on the means he has granted us, by the assistance of foreign Peace Societies, and by the aid of the benevolent of every name and nation, to bring about a more pacific spirit among Christians, than has ever before existed since the decay of primitive Christianity; to create both at home and abroad, in the public taste, a disgust of war and a relish for peace.

We hope by the force of public opinion alone to increase the number of non-combatants, and to lessen the restraint laid upon them, and to give greater security to their lives and property. We hope to effect such a change in public opinion as will abolish paper blockades-lessen the enumeration of articles called contraband of war-abolish the practice of privateering-and establish the principle that free ships shall make free goods, and thus dry up many fruitful sources of war. We hope by the frowns and the threats of public opinion, to abolish the customs of impressment and conscription where they are already established, and to prevent them where they are not; and thus unnerve the sinews of war. We hope to increase and promote the practice already begun, of submitting national differences to amicable discussion and arbitration; and, finally, of settling all national controversies by an appeal to reason, as becomes rational creatures, and not by physical force, as is worthy only of brute beasts; and that this shall be done by a congress of Christian nations, whose decrees shall be enforced by public opinion that rules the world; not by public opinion as it now is, but by public opinion when it shall be enlightened by the rays of the gospel of peace; a light which hath hitherto "shined in darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not." Then wars shall cease-the sword shall be converted into a ploughshare-Peace Societies shall be dissolved; or rather, mankind shall form one great Peace Society; and then the millennial morn shall dawn on a benighted world.

D

We close our letter with the benediction pronounced by our blessed Saviour's own lips, "Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God."

By order of the Board of Directors,
WILLIAM LADD, Corres. Sec.

New-York, May 8th, 1828.

Agreeably to notification, the American Peace Society met in New-York on the 8th of May, 1828, when the provisional constitution was submitted, and having been amended in a few particulars, it was voted unanimously to adopt the following modification of it as the

CONSTITUTION OF THE AMERICAN PEACE SOCIETY.

Among the many sanguinary customs which have afflicted the world, no one has involved more crime and calamity than public war, and no one has been more repugnant to the spirit and precepts of the Christian religion: consequently, no object of philanthropy can be more deserving of the attention and patronage of all who bear the Christian name, than that of abolishing the practice of settling national controversies by a resort to the sword. Experience having shown that National Societies, for philanthropic objects, are eminently useful, the subscribers agree to form a National Peace Society, on the following principles :

Article 1. The object of the Society shall be to diffuse light respecting the evils of war, and the best means of effecting its abolition.

2. The funds of the Society shall consist of annual subscriptions, life subscriptions, donations of individuals, and contributions of Auxiliary Societies, and Christian churches and congregations.

3. The payment of five dollars, or more, annually, shall entitle any person to membership; the payment of twenty dollars shall constitute a minister a member for life; any person who shall pay thirty dollars at one time, shall be a member for life, and any donor of fifty dollars, or more, shall be an honorary member of the Society. Every annual subscription must be paid on or before the twenty-fifth of December of every year.

4. Every subscriber shall be entitled to receive, annually, such publications as the Society shall make the vehicle of its communications. Auxiliary Societies, churches, and congregations, shall be entitled to the value of two-thirds of their contributions, in the tracts or periodical publications of the Society, at the wholesale prices. Any religious society that

shall make its minister, or any other member of it, a life subscriber, shall in like manner be entitled to receive two-thirds of the value of the money it shall pay into the treasury: and females, who shall form associations to aid the Society, shall be entitled to the full value of the money which they may contribute, in tracts or periodical works of the Society, when required. 5. The business of the Society shall be conducted by a Board of twenty Directors, who shall have power to supply such vacancies in their number as may occur by death or resignation, to appoint such officers, agents, or assistants, as they may deem necessary, to appoint their own meetings, and special meetings of the Society, directing as to time and place, and to manage the funds and all the concerns of the Society, and to add to their numbers.

6. At the annual meeting, the Directors and Treasurer shall exhibit their reports, and the Directors shall be chosen for the ensuing year, who shall appoint the time and place of the next annual meeting.

7. The presiding officer of the Society, or any person having his proxy, together with the Secretary and three other members, shall constitute a quorum to do business.

8. Auxiliary Societies shall be entitled to be represented at the meetings of the Society by one Delegate, for each year in which they may pay ten dollars, or more, to the funds of the Society. Should they pay sixty dollars, they shall be entitled to be represented by two Delegates; and Auxiliaries paying one hundred dollars, or more, shall be entitled to add one member to the Board of Directors, and also to send one Delegate to the meetings of the Society, for every hundred dollars paid.

9. The object of the Society shall never be changed; but, in other respects, the foregoing articles may be amended, and others added, at any regular meeting, which shall be duly notified, provided three-fourths of the members present shall concur in the amendment or amendments, or the article or articles proposed to be added.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
MAINE.

Simon Greenleaf, Esq. Portland.

William Ladd, Minot.

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Hon. John T. Gilman, Exeter.

Hon. James Sheafe, Portsmouth.

Hon. Nathaniel N. Haven, Portsmouth.

MASSACHUSETTS.

Rev. Noah Worcester, D.D. Brighton.

John Tappan, Esq. Boston.

Hon. Dudley A. Tyng, Newburyport.

OHIO.

Dr. Stephen B. Cleavland, Cincinnati.

William Ladd, Secretary, and Editor of the Harbinger.

No. II.

Extracts from the Twelfth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Peace Society.

As all human laws and customs have their origin in human opinions and volitions, it is obvious that a change of public opinions will be followed by a correspondent change of laws and customs. If the opinions of men were immutable, a change of laws and customs might justly be deemed impracticable. But history, observation, and experience unite in their testimony, that individual opinion and public opinion are continually liable to change, and are ever changing, as men become more enlightened and improved. To effect a change in public opinion in regard to the character and necessity of war, is the great object of Peace Societies. Christians and civilized men are already aware, that war is one of the most awful calamities. Should they become convinced that it is as criminal and unnecessary, as it is calamitous, its abolition will follow of course.

From what has been done we naturally infer what may be done. If sanguinary customs or forms of homicide, once popular, have already been condemned at the tribunal of public opinion, it is but reasoning from analogy to infer, that private

duelling and public war must share a similar fate. Our confidence, that such will be the fact, may be strengthened by observing, that several of the abolished customs had as fair claims to be regarded as just and necessary, as the two which remain. The Judicial Combat was practised in a belief, that God would ever give the victory to the innocent. Can so weighty a reason be urged in favour of modern duelling, while it is generally believed that the more guilty of the two is commonly the victor, being the greater adept in the science of murder? Besides, what can now be said in favour of the wars of kings and nations, which might not with equal justice have been pleaded in favour of the abolished baronial wars of Europe? Yet since public opinion took from these noblemen what they had long claimed as a natural right, it has been found that such men can settle their disputes without a resort to the sword; and now the lives of noblemen, their families and vassals, are far more secure, than they were when public opinion permitted them to settle their controversies by devastation and bloodshed. It is, therefore, but reasonable to anticipate, that Providence will yet do as much for sovereigns and nations, as has been done for noblemen and their numerous relatives and dependants.

The objects and the hopes of Peace Societies cannot, then, with any propriety, be regarded as chimerical. They have in their favour the history of Providence, the spirit of prophecy, the influence of the Gospel, the experience of ages, and innumerable means of human improvement already in operation. But while the grounds of hope are broad and permanent, there is much cause to lament that the exertions for attaining the object have been so inadequate to its magnitude and importance. The deficiency of our funds has obliged the Executive Committee so to restrict their expenditures, that the distribution and sales of tracts in the last year have not exceeded eight thousand and three hundred. These, as in former years, have extended to the several states of our own country, to the neighbouring British provinces, and to several foreign countries and islands. It is, however, gratifying to believe, that what has been done by our Society and its respectable auxiliaries, is but a small part of what has, on the whole, been done for the cause of peace in the United States and in Europe.

In the course of the last year, an important Peace Society was formed at the Theological Institution in Andover, embracing most of the professors and students. This may be regarded as an auspicious event; for if the ministers of the Gospel should become generally imbued with just sentiments of war, its abolition will be hastened.