great word of the war, adopted by the defeated Federals to qualify and "cover their retreat," the Lincoln Government will "skedaddle" from Washington; and General M'Clellan, who is a modest and meritorious gentleman, as well as a brave and gallant soldier, may possibly be compelled, by the pressure of the army, and the stress of public necessity, to assume, for a time, the reins and responsibilities of the Federal Government.

THE FLAG OF TRUCE.

IT is not necessary to enter into any ethnological speculations in regard to the origin of man in order to define his social relations. No matter whether we have sprung from one Adam or five; whether descended from angels, or ascended from zoophites: are we not all the offspring of GOD; and does not a common parentage establish a common brotherhood? Upon this broad basis, as upon the primary foundation of the earth, all our reasoning rests; and from it all our theories spring touching the rights and duties of the individual-the laws and relations of society. In this simple formula, like the oak in the acorn, lie all our hopes of the fraternity of man, the amity of nations, "the federation of the world." And what, let us first inquire, is the natural state, the normal condition of man-is it peace, or is it war between himself and nature; between himself and his fellow man? The verb To BE is the first word to be conjugated; the first conquest to

"self

achieve; or, reduced to an aphorism, preservation is the first law of nature." The primal necessity of existence is food for this the first desire is felt-the first effort of the infant is made-the first battle of life is fought. All after wars are but amplified variations of that first great cause of grief, beginning in the faint cry of the cradle, and culminating in the clamour of the battle-field. In the animal world one race preys upon another (not like man, upon his own). Great fish devour the little ones (but not of their own species), and it seems to be ordained by the economy of nature that millions must die that one may live. In his savage state we see the fierce and naked man as a warrior rudely armed, ready to kill not only beings of his own race, but even of his own tribe, who stand between him and his animal appetites. For an offence somewhat

more refined the first-born son of man murders his brother, and thus begins the never-ending strife which all good men lament; while all the world have become more or less partakers of the original crime :

A brother's murder!

It hath the primal, eldeşt curse upon it.

And yet there are few hands, however white, or holy, entirely free from the fratricidal stain.

The food we eat, the garments we wear, the luxuries we enjoy are too often but the spoils of war purchased with human blood.

Among barbarous tribes, a state of war seems to be in accordance with the lower law of nature; and, if in harmony with nature, we must find no fault with its operations, but call it right. The lion fights to obtain food for his whelps, and the lioness fights in defending them from the hunter. Man, the savage, obeys the same instinct. But with the development and cultivation of his moral nature his savageness disappears, or is subdued; and the code of blood gives place to the Commandments of Reason; to be followed in the fulness of time by that higher law of Christian Love, heralded by the angels of God, announcing the end of war upon the earth; and proclaiming the reign of peace and goodwill among men. Since the promise of that heavenly harbinger, which summoned the sages of the East to receive the new dispensation, two thousand years have rolled around, and still the glad tidings hailed with hosannas in the skies, filling the hearts of Bethlehem shepherds with joy, are not yet fulfilled! There is not peace on earth; there is not good will among men. human blood still continues to

The red tide of

flow, widening

and deepening with "the process of the sun." Alas, that we must confess that the tide is fiercest, and the deluge deepest among nations calling themselves Christian, whose people are the professed followers of the Prince of Peace; and who continue to baptise their children in His name! And more shockingly paradoxical yet, in the very name of Him who commanded. his impetuous disciple to "put up his sword" the deadliest wars are waged; while the history of Christianity-a Book of Martyrdom written in crimson, continues to be read without a blush Brothers nursed at the same breast, baptised at the same font, partakers of the same sacrament, go to war with one another, while the bystanders look on in cold "neutrality," forbidden to interfere by the laws of nations, or the etiquette of Courts!

It will be readily seen from these preliminary suggestions, that in considering the question of international rights and duties, we shall be compelled to take strong ground against the War policy-a policy originating in the lowest instincts of uncivilised man; and which, under all its forms, and whatever its purpose is in direct antagonism to the higher impulses and nobler inspirations of the religion of Christianityby whose golden rules of benevolence and