World Affairs Institute

WHAT THEY SAY ACROSS THE WATERSource: Advocate of Peace (1847-1884), New Series, Vol. 2, No. 18 (JUNE 15, 1870), p. 249Published by: World Affairs InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27904716 .

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June, 1870. THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE. 249

EXAMPLE OE THE UNITED STATES. Ex Governor Bullock of Massachusetts, recently returned

from a tour in Europe, whereupon his fellow-citizens in

Worcester, welcomed him by a formal reception at the City Hall. The M^ayor made a short address, after which Gov. Bullock replied in a most interesting and eloquent speech, from which we make the following extract touching the INFLUENTIAL EXAMPLE OF THE UNITED STATES !

"Almost invariably the peonle of Europe couple the In dustrial and the financial grandeur of this country with the fact of there being little or nothing of a standing army in the United States ; and these two facts, which they connect together as cause and effect, they contrast with their condi tion under their own government. Accordingly, there is a process if wholesome ferment going on at this time in all the European countries, and the consequences have* already be

gun to be felt. More especially in Northern Germany, where of late years the military tone has been so high and exclusive, the court finds it impossible to carry i{s budget programme without making concession in its military sys tems. And since my arrival, we have been catching by the Atlantic cable, little flashes of rumors of a general disar mament all over Europe, from Paris to Vienna, in Berlin and in St. Petersburg. " The truth is, my friends, the American example is, in this particular, performing a missionary work, transcending in importance and gravity anything which has been known in the history of the past. Providence has placed upon this country, and upon us, an importance far beyond any

conception which we have had of the-subject, an importance for the destinies of the peoples in other lands, and we shall be held for our conduct to a strict accountability at the moral international tribunal of the public sentiment of man

kind. If we discharge that duty, ? if we preserve our own

integrity, ? if we maintain a strict and accountable economy

of administration, ? if we maintain a high standard of financial wisdom and financial power,

? the result will do more towards hastening the day of the loosening of burdens and the enfranchisement of great masses all over Europe, than all the Eourth of July orations that have been deliv ered and put in pamphlet form since the Declaration of Independence."

WHAT THEY SAY ACROSS THE WATER.

From a London paper, we copy the following comparison between the last massacre of Piegan Indians by American soldiers, and a similar massacre which took place near two centuries ago, by British troops in Scotland. The world

ought to have made advancement in civilization since then, but the continued practice of war has retarded progress so that we are but little if any more humane than our fore fathers.

THE MASSACRE 07? PIEGAN INDIANS BY AMERICAN SOLDIERS.

Lord Macaulay, in his graphic narrative of the massacre of Glencoe, remarks that that event called forth no observation at the time. It was not mentioned in the London Gazettes or

Monthly Mercuries, nor in the '* Diaries " of Luttrell and

Evelyn, and nearly a year elapsed after the crime had been committed beibre it was published to the world. The treach erous murder of thirty-six men and boys, and of four women in that gloomy Highland glen was but lightly regarded by the

principal actors in it. They were ridding the earth of vermin ; they were destroying a nest of thieves; they were getting rid of men who stood in the way of progress and civilization. This

is what the Master of Stair thought who projected the under

taking, and no doubt the leaders who executed it were of the same opinion. Both Hamilton and Glenlyon would have justi fied the foulest act of that age by the plea of necessity and the

public good. A similar justification of a somewhat similar act has been made by General Sheridan and Colonel Baker with

regard to the massacre of the Piegan Indians. There are sev eral features in the recent afiair which remind us of the horrible deed enacted nearly two hundred years ago. In both in stances the season in which the victims would be most helpless was selected for the deed. It was fortunate, said the Master of Stair, that it was winter, for that was the time to maul the

wretches; and so, when General Sheridan had resolved to strike a "

good hard blow " at the Piegans, he determined to

wait until a heavy snowstorm should render them utterly de fenceless. At Glencoe, again, a succession of blunders saved three-fourths of the men ; of the Piegans, also, at the time of the attack, a great number of the men were absent, and of 173 Indians killed, only fifteen were what might be called fighting men. Moreover, if the horror of the Glencoe msssacre was

enormously increased by the treachery of the deed, the fact that ninety women and fifty children have been deliberately killed by American soldiers, lessens the disparity between the acts. And, once more, if it be said that vengeance against the Indians was more reasonable than the vengeance wreaked

? upon the Glencoe men, it may be justly urged as a set-off

against this statement that the growth of humanity and the ! tolerant principles advocated in the nineteenth century place I the perpetrators of this frightful act of retaliation in a position

totally different from that occupied by the brutal soldiery who executed the design of Breadalbane, Argyle, and the Master of Stair.

The New York World, alluding to this massacre by General Sheridan, inquires

? " Would it not be well to have a por traiture of the raid on the Piegans' village and the " raid up

j the smoking valley of the Shenandoah," taken from the hints

of his own historic notes, for companion pieces ? His graphic report to General Grant?17th of October, 1864?furnishes an outline for a picture of the latter that would display j if properly filled up, the nature of this man, to whom scenes of fire and blood, wrapping innocent human beings and their peaceful homes in conflagration and destruction, form the glory in which'he rejoices.

[Sheridan to Grant, 11th October, 1864.]

{Extracts.) " Lieutenant J. R. Meigs, my engineer officer, was murdered

beyond Harrisonburg, near Dayton. For this atrocious act all the houses within an area of five miles were burned."

** In the same report he adds : ? ** I have destroyed 2,000 barns filled with wheat and hay, and

farming implements ; over seventy mills filled with flour and wheat ; have driven in front of the army 4,000 head of stock ; and killed and issued to the troops not less than 3,000 sheep."

Such is " Christian " warfare in America, and at the present

day.

We have received from Hartford, Conn., the first number of a paper called the " Pacificator." It is published monthly by S..A. Gaylor, at $1.00 per annum. As its name would indicate, its disposition is pacific, and one of its objects is to

promote "

peace on earth, and good will to men." We

welcome it* a valuable coadjutor in the important work in which we are more especially engaged. After kindly noticing our Society, the Editor says :

?

" The advocacy of ' the Cause of Peace '

by the American and European Peace societies, we believe is an indication of the rapid development of Christianity. And though we are not in any way connected with those societies, we shall always advocate the same principles, and labor for the spread of the gospel of the Prince of Peace."

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