A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume III (of 3) by Thomas Clarkson

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That there were Christian soldiers in this more corrupt century of the
church, it is impossible to deny. For such frequent mention is made of
them in the histories, which relate to this period, that we cannot
refuse our assent to one or other of the propositions, either that there
were men in the armies, who called themselves Christians, or that there
were men in them, who had that name given them by others. That they were
Christians, however, is another question. They were probably such
Christians, as Dion mentioned to have been among the life-guards of
Dioclesian and Maximian, and of Constantius and Maximus, of whom
Maximilian observed, "These men may know what it is expedient for them
to do, but I am a Christian, and therefore I cannot fight." Indeed, that
real Christians could have been found in the army in this century is
impossible, for the military oath, which was full of idolatry, and the
adoration of the standards, and the performance of sacrifice, still
continued as services[14] not to be dispensed with by the soldiery. No
one, therefore, can believe, that men in the full practice of Pagan
idolatry, as every legionary soldier must then have been, were real
Christians, merely because it is recorded in history, that men, calling
themselves Christians, were found in the army in those times. On the
other hand, if any soldiers professed Christianity at this period, or
are related by authors to have professed it, and yet to have remained
soldiers, it may be directly pronounced, that they could only have been
nominal or corrupted Christians.

[Footnote 14: The military oath was not altered for Christians till the
next century, when they were allowed to swear "by God, by Christ, and by
the Holy Spirit, and by the majesty of the emperor, which, next to God,
is to be loved and honoured by mankind."]

That Christianity was more degenerate in the fourth than in the third
century (which is the next position) we have indubitable proof. One of
the first facts, that strikes us, is an extraordinary one related by
Lactantius, in his "Death of the persecuted," that there were Christians
at this time, who, having probably a superstitious belief, that the sign
of the Cross would be a preventive of pollution, were present, and even
assisted at some of the Heathen sacrifices. But it is not necessary to
detail these or other particulars. Almost every body knows, that more
evils sprang up to the church in this century, than in any other, some
of which remain at the present day. Indeed, the corruption of
Christianity was fixed as it were by law in the age now mentioned.
Constantine, on his conversion, introduced many of the Pagan ceremonies
and, superstitions, in which he had been brought up, into the Christian
religion. The Christians, rejoiced at seeing an emperor of their own
persuasion, under whom they had hopes of restoration to equal privileges
with others, and of freedom from persecution, submitted, in order to
please or flatter him, to his idolatrous customs and opinions, thus
sacrificing their consciences to their ease and safety. Many, on the
other hand, who had always been Heathens, professed themselves
Christians at once out of compliment to their emperor, and without any
real conversion of the heart. Thus there was a mixture of Christianity
and Paganism in the church, which had never been known before.
Constantine too did not dispense with the blasphemous titles of
Eternity, Divinity, and Pontifex Maximus, as they had been given to his
predecessors. After his death, he was considered also as a god. And if
Philostorgius is to be believed, the Christians, for so he calls them,
prayed to and worshipped him as such.

Now in this century, when the corruption of the church may be
considered to have been fixed, we scarcely find any mention of Christian
soldiers, or we find the distinction between them and others gradually
passing away. The truth is, that, when the Christians of this age had
submitted to certain innovations upon their religion, they were in a fit
state to go greater lengths; and so it happened, for as Heathens, who
professed to be Christians out of compliment to their emperor, had no
objection to the military service, so Christians, who had submitted to
Heathenism on the same principle, relaxed, in their scruples concerning
it. The latter too were influenced by the example of the former. Hence
the unlawfulness of fighting began to be given up. We find, however,
that here and there an ancient father still retained it as a religious
tenet, but these dropping off one after another, it ceased at length to
be a doctrine of the church.

Having now traced the practice of the Christians down to the fourth
century, as far as the profession of arms is concerned, I shall state in
few words the manner in which the Quakers make this practice support the
meaning of the scriptural passages, which they produce in favour of
their tenet on war.

The Quakers then lay it down as a position, that the Christians of the
first and second centuries, as we had already observed, gave the same
interpretation, as they themselves give, of the passages in question.

Now they say first, that if there were any words or expressions in the
original manuscripts of the Evangelists or Apostles, which might throw
light upon the meaning of these or other passages on the same subject,
but which words and expressions were not in the copies which came after,
then many of those who lived in the first and second centuries, had
advantages with respect to knowledge on this subject, which their
successors had not, inasmuch as the former were soon afterwards lost.

They say secondly, that if there was any thing in tradition which might
help to explain these passages more satisfactorily, those of the first
and second centuries had advantages again, because they lived nearer to
these traditions, or to the time when they were more pure, than those
Christians did, who succeeded them.

They say thirdly, that, if primitive practice be to be considered as the
best interpreter of the passages in question, then those of the first
and second centuries had their advantages again, because many of them
lived in the times of the Evangelists and the Apostles, and all of them
nearer to those who succeeded the Evangelists and Apostles, than those
in the subsequent ages of the Christian era.

But in direct inference, they conceive, is to be drawn from these
premises, namely, that the opinions of those who lived in the first and
second centuries, relative to the meaning of the passages in question,
are likely to be more correct on these several accounts, than those of
Christians in any of the ages that followed.

And as in the first and second centuries of the church, when
Christianity was purest, there were no Christian soldiers, but as in the
fourth century, when it became corrupt, Christians had lost their
objections to a military life, they conceive the opinions of the former
to be more correct than those of the latter, because the opinions of
real Christians, willing to make any sacrifice for their religion, must
be always less biassed and more pure, than those of persons calling
themselves Christians, but yet submitting to the idolatrous and other
corrupt practices of the world.

And as they conceive this to be true of the opinions of the second
century, when compared with those of the fourth, so they conceive it to
be true of the opinions of the second, when compared with those of the
moderns upon this subject, because, whatever our progress in
Christianity may be, seeing that it is not equal to that of the first
Christians, it is certain, besides the distance of time, that we have
prejudices arising from the practice of fourteen centuries, during all
which time it has been held out, except by a few individuals, as lawful
for Christians to fight.

SECT.V.

_Reflections of the author on the foregoing subject--Case of a superior
being supposed, who should reside in the planet nearest to us, and see
war carried on by men no larger than the race of ants--His enquiry as to
the origin of these wars--their duration--and other circumstances--supposed
answers to these questions--New arguments, from this supposed
conversation, against war._

I have now stated the principal arguments, by which the Quakers are
induced to believe it to be a doctrine of Christianity, that men should
abstain from war, and I intended to close the subject in the last
section. But when I consider the frequency of modern wars; when I
consider that they are scarcely over, before others rise up in their
place; when I consider again, that they come like the common diseases,
which belong to our infirm nature, and that they are considered by men
nearly in a similar light, I should feel myself criminal, if I were not
to avail myself of the privilege of an author, to add a few observations
of my own upon this subject.

Living as we do in an almost inaccessible island, and having therefore
more than ordinary means of security to our property and our persons
from hostile invasion, we do not seem to be sufficiently grateful to the
Divine Being for the blessings we enjoy. We do not seem to make a right
use of our benefits by contemplating the situation, and by feeling a
tender anxiety for the happiness of others. We seem to make no proper
estimates of the miseries of war. The latter we feel principally in
abridgments of a pecuniary nature. But if we were to feel them in the
conflagration of our towns and villages, or in personal wounds, or in
the personal sufferings of fugitive misery and want, we should be apt to
put a greater value than we do, upon the blessings of peace. And we
should be apt to consider the connexion between war and misery, and
between war and moral evil, in a light so much stronger than we do at
present, that we might even suppose the precepts of Jesus Christ to be
deficient, unless they were made to extend to wars, as well as to
private injuries.

I wonder what a superior being, living in the nearest planet to our
earth, and seeing us of the size of ants, would say, if he were enabled
to get any insight into the nature of modern wars.

It must certainly strike him, if he were to see a number of such
diminutive persons chasing one another in bodies over different parts of
the hills and vallies of the earth, and following each other in little
nut-shells, as it were upon the ocean, as a very extraordinary sight,
and as mysterious, and hard to be explained. He might, at first,
consider them as occupied in a game of play, or as emigrating for more
food, or for a better climate. But when he saw them stop and fight, and
destroy one another, and was assured that they were actually engaged in
the solemn game of death, and this at such a distance from their own
homes, he would wonder at the causes of these movements, and the reason
of this destruction, and, not knowing that they possessed rational
faculties, he would probably consider them as animals, destined by
nature to live upon one another.

I think the first question he would ask would be, And from whence do
these fightings come? It would be replied of course, that they came from
their lusts; that these beings, though diminutive in their appearance,
were men; that they had pride, and ambition; that they had envy and
jealousy; that they indulged also hatred, and malice, and avarice, and
anger; and that, on account of some or other of these causes, they
quarrelled and fought with one another.

Well, but the superior being would say, is there no one on the earth,
which I see below me, to advise them to conduct themselves better, or
are the passions you speak of eternally uppermost, and never to be
subdued? The reply would of course be, that in these little beings,
called men, there had been implanted the faculty of reason, by the use
of which they must know that their conduct was exceptionable, but that,
in these cases, they seldom minded it. It would also be added in reply,
that they had a religion, which was not only designed by a spirit from
heaven, who had once lived among them, but had been pronounced by him as
efficacious to the end proposed; that one of the great objects of this
religion was a due subjugation of their passions; and this was so much
insisted upon, that no one of them was considered to have received this
religion truly, unless his passions were subdued. But here the superior
being would enquire, whether they acknowledged the religion spoken of,
and the authority from whence it came? To which it would of course be
replied, that they were so tenacious of it, notwithstanding their
indulgence of their passions, and their destruction of one another, that
you could; not offend them more grievously than by telling them, that
they did not belong to the religion they professed.

It is not difficult to foresee what other questions the superior being
would ask, and probably the first of these would be, the duration of the
lives of these little beings, and the length and frequency of their
wars? It would be replied to this, that their lives were but as a
vapour, which appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away, and
that a quarter, and sometimes half of their time on earth, was spent in
those destructive pursuits. The superior being would unquestionably be
grieved at this account, because he would feel, that they really
frustrated their own happiness, or that they lost by their own fault a
considerable portion of the enjoyment of their lives.

In this impatience and anxiety for their future comfort, he would
probably ask again, if they had any notion of any generous end for which
they were born, for it is impossible they could suppose, that they came
into the world to destroy one another. It would be replied, that they
could not be ignorant of the true object or end; for the same religion,
in which they believed, and which was said before to have been given
them by a spirit sent from heaven, inculcated that they were sent there
on a life of trial, and that in a future existence they were to give an
account of their conduct, and were to be rewarded or punished
accordingly. The same religion, it would be replied, also inculcated,
notwithstanding their fightings, the utmost benevolence from one towards
another. It wished so much every one of them to live peaceably, that it
enjoined it as a duty rather to put up with an injury than to resent it,
and it carried its benevolence so far, that it made no distinction
between others of the same species, who spoke a different language, or
lived in other districts or parts of the same world.

But here the superior being would interrupt.--What, he would say! Are
they not to resent injuries, and yet do they go to war? And are they not
afraid of fighting in this manner, when they are to give an account of
their conduct in a future state? It would be replied, No: they have
their philosophers among them, and most of these have determined, that,
in this particular case, responsibility lies at the door of those who
employ them. But, notwithstanding this, there are others living among
them, who think otherwise. These are of opinion, that those who employ
them cannot take the responsibility upon themselves without taking it
from those whom they thus employ. But the religion of the Great Spirit
no where says, that any constituted authorities among them can take away
the responsibility of individual creatures, but, on the other hand, in
the most positive terms, that every individual creature is responsible
wholly for himself. And this religion does not give any creature an
exemption on account of any force which may be used against him; because
no one, according to its precepts, is to do evil, not even that good may
come. But if he be persecuted, he is to adhere to that which is right,
and to expect his reward in the other state. The impossibility,
therefore, of breaking or dissolving individual responsibility, in the
case of immoral action, is an argument to many, of the unlawfulness of
these wars. And those who reason in this manner, think they have
reasoned right, when they consider besides, that, if any of the beings
in question were to kill one of his usually reputed enemies in the time
of peace, he would suffer death for it, and be considered as accountable
also for his crime in a future state. They cannot see, therefore, how
any constituted authorities among them can alter the nature of things,
or how these beings can kill others in time of war, without the
imputation of a crime, whom they could not kill without such an
imputation in time of peace. They see in the book of the Great Spirit no
dispensation given to societies to after the nature of actions, which
are pronounced to be crimes.

But the superior being would say, is it really defined, and is it
defined clearly in the great book of the Spirit, that if one of them
should kill another, he is guilty of a crime! It would be replied, not
only of a crime, but of the greatest of all crimes, and that no
dispensation is given to any of them to commit it in any case. And it
would be observed farther, that there are other crimes, which these
fightings generally include, which are equally specified and forbidden
in the great book, but which they think it proper to sanction in the
present case. Thus, all kinds of treachery and deceit are considered to
be allowable, for a very ancient philosopher among them has left a maxim
upon record, and it has not yet been beaten out of their heads,
notwithstanding the precepts of the great book, in nearly the following
words: "Who thinks of requiring open courage of an enemy, or that
treachery is not equally allowable in war?"[15]

[Footnote 15: Dolus an virtus quis in hoste requirat?]

Strange! the superior being would reply. They seem to me to be reversing
the order of their nature, and the end of their existence. But how do
they justify themselves on these occasions? It would be answered, that
they not only justify themselves, but they even go so far as to call
these fightings honourable. The greater the treachery, if it succeeds,
and the greater the number of these beings killed, the more glorious is
the action esteemed.

Still more strange! the superior being would reply. And is it possible,
he would add, that they enter into this profession With a belief, that
they are entering into an honourable employ? Some of them, it would be
replied, consider it as a genteel employ. And hence they engage in it.
Others, of a lazy disposition, prefer it to any other. Others are
decoyed into it by treachery in various ways. There are also strong
drinks, which they are fond of, and if they are prevailed upon to take
these to excess, they lose their reason, and then they are obliged to
submit to it. It must be owned too, that when these wars begin, the
trades of many of these little beings are stopped, so that, to get a
temporary livelihood, they go out and fight. Nor must it be concealed,
that many are forced to go, both against their judgment and against
their will.

The superior being, hurt at these various accounts, would probably ask,
and what then does the community get by these wars, as a counterbalance
for the loss of so much happiness, and the production of so much evil?
It would be replied, nothing. The community is generally worse off at
the end of these wars, than when it began to contend. But here the
superior being would wish to hear no more of the system. He would
suddenly turn away his face, and retire into one of the deep valleys of
his planet, either with exclamations against the folly, or with emotions
of pity for the situation, or with expressions of disgust at the
wickedness, of these little creatures.

"O for a lodge in some vast wilderness,
Some boundless contiguity of shade,
Where tumour of oppression and deceit,
Of unsuccessful or successful war,
Might never reach me more! My ear is pain'd,
My soul is sick with every day's report,
Of wrong and outrage, with which earth is fill'd.
Lands, intersected by a narrow frith,
Abhor each other. Mountains interpos'd,
Make enemies of nations who had else,
Like kindred drops, been mingled into one.
Thus men devotes his brother, and destroys--
Then what is man? And what man, seeing this,
And having human feelings, does not blush,
And hang his head, to think himself a man?"

COWPER

SECT. VI.

_Subject farther considered--Sad conceptions of those relative to the
Divine Being, and the nature of the Gospel, who plead for the necessity
of war--War necessary, where statesmen pursue the policy of the
world--Nature and tendency of this policy--but not necessary where they
pursue the policy of the Gospel--Nature and tendency of this
policy--This tendency farther confirmed by a supposed case of a few
Quakers becoming the governors of the world._

It is now an old maxim, and time with all its improvements has not worn
it away, that wars are necessary in the present constitution of the
world. It has not even been obliterated, that they are necessary, in
order to sweep off mankind on account of the narrow boundaries of the
earth. But they, who make use of this argument, must be aware, that, in
espousing it, they declare no less, than that God, in the formation of
his system, had only half calculated or half provided for its
continuance, and that they charge him with a worse cruelty than is
recorded of the worst of men: because, if he told men to increase and
multiply, and gave them passions accordingly, it would appear as if he
had created them only to enjoy an eternal feast in the sight of their
destruction. Nor do they make him a moral governor of the world, if he
allows men to butcher one another without an individual provocation or
offence.

Neither do persons, arguing for the necessity of wars, do less than set
themselves above the prophecies or oracles of God, which declare, that
such warfare shall some time or other cease.

Neither do they, when they consider wars as necessary, and as never to
be done away on account of the wicked passions of men, do less than
speak blasphemy against the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because they
proclaim it to be inadequate to the end proposed. For the proper
subjugation of these, among other purposes, it was that the Gospel was
promulgated. If it be thought a miracle, that the passions of men should
be subdued, it is still a miracle, which Christianity professes to work;
which it has worked since the hour of its institution; which it has
worked in men, who have placed their highest reputation in martial
glory; and which it continues to work, at the present day. Those,
therefore, who promote wars, and excite the passions of men for this
purpose, attempt to undo what it is the object of Christianity to do,
and to stop the benign influence of the Gospel in the hearts of men.

That wars are necessary, or rather that they will be begun and
continued, I do not mean to deny, while statesmen pursue the wisdom or
policy of the world.

What this wisdom or policy is, it will not be difficult to trace. And
first, when any matter is in dispute among the rulers of nations, is it
not a maxim, that a high tone is desirable in the settlement of it, in
order that the parties may seem to betray neither fear nor weakness, and
that they may not be thought to lose any of their dignity or their
spirit? Now as the human passions are constituted, except they have
previously been brought under due regulation by Christianity, what is
more likely than that a high tone of language on one side should beget a
similar tone on the other, or that spirit, once manifested, should,
produce spirit in return, and that each should fly off, as it were, at a
greater distance from accommodation than before, and that, when once
exasperation has begun, it should increase. Now what is the chance, if
such policy be resorted to on such occasions, of the preservation of
peace between them?

And, secondly, is it not also a received maxim, that, in controversies
of this sort, a nation, even during the discussion, should arm itself,
in order that it may shew itself prepared? But if any one nation arms
during the discussion; if it fits out armies or fleets of observation
with a view of deterring, or of being ready in case of necessity of
striking, as it is called, the first blow; what is more probable, than
that the other will arm also, and that it will fit out its own armies
and fleets likewise? But when both are thus armed, pride and spirit will
scarcely suffer them to relax, and what is then more probable, than that
they will begin to fight?

And, thirdly, is it not a maxim also, that, even during the attempt to
terminate the dispute, the public mind should be prepared? Are not the
public papers let loose to excite and propagate a flame? And are not
the deeds of our ancestors ushered into our ears to produce a martial
spirit? But if the national temper is roused on both sides, and if
preparations are carrying on at the same time with the utmost vigour,
where again is the hope of the prevention of war between them?

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