ilifornia 
 
 lonal 
 
 lity
 
 LIBRARY OF 
 
 Mount Morris College 
 
 MOUNT MORRIS, ILLINOIS 
 
 Accession No. ..... &.Q f 1 
 
 ........... 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 A little child shall lead them."
 
 THE 
 
 OLIVE BRANCH 
 
 OF 
 
 PEACE AND GOOD 
 WILL TO MEN 
 
 
 ANTI-WAR HISTORY 
 OF THE BRETHREN 
 AND MENNONITES, 
 THE PEACE PEOPLE 
 of the SOUTH, DUR- 
 ING THE CIVIL, WAR 
 1861 - 1865 
 
 By 
 S. F. SANGER and D. HAYS 
 
 ELGIN, ILL.: 
 BRETHREN PUBLISHING HOUSE 
 
 1907
 
 Copyright, 1907, 
 
 BRETHRKN PUBLISHING HOUSE, 
 Klgin, Illinois.
 
 PREFACE TO THE REVISION. 
 
 THE manuscript for this work had been prepared 
 for the press in 1898, but its publication was delayed 
 because some important matter it was desired to 
 have inserted was not then in hand. This has since 
 been obtained, and by order of the General Missionary 
 and Tract Committee, and the request of Bro. Sanger, 
 the work has been re-edited by the undersigned, who 
 by personal visits and an extensive correspondence 
 has aimed to secure greater accuracy and complete- 
 ness. All matter not related to the subject has been 
 omitted, and it has been the writer's purpose through- 
 out to make it the exponent of a principle held sacred 
 by our people, and to send it forth on its mission of 
 
 Peace and Good-will. 
 
 D. HAYS. 
 January, 1907. 
 
 1703917
 
 PREFACE 
 
 MT. MORRIS, ILL., October, 1897. 
 
 AT a recent meeting of the General Missionary and 
 Tract Committee it was decided to publish in book 
 form a history of the trials and experiences of the 
 Brethren during the late war between the States. 
 The object of the book is to set forth our nonresistant 
 and anti-war doctrine and also to show what was en- 
 dured by our brethren, through God's help, to main- 
 tain these principles. It is believed the experiences 
 of those dark days will be helpful to future generations 
 in " contending for the faith which was once delivered 
 unto the saints " in adversity as well as in prosperity. 
 
 The book is to be published by the Brethren Pub- 
 lishing House, and all the profits from its sale go to 
 World-Wide Missions of the church. 
 
 The Committee has appointed Elders D. Hays, of 
 Broadway, Va., and S. F. Sanger, of Calverton, Va.. 
 to compile this work, and any assistance rendered 
 them by those whose experience comes within the 
 scope of the book will be greatly appreciated. 
 
 THE GEN. Miss. AND TRACT COMMITTEE. 
 
 In compliance with the above action of the General 
 
 Missionary and Tract Committee, Brother S. F. San- 
 
 i
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 ger, then at Calvcrton, Ya., after receiving his outfit 
 of stationery, etc., with which to begin work on our 
 Anti-War History, sent out a number of circular 
 letters to all whose names and addresses he could get 
 'that were in the number of imprisoned brethren in 
 Richmond and Harrisonburg, Ya. 
 
 The following is a copy of the circular letter sent 
 out December 6, 1897: 
 
 Dear Brother: You will see from the enclosed 
 statement from the General Missionary and Tract 
 Committee what is in prospect. If you have had any 
 experience or have in possession information per- 
 taining to the trials and imprisonment of any of our 
 Brethren during the \Var of 1861-5 on account of 
 our peace principles, will you kindly submit the same 
 to writing as you know them to be facts, in the 
 order and under the headings indicated below? 
 
 1. The incident. (Tell what occurred.) 
 
 2. The time and place of the occurrence. (Give 
 the date as near as you can, and also the place.) 
 
 3. The persons. (Give the names of all con- 
 nected with the incident.) 
 
 4. The history. (Tell all you know about the 
 incident.) 
 
 5. Personal experience. (Relate your own ex- 
 perience in this line, if you had any, whether im- 
 prisoned, drafted, or caused to leave home because 
 you were opposed to war.) 
 
 Please answer the above questions as fullv and
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 correctly as possible and forward the same for the 
 use of the Committee on Compilation as early as you 
 can, to S. F. SANGER, 
 
 Calverton, Va. 
 
 The response to this circular was generally prompt 
 from Virginia, Tennessee and the West, and a number 
 of these statements were identical, which, in order 
 to avoid as much repetition as possible, have been 
 carefully edited. This was agreeable to the expressed 
 wishes of the writers who sent in their experiences. 
 
 Then, agreeably to the suggestion of Brother San- 
 ger " that since our early brethren suffered greatly 
 for their faith's sake in Germany before they em- 
 igrated to America this history should be incor- 
 porated in our book so as to preserve it and give it 
 a wider circulation," this has been considered in a 
 brief yet comprehensive way in Part I, Church and 
 State. Later, September 13, 1898, Brother San- 
 ger wrote, " I still think it would be good to have a 
 copy of the Act of the Confederate Congress grant- 
 ing exemption to our brethren from military service. 
 It would show that the law-makers were a considerate 
 people and favorable to us." This important docu- 
 ment, after considerable delay, was traced through 
 the Record and Pension Office, Washington, D. C., 
 to the Congressional Library, where a copy of it was 
 obtained and is given entire at the close of this book. 
 
 The leading purpose of the book has been kept 
 steadily in view to set forth the nonresistant doc- 
 trine of the church and to show what the Brethren 
 endured to maintain the principles of peace and to
 
 X . i'KEFACE. 
 
 secure for us, under the blessing of God, the liberty 
 we now enjoy. 
 
 A number of illustrations of the war period have 
 been secured. The most valuable of these in illus- 
 trating the Civil War period were produced by Sis- 
 ter Rebecca Bowman, of Harrisonburg, Va., some ot 
 which are original. We are especially indebted to 
 her for the sketch of " Thunder Castle," the " Old 
 Court House," " Perpetua," " The Virginia Sisters," 
 Petersburg, W. Va., and the Home of Eld. Daniel 
 Thomas as it was when he was living. 
 
 We are also indebted to Geo. P. Brown and Co., 
 Beverly, Mass., and to the publishers of Souvenir, 
 German Baptist Conference, Harrisburg, Pa., for 
 valuable illustrations. To all others who have written 
 to us we hereby express our thanks for their words 
 of encouragement, such as, " Success to you in your 
 work." " I should like to see the book." " I hope to 
 see a copy of the book." " I trust it may help to hasten 
 the time of universal peace." D. H. 
 
 Upon the whole, the object in publishing this little 
 volume especially as it relates to the Civil War, is 
 threefold : First, to give a true and faithful record 
 of the sufferings and experiences, largely from the 
 personal testimony of those who, through religious 
 convictions, declined to bear arms against their fellow- 
 men, believing that Christians should not take up the 
 sword, but follow the teachings of the " Prince of 
 Peace." 
 
 Second, to testify to God's goodness in protecting
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 them in, and delivering them from, prison, as well as 
 freeing them from military service during the re- 
 mainder of the war from 1862 to 1865. 
 
 Third, to strengthen the faith of Christians who 
 may yet be required to suffer persecution for the sake 
 of Christ and his Gospel of good will to men. 
 
 Trusting that future generations may be blessed and 
 strengthened through the perusal of this volume, we 
 send it forth under the blessings and guidance of Him 
 to whom all praise belongs. 
 
 SAMUEL F. SANGER. 
 DANIEL HAYS.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE object of presenting to the public a History of 
 the Brethren as a peace people, or suffering persecu- 
 tion for Christ's sake in time of war, is that our peace 
 principles, and our relation to the government in main- 
 taining these principles, may be better understood. It 
 is to be regretted that the relation which the Brethren 
 as a peace people sustain to the civil government in 
 time of war, is so little understood that some have 
 been led to conclude we are not friendly to the civil 
 authorities when we refuse to take up arms. But we 
 are now living in an age when " light is spreading and 
 bayonets think," and we are confident of a considerate 
 hearing when we assure our fellow-men that the right- 
 eousness of a people is the glory and strength of a 
 nation. There is no conflict between the kingdom of 
 Christ and the kingdoms of this world, which God has 
 set up for the protection of his people. The separation 
 of church and state, now fully recognized by the peo- 
 ple of our land, is a fundamental principle in the 
 teaching of Christ who declares, " My kingdom is not 
 of this world." The relation between the kingdom of 
 Christ and civil government is set forth in Romans 13 : 
 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For 
 there is no power but of God : the powers that be are 
 ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the 
 
 13
 
 Xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 power, rcsisteth the ordinance of God: and they that 
 resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rul- 
 ers are not a terror to good \vorks, but to the evil." 
 From this it is clear that governments are ordained of 
 God for the protection of the righteous and the punish- 
 ment of the wicked. The Christian is required to be 
 subject to the " higher powers," though he is not a 
 subject of them. The Christian is a subject of the 
 kingdom of Christ, the Prince of Peace. The govern- 
 ment that respects the peace-loving, nonresistant prin- 
 ciples of the Christian religion has the strongest sup- 
 port that the righteousness of her people can give : a 
 quiet submission to the laws, their tribute, and their 
 prayers. 
 
 The world needs such a diffusion of knowledge as 
 will cause men to think and nations to reason. Govern- 
 ments are helpless in the hands of an unenlightened 
 people. Rulers are driven to desperate steps by dis- 
 loyal subjects. A peace-loving people creates a like 
 sentiment among others from subjects to rulers, and 
 the threatening war clouds often disperse before the 
 brighter light of peace and truth. The leaven of 
 peace must be infused among the people. Peace among 
 the nations can be reached in no other way. Rulers 
 are powerless to control the war-like spirit of their 
 subjects. The only remedy is for each one to become 
 an advocate of peace, each society a peace society, 
 each church a peace church, for the diffusion of peace, 
 love and good-will among men. 
 
 The great Teacher never attempted to reach the 
 people through their rulers. It was among the people 
 that he labored to establish his religion ; and it was to
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 the people of all nations that he sent his disciples to 
 teach the same doctrine of love and good-will among 
 men. Christianity, like its Founder, is not selfish. It 
 reaches out with loving invitation to all men in all 
 nations. The universal diffusion of the Christian re- 
 ligion will insure the universal prevalence of peace. 
 
 During a war the energies of a nation are directed 
 toward the manufacture of the sinews of war. The 
 moral, intellectual and spiritual interests of the people 
 are made subservient to this. All the prayers for 
 peace, the lessons of love, and the deeds of philan- 
 thropy are lost in the gloom and horrors of human 
 strife. What avails it that the mother has bestowed 
 all the treasure of her affections upon her innocent 
 boy? The innocence of youth is lost in the hardened 
 soldier, and the gentle nature of his early life becomes 
 the instrument of revenge that seeks a life as precious 
 as his own. The destruction of human life is by no 
 means the greatest calamity attendant upon war. The 
 body, it is true, may be mangled in the conflict, but the 
 soul becomes blackened by rage, and distorted by re- 
 venge, and the injury bestowed is often irreparable, 
 as death shuts out forever the possibility of forgive- 
 ness. The forgiveness of injuries is not contemplated 
 in war ; it is not within the reach of those engaged in 
 human strife. How revolting the spectacle ! Brothers 
 of the same race, often of the same family, meet as 
 foes to perish in the conflict, unforgiving and unfor- 
 given ! 
 
 Then the cause of war often hinges upon a single 
 point, and after two nations have exhausted their re- 
 sources in devastating war, the question at issue is as
 
 Xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 much undecided as before the war began. If peace 
 commissioners are necessary at the close of a war to 
 determine conditions of peace, why not submit the 
 question at issue to arbitration at once? Is not war 
 then an insult to human reason? Has not the time 
 come when reason shall assert her rights in the coun- 
 cil of nations? One of the encouraging signs of the 
 times is that arbitration of all differences between na- 
 tions is meeting with favor by the more considerate 
 among the enlightened nations. The initial step seems 
 to have been taken when, at a meeting of delegates 
 from the United States and the government of Eng- 
 land, it was proposed that all matters of international 
 controversy be submitted to arbitration, and it has 
 since then assumed a more definite shape upon the es- 
 tablishment of the Hague Court. 
 
 Then it becomes more than ever the duty of every 
 sincere lover of the Prince of Peace to point out the 
 way to a peaceful solution of national grievances. The 
 youth of our land should be taught the grandeur and 
 glory of self-sacrifice, that there is a higher standard 
 of bravery than meeting a foe in mortal combat ; that 
 it is more courageous to receive an injury without 
 resentment than it is to inflict an injury for wrongs im- 
 agined or received. Truly the *' fruits of the Spirit, "- 
 love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, 
 faith, meekness, temperance, are evidences of the 
 heaven-born origin of the Christian religion, and the 
 man who is a servant of the Prince of Peice, whose 
 kingdom is not of this world, is willing to suffer perse- 
 cution for Christ's sake rather than to take the life of 
 one for whom Christ died.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XVli 
 
 When a perfect horror of the shedding of human 
 blood and the taking of human life is made a part of 
 the education of every boy and girl throughout the 
 land, when every minister of the Gospel shall raise his 
 voice in the interests of peace and the common brother- 
 hood of man, when rulers shall turn their rewards 
 into more legitimate channels and bestow more honor 
 upon the benefactors of the human race than upon the 
 destroyers of mankind, then shall we see the dawn 
 of a better day, D. H.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The Olive Branch of Peace The Church Church and 
 State The Persecutions of the Brethren in Ger- 
 many and America Johann Naas Christopher 
 Saur, 21 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The Peace People of the South during the Civil War 
 What Will a Nonresistant People Do in Time of 
 War? The Western Movement from the Valley 
 of Virginia in 1862 Reminiscences of the War 
 Between the States The Brethren in Tennessee 
 During the Civil War, 49 
 
 PART III. 
 
 A Lesson from the Sea (Introductory to Part III) 
 Sketches and Incidents Arrest and Imprisonment 
 of Brethren and Mennonites in 1862 Sketches of 
 B. F. Moomaw, John Kline and Others A Group 
 of Virginia Sisters Perpetua Hymn by J. C. 
 Moomaw The Prisoners' Song Pilgrim Stranger 
 The Coming Day, 100 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 Nonresistance; or the Spirit of Christianity Restored, 163 
 
 19
 
 XX CONTENTS. 
 
 PART V. 
 
 A Voice From the South The Temple of Peace The 
 Triumph of Peace, 189 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 The Exemption Act of the Confederate Congres., 
 Journey to Annual Meeting in 1862 Payment of 
 Fines, and Thanksgiving Exemption of Nonre- 
 sistants from Military Duty by the United States 
 Government in 1903 A Memorial, 213
 
 PART ONE 
 
 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE 
 
 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard 
 shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young 
 lion and the failing together: and a little child shall lead 
 them. Isa. 11: 6.
 
 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE 
 
 THE world's great need was peace. For about four 
 thousand years war and strife made sad work among 
 men. The strong trampled upon the rights of the 
 weak, and the defenseless were at the mercy of the 
 wicked. Many a prosperous country was overrun by 
 a merciless foe. Many a beautiful home was laid 
 waste. Many were the lives destroyed, strong men, 
 helpless women, and innocent children. 
 
 This was a long, dark night of human misery, but 
 the world's hope gave promise of the dawn of a bet- 
 ter day. The star of Jacob appeared in the East. The 
 Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in his wing?. 
 Christ, the Prince of Peace, was born as the world's 
 Redeemer. His birth was announced by the angelic 
 
 host with " GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON 
 EARTH PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN/' " Behold, 
 
 I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be 
 to all people. For unto you is born this day in the 
 city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." 
 Luke 2. This was according to the prophet isaiah. 
 " For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given ; 
 arid the government shall be upon his shoulder; and 
 his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The 
 mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of 
 Peace." Isa. 9 : 6. Then, according to the prophecy, 
 the declaration of angels, and the testimony of the 
 evangelist, Christ is introduced to the world as God's 
 best gift of love and good-will. 
 
 23
 
 24 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 Christ revealed the true character of God. He 
 taught us to pray to him as " our Father ; " that as God 
 is our Father, we all are his children, and members of 
 the same family ; and that as God loved us, we also 
 ought to love one another. 
 
 God's love in sending his Son into the world was 
 an overture of peace. God gives the world the as- 
 surance of his love by an act so great that heaven 
 and earth cannot measure it. God comes to the world 
 and reaches over poverty and wretchedness and offers 
 life and peace to those living in sin. It is said that 
 it is impossible for a person to know that he is loved 
 without feeling some degree of love in return. We 
 love him because he first loved us. 
 
 In setting up his kingdom Christ lived a life of peace. 
 If the nature of a kingdom may be seen in the life of 
 its founder, then from the manger to the throne may 
 be seen the unmistakable evidence that he was the 
 Prince of Peace. Possessing unlimited power over 
 the children of men, he suffered their reproaches with- 
 out resentment, and endured without complaint all 
 the trials of a bitter persecution. When in the great- 
 est need of assistance, he was forsaken by his follow- 
 ers. He even forbade the use of the sword for his 
 protection. " He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, 
 yet he opened rtot his mouth ; he is brought as a lamb 
 to the slaughter, and as a slice]) before her sheaters is 
 dumb, so he opened not his mouth." Isa. 53 : 7. 
 
 Then the power of his kingdom rests not in force, 
 but in the purity and spirit of his example and precepts 
 which he impressed upon the minds and hearts of 
 his people. lie gave the world a pure religion, and
 
 The Angel and the Shepherds.
 
 26 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 illustrated it by his own example as he taught it by 
 precept. His emphatic, *' I SAY UNTO vor." sweeps 
 away all other laws, when he says, " Ye have heard 
 that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for 
 a tooth : but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil." 
 And again, " Ye have heard that it hath been said, 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: 
 but I say unto you, Love your enemies, do good to 
 them that hate you, and pray for them which dcspite- 
 fully use you, and persecute you." 
 
 In giving the Golden Rule to the world, it implies 
 that each one desires to receive good and to enjoy 
 happiness. "' Therefore all things whatsoever ye would 
 that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 
 This great rule of life and conduct, when observed 
 in the spirit of Christ, produces charity toward all 
 men, kindness to the erring, love to our neighbor, the 
 denial of self for the happiness of others, and the ex- 
 ercise of the spirit of forgiveness toward them who 
 do us wrong. These principles are high and noble. 
 They place us above the low and baser passions of 
 human nature. Those who observe the Golden Rule 
 begin such a course of good deeds toward others as 
 they desire to receive in return. Tt will convert en- 
 emies into friends, reconcile all difference among men, 
 and bring in the reign of universal peace. D. n.
 
 THE PRINCE OF PEACE. 27 
 
 My kingdom is not of this world. John 18: 36. 
 
 CHRIST'S mission of peace to the world has been 
 committed to the church. All must admit that the 
 principles of peace are essential to the nature and 
 existence of the church, if the church would main- 
 tain a vital union with her living Head. In its 
 original purity the church is known in history by her 
 advocacy of peace and her opposition to war. When 
 Christ prohibited the rendering of evil for evil, he 
 pronounced blessings upon the meek, the merciful, 
 the peacemakers, with the great rule : " Love your 
 enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them 
 that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully 
 use you and persecute you." The spirit of peace, 
 of love and good-will may be seen throughout the 
 teachings of Christ and the apostles. No fact is more 
 clearly established in history than the fact that the 
 early Christians understood the precepts of Christ to 
 prohibit war. Origen, in the third century, says : " We 
 no longer take up sword against nation, nor do we 
 learn war any more, having become children of 
 peace for the sake of Jesus who is our leader." Justin 
 Martyr, in the second century, says : " We who for- 
 merly used to murder one another, now refrain from 
 making war upon our enemies." 
 
 What a wonderful evidence is this of the transform- 
 ing power of the Christian religion ?
 
 28 THE OLIVE P.RAXCH OF PEACE. 
 
 Tertullian, in the second century, says : " Inquiry is 
 made whether a believer may turn himself into military 
 service, and whether the military may be admitted 
 into the faith, even the rank and file, or reach inferior 
 grade to whom there is no necessity for taking part in 
 sacrifices or capital punishments. There is no agree- 
 ment between the divine and the human sacrament, 
 the standard of Christ and the standard of the devil, 
 the camp of light and the camp of darkness. 
 But how will a Christian man war, nay, how will he 
 serve in peace without a sword which the Lord has 
 taken away ? " 
 
 The extracts from the writings of Justin Martyr and 
 Tertullian show clearly that the church in the second 
 and third centuries held war to be inconsistent with 
 Christianity. The Waldenses, of later date, according 
 to Robinson and Neander, held it " unlawful for a 
 Christian to take oaths, to bear arms, or to shed human 
 blood." ; ' They condemned absolutely the oath, all 
 shedding of blood, military service and the punishment 
 of death." 
 
 To this testimony of faithful witnesses from the 
 pages of history, we will add the evidence of the 
 church of the Brethren in Annual Meeting of 1845 : 
 " In regard to our being altogether defenseless, not 
 to withstand evil, but to overcome evil with good, 
 the Brethren consider that the nearer \ve follow the 
 bright example of the Lamb of God who willingly 
 suffered the cross, and prayed for his enemies, who, 
 though heir of all things, had on earth ' not where to 
 lay his head ; ' the more we shall fulfill our high call- 
 ing and obtain grace to deny ourselves for Christ and
 
 DECLARATION OF PEACE PRINCIPLES. 29 
 
 his Gospel's sake, even to the loss of our property, our 
 liberty and our lives." 
 
 Then, in 1864, during the Civil War in the United 
 States, the church in Annual Meeting made the fol- 
 lowing declaration of her peace principles : " We ex- 
 hort the Brethren to steadfastness in the faith, and 
 believe that the times in which our lots are cast, 
 strongly demand of us a strict adherence to all our 
 principles, and especially to our nonresistant principle, 
 dear to every subject of the PRINCE OF PEACE, and a 
 prominent doctrine of our Fraternity, and to endure 
 whatever sufferings, and to make whatever sacrifices 
 the maintaining of the principle may require, and not 
 to encourage in any way the practice of war." 
 
 How much we are indebted to the church for the 
 maintenance of the principle of peace, during the 
 fiery trials of the Dark Ages, and the fierce opposition 
 she had to endure in more recent times, we now can 
 scarcely realize. Wherever the church has gone in 
 her mission to save souls, she has carried light, liberty, 
 and the blessings of peace with her. Education, civili- 
 zation and refinement have followed her course, and 
 wherever she has found a resting place, and has been 
 permitted to spread her doctrine, and to enlarge her 
 tents, there the elevating influence of her presence 
 is felt and seen in the high moral character of the people 
 and the development of the material resources of the 
 country, for the comfort and prosperity of the laboring 
 class. We enjoy the blessings of peace to-day because 
 the church, with a fortitude unwavering, and with a 
 courage more than human breasted the storm of 
 persecution, and, by patience and persistent effort,
 
 30 THE OLIVE IJRAXC1I OF PEACE. 
 
 has at last been permitted under God's blessing, to 
 preach without hindrance a pure Gospel as the world's 
 only hope, and to unfurl the banner of peace as " an 
 ensign to the nations." 
 
 The beauty, purity and glory of the principles of 
 peace are so far above sinful human nature, that, if 
 there were nothing else to recommend it, these alone 
 attest the divine origin of the Christian religion. The 
 spirit of forgiveness, the love of enemies that seeks 
 their reform, the sacrifice of self for the good of others, 
 to receive and bear an injury without seeking revenge, 
 are principles so pure in conception, so exalted in 
 character, so far reaching in their influence upon the 
 life and nature of man that the possession and practice 
 of them place the evidence of the heaven-born origin 
 of the religion of Christ beyond the cavil of skeptics, 
 and the blasts of infidelity. 
 
 Let it, then, be recorded as a monument of ages past, 
 as the glory of all lovers of the Prince of Peace, as a 
 prophecy of the coming and nature of the Redeemer's 
 everlasting kingdom, that the church has never stained 
 her garments with human blood. If it be true that 
 every denomination stands for some particular aspect 
 of the truth, then let it be known that " peace on earth, 
 good-will among men," is a prominent doctrine of the 
 Brethren church. Upward toward God, then, let us 
 rise in purity and holiness. Onward toward the com- 
 ing kingdom let us press in righteousness and peace, 
 that we may, by living a life of heaven on earth, be 
 prepared at last to enter the golden gates. 
 
 Like the mountain top clothed with perpetual snow, 
 far above the reach of cyclone, or earthquake shock,
 
 CHURCH AND STATE. 31 
 
 with her white crest, emblem of purity and truth, bathed 
 in sunlight, while below perennial streams flow out 
 and on to water the thirsty land, so stands the church. 
 " as a city set upon a hill," above the blasts of infidelity 
 and the upheavals of strife and war, sending the light 
 of truth, and peace, and love throughout the earth to 
 bless the nations. D. H. 
 
 CHURCH AND STATE 
 
 The Persecution of the Brethren in Germany 
 and America 
 
 How the passive endurance of wrong, and the peaceable 
 lives of nonresistance induced governments to recognize 
 their rights, and to grant liberty of conscience. 
 
 The highest and purest conception of civil and 
 religious liberty is a Free Church in a Free State as 
 defined by Dr. Schaff, " a self-supporting and self- 
 governing Christianity in independent but friendly 
 relation to the civil government." This liberty was 
 planted on American soil by persons seeking a refuge 
 from persecution on account of their religion, but, 
 thank God, it is no longer confined to America. 
 
 In 1636, Roger Williams established a colony at 
 Rhode Island as "a refuge for persons distressed in 
 conscience." Here full religious liberty was made 
 a part of the fundamental law. 
 
 In 1649 the Assembly of Maryland passed the " Tol-
 
 32 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 eration Act," that " no person within this province, 
 professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall be in any 
 ways troubled, molested, or discountenanced for his 
 or her religion, or in the free exercise thereof." In 
 1682, Wm. Perm, who was a sincere advocate of re- 
 ligious liberty, with the motive to provide " an asylum 
 for persecuted Christians of his own faith," established 
 a colony in Pennsylvania where freedom and equality 
 of rights in all matters of religion were proclaimed. 
 In 1688, six years later, Parliament passed the " Tol- 
 eration Act," but it was not until 1833 that the 
 British legislature recognized the objection of Friends 
 to taking oaths and accepted instead a simple affirma- 
 tion. These privileges were obtained by the Friends 
 in England solely by the power of passive resistance, 
 and it should be recorded as a singular proof of the 
 efficacy of the faithful continuance in doing what is 
 right. 
 
 In 1789-91, the first Amendment to the Constitution 
 of the United States provides that " Congress shall 
 make no law respecting an establishment of religion or 
 prohibiting the free exercise thereof." By this act 
 the United States Government has incorporated in the 
 fundamental law of the land the fact of " absolute re- 
 ligious liberty," and " the entire separation of Church 
 and State." 
 
 Wm. Penn, in the settlement of Pennsylvania, gave 
 to the world the example of the triumph of peace over 
 physical force. He bought the territory of the Indians 
 themselves, and made a treaty of friendship with them 
 under an elm tree, and the savages assured the 
 " Quaker King " that " thev would live in love with
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 33 
 
 him and his children as long as the mOon and sun 
 should shine." 
 
 The way was now open for the peaceable settlement 
 of Pennsylvania. Our people, the Brethren, who were 
 persecuted in Germany, at the invitation of Wm. Penn 
 commenced emigrating to America. The greater part 
 of the Brethren came in 1719-29, and quietly settled 
 at Gefmantown, near Philadelphia, gradually extend 
 ing their settlement, a number going to Amwell, New 
 Jersey; others along the Schuylkill into the adjacent 
 counties westward, then south through Maryland into 
 the Valley of Virginia and Tennessee, and later into 
 the agricultural sections of the great West. The 
 hand of Providence may be seen in it all. As it was 
 with the infant church at Jerusalem, when by the hand 
 of persecution the brethren then were scattered abroad 
 and they went everywhere preaching the Word 
 (Acts 8: 4), so our Brethren on account of persecu- 
 tion left Germany and came to America, and following 
 the tide of emigration have been scattered over some 
 of the best agricultural sections of the United States, 
 and wherever they went they planted churches which 
 under God's blessing increased with the development 
 of the country. 
 
 We now pause to consider the question, 
 
 WHAT WILL A NONRESISTANT PEOPLE Do IN TIME 
 OF WAR? 
 
 . This question comes from many parts of our home- 
 land, from Europe, and from far-away India. The 
 solution we will find in the experience of our own peo-
 
 HISTORICAL DATA. 35 
 
 pie, the Brethren, who in time of peace and in time 
 of war have been non-resistants. We know not what 
 God may have in store for us in the future, the past 
 at least is secure ; and as he has been with us in the 
 past, we trust him for all that is to come. 
 
 It may in a general way be said that the spirit of a 
 people may be seen in their representative men. Histo- 
 ry brings to our view many examples of noble men 
 and women, and to prove the sincerity, piety and 
 virtue of a body of Christian men and women, we can 
 do it no better than by giving some illustrious ex- 
 amples. 
 
 Historical Data Card No. One. 
 
 * 
 
 HARLEYSVILLE, PA V DEC. 20, 1905. 
 Daniel Hays, Broadway, Va. 
 
 Dear Brother: I did not write the article you speak 
 of, but I may have furnished the data, as Mrs. Rosen- 
 berger has been to see me a number of times. Con- 
 cerning the account of the sufferings of Bro. Saur, 
 I know nothing about the lady you name; but Dr. 
 Brumbaugh had my papers on the sufferings of Saur, 
 and as far as I know got all from me that he wrote 
 about Saur. As I am in my 86th year and nearly blind, 
 I dictate to my daughter. Fraternally yours, 
 
 ABRAHAM H. CASSEL. 
 
 Card No. Two. 
 
 COVINGTON, OHIO, DECEMBER 18, 1905. 
 Daniel Hays, Broadway, Va. 
 
 Dear Brother: " The Christian Soldier of Cre-
 
 36 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 fekl " was published in the Sunday School Times: 
 then the Gospel Messenger copied it. I wrote the 
 article, but I would like to say that Brother Abra- 
 ham H. Cassel had the records, and I read them in his 
 library. Your Sister, 
 
 ELIZABETH D. ROSENBERGER. 
 
 JOHAXN NAAS. 
 
 Johann Naas, the most eminent of the Brethren's 
 early preachers was born in 1669 or 70, at Norten, a 
 town in the province of Westphalia, twelve miles north 
 of Emden. He was one among the first fruits of the 
 Brethren in Crefeld, and, on account of his disinter- 
 ested piety and great natural endowments, he was soon 
 called to the ministry, in which he manifested so much 
 zeal that his field of labor at Crefeld appeared too 
 small for his ardent desire to extend the knowledge of 
 the newly discovered truth. Hence he made several 
 very successful tours through the adjoining provinces 
 as a traveling missionary, in which he suffered many 
 privations, and once narrowly escaped being pressed 
 into the army of the king of Prussia. This incident is 
 given in the following narrative : 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER OF CREFELD. 
 
 Johann Naas and Jacob Preiss were traveling to- 
 gether, preaching first in Crefeld, then in Marienburg. 
 It was at this time when the caprice of Frederick Wil- 
 liam for a regiment composed of giants had obtained 
 world-wide renown. No expense of money, fraud or 
 intrigue was spared to obtain gigantic men. Johann
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. 37 
 
 Naas was a veritable Saul, standing head and shoul- 
 ders above his fellows. The king's officers asked him to 
 become a soldier. This he firmly refused to do, as he 
 advocated peace principles. They proceeded to tor- 
 ture him, but without effect. At last they took him 
 before the king. 
 
 " Sire," said the captain, " this man absolutely re- 
 fuses to enlist in thy service. We have brought him 
 to thee to dispose of according to the will of your 
 Majesty." 
 
 The king scrutinized the prisoner very closely. Then 
 addressing him said : " You would make me a very 
 desirable soldier. Tell me why you will not enlist." 
 
 " Craving forgiveness of your Majesty," was the 
 reply, " I have long ago placed my name upon the no- 
 blest and best of enrollments, and I would not, indeed, 
 could not, become a traitor to him. Therefore I 
 can not enter thy service." 
 
 '"' To whom do you belong ? Who is your captain ? " 
 queried the astonished king. 
 
 " My Captain," said he, with a quick dramatic ges- 
 ture, "is the great Prince Immanuel, our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. I have espoused his cause, and, your Majesty, 
 I can not, and will not, forsake him." 
 
 " Neither will I that you shall forsake him," an- 
 swered the king. And, handing him a slight token of 
 respect for his fidelity, he dismissed him. 
 
 He emigrated to the United States of America with 
 the second company of the Brethren in 1729, and staid 
 with the church in Germantown, until 1733; then he
 
 38 T11K OLIVK P.KAXCII OF PEACE 
 
 with four other families crossed the Delaware, and 
 settled at Annvell, Xew Jersey, and immediately found- 
 ed a church there which is in a flourishing condition 
 yet to this clay. During- his lifetime this church was 
 the spiritual birthplace of more Brethren than per- 
 haps any other in the Union. In fact most of the 
 churches were planted by emigrants from this ; for on 
 account of their straitened circumstances they were 
 continually moving to other and newer settlements 
 to procure cheaper homes. 
 
 It is said by one of his contemporaries who knew him 
 well, that he was unequaled as a preacher, being a 
 German " Whitefield," or a " Boanerges." Several of 
 his hymns, which are still in use by the Brethren, also 
 speak well of him as a poet, or hymnologist. He is 
 further represented as being very mild and charitable 
 almost to a fault, insomuch that he occasionally dif- 
 fered from his brethren in the administration of judg- 
 ment to offending members. lie died ripe in years 
 and full of faith on the 12th of May, 1741, and is buried 
 amidst many of his spiritual children, in the Brethren's 
 graveyard at Amwell. 
 
 Although he was twice married, he left no issue 
 that we know of except two daughters. One of them 
 was married to a Brother \Yilhelmus Graw in Cre- 
 feld, who never came to America. The other married 
 a Hannes l.andis who afterwards joined the Seventh- 
 day Baptists, and went to Ephrata; but soon became 
 dissatisfied \vith that community, and in 1735-6 was 
 reconciled again to the Brethren and became a member 
 of the church in Conestoga, where he lived till death 
 took him home. A. H. CASSEL.
 
 CHRISTOPHER SAUR. 39 
 
 We are also indebted to Bro. A. FT. Cassel for the 
 following' facts concerning Bro. Christopher Saur. 
 The account of the sufferings of Bro. Saur during the 
 Revolutionary War in 1777-8, shows that the peace 
 principles of the Brethren, and their refusal to take the 
 oath were not understood by the authorities at that 
 time. It was during this trying period that the passive 
 resistance and patient suffering of Christopher Saur 
 and others of the same faith, induced the government 
 to recognize the nonresistant principles of the Breth- 
 ren and others, as well as their opposition to the 
 " oath ; " and though Benjamin Franklin at one time 
 (1747) had assailed the Quaker doctrine or " non re- 
 sistance," he and General Washington, both of whom 
 had knowledge of Christopher Saur and the Quakers, 
 were led to give their assistance in framing the Con- 
 stitution and to put their signature to the famous char- 
 ter of American Liberty. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER SAUR. 
 
 In all probability Christopher Saur, of German- 
 town, Pa., was one of the most remarkable men with 
 whom our Brotherhood has been blessed. On Feb. 24, 
 1737, he united with the church, being then in his six- 
 teenth year. He enjoyed the best educational advan- 
 tages for that age, possessed a mind of more than or- 
 dinary ability, and in his day wielded an influence with 
 pen and tongue second to few in America. 
 
 He carried on an extensive printing business, pub- 
 lished and edited a newspaper that reached a weekly 
 circulation of about ten thousand, established large
 
 40 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 paper mills, and with his father established the first 
 type foundry on the continent. He published nearly 
 two hundred different books, translated a number of 
 them into the English language, printed the first Bible 
 published in the United States, printed Sunday-school 
 cards, and encouraged Sunday schools, wrote and 
 spoke against the evils of slavery, and took a leading 
 part in founding the German Academy, made a pub- 
 lic speech in favor of the Academy and was one of the 
 largest contributors to the fund for erecting the build- 
 ing. 
 
 All this and much more he did in addition to travel- 
 ing and preaching extensively, for he was an elder in 
 the church, much respected for his learning, piety, loy- 
 alty and rare ability. As a speaker, he was eloquent, 
 profound and impressive, and wielded a pen whose 
 power was felt throughout the land. Where is the 
 man who has left such a record ! When we read what 
 this man performed in the short time of sixty-three 
 years, it seems almost incredible. 
 
 During the Revolutionary war he was stripped of 
 all his property and died a poor man. His remains now 
 rest in the Methatchen burying ground near Fairview 
 and Xorristown, Pa. From J. H. Moore's Sketch. 
 
 "A true account of what happened to me, Christo- 
 pher Sower, during the late war. 
 
 " Having heard how a number of Quakers were 
 banished and carried away to J 7 irginia, and being in- 
 formed that there were yet some hundreds of substan- 
 tial inhabitants on the list to be taken up and secured, 
 among which my name was also put down ; and as
 
 CHRISTOPHER SAUR. 41 
 
 there was already a beginning made and some of the 
 Millers and others on the Wissahickon were actually 
 taken away from their families, I considered what I 
 would best do. Knowing that Germantown would al- 
 ways be a disturbed place, for English and Americans 
 would continually march through it, forwards and 
 backwards, and having three of my children already 
 living in Philadelphia, I bethought myself to go there 
 too to live zvith them in peace. Accordingly I went 
 to Philadelphia on the 19th day of October, 1777 
 (many months before the act was made which forbade 
 to go to Philadelphia), and so I lived there quietly 
 and peaceably till the 23rd day of May, 1778, when 
 I went back to Germantown again, and was in my 
 house that night and the next day until 10 o'clock in 
 the evening, when a strong party of Captain McLean's 
 company surrounded my house and fetched me out of 
 my bed. It being a very dark night, they led me 
 through the Indian corn fields, where I could not get 
 along as fast as they wanted me to go, so they fre- 
 quently stuck me in the back with their bayonets until 
 they brought me to Bastian Miller's barn, where they 
 kept me till next morning ; then they stripped me naked 
 to the skin and gave me an old shirt and a pair of 
 breeches so much torn that I could barely cover my 
 nakedness. Then they cut my beard and hair, and 
 painted me with oil colors, red and black, and so led 
 me along barefooted and bareheaded, in a very hot 
 sun-shining day, until a friend of mine, seeing me in 
 that condition, asked them whether they would take 
 the shoes from me if he would give me a pair. The 
 officer in charge of me gave his word for it that they
 
 42 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 should not be taken from me, and so he took the shoes 
 from his own feet, and the hat from his head and gave 
 them to me. But after we had marched about six 
 miles, a soldier came and demanded my shoes and took 
 them and gave me his old slabs which were so hard and 
 torn that they wounded my feet very much. On the 
 26th, at 9 o'clock, I arrived at the camp near Valley 
 Forge, and was sent to the provo. 
 
 " My accusation in the mittimus was, ' an oppressor 
 of the righteous and a spy.' On the 27th in the morn- 
 ing God moved the heart of the most generous General 
 Miihlcnberg to come to me and to inquire into my af- 
 fairs, and promised that he would speak to General 
 Washington and procure me a hearing, and the next 
 day sent me word that I should make a petition to 
 General Washington, which I did, and through the 
 good hand of Providence and the faithful assistance 
 of said General Miihlenberg I was permitted to go 
 out of the provo on the 29th day of May. But as I 
 was not free, it being against my conscience to take 
 oath to the States, I was not permitted to go home 
 to Germantown as appears by the following pass, viz : 
 ' Permit the bearer hereof, Mr. Sower, to pass from 
 hence to Methatchey ; not to return to Germantown 
 during the stay of the enemy in this State, he behaving 
 as becometh. Given under my hand at the orderly of- 
 fice this 3Cth day of May, 1778. 
 
 ' NICHOLAS GII.MAX, 
 
 ' Assistant Adjutant General.' 
 
 " So I went to Methatchey and stayed there till the 
 23rd of June, when I returned to Germantown and
 
 CHRISTOPHER SAUR. 43 
 
 there lived quietly until the 27th of July, when Cols. 
 Smith and Thompson came to my house and asked me 
 whether I had entered special bail at the supreme court 
 in Lancaster. I told them 'no.' 'Why not?' said 
 they. ' Because I had no notice.' ' That can not be,' 
 said Thompson ; ' it was in newspapers and handbills.' 
 I told them that I had at that time been in the provo 
 and at Methatchey and had seen none of those papers, 
 and nobody had told me of it till after the time had 
 expired. ' Have you then taken the oath to the States ? ' 
 ' No,' was my reply. ' Why not ; were you so attached 
 to the king ? ' ' No ; it was not the attachment to the 
 king, but because you have in your " Act " that they 
 who do not take that oath shall not have a right to buy 
 or sell, and as I find in the book of Revelation that 
 such a time will come, when such a mark would be 
 given, therefore I could not take that oath while it 
 stood on that condition.' 
 
 " ' But you went to the English at Philadelphia,' said 
 Smith. I said, ' Yes, and do you know why ? ' ' No,' 
 said he, ' nor do I want to know.' Then they told me 
 that they were come to take an inventory of my per- 
 sonal estate and sell it, and to rent out my real estates. 
 I told them I would submit to all that the Lord permit- 
 ted them to do, and so Smith stood guard that I might 
 not put anything out of the way, and Thompson went 
 out to get appraisers and a clerk, and so they began 
 to appraise. I then begged of them they should let 
 me keep my bed, but Smith gave answer, they had no 
 right to let me have anything besides my clothes and 
 provisions (which last they did not abide by, for when 
 they found a barrel of beef in the cellar they took it
 
 44 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 down, although it was provision). I then begged for a 
 few medicines which I had put for my family use, be- 
 ing chiefly of my own and my father's preparations, 
 and nobody else knew anything about them, what they 
 were ; but Smith said, ' No, medicines are very valua- 
 ble, they must be sold.' Then I begged for nothing 
 more except for my spectacles, which was finally 
 granted. Then on the 28th the}- told me that I must 
 quit the house now, for they must rent it out; and so 
 I moved out of it on the 30th of July. Then they pro- 
 ceeded to sell my effects. But before the sale came on 
 my son Daniel endeavored to stop it, and applied to 
 Thomas Mattock and asked him whether his father 
 should not have a hearing. He replied, ' Yes, but we 
 must sell his effects first.' He then applied to Mr. 
 Lewis to stop the sale till next court, who endeavored 
 all he could to do it. But they had invented a lie, 
 namely, that I, or some of my people, had secretly 
 crept into the house, and had destroyed all the New 
 Testaments and that if the sale did not go on, all would 
 be destroyed before the said court would come on, and 
 so they passed on with the sale of all my personal 
 estate, and rented out my several houses and lands for 
 one year, and then sold them also, contrary to the con- 
 cession of the convention in the case of forfeited es- 
 tates, by which no real estate could have been sold be- 
 fore my youngest son is of age. And so they have not 
 only broken the fundamental rule (of the government) 
 in selling my estate ; but have also published me in al- 
 most all the newspapers as a traitor, without any cause 
 and without ever giving me a hearing, or trial. Al-
 
 46 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 though I never had gone a mile from the place of my 
 abode, and their own attorney, Mr. Bradford, has him- 
 self declared to a friend of mine, that if I had not for- 
 feited my life, I had also not forfeited my estate, for 
 they had no more right to my estate than to my life." 
 
 HIS LAST DAYS AND HIS DEATH. 
 
 I close this pathetic " account of injustice and perse- 
 cution " with an extract from a Memorial Address 
 by M. G. Brumbaugh, of the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania, delivered in the church of the Brethren at Ger- 
 mantown, January 1, 1899: 
 
 " \Yhen the fury of war had blasted his hopes and 
 impoverished his life, he was still rich ; rich in his devo- 
 tion to duty, rich in the love and confidence of his 
 friends, and rich in religious zeal. 
 
 " Kven in his poverty God opened to him a refuge. 
 At Methacton the homeless and wifeless old saint of 
 God found a refuge in an old building, perhaps the 
 one-room upper story of a spring house, belonging to 
 Conrad Stamm. 
 
 " Accompanied by his devoted daughter, Catharine, 
 he left the house of Brother Henry Sharpnack in Ger-- 
 mantown on April 7, 1780, and went to Methacton to 
 die. 
 
 " To the credit of his memory and as an example 
 to all men he was able to record in the last days of his 
 life, in a feeble hand under the accounts of money and 
 provisions given him by friends, these words as a me- 
 uxmal of Christian honor : ' The above has all been 
 paid.' 
 
 " In the midst of his toil for the church he loved,
 
 A SAINT CALLED HOME. 47 
 
 Bishop -Sower was called home. At the closing hour 
 his devoted daughter, Catharine, and his son, Samuel, 
 gave him the ministration of their loving hearts, and 
 closed his eyes in peace. 
 
 " They buried him in a walnut coffin, an act without 
 precedent in the family, and laid him to rest in the quiet 
 city of the dead. At his funeral service Elder Martin 
 Urner and Samuel Hopkins paid touching tribute to 
 his noble life ; .his associate, Bishop Mack, too full for 
 utterance, gave tribute to his worth in a hymn com- 
 posed for the occasion. The hymn was sung at his 
 funeral. * * * 
 
 " Over his body was erected a simple slab of marble, 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 CHRISTOPHER SOWER, 
 
 WHO DEPARTED HIS LIFE THE 26 DAY OF AUGUST, 
 1784, AGED 62 YEARS AND 11 MONTHS. 
 
 And upon which is carved in his own words a trium- 
 phant challenge to death and an eloquent assurance of 
 faith in God : 
 
 " ' Death, thou hast conquered me ; 
 Twas by thy darts I'm slain ; 
 But Christ shall conquer thee, 
 And I shall rise again. 
 
 " ' Time hastens on the hour, 
 
 The just shall rise and sing, 
 O Grave, where is thy power ? 
 O Death, where is thy sting ? '
 
 48 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE, 
 
 " His work is done. He lived, wrought, suffered 
 and died, and is not forgotten. In the literature of the 
 country his name is written imperishably. In this 
 memorial tablet his life is honored. In the church he 
 loved, his holy example is cherished as a sacred heri- 
 tage. In God's love he is gathered among ' the hun- 
 dred and forty and four thousand who have come up 
 Ihrough great tribulation ' and who stand before the 
 throne and say, ' Holy, holy, Lord, God Almighty.' " 
 
 D. H.
 
 PART TWO 
 
 The Peace People of the South During the Civil 
 War, 186 1-65.- What Will a Non-Resistant 
 People Do in Time of War? 
 
 In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good 
 cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16: 33.
 
 THE PEACE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH 
 DURING THE CIVIL WAR IN 1861-5 
 
 IN looking at a map of the United States of Amer- 
 ica you will see along the Atlantic coast, midway be- 
 tween Maine and Florida, the State of Virginia with 
 East Tennessee on the southwest border. There are 
 two ranges of mountains extending through this State, 
 the Alleghany and the Blue Ridge. Between these two 
 ranges of mountains you will see the Valley of Virginia 
 extending through the State, and with some variations 
 into East Tennessee and North Carolina. This Valley 
 opens through Maryland into Pennsylvania as an in- 
 vitation to the immigrants from Europe landing at 
 Philadelphia to come south ; and the Brethren and a 
 number of Mennonites began to move southward into 
 the Valley of Virginia, some as early as 1777-8, and 
 others later, a number of the Friends having been 
 banished by the authorities to Virginia about 1777. 
 
 For a period of about eighty years the Brethren 
 enjoyed comparative peace and increased in numbers 
 and influence so that there were a number of large 
 churches in the Valley of Virginia and a number in 
 Tennessee at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861-5. 
 From its position, bordering the Potomac River and 
 Chesapeake Bay, with Washington City, the National 
 Capital, just across the Potomac, Virginia was in the 
 main the battle ground of the Civil War. The Brethren 
 
 51
 
 52 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 (whom the authorities and others called Tunkers or 
 Dunkards) and the Mennonites were thus living in the 
 great line of the march of contending armies. Then 
 the seceding States were endeavoring to establish a 
 new government the Confederate States of America 
 with its capital at Richmond, Va. Under the excite- 
 ment that preceded the secession movement and the 
 war, the Brethren remained passive, attending dili- 
 gently to their religious duties, and giving their influ- 
 ence in favor of peace and union. The year before the 
 war, the Annual Meeting, or General Conference, was 
 held in Tennessee, and the next year, 1861, the meeting 
 was held in Rockingham county, Virginia. At the time 
 of this meeting the war had actually begun. And 
 though there were but two brethren in attendance out- 
 side of Virginia, one being Eld. Daniel Miller, of Ohio, 
 there was a large number of people at the meeting. At 
 the meeting in Tennessee the year before, Brother 
 James Quinter was the clerk. In giving an account of 
 it afterward he said : " Our thoughts often revert to 
 the scene of our meeting since we left. We think of 
 our dear brethren and sisters far off in Tennessee, and 
 our Christian love is awakened afresb towards them. 
 May heaven's blessing rest upon them and may peace 
 and love dwell among them. As pleasant as our meet- 
 ing was, and as refreshing as was the fellowship of 
 kindred spirits, the time of our separation soon came, 
 and we had to take the parting hand, and say, ' Fare- 
 well.' The parting scene was one of solemnity and 
 tenderness. Tn reverting to it in writing these lines, 
 the peculiar feelings then awakened, are renewed.
 
 WAR CLOUDS. 53 
 
 Well, we thank God that we have this evidence of con- 
 version : ' We know that we have passed from death 
 unto life, because we love the brethren.' " 
 
 Such was the spirit of the meeting as portrayed by 
 the gifted pen of Brother Quinter. But he, as well as 
 many others from the North and West, was not at 
 the meeting in Virginia in 1861. A threatening war- 
 cloud was hanging over the State, and but few from 
 without ventured within its darkening shadows. Yet 
 there were noble brethren and sisters with hearts as 
 tender and sympathetic, whose spirits were as loving, 
 and whose words were as kind, at that meeting as any 
 that walk the path of duty in the paths of peace. What 
 must have been their feelings at the moment of separa- 
 tion? When and where shall we meet again? What 
 more befitting the occasion, or expressive of the spirit 
 of the meeting than the words from one of the songs of 
 the period? 
 
 " Pilgrims with pleasure let us part, 
 Since we are of one mind and heart, 
 No length of days, or distant place, 
 Shall ever break the bonds of grace. 
 O Jesus' name! let's join and sing 
 The praise of our dear bleeding King, 
 Whose power will keep us in the way 
 Of life and peace to endless day. 
 
 " In vain shall earth and hell combine 
 To quench that love which is divine; 
 To distant lands we may remove, 
 But nothing shall dis-solve our love. 
 O Jesus' name! let's join and sing 
 The praise of our dear bleeding King, 
 Whose power will keep us in the way 
 Of life and peace to endless day."
 
 54 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 In the early part of the Civil War, in the same event- 
 ful year of '61, an article appeared in the Rockingham 
 Register, published in Harrisonburg, Va., in which the 
 writer assailed the position of the Brethren and the 
 Mennonites. The article came into the hands of 
 Brother John Kline, who sent it to Brother B. F. Moo- 
 maw with a request that he should meet it in defense 
 of the principles of peace. The reply was written, and 
 sent to the office of the Rockingham Register, but the 
 editor refused to publish it. 
 
 The following incidents in the life of Brother Moo- 
 maw, as given by himself in the Gospel Messenger, 
 now published at Elgin, Illinois, will serve to answer, 
 in some degree, the leading question : 
 
 WHAT WILL A NOXRESISTANT PEOPLE DO IN 
 TIME OF WAR? 
 
 After South Carolina seceded from the Union, Dec. 
 20, 1860, in the course of a few weeks all the Gulf 
 States, including Georgia and North Carolina later, 
 followed the example, which caused an immense ex- 
 citement throughout the Southern States. A strong ef- 
 fort was made by the leaders of the movement to in- 
 duce the border States, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky 
 and Missouri, including Tennessee, to withdraw from 
 the Union and unite with the South. It was during 
 this exciting period that the following incident oc- 
 curred : 
 
 ' A large number of citizens and among them those 
 of Botetotirt county, having assembled at the court- 
 house on court day, the question was sprung concern- 
 ing the course Virginia should take in this matter, and
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 0.7 
 
 it was decided to appoint a committee to draft resolu- 
 tions upon the subject. I was appointed as one of said 
 committee. After consultation, we agreed on the fol- 
 lowing : ' Resolved, that we are in favor of the pres- 
 ervation of the Union if it possibly can be done, and 
 therefore advise that the State of Virginia remain with 
 it, that it do not secede nor encourage secession.' But 
 in the meantime, an aged man, a judge of the superior 
 court, had written up a resolution favoring the seces- 
 sion of the State, which he read before the audience, 
 and made an exciting speech in favor of it, declaring 
 that the Union was already dissolved, and that the 
 State of Virginia naturally belonged to the South be- 
 cause of its location and its institutions. 
 
 " The question of the adoption of his resolution was 
 then put to the vote of the meeting, stating that those 
 in favor signify it by saying ' Aye.' This was re- 
 sponded to by the entire audience with one exception. 
 The negative being then called for, a single individual 
 responded ' No,' and this one was your humble servant. 
 
 " One circumstance I want especially to notice, 
 that three ministers, representing different churches, 
 made an appointment in a village near the center of the 
 Botetourt county church. The object was believed to 
 be to capture the young men, the sons of our Brethren 
 who were quite numerous in that vicinity. Their theme 
 was that war is consistent with Christianity, and that 
 it would be honorable to unite with their countrymen in 
 defending their country, and in protecting their friends 
 and firesides. 
 
 " The next day, Sunday, I preached to a large con-
 
 56 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 gregation. I took for my subject the peace principles 
 as taught in the Christian Scriptures, bringing them in 
 contrast with the lectures of the three divines as pre- 
 sented the day before, and in my closing remarks I 
 quoted Matt. 12: 41, ' The men of Nineveh shall rise up 
 in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn 
 it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas, 
 and behold, a greater than Jonas is here.' ' The queen 
 of the south shall rise up in judgment with this gener- 
 ation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the 
 uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Sol- 
 omon ; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.' 
 
 " Then taking the Bible in my hand, I said, ' The 
 three divines who addressed the assembly yesterday 
 may be great men in their way, but behold a greater 
 than all these is here ' holding up the Bible. ' This is 
 our guide, and may God forbid that I shall ever come 
 into the presence of my Judge with the blood of my 
 fellow-man dripping from my fingers.' 
 
 " There were present a number of soldiers in their 
 uniforms, the badges of war upon them. They hastily 
 rose up and went out of the house and were seen prom- 
 enading back and forth outside. Seeing this I ex- 
 pected to be arrested at the close of the meeting, but 
 there was no attempt made to molest me. 
 
 ' The war being upon us, it became necessary, for 
 the protection of our Brethren, to see that the neces- 
 sary provisions should be made to secure the right of 
 exemption from service in the army. To do this I paid 
 a personal visit to our representative in the legislature, 
 to get him interested in our favor. In this I succeeded. 
 We then got up a petition, in which the Brethren and
 
 EXEMPTION ACT. 57 
 
 Mennonites cooperated, which came before the legisla- 
 ture in due form, and was supported by some, and op- 
 posed by others. Finally, it was passed to grant ex- 
 emption on payment of five hundred dollars each. We 
 were informed that the chairman of the house, who 
 was acquainted with our people, took the floor, and 
 made a ringing speech in our favor. He spoke of the 
 folly of putting us into the army, because if we were 
 left at home we would make provision for the people, 
 but if put into the army, all would be lost and nothing 
 gained, for if put into the army, ' they will fold their 
 arms and take your enemies' fire.' " 
 
 NOTE. This exemption act by the Legislature of 
 Virginia should not be confounded with the exemption 
 law passed by the Confederate Congress, which will be 
 described later on, and to which Brother Moomaw 
 refers as follows : 
 
 " Later the conscript law was passed by the Confed- 
 erate Congress. Then we had a repetition of the same 
 work in part, to get Congress to recognize the exemp- 
 tion law as passed by the State Legislature. To ac- 
 complish this, Brother Jonas Graybill and I paid a 
 personal visit to our representative in Congress, to get 
 him to use his influence in our behalf, which he seemed 
 to take a pleasure in doing. He also secured the assist- 
 ance of a member of the Senate, one of Virginia's 
 ablest men, who, we were informed, made one of the 
 grandest speeches on this case that ever was delivered 
 in a legislature. I, being anxious to read it, wrote to 
 him afterwards, to send me a duplicate, but he in- 
 formed me that he had delivered his speech extempo- 
 raneously and could not reproduce it.
 
 58 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 " But the Bill was passed, and that was enough, and 
 all brave and honorable officers and men respected it 
 in their administration, though there were some who 
 were not such. One instance I will relate. There \vere 
 four of our young brethren who applied to a certain 
 quartermaster whose duty it was to recognize the cer- 
 tificate of membership, receive the commutation fee, 
 and give the exemption papers. This he refused to do, 
 and abused them instead of doing his duty. They were 
 advised to send their papers to the war department at 
 Richmond, which they did, and got their exemption 
 papers ; but the quartermaster, learning that they were 
 at home, sent his officers to order them to the camp of 
 instruction at once. They came to me to know what, 
 they must do. I said to them, ' Appeal to Caesar.' I 
 took one of their exemption papers and enclosed it in 
 a letter to President Davis. He wrote to me at once 
 that he had given my letter to the Secretary of War 
 for attention. The major was called to Richmond to 
 give an account of himself. This is an illustration of 
 what I have asserted before, that we are much safer 
 in the hands of great men, than in the power of the 
 lower class. 
 
 " In July, 1861, the Fifty-first Regiment of Virginia, 
 numbering eight or nine hundred men, under the com- 
 mand of Col. Whorton, came into this vicinity, propos- 
 ing to remain a while for the purpose of military train- 
 ing. Some of our neighbors, thinking it a good oppor- 
 tunity to inflict a punishment on me for my anti-war 
 proclivities, piloted some of the officers to my place 
 where there was a nice grove with a stream of water 
 passing through it, which was indeed a very suitable
 
 GOOD FEELINGS. 59 
 
 place for the occasion. Of course I consented, and 
 anticipating the situation, I commenced at once to get 
 into the good graces of the officers and men by kind- 
 ness in every way ; yet not so as to compromise my 
 Christian principles. Pretty soon after they were sit- 
 uated, we prepared a dinner, and invited the officers, 
 about twenty in number, all of whom came and seemed 
 to enjoy it very much ; and I soon discovered that I had 
 succeeded in getting their good feelings toward me. 
 I learned through them that they had been approached 
 by some of my neighbors who tried to influence them 
 not to spare me, but having succeeded with them as 
 above stated, orders were at once issued that no damage 
 should be done me in any way, nor should there be any 
 intrusion upon my premises, which was strictly ob- 
 served, so that in the two months that they remained, 
 there was nothing disturbed, but, instead thereof, they 
 were ever ready to give us any needed protection." 
 
 D. H. 
 
 THE WESTERN MOVEMENT FROM THE VALLEY IN 18(52. 
 
 For the benefit of the readers of this narrative, who 
 are unacquainted with the nature of the country and 
 the condition of the people, it will be necessary to state 
 that Rockingham, Shenandoah and a part of Augusta 
 county, lie along the line of West Virginia, which had 
 separated from the old State in 1861 after the seces- 
 sion movement, and .came under Union control. Rock- 
 ingham county especially juts out westwardly with an 
 angle into Hardy county, West Virginia, to the top of 
 Shenandoah Mountain, where to the west may be seen 
 a magnificent panorama of mountains, valleys and ra-
 
 GOING WEST. 61 
 
 vines, with the Alleghany in the distance. A half day 
 from this point would bring the traveler within the 
 vicinity of Petersburg, West Va., which at times was 
 occupied by the Union forces. For years before the 
 war, this section was in the field of the missionary work 
 of the church, and the people in the valley were well 
 acquainted with the people in this part of West Vir- 
 ginia. Then it was a common thing for young men 
 to go to the West on a visit to relatives and friends, 
 or to obtain employment. Once at Keyser, W. Va., 
 or at Oakland, Md., across the Alleghany a little far- 
 ther west, it was easy to reach Ohio and the West, on 
 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 
 
 There were two companies of Brethren and Mennon- 
 ites that left their homes in the Valley during the 
 month of March, 1862, for the purpose of going to the 
 West. The first named, about eighteen in number, 
 were captured near Moorefield, W. Va., and brought 
 by way of Woodstock, and Mt. Jackson, to Harrison - 
 burg, Va. The next named, about seventy in number, 
 were captured near Petersburg, W. Va., and were 
 taken by way of Franklin, Monterey and Staunton, 
 Va., to Richmond, Va., where they were kept in prison 
 till released by authority of Confederate Congress on 
 condition of paying a fine of five hundred dollars each. 
 
 We have the following names in the first company, as 
 given by George S. Wine, of Herington, Kans. (1898), 
 he being one of the number: J. M. Cline, John A. 
 Cline, Daniel Miller, Christian Miller, Samuel Wine, 
 John Swartz, Hugh Brunk, Daniel Hert, Jackson 
 Showalter, Geo. Hollar, Philip Hollar, Robert Hollar, 
 and Henry Neiswander.
 
 62 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 Among those in the second company we have the 
 following names as given by Benjamin Miller, of Sam- 
 uel, now living in Madison, Kans., he being one of the 
 number: Joseph A. Miller, David M. Miller, Daniel 
 Wine, Frederic Cline, Martin Cline, Noah Garber, Joel 
 Garber, Isaac Showalter, Samuel Humbert, Martin 
 Wenger, five of Gabriel Heatwole's boys and two of 
 his sons-in-law. 
 
 J. M. Cline, Daniel Miller and Geo. S. Wine have 
 each written an account of the experiences of the first 
 company named. They are ministers in the Brethren 
 church, and are men of sterling character and influ- 
 ence. Their accounts agree in the main throughout. 
 Brother Daniel Miller sends a copy of a hymn com- 
 posed by them while in prison. He lives near Weyers 
 Cave, Augusta Co., Va. Bro. J. M. Cline, of Knightly, 
 Augusta Co., Va., gives a complete narrative of the 
 first company as follows: 
 
 " We started after night from Brother Jacob Mil- 
 ler's, and rode all night. On the next day we came to 
 the camp of the pickets. We rode on as unconcerned 
 as possible, trusting in Providence ; but after passing 
 the camp about a mile some of our number said, " Look 
 out! yonder they come after us.' W r e increased our 
 speed a little; but some of the brethren called on us 
 to stop, as a number of the party could not ride fast. 
 So we all checked up, except one or two that rode on 
 and got away. I think the most of us could have 
 gotten away, but we had each other's welfare at heart. 
 We knew, if some of us should get away, it would only 
 make it worse for the rest. We were then in sight of 
 Moorefield, and we were consulting how we could get
 
 HARDSHIPS OF CAPTIVES. 63 
 
 through the place. Some thought we could go around 
 through the mountains, but we did not have the pleas- 
 ure of getting into or around Moorefield. As soon as 
 we all stopped, more of the pickets came up, and we 
 were taken back to picket camp where they kept us till 
 next day. In the evening they took all our money and 
 everything we had from us. Some of us never re- 
 ceived anything back, while I believe some did. 
 
 " They put us all in a room, where we lay on the 
 floor with our budgets for a pillow. But we had wor- 
 ship before we retired. We prayed for our release, 
 and for our captors. The next day they brought us 
 over through the mountains to Woodstock. They let 
 us ride on our own horses, and at different places we 
 saw chances to make our escape, but the thought was 
 with us all the time that if some of us do make our 
 escape, it will only make it harder for the rest. 
 
 " At last we got to Woodstock, and we were then re- 
 lieved of our horses, saddles and bridles for good. We 
 could see them from our prison windows, riding our 
 horses around. The next day they walked us up to 
 Mt. Jackson with our budgets to carry the best way we 
 could. At Mt. Jackson they put us into a large upper 
 room. We did not omit having worship, and some of 
 the guards were seemingly affected. For a day or two 
 this was our lodging place, but we were then brought 
 to the upper end of town, and put in a little room with 
 guards around the doors. A part of the time we had 
 to go nearly up to the river where there was a large 
 barn to load wagons. This was generally after night. 
 Sometimes two or three guards would take all of us, 
 and we would string out far enough that they could
 
 64 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 not see us all. They would call to us to keep closer 
 together, but we often got far enough apart to get 
 away, if we had tried to do so. 
 
 " At last the time came to move us up to Harrison- 
 burg. They marched us up the pike to the Bethlehem 
 church without anything to eat that day, but sometime 
 in the night they got us something to eat. The next 
 day they brought us up to Harrisonburg, and some of 
 us nearly gave out on the way. A man by the name of 
 Miller had charge of us as well as the guards, and to 
 show his authority, he would every now and then say, 
 ' Close up the prisoners ! ' He even got so vicious as 
 to command the soldiers to stick them with the bayonet. 
 When we would meet any person, he would say, ' Close 
 up the prisoners ! ' This he did to show his authority. 
 But he came to a bad end at last. I think he never did 
 any good. 
 
 " When we arrived at Harrisonburg, we had the 
 honor of having our home for about two weeks in 
 the courthouse. Here we were fed principally by 
 friends who brought us boxes and baskets of good 
 things to eat. After we were there a few days we all 
 got a kind of epizootic and had it not been for Brother 
 John Kline, it did seem that we could not have lived. 
 It did seem that the Lord had him to come there to 
 take care of us. As a physician he took care of us in 
 our sickness, and as a minister he preached for us 
 several times at night, and on each Sunday. 
 
 " They had us working also in Harrisonburg, load- 
 ing and unloading wagons. Some one of the officers 
 had given orders to the soldiers not to allow anyone to 
 come near the windows. One night a young man was
 
 OUR RELEASE. 
 
 f>5 
 
 . ,j,< 
 
 standing at a window, but was not doing anything, 
 when 'snap' went a gun, the ball just missing' him, 
 going on up through the ceiling of the room, filling his 
 face and eyes full of glass. 
 
 " After we had been there about two weeks, my 
 father came with authority from the government for 
 our release. He and Brother Benjamin Byerly had 
 gone to Richmond and got Mr. John Baldwin, of 
 Staunton, to work for the passage of a bill to release 
 our people from military service. Mr. Baldwin in his 
 address before Confederate Congress stated that the 
 Brethren were an industrious people, that they would 
 work and raise grain for the government, but they 
 would not fight, and it was useless to force them into 
 the army. He got a law passed not only for our people, 
 but for all nonresistants." 
 
 Knightly, Augusta Co., Va., Feb. 4, 1898. 
 
 COMPANY 2, CAPTURED IN WEST VIRGINIA AND SENT 
 TO RICHMOND. 
 
 Joseph A. Miller was born near Sangerville, Augus- 
 ta Co., Va., Nov. 29, 1825. He was called to the min- 
 istry in the spring of 1863, and his labors have been 
 principally in the mountains of West Virginia. He 
 was at the Annual Meeting, which was held at Beaver 
 Creek church, Va., in 1861. He lives in the old home 
 where he was born, and is as true to the Bible, and the 
 teaching of the meek and lowly Savior of men, as he 
 has been to the place of his nativity. Strictly consci- 
 entious and trustful in the Lord with an unwavering 
 confidence, his interesting narrative of the second com-
 
 &^ THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 V^ ' . V -v_. 
 
 pany of Brethren arid Mennonites who were captured 
 in West Virginia is worthy of careful study and reflec- 
 tion. His narrative is as follows : 
 
 " In the early part of March, 1862, having been in- 
 formed that all the men subject to military duty would 
 be called to arms in a very few days, Brother David M. 
 Miller and myself concluded to do something to keep 
 out of the war. We heard of some Brethren and others 
 intending to go west, and we made preparations to go 
 too, being hurried by our wives, who feared we would 
 be arrested and taken to the army before we got 
 started. So we lost no time in preparation. 
 
 " After traveling about twelve miles, we fell in com- 
 pany with about seventy others Brethren, Mennon- 
 ites and others. The conclusion among us was to cross 
 the line to West Virginia. So with the Shenandoah 
 Mountain before us, we proceeded, going part of the 
 way during the night. The next day we traveled on 
 west, and the next night we lodged at a friend's house, 
 resting on the floor. The next day we arrived at Pe- 
 tersburg, W. Va. Now a good many persons came out 
 to see us cross the South Branch of the Potomac River, 
 it being fifty yards or more wide, and more than half 
 our company were on foot, so that in crossing some 
 horses had to go three trips before all had passed over 
 the stream. It seemed to be a great curiosity for the 
 people to see us cross the Branch and to go through 
 the town. 
 
 " Soon after passing this place came the trouble, as 
 we then thought, but it seemed that the good Lord 
 did not think as we did ; he prepared a better way for 
 our escape than we had marked out for ourselves.
 
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 68 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 After going through Petersburg, he sent two men to 
 cause a halt in our journey, one in front, and one in 
 the rear. The man in front made use of some hard 
 words, but the man in the rear was kind. We halted, 
 and at their solicitation we turned back to Petersburg. 
 They took us into a large upper room and as we passed 
 in by the door we were asked individually whether we 
 had any arms. When the question was put to me, I 
 answered, ' Yes.' ' Let us see it,' said he. I showed 
 him my New Testament, the Sword of the Spirit. He 
 said, ' That is very good ; you can keep that.' I do not 
 think there were any arms found in our company, ex- 
 cept one or two small pistols, and they were not with 
 the Brethren. We were furnished a snack for dinner. 
 
 " One brother Mennonite, who had talked of going 
 back before we got to Petersburg, and I had encour- 
 aged him to go on, said to me, ' What are you going to 
 do now ? ' I replied, ' Stand still and see the salvation 
 of the Lord.' 
 
 " My brother, D. M. Miller, and I had near relatives 
 in Hampshire county, about thirty miles further on, 
 and we expected to lodge with them until we could go 
 back home; and the Lord let us all go within a few 
 miles of the line between the Northern and Southern 
 armies, then turned us back by the hand of two men. 
 How good he is ; but we could not see it at that time. 
 We wanted to go on. 
 
 " We were next ordered to leave the upper room 
 and travel south towards Franklin, the county seat 
 of Pendleton county, West Virginia. We were guard- 
 ed by eight or ten men. Not reaching Franklin that
 
 ON TO STAUNTON, VA. 69 
 
 day, we lodged with Mr. Bond, where one of our com- 
 pany (not a brother) got away. A brother and my- 
 self had all chances to get away that night, but we had 
 no desire to leave the brethren. The next night we 
 lodged in the court house in Franklin, sleeping on the 
 floor, and guarded. At this place, six or seven others, 
 that ha $been captured as we were, joined our number, 
 making $n all about seventy-eight. During the night, 
 six of os were taken out one at a time, and asked where 
 we were going, and the reason why. We told them 
 the truth, that we were going away only to keep from 
 fighting, that it was contrary to our faith, and contrary 
 to the Gospel to fight and kill our fellow-man, entirely 
 wrong to do so. We were not abused. At this place 
 one brother lost his horse and his clothes. 
 
 " The next day we went twenty-four miles te Mon- 
 terey, the county seat of Highland county, Virginia. 
 Then next morning we started for Staunton, Va., dis- 
 tant fifty-two miles. We had a barrel of crackers and 
 a few pieces of bacon on a wagon. It took us two 
 days to go through and over the foothills and to cross 
 the Shenandoah Mountain; and while we were going 
 over the mountain, one brother got away. In going up 
 the mountain pathway on foot, some one else riding my 
 horse along the main road, we were scattered very 
 much. It seems that the guards had confidence in us. 
 Brother Cool and I were walking together, and I was 
 showing him where I was acquainted. We had got 
 so much scattered that no one was in sight of us in 
 front or rear. Brother Cool said, ' Let us slip.' I re- 
 plied, ' I do not feel to do so.' We continued on the
 
 70 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 way till we came to an old vacant house where we 
 lodged for the night. The officer of the guards said, 
 ' Gentlemen, I will trust to your honor to-night.' Then 
 he and the guards went away about half a mile to get 
 their lodging. After they were gone. Brother Thomp- 
 son said to me, ' Some of the brethren talk about run- 
 ning off to-night ; what do you think about it? ; I said, 
 ' I do not like that.' Said he, ' Suppose we send for 
 the guards?' I said, 'Do so,' and they were soon 
 there, drew us into line and counted us. They had 
 so much confidence in us that they 'thought we would 
 stay without being guarded, but Satan might have 
 made us all dishonest that night had we not been watch- 
 ful of ourselves and on our guard. 
 
 '' The next day we went to Staunton, Augusta Co., 
 Va., and lodged in the courthouse. We got plenty to 
 eat. The guards were overheard saying, ' Don't tell 
 them that they have to go to Richmond to-morrow ; 
 they will not sleep well.' It would have disturbed us 
 some, if we had known it ; for we did not yet know that 
 Richmond was the place the Lord had directed us 
 to go. 
 
 " In the morning after breakfast, .with some crackers 
 in our pockets, and a little sadness in our hearts, we 
 started on the train for Richmond, distant 120 miles, 
 leaving our horses and saddles in the care of some 
 one else. We were all day and part of the night on 
 the way to Richmond. After reaching our destination, 
 we were put into a large room in a machine house with 
 a small stove. There was about three yards in one 
 corner to which we had no access. The officer said, 
 ' Gentlemen, this is the best we can do for you to-night ;
 
 JUDGE BAXTER. 71 
 
 make yourselves easy.' This was the most unpleasant 
 night for me on the trip. The weather being cool, with 
 no fire and no bed, some of us walked nearly all night. 
 Next morning breakfast came about 9 o'clock, but it 
 came plentiful. We staid in that house one night only, 
 then we were moved to a more comfortable house, 
 and furnished with bedding and provisions. 
 
 " In a day or two twelve of us were taken before 
 Judge Baxter, and he said, ' Gentlemen, I will ask you 
 a good many questions, and if I ask any that you can- 
 not answer, you need not say anything.' He then asked 
 many questions concerning what we had been doing 
 during the war, and whether we had been in the serv- 
 ice. He also asked us whether we had fed the soldiers 
 and their families. We answered all his questions save 
 one, and the judge was kind enough to answer that 
 for us ; which was, ' Would you feed the enemy, should 
 he come to your house ? ' He said, ' We are com- 
 manded to feed our enemies.' This was a correct an- 
 swer. Before dismissing us the judge said that we 
 would be sent home soon to work on our farms. 
 
 " Just at this time the Confederate Congress was in 
 session in Richmond, and some of the members of Con- 
 gress came in to see us. Some of them wanted us to 
 volunteer to drive teams; but we told them we left 
 home to keep out of the war, and that we did not pro- 
 pose to go into the army service. Others wanted to 
 know all about our faith, and we gave them all the in- 
 formation about our religious belief that we could. 
 They also found out that twenty-five of our people were 
 in prison in Harrisonburg.who had been arrested as we 
 were, and that many others had gone through the lines,
 
 72 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 and we were told they got the question up in Con- 
 gress, ' What would we better do with these men ? 
 They raise more grain to the hand than any farmers 
 we have, and they are nearly all laboring men, and we 
 need them at home as much as in the army. Would we 
 not better make some provision for them, or they will 
 all leave the country? If we force them into the army, 
 they will not fight.' 
 
 " These things were brought to us in the guard- 
 house. So the question was considered in Congress, 
 and they reached the conclusion to lay a fine on us, 
 and send us home. The fine was fixed at five hundred 
 dollars each. This may look like a large sum, but 
 the Brethren at home soon sent the money to us, and 
 we paid it, and went home. The poor brethren as well 
 as the rich had their fine paid. It was not long after 
 that till a good horse sold for a thousand dollars which 
 paid two fines. This fine paid in 1862 cleared us dur- 
 ing the war, which lasted three years more. 
 
 " We were in Richmond thirty days. A few days 
 before we left Richmond, six of us were taken before 
 Judge Baxter again. He treated us very kindly, and 
 expressed his sore regret that we had been kept there 
 so long, when we should have been at home on our 
 farms. He said the delay was on account of the press 
 of business, and that we would soon be sent home, 
 which came to pass. We were joyfully received at 
 home by our families and the brethren. We were ab- 
 sent from home in all thirty-seven days. Our horses 
 were kept in Staunton and put into service, but we re- 
 ceived pay for them from the government. No money
 
 ELD. LEVI A. WENGER. 73 
 
 was taken from any of our company, and upon the 
 whole we were kindly treated. 
 
 " We think the Lord's will was done by our being 
 captured and taken to Richmond where the law-making 
 body was assembled, and they saw that we were de- 
 termined to hold to our God-given faith, and they 
 could say nothing against it. 
 
 " Our love to all who read this. D. H. 
 
 " Sangerville, Augusta Co., Va. 
 
 " December, 1897." 
 
 REFLECTIONS ON THE FOREGOING..? 
 
 The Hon. Algernon S. Gray, member of the Vir- 
 ginia Convention of 1861, and present when the Con- 
 federate Congress in Richmond, Va., passed the law to 
 exempt from all military service members of such re- 
 ligious bodies as held what are called nonresistant 
 principles, was heard to say that the capture of the 
 seventy refugees near Petersburg, W. Va., by two 
 individuals, with their quiet submission to authority 
 all the way, did more to impress the members of that 
 Congress than all the other influences together. 
 
 BENJAMIN FUNK. 
 
 ELDER LEVI A. WENGER, 
 AUGUSTA COUNTY, VIRGINIA. 
 
 Levi A. Wenger was born November 9, 1841, and 
 died at his home near Mt. Sidney, Va., March 28, 
 1902. He united with the church at the age of twenty- 
 one years, married Mary M. Miller, oldest daughter 
 of Elder John Miller, of Pleasant Valley congregation,
 
 ELD. LEVI A. WENGER. 75 
 
 in the year 1866, was elected to the ministry, April 
 13, 1870, and was ordained to the eldership in 1881. 
 
 Brother Wenger was a man of excellent qualities 
 and always true and faithful to the principles of the 
 church. He was a friend to our educational institu- 
 tions and a strong advocate of the mission work of 
 the church, and to both contributed with a liberal 
 hand. It is due to his untiring efforts and liberality 
 that the members in the city of Staunton, Va., have 
 a commodious house of worship to-day. He was a 
 man of rare executive ability, and, because of his un- 
 swerving fidelity to duty, frequently represented the 
 Second District of Virginia on Standing Committee 
 at Annual Meeting. He was appointed by that body 
 on several important committees and at the time of 
 his death, was, and had been for several years, serving 
 on a committee to the churches of Western Pennsyl- 
 vania. Brother Wenger was a man of moderate 
 education, but he delivered short and pithy sermons 
 in an earnest and pathetic style that will be remem- 
 bered for years by those who heard him. 
 
 His home life and influence were so pure and far 
 reaching that his neighbors were constrained to say, 
 " Whatever Mr. Wenger does is right " a beautiful 
 example for all to imitate. 
 
 He leaves a sorrowing wife, to whom he was an 
 affectionate husband, and two sons to whom he was a 
 father indeed, to mourn their loss. While the church 
 has lost a wise and safe counselor, yet we feel to bow 
 in humble submission to God's holy will, " He 
 knoweth best." The funeral took place on Easter 
 Sunday at the Pleasant Valley church and was con-
 
 76 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 ducted by the writer from Phil. 1:21, at his request, 
 and the remains were laid to rest in the graveyard at 
 that place, a large concourse of sympathizing friends 
 being in attendance. D. C. Flory, New Hope, Va. 
 
 The following from Brother Wenger's pen, written 
 December 13, 1897, will close our account of the 
 WESTERN MOVEMENT, and we give it as an instance 
 of how some got through the lines to the West, where 
 they remained till the close of the war: 
 
 " On the night of the 20th of January, 1864, I bade 
 farewell to a weeping mother and other loved friends 
 at the home of my childhood, to seek a refuge in 
 another country with no other weapon than a little 
 pocket Testament. The fact that my father had fur- 
 nished a substitute for each of his two sons for the 
 war was no longer regarded, so, in company with an 
 older brother of mine, M. H. Wenger, we traveled 
 about sixteen miles on horseback, and arrived at the 
 house of Jacob Shank, near Harrisonburg, Va. He 
 was a member of the Mennonite church and father-in- 
 law of brother M. H. Wenger. We were kindly 
 received and cared for until the evening. We were 
 then directed to the home of a United Brethren 
 minister by the name of S-wank, at Hopkins' Gap. 
 Here we were informed where to meet a man by the 
 name of John Riley, who served as pilot across the 
 mountains. After reaching this place our number 
 had increased to nineteen. On the evening of the 
 21st, our pilot called us in line and demanded a fee 
 of twenty dollars apiece in Confederate money, and 
 being assured that we were all true men, he gave 
 us instructions, and we followed him on foot across
 
 INCIDENTS ON THE WAY. 77 
 
 a rugged mountain to the home of our pilot and were 
 entertained by him until morning. He then started 
 with us again, traveling hard all day through brushy 
 mountains and ravines, a distance of twenty miles. 
 The next day he turned us over to another pilot by 
 the name of Leonard Mitchel, who accompanied us to 
 Petersburg, W. Va. While under his care the weather 
 being mild, some of our company took off their over- 
 coats and carried them on sticks across their shoulders 
 which gave us somewhat the appearance of a squad 
 of Confederate soldiers. While traveling in that way 
 we discovered a man going up the mountain with a 
 quick step, having a gun on his shoulder. Our 
 pilot called to him and invited him to come to us, 
 but he would not until one of our company went to 
 him. He then came and told us that he belonged 
 to the Swamp Dragoons and thought we were Con- 
 federates, and his intention was to notify his com- 
 rades and attack us farther on. 
 
 " The same evening we reached Petersburg, W. Va., 
 where there was an army of Union soldiers stationed, 
 who took us in charge until their train of wagons 
 should return from New Creek, now called Keyser, 
 a station on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. But 
 instead of said train of wagons returning it was cap- 
 tured by the Confederate army. This caused the 
 Union army to retreat from Petersburg on account 
 of being short of supplies. We had now been about 
 a week at Petersburg, and our company of refugees 
 had increased to the number of sixty-three. 
 
 " From Petersburg to New Creek Station we had 
 a laborious march, almost constant for several days
 
 78 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 and nights, through rain and mud with little to eat 
 and little time to sleep. We arrived at the station 
 on the evening of February the 1st, when our com- 
 pany took passage on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
 road for the "West. I remained at Bremen and other 
 points in Ohio the greater part of the time till the 
 close of the war, when I returned to my home in 
 Augusta county, Virginia, September 2nd, 1865." 
 
 D. H. 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR BE- 
 TWEEN THE STATES 
 
 THE writer was born and reared in the Shenan- 
 doah Valley, Virginia, and although only twelve years 
 old when the war began, I well remember many of 
 the stirring and trying events of that dreadful war. 
 
 The first call for Southern volunteers was made 
 early in the spring of 1861. In July of the same year 
 a second call was made, at which time .all men of 
 military age were required to report 'at the county 
 towns of their respective counties, especially in Vir- 
 ginia. Many of the married men, and all the single 
 men, in our community volunteered to enter the Con- 
 federate service, except two, one of whom was my 
 oldest brother. 
 
 My brother failed to respond to this call, and in 
 a few days several provost marshals were sent to 
 bring him to Staunton, "dead or alive"; but they 
 failed to find him. 
 
 In the spring of 1862 all able-bodied men of military
 
 S. F. Sanger.
 
 80 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 age, from eighteen to forty-five years of age, were 
 drafted for service; this draft being anticipated, a 
 number of our Brethren, Mennonites and others, not 
 in favor of war, escaped to the Northern States. 
 During this exodus a number of these noncombatants 
 were captured in their attempt to escape military 
 service, one band of seventy-two persons near Peters- 
 burg, now West Virginia. These were conducted to 
 Staunton, Va. 
 
 Among these captives was my oldest brother, David, 
 and a brother-in-law, Benjamin Miller, now living at 
 Madison, Kansas. I well remember the last night they 
 spent at home before starting on this eventful journey. 
 Brother Joseph A. Miller, a near neighbor, called to 
 spend a short time with us that evening. After con- 
 siderable conversation, reading of Scripture, singing 
 and prayer, they departed, singing as a parting hymn 
 the last three stanzas of number 204 of our present 
 Hymn Book, a part of which is as follows: 
 
 " Our troubles and our trials here 
 
 Will only make us richer there, 
 
 When we arrive at home." 
 
 These words made a lasting impression on my 
 young and tender heart, especially in connection with 
 the parting. 
 
 After leaving home we heard nothing further 
 from them for a week or ten days; when in the still 
 hours of night I heard my brother's voice, with the 
 older members of the family, in another room, talking 
 in a low tone. On rising in the early morning eager 
 to learn the cause of my brother's presence, I asked, 
 " Where is David ? " I soon saw by the countenances
 
 SAD NEWS OF CAPTURE. 81 
 
 of the family that sad news had been broken to them. 
 My sisters were weeping and with a full heart my dear 
 old mother broke to me the sad news and charged 
 me strictly not to inform any one of my brother's being 
 at home. 
 
 The sad news of their capture was soon communi- 
 cated to the families of those who were in captivity. 
 My brother succeeded in making his escape while 
 passing through the mountains, en route from Peters- 
 burg to Staunton, and walked home the same night, 
 a distance of about twenty-five miles, mostly through 
 the mountains, often without road or path. 
 
 It was soon known that the captives would be taken 
 from Staunton to Richmond, Va. Fears were enter- 
 tained that they would be put to death for attempting 
 to escape military service, which caused no little 
 sorrow and distress among their friends. 
 
 Richmond was then the Confederate capital, where 
 Congress was in session. The captives were put into 
 the famous prison called " Castle Thunder," almost 
 in sight of Congress Hall. This was an old tobacco 
 warehouse, with heavy brick walls, small windows, 
 securely barred, and very unsanitary, as well as un- 
 inviting, where for six long weeks our brethren were 
 made to suffer for the faith they had in the blessed 
 Christ and his Word. At the same time another band 
 were imprisoned in Harrisonburg, in the old court- 
 house. Among this number were Elder John Kline 
 and Gabriel Heatwole. 
 
 The brethren in Richmond were treated more 
 considerately by their guards and prison officials than 
 were those in Harrisonburg.
 
 82 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 Letters were allowed to pass in and out of prison, 
 bearing messages both sad and cheerful, owing to the 
 mood of the writer. I remember well how my sister 
 was depressed on receiving letters from her husband. 
 
 The church soon became aroused, as never before 
 or since, in my recollection ; council meetings were 
 called, measures were adopted to give relief to the 
 imprisoned brethren. The Confederate Congress was 
 petitioned in their behalf. Through the efforts and 
 kindness of Hon. John B. Baldwin, from Stauntori, 
 Va., a measure was soon introduced into congress, 
 and, after much discussion and investigation, was 
 passed. This bill was known as the " Exemption 
 Act," which permitted our Brethren, Mennonites and 
 Friends, because of their conscientious scruples on 
 the question of war, to be exempt from military duty, 
 by paying a fine of $500. On the passage of this 
 Act of Congress, special council meetings were called 
 to provide funds to pay the fines of the poor brethren, 
 who were unable to pay this heavy tax. Great liber- 
 ality was shown in the raising of this fund, as 
 evidenced by one of the original subscription papers in 
 my possession. As soon as sufficient funds were 
 secured, a committee was sent to Richmond, the re- 
 demption money was paid and the release of these 
 imprisoned brethren was obtained as well as those 
 imprisoned in Harrisonburg. Great joy was ex- 
 perienced throughout the churches in the South on 
 their release. 
 
 This exemption was secured during the remainder 
 of the war, not only for those imprisoned, but was
 
 HARDSHIPS EXPERIENCED. OO 
 
 extended to all those who were opposed to bearing 
 arms the Mennonites, Friends and Brethren. 
 
 The Brethren had so little literature on their non- 
 resistant principles that it was difficult to establish 
 their faith before the Confederate Congress ; perhaps 
 the strongest argument in their favor was the fact 
 that they would not participate in the annual 
 " muster " of the militia, as was required by the 
 laws of Virginia. They always paid their fines, as 
 provided by law, which exempted them from this 
 duty. 
 
 I remember passing the " muster " grounds when 
 the volunteers and militia were " mustering " : the 
 glittering swords, guns with fixed bayonets, as well 
 as the grim cannon made a lasting impression on my 
 mind. 
 
 This prison life was not the only unpleasant ex- 
 perience our brethren endured. A feeling of jealousy, 
 often extending to animosity, was aroused in their 
 neighbors, because of their exemption from military 
 service. This led to indignities, abuses and the stealing 
 of their stock by' individuals, and the forage masters 
 of the army were especially severe on them, scarcely 
 allowing sufficient grain and provender for their sup- 
 port. 
 
 In 1864 a regiment of Confederate soldiers en- 
 camped on father's farm for about six weeks. It 
 soon became known that father was an anti-war man 
 and the soldiers challenged him for a discussion of the 
 question, " Has a Christian the right to use carnal 
 weapons ? " My father very reluctantly accepted the 
 challenge, not knowing what the result would be,
 
 84 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 or even the purpose of the discussion. After being 
 urged for a discussion by the soldiers, he consented, 
 but first secured a promise from them that they would 
 not become angry. The discussion took place in the 
 open yard, with a dozen or more soldiers as specta- 
 tors. Father was slow of speech, but well versed 
 in the Scriptures. The discussion lasted nearly an 
 hour and I heard most of it. During the discussion 
 father quoted Isaiah 2 : 4, "And they shall beat their 
 swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning 
 hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 
 neither shall they learn war any more," when a private 
 soldier, in a low but earnest tone said, " I wish that 
 time was here now." The leader in the discussion 
 was a minor officer, fairly well versed in the Scrip- 
 tures. The discussion was earnest, but pleasant, and 
 at its conclusion the soldiers said, " Well, sergeant, 
 the Dutchman beat you," and they dispersed. 
 
 The remarkable fact, and one worthy to be recorded 
 is, that very few brethren denied the faith and entered 
 the military service. 
 
 I remember only one who went into the army, as 
 a volunteer, and he, poor fellow, never returned. I 
 wish to note this faithfulness, even when they were 
 threatened with imprisonment, and in some instances 
 life was even threatened. More especially do I wish 
 to impress this in order to strengthen those who may 
 yet be called upon to endure persecution for the sake 
 of the " faith once delivered to the saints." So often 
 it is said that Christians of the present age would not 
 endure persecution, as did the early Christians. I 
 am fully convinced that God will give sufficient grace
 
 ARRESTS AND SEPARATIONS. 85 
 
 to enable us to endure persecutions, even unto death, 
 when necessary. 
 
 During this cruel war a number of brethren sought 
 refuge in the Northern States ; leaving parents, 
 brothers, sisters, often wives and children, rather 
 than to take up arms against their fellow-man. Many 
 tears and heartaches of that period are known only to 
 our God. My two brothers, older than I, with many 
 others left home, and I know personally the sadness 
 which followed these separations. 
 
 A number of brethren were arrested, and their lives 
 threatened for aiding those who were attempting to 
 escape to the Northern States. Elder Jacob Thomas, 
 who is yet living, was arrested for this cause and 
 taken to Harrisonburg. His brother, Daniel Thomas, 
 accompanied him, pleaded his cause before the military 
 court and obtained his release. It was stated, and 
 truthfully, that our brethren turned none away, but 
 fed soldiers of either army, as well as our friends and 
 brethren. 
 
 Our brethren were not active in politics, many of 
 them, however, were opposed to seceding from the 
 Union, as well as the war that followed. 
 
 Many of the brethren lost much of their property 
 during this war, from which some never recovered, 
 and realized- the meaning of the text, " They that buy 
 as though they possessed not, as having nothing and 
 yet possessing all things." S. F. SANGER.
 
 S6 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 THE BRETHREN IN TENNESSEE DUR- 
 ING THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-5 
 
 ELD. P. R. WRIGHTSMAX. 
 
 PETER R. WRIGHTSMAN, who wrote the 'following 
 account of the trials of the Brethren in 'Tennessee 
 during the Civil War, was born in Montgomery 
 county, Virginia, May 16, 1834. His father, Daniel 
 Wrightsman, moved to Limestone, Washington 
 county, Tennessee, when Peter R. was seventeen years 
 old. He united with the church in 1857 and was 
 elected to the ministry in 1860. He was educated at 
 the Laurel Hill Seminary, in East Tennessee. In 
 October, 1867, he was married to sister Elizabeth 
 Witter, at South Bend, Ind., and in 1868 he graduated 
 at the Eclectic Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 Erom Cincinnati he went to . Dayton,- Ohio, and 
 in 1871 he moved to South Bend, Ind., and about 
 four years later he was ordained to the eldership in 
 the Portage congregation, near South Bend. In 1880 
 he moved to Kansas for his health; and for the bene- 
 fit of a warmer climate he went to Atlanta, Georgia, 
 in 1894. In 1901 he went to Saginaw, Texas, where 
 he now has charge of the Saginaw church, and is also 
 engaged in the practice of medicine. 
 
 In 1865 Brother Wrightsman attended the Annual 
 Meeting at Dixon, Lee county, Illinois, and by in- 
 vitation he followed Brother D. P. Sayler, with an 
 impressive discourse concerning the trials of the 
 Brethren in Tennessee during the Civil War, which 
 had then just closed.
 
 Eld. P. R. Wrightsman.
 
 88 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 " Being a minister as well as physician, my business 
 called me over considerable territory. In the spring 
 of 1862 Southern soldiers came to my house searching 
 for firearms, none of which I kept except a plantation 
 rifle. This they took without pay. They came from 
 time to time for three years and took my crops and 
 horses. When the soldiers came for the last horse 
 they rode up with threats and curses. Their language 
 and manner impressed me that they came with intent 
 to kill me. Part of the squad went to the field for 
 the last horse and part remained with me under their 
 charge. I just stepped inside the stable, stood with 
 my hands upwards, and prayed to my heavenly Father, 
 saying, ' Dear Father, save me from these men. Have 
 mercy upon them, and turn them from their evil 
 course, and save thy servant/ 
 
 " I never exercised stronger faith in prayer than 
 at that time. It seemed as if I was speaking face to 
 face with my blessed Lord. When I stepped out to 
 the soldiers I felt that God had answered my prayer, 
 for I felt I could see the Satanic look going down 
 out of their faces like the shadow of a cloud before 
 the bright sunlight. 
 
 " The soldiers then said to me, ' Mr. Wrightsman, 
 can we get some bread ? ' ' O yes/ said I, ' we arc 
 commanded to feed the hungry/ I went at once to 
 the kitchen and requested my sisters to cut off a large 
 slice of bread, and butter it for each one of them. 
 They did so and I took it out into the yard and handed 
 a slice to each. They thanked me for the bread, bowed 
 their heads, mounted their horses and rode away, 
 taking my last horse with them, however. Feeling
 
 RELEASED FROM SERVICE. 6^ 
 
 sure the Lord had saved my life, I felt happy, ' thanked 
 God and took courage.' This occurred in the summer 
 of 1863." 
 
 In 1864, Brother Wrightsman was conscripted, and 
 Brother Nathan Nelson was arrested under a false 
 charge ; and it was only through the intervention of 
 our heavenly Father and the assistance of friends that 
 they were saved from prison and perhaps death. 
 
 " In framing an Act for the relief of nonresistants, 
 the Confederate Government, upon the payment of 
 a tax of $500 each into the public treasury, relieved 
 our Brethren for the time ; but in the latter part of 
 the war when the South needed all the men in her 
 borders, the local authorities arrested many of our 
 Brethren and shut them up in prison and in the stock- 
 ades in various places, even after they had paid the 
 $500 penalty. This very much tried our Brethren in 
 East Tennessee. So a council meeting was called at 
 Limestone church, and a petition was drawn up to 
 send to the Confederate Congress, asking that our 
 brethren be released from military service, as we 
 were and always had been opposed to bearing arms. 
 Nearly all the members of our church signed the 
 petition. It then became a matter of anxious con- 
 cern who would carry this petition to Congress and 
 represent our claims. All our older brethren shrank 
 from going to Richmond where Congress was in 
 session. I was away at school ; yet it was decided to 
 send me though a youth as I was. The deacon 
 brethren came to see .me and to report their mission. 
 I regretted to leave school and pleaded with them that 
 older brethren should go, but they replied that it was
 
 90 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 the act of the church. I replied that I was willing 
 to do anything in my power for my brethren in prison. 
 'If you and the church will aid me in your prayers, 
 I will go.' 
 
 " Accordingly I prepared myself with provisions 
 for the journey and started from Limestone depot. I 
 had not traveled far until a minister came on the 
 train. I believe he was from North Carolina. After 
 leaving Jonesboro, he came and sat down on the 
 same seat with me. So far as I could see we were 
 the only civilians on the train, the remainder were all 
 soldiers. He asked me if I were a minister, and I 
 replied that I -was. He then' asked me to what church 
 I belonged, our faith and practice, to which I replied. 
 When I mentioned the fact that we were a peaceable 
 people and opposed going to war, he said, ' Do you 
 not think we all ought to fight for our glorious Con- 
 federacy?' I replied that Christ taught us not to 
 resist evil. ' Yes,' said he, ' but this war is an excep- 
 tion. I replied, ' Christ made no exceptions, but says, 
 Love your enemies ; bless them that curse you ; pray for 
 them that despitefully use you and persecute you.' 
 
 " Failing in this he tried another line of reasoning: 
 ' Do you not believe General Washington was a good 
 man ; and that God used him to set up this govern- 
 ment? ' 
 
 ' Now,' said I, in return, ' do you believe God 
 used General Washington to set up this government? ' 
 "'Yes,' he replied. 
 
 ' Then what do you think God will do with you 
 for trying to tear down what he built up ?' .
 
 PETITION PRESENTED. 91 
 
 " He never answered me, but arose and went into 
 another car. 
 
 " During our conversation the soldiers were all 
 around eagerly listening. But when I put my last 
 question to him some of the soldiers made some 
 .threats; but I felt the Lord was with me. I was not 
 in the least alarmed, and continued my journey with- 
 out further interruption. 
 
 "At the proper time I went to the House of the 
 Confederate Congress, presented my petition and 
 made my plea, stating among other things that our 
 people were always a peace people ; it is no use to 
 take them to the army, for they will not fight. They 
 would be just in your way. They are the best sub- 
 jects in your government, for they stay at home 
 and mind their own business. They are mostly farm- 
 ers, raise grain and your men come and take it. In 
 this way we feed the hungry. Our people never molest 
 your men, but are loyal and law-abiding citizens. If 
 you will let us stay at home, we will be loyal citizens 
 to the powers that are over us. We humbly plead for 
 your acceptance of our petition.' 
 
 " Alexander H. Stephens was then consulted ; and 
 finally my petition was accepted, and officially en- 
 dorsed with the word 'GRANTED.' 
 
 "With a heart overflowing with gratitude to our 
 dear heavenly Father, I came on to my home at Lime- 
 stone, Tenn. Brother M. M. Bashor met me at the 
 depot and urged me to continue on to Knoxville on 
 the same train, as some of our brethren had been taken 
 off while I was at Richmond. So I continued my 
 journey eighty-four miles further to Knoxville. I
 
 92 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE, 
 
 went to see Col. E. D. Blake, commander of con- 
 scripts and prisoners and showed him my papers. 
 With an uncouth remark he told me to go out to the 
 stockade and get my men. I went, entered the stock- 
 ade, and got my brethren out of prison. We all went 
 home like happy children. This was in the summer 
 of 1863. 
 
 In the autumn of 1864, our church at Limestone, 
 Tenn., had prepared to hold a love feast, as all seemed 
 to be quiet just at that time. So on the fourth Satur- 
 day in September we started for the church with pro- 
 vision necessary to hold the meeting. But, behold! 
 there on our grounds around and near the church, was 
 a regiment of soldiers. Many of our members were 
 frightened, and some of them urged the dismissal of 
 the meeting. I told them, ' No, let us go on with the 
 meeting. Perhaps the Lord has sent them to this 
 place to hear the Gospel.' This delayed our decision. 
 In the meantime the colonel heard of our dilemma and 
 at once sent us word to go on with our meeting, that 
 nothing should be molested, but that we should be 
 protected. So we went on with the services, invited 
 the soldiers into the church and our house was crowded. 
 It proved to be one of the best love feasts that I ever 
 attended, the best of order and attention prevailed. 
 Not a thing was molested, all behaved well, and many 
 requests were made for us to come to their part of 
 the country after the war and preach for them. But, 
 alas! many of those poor men mo doubt fell on the 
 field of battle. 
 
 " Thank God for the Brethren church whose motto 
 is, ' Peace on earth, good will toward men,' who have
 
 ELDER GEORGE C. BOWMAN. 93 
 
 all been born of the same Spirit, and walk by the same 
 rule, and mind the same thing.' 
 
 " Written by request of our Missionary Board, and 
 sent to Brother S. F. Sanger. D. H. 
 
 "Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 7, 1898." 
 
 ELDER GEORGE C. BOWMAN, 
 OF TENNESSEE. 
 
 GEORGE C. BOWMAN was born Feb. 10, 1832, on 
 Boone's Creek, in Washington county, Tennessee. 
 His father, Samuel Bowman, emigrated from the 
 Valley of Virginia with his parents. He was married 
 to Annie Crouch in 1830, and my father, George C., 
 was their firstborn. Two physicians decided his life 
 must be taken before birth ; but it was finally concluded 
 to call D,r. Sevier, the leading physician of the State, 
 and through his skill the child's life was saved. After 
 resuscitation, Dr. Sevier lectured the physicians on 
 the sanctity of human life, saying, " they did not know 
 what grand work God may have destined for him." 
 
 His educational advantages were limited. It was 
 our custom to call the family Testament father's dic- 
 tionary, as he referred to it in writing his letters, 
 saying it saved time. He was an earnest student of 
 the Bible. 
 
 He was married to Annie M. Hylton, daughter of 
 Austin Hylton, of Floyd county, Virginia, Feb. 11, 
 1860. In the autumn of that year Elder D. P. Sayler, , 
 of Maryland, visited the churches in Tennessee, and 
 father and mother were baptized. The year following 
 he was elected to the ministry. I can think of no other
 
 94 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 word but faithfulness that represents his devotedness 
 to the ministry of the Word. I remember but one 
 appointment that he failed to attend. It was a long 
 distance to the place of meeting, and the mercury 
 registered twenty degrees below zero. I well remem- 
 ber his restlessness that day. I often wondered when 
 father would come home from a long trip, when he 
 hunted up the isolated places, preaching here and there, 
 and on his return at last reporting but a few baptized. 
 I wondered whether he was not at times disheartened ; 
 but I heard no word of murmur, though he seemed 
 almost worn out. lie had narrow escapes in the years 
 of war, as well as other members of the church. 
 
 My father was a man of self-control ; under indig- 
 nities, private and public, he opened not his mouth. I 
 remember a criticism appearing in the press, that 
 seemed to me, then, to be unkind. We knew not for 
 years that he had ever read it. 
 
 He was often sent as a delegate to Annual Meeting. 
 I have heard others say that he was safe in counsel, 
 always for peace on conservative grounds. His life- 
 work was given to the land of his birth the South. 
 Many of the isolated still bless his memory. 
 
 He had nine sons and one daughter, of whom five 
 are living. Our mother died suddenly while he was 
 from home in 1886. He was stricken down under his 
 bereavement, and seemed for a few months to give 
 up his work. He then took it up with renewed zeal 
 which abated not till his death. After a two-months' 
 trip to Virginia and West Virginia, where he con- 
 tracted typhoid malarial fever, he died July 31, 1898, 
 a few weeks after reaching home. During his sickness
 
 EARNEST AND CONSECRATED. 95 
 
 he was perhaps no time conscious. In his delirium 
 he preached the Word, and persuaded souls to accept 
 Christ. Brother I. H. Diehl and Brother D. F. Bow- 
 man conducted the funeral services. He was laid to 
 rest in the family graveyard on Boon's Creek, there 
 to await the resurrection morning. 
 
 He was a man of deep devotion, and at times pouring 
 out his soul to God in secret, as he thought, but we 
 often heard his voice at night in prayer and weeping. 
 He comforted many hearts many dying saints 
 going among the members and encouraging them to 
 duty. They say to-day, " Uncle George used always 
 to come to see us." In this world of coldness and 
 indifference, I shall always thank God for a father that 
 was earnest and consecrated to the church and her 
 work as given her by Jesus, our great Leader and 
 Redeemer. SUE V. BOWMAN. 
 
 Jonesboro, Tenn., January, /pod. 
 
 The following is from the pen of Brother George 
 C. Bowman concerning the Civil War of 1861-5. 
 
 " The war is over. Thank God for his kind care 
 over his children. 
 
 " The brethren and sisters in the faith of the Gos- 
 pel were all down on their knees praying for God's 
 protection. They were well treated and favored by 
 the good people of Tennessee. The Lord in his mercy 
 did provide for his unworthy children who remembered 
 Jesus that said, ' My kingdom is not of this world.' 
 
 " Boone's Creek, Tenn., Jan. 18, i8p8."
 
 96 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF JOHN A. 
 BOWMAN, OF TENNESSEE. 
 
 The subject of our sketch was born in Washington 
 county, Tennessee, June 20, 1813. He received a com- 
 mon school education, and possessed a rare natural 
 talent as a student and speaker, which he greatly 
 developed in his life and labors for the Master. 
 
 In the year 1830, he was married to Maria L. 
 Northington, to which union were born six children, 
 three sons and three daughters. 
 
 He united with the Brethren church about the year 
 1832, and was elected to the ministry in 1842, in 
 which position he served until his death, having been 
 ordained to the eldership between the years 1850 and 
 1855. 
 
 Brother Bowman was a bold and fearless defender 
 of the faith, and was a man of exceptional oratorical 
 power. It is said that he could hold the interest of his 
 audience for a two hours' discourse. He was held in 
 high esteem as a preacher by all who knew him. He 
 was called upon, far and near, to preach funerals and 
 to solemnize marriages. 
 
 And now we come to the sad part of this sketch 
 how he met his death, which occurred September 8, 
 1863. It \vas at the time our country was arrayed in 
 civil strife. The circumstance, briefly told, is as 
 follows : 
 
 Some soldiers, supposed to be Confederates, as they 
 wore that uniform, came to Brother Bowman's barn 
 on the hunt for horses. They entered the barn and 
 were about readv to lead off his favorite saddle
 
 SHOT BY A SOLDIER. 97 
 
 horse, one upon which he perhaps had made many 
 mission trips, when he came out to reason the matter 
 with them. He implored them not to take his horse, 
 as he very greatly stood in need of his service, and 
 during the time he gently laid his hand upon the 
 horse's mane, whereupon one of the soldiers drew his 
 gun and shot him dead. Thus ended the life of a 
 useful servant of the Lord by the hands of a thought- 
 less, reckless man in the garb of a soldier. 
 
 J. P. BOWMAN. 
 Jonesboro, Tenn., February, /pod.
 
 PART THREE 
 
 SKETCHES AND INCIDENTS 
 
 Experiences in the Lives of Brethren, Mennonites, 
 Friends, Etc.
 
 esson 
 
 From""! 
 
 Do we not see in the lov/lt) form 
 Of A godly life A beautiful clwm? 
 Behold the clAm in its prison she II 7) 
 How it spurns not the grAin of sADd 
 TIW cuts, but tAkes it in 'to dwell, 
 And turns its edge with grwd 
 And qentle spirit till the swirl 
 Of *h sea finds in its depths 4 pearl 
 
 -,& 
 
 ? do AS wel I 
 Opthe hum AH seA, 
 Jf\$-&fed tiAs trotted thy bliss, 
 come to thee ? 
 
 S^~ ;. : - 
 
 -lV ;T Ti TT '- ,!i- , - L 
 
 C/\r>st . thou tAKe the deed ii^ith its 
 , ^ -burning i sting, ;" | , M 
 Ur the word rrorn I IDS tn/^t curl ^ 
 iApdr^v^Tfetjq |5vttJu thing 
 And qive^it bAckv.A peArl? 
 
 -=- ' :,"* "^~^V> - -: ^r^ssatL.
 
 SKETCHES AND INCIDENTS 
 
 Experiences in the Lives of Brethren, Mennonites, 
 Friends, Etc. 
 
 ANDREW HUTCHISON. 
 
 ELD. ANDREW HUTCHISON was born in Monroe 
 county, West Virginia, January 15, 1836. He was 
 called to the ministry October 20, 1860; and after 
 serving in the ministry twenty-nine years, he gave 
 himself wholly to the work of an evangelist. He has 
 been in the evangelistic field sixteen years. He lived 
 in Monroe county, West Virginia, till after the Civil 
 War. In 1866 he moved to Fayette county, West Vir- 
 ginia, and in 1868 he moved to Centerview, Missouri, 
 and in 1890 to McPherson, Kansas. From this central 
 point as his home, he travels almost constantly among 
 the churches where his services are most needed, and 
 though physically a weak man, he is an example of 
 what patient and persistent effort may accomplish. 
 He possesses a clear voice, distinct utterance, a ready 
 delivery, and a remarkable memory well stored with 
 scriptural knowledge. He is not slow to assert the 
 fact that man is a sinner and needs regeneration, and 
 like the old sunlight, his presentation of the Gospel of 
 Christ, as the power of God unto salvation, is new 
 every day. 
 
 101
 
 102 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 The following incident was written by him Decem- 
 ber 17, 1897, while he was in Lordsburg, California, 
 and is given as some of his personal experience in the 
 War of 1861-5: 
 
 INCIDENT 1. 
 
 " In the latter part of January, 1863, I was called 
 upon to go to Peterstown, Monroe Co., W. Va., for the 
 purpose of reporting the condition of a very sick man 
 to his doctor. On entering the town, I saw a consider- 
 able body of soldiers in rank and file on the street. 
 This was nothing new or strange. I dismounted from 
 my horse, and was in the act of entering the doctor's 
 office when the chief officer over these soldiers called 
 out, 'Halt'! I said, 'What is wanted'? He said, 
 ' We are about ready to march, and you must fall in 
 line, and go too.' I said, ' General, please allow me to 
 see the doctor first.' He answered in a very unpleas- 
 ant manner that he would grant no such privilege. I 
 then insisted that I should be permitted to report the 
 condition of the sick man. He declined to grant the 
 liberty asked for, and used words that I would not 
 wish to repeat. I then informed him that I was an 
 invalid for life, and therefore not able to perform mil- 
 itary duty. He answered, ' You don't look like a 
 cripple.' I then said to him, 'I am a minister of the 
 Gospel, and am exempt from military duty. His only 
 reply was, ' A young looking preacher ' with some 
 adjectives to it. I next informed him that I had such 
 conscientious scruples as would forbid me to take the 
 sword, and shed the blood of my fellow-man. But 
 this so exasperated the officer in 'gray ' that he said 
 with bitter words, ' We will see whether you don't,'
 
 A CLOSE CALL. 103 
 
 and calling on three men of Company A, ' Come out 
 here/ and they came, he said to them, ' Load your 
 guns,' which being done, he said, ' Put that man under 
 range of your guns,' and they obeyed. The next order 
 was, ' Shoot him down in five minutes, if he does not 
 consent to go into service.' I said, ' You can kill me 
 if you choose to do so, but to go into the service and 
 slay my fellow-man, I will not. For the sake of Christ 
 and his cause I here and now give up my life freely.' 
 
 " At this juncture, Mr. Allen Spangler, a citizen of 
 that town, came hurriedly by me and ran up on the 
 porch where the officer was standing, and taking him 
 by the throat gave him a regular earthquake of a 
 shaking up, so much so that the officer could not 
 speak for a time. Mr. Spangler then said to him, 
 ' Order those guns down, or I will kill you right here.' 
 The guns were ordered down, but in a very feeble 
 tone, for he had but little strength left. So the guns 
 were lowered with bayonets to the ground, still hold- 
 ing the breech to the shoulder. I and the soldiers were 
 very near each other. Three men had been shot 
 down just before this, but not Brethren. They were 
 shot for deserting the ranks. 
 
 " Mr. Spangler then said to this officer, ' Go into 
 the store there, and write this man a pass, and send 
 him home like a gentleman, before I mash you into 
 the earth.' This was done, and the officer brought it 
 to me. I acknowledged the favor, then went into the 
 doctor's office and reported the case of the sick man. 
 I then came out and mounted my horse with nerves 
 very steady ; but by the time I had gone one-half mile 
 my whole system relaxed, and it was with no little
 
 104 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 effort for the next half hour that I continued my 
 journey. This was the only time that I had the priv- 
 ilege of giving up my life for Christ's sake. And 
 while there was a very pleasant feature about it, yet 
 I am free to say that I do not wish to be called upon 
 to repeat it under similar circumstances. It has been 
 of great benefit to me in later trials, and I consent to 
 give the case here, hoping that it may be of benefit 
 to others who may in anyway be brought into trial. 
 
 " I never felt more fully and visibly the intervention 
 of the hand of Providence than in this case. And it 
 has been a source of great pleasure to me to meet my 
 friend, Mr. Spangler, though he always said he did 
 no more than his duty, which seemed to be a great 
 pleasure to him. He was a very quiet man, but a very 
 strong man. He was at that time serving in the 
 Southern army as a wagon master." 
 
 INCIDENT 2. 
 
 ''' The soldiers pressed a fine young mare of mine 
 into the service, and she was as true to the collar as 
 any animal I ever worked. But when they put her in 
 harness, and hitched her to their artillery wagons she 
 squarely refused to pull ; they could not make her 
 stretch a tug. And they branded her with being dis- 
 loyal like her master. So they turned her out, and she 
 came home and was true as ever." D. 11. 
 
 JOHN A. SHOWALTER. 
 
 [JOHN A. Snow ALTER (1832- ) is a native of 
 
 Rockingham county, Virginia, and a grandnephew 
 of Joseph Funk, music publisher and author of " Har-
 
 JOHN A. SHOWALTER. 105 
 
 mona Sacra." He took a course of instruction in 
 music at Singer's Glen, Va., as given by Joseph Funk 
 and Sons, and in 1863 entered the field as a teacher of 
 vocal music. As a leader in vocal church music he had 
 few equals. He had a clear, strong, ringing voice, 
 well sustained throughout. He has composed a num- 
 ber of tunes No. 139, Brethren Hymnal, being one 
 of them. He now lives near Cherry Grove, Va., not 
 far from the place of his birth, on a beautiful country 
 home, where flows one of the famous springs of the 
 val!ey, sparkling with freshness and coolness, and 
 inviting to repose.] 
 
 " In the month of June, 1861, I was drafted for serv- 
 ice in the war; but I refused to go for two reasons: 
 First, I was conscientiously opposed to war; second, 
 I claimed exemption on the ground of bad health. 
 So I remained at home until I was forced to go. When 
 I arrived at camp, I refused to bear arms, again 
 claimed exemption, was examined, and placed on the 
 sick list by order of the doctor of the regiment; but 
 I was compelled to remain in camp. Within three 
 weeks, I took the measles, and through the influence 
 of the captain of the company, I got a furlough to 
 come home for ten days. The captain told me to go 
 home and stay there till he sent for me. So I came 
 home and remained till December of the same year, 
 when I was forced to go back to the army, contrary 
 to the captain's orders. After reaching camp again, 
 I was taken before a court of inquiry and court- 
 martialed, and sentenced to be drilled alone two hours 
 a day for a certain number of days. I again refused 
 to drill or learn the art of war. For this I was threat-
 
 106 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 ened to be punished severely; but I still refused to 
 bear arms. Finally, I was asked if I would assist in 
 cooking for the company. To this I consented, and 
 I was not punished. 
 
 " I was with the army this time during the month of 
 January, 1862, when we made an extensive excursion 
 through the mountains via Bath, Morgan Co., Hancock, 
 and Romney. From near Bath Springs I was sent to 
 Winchester, Va., to the hospital. I worked my way 
 up the valley about eighteen miles from Winchester 
 and stopped with a relative about ten days. I then 
 wrote to my father, and he came after me, and brought 
 me home." 
 
 Here Brother Showalter remained under many 
 trials and bitter experiences as a man of peace, till 
 after the " exemption act " was passed ; his father paid 
 the fine, six hundred dollars including a certain per 
 cent to the collecting officer, and he was released dur- 
 ing the war. D. H. 
 
 WILLIAM PETERS. 
 
 EAST of Woodstock, Va., and over a mountain ris- 
 ing abruptly from the Shenandoah River as it flows 
 toward Harper's Ferry, there is a little valley called 
 the Fort. In this valley, near Seven Fountains, Broth- 
 er Peters lived. He was the first in that valley to join 
 the Brethren, and he united with the church only a 
 short time before the Civil War. His example of faith 
 and patient trust in God is worthy of careful study. 
 
 He wrote the following, Jan. 7, 1898: 
 
 ' As to myself, I never was in the army. They 
 made about four attempts to take me, but never got
 
 THREATS. 107 
 
 me away from home. In the fall of '61, the conscript 
 officers came to take me. I told them I could not go, 
 and gave them -my reasons. They finally went away 
 and left me. Then during that winter and the next 
 spring they came three different times to take me at 
 the point of the bayonet, saying they had orders to 
 take me dead or alive. I told them if dead men were 
 of any service to them, and they saw fit, they could 
 use me; but that was the only way they could get 
 any service out of me in the army. I told them if 
 they would leave me at home, I would feed the hun- 
 gry that came to me as long as I had anything. I 
 reasoned with them kindly, and every time they went 
 away and left me. But citizens and ' bushwhackers ' 
 threatened to take my life, and as my life was in dan- 
 ger I was advised to go into the army. I, however, 
 replied that I could not take up arms even if it would 
 be the means of saving my life. I never went to the 
 woods or the mountains for concealment as some did 
 to get out of the way, trusting in the promises of the 
 Lord that he would be with us in six troubles, and 
 in the seventh he will not forsake us. I believe the 
 Lord was my helper, and I did not fear what man 
 would do to me. 
 
 " Finally, I paid my fine. Still I was accused of 
 being a Union man, and my life was threatened. Three 
 of my neighbors were shot, being accused as Union 
 men ; and a number left their homes and went north 
 to save their lives. I remained at home at my post, 
 and I am still here, thank the Lord, who is our 
 Strength, and to whom belongs all honor and praise." 
 
 D. H.
 
 106 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 MENNONITES AND FRIENDS 
 
 GABRIEL HEATWOLE, SR. 
 
 GABRIEL HEATWOLE, born in Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 
 26, 1789, died June 18, 1875, aged 85 years, 7 months 
 and 22 days. He was married to Margaret Swank, 
 and he lived east of Mole Hill, near Dayton, Va. He 
 moved here in the woods, and followed the cooper 
 trade until he had land enough cleared, then he got 
 to farming. He afterwards studied the botanic sys- 
 tem of medicine, and became a doctor. He did not 
 travel much. In 1862 he was arrested on the charge 
 of being a Union man, and was with John Kline in 
 prison. 
 
 He had five sons, two sons-in-law, two grandsons, 
 and one grandson-in-law, in prison in Richmond, Va. 
 His five sons were Joseph Heatwole, Jacob Heatwole, 
 Peter O. Heatwole, Simeon Heatwole, and Gabriel 
 D. Heatwole. His two sons-in-law were Frederic 
 Rhodes and Henry Rhodes. His grandsons were 
 " Rash " Rhodes and Manassas Rhodes. His grand- 
 son-in-law was David Frank. SIMEON HEATWOLE. 
 
 Dayton, Va., Feb. 26, 1906. 
 
 On a recent visit to the writer of the above sketch, 
 Simeon Heatwole, the following information was ob- 
 tained : 
 
 There were nearly as many of the Mennonites in 
 prison in Richmond, Va., as there were Brethren, and 
 during the whole time they were all together like one.
 
 ROUTE OF THE SEVENTY. 109 
 
 The following Mennonite brethren were in Richmond 
 prison: John Geil, Henry Geil, Henry Burkholder, 
 Samuel Burkholder, Benjamin Burkholder, and Solo- 
 mon Peterson, of Augusta county. These names were 
 given in addition to the Heatwole family as given in 
 the preceding sketch. There was also a son-in-law of 
 Gabriel Heatwole, Hugh A. Brunk, in the guardhouse 
 in Harrisonburg. 
 
 ROUTE OF THE SEVENTY VIA PETERSBURG, W. VA., 
 FRANKLIN, MONTEREY, STAUNTON TO RICHMOND: 
 We started from Samuel Beery's, near Crissman's, 
 and went through Hopkins Gap. Then along over 
 ridges, across ravines and the Shenandoah Mountain, 
 we arrived at Judy's on the South Fork, where we 
 staid all night. The next day we crossed Ketterman's 
 Mountain and came to the South Branch of the Po- 
 tomac. Here those on horseback had to cross the 
 river the second and third time in order to take the 
 footmen over. We then passed through Petersburg, 
 and after going a mile or more beyond, we were or- 
 dered to halt. There were but two men at first that 
 stopped us on our way, but after we turned back 
 others came up and went with us to the town. When 
 we returned to the place, one of the men that stopped 
 us seemed to be very sorry for what was done, but 
 the others spoke roughly to him. We were all put 
 into one room, and required to give up any firearms 
 we had about us. We showed them our pocket Testa- 
 ments which we were permitted to keep. This was 
 a surprise to them. 
 
 The same afternoon we were marched towards 
 Franklin, and we got as far as Captain Bond's, on
 
 110 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 Xorth Mill Creek, where we spent the night. The 
 next day we arrived in Franklin, where we passed the 
 night in the courthouse, lying on the floor. During 
 the night six of our number were taken out of the 
 building one at a time, and were asked a number of 
 questions, who we were, and where we were going, and 
 they also wished to know the reason. The remainder of 
 the company did not know what had become of those 
 who had been taken out in this way, but it turned out 
 better than they expected. Then there \vas an attempt 
 made next morning to frighten them, that they might 
 have an excuse as was supposed, to capture their 
 horses, but they all remained quiet and kept together, 
 and paid no attention to any attempt to alarm them. 
 
 The next day we arrived at Monterey, the county- 
 seat of Highland county, Virginia. From this place 
 we started for Staunton, Va. It took us two days to 
 reach Staunton, and it w r as a wearisome journey across 
 narrow valleys, over ridges and rough mountains. 
 From Staunton we were sent to Richmond, where wr 
 were all put into one room of a brick building. In 
 this room we had no accommodations whatever. When 
 we lay down on the floor for the night the floor was 
 nearly covered, and when provisions were brought to 
 us they were generally in buckets. 
 
 We were then moved down to the canal, and placed 
 in a large brick building where there were a number 
 of Union soldiers kept as prisoners. The building 
 was about 60x100 feet and four stories high. It lay 
 along the canal with a road between the building and 
 the canal. We occupied the room in the east end of 
 the building and next to the canal. James River was
 
 IN PRISON. Ill 
 
 just beyond the canal with a high bank between them. 
 We could see the river from the windows of the room 
 where we were kept. On the same floor, in another 
 room, the Union prisoners of war were kept. They 
 were friendly to us, and were sorry to see us leave the 
 building when we got our liberty. 
 
 Mr. John Hopkins, of Rockingham county, came to 
 see us in prison. He said he would do all he could 
 for us, and he was as good as his word. He informed 
 the members of Congress what kind of people we were, 
 that we were conscientions. 
 
 Benjamin Byerly, who lived near Dayton, Va., came 
 to see us two or three times while we were in Rich- 
 mond, and used all his influence to get us released. 
 When the Exemption Act was passed, he was one to 
 go around to raise the money to pay the fines for our 
 release, and when the fines were paid, he with the 
 officers came and opened the door, and he said, " A^ow 
 you can all go home" This was a glorious day for us. 
 I will never forget Benjamin Byerly for what he did 
 for us, " I was in prison, and ye came unto me." He 
 preached for us one evening in " Thunder Castle," 
 and when he came to see us again, he preached for 
 us the second time, and after we returned home he 
 preached in the Bank church once for us. 
 
 Mrs. Rhoda Ellen Heatwole, a model Mennonite sis- 
 ter, was sitting by during the time her husband was 
 giving his experience as described in the preceding 
 pages, when she modestly remarked that when Byerly 
 returned from Richmond, and her sister told her some- 
 one was coming, she could not tell how she felt she 
 thought they were all killed : her sister told her that
 
 PRISON EXPERIENCES. 113 
 
 her face became sadly pale. She feared sad news, 
 but her " sorrow was turned into joy " when she 
 learned that her husband would soon be released. 
 
 D. H. 
 
 A SCRIPTURAL ADMONITION 
 
 D Hays Dayton, Va., May 10, 1903. 
 
 Dear Friend : As I have been away from home a 
 great deal of late, excuse me for not answering your 
 letter sooner. I would much rather talk with you than 
 write, as it has been a long time since we were in pris- 
 on, so that I have forgotten a great deal about it. If 
 you were here I might tell you a good many things 
 about how we were treated after they arrested us and 
 took us through the mountains ; and after we were put 
 in prison we had many times but little to eat. But in 
 this experience we learned how others had to suffer, 
 some for want of clothing, others for want of shelter 
 and protection from the cold. 
 
 The apostle admonished the Hebrews, " Let your 
 conversation be without covetousness, and be content 
 with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will 
 never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may 
 boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not 
 fear what man shall do unto me." Hebrews 13: 5, 6. 
 
 Let us continue to put our trust in the Lord, and 
 lean upon his strong arm. Let us all prove faithful. 
 The promise is, " Be thou faithful unto death, and I 
 will give thee a crown of life." Rev. 2 : 10. 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 G. D. HEATWOLE.
 
 114 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 SOCIETY OF FRIENDS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 WILLIAM PENN had set the example of purchasing 
 the land from the Indians, and the Friends, who were 
 among the earliest settlers in the Valley of Virginia, 
 thought it unjust to take possession of the lands upon 
 which they settled without an agreement with the na- 
 tives and making some compensation for their right. 
 The following letter, written by Thomas Chaukley, 
 addressed to the Monthly Meeting on Opequon, about 
 five miles east of Winchester, will show the spirit of 
 peace and fairness of the writer : 
 
 " Virginia, at John Cheagle's, 21st 5th mo., 1738. 
 
 " To the Friends of the Monthly Meeting at Ope- 
 quon : Dear friends who inhabit Shenandoah and Ope- 
 quon. Having a concern for your welfare and prosperi- 
 ty both now and hereafter, and also the prosperity of 
 your children, I had a desire to see you ; but being in 
 years, and much fatigued with my long journeyings 
 in Virginia and Carolina makes it seem too hard for 
 me to perform a visit in person to you, wherefore I 
 take this way of writing to discharge my mind of what 
 lies weighty thereon. 
 
 " First. I desire that you be very careful (being 
 far and back inhabitants) to keep a friendly correspond- 
 ence with the native Indians, giving them no occa- 
 sion of offense ; they being a cruel and merciless enemy 
 where they think they are wronged or defrauded of 
 their rights ; as woful experience hath taught in Car- 
 olina, Virginia and Maryland, and especially in New 
 England. 
 
 " Secondly. As nature hath given them and their
 
 THE FRIENDS. 115 
 
 forefathers the possession of this continent of Amer- 
 ica (or this wilderness)', they had a natural right 
 thereto in justice and equity, and no people, according 
 to the law of nature and justice and our own prin- 
 ciple, which is according to the glorious Gospel of our 
 dear and holy Jesus Christ, ought to take away, or 
 settle on other men's lands or rights without consent, 
 or purchasing the same by agreement of parties con- 
 cerned, which I suppose in your case is not yet done. 
 
 " Thirdly. Therefore my counsel and Christian 
 advice to you is, my dear friends, that the most repu- 
 table among you do with speed endeavor to agree with 
 and purchase your lands of the native Indians, or in- 
 habitants. Take example of our worthy and honorable 
 late proprietor, William Penn; who, by the wise and 
 religious care in that relation, hath settled a lasting 
 peace and commerce with the natives, and through his 
 prudent management therein hath been instrumental 
 to plant in peace one of the most flourishing province^ 
 in the world. 
 
 "Fourthly. Who would run the risk of the lives 
 of their wives and children for the sparing of a little 
 cost and pains ? I am concerned to lay these things be- 
 fore you, under an uncommon exercise of mind, that 
 your new and flourishing little settlement may not be 
 laid waste and (if the providence of the Almighty 
 doth not intervene, some of the blood of yourselves, 
 wives or children, be shed or spilt on the ground. 
 
 " Fifthly. Consider you are in the province of Vir- 
 ginia, holding what rights you have under that govern- 
 ment, and the Virginians have made an agreement 
 with the natives to go as far as the mountains and no
 
 116 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 farther, and you are over and beyond the mountains, 
 therefore out of that agreement ; by which you lie 
 open to the insults and incursions of the Southern 
 Indians, who have destroyed many of the inhabitants 
 of Carolina and Virginia, and even now destroyed more 
 on the like occasion. The English going beyond the 
 bounds of their agreement, eleven of them were killed 
 by the Indians while we were traveling in Virginia. 
 
 " Sixthly. If you believe yourselves to be within 
 the bounds of William Penn's patent from King 
 Charles the Second, which \vill be hard for you to 
 prove, you being far southward of his line, yet if done, 
 that will be no consideration with the Indians without 
 a purchase from them, except you will go about to 
 convince them by fire and sword, contrary to our prin- 
 ciples, and if that were done, they would ever be im- 
 placable enemies, and the land could never be enjoyed 
 in peace. 
 
 " Seventhly. Please note that in Pennsylvania 
 no new settlements are made without an agreement 
 with the natives, as witness Lancaster county lately 
 settled, though that is far within the grant of William 
 Penn's patent from King Charles the Second, where- 
 fore you lie open to the insurrections of the Northern 
 as well as the Southern Indians. 
 
 " Lastly. Thus having shown my good will to you 
 and to your new little settlement, that you might set 
 everyone under your own shady tree, where none 
 might make you afraid, and that you might prosper, 
 naturally and spiritually, you and your children; and 
 having a little eased my mind of that weight and con- 
 cern (in some measure) that lay upon me, I at pres-
 
 UNJUST TREATMENT. 117 
 
 ent desist, and subscribe myself in the love of our 
 holy Lord Jesus Christ. Your real friend, T. C." 
 
 (From Kercheval's " History of the Valley of Vir- 
 ginia.") 
 
 The same book, pages 126, 127, is authority for the 
 statement that " in the year 1777, on the 8th of Sep- 
 tember, in conformity with a recommendation of Con- 
 gress, a number of Quakers and others were taken 
 up by the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania, 
 and were sent to Winchester, Va., under guard, with 
 a request from the executive of Pennsylvania directed 
 to the county lieutenant of Frederick to secure them. 
 When the prisoners were delivered into the custody 
 of General John Smith, who was then county lieuten- 
 ant, he proposed to them that if they would pledge 
 their honors not to abscond they should not be placed 
 in confinement. Among the prisoners were three of 
 the Pembertons, two of the Fishers, an aged minister 
 by the name of Hunt and several others. One of the 
 Fishers was a lawyer by profession. He protested in 
 his own name, and on behalf of his fellow-prisoners, 
 against being taken into custody by Colonel Smith. 
 He stated that they had protested against being sent 
 from Philadelphia; that they had again protested at 
 the Pennsylvania line against being taken out of the 
 State ; that they had repeated their protest at the Mary- 
 land line against being taken into Virginia ; that there 
 was no existing law which justified their being de- 
 prived of their liberty, and exiled from their native 
 homes and families, and treated as criminals. To 
 which Colonel Smith replied, ' It is true, I know of 
 no existing law which will justify your detention, but
 
 118 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 as you are sent to my care by the supreme executive 
 authority of your native State, and represented as dan- 
 gerous characters, and as having been engaged in trea- 
 sonable practices with the enemy, I consider it my duty 
 to detain you at least until I can send an express to 
 the governor of Virginia for his advice and direc- 
 tion what to do in the premises.' He accordingly 
 dispatched an express to Williamsburg, with a letter 
 to the governor, who soon returned with the orders of 
 the executive to secure the prisoners. Colonel Smith 
 again repeated that ' if they would pledge themselves 
 not to abscond he would not cause them to be con- 
 fined.' Upon which one of the Pembertons said to 
 Fisher, ' that his protest was unavailing, and that they 
 must patiently submit to their fate.' Then addressing 
 himself to Colonel Smith he observed, ' they would not 
 enter into any pledges, and he must dispose of them as 
 he thought proper.' The colonel then ordered them to 
 be placed under guard. 
 
 " Shortly before this three hundred Hessian prison- 
 ers had been sent to Winchester ; there was consequent- 
 ly a guard ready prepared to receive these exiles, and 
 they remained in custody about eight or nine months, 
 during which time two of them died, and the whole 
 of them became much dejected, and it is probable 
 more of them would have died of broken hearts had 
 they not been permitted to return. Some time after 
 the British left Philadelphia, these exiles employed 
 the late Alexander White, Esq., a lawyer near Win- 
 chester, for which they paid him one hundred pounds 
 Virginia currency in gold coin, to go to Philadelphia 
 and negotiate with the executive authority of the
 
 FAITHFUL BELIEVERS. 119 
 
 State to permit them to return to their families and 
 friends, in which negotiation White succeeded ; and 
 to the great joy and heartfelt satisfaction of these 
 captives, they returned to their native homes." 
 
 This account corresponds with the statement pre- 
 viously given by Christopher Saur of the arrest of a 
 number of Quakers who " were punished and carried 
 away to Virginia." The cause of the arrest of these 
 Friends, as given in the report of a committee in Con- 
 gress on the 28th of August, 1777, was, " That the 
 several testimonies which have been published since 
 the commencement of the present contest betwixt 
 Great Britain and America, and the uniform tenor of 
 the conduct and conversation of a number of persons 
 of considerable wealth, -who profess themselves to be- 
 long to the society of people commonly called Quakers, 
 render it certain and notorious that those persons are 
 with much rancor and bitterness disaffected to the 
 American cause," etc. (Idem, pp. 125-6.) This report 
 of the committee shows that Congress did not order 
 the arrest of these persons because they were Quakers, 
 but because (in the opinion of the committee) they 
 professed to belong to the Quakers, but did not live 
 up to the standard, nor did they maintain the princi- 
 ples of that body of people. The sequel, however, 
 shows that they were true to their faith. 
 
 These Quakers possibly, regarded the States as in a 
 condition of rebellion, and to support such a condition 
 meant war, which was contrary to the principles of 
 peace they held sacred. They had been all along 
 loyal subjects to the established government; but here 
 was a new experience, a government in a transition
 
 120 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 state, a passing over from one form of government 
 into another. Under similar conditions (we speak 
 advisedly), a Peace People should be submissive and 
 inoffensive to the powers that be, during the period 
 of transition, and whenever the government under 
 which they live and to which they have been loyal 
 subjects, changes its form and its national relations, 
 then they do become obedient subjects to the new gov- 
 ernment. D. H. 
 
 ELDER B. F. MOOMAW. 
 
 DURING the Civil War, Bro. Moomaw was in the 
 zenith of his power and influence which he steadily 
 maintained as the champion of peace, ready to serve 
 the Brethren he loved and the community where God 
 placed him. He stood for truth and demanded a rec- 
 ognition of the rights of the Brethren as a peace people, 
 even from his opponents, and when other means failed, 
 he appealed to the highest civil and military authorities, 
 and his position, means and influence were such that 
 his appeals were generally successful. Through this 
 period of trial and personal danger he was permit- 
 ted to live, and to witness the triumph of the prin- 
 ciples of peace, and to enjoy the fruits of his labors. 
 
 Writing to his son at West Liberty, Ohio (1865), 
 and who had but recently " adopted the holy religion 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ," he says: "The storm is 
 over, and we are now enjoying a blessed calm. I hope 
 you will make it your constant care and study to adorn 
 the profession you have made. It is one thing to be 
 a member of the church, and to be a consistent Chris- 
 tian is another. Christians, as I understand the matter,
 
 ELD. B. F. MOOMAW. 121 
 
 are pilgrims and strangers in the world, belonging to 
 another kingdom, not of this world. Since God in his 
 kind Providence has brought to an end this cruel and 
 unholy war, I hope that all will lay aside sectional 
 differences, and return more ardently to the love and 
 service of God who requires our whole affection and 
 unmixed devotion, that love and fraternal union of 
 the whole body will be our constant aim, and that 
 everything calculated to mar our affection, or to alien- 
 ate the church may be studiously avoided." 
 
 The above extract is from the pen of his son (J. C. 
 M.), communicated to the Gospel Visitor, August, 1865, 
 on his way home from Annual Meeting in Lee Co., 111. 
 It serves to show the style of Bro. B. F. Moomaw as 
 a writer, and that the peace and union of the Breth- 
 ren North and South was the burden of his theme 
 and lay very near his heart. He was a vigorous writer 
 before and during the war, and he kept up an exten- 
 sive correspondence with persons seeking the truth. 
 He generally wrote on doctrinal subjects, some of 
 which were published in tract form, the last but not 
 least being a treatise on the "Divinity of Christ." 
 
 As a speaker he was bold, earnest and fearless, 
 not hesitating to assail at any time what he conceived 
 to be wrong even in the midst of intimidation. One 
 thing stood to his advantage under such trying expe- 
 riences, and that was his diffuse style of delivery. 
 He did not approach his subject abruptly. He did not 
 strike his opponents without due notice. He brought 
 the sun to bear upon the dark side of error in such a 
 way that the sable curtain was withdrawn at a time 
 when his hearers were least expecting it. He usually
 
 122 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 took in the whole range of his subject, and aimed to 
 elucidate everything that came within the scope of 
 his mental vision. When he ascended the mountain 
 side, or passed from hill to hill along the winding 
 stream, he had for those who followed him in his dis- 
 course a rich cluster of fruits and flowers. If Bro. 
 Moomaw lacked concentration of thought and ex- 
 pression, he was not wanting in persistency. If he 
 failed to part the cloud letting the light of day burst 
 in splendor upon his subject, he possessed the greater 
 gift of leading his hearers to discover much truth for 
 themselves. 
 
 His home was in the middle south-side of the Old 
 Dominion a typical Virginia home. Here he raised 
 an intelligent family here he dispensed hospitality to 
 friend and foe. In a grove on this homestead camped 
 a regiment of Virginia soldiers. By special request 
 Bro. Moomaw preached for these soldiers, delivering 
 to them the message of the Gospel of Peace. In his 
 home the sick of this regiment were cared for without 
 any financial compensation, thus gaining the good-will 
 of both officers and men, and sowing the good seed 
 which invariably brings good results in God's own 
 time and way. 
 
 The following is from the pen of Bro. C. D. Hylton : 
 " Elder Benjamin F. Moomaw,* so well known to the 
 Brotherhood, was born in Botetourt county, Virginia. 
 March 30, 1814, and in this county and State his long 
 and eventful life was spent. 
 
 *Bro. Hylton's Sketch of Elder Moomaw was obtained 
 through the courtesy of Bro. Grant Mahan, of the Brethren 
 Publishing House, Elgin, Illinois.
 
 ELDER B. F. MOOMAW. 123 
 
 " It is to be regretted that so few data have been 
 preserved in reference to his life. When he became a 
 member of the church, was called to the ministry, and 
 ordained to the eldership are periods now unknown, 
 even by his family. His ordination must have been 
 prior to 1860, because in that year he was sent by 
 Annual Meeting on a committee with other brethren 
 to adjust some difficulties in Tennessee. 
 
 " He was appointed five times by the Annual Meet- 
 ing to serve on committees sent to churches. In 1860 
 and 1871 he was sent to Tennessee, in 1872 he was ap- 
 pointed to visit some churches in Indiana, and in 1874 
 with two other brethren he crossed the continent to 
 visit the ' Far Western Brethren ' in California. He 
 represented the First District of Virginia on the 
 Standing Committee at Annual Meeting six times, 
 and in 1861 he was clerk of the Annual Meeting. In 
 the early fifties he strongly advocated and urged the 
 church to engage more actively in spreading the Gos- 
 pel. In 1852 the matter was brought to Annual Meet- 
 ing and elicited a hearty response. He advocated the 
 publishing of a church paper at a time when it was 
 unpopular, and faithfully supported Eld. Henry Kurtz 
 in bringing out the Gospel Visitor. He was a devoted 
 friend of Eld. John Kline and always held Bro. James 
 Quinter in high esteem. 
 
 " He has a war history that will always be held 
 sacred to his memory. In connection with other 
 brethren he did much for the release of brethren, and 
 the comfort of the Southern soldiers. Many of them 
 speak in the highest terms of his kindness and hos- 
 pitality toward them. A number of troops camped
 
 124 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 on his farm and some took sick in camp and died in 
 his house after receiving the kindest attention. 
 
 " Bro. Moomaw was bold, fearless, and at times 
 rather stern in his decisions. When a position was 
 taken he rarely moved from it, and his position was 
 not held in secret. He made no compromises. As 
 a minister he was doctrinal and disregarded the po- 
 sition of those who differed with him. 
 
 " Financially he was very successful. Starting in 
 life with a good inheritance and receiving several 
 thousand dollars through his marriage, and at a time 
 when land was cheap, he had advantages over many 
 others. Then, through industry, care and an eye to 
 business, he added many thousand dollars to his pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 " He died November 6, 1901, at the ripe old age of 
 eighty-seven years, seven months, and six days. He 
 was laid to rest on a little knoll in the family cemetery 
 on the farm where he had spent all of his married 
 life, near Bonsacks, Va." D. H. 
 
 November 19, /pod. 
 
 ELDER JOHN KLINE, OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 BY BENJAMIN FUNK. 
 
 [Benjamin Funk, author of the "Life of John 
 Kline," was born at Singers Glen, Virginia, December 29, 
 1829. He was the youngest of seven brothers and two 
 sisters, the children of Joseph and Rachel Funk. His 
 early training in science and literature was limited. He 
 worked several years in his father's printing office and 
 bindery. In 1854 he was married to Miss Louisa Burk- 
 holder, of Rockingham county, Virginia. He then took 
 a limited course of instruction in Richmond College, Vir-
 
 ELDER JOHN KLINE. 125 
 
 ginia. In 1864 his first wife died. In 1870 he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Mollie E. Cowger, of West Virginia. They 
 live happily near the place of his nativity, in a neat, cosy 
 building under the lofty oaks, with a modest chestnut, 
 dogwood, pine and laurel, deftly trimmed all nature's 
 own setting presenting a picture of rural taste, rustic 
 beauty and simplicity. Here he lives in retirement from 
 the active duties of the ministry and school-teaching, yet 
 he is still engaged in writing and the pursuit of literature.] 
 
 THE following sketch is from his pen: 
 " It gives me much pleasure to introduce the name 
 of this eminent servant of the Prince of Peace to the 
 readers of this work. From a biography taken from 
 his diary, augmented by the personal recollections 
 of the writer and others, the following sketch is ob- 
 tained : 
 
 " John Kline was born in Dauphin county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, June 17, 1797. He with his father and other 
 members of the family moved to Virginia when he 
 was about fourteen, and settled on Linville Creek, in 
 Rockingham county. He was married to Anna 
 Wampler, March 10, 1818. As indicated by his diary, 
 his active ministry began about the year 1835, from 
 which time on to the close of his life, a period of 
 twenty-nine years, the entries in his diary state (1) 
 Where he spent the day and night, (2) How he spent 
 the day and night. He made extended journeys on 
 horseback, often traveling over four thousand miles 
 in a single year. As an example of the nature and 
 extent of his journeys, in the year 1835, he went on 
 a preaching tour through western Virginia, western 
 Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, returning 
 home through southwest Virginia. The toil of this
 
 126. THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 journey, on horseback, over bad roads, through thinly 
 settled sections of country and dark forests, over rug- 
 ged mountains, more than seventy years ago, and all 
 for Christ and burning love for his people, make this 
 one of the most remarkable missionary journeys on 
 record. In addition to his diary he wrote some con- 
 troversial matter for the press. He spoke German and 
 English with equal freedom. As a minister he was 
 impressive, lie possessed an orotund voice, a ready 
 delivery, and a commanding presence. 
 
 " During the last twenty-nine years of his ministry 
 he attended General Conference twenty-eight times. 
 He was moderator of the Virginia Conference in 1861, 
 and of each one after till the time of his death in 1864. 
 He continued to discharge his duties as a minister 
 and overseer of the church with unwavering devo- 
 tion even in time of the Civil War, and fell at last a 
 sacrifice for the cause of the Prince of Peace. The 
 last Conference he attended was held at Hagerstown, 
 Indiana, in 1864. A few clays after his return home, 
 while attending to his accustomed neighborly duties, 
 he was waylaid and killed by a number of ' scouts/ 
 near the summit of a little ridge about two miles 
 west of his home. He was buried at Linville Creek 
 church, where he long had labored for the people he 
 loved. At his funeral service the text was Acts 8 : 2, 
 ' And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and 
 made great lamentation over him.' Elder Solomon 
 Garber opened the service and spoke briefly. Then 
 Elder Jacob Wine spoke, and he was followed by the 
 writer (Benjamin Funk) and Jacob Spitzer. The 
 meeting was closed by Christian Wine. It was a me-
 
 ELDER JOHN KLINE. 127 
 
 morial service, more than a funeral. There was not 
 a word of censure uttered by any of the speakers. The 
 text itself was the embodiment of all that was said. 
 As Stephen was the first Christian martyr, and Brother 
 Kline the last then known, the appropriateness of the 
 text was apparent. Then the smile of peace visible 
 upon his dead face, when viewed for the last time, 
 made the resemblance complete. Yes, if Stephen's 
 living face was as the face of an angel, Brother Kline's 
 dead face was the face of a saint. 
 
 " At the head of his grave a plain marble slab bears 
 the inscription : 
 
 Elder John Kline 
 
 Killed 
 June IS, 1864 
 
 Aged 
 66 years, 11 months and 28 days. 
 
 When he was present, he was useful, 
 
 When absent wanted much, 
 
 He lived desired, when killed lamented. 
 
 " The following account of his arrest and imprison- 
 ment in 1862, will be of interest to the reader. His 
 arrest was made because of his influential opposition 
 to the ' secession movement ' of 1861. Led by a just 
 estimate of the power and determinate purpose of the 
 General Government to perpetuate the unity of its 
 existence, he opposed secession upon religious grounds, 
 as a thing threatening the peace, harmony, and pros- 
 perity of the country. He always maintained, how- 
 ever, that what we do, must be done -in meekness be- 
 fore God, and good will toward men. He saw the 
 darkness gathering in the distance, and he took the
 
 128 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 lead in sounding the notes of warning into the ears 
 of the Brotherhood to ' have their loins girded and 
 their lamps trimmed and burning.' 
 
 " In his diary for January 1, 1861, he enters the fol- 
 lowing sentiments : The New Year is threatened with 
 dark clouds gathering around us. I feel a deep in- 
 terest in the peace and prosperity of our country, but 
 in my view both are sorely threatened now. Secession 
 is the cry further south, and I fear it is being wafted 
 towards Virginia on the wings of fanatical discon- 
 tent. A move is clearly on hand for holding a con- 
 vention of delegates from all the counties of Virginia 
 to meet in Richmond ; and whilst its advocates pub- 
 licly deny the charge, I feel sure its proceedings will 
 end in the separation of the old State from the Union. 
 
 " The perishable things of earth concern me not ex- 
 cept wherein they affect the imperishable. Secession 
 means war ; and war means tears and ashes and blood. 
 It means bonds and Imprisonments, and perhaps death 
 to many in our beloved Brotherhood, who, I have con- 
 fidence to believe, will die rather than disobey God by 
 taking up arms of carnal warfare. ... I bow my 
 knees in prayer. All is dark, save when I turn my 
 eyes to him. He assures me that ' All things work 
 together for good to them that love God.' This is my 
 hope for my beloved brethren and sisters, and their 
 children. He alone can provide for their safety and 
 support. I believe he will do it. 
 
 ' This extract is the key to the man's heart, and 
 opens to a view of its experiences. We need no longer 
 wonder why suspicion marked him for his own, and 
 watched him with a jealous eye. But he was left to
 
 ELDER JOHN KLINE. 129 
 
 go undisturbed until Saturday, April 5, 1862. In the 
 forenoon of that day he was quietly at home. In the 
 afternoon he was arrested and conveyed to a guard- 
 house in Harrisonburg, Va. His place was in the 
 large jury room upstairs, where he found several other 
 brethren captives with himself. 
 
 " In this time of trial Brother Kline's presence of 
 mind did not in the least desert him. The daily en- 
 tries in the diary are in a hand as calm, and a mind as 
 self-possessed, as if nothing had gone wrong. He and 
 the other prisoners were held captive in the court- 
 house nine days, Brother Kline himself being held as 
 prisoner thirteen days ; most of which time was very 
 damp and cool, with snow and rain. They had very lit- 
 tle fire, and scarcely any bedding except what was 
 supplied by the relatives and friends. Brother Kline 
 did not lose interest in his religious work. He and the 
 brethren with him held regular worship, and he 
 preached and prayed and sang in orderly service both 
 Sundays he passed in the guardhouse. He left liberal 
 outlines of both sermons. He was held as a prisoner, 
 it is true, but the Word of God was not bound. . 
 
 " Elder John Kline, in the twenty-nine years prior 
 to his tragic death, had missed being present at but 
 one Annual Meeting. In other words, he had been 
 present at twenty-eight Annual Meetings of the Breth- 
 ren in the twenty-nine years of his public ministry. 
 This is one proof of his unflagging devotion to his 
 work, based upon his ever-present sense of responsibil- 
 ity before God, and duty toward the Brotherhood. 
 
 " And this brings me to the next fact, a fact not gen- 
 erally known or appreciated by those who miscon-
 
 tS v 
 
 5 2
 
 ELDER D. P. SAYLER. 131 
 
 strued his purpose. Elder John Kline was Moderator 
 of the Annual Conference of the Brethren when the 
 war broke out, and this relation to the Brotherhood 
 of itself imposed upon him a duty to be present at 
 these meetings ; a duty to which he felt the Lord had 
 called him. As a reflection of his own mind, and con- 
 scious integrity of heart and purpose within him, we 
 close this sketch with the last words of his farewell 
 sermon in Indiana, May 19, 1864, from Acts 4: 13, as 
 indicated in his diary: 
 
 'Now, Brethren- and friends, I have only touched 
 some of the chords in the beautiful anthem of my 
 theme. I now leave it with you, hoping that you may 
 learn every note in it ; and by the sweet music of a 
 good life delight the ears and warm the hearts of all 
 who hear its rich harmonies. Possibly you may never 
 cee my face, or hear my voice again. I am now on 
 my way back to Virginia, not knowing the things that 
 shall befall me there. It may be that bonds and afflic- 
 tions abide me. But I feel that I have done nothing 
 worthy of bonds, or of death ; and none of these things 
 move me; neither count I my life dear unto myself, 
 so that I may finish my course with joy, and the min- 
 istry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to tes- 
 tify the Gospel of the grace of God.' " 
 
 ELDER D. P. SAYLER, OF MARYLAND. 
 
 BY D. F. STOUFFER. 
 
 ELDER D. P. SAYLER was born in Frederick county, 
 Maryland, June 23, 1811, connected himself with the 
 church of the Brethren at Beaver Dam, Md., August
 
 Elder D. P. Sayler.
 
 ELDER D. P. SAYLER. 133 
 
 20, 1837, was elected to the ministry September 30, 
 1840, and ordained elder May 7, 1850. 
 
 He traveled extensively over a large scope of coun- 
 try, helping to organize and build up churches. He 
 with Brother Umstead, a man filled with the Holy 
 Ghost and with power, would start up into the Valley 
 of Virginia, and remain as long as three months from 
 home. At that time traveling was done by private 
 conveyance. Bidding farewell to home and all its 
 duties, and committing all into the hands of his family, 
 as a farewell address he would say, " Now, as the time 
 belongs to the Lord, I cannot say when I will return." 
 Thus he would go, always expecting to meet his 
 own traveling expenses. 
 
 Brother Sayler was one of the church's strong rep- 
 resentatives during the (Civil) war, in defense of her 
 peace principles, and was frequently called up before 
 the war department to give an explanation of those 
 endearing principles. By his extraordinary power 
 he was the means of the release of some of our Breth- 
 ren from a life of war. From Brethren's Almanac, 
 
 ELDER JESSE ROOP, OF MARYLAND. 
 
 NEW WINDSOR, Ma, JULY 15, 1904. 
 ELD. DANIEL HAYS, 
 BROADWAY,, VA. 
 
 DEAR BROTHER : In Gospel Messenger No 26, un- 
 der Brother Stover's " India Notes," he requested those 
 who knew of the experience of Brethren during the 
 Civil War in America to let him hear from them. We 
 wrote him what our father, Jesse Roop, at that time
 
 134 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 experienced. He gave us a verbal account of it, when 
 admonishing us to live up to duty. 
 
 During that period, both his duty as a minister, and 
 peace principles, were tested. The only churchhouse 
 then in the congregation was located near the Balti- 
 more and Ohio Railroad. The Union soldiers camped 
 in the grove where it stood. Our ministers had to 
 secure a pass every Sunday to get through their camp 
 into the church to preach. Their custom at that time 
 was to read the Scripture in course. While they were 
 not confined to this Scripture always for a text, it 
 was commonly so used. They also preached in turn, 
 and it fell to father's lot to preach on that Sunday. 
 The 18th chapter of St. John was read, and he took 
 his text from the 36th verse : " My kingdom is not of 
 this world : if my kingdom were of this world, then 
 would my servants fight." He told the soldiers that 
 if both sides would lay down their armor, and enlist 
 under the blood-stained banner of King Jesus, they 
 would have a better government than humanity could 
 ever make. 
 
 The next week one of our ministers came to see 
 father, and to tell him it would not be safe for him to 
 come to that appointment for a while, as some of the 
 soldiers had made some threats of violence concerning 
 his person. Father told him that he would not do 
 anything rash, but when his time came to fill that ap- 
 pointment with the help of God he would try to do it. 
 When the time came he went. The officers gave him 
 his pass as usual. He went into the church, and found 
 it nearly full of soldiers. After taking his place, he 
 told them what he had heard, and then said that he
 
 AN ANECDOTE. 135 
 
 would not go into their camp, nor persuade any of 
 their men to be unfaithful, but when they came into 
 God's house, and bared their heads according to his 
 command, it was his duty as a servant of the Lord 
 to preach his Gospel to them. He told them of the 
 duties of the Christian, and he never enjoyed a more 
 attentive audience anywhere. They always rendered 
 him due respect when he went through their camp. 
 He felt the more encouraged never to turn from duty. 
 His faith was strong, believing that when God poured 
 out his wrath upon the disobedient, he would pass 
 over his people. ALICE ROOP. 
 
 AN ANECDOTE. INDIANA IN 1862. 
 
 IN the latter part of the summer of 1862 the time 
 which tried men's faith a certain very noisy indi- 
 vidual from a neighboring county came to Indiana 
 and stood in a public place and read from a paper 
 which he held in his hand, what, he said, was the 
 " oath " nonresistants were required to take in order 
 to secure exemption from the then pending " draft." 
 After reading the same, he named certain brethren 
 in his country who, he said, had taken said " oath," 
 at the same time calling them rebels, cowards, etc., 
 with other opprobrious epithets. At last a bystander, 
 inspired with sentiments similar to his own, asked, 
 "On what principles do they claim such rights?" 
 " Because they pretend to believe we should obey the 
 injunction not to render evil for evil, and if smitten 
 on one cheek to turn the other also." " Well," said 
 the inquirer, if I meet Mr. - I will hit him a big 
 slap on the cheek, and see whether he will stick to
 
 136 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 the principle." A modest brother here interposed with, 
 " What if he should turn the other? " Our chivalrous 
 individual here thought best not to answer suppose 
 he feared if he said '' strike again," his character as 
 a man would suffer discount, and if the contrary, it 
 would be admitting the advantage of nonresistance. 
 Prom Brethren's Almanac for 1872. 
 
 SHARPSBURG MEETINGHOUSE, 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 BY S. F. SANGER. 
 
 THIS meetinghouse is in the Manor congregation, 
 situated one mile north of town, and was built in 1853. 
 It stood within the lines of battle fought along the 
 banks of the Antietam Creek, Sept. 17, 1862, and was 
 partly demolished by the batteries of both armies, 
 as shown in the picture. 
 
 After the battle it was used as a hospital for both 
 the " blue " and the " gray," and is a silent witness of 
 human carnage and inhuman warfare. The building 
 was repaired in 1864, since which time it has been 
 used regularly as a house of worship by our Brethren. 
 The War Department proposed to purchase the house 
 and preserve it as a relic of this bloody event. The 
 offer, however, was declined by our Brethren, believ- 
 ing it would serve a better purpose by using it as a 
 place in which to worship the Prince of Peace and 
 teach the doctrine of love and good will. A tablet 
 has been placed on the outer wall, to the right of the 
 door, by the government, which gives a brief history 
 fif the meetinghouse and its connection with this bat- 
 tle. This tablet is read bv thousands of visitors who
 
 3 
 o 
 
 M 
 
 <U 
 S 
 
 bfl 
 
 a 
 
 ^3 
 
 oo
 
 138 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 come to see the battle-ground, and the " green mound " 
 where a loved one has been laid away. 
 
 Brother Samuel Moomaw r , who donated and deed- 
 ed to our Brethren, the church lot whereon the Sharps- 
 burg house was built in 1852 or '53, was born in 1801. 
 He was a relative of Elder B. F. Moomaw, of Bon- 
 sacks, Va., and the father of M. Alice Mumma, now 
 living in Sharpsburg. He was living within the lines 
 of battle at the time of this engagement. His dwelling 
 house, barn and nearly every building, with most of 
 their contents, were laid in ashes during the battle, 
 leaving scarcely a change of raiment for his family. 
 Prom Brethren's Almanac, 1898. 
 
 ELDER DAXIEL THOMAS. 
 
 ELDER DANIEL THOMAS lived near Spring Creek, 
 Rockingham Co., Ya., and his home was a place where 
 many refugees found shelter, comfort and advice. He 
 was a man of pleasant countenance, openhearted, trust- 
 worthy, and during the Civil War, " when men's 
 hearts failed them," where could they find a better 
 friend and counsellor than in this peaceful home? 
 
 Brother Thomas received only a common school 
 elucation and never pretended to be more than what 
 he was. He is an example of what may be attained 
 in letting himself be used by the grace of God and the 
 Holy Spirit, without the advantages of a liberal edu- 
 cation. He was not at all times correct in his pronun- 
 ciation, or his language ; but there was so much ease, 
 freedom and beauty in his sentences, and in his illus- 
 trations, that the critic himself w?s spellbound, if not 
 pleased. He was endowed with great natural abilities
 
 140 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 as a public speaker. His countenance was open, win- 
 ning and pleasant, his voice silvery, clear, musical, and 
 well modulated, with a compass that reached the far- 
 thest limit of an audience. He took hold of his sub- 
 ject without hesitation, and in his own practical way 
 dispensed the bread of life in rich profusion to all 
 around him. He had the marvelous gift of unravel- 
 ling the intricacies of his text without any apparent 
 effort, like sunbeams bursting through the cloud and 
 driving the mists away. His illustrations were at his 
 fingers' end, touching briefly yet forcibly each point, 
 and dealing mainly with the practical side of life. 
 
 He was an active minister in the years before the 
 Civil War, going on preaching tours to the western 
 part of the State. During the war he was in his prime, 
 and as an earnest advocate of the Gospel of Peace he 
 was one of the leading ministers of the Brethren in 
 perhaps the most densely populated church in the Val- 
 ley. In the autumn of 1865, he was with Brother 
 Solomon Garber near Maysville, W. Va., where many 
 heard him for the first time, and it was for many of 
 them the last time. He lived but a few years after 
 the return of peace ; but the simplicity of his life, and 
 the influence of his public ministry still linger with 
 those who knew him and heard him. D. H. 
 
 ELDER JOHN A. CLINE. 
 
 JOHN A. CLINE was born near Sangersville, Augusta 
 Co., Va., August 9, 1833. He died near Stuarts Draft, 
 same county, Sept. 15, 1893. He united with the 
 church in October. 1855, and was elected deacon in 
 1861, and to the ministry in 1864. He was then living
 
 Home of Eld. John A. Cline, near Stuarts Draft, Va.
 
 142 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 in the Middle River congregation. He for a while 
 lived in the Linville Creek church, from which place he 
 moved to the Mount Yernon congregation, where he 
 was ordained in 1877. He was a prisoner in time of 
 the Civil War four weeks. He was taken from his 
 horse and marched through the mud to Woodstock, 
 then to Mt. Jackson and to Harrisonburg. 
 
 He selected his home at Stuarts Draft, Augusta 
 country, with a view of enlarging his field of usefulness. 
 In this he was not mistaken. To the south in Rock- 
 bridge count}' and to the east across the Blue Ridge, 
 his labors were blessed and highly appreciated. On a 
 visit with him to Rockbridge county, it was a pleasure 
 to accompany him from house to house during the day. 
 and to meet with the people each evening in the 
 churchhouse for public service. With what interest 
 he entered into his work ! He was a gifted singer and 
 delighted to get the members of a family around him 
 to assist in singing a few of his favorite songs. These 
 songs were peculiarly impressive and spiritual. Then 
 in the homes of the afflicted ones, with what pathos 
 he prayed with them, and for them ! He entered into 
 their trials and disappointments with the deepest sym- 
 pathy and touching appeal, and held up before the 
 throne of grace and mercy, the heartaches, the anxious 
 desires of the afflicted child of God, in a way that was 
 a solace to the mind and a balm to the soul. Adapted 
 from Mary C. Clitic, Stuarts Draft, Va., Feb. 8, 1906. 
 
 SARAH BOWMAN. 
 
 SISTER SARAH Bow MAX, nee Flory, was born two 
 miles east of Dayton, Rockingham Co., Va., July 10,
 
 SARAH BOWMAN. 143 
 
 1839, and was the sixth daughter and child of Michael 
 and Sarah Hedrick Flory. She is a sister of Elder 
 John Flory, deceased, of near Bridgewater, Va., and 
 of Elder Michael Flory, of Girard, Illinois. 
 
 August 14, 1858, she was united in marriage to 
 Joseph Bowman, of near Harrisonburg, a son of John 
 and Rebecca Wine Bowman, and to them were born 
 three sons and three daughters, all married and with 
 families of their own. 
 
 In the summer of 1887, she was left a widow, but 
 resides to-day where she began her early wedded life, 
 in the old Bowman homestead, situated on the Warm 
 Spring Turnpike, near Harrisonburg, Va. Devoted 
 to the church, and generous to the needy, her useful 
 life has been marked by deeds of kindness, and loving 
 service to those less fortunate than herself. It was her 
 privilege as well as good pleasure to be among the 
 number who ministered to the needs of that faithful 
 company of Brethren and others of like belief who 
 suffered bonds and imprisonment for Christ's sake 
 during the spring of 1862. Once each week, some- 
 times oftener, she would carry baskets of provisions 
 to the prisoners, she herself cooking their rice allow- 
 ance, and then adding substantial dishes from her own 
 store of good things. Sister Bowman recalls with 
 much pleasure many of the loving and appreciative 
 words of Elder John Kline. REBECCA BOWMAN. 
 
 Harrisonburg, Va., April 9, /pod. 
 
 CATHARINE SHOWALTER, OF DAYTON, VA. 
 
 CATHARINE SHOWALTER, daughter of Elder Jacob 
 Miller, and granddaughter of Elder Benjamin Bow-
 
 Getting the Provisions Ready. 
 
 Sister Sarah Bowman to the Left; Sister Catharine Sho- 
 walter to the Right; Sister Sallie Cline in the Center.
 
 Carrying Provisions to the Prisoners. 
 
 Sister Sarah Bowman to the Right; Sister Catharine Sho- 
 walter to the Left.
 
 146 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 man, was born on Linville Creek, Rockingham Co., 
 Va., May 11, 1839. She with her parents moved to 
 Greenmount in 1840. She was married to Jackson 
 Showalter in 1854, and in 1858 she with her husband 
 united with the church. 
 
 In answer to the question, " How did you feel when 
 your husband left home for the West in 1862?" she 
 replied, " O we were perfectly resigned. We knew 
 that if they staid at home they would be forced to 
 leave home in some way, and we thought if they could 
 reach a place of safety, we at home could get along 
 with what we had. But it was not long after they left 
 home that we heard of their capture ; then the trouble 
 came. We could not hear often or learn much about 
 them. After a few weeks, we learned that they had 
 reached Harrisonburg and were under guard in the 
 courthouse. I then went over to Uncle George Ho- 
 gan's, who at that time lived above Edom, and he went 
 with me to Harrisonburg. We went on horseback, 
 and I carried a basketful of provisions with me. Sis- 
 ter Xeiswander was there also to see her son Henry. 
 The guard, Joseph Miller, who took us into the court- 
 house, was a nice man. We remained in the court- 
 house about two hours. The prisoners were all glad 
 to see us and they seemed to be cheerful, and perfectly 
 resigned to whatever might come. I asked Jackson, 
 my husband, whether he wanted to see ' Sallie,' our 
 little girl at home. He was so overcome that he said 
 he did not wish to see her then. I saw Brother John 
 Kline there with the other prisoners, and he seemed to 
 be cheerful and happy. A few days after my husband 
 was released and had come home, Brother Kline also
 
 The "Old Courthouse " as it was in Time of the Civil War.
 
 The Courthouse as It Now is.
 
 PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 149 
 
 was set at liberty and he came on foot to my father's 
 house. He had left his saddle pockets and medicine 
 in Harrisonburg, and next morning Jackson went to 
 town for them on horseback. While he was there 
 the Union troops came through the streets, and some- 
 one told Jackson that the soldiers would take his horse. 
 He ran into the building, got the saddle pockets and 
 mounted his horse. One of the officers came up to 
 him and asked him what he was doing. He told him 
 he had come to town to get an old doctor's saddle 
 pockets, who had been in prison, and that he himself 
 had been held as a prisoner for some time in the same 
 place. The officer then permitted him to return home." 
 
 D. H. 
 
 PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. 
 
 IN North Africa, the closing part of the reign of 
 Septimus Severus (193-211), among the martyrs were 
 two women, Perpetua and Felicitas, who were exam 
 pies of female fortitude, and the power of the Chris- 
 tian faith. 
 
 Perpetua was an amiable lady of about twenty-six, 
 and while in prison her father, who loved her tenderly, 
 visited her, and pointing to liberty and the open door 
 of her prison, tried to persuade her to save her life by 
 renouncing Christianity, to all of which she replied, 
 " The will of God must be done." She firmly declared 
 that she was willing to forsake all for Christ.
 
 Perpetua and Her Father.
 
 MAGNANIMITY OF GREAT MEN. 151 
 
 THE MAGNANIMITY OF GREAT MEN. 
 
 " We are much safer in the hands of great men than in 
 the power of the lower class" B. F. Moomaw. 
 
 THE fame of great men is no greater than the re- 
 ality. As the shadow may be greater than the body 
 itself, so the fame of a man may be greater than the 
 man really is. But this is not the case with the truly 
 noble men who rose above selfishness, above sectional 
 feeling, and partisan bigotry in answer to every appeal 
 for justice and protection. 
 
 Such a man was Mr. Allen Spangler, who came to 
 the rescue of Brother Hutchison, an innocent and in- 
 offensive man, and at the critical moment seized the 
 officer and compelled him to order the guns down 
 that were aimed at Brother Hutchison by the soldiers 
 who had orders to shoot him down in five minutes. 
 Such a man was Judge Baxter, of Richmond, Va., 
 who treated the Brethren and Mennonites so consider- 
 ately, expressing his regrets that they were detained 
 from their homes by the pressure of business, and other 
 unavoidable circumstances. Such a man was Alexan- 
 der H. Stephens who, when Brother Wrightsman 
 presented his petition, gave the matter the most court- 
 eous and considerate attention. Such a man was Pres- 
 ident Davis who, when written to by Brother Moomaw 
 concerning the unwarrantable impressment of a num- 
 ber of young Brethren into the army, replied to Broth- 
 er Moomaw at once, stating that he had given his letter 
 to the Secretary of War for attention, and the major 
 who had caused the trouble was called to Richmond 
 to give account of his procedure.
 
 152 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 These men at the time little realized what a blessing 
 they were instrumental, under God, in conferring upon 
 the world, in the rescue of these helpless ones from 
 prison and from death, some of whom became faithful 
 ministers of the Gospel, a blessing to thousands in 
 many fields, and what reward these men in authority 
 will receive, God alone knows. 
 
 It is gratifying to know that men and women still 
 live who are wi-lling to lose themselves in the service 
 of others, and the many appeals that come to us for 
 help and to rescue the perishing, afford opportunities 
 for high attainment and the development of the noblest 
 qualities of human nature. And you, my young 
 friends, whose path of life lies before you as a delight- 
 ful spring morning, and who long to do some noble 
 deed that will enroll your name upon the temple of 
 fame, this know, that if it ever falls to your lot to per- 
 form such a deed it will be when self is lost in your 
 eagerness to help others. D. 11.
 
 THE EXEMPTION ACT OF CONFEDERATE 
 CONGRESS. 
 
 Dear Sir: The Exemption Act of Confederate 
 Congress approved 21st of April, 1862, is recorded in 
 Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 
 Series 4, Vol. 2, pages 160-162. 
 
 CHIEF OF RECORD AND PENSION OFFICE, 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 D. HAYS, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 BROADWAY, VA. 
 
 153
 
 The following is a copy of that part of the Exemp- 
 tion Act which relates to ministers and nonresistants : 
 
 The Congress of the Confederate States of America 
 
 do enact that every minister of religion 
 
 authorized to preach according to the rules of his sect, 
 and in the regular discharge of ministerial duties, and 
 all persons who have been and now are members of 
 the society of Friends, and the association of Dunkards 
 (Brethren), Xazarenes, and Mennonites, in regular 
 membership in their respective denominations ; pro- 
 vided members of the society of Friends, Nazarenes. 
 Mennonites and Dunkards shall furnish substitutes, of 
 pay a tax of ($500) Five Hundred Dollars each into 
 
 the public treasury are hereby exempted 
 
 from military service in the armies of the Confederate 
 States. 
 
 National Library, Washington, D. C. 
 
 154
 
 A HYMN. 155 
 
 A HYMN composed and sung by Brother John C. 
 Moomaw on the day of fasting and prayer in 1861. 
 My wife has it in his own handwriting, and we 
 thought it would be of interest and suitable material 
 for your book. S. CRUMPACKER. 
 
 Bonsacks, Va. 
 
 1. O Lord, we in thy presence are, 
 Fasting, we seek thee here in prayer. 
 Wilt thott then in our presence be, 
 And grant our souls to meet with thee? 
 
 2. Our happy land, the exiles' home, 
 The scene of strife has now become. 
 O Lord, if it thy pleasure be, 
 
 From war and bloodshed set us free. 
 
 3. Lord, thou hast been the widow's friend, 
 Then wilt thou e'en her sons defend? 
 Command the sword return again 
 
 Into its sheath and there remain. 
 
 4. The spacious worlds are all thine own. 
 Sure thou dost rule, and thou alone, 
 Then make the earth unto thee bow, 
 Nor say, "O Lord, what doest thou?" 
 
 5. In days of old thou didst command 
 The rolling wave a wall did stand; 
 Thy people, Lord, thou then didst save, 
 Their foes then found a watery grave. 
 
 6. Thy people in Assyria's day, 
 Besieged by Syrian forces lay; 
 
 They prayed, and thou didst hear their cry, 
 And sent an angel from on high. 
 
 7. The angel of the Lord came down, 
 And took away the tyrant's crown, 
 His army all at break of day 
 
 As leaves in autumn's forest lay.
 
 156 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 8. Then, Lord, we to thee now draw near, 
 In confidence that thou wilt hear, 
 When we, thy people, pray to thee, 
 
 O Lord, from tyrants set us free. 
 
 9. Roll back the mighty torrent wave, 
 That threatens to be freedom's grave, 
 And cause that ail the world shall own 
 That thou art God, and thou alone. 
 
 10. O may this happy land then be 
 From war and strife again set free, 
 That nations' strife and wars may cease, 
 In justice, right and endless peace. 
 
 11. O Lord, destroy the cruel sword, 
 And in its stead supply thy Word; 
 Give grace to soften every heart 
 And grant thy mercies to impart. 
 
 12. Our cause to thee we now resign, 
 Nor would we alter thy design. 
 
 In sweet submission all in one, 
 
 We say, " Our Father's will be done." 
 
 THE PRISONER'S SONG. 
 
 Elder Daniel Miller, of Weyer's Cave, Ya., sends 
 us a copy of a hymn composed by the prisoners in 
 Mt. Jackson. Brother John Kline put the chorns to 
 it while they were in the old courthouse in Harrison- 
 bur^. The hymn originally consisted of nine stanzas, 
 four of which, with some changes in accent and rhythm, 
 are given with the chorus in the following tune com- 
 posed by Brother A. D. Lair,* and arranged by Brother 
 J. M. Showalter. The tune is from the " National 
 Singer," by permission of A. J. Showalter, Dalton, Ga. 
 
 D. II. 
 
 *Hro. Lair wrote the music in 1885 while sitting under a 
 large chestnut tree at the home of Bro. John A. Showalter, 
 near Cherry Grove, Rockingham Co., Va. Bro. Lair now lives 
 at Mexico, Ind.
 
 The Prisoners' Song. 
 
 Arr. by D. H. 
 
 A. D. LAIR. 
 
 
 1. We are in pris - on close con - fined, But this not 
 
 2. We know it is God's ho - ly will. Our fel - low 
 
 3. But there is One who reigns on high, He al - ways 
 
 4. Then let us all the Lord o - bey, And from the 
 
 one of us should mind, For Christ has told us in His word, 
 men we shall not kill; That we should lead a Chris tian life, 
 will to us be nigh, He will from pris - on us re - deem, 
 truth we'll nev - er stray; So that we all may stand the test, 
 
 That we should al-ways trust the Lord. 
 
 And not en- gage in war and strife. WUall home 
 
 If we will put our trust m Him. 
 
 And when we die, go home to rest. 
 
 treed, A ho - ly life with God to lead. Yes, we'll go 
 
 Ix J - 
 
 i--%!_._ f~ m . * *_--' 
 
 ~:SE=E=Ep 
 "-- ^ v v v V 
 
 ^ 
 
 Music from "National Singer," by per. A. J. Showalter, Dalton, Ga. 
 *Stanzas composed by eighteen prisoners in Mt. .Jackson, Va., in 1862 
 chorus was written by John Kline, in Harrisonburg, Va. 
 
 X 
 The
 
 The Prisoners' Song. 
 
 I <. 1 p u- s 
 
 -I-: -n * vl ~n -r- 
 r 3 ! 1 1 ~ 3 i - 
 
 home, and that to spend Our days in peace till life shall end.
 
 Pilgrim Strangers. 
 
 D. H. 
 
 G. B. HOLBINGER. 
 
 
 
 1. We are a band of pil - grim stran - gers, A - lone in 
 
 2. We know that Je - sus taught us ev - er A ho - ly 
 
 3. It was not fear of man to seize us That turned us 
 
 4. But there is One who loves us ev - er, He al - ways 
 
 5. Then let us all the test en - dure, And al - ways 
 
 pris - on here we stay; Our homes were full of press-ing dan - gers, 
 life with God to live, That we should strive nor fight, no, nev- er, 
 from our on-ward way; We saw the guid-ing hand of Je - sus, 
 will to us be nigh; No foe, nor fear on earth can sev - er 
 trust our Fa-ther's love, Then when our pil-grim days are o - ver, 
 
 m 
 
 -&. 
 
 REFRAIN. 
 
 We'll stand for Je - sus 
 
 And we for safe - ty went a - way. 
 But un - to each a kindness give. 
 His lov - ing will we all o - bey. 
 Our souls from love to God most high. 
 We'll ev - er reign with Him a - bove. 
 
 1 
 
 j&=k-K-k-4- 
 
 w ^ 
 
 *Music by Geo. B. Holsinger, Bridgewater, Va., Feb. 86, 1900, expressly for 
 this work.
 
 Pilgrim Strangers. 
 
 o'er and o'er, He saves us now and bids us come; We'll stand for 
 
 _ p^_^^ ^ 
 
 :fctz=^=t==tz 
 
 4 | 
 
 dt&=s=JM^=d= 
 KBc=E5Efe=5 
 
 r 
 
 ^^^^=H 
 
 Je - sus ev - er - more, He will for safe- ty bring us home. 
 
 :===]
 
 D. H. 
 
 The Coming Day. 
 
 D. H. Arr. by G. B. H. 
 
 
 1. the bright - est day is the com - ing day, We will 
 
 2. ye wear - y ones, when that bright day comes, We will 
 
 3. Hear the an - gels' song, and the strain pro - long, We will 
 
 ^=*=- 
 
 all go home in the morn - ing, Christ, the Morning Star, spreads His 
 all go home in the morn -ing, On the mountain's height, see that 
 all go home in the morn- ing, "Peace on earth, good-will" all the 
 
 beams a - far, We will all go home in the morn - ing. 
 glo - rious light, We will all go home in the morn - ing. 
 world shall fill, We will all go home in the morn - ing. 
 
 fc=3 
 
 - 
 
 ^1=^^^E 
 
 Send the ti - dings free o - ver land and sea, We will 
 Lo, the Prince of Peace gives the world re - lease, We will 
 And the Vic - tor's crown, by the faith - ful worn, We will 
 
 *That was a glorious day for us when Benjamin Byerly came with the officers 
 and, opening the prison door, he exclaimed: "Now you can all go home!" From 
 Simeon Heatwole, Dayton, Va.
 
 The Coming Day. 
 
 go home in 
 go home in 
 go home in 
 
 the morn - ing, And your voi - ces raise in a 
 the morn - ing, When our work is done, and His 
 the morn - ing, Je - sus bids us come to our 
 
 song of praise, We will all go home in the morn - ing. 
 king - dom come, We will all go home in the morn - ing. 
 long sought home, We will all go ' home in the morn - ing.
 
 PART FOUR 
 
 NONRESISTANCE; OR, THE SPIRIT 
 OF CHRISTIANITY RESTORED 
 
 BY W. C. THURMAN. 
 
 "Lord, shall we smite with the sword?" 
 
 "All they that take the sword, shall perish with the 
 sword."
 
 NONRESISTANCE 
 
 PUBLISHED IN 1862 
 
 [Abridged and corrected according to notes of Bro. Teeter 
 and Bro. Puterbaugh.] 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 IN the month of October, 1862, I called at the house 
 of Brother Samuel Cline, Augusta county, Virginia. 
 He gave me a history of the capture and imprisonment 
 of some of our Brethren and Mennonites that at- 
 tempted to escape military duty on account of their 
 peace principles. While they were in prison in Rich- 
 mond, Judge Baldwin, of Staunton, who was Speaker 
 of the House at that time, wrote to Brother Cline to 
 send him the best thing he had on nonresistance. 
 Brother Cline at once sent him W. C. Thurman's 
 pamphlet on our Peace Principles. A bill was passed 
 releasing each one upon the payment of $500, and 
 Judge Baldwin afterward wrote to Brother Cline that 
 Thurman's pamphlet did the work. 
 
 SAMUEL DRIVER. 
 
 Barren Ridge, Va, 
 
 164
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE following Treatise on Nonresistance was 
 written by the author a short time before he became 
 a member of our fraternity. His views on peace 
 principles being identical with ours was one of the 
 causes which led him to unite with us. The work 
 was written and published during the Civil War, 1862, 
 and was one means of bringing the peace prin- 
 ciples of the church before the authorities in Rich- 
 mond, Va., and for that reason it is considered proper 
 to give it in part a place in this volume. D. H. 
 
 165
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 WHEN gliding on with the smooth tide of popular 
 opinion, all seemed to lend a smile I knew not a foe. 
 But since the time has come which tries men's souls 
 as to whether they are really the servants of Christ 
 all turn against me. . . . But having had no idea of 
 preparing a work for the press, when first I took my 
 pen, I intended only to write out these for my own 
 benefit to guide my feet into the straight and narrow 
 way which leads unto life ; and to put it in a form 
 suitable to leave in the hands of my dear mother and 
 loved friends, that they might know my life was lost 
 for Christ's sake, should the want of a provision in our 
 law for those who think " We ought to obey God, 
 rather than man," cause me to have to share a place 
 with the Christian martyrs. 
 
 lee
 
 AN INQUIRY AS TO WHETHER THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN MAY USE THE 
 
 SWORD 
 
 THOUGH I have during the last ten years so often 
 declared the use of the sword to be incompatible with 
 the Gospel dispensation, and all retaliation for in- 
 juries received contrary to that meek and lowly spirit 
 of Christ, which, if a man have not, he is none of 
 his (Rom. 8:9), since those whom we regarded as 
 faithful servants of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 
 leaving the quiet fold of " The Prince of Peace," have 
 resorted to the use of the sword, and are as deeply 
 involved in this bloody war as those who have made 
 no pretension to the Christian religion ; it becomes 
 necessary to give the matter a second investigation 
 and see if it may not be possible tfiat we have been 
 in error; seeing the wise and learned are against us. 
 But if, on a more thorough investigation 'of the matter, 
 it is discovered that we are not mistaken as to the 
 teaching of our Lord and his apostles, we must cling 
 to the truth and follow their footsteps, though opposed 
 by all the world. 
 
 And since the larger body, even of the Christian 
 church, is at the present day governed and controlled 
 more by the force of custom than the Bible, we should 
 be but little biased by the opinion of others in our 
 investigation : and calling " no man father upon the 
 earth," Matt. 23:9, we shall endeavor to follow the 
 
 167
 
 168 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 teachings of Christ and his apostles only; for the 
 " holy scriptures are able to make its wise unto salva- 
 tion," 2 Tim. 3: 15, and not the wisdom of man, " for 
 the world by wisdom knew not God." 1 Cor. 1 : 21. 
 
 That the Christian religion should be neither propa- 
 gated nor defended by the use of the sword, is a 
 settled question, at least among all Protestant churches. 
 The only point of controversy is, as to whether those 
 who, "putting off the old man with his deeds, ".have 
 been "born of the Spirit" of " the Prince of Peace," 
 whose kingdom is not of this world, may leave the 
 peaceable reign of Christ, and conform so much to 
 the ways of this sin-polluted world as to take up 
 arms in defense of earthly possessions. 
 
 But, since all admit that we are not to use the 
 sword in the cause of Christ, nor even as a means of 
 self-defense where it is drawn against us because of 
 our religion ; why should it be a question of con- 
 troversy as to whether we may use the sword in 
 defense of earthly things? Is there in all the Bible 
 the least appearance of authority for supposing the 
 Christian to have a better right to use the sword in 
 defense of that which he is required to forsake, 
 Matt. 19:21, 27, 29; Luke 12:33; Acts 2:45, 4:34, 
 than to obtain that for which he has forsaken 
 all? Matt. 13: 46. And is it not strange that this doc- 
 trine, which is too absurd to be worthy of controversy, 
 has become so universal? 
 
 Our Lord has positively forbidden retaliation. " I 
 say unto you, that you resist not evil." Matt. 5 : 39. 
 But this being too humiliating for the carnal mind, 
 which " is not subject to the law of God," man in his
 
 RESIST NOT EVIL. 169 
 
 wisdom, since the Christian religion has become 
 popular, ingeniously shields himself from obedience 
 to this soul-humiliating law of Christ by saying that 
 this prohibition is to be. restricted to those evils only 
 which' are imposed on us because of our religion: in 
 proof of which they refer us to the words of Paul : 
 " But if any provide not for his own, especially for 
 those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and 
 is worse than an infidel." 1 Tim. 5 : 8. And thus 
 they " by good words and fair speeches deceive the 
 hearts of the simple." Rom. 16: 18. But is it not 
 strange that they have so completely deceived the 
 hearts of the simple as to make them believe that while 
 they have no right to defend by force of arms that 
 which is of more real worth than all the world, they 
 may yet defend that which is of so little worth that 
 our Lord regarded it as even unworthy of thought 
 (Matt. 6:25): yea, requires us to forsake. Luke 
 14 : 33. " For all these things do the nations of the 
 world seek after." Luke 12 : 30. The express lan- 
 guage of him who has become " the Author of eternal 
 salvation unto all them that obey him" (Heb. 5:9) 
 is this, " I say unto you, that ye resist not evil." Matt. 
 5 : 39. And I appeal to the honesty of every intelligent 
 man to say what there is, either in the language as 
 used by our Lord, or in the connection in which these 
 words are found, from which we may draw the least 
 inference that it is to be restricted to those injuries 
 only which are imposed because of our religion. If 
 this had been our Lord's meaning, would he not have 
 said so? And since he has not said so, who is wise 
 enough to know that this was his meaning? ....
 
 170 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 To justify the use of the sword, we are told that 
 the Jews were often involved in war. 
 
 But what was the object of the Jewish wars but 
 to establish and defend their religion? And yet you 
 admit the Christian must neither defend nor enforce 
 his religion by the use of the sword. And in this 
 admission you virtually acknowledge that the use of 
 the sword by the Jews gives the Christian no license 
 to use the sword. 
 
 The Jews were in possession of an earthly kingdom, 
 " a worldly sanctuary . . ... and carnal 
 ordinances, imposed on them until the time of refor- 
 mation." Heb. 9 : 10. Hence they used carnal 
 weapons of warfare in defense of their religion. 
 
 But " he who is born of the Spirit " is no more " of 
 the world" (John 17: 16); hence "the weapons of 
 our warfare are not carnal " (2 Cor. 10:4) ; for " if 
 any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things 
 are passed away, behold all things are become new." 
 2 Cor. 5:17. 
 
 " If," says the Prince of Peace, " my kingdom were 
 of this world, then would my servants fight, 
 but now is my kingdom not from hence." John 18 : 36. 
 So they fight not. Hence when the land of their 
 fathers, their native home and country, was invaded 
 by the Romans, they were forbidden to take up arms, 
 but, leaving all earthly treasures behind, were required 
 to " flee to the mountains." Luke 21 : 21. 
 
 This, by the world, would be considered ignoble, 
 unmanly and cowardly. He who would at the present 
 day carry out the spirit of this precept would be
 
 AVENGE NOT YOURSELVES. 171 
 
 despised as one unworthy to live ; " for the carnal 
 mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to 
 the laws of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. 
 Therefore he that would at a time like this have 
 worldly friends, is compelled, in disobedience to 
 Christ, to take up arms. " Whosoever therefore will 
 be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God." 
 James 4 : 4. 
 
 The Mosaic dispensation, being that of justice be- 
 tween man and man in case of injuries, the law en- 
 joined retaliation: "life for life, eye for eye, tooth 
 for tooth " (Exod. 21 : 23, 24) was required. But the 
 Christian dispensation being that of grace, all retalia- 
 tion is forbidden. Hence the Prince of Peace, in giv- 
 ing his law, refers to the Mosaic thus, " It hath been 
 said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but 
 I say unto you, that you resist not evil," by returning 
 evil for evil. " But whosoever shall smite thee on thy 
 right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matt. 
 5:38, 39. 
 
 That the apostles taught this same doctrine, we 
 notice that Paul, more than thirty years after, enjoined 
 the same precept upon the church at Rome, saying: 
 " Recompense to no man evil for .evil." Rom. 12 : 17. 
 And again he enforces this law, saying : " Dearly 
 beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place 
 unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I 
 will repay saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy 
 hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for 
 in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 
 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with 
 good." Rom. 12: 19-21. Peter also enjoins the same
 
 172 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 law, " Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for rail- 
 ing: but contrariwise, blessing: knowing that ye are 
 thereunto called that ye should inherit a blessing." 
 1 Pet. 3 : 9. 
 
 We will now inquire as to the example of Christ, 
 in regard to this his own law of nonresistance. We 
 learn from Matt. 26 : 6, 7, that the Jews spit in his 
 face, and buffeted him ; and others " smote him with 
 the palms of their hands^": "who, when he was re- 
 viled, reviled not again : when he suffered, he 
 threatened not, but committed himself to him that 
 judgeth righteously," 1 Pet. 2:23. Instead of re- 
 taliation, or resisting those who were about to slay 
 him, he prayed, saying, " Father, forgive them ; for 
 they know not what they do," Luke 23 : 34, thus 
 " leaving us an example, that ye should follow his 
 steps." 1 Pet. 2: 21. " Now if any man have not the 
 Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Rom. 8:9. 
 
 The example of the apostles in obedience to this law 
 of the Prince of Peace, is as follows : " Being reviled, 
 we bless ; being persecuted, we suffer it ; being de- 
 famed, we entreat." 1 Cor. 4:12, 13. When "buf- 
 feted," they bore it. 1 Cor. 4:11. When beaten, 
 instead of retaliation, they rejoiced " that they were 
 counted worthy to suffer shame " for Jesus' sake. 
 Acts 5:41. When Paul and Silas received "many 
 stripes," instead of exhibiting a spirit of revenge, they 
 "prayed and sang praises unto God." Acts 16:25. 
 
 " Seeing that many glory after the flesh," says the 
 apostle Paul, " I will glory also." But in what did he 
 glory? In those things in which the world glories?
 
 CHRIST'S KINGDOM. 1/3 
 
 No! just the reverse. He gloried in that he had " five 
 
 times received forty stripes, save one." 2 Cor. 11 : 24. 
 
 ******* 
 
 But say those who, " by good words and fair 
 speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple," Rom. 
 16: 18, we worship that same unchangeable God that 
 the Jews worshiped, and if it was right for them to use 
 the sword, it is not wrong for us. Now we know that 
 it is true that God changes not; but we must also 
 notice the difference between the dispensation of 
 justice and that of grace. 
 
 The Jews, like other nations, were in possession of 
 an earthly kingdom, which was one of those powers 
 " ordained of God," as " the minister of God, a re- 
 venger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." 
 Rom. 13:4. But " what if God, willing to show his 
 wrath, and make his power known, endured with 
 much longsuffering the vessels of wrath, fitted to 
 destruction ? " Rom. 9 : 22. What has this to do with 
 the reign of the Prince of Peace, whose " kingdom is 
 not of this world " ? Now you admit that during the 
 old dispensation the "new and living way" (Heb. 
 10:20) "into the holiest of all was not as yet made 
 manifest." How absurd, then, to offer the example 
 of the Jews to prove that one who is dead to the 
 " rudiments of the world " may conform so much to 
 the ways of the world, as to use the sword. 
 
 Was it not declared, saying, "Behold, the days 
 come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant 
 with the house of Israel"? Jer. 31:31. And since 
 this new covenant is " not according to the covenant "
 
 174 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 as " made with their fathers " (Jer. 31 : 32), how can 
 we there learn the Christian duty? 
 
 But even under that dispensation, when the sword 
 was allowed for people, as " God's ministers, to 
 execute wrath upon him that doeth evil," the Lord 
 said unto David, " Thou shalt not build an house for 
 my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and 
 hast shed blood." 1 Chron. 22 : 8. And since the 
 house he was forbidden to build was but a type of the 
 spiritual house of God, ought the spiritual house, the 
 holy " temple of God," to be denied by hands stained 
 with blood? 1 Cor. 3:17. Or can a man of war 
 be a subject of the Prince of Peace? When Isaiah, 
 through the spirit of prophecy, saw this peaceable reign 
 of Christ, he said : " Every battle of the warrior is 
 with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood ; 
 but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. For 
 unto us a child is born ; unto us a Son is given ; and 
 the government shall be upon his shoulders ; and his 
 name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The 
 Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince 
 of Peace. Of the increase of his government and 
 peace there shall be no end" (Isa. 9:5-7); for 
 " he shall judge among the nations, and shall 
 rebuke many people ; and they ( who receive his 
 rebuke) shall beat their swords into plowshares, 
 and their spears into pruninghooks : [and this, 
 i. e., the Christian] nation shall not lift up sword 
 against nation, neither shall they learn war any more," 
 Isa. 2 : 4. Hence the Prince of Peace, in the beginning 
 of his reign, forbade the use of the sword in his king- 
 dom by commanding him who had the honor of
 
 THE SWORD. 175 
 
 opening to the world this reign of peace, to " put up 
 his sword into his place," at the very time which, of 
 all times, appeared to him to be the most important 
 to use it ; informing him that " all they that take the 
 sword, shall perish with the sword." Matt. 26: 52. 
 
 But, perhaps we are going on too fast ; let us pause 
 and think a moment. These words are either true or 
 untrue. Our Lord either meant what he said, or he 
 meant something else ; and if he did not mean what he 
 said, then what did he mean ? When he said, " Except 
 ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5), 
 we believe he meant just what he said. And are 
 those who use the sword to share the same fate with 
 those who do not repent ? As all must perish who are 
 not saved by Christ, so none can be saved by him 
 who refuses to obey him. Hear his express language : 
 " Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth 
 the will of my Father which is in heaven. 
 Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, 
 and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish 
 man, which built his house upon the sand, 
 and it fell, and great was the fall of it." Matt. 
 7:21-27. Now, one of the "sayings" to which our 
 Lord had reference, was this : " / say unto you, that yc 
 resist not evil." Matt. 5 : 39. Now I ask, Can we use 
 the sword without disobedience to our Lord? So the 
 use of the sword must be one of those carnal ordi- 
 nances with " which all that use are to perish with 
 the using." Col. 2 : 22. " For all they that take the 
 sword shall perish with the sword." Matt. 26 : 52.
 
 176 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 " He that killeth with the sword must be killed with 
 the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the 
 saints." Rev. 13 : 10. " For with the same measure 
 that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." 
 Luke 6 : 38. 
 
 " Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not 
 spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not 
 treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to 
 spoil, thou shalt be spoiled ; and when thou shalt make 
 an end to deal treacherously they shall deal treacher- 
 ously with thee." Isa. 33:1 
 
 i i Are you who urge the use of the sword, on the 
 ground that the Jews did use it, willing to share the 
 fate of the Jews? By the sword their kingdom was 
 established, and by the sword their kingdom was 
 destroyed. By the sword they led others into cap- 
 tivity, and by the sword they were led into captivity. 
 They have never departed from the use of the sword, 
 and " the sword shall never depart from them." But 
 " we received a kingdom which cannot be moved." 
 Heb. 12 : 28. The kingdom of peace, being founded 
 on the principle of love, can never be destroyed, for 
 " love worketh no evil to his neighbor ; " hence there 
 are no ills to be returned by the revenging hand of 
 justice. 
 
 That the first Christians, as foretold by the prophets, 
 did cease from war, Paul says, " We do not war after 
 the flesh." 2 Cor. 10:3. That they use neither the 
 sword, nor any other carnal weapon of warfare, he 
 declares " the weapons of our warfare are not carnal." 
 2 Cor. 10:4 
 
 The lamb-like subjects of the Prince of Peace are
 
 THE WISDOM FROM ABOVE. 177 
 
 required to love even their enemies, which celestial 
 love consumes and destroys forever the spirit of war ; 
 for that meek and lowly spirit of love, which " beareth 
 all things" (1 Cor. 13:7), " worketh no ill to his 
 neighbor." Rom. 13 : 10. 
 
 When this Prince of Peace made his appearance on 
 earth, he was introduced to the people of God by " a 
 multitude of the heavenly host praising. God, and 
 saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
 peace, good will towards men." Luke 2 : 13, 14. 
 Therefore "the kingdom of God is righteousness and 
 peace" (Rom. 14: 17), the very reverse of war and 
 wickedness. 
 
 " God hath called us to peace " (1 Cor. 7: 15), not 
 to strife; for the Christian's God, into whose image 
 and likeness he must be transformed, is " the God of 
 love and peace" (2 Cor. 13: 11), and not "the god 
 of battle." In war there is " hatred, variance, emula- 
 tion, wrath, strife, envyings, murders." And " they 
 which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of 
 God." Gal. 5:21 
 
 " But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, 
 then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated; full 
 of mercy and good fruits ; and the fruit of righteous- 
 ness is sown in peace, of them that make peace." 
 James 3:17, 18. 
 
 The Christian is required to " follow peace with 
 all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see 
 the Lord." Heb. 12:14. And can those who take 
 just the opposite, that is, follow war and unrighteous- 
 ness, ever see the Lord? 
 
 In war there is a continual retaliation, or returning
 
 178 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 of evil for evil. But the Christian can " recompense 
 to no man evil for evil" (Rom. 12:17); hence he 
 cannot go to war. In war men avenge the evils im- 
 posed by other nations, which the Christian is for- 
 bidden to do. " Avenge not yourselves, but rather 
 give place unto wrath." 
 
 In war men overcome their enemies by pouring on 
 them more evil than they are enabled to return or 
 withstand. 
 
 But the little flock of Christ must take a path 
 leading just in the opposite direction. They must 
 "overcome evil with good." Rom. 12:21. 
 
 Do not those who meet on the battlefield hate each 
 other? " Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, 
 and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abid- 
 ing in him." 1 John 3: 15. 
 
 All power that exists, whether the government under 
 which we live, or other powers of earth, all are " or- 
 dained of God." " For there is no power but of God." 
 Rom. 13 : 1. " Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the 
 power [either that under which we live, or any other], 
 resisteth the ordinances of God, and they that resist 
 shall receive to themselves damnation." Rom. 13:2. 
 So the Christian is in all cases forbidden to use the 
 sword ; for whatever power he meets on the battlefield 
 is resisted by him, and " since there is no power but 
 of God," he that lesisteth any " power, resisteth the 
 ordinance of God." Rom. 13:2 
 
 But, says one, when the soldiers inquired of John as 
 to what they must do, he did not tell them to ground 
 their arms, but to " do violence to no man." To this 
 we answer: Had these words been delivered by one
 
 THE PRINCE OF PEACE. 179 
 
 of the apostles to the Christian church, after the open- 
 ing of the Gospel reign of peace, the question would 
 have been settled, and I. never would have raised my 
 pen to prove that the Christian has no right to use the 
 sword. 
 
 But we must remember that these words were 
 spoken before the Prince of Peace had issued his law 
 for the government of his church ; and they were ad- 
 dressed, not to the Christians, but to Roman soldiers, 
 who, if ever they became Christians at all, did not till 
 at least nine or ten years afterwards. Therefore we 
 ask, What has this to do with the question at issue? 
 We have never said it was wrong for the people of 
 the world to use the sword. 
 
 That the powers that be, the kingdom of the world, 
 may use the sword, Paul in allusion to such, says, they 
 bear " not the sword in vain." Rom. 13 : 4. 
 
 But it is asked, Are we not required to be " subject 
 unto the higher powers " ? To this we answer yes. 
 But we are nowhere required to be subjects of the 
 higher powers. The devils were subject unto the apos- 
 tles through Christ. Luke 10: 17. Were they also 
 subjects of the kingdom of Christ? If men, ceasing 
 to add to the Word of God, or ceasing to believe the 
 apostle meant something he has not said, would hold 
 fast to the form of sound words (2 Tim. 1: 13), a-.; 
 used by the apostle, they would not " wrest the script- 
 ures unto their own destruction" (2 Peter 3: 16), by 
 saying the apostle here gives license to the subjects of 
 the kingdom of Christ to take up arms when required 
 to do so by the government under which they live. The 
 apostle does not say: Let the Christian be a subject
 
 180 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 of the powers under which he lives. His express lan- 
 guage is: " Let every soul be subject unto the higher 
 powers" (Rom. 13: 1), which, being in the plural, 
 embraces all powers ; hence lays us under as much 
 obligation to be subject to all other powers as to the 
 one under which we live. And since we cannot be the 
 subjects of all higher powers, this proves that by being 
 " subject unto the higher powers " he did not mean 
 that we must be the subjects of those powers. 
 
 And if we are not the subjects of the powers of the 
 earth, then we are under no obligation to bear arms. 
 For example : The prisoners you take in war are 
 " subjects unto," but not subjects of, your government. 
 Hence you do not require them to bear arms. Or if 
 a stranger from another kingdom sojourns among you, 
 he is subject unto, but not a subject of, your kingdom ; 
 hence is under no obligation to take up arms in time of 
 war, until he takes the oath of allegiance. Many such 
 are now in this country ; some at the call of the gov- 
 ernment have entered the army as soldiers, others have 
 refused, but those who have refused have in this re- 
 sisted no law of the higher power, seeing they are not 
 the subjects of your government. 
 
 Now, if Christ be a King, he must have a kingdom. 
 And if no king or power on earth has the right to re- 
 quire the subjects of another kingdom to take up arms, 
 then no king or power on earth has the right to require 
 the subjects of the kingdom of Christ to do this. 
 
 And since you say, Christ our king " is Lord of all," 
 why treat him with contempt, insult his authority, or 
 deny the existence of any such kingdom, by requiring 
 one of his subjects to take up arms, and " resist evil,"
 
 ACTIVE OBEDIENCE. 181 
 
 which we cannot do, without rebellion to Christ our 
 King? 
 
 Here it may be asked, Since the higher powers, ac- 
 knowledging as it were the existence of no such king- 
 dom as that of the Prince of Peace, do require their 
 subjects also to take up arms, how shall we reconcile 
 Paul's liberty to the Christian, " Let every soul be sub- 
 ject unto the higher powers," with Christ's uncondi- 
 tional law, " Resist not evil " ? To which we answer, 
 If by the expression, " be subject unto the higher pow- 
 ers," the apostle meant an active obedience, then it 
 would be irreconcilable ; but that he meant only a pas- 
 sive subjection is clear from the text itself. For he, 
 speaking in the plural, lays us under as much obligation 
 to be subject unto all powers, as to the one under which 
 we live. And this, you know, would be morally im- 
 possible, had he meant an active subjection; for if in 
 obedience to one of the powers of earth, I take up 
 arms and resist another, then I am not subject to the 
 one I resist. And since we are positively and uncon- 
 ditionally forbidden to resist any of the higher powers, 
 we can only be subject to them all in a passive sense. 
 The subjects of the Prince of Peace, as pilgrims and 
 sojourners in a strange land, must be " subject unto 
 the higher powers " of earth ; but they must not be 
 subjects of those powers. 
 
 It is true, we are born subjects of the government 
 under which we live ; but as he who is dead has ceased 
 to be a subject, so he that is " dead with Christ from 
 the rudiments of the world, has lost his citizenship, and 
 is no longer a subject of the kingdoms of earth, though 
 passively he is subject to them all. By regeneration
 
 182 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 and the new birth, he has been translated from the 
 kingdom of this world unto the kingdom of Christ, the 
 Prince of Peace. And as those who were baptized 
 unto Moses had no more to do with the kingdom of 
 Egypt, but were under obligation to fight the battles 
 of the kingdom of Israel, so those who are " baptized 
 unto Christ," having left the kingdom of this world, 
 are under obligations to fight no battles, save those of 
 the Prince of Peace : the weapons of whose warfare 
 are not carnal. 2 Cor. 10:4 
 
 Reader, ponder well and bear in mind that since the 
 Prince of Peace has positively and unconditionally 
 forbidden his subjects to resist evil, all the authorities 
 and powers of earth cannot repeal that law. And yet, 
 until that law is repealed, the resisting of evil on the 
 part of the Christian is open rebellion to Christ, his 
 King, though by all the powers of earth combined he 
 may be required to do so. Hence when, by the author- 
 ity of the world, the Christian takes up arms, he tram- 
 ples the authority of Christ, his King, beneath his feet, 
 and makes the authority of man superior to that of 
 Christ, he becomes the servant of him whom he obeys. 
 Rom. 6: 16. 
 
 One law of Christ our King was this, " Go ye into 
 all the world, and preach the gospel." Now when 
 Nero, emperor of Rome with all the authority and 
 power of his kingdom, required the apostles to cease 
 to do this, they chose rather to obey God than man. 
 
 Another law of Christ, our God, as given in terms 
 yet more positive, by using the expression, " I say unto 
 you " is, " that ye resist not evil." Matt. 5 : 39. 
 
 And since " he that saith, I know him, and keepeth
 
 THE HIGHER POWER. 183 
 
 not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not 
 in him" (1 John 2:4), had we not as well renounce 
 the religion of Christ at once, as to refuse to obey him ? 
 We are to be " subject unto the higher powers " in all 
 things that do not conflict with the clear law of Christ. 
 But since " no man can serve two masters " ( Matt. 
 6 : 24) , when the higher powers require us to do that 
 which our Lord has forbidden, " we ought to obey God 
 rather than man." Acts 5 : 29. 
 
 But we are often asked questions like this : Was not 
 George Washington a good Christian? To this I an- 
 swer, " I know nothing by myself " ( 1 Cor. 4:4). If 
 you prefer the example of Washington and other good 
 men to that of Christ, I have only to say, " calling no 
 man father upon earth " (Matt. 23 : 9), I choose rather 
 to follow the example and obey the precepts of Christ 
 and his apostles only. 
 
 If, by the new birth, Washington had entered within 
 the pales of the new covenant dispensation, then he did 
 violate the laws of heaven in resisting the higher pow- 
 ers. But I know no law forbidding those to use the 
 sword who do not belong to the new covenant dispen- 
 sation of peace. For the " higher power " is as proper- 
 ly " the minister of God, a revenger, to execute wrath 
 upon him that doeth evil " as the peaceable lambs of 
 Jesus are the ministers of Christ to " teach all nations " 
 (Matt. 28: 19) "the way of peace." All we contend 
 for is, that the two kingdoms, the kingdom of the world 
 and that of Christ, be not blended together. Let the 
 Israel of God remain in the land of Canaan, under 
 David their king, and let the kingdoms of the world 
 fight their own battles
 
 184 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 But we are asked, If wrong for the Christian to use 
 the sword, why did Peter have one ? To this we reply, 
 Peter had none until required to procure one for this 
 particular occasion. And that for the express purpose 
 of exhibiting to all the world, both by precept and ex- 
 ample, that the sword can in no case be used by the 
 Christian. In proof of which, call to mind that while 
 it was so important at that time to have a sword, a man 
 was even required to " sell his garment, and buy one, 
 two swords [were] enough" (Luke 22: 36, 38), for 
 the object in view. 
 
 The object could not have been to use it against that 
 great multitude of soldiers, armed with " swords and 
 staves," for then two swords would not have been 
 enough. And forbidding his disciples to use them for 
 that purpose he said : " Thinkest thou that I cannot 
 now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give 
 me more than twelve legions of angels ? " And yet 
 if our Lord did nothing in vain, he must have had 
 some object in view. 
 
 So every reasonable man is compelled to admit that 
 our Lord's object was, by both precept and example, 
 to exhibit as clear as the sun in its noonday splendor, 
 the celestial law of nonresistance, which draws the 
 line between the people of God and the world, being 
 the law of God to which the carnal mind is not subject, 
 "neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. 
 
 But some of those whose carnal nature is unable to 
 yield to Christ, try to make the Bible yield to them ; 
 they say the text, " He that hath no sword, let him buy 
 one," shows that we have the privilege of using the
 
 THE SWORD. 185 
 
 sword. To which we answer, Since two swords are 
 not enough for all the Christian church, we have posi- 
 tive proof that this was not the object. For whatever 
 the object may have been, one thing is certain, " two 
 swords " were " enough " for the end in view. 
 
 But even if we had not been informed that two 
 swords were enough for the object in view, yet, since 
 the last words of Christ concerning the sword forbid 
 its use, no servant of Christ can ever use it again, until 
 a new revelation is received from heaven, seeing that 
 in the use of it, he, ceasing to be the servant of Christ, 
 becomes the servant of him " whom ye obey." Rom. 
 6: 16. 
 
 The next war, in which the apostles and the first 
 Christians were concerned, was that of the Romans in- 
 vading the land of Judea, spreading desolation and ruin 
 as they went ; destroying their property, burning their 
 houses, bathing the sword in the heart's blood of their 
 fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, and selling their 
 children to the heathen for slaves, or confining them in 
 dark dungeons and pits to toil in doleful wretchedness 
 under ground, thus causing " great distress in the 
 land," while enraged soldiers poured their " wrath 
 upon this people." 
 
 To the question, " Shall we smite with the sword ? " 
 what is the answer? (Just the reverse of what is giv- 
 en by those who " have taken away the key of knowl- 
 edge." Luke 11 : 52.) "I say unto you, that ye resist 
 not evil: but," leaving all behind, "flee to the moun- 
 tains" (Luke 21:21), "for all they that take the 
 sivord shall perish with the sword." Matt. 26 : 52. 
 
 This was written about the time of the beginning of
 
 186 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 the war; and since the apostles here had direct refer- 
 ence to this very " power," or army which laid their 
 land waste, we may well supply the above words, 
 the invading army. 
 
 And now we wish to make an appeal to the honesty 
 of every intelligent man. As this was the last war, 
 during the apostolic age, if, since that time, you have 
 received no new revelation from heaven, where is your 
 authority for believing the Christian may use the sword, 
 or take up arms in time of war? You say " self-pro- 
 tection, the first law of nature," demands it. But if 
 " the world by wisdom knew not God " (1 Cor. 1 : 21), 
 can you be the servant of Christ, who by the wisdom 
 of the world reverses the laws of God ? 
 
 Is there a minister of the Gospel under the canopy 
 of heaven who does not admit that the precepts and 
 example of Christ and his apostles are to the Christian 
 a living lanjf Then why deny what you preach? If 
 honest, you are compelled to admit that Christ and his 
 apostles did both by example and precept, teach the 
 doctrine of nonresistance ; insomuch that when every- 
 thing dear to them on earth was being destroyed, their 
 near relatives, friends and neighbors were falling " by 
 the edge of the sword and led away captive into all 
 nations " (Luke 21 : 24), so far from being permitted 
 to take up arms to resist the desolating foe, they were 
 commanded to " flee into the mountains," and that 
 under a law too strict to allow a man even to " return 
 back and take his clothes " or " anything out of hib 
 house." Matt. 24: 16-18. 
 
 And if they " took joyfully the spoiling of their 
 goods," why may we not suffer loss for Christ's sake?
 
 THE BETTER WAY. 187 
 
 " Knowing in yourselves that ye have, in heaven, a 
 better and an enduring substance." Heb. 10: 34. 
 
 This being so contrary to the way of the world, our 
 Lord has well said : " I will lead them in paths they 
 have not known." Isa. 42: 16. No lion (or warlike 
 person) shall be there, nor any ravenous beast (such 
 as slay their fellow-man) shall go up thereon; it shall 
 not be found there " (Isa. 35 : 9), for " all his paths are 
 peace." 
 
 The Gospel of Christ is " the Gospel of Peace " 
 Eph. 6:15. " As it is written, How beautiful are the 
 feet of them that publish the gospel of peace." Rom. 
 10: 15. 
 
 In conclusion, we admit that this doctrine of non- 
 resistance is humiliating to the flesh ; but ponder well, 
 and then answer the following question: From the 
 example and precepts of Christ and his apostles, what 
 appears to have been the object of the Gospel? Was 
 it to moralize, raise and exalt the people to a more 
 elevated sphere, that they might be the happier during 
 the present life? Or was it to prepare a people for 
 heaven at the sacrifice of every earthly thing?
 
 PART FIVE 
 
 A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH 
 
 The Temple of Peace and the Triumph of Peace 
 
 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall 
 be no end. -Isa 9: 6.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THERE is nothing more gratifying and significant 
 in the signs of the times than the increase of peace 
 principles among enlightened men and nations, and 
 the ever- widening conviction that war is the most 
 selfish, brutal, wasteful and ineffectual means of 
 settling differences among men. It is a travesty on 
 the Christian religion for a minister or priest to pray 
 to the " god of battles " for a blessing upon the instru- 
 ments of war, while professing to be a servant of 
 the Prince of Peace. 
 
 H. E. Warner in a little volume on the " Ethics of 
 Force " says, 
 
 " In spite of the attitude of Christian nations, nothing 
 can be found in the teachings of Christ giving authority 
 for war, or even a justification for the use of force in 
 self-defense. Christ taught the doctrine of nonresistance, 
 the passive endurance of wrong. With the ever-widening 
 sense of human brotherhood, the conviction has deepened 
 that the law of love is the permanent and universal rule 
 for the guidance of human conduct, and that war with 
 its dreadful destruction and enormous suffering can not 
 be reconciled with it." (From Literary Digest, July 1, 
 1905.) 
 
 Read the beautiful truths in the sermon on " Love 
 your enemies," by a leading evangelist of the Middle 
 South pausing long enough to consider " the sub- 
 stitution of reason for force in the settlement of 
 differences between nations," leading up to the estab- 
 lishment of the Hague Court ; and the glorious triumph 
 of arbitration at Portsmouth, with President Roose- 
 velt as peacemaker, then let every lover of peace 
 thank God and take courage. D. H. 
 
 190
 
 A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH 
 
 LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.* 
 
 MATTHEW 5 : 44. My text is from Christ's won- 
 derful Sermon on the Mount. The listening multi- 
 tude heard their great Teacher speak as never man 
 spake. Sentence after sentence he states great funda- 
 mental truths. Here he gives a command that the 
 world had never heard before. They had heard it 
 had been said, " An eye for an eye and a tooth for 
 a tooth." They had heard it said, " Thou shalt love 
 thy neighbor and hate thy enemy ; " but never before 
 had they received the command to love their enemies. 
 
 Many of his hearers had read in the old Mosaic 
 doctrine, " If any mischief follow, then thou shalt 
 give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand 
 for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound 
 for wound, stripe for stripe." Christ does not con- 
 tradict the Mosaic law, but he gives to the world a 
 higher law. 
 
 A nation of people led from the worship of idols, 
 ignorant of God and higher laws, unable to understand 
 or appreciate the deeper diviner laws of the pure heart, 
 a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, could 
 be governed only by physical laws. Their life must 
 be preserved by rigid laws, demanding life for life, 
 tooth for tooth, hand for hand, but after years of 
 
 "Courtesy of Evangelist Geo. R. Stuart, of Cleveland, Tenn. 
 Book of " Sermons " by Geo. R. Stuart. Page 222. Price, 
 $1.00. Published by Pepper Publishing Co., 609-611 Lippin- 
 cott Bldg., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 191
 
 192 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 education and discipline, God had led them out on the 
 mount, where they were able to hear and receive the 
 truths of the Gospel. The light of the. world is now 
 come, and men seeing the light shall walk in the light 
 as he is in the light ; no longer governed by mere 
 laws and commandments but governed from within 
 by the regeneration, calling into being motives, desires 
 and affections which govern the whole man. 
 
 The very nature of this new heart is to be that of 
 the great heart of God, " according as the divine 
 power hath given unto us the things that pertain unto 
 life and godliness through the knowledge of him who 
 hath called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are 
 given unto us great and exceeding precious promises, 
 that by these ye may be partakers of the divine nature, 
 having escaped the corruption that is in the world 
 through lust." 
 
 The very evidence of this passing out of a sinful 
 nature into a divine nature is love. " We know that 
 we have passed from death unto life because we love 
 the brethren." " Beloved, let us love one another, for 
 love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of 
 God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth 
 not God, for God is love." If I were to write my 
 whole religion in one word, I should write the word 
 " love." It was love that moved God to give his Son 
 to die for us. It was love that moved Christ to 
 surrender the glories of heaven and suffer the agony 
 of Calvary. We know we have passed from death 
 unto life because we love. " But whoso hath this 
 world's good and seeth his brother have need, and 
 shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how
 
 THE TEST OF LOVE. 193 
 
 dwelleth the love of God in him?" The whole law, 
 then, is briefly stated in this : " Thou shalt love the 
 Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
 soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, 
 and thy neighbor as thyself." Thus we see that love 
 originated the plan of salvation. Love wrought it out 
 on Calvary. Love is the evidence of it, and love is 
 the practice of it. If a man loves God with all his 
 heart, and with all his soul and with all his strength, 
 and with all his mind, then every other Christian duty 
 will be easy and natural. He will then love humanity. 
 " If a man say he loves God, and hateth his brother, 
 he is a liar." " If he love not his brother whom he 
 hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not 
 seen ? " " And this commandment have we from him, 
 that he who loveth God love his brother also." . . 
 This command to love has several statements in 
 the Bible. " Love one another." " Love thy neigh- 
 bor as thyself." " Love your enemies." I have chosen 
 a command apparently most difficult to obey. " Love 
 your enemies." If you have ever done much in the 
 world you have made enemies. " Marvel not if the 
 world hate you." Christ's enemies crucified him. The 
 enemies of the apostles and early disciples imprisoned, 
 stoned, crucified and burned them. Who is my enemy? 
 He may be the one who hates me or he may be the 
 one who would, under cover of night, set fire to my 
 house, who would slip up behind me and pierce me 
 with a dagger, who would " take from me that which 
 naught enriches him, but makes me poor indeed." He 
 may be that man who would do any and all manner 
 of evil against me, and I am commanded to love him.
 
 194 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 No commandment in all the Scripture has given me 
 more trouble than this. I do not bother over the 
 mysteries of the Bible. The plain commandments are 
 the portions of Scripture that give me trouble. For 
 years I tried to love my enemy with an impossible love. 
 Love is a big word, and has many elements. Love is 
 a compound emotion, and cannot be driven. Love is 
 involuntary. It comes out from the heart like the 
 light from the sun, like water from the fountain, like 
 fragrance from a flower. The nature of the heart 
 gives it birth, and sends it forth. 
 
 How, then, shall I love my enemy? There are 
 some elements of love which in the nature of the case 
 may not be exercised toward an enemy. Take the 
 element of esteem. I met you a few days ago. You 
 were not prepossessing. I saw you, as we walked 
 down the street, stop and administer to the wants of 
 a beggar ; a little farther on I saw you kindly assist 
 an aged man over the rough street crossing; a little 
 farther along I saw the sweetest sympathy manifested 
 for a suffering man ; at your home I saw the little ones 
 clamber about your neck, and heard your kind words to 
 wife and children. Finally I said, " I love that man." 
 Why? Because great and noble traits of character 
 manifesting themselves at every turn of your way 
 demanded my love. Again I meet this other man. 
 His manner is pleasing and prepossessing, and I am 
 prepared to love him. But I see him turn his back 
 upon a poor, deserving creature seeking alms. I see 
 him jostle rudely out of his way an aged man. I see 
 him turn his back upon half a dozen demands for 
 sympathy and help. I overheard him stabbing the
 
 LOVE'S ATTRIBUTES. 195 
 
 hearts of his wife and little ones with his cruel words. 
 As I walked off from his doorstep, I said, " I do not 
 like that man. He is low, and vicious. I cannot 
 esteem him highly ; I do not believe God wants me to." 
 
 Again, there is a complacent element in love. I look 
 upon a beautiful landscape, a lovely rose, a beautiful 
 face, and I say I love flowers, I love beautiful land- . 
 scapes, I love beautiful faces. Why? Because they 
 please me. Some things are in their very nature 
 pleasing; others in their very nature are displeasing. 
 I look upon a city sewer, a stagnant pond, and turn 
 away in disgust. They are in their very nature dis- 
 pleasing. I cannot help loving beautiful flowers. I 
 could not persuade myself to love a stagnant pond. 
 I meet a man ; love, gentleness, meekness and all the 
 Christian virtues glow in all their beauty in his 
 character. I see another man, false, vicious, unclean. 
 I cannot help being pleased with the one. I cannot 
 help being displeased with the other, and I express it 
 by saying, I love that character; I do not love the 
 other. 
 
 There is another element of love, which we de- 
 nominate gratitude. I will illustrate it. There is a 
 three-story house on fire. All the family have escaped, 
 they think. But upon examination they find that little 
 Bessie has been left behind. Her chubby little hands 
 and arms are stretched from the upper window, and 
 she screams for help. Every stairway is cut off by 
 the flames which are rapidly enveloping the whole 
 building. The father, looking upon the scene, cries, 
 " All that I have will I give for the rescue of that
 
 196 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 child ! " The mother joins by shouting, " All ! all ! 
 all for the rescue of my darling." 
 
 Ladders are thrown against the building, but the 
 brave men stand back. There is a little sailor boy 
 in the crowd, who is accustomed to mounting masts 
 and scaling ladders. Fearlessly he leaps upon the 
 ladder resting against the building, and up he goes 
 until the flames from out the window fairly blister 
 his body. Half way up the ladder he hesitates, he 
 pauses. " Three cheers for the sailor boy," goes up 
 from the crowd, and he goes to the window, throws 
 his arms around Bessie and rapidly descends the ladder, 
 and falls fainting at the feet of the excited father and 
 mother of the little girl. They alternate in their kisses 
 upon the ruddy cheeks of little Bessie and the tanned 
 cheeks of the sailor boy. They adopt him into their 
 family as their own son, and through all the coming 
 years they know not whether they love most the 
 rescued or the rescuer. What is this? It is gratitude. 
 The warrior stops at the home gate, pats the withers 
 of his dappled gray, and says, " Ho, fellow, I love 
 you." He has spanned ravines, he has leaped fences, 
 created distances between him and the enemy, and 
 saved his life in half a dozen cases, and brought him 
 safe at last to his home gate. He loves the horse. 
 It is the love of gratitude. 
 
 Some years ago I was sitting in the large armchair 
 by our home fireside. I had just recovered from a 
 long spell of typhoid fever, through which my tireless 
 mother had sat almost constantly at my bedside. When 
 they would say, " Mother, go to sleep," she would 
 reply, " I cannot sleep." There are times when the
 
 MY MOTHER. 197 
 
 good mother does not get sleepy. When they would 
 say, " Mother, eat," she would say, " I am not hungry." 
 There are times when the good mother does not get 
 hungry. But the crisis had come and passed, and, 
 convalescent, I was sitting by the fire, while she sat 
 carefully guarding, lest in my weakness I should 
 faint and fall from my chair. As I turned and looked 
 into her anxious face, so careworn, I saw upon her 
 temples the first gray hairs I had ever noticed in her 
 head. I said, " Mother, I did not know you were 
 turning gray." She said, " I am not." I said, " There 
 are gray hairs on your temple." Womanlike, she 
 went to the mirror and looked into it. And then with 
 a deep shadow upon her face, she said, " I had never 
 noticed them before." Was it the long, anxious days 
 and nights that she watched by my bedside that turned 
 those hairs to silver? I think so. Anyway, when I 
 return from my various trips, and look into her dear 
 old face, and see those hairs glistening upon those 
 temples, I love my mother just as I love nobody else 
 on God's green earth, and I am sure that God doesn't 
 want me to love anybody as I love her. There are 
 some kinds of love that cannot be exercised for every 
 one. I am glad God doesn't say, " Love your neighbor 
 as you love your wife." I could not have done it. 
 I am so glad that God does not say, " Love your 
 neighbor as you love your mother." I could not have 
 done it. I am so glad that God doesn't say, " Love 
 your neighbor as you love your children." I could not 
 have done it. I am so glad that he doesn't say, " Love 
 your neighbor as you love your best friend." I could 
 not have done it. God never commands an impossible
 
 198 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 thing. God does not demand of me the love of esteem 
 for every creature. God does not demand of me the 
 love of complacency for every creature. God does 
 not demand of me that I love with the love of gratitude 
 every creature. The love of esteem is called forth by 
 estimable qualities ; the love of complacency is called 
 forth ,by pleasing objects. The love of gratitude is 
 called forth by kind deeds. These elements of love 
 are dependent upon things without me. But there is 
 a love, the best love this old world ever knew, the love 
 that God had when he gave his Son to die for me ; 
 the love that Christ had when he suffered on Calvary 
 for me. The love that God demands of me toward 
 every creature ; it is the benevolent love ; a wish-well 
 love ; the love that wishes everybody well, and wishes 
 nobody harm ; the love that when actively exercised 
 " does unto others as I would want them to do unto 
 me ; " the love which when properly exercised leads 
 me to do no harm to any one, but all the good I can 
 to everyone. This love does not depend upon external 
 objects, but goes gushing from a good heart as water 
 from a fountain ; goes out from a good heart as 
 fragrance from a rose ; goes out from a good heart as 
 light from the sun. It is the love that distinguishes 
 the Christian from the sinner, the man of God from 
 the man of the world. It is that love that when reviled 
 " does not revile again." It is that love that " returns 
 good for evil." It is that love that patiently wears the 
 crown of thorns, and wipes the rude spittle from the 
 face. It is that love that cries out from the storm of 
 stones, " Father, forgive them." It is the love that 
 bleeding and dying on Calvary, cries out, " Father,
 
 TRUE COURAGE. 199 
 
 forgive them; for they know not what they do." It 
 is the love which is the evidence of regeneration. . . 
 
 The fact that a man will shoot at the drop of a 
 hat, will fight anybody upon the slightest provocation, 
 is not a proof of courage. It is oftener the evidence 
 of a brutish man. He who is closest to the brute 
 values least a human life. He who is farthest from 
 the brute values most a life. He who sacrifices a 
 human life to a human passion values human passion 
 higher than he values human life. The fact that a 
 man is quick to fight is often proof that he is more 
 afraid of public opinion than he is of God. He values 
 a human life lower than he values a human passion. 
 There is a foolish sentiment, mainly nourished in the 
 South, that every insult is to be met with a human 
 life. If one man calls another a liar, he must pay 
 for the insult with his blood. No more foolish and 
 debasing practice ever existed among men. If he calls 
 me a liar, I am either a liar or I am not a liar. If 
 I am a liar, he simply states a fact which I ought to 
 admit. If I am not a liar, then he is a liar, and if 
 I should undertake to fight every liar in the country 
 I should have a government job on my hands. There 
 is no philosophy, or religion, or good breeding in 
 courting a personal difficulty with every ill-bred scamp 
 who calls you a liar. A noble, good Englishman of 
 my town, every inch a gentleman, was sitting in his 
 office one day, when a neighbor entered, having become 
 offended at some business transaction. In the course 
 of their conversation, he abruptly turned to the 
 Englishman and said, " Sir, you are a liar." The 
 Englishman calmly looked up into his face and said,
 
 200 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 " Sir, that is just your opinion expressed in your ill- 
 breeding. I do not wish to continue a conversation 
 with a man so ill-bred as to talk that way in a gen- 
 tleman's office." He turned to his desk and continued 
 his writing. 
 
 When a man wishes to fight me, one of three things 
 i? true : I have done him a wrong, he conceives that 
 I have done him a wrong, or he is ill-tempered. If 
 I have done him a wrong, it is my business kindly and 
 patiently to rectify the wrong. If he conceives that 
 I have done him the wrong, when I have not, it is 
 my business either alone or with the assistance of 
 others, to convince him of his error. If he is an ill- 
 tempered fellow, I should be charitable, to say the 
 least of it, too manly to get into a difficulty with such 
 a man ; I should avoid him as I would avoid a vicious 
 dog. 
 
 A Christian will accept an apology. A Christian 
 man will not carry malice. A bully who poses as a 
 brave man is often the biggest coward. He is not 
 afraid of death and is not afraid of personal violence. 
 In this he is like a Jersey brute or an ill-tempered cur. 
 But he is afraid of public opinion. He is afraid of 
 being called a coward. It takes more courage, often, 
 to brook public opinion than to face a cannon. It 
 takes more real courage to bear an insult than to resent 
 it. When brought to the last analysis, nothing is so 
 cowardly, so silly, so brutish, as fighting. 
 
 A fight occurred among my neighbors once, in which 
 the father was badly wounded. While the physicians 
 were sewing up the wounds, I stood in the moonlight
 
 REVENGE IS USELESS. 201 
 
 in the yard, with four of his sons. One of them said, 
 " If my father dies, the other man must die." I said, 
 " Hear me a few minutes. It is the mark of a good 
 hunter not to waste his ammunition. If a man is 
 loaded for deer, it would be very silly to shoot at a 
 wren. The game is not worth the powder. It would 
 be very foolish to shoot at a lizard, the game is not 
 worth the load. Let us see what you load with and 
 what your game will be worth when killed, before you 
 shoot. You must load your gun with a long lawsuit. 
 You must load your gun with the happiness of your 
 wife and children. You must load your gun with a 
 heavy expenditure of money. You must load your 
 gun with the blood of your fellow-man. You must 
 load your gun with a whole life of sorrow of his 
 innocent wife and sweet children, who are in no way 
 responsible. Put all these things into your gun and 
 fire into your man, and when he lies dead at your feet, 
 what is his dead body worth to you? If you say 
 that his streaming blood and the wail of his wife and 
 the screaming of his children will feed a passion in your 
 bosom, I say that is a bad passion. If you say, ' The 
 man deserves death,' there is a just God who will 
 attend to that. If you say, ' He deserves punishment/ 
 there are adequate civil laws to attend to that. ' But,' 
 you may say, ' Where shall I seek revenge ? ' God 
 hath said, ' Vengeance is mine.' It is utterly impossible 
 to find vengeance on earth. If you kill me, my oldest 
 brother will kill you; your oldest son will kill him; 
 the next relative on your side will kill on my side, 
 and the next on mine will kill on your side, and let 
 your bloody fight go on until the earth is baptized in
 
 202 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 blood and hell is peopled with suffering souls, and 
 yet vengeance is impossible." 
 
 Here is a picture. Two young men are in partner- 
 ship. They were married and had happy families. 
 For business considerations they dissolved partnership. 
 In the division of goods an altercation arose in which 
 one called the other a liar. To satisfy the insult he 
 jerked from his pocket a pistol, and sent a ball through 
 the head of his former friend and partner. With a 
 dull thud he fell to the floor and the murderer was in 
 the hands of the officers. A few hours later the mur- 
 derer was locked in a cold, iron prison with his wife 
 and children weeping and wailing on the outside. The 
 wife of the other man, with her two little children, 
 had just gone on a visit to her father. A telegram 
 was sent. " Your husband was shot and killed this 
 morning. Come home." On receiving the telegram, 
 a sad wail alarmed the neighbors, who gathered in 
 to look in upon the most pitiful creature, and to hear 
 the most pitiful wails. Ever and anon the suffering 
 woman would say, " Oh ! my happiness is ended ! My 
 happiness is ended ! " And her sweet little children 
 tugging at her dress, and crying piteously, " What 
 is the matter, mamma? What is the matter, mamma? " 
 received no answer but her sad wails. 
 
 She dressed in mourning and came on the evening 
 train to the scene of the tragedy, and was taken to 
 her home, which she had so recently left so full of 
 joy and sunshine. As her feet touched the step she 
 looked up at the little vine-covered cottage, and said, 
 " Oh, you once sweet little home, you will never be 
 home to me any more. You will never be home to
 
 WHAT IS A COWARD. 203 
 
 me any more." If you call that revenge, God knows 
 that I don't want it. I want no vengeance taken from 
 the hearts and lives of innocent women and helpless 
 children. Hear this, my brother, whenever you shoot 
 into a man, I care not where you hit the man, you 
 have hit some poor woman in the heart. Some 
 mother's heart, some wife's heart or some sister's 
 heart will carry the bullet to the grave. When you 
 stab a man, I care not in what part of his body your 
 blade makes its incision, you stab some poor woman 
 in the heart. There is no more cowardly and brutal 
 act on earth than that which oppresses helpless women 
 and children. And he who pulls his pistol from his 
 pocket, fires into his fellow-man, and consequently puts 
 a bullet into the mother's, or wife's, or sister's heart, 
 and crushes helpless women and children by his brutal 
 act, may be called a brave man by the rabble who 
 stand by and hear not the pitiful moans year after 
 year that come from the wounded hearts of wife and 
 mother and children, but I stand in my place to-day 
 and say that he who shoots down his fellow-man is 
 a cowardly brute. 
 
 Is it cowardly to suffer wrong for the innocent 
 and helpless? Is it cowardly to suffer an insult from 
 a brutal character? Is it cowardly to look with com- 
 passion upon a man who would sacrifice a human life 
 to a human passion? who thinks it is brave to fight? 
 who thinks it manly to satisfy his passion with blood ? 
 I thank God that the highest and truest and bravest 
 manhood is on a different plane. 
 
 Here is my idea of a brave man. A preacher stood 
 on the streets of my town one Sabbath afternoon and
 
 204 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 preached to a promiscuous crowd that gathered about 
 him. In the course of the sermon he said, " I would 
 rather steal than sell liquor." Said he, " When I give 
 a man liquor for his money I give him something 
 worth less than nothing. There is not a father in all the 
 land that would not prefer his son to be robbed rather 
 than his money exchanged for liquor. And if I should 
 steal a man's money, I would leave his person intact, 
 his character intact, and it would not incapacitate him 
 from taking care of himself and making more money. 
 If I should sell him liquor and get his money for some- 
 thing that is worth less than nothing, I hurt his 
 character, I hurt his wife, I hurt his little children, I 
 hurt his business, and I incapacitate him for making 
 more money." Said he, " I would rather steal. I 
 would rather steal." 
 
 The next day, walking down the street, a saloon- 
 keeper accosted him, with the vilest oaths he assailed 
 him. The preacher stood calmly and unmoved, and 
 looking him straight in the eye, said, " I will have no 
 personal altercation with you, sir. I fight a business 
 not a man." The saloon-keeper said, " If you pass by 
 my door again I will stamp you into the earth." The 
 preacher looked him square in the eye and said, " I 
 am going after my mail. This is my nearest way 
 home. I shall be back here in fifteen minutes." He 
 secured his mail and calmly and deliberately walked by 
 the door as he had done before. The cowardly saloon- 
 keeper stood in his door and looked upon a man who 
 had the courage to speak his honest sentiments and 
 to walk in the plain path of duty, fearing none but 
 God. He who kicks at every dog that barks at him
 
 LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. 205 
 
 will have a sprained knee, his breeches torn, or wear 
 dog-slobbers half the time. He who fights at the 
 barking dog is very little bigger than the dog that 
 barks. God has fixed a higher and better law, the 
 practical working of which will show the world that 
 he who made man made the law. 
 
 God's law is, " Recompense to no man evil for evil." 
 " Love your enemies." " Bless them that curse you.'' 
 " Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them 
 that despitefully use you and persecute you." And ye 
 are commanded to do this that ye may be like your 
 Father in heaven, " who maketh the sun to shine upon 
 the evil and the good, and sendeth the rain upon 
 the just and upon the unjust." 
 
 He who follows the laws of Christianity follows the 
 highest laws ; and he who lives a Christian life lives 
 the manliest life. And the God who commanded us to 
 return good for evil fixed a law in the human heart 
 by which this very act should heap coals of fire upon 
 the enemy. God's law is, that when an enemy begins 
 an aggressive course of wrong against us we should 
 turn to him a good heart, and it will become a sword 
 wounding him in every thrust that he makes. I con- 
 clude with two illustrations. 
 
 When I was at Emory and Henry College I heard 
 a young man, whom I loved for his manliness and his 
 gentleness, telling a joke at the expense of a young 
 fellow who prided himself on his courage. He de- 
 liberately walked up to him, and placing his fist close 
 to his face said, " You are a liar." I saw the blush 
 mantle the cheek of my friend. A tear came to his 
 eye as he got the reins of his spirit, and with superb
 
 206 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 self-control held himself a moment. " He who con- 
 trolleth his spirit is greater than he who taketh a 
 city." He looked the young man in the face, and said: 
 " If you were a gentleman, sir, you would not act 
 this way. Nothing short of a gentleman can insult 
 me. If God will forgive your wickedness I ought to 
 forgive your insolence, and I do." He turned and 
 walked away to his room. I followed soon after. We 
 were sitting together in his room talking of how 
 Christ bore the insults of the vicious, when there was 
 a rap at the door. My friend said, " Come in." When 
 it opened, that same young man was at the door. The 
 tears had swapped eyes. They had gotten over into 
 his eyes. He said to my friend, " I did you a wrong 
 to-day, and I have come to apologize." My friend, 
 with a smile on his face, extended his hand and said, 
 " It is not necessary to apologize. It is all right. It 
 is all right. Let it go." I saw that young man bury 
 his face in his hands and weep like a child. My friend 
 had whipped him as he could not have done with all 
 the hickory withes in the woods. There is something, 
 even in the foulest natures, that responds to a manly 
 
 act 
 
 A Christian never has a finer opportunity to reveal 
 Christ to the world than in a moment when he has 
 been grossly insulted. In our Tennessee country, 
 some years ago, two men were living on adjoining 
 farms. A little creek divided their farms. On one 
 side lived Mr. J., a Christian gentleman, and on the 
 other side lived Mr. H., an ill-tempered sinner. It so 
 happened that Mr. J.'s hogs got over the creek into 
 Mr. H.'s fields. Mr. H. saw them, became enraged,
 
 CONQUERING BY LOVE. 207 
 
 took his dogs and hands and went down to the field 
 and dogged the hogs until he had torn their ears and 
 fearfully abused them. 
 
 After he had thrown the last one over the fence into 
 the lane, he started back home cursing. 
 
 Mr. J. had stood on a little hill overlooking the creek 
 bottom, and had witnessed the whole scene. He turned 
 quietly and walked back home, saying to one of his 
 hands, " I am sorry my neighbor allows, himself to 
 get into such a mood. The poor hogs were not to 
 blame. I would not have treated his stock in that 
 way." But it is easier to talk than to act. 
 
 It was not long until the hogs of Mr. H. got over 
 into the fields of Mr. J. He saw them tearing to 
 pieces a beautiful meadow. Mr. H. saw them at the 
 same time. Mr. J. called his two grown sons, walked 
 by the crib, put a few handfuls of corn in his pocket, 
 and as they approached the hogs, he said to one of his 
 sons, " Open the fence that leads into the lane," and 
 unto the other son he said, " Get around the hogs and 
 drive them this way." At the same time taking a hand- 
 ful of the corn from his pocket, throwing it toward 
 the hogs, he began in a very kind tone, " Pig, pig, 
 piguay." Mr. H., having seen Mr. J. coming toward 
 the hogs and expecting his hogs to be treated as he 
 had treated Mr. J.'s, put his pistol into his pocket, 
 and walked down toward the two men, concealing him- 
 self behind a large dead tree, and was stirring the 
 muddy caldron of his wicked old soul, talking to 
 himself and saying what he would do if his hogs 
 were dogged. Mr. J. quietly led the hogs to the gap, 
 and while his sons put up the fence he threw down
 
 208 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 the remaining handfuls of corn to the hogs, remarking 
 to his sons " that his neighbor had some very fine 
 hogs." Just as they started home Mr. H. stepped out 
 from behind the tree and called, " Mr. J., stop there.'* 
 Mr. J. stopped. He walked up to him and said, " I 
 feel like lying down in this road and letting you put 
 your foot on my neck. I am not fit to be the neighbor 
 of such a man as you are. If you will shake hands 
 with such a man as I am, I want to promise you that 
 I will make you a better neighbor, and I could not 
 make you the neighbor I ought to make without the 
 religion you have. And I want you to pray that I 
 may be a Christian." Mr. J. said, " Why, neighbor, I 
 have nothing against you. The Lord bless you, sir, 
 I have been praying for you all these years, and shall 
 continue to do so." It was but a short time until Mr. 
 H. became a consistent member of the church, and a 
 kind and accommodating neighbor. 
 
 Brethren, let us teach this old world what Chris- 
 tianity is by giving to it some living examples. Here 
 is an example : 
 
 See that lion coming. Hear him roar. He fairly 
 shakes the hills. A little child has escaped from the 
 caravan, and a little lamb has wandered from the 
 fold. They are in the track of the great old lion. 
 See ! see ! he approaches the little lamb, with his great 
 paw strikes it to the earth and devours it. See how 
 he approaches the little child, strikes it to the earth 
 with his great paw, tears limb from limb and devours 
 it. Look at his fiery eyes. Hear his awful roar. See 
 his bloody teeth. What is that? That is a picture of 
 human life following the laws of human nature. See
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 209 
 
 that old lion. He comes again. He is the same old 
 lion in many respects, but we hear no horrible roar. 
 His eyes look as gentle as old Rover's, and he walks 
 as gentle as old Rover. See, in his shaggy mane are 
 the fingers of a little child. Look, a little lamb walks 
 by his side. See them come toward the gate. They 
 have walked under the shadow of a tree. The old lion 
 lies down lazily. See, the little child pillows its head 
 upon his shaggy mane. The lamb lies down at his 
 feet. What is that? This is a picture of human 
 nature redeemed by the blood of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Where did I get that picture? I got it from 
 this blessed old Bible. The old prophet looked down 
 through the ages and saw the coming Christ, and he 
 said in substance : " The lion and the lamb shall lie 
 down together, and a little child shall lead them." Oh, 
 beautiful, childlike Christianity, put thy gentle hand 
 upon the shaggy mane of our human nature, and lead 
 us into the green meadows and beside the still waters. 
 Oh, thou blessed Lamb, come thou and walk with 
 us, and grant that we, redeemed from the domination 
 of wicked tempers and passions, may walk the earth 
 in peace and gentleness. 
 
 THE TEMPLE OF PEACE 
 
 " My message to you is ' Peace on earth, good-will 
 to men.' Good-will is the basis of peace at home or 
 between nations. 
 
 " Since my visit to the Netherlands my thoughts 
 have been dwelling much upon the important part that
 
 210 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 that little nation is destined to take in the movement 
 that has for its object the substitution of reason for 
 force in the settlement of differences between nations. 
 I have been recalling the stubborn fight made by the 
 sturdy Dutch for liberty of conscience, freedom of 
 speech and constitutional government, and have re- 
 joiced that at last the fragrant flower of peace has 
 appeared upon the thorny stalk of war. It is fitting 
 that the Temple of Peace should stand upon the 
 ground that was the scene of eighty years' conflict, 
 and I am glad that an American citizen has so 
 generously provided for its construction. 
 
 " A prophet in olden times foretold the coming of 
 an era of peace so universal and profound that to 
 emphasize it he pictured it as extending even to the 
 beasts : ' The wolf and the lamb/ he said, ' shall 
 dwell together ; the leopard shall lie down with the 
 kid ; the calf, the lion and the fading shall keep com- 
 pany together, and a little child shall lead them.' 
 
 "Are our eyes to witness the fulfillment of this 
 prophecy? .... We must not expect all 
 armies to be disbanded at once, or look for the im- 
 mediate settlement of all questions by arbitration. 
 Progress is slow. There is, however, reason to believe 
 that the light of a better day is already breaking. . . . 
 
 " It is not upon the plutocracy of wealth, nor upon 
 the aristocracy of learning, but upon the democracy of 
 the heart that the hope of universal arbitration and 
 permanent peace must rest. The conscience is the 
 most potent force of which man has personal 
 knowledge, and, when quickened, its gentle promptings 
 are more imperative than statute laws, and the invisible
 
 ELIJAH'S EXPERIENCE. 211 
 
 barriers with which it surrounds one are stionger 
 than prison walls. 
 
 " When Elijah was fleeing from the wrath of Jezebel 
 and believed all the prophets to have been slain, the 
 Lord commanded him to stand upon the mountain, and 
 as he stood there a mighty wind swept by him and rent 
 the rocks asunder, but God was not in the wind ; and 
 after the wind came an earthquake, but God was not 
 in the earthquake ; and after the earthquake a fire, 
 but God was not in the fire ; and after the fire a still, 
 small voice, and it was the voice of God. 
 
 " Even so to-day, an increasing number of people 
 throughout the world, standing upon the heights, are 
 learning that God is not in the ironclads that sweep 
 the ocean with their guns, nor in the armies that 
 shake the earth with their tread, nor yet in the fire 
 of musketry, but in the still small voice of justice that 
 issues from tribunals like that recently instituted at 
 The Hague. May this tribunal justify its creation and 
 insure its perpetuity by judging the nations with 
 righteousness, and reproving with equity." Bryan. 
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF PEACE 
 
 " The last battle of the Far Eastern war has been 
 fought out on American soil, and has resulted in a 
 victory for peace the most decisive triumph of its 
 kind known to this generation. On historic ground, 
 the chosen statesmen of Russia and Japan fought their 
 good fight, with swords in sheath and artillery silent; 
 yet it was marked by grander achievement than any
 
 212 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACH:. 
 
 previous encounter in that long campaign. A peace 
 is of the nature of a conquest ; for then both parties 
 nobly are subdued, and neither party loser. 
 
 " At the moment when peace was announced, 
 (August 29, 1905) two of the greatest armies ever 
 assembled were facing each other a million of men 
 in arms ! Europe stood still awaiting the impending 
 shock. It was our opportunity, and we thank God 
 for the courage and statesmanship that led us to grasp 
 it. Nothing that Theodore Roosevelt, the peacemaker, 
 has done, or may hereafter do, will equal in renown 
 his act in halting the slaughter and summoning the 
 warring powers to settle their quarrel across the table 
 in that building in old Portsmouth town, above which 
 fluttered the emblem of human liberty the Stars and 
 Stripes. 
 
 " The hand of God was in the conference at Ports- 
 mouth. He has heard the prayers of his people and 
 has directed the deliberations. One by one, the 
 seemingly insurmountable barriers which arose to im- 
 pede the work of the conference were broken down. 
 Bitterness gave way to conciliation, the mists broke and 
 dissolved, and the work was done. 
 
 " God grant that the peace may be secure and last- 
 ing, and that it may mark a step forward in the 
 world's progress toward that blessed time when 
 ' nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither 
 shall they learn war any more.' ' : (From the Christian 
 Herald, Bible House, N. Y.)
 
 PART SIX 
 
 The Exemption Act of the Confederate Congress, 
 Journey to Annual Meeting in 1862. Payment 
 of Fines, and Thanksgiving. Exemption of Non- 
 resistants from Military Duty by the United States 
 Government in 1 903. A Memorial.
 
 THE EXEMPTION ACT OF THE CON- 
 FEDERATE CONGRESS* 
 
 AN ACT to exempt certain persons from military 
 duty, and to repeal an Act entitled, " An Act to exempt 
 certain persons from enrollment for service in the 
 army of the Confederate States," approved 21st April, 
 1862. 
 
 The Congress of the Confederate States of America 
 do enact that all persons who shall be held unfit for 
 military service in the field, by reason of bodily or 
 mental incapacity or imbecility, under rules to be pre- 
 scribed by the Secretary of War, the Vice-President 
 of the Confederate States; the officers judicial and 
 executive, of the Confederate State governments, 
 including postmasters appointed by the President, and 
 confirmed by the Senate, and such clerks in their 
 offices as are allowed by the Postmaster General and 
 now employed, and excluding all other postmasters, 
 their assistants and clerks; and except such State 
 officers as the several States may have declared, or 
 may hereafter declare by law to be liable to military 
 duty; the members of both Houses of the Congress 
 of the Confederate States, and of the Legislatures of 
 the several States, and their respective officers; all 
 clerks now in the offices of the Confederate and State 
 governments authorized by law receiving salaries or 
 
 "Copied by H. M. Hays, in the National Library, Washing- 
 ton, D. C., July, 1904. 
 
 215
 
 216 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 fees ; all volunteer troops heretofore raised by any 
 State since the passage of the Act entitled: "An Act 
 further to provide for the public defense," approved 
 April 16, 1862, while such troops shall be in active 
 service under State authority : Provided that this 
 exemption shall not apply to any person who was liable 
 to be called into service by virtue of said Act of April 
 16, 1862 ; all pilots and persons engaged in the mer- 
 chant marine service ; the President, Superintendents, 
 conductors, two expert track hands to each section 
 of eight miles, and mechanics in the active service and 
 employment of railroad companies, not to embrace 
 laborers, porters and messengers ; the president, 
 general superintendent, and operator of telegraph 
 companies, the local superintendent and operators of 
 said companies, not to exceed four in number in any 
 locality, but that of the seat of government of the 
 Confederate States ; the president, superintendents, 
 captains, engineers, chief clerk and mechanics in the 
 active service and employment of all companies en- 
 gaged in river and canal navigation, and all captains 
 of boats and engineers therein employed ; one editor 
 of each newspaper now being published, and such 
 employes as the editor or proprietor may certify on 
 oath to be indispensable for conducting the publication ; 
 the Public Printer, and those employed to perform the 
 public printing for the Confederate and State govern- 
 ments ; every minister of religion authorized to preach 
 according to the rules of his sect and in the regular 
 discharge of ministerial duties, and all persons who 
 have been and now arc members of the Society of 
 Friends, and the Association of Dunkards, Nazarenes
 
 EXEMPTION ACT. 217 
 
 and Mennonites, in regular membership in their respec- 
 tive denominations; provided members of the society 
 of Friends, Nasarenes, Mennonites and Dunkards shall 
 furnish substitutes or pay a tax of $500.00 each into 
 the public Treasury; all physicians who now are and 
 for the last five years have been in the actual practice 
 of their profession; all shoemakers, tanners, black- 
 smiths, wagon-makers, millers and their engineers, 
 millwrights skilled and actually employed at their 
 regular vocation in the said trades, habitually engaged 
 in working for the public, and whilst so actually 
 employed; provided said persons shall make oath in 
 writing that they are so skilled and actually employed 
 at the time at their regular vocation in one of the above 
 trades, which affidavit shall only be prima facie 
 evidence of the facts therein stated; provided further 
 that the exemption herein granted to persons by reason 
 of their peculiar mechanical or other occupation or 
 employment, not connected with the public service, 
 shall be subject to the condition that the products of 
 the labor of such exempts, or of the companies and 
 establishments with which they are connected, shall be 
 sold and disposed of by the proprietors at prices not 
 exceeding seventy-five per cent upon the cost of pro- 
 duction, or within a maximum to be fixed by the 
 Secretary of War, under such regulations as he may 
 prescribe; and it is further provided that if the pro- 
 prietors of any such manufacturing establishments 
 shall be shown upon evidence to be committed to and 
 judged of by the Secretary of War to have violated 
 or in any manner evaded the true intent and spirit 
 of the foregoing proviso, the exemptions therein
 
 218 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 granted shall no longer be extended to them, their 
 superintendents or operatives in said establishments, 
 but they and each and every one of them shall be 
 forthwith enrolled under the provisions of this act, 
 and ordered into the Confederate army, and shall in 
 no event be exempted therefrom again by reason of 
 said manufacturing establishments, or employment 
 therein ; all superintendents of public hospitals, lunatic 
 asylums, and the regular physicians, nurses and attend- 
 ants therein, and the teachers employed in the institu- 
 tions for the deaf, dumb and blind ; in each apothecary 
 store now established and doing business, one apothe- 
 cary in good standing, who is a practical apothecary; 
 superintendents and operators in wool and cotton 
 factories, paper mills, and superintendents and mana- 
 gers of wool-carding machines, who may be exempted 
 by the Secretary of War ; provided the profits of such 
 establishments shall not exceed seventy-five per cent 
 upon the cost of production, to be determined upon 
 oath of the parties, subject to the same penalties for 
 violation of the provisions herein contained as are 
 hereinbefore provided in case of other manufacturing 
 and mechanical employments ; all presidents and 
 teachers of colleges, academies, schools and theological 
 seminaries, who have been regularly engaged as such 
 for two years previous to the passage of this Act ; all 
 artisans, mechanics and employes in the establishments 
 of the Government for the manufacture of arms, 
 ordnance, ordnance stores, and other munitions of 
 war, saddles, harness and army supplies, who may be 
 certified by the officer in charge thereof, as necessary 
 for such establishments; also all artisans, mechanics
 
 EXEMPTION ACT. 219 
 
 and employes in the establishments of such persons 
 as are or may be engaged under contracts with the 
 Government in furnishing arms, ordnance, ordnance 
 stores, and other munitions of war; provided that the 
 chief of the Ordnance Bureau, or some ordnance 
 officer authorized by him for the purpose, shall ap- 
 prove of the number of the operatives required in each 
 establishment; all persons employed in the manufac- 
 ture of arms or ordnance of any kind by the several 
 States or by contractors to furnish the same to the 
 several State Governments, whom the Governor or 
 Secretary of State thereof may certify to be necessary 
 to the same ; all persons engaged in the construction of 
 ships, gun-boats, engines, sails, or other articles neces- 
 sary to the public defense under the direction of the 
 Secretary of the Navy; all superintendents, managers, 
 mechanics and miners employed in the production 
 and manufacture of salt to the extent of twenty bushels 
 per day, and of lead and iron, and all persons engaged 
 in burning coke for smelting and manufacture of iron, 
 regular miners in coal mines, and all colliers engaged 
 in making charcoal for making pig and bar iron, not 
 to embrace laborers, messengers, wagoners, and serv- 
 ants, unless employed at works conducted under the 
 authority and by the officers or agents of a State, or 
 in works employed in the production of iron for the 
 Confederate States ; one male citizen for every 500 
 head of cattle, for every 250 head of horses or mules, 
 and one shepherd for every 500 head of sheep, of such 
 persons as are engaged exclusively in raising stock: 
 provided there is no white male adult not liable to 
 military duty engaged with such person in raising
 
 220 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 said stock ; to secure the proper police of the country, 
 one person as agent, owner or overseer on each 
 plantation of twenty negroes, and on which there is 
 no white male adult not liahle to military service ; 
 and furthermore for additional police for every twenty 
 negroes on two or more plantations, within five miles 
 of each other and each having less than twenty 
 negroes, and on which there is no white male adult 
 not liable to military duty, one person, being the 
 oldest of the owners or overseers of such plantations ; 
 and such other persons as the President shall be 
 satisfied on account of justice, equity, or necessity, 
 ought to be exempted, are hereby exempted from 
 military service in the armies of the Confederate 
 States; and also a regiment raised under and by 
 authority of the State of Texas for frontier defense, 
 now in the service of said State, while in such service ; 
 provided further that the exemptions herein above 
 enumerated and granted, hereby shall only continue 
 whilst the persons exempted are actually engaged in 
 their respective pursuits or occupations. 
 
 Section 2. Be it further enacted, that the Act 
 entitled, "An Act to exempt certain persons from 
 enrollment for service in the armies of the Confederate 
 States," approved April 21, 1862, is hereby repealed. 
 
 Approved Oct. 11, 1862. 
 
 From the Official Records of the Union and Con- 
 federate Armies, Series 4, Vol. 2, pages 160-162. 
 
 National Library, Washington, D. C.
 
 JOHN KLINE'S JOURNEY. 221 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING OF 1862 
 
 [In Brother Kline's own handwriting we have the fol- 
 lowing account of the Annual Meeting of 1862, including 
 his journey and meetings by the way. He had been re- 
 leased from the guardhouse April 18 and on Thursday, 
 May 29, he started to the Annual Meeting.] 
 
 Bowmans Mill, Rockingham Co., Va., 
 
 July 2nd, 1862. 
 
 My dear Brother: I embrace the opportunity to 
 inform you, and, through the Visitor, all the Brethren 
 North and' West that Brother John Wine and myself, 
 as well as Brother Abram Kline, have arrived home 
 safe, and in reasonable health as well as our brethren 
 and families, thank the Lord. 
 
 OUR JOURNEY: On the 29th day of May, 1862, 
 Brother John Wine and myself started West for the 
 Annual Meeting in the midst of all the surrounding 
 difficulties. On the evening of the 30th, after having 
 traveled over rugged paths and through part of the 
 army of General Fremont, we came to the house of 
 Brother Martin Cosner, who with the dear sister 
 received us with joy and kindness. After having a 
 pleasant interview and night's lodging, we started in 
 the morning of the 31st and came to our Brethren 
 Thomas Clark, Sr., and Thomas Clark, Jr., on the 
 Alleghany Mountain, where we remained over Sunday, 
 holding several meetings in the neighborhood. On the 
 2nd of June, after enjoying much the fellowship of 
 our brethren as many as we saw, we started for 
 Oakland Station in company with Brother Clark, who 
 brought our horses back to his house to keep till our
 
 222 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 return. At 1 1 : 30 we took the cars, and arrived at 
 five P. M. in Bellaire, Ohio, where we stayed all night 
 at the Eagle tavern. On the morning of the 3rd we 
 took the cars and came to Dayton between three and 
 four o'clock, and not finding conveyance to go out 
 into the country, we stayed all night with Brother 
 and Sister Yost. In the morning of the 4th we visited 
 several acquaintances in Dayton, after which we took 
 the cars and came to Brookville Station. We dined 
 with friend Garst and then came to the place of 
 meeting, where we found many brethren and sisters 
 engaged in fixing the tent, and making preparations 
 of different kinds for the meeting. In this neighbor- 
 hood we visited friends and brethren, having a number 
 of meetings, when on the 7th we came back to the 
 place of meeting where preaching commenced and 
 continued till Sunday evening. On Monday morning 
 the brethren entered into the business of the church, 
 public preaching still going on till sometime in the 
 afternoon, when the Standing Committee was ready to 
 report and deliver the queries to the sub-committees. 
 On the afternoon of the llth the business of the 
 church was completed and the meeting came to a close. 
 It was a solemn parting indeed. Many who had the 
 social enjoyment of the Brethren at this meeting had 
 to part with the sad thought of probably never to 
 meet any more in this world. But how cheering the 
 thought that if we be faithful, we shall meet in that 
 happy region where parting will be no more. 
 
 After the close of meeting we were taken to the 
 home of our sister, the widow of Benjamin Miller, 
 where we were kindly entertained, and on the morning
 
 BRO. KLINE'S JOURNEY. 223 
 
 of the 12th they brought us to Dayton, whence we 
 were taken to the home of Brother Abram Young 
 who brought me to Midway to Brother Henry Zim- 
 merman's, where I lodged that night. On the morning 
 of the 13th Brother Zimmerman brought me to 
 Osburg Station, where were Bro. John Wine and 
 others, some on the cars, and some by private convey- 
 ance, and here we started together for Forest Station, 
 where, after the train arrived, we found that other 
 brethren were on board, some from Ohio and some 
 from Pennsylvania, among whom was Brother John 
 Umstead. So all together we went toward Pittsburg, 
 the brethren in Ohio stopping off by groups at their 
 respective stations, where we arrived at two in the 
 night. From Pittsburg we continued by railway to 
 Greensburg, Pa., where Brother Jonathan Lichty, 
 John Wine, Abram Kline and myself, at daybreak, 
 left the cars, ate our breakfast, and in a hack came 
 to Brother Abram Myer's, near Mt. Pleasant, then to 
 Brother Martin Myer's in Milford church, where some 
 of us stayed all night. Next morning being Sunday, 
 we came to the meetinghouse where the brethren -had 
 a love feast. We had a fine meeting several persons 
 were baptized. Here we met our Brother Jacob 
 Thomas from Preston county, Va. That night we 
 stayed with Brother Jacob Miller, and next morning 
 we came to Brother Daniel Miller's, near the Elklick 
 meetinghouse, where we stayed till next morning, the 
 17th, when a love feast was held that day three 
 persons were baptized. We continued here yet the 
 18th to attend with Brother Thomas as a committee to 
 settle some church business. After coming to an
 
 224 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 amicable adjustment of the difficulties, we came to 
 Brother David Beechly's, who next morning brought 
 us to Frostburg, Md., where we took the cars to 
 Cumberland, thence to Oakland, where on the morning 
 of the 20th we hired a spring wagon, went to Brother 
 Clark's, got our horses and came that evening down 
 over the Alleghany to Brother Michael and Thomas 
 D. Lyon's, where we stayed all night and spent the 
 time pleasantly with the brethren and sisters. On the 
 21st we came on to Enoch Higher s, visiting on the 
 way our old blind Sister Parks. At Higher's we took 
 dinner, much delighted to see Sister Higher, not 
 having seen her for some time. We then came to 
 Brother John Mongol's where we stayed all night, 
 and on the morning of the 22nd we took up our 
 journey and might have reached home that evening, 
 but a rain came up and we turned aside to Brother 
 Michael Wine's in Brock's Gap. Next morning, the 
 23rd, we came across the mountain path, where we 
 parted, Brother John Wine toward his home and I 
 towards mine, where I arrived at about nine o'clock 
 that day, thank the Lord. 
 
 Times, my dear brethren, are truly dark with 
 dangers, and uncertain. What will be the final result 
 none can tell. Our brethren have much to pay, so that 
 it will be a considerable burden on all those that are 
 able have paid from $800 to $1,500 for substitutes, 
 and now to help those that are not able to pay the $500 
 fine to get them free is hard. It may wean us off from 
 the worldly treasure. 
 
 So now, my dear brethren, I recommend all, both 
 North and South, East and West, into the hands of
 
 BRO. KLINE'S FAREWELL. 225 
 
 God. May his mercy and grace be with us all, and 
 may the Lord so overrule things that peace and amity 
 might be restored. Farewell, brethren. Pray for us 
 when you approach the throne of grace. My greeting 
 to you all. Amen. 
 
 JOHN KLINE.
 
 226 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 PAYMENT OF FINES AND THANKS- 
 GIVING 
 
 In his memorandum book of 1862-3, Brother Kline 
 records the names of those who paid the military fine 
 in Linville Creek congregation, giving the amount 
 received and the amount paid by him in each case; 
 and where the amount received did not equal $500, 
 he advanced the difference, or borrowed the money 
 and squared the account agreeably to the following- 
 entry : 
 
 "December 30th, 1862. 
 
 " I paid to Mr. Woodward, the Receiver of fines, 
 $500 for each of the following persons: 
 
 Harvey Fifer. George W. Ritchie. 
 
 Philip Baker. William Ford. 
 
 Adam Ritchie. John A. White. 
 
 Samuel R, Wine. George Rodecap. 
 
 George Smith. Adam Andes. 
 
 James W. Fitzwater. John K. Kline. 
 
 William Spitzer. Isaac Kline. 
 
 Henry W. Moyers. ' George Kline. 
 
 Jacob Fitzwater. Samuel Kagey. 
 
 Then, on New Year's Day, 1863, the following is 
 recorded in his memorandum book: 
 
 "January 1st, 1863. 
 
 " FAST AND THANKSGIVING DAY. 
 
 " The Brethren meet at Linville Creek meetinghouse 
 in thanksgiving for the Lord's kind overruling hand 
 so affecting our Congress that we were exempted from 
 military duty by paying a fine." 
 
 Thus the eventful year, 1862, closed with a settle- 
 ment of accounts, and the New Year opens with 
 thanksgiving.
 
 EXEMPTION ACT OF 1903. 227 
 
 EXEMPTION OF NONRESISTANTS FROM 
 
 MILITARY DUTY BY UNITED STATES 
 
 GOVERNMENT IN 1903 
 
 REFERENCE has been made to the Constitution of 
 the United States as the great Charter of American 
 Liberty, which provides that " Congress shall make 
 no law respecting an establishment of religion, or 
 prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging th^ 
 freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the 
 people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the 
 government for a redress of grievances." 
 
 This was supplemented by an Act passed by the 
 Senate and House of Representatives, and approved 
 by the President, January 21, 1903, entitled an "Act 
 to prorhote the efficiency of the military and for other 
 purposes." The Act contains twenty-six sections, 
 the first and second are given below. We call par- 
 ticular attention to the proviso in Section 2: 
 
 "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the United States of America in Congress 
 assembled, That the militia shall consist of every able- 
 bodied male citizen of the respective States, Territories, 
 and the District of Columbia, and every able-bodied 
 male of foreign birth who has declared his intention 
 to become a citizen, who is more than eighteen and less 
 than forty-five years of age, and shall be divided into 
 two classes the organized militia, to be known as the 
 National Guard of the State, Territory, or District of 
 Columbia, or by such other designations as may be 
 given them by the laws of the respective States, or
 
 228 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 Territories, and the remainder to be known as the 
 Reserve Militia." 
 
 " Section 2. That the Vice-President of the United 
 States, the officers, judicial and executive, of the 
 Government of the United States, the members and 
 officers of each House of Congress, persons in the 
 military or naval service of the United States, all 
 customhouse officers, with their clerks, postmasters and 
 persons employed at any ferry on a post road, artificers 
 and workmen employed in the armories and arsenals 
 of the United States, pilots, mariners actually employed 
 in the sea service of any citizen, or merchant within 
 the United States, and all persons who are exempted 
 by the laws of the respective States and Territories, 
 shall be exempted from militia duty without regard to 
 age : PROVIDED, THAT NOTHING IN THIS ACT 
 
 SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO REQUIRE, OR COMPEL ANY 
 MEMBER OF ANY WELL-RECOGNIZED RELIGIOUS SECT OR 
 ORGANIZATION AT PRESENT ORGANIZED AND EXISTING 
 WHOSE CREED FORBIDS ITS MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE 
 IN WAR IN ANY FORM, AND WHOSE RELIGIOUS CON- 
 VICTIONS ARE AGAINST WAR OR PARTICIPATION THEREIN, 
 IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CREED OF SAID RELIGIOUS 
 ORGANIZATION, TO SERVE IN THE MILITIA OR ANY OTHER 
 ARMED OR VOLUNTEER FORCE" UNDER THE JURISDICTION 
 AND AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED STATES." 
 
 This Act stands as a monument to the enlightened 
 Government of the United States, and as an example 
 for all other nations. D. H.
 
 MEMORIAL OF THE FRIENDS. 229 
 
 MEMORIAL 
 
 " To the Honorable The Legislature of Virginia: 
 
 " Your petitioners, members of the Religious Society 
 of Friends (called Quakers), desire respectfully to 
 call your attention to that portion of the Governor's 
 Message in which he recommends the repeal of the 
 law exempting certain Religious Denominations from 
 military duty by payment of a tax. 
 
 " In his remarks on the subject, the Governor, doubt- 
 less unintentionally, does great injustice to, at least 
 one of those Sects, the Friends. He assumes that the 
 payment of said tax is an acknowledgment on the part 
 of those paying it that some aid is due from them to the 
 Government in the prosecution of the war : on the con- 
 trary we have paid said tax under protest, it being one 
 of the established principles of our Society from its 
 rise unto the present day, that a Christian has no 
 right to take up the weapons of carnal warfare for 
 any earthly consideration ; yet we believe it our duty 
 as good citizens, ' To be in subjection to the powers 
 that be,' and as the exemption law, both o'f the Con- 
 federate and State Governments omitted to make any 
 provision for distraint where the tax was not paid, 
 it seemed to present the subject in a manner similar 
 to that in which the Savior directed the tribute money 
 to be paid ' That we offend them not.' 
 
 " The discipline of every Yearly Meeting of our 
 Society prohibits its members from taking part in any 
 way in war ; from mustering, or paying any fine im- 
 posed for not mustering, requiring its members in
 
 230 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 all such cases, quietly to submit to any distraints for 
 said fine, and prohibiting them from concealing their 
 property, or in any way evading said laws. 
 
 " We believe that the Constitution of Virginia does, 
 in those clauses which secure to every man the right 
 to worship God according to the dictates of his own 
 conscience, afford ground for exemption to the mem- 
 bers of our Society, as it is well known that we 
 worship God not only as ' Wonderful, Counsellor, The 
 Mighty God, The Everlasting Father,' but also as the 
 ' Prince of Peace.' Therefore a bill exempting those 
 who worship him as the Prince of Peace, to wit: 
 Friends and Dunkers (Brethren), instead of being 
 unconstitutional as the Governor suggests, would, it 
 seems to us, only be a provision to carry out the great 
 principle set forth in the Virginia Bill of Rights, Sec. 
 16, viz : ' That religion, or the duty we owe to our 
 Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be 
 directed only by reason and conviction, not by force 
 or violence, and therefore all men are equally entitled 
 to the free exercise of religion according to the dic- 
 tates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of 
 all to practice Christian forbearance, love and charity 
 towards each other ; ' and we have come to ask Chris- 
 tian charity at your hands, because, while we judge 
 not for others, for ourselves we believe that by taking 
 up the weapons of carnal warfare, even in the defense 
 of our dearest rights, or life itself, we would endanger 
 the welfare of our immortal souls." 
 
 The Petition then quotes freely from the early 
 Church Fathers, Authors, and Reformers to provr 
 that this belief is not original with the Friends ; and
 
 MEMORIAL OF THE FRIENDS. 231 
 
 produces from the prophecies of the Old and precepts 
 from the New Testament, the Scripture in support of 
 Peace Principles, much of which has already been 
 given in this Work. It closes as follows : 
 
 " \Ve have thus endeavored in meekness, to render 
 a reason of the hope that is in us, and trust that the 
 honorable Legislature of Virginia will not be behind 
 the Roman Government, which under several Consuls, 
 allowed exemption to the Jews from military duty on 
 account of their religious scruples, and seeing that 
 we are a peaceable people, ever desiring to render 
 unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, we pray that 
 we may be allowed the privilege under the Government 
 of this noble Old Commonwealth, which we honor and 
 love, as loyal and true citizens should, to render unto 
 God the things that are God's according to the con- 
 victions of our consciences, and therefore pray that we 
 may be required to perform no military duty; for we 
 consider the throwing up of a battery, or the driving 
 of an ammunition or other team, as much an act of 
 war as fighting in the ranks. We own no God but 
 the God of Love, Truth, Peace, Mercy and Judgment, 
 whose blessings we invoke, and whose wisdom we 
 implore to be with you in your legislative deliberations. 
 
 " Signed on behalf and by direction of Virginia 
 Half- Year's Meeting of the Religious Society of 
 Friends held at Richmond the fifth day of the tenth 
 month, 1863. 
 
 " JNO. B. CRENSHAW, Clerk." 
 
 We congratulate the friends of peace upon the pro- 
 duction of this splendid testimony. We are indebted
 
 232 THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 to Bro. John Forrer and his friends for preserving 
 the Memorial and to Bro. Michael Zigler for obtaining 
 a copy. All things come to them who work, and pray, 
 and wait. May Peace like a river flow on and on 
 forever, from the mountains to the sea, over valley, 
 over lea, till each hilltop, every plain, shall sing the 
 praise of Jesus' name. D. H. 
 
 Broadway, Va* January i, 1907, 
 
 [FINIS.]
 
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