The Holland Society of New York - Yearbook (New York, NY)

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173. emphasize it he pictured it as extending even to the animals, and said that the wolf would dweu with the lamb, that the leopard would 119 down with the kid, that the calf, the lion, and the fatling W0U1d keep Company 'GOgether, and that a little child should lead them. Are our eyes to Witness the fulfilment of this prophecy? In a forum where right prevails and where dis- putes are settled, not by armed force but by reason, a little nation like the Netherlands can enter into an honorable rivalry with her more populous neighbors. But this has not come all at once. It has been of gradual growth, as all things are that are strong and lasting. The trees that are able to withstand the storms mature slowly, and so do great movements, y ' Heaven is not gained by a single boundg We build the ladder by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, And mount to its summit round by round. V- ' So with reforms, it takes time to work them out. We need not expect that the nations will disband their armies at once, we need not ex- pect that all difficulties will be taken before the Court of Arbitration, but we have reason to be- lieve that the light of a better day is dawning, and that we are about to enter upon an era in which conscience will assert its supremacy Over brute force, and the crown of victory be awarded, not to the nation that has the largest army or the strong- est navy, but to the nation that sets the best ex- ample and contributes most to the welfare of the world. Cflpplausej

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175 velopment of the human race, physically, mentally and morally. The time is coming when physical perfection alone will not satisfy, when intellectual training alone will not be sufficient, but when the spiritual man will be considered and his welfare guarded. I believe that we are to build this per- manent peace, this permanent arbitration, not upon a plutocracy of wealth or upon an aristocracy of learning, but upon the democracy of the heart, We shall then arraign every evil at the bar of the public conscience, for the most potent force of which man has personal knowledge is the con- science. That conscience can be awakened, and, when awakened, its gentle promptings are more imperative than statute laws, and the invisible barriers which it builds around us are stronger than prison walls. Qflpplausej ' , It is to this conscience that nations to-day appeal when they appear before The Hague trim bunal. One of the members of that tribunal told me that he was interested to note that the great nations that are represented there by counsel spend their time, not in discussing their pe- cuniary loss or gain, but in defending their honor. It is impossible to overestimate the influence of this appeal to conscience. As has been Well said to-night by China's distinguished Ambas- sador, the suggestion of this Peace Conference presented by the Emperor of Russia was not a new discovery, it simply gave expression to a sentiment that had been growing in the hC31'tS Of people all over the world. And this appeal to conscience must be made in this country as Well as in our international relations. We complam 11O'C