tutions of legal tribunals did put an end to personal wars-the judicial combat, and the wars of the feudal system-so, the institution of a national tribunal may put an end to national wars. There is nothing in the nature of things to prevent the establishment by universal consent, of such a tribunal, but the love of military glory and martial renown which many, even in this country, endeavor to keep up, regardless of the misery which war brings on the innocent, the moral degradation and vice which accompany it, and the degradation and slavery by which it is so frequently followed. But when the private and the public robber shall be treated alike by public opinion, and the law of nations wars will cease.

There has been a gradual extension of the laws which bound together a single family, order or tribe, to those which united a number of families, or clans or of independent cities, or of lordships and dukedoms, or of States and Nations, into one league or confederation. In order to put an effectual stop to war among christians, it is necessary to take but one step more, which is to unite all

the nations of Christendom-I do not mean into one sovereignty but into one league of independent states, for the express purpose of settling all external national controversies and no other, in the same manner in which the league of the Hansetowns united the commercial seaboard cities of Europe, and the league of Switzerland united thirteen independent states, differing in form of government and religion. I purpose in this number, to give some account of such leagues which have already existed, and shall begin with one of the oldest on record.

The council of the Amphicayons consisting originally of twelve states or cities and finally extending to thirty-one, belonged to the earliest ages of profane history. It was established in the year 1497 before Christ, near the time of the escape of the Israelites from Egypt. According to Rollin, "it was in a manner the holding of a general assembly of the states of Greece. The establishment is attributed to Amphictyon king of Athens and son of Deucalion, who gave them his name. His principal view was to unite in the sacred bond of amity, the several people of Greece

admitted into it, and to oblige them, by that union, to undertake the defence of each other and be mutually vigilant, for the happiness and tranquility of their country. It was held at Thermopylae and sometimes at Delphos, and regularly assembled, in the spring and the fall, and oftener if occasion required. Each city sent two deputies and in consequence had two votes in the council, and that without distinction, or the more powerful having any prerogative of honor or preeminence over inferior states, in regard to the suffrages the liberty, on which these people valued themselves, requiring that every thing should be equal amongst them. They had full power to discuss and determine all differences which might arise between the Amphyctionic cities." Another author observes: "They decided all public differences and disputes between any of the cities of Greece, and their determinations were received with the greatest veneration and were ever held sacred and inviolable. Had its members been actuated by a spirit of peace, of justice, and of good order, it would have rendered itself forever respectable." But

Philip of Macedon by his intrigues gained an ascendency in this famous council and was the means of reducing it to a mere shadow: had it kept clear of foreign wars, it might have continued, we know not how long; it lasted however until after the reign of Augustus Caesar and gradually expired.

I next mention the Achæan league. "Strangers to the desire of conquest and having little connection with corrupt nations,they never employed falsehood even against their enemies. Although, each city was independent of the others, yet they formed but one body and one state. So great was their character for justice and probity, that the Greek cities of Italy referred their disputes to their arbitration. The Lacedemonians and Thebans referred to them an interesting matter of dissension between them. Having long retained their liberty they ceased not to assemble when the necessity of public deliberation required it, and even when the rest of Greece was threatened with war and pestilence. Polybius observes, that the Achæans so far gained the esteem and confidence of all the Europeans, that their name became common.

to all that country." The Achæan league however fell into discord and became in consequence subject, like the Amphictyons to the Macedonian yoke. Two hundred and eighty years before Christ, it was revived and was joined by all the states of Greece, except the Lacedemonians, who were once engaged in a war against it, but afterward joined the confederacy. The league was tolerably successful in keeping peace among themselves, and thus arrived at an uncommon state of happiness. But they were not so careful to keep peace abroad, and, getting embroiled in war, the league was overturned in the year 146 before Christ. Had they been as careful to avoid foreign, as domestic war, they might have enjoyed the blessings of peace and security for many generations longer. Wars and commotions among the christians of the lower empire, into which Achaia and the counties anciently composing the Amphictyonic confederacy fell, on the division of the Roman Empire into East and West, completed the fate of Greece, and it became a prey to the Mussulmans under Mahomed 2d-about the year 1650; and now we find