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the Stars and Stripes the most inspiriting flag in the world, because it is peculiarly the flag of Peace; but far be it from me to deny or dissemble the emotion awakened in me by my own flag, the flag of England,

The flag that's braved a thousand years

The battle and the breeze,

and that now floats over so many great and free communities. It is true that in bygone centuries, in Europe and even in America, the appeal of the flag has been largely a warlike one, has been intimately associated with bellicose and aggressive passions. But there is no inherent reason why it should be so; and I think we, in Europe, might well inaugurate this, our new century, by hoisting a new flag, the banner of the United States of Europe, which should be distinctively and characteristically, the Flag of Peace, and should symbolize our hope, or rather our faith, in a new era of humanity and reason, not so very far off. Such a flag would provide a rallying-point for all who share that faith, or even that hope for all, in short, whose will is a will for Peace. It would be associated with no religious creed, with no political party. Christian and Pagan, Catholic and Protestant, Conservative and Radical, Individualist and Socialist, could alike gather round it, and find, in the circle of its influence, a common standing-ground, perhaps even a common understanding ground. It could fly side by side with any national flag, for it would imply no sort of disloyalty to that symbol-only the cancelling, in its connotation, of the element of hatred, malice and uncharitableness. It would, in a word, give visible and inspiriting expression to the sentiment which animates us here, and which animates thousands of men and women in all parts of the world. It would, no doubt, meet with some derision at first, both from the thoughtless mob and from the cynical and shallow theorist who cannot believe that reason will ever come to its rights, or that the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns. But what matters a little derision? A sentiment of zeal and devotion would soon grow up around the Flag of Peace among all who have "free souls"; and, as the passage from Mr. Wells so vividly suggests, that sentiment might be infused from their earliest years into the blood and nerves of the rising generation. Wherever two or three were gathered together in the name of peace-whether in a

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Iulia Ward Howe.

Lady who lovest and who livest Peace,

And yet didst write Earth's noblest battle song At Freedom's bidding-may thy fame increase Till dawns the warless age for which we long!

-Frederick Lawrence Knowles.

palace at The Hague or in a country meeting house, or in a schoolroom in the slums-there the Flag of Peace should be displayed, the emblem of the United States of Europe.

I am no artist, ladies and gentlemen, nor have I had time to take counsel with designers. But I suggest that, in the form of the flag, the analogy with the Stars and Stripes should be emphasized. The star, as it is the most wonderful of all visible things, is the most beautiful of all symbols; and I have floating in my mind a vision of a Star of Stars-a star-cluster grouped so as to form a single star-which I think might perhaps serve the purpose. To that Star we and our children might quickly learn to look up with pride, with hope, with reverence. Under the guidance of that star we should march forward to a new world, freed from the awful burden, the pitiful stupidity of war; for it would indeed be a star of sweet influence, radiating, in very truth, the spirit of peace on earth and good-will towards men. MRS. SPENCER:

I hold in my hand two telegrams peculiarly appropriate to our English guests, and to our meeting this morning. The Daughters of the American Revolution telegraph their sympathy with the Peace Congress, testifying that out of that which is divided comes that which is united; also the Daughters of the Confederacy send us a cordial greeting in token that our country is really one. On this platform sit representatives of North Carolina and Massachusetts, Alabama and Maine, California and Texas, and many other States of the North and South, all united in this cause. We are one, and those who laid down their lives on either side, did it, as Mr. Archer has said, in sacredness of consecration, some perhaps not understanding what they did, and none recognizing that which was to come.

(Music.)

MRS. SPENCER:

Julia Ward Howe, one of our guests of honor, has a greeting for this meeting. Owing to her advanced years her family were not willing that she should take the long journey, therefore she could not be present, but she sends her daughter, Mrs. Florence Howe Hall, to read to you her message.

MRS. FLORENCE HOWE HALL:

The catastrophe of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 and the subsequent spoliation of France by victorious Germans,

awoke in the minds of many women a sense of the uselessness and horror of war. To me came one day the thought that women alone know the cost of human life, since it is always purchased by their pain, often attended with danger, and even with the loss of life. Women, then, it seemed to me, ought to have the casting vote in the disposition of a value so dearly purchased, and always at their expense. This last familiar fact now appealed to me with a force never felt before. I cried aloud: "If the women of the world would unite their efforts to prevent resort to arms, no more blood would be shed upon the battlefield." I felt this so strongly that it seemed as though I had only to express my conviction to rally around me all the mothers of mankind, and to this end I determined to devote immediate and unremitting labor. My first act was to write and publish an "Appeal to Womanhood Throughout the World." Through the kindness of friends, this brief document was translated into most of the tongues of modern Europe and circulated as widely as circumstances would allow.

I next bethought me of gathering together the men and women in my own country who had already shown some interest in the cause of peace. Many of these were among the Friends, but the movement had extended beyond their bounds. I held long meetings in New York and in Boston. In the city first named, the eminent jurist, David Dudley Field, gave me his aid at my first meeting, while the venerable poet, Bryant, spoke for me on a later occasion.

It soon occurred to me that one day in every year might be put apart for especial efforts in this cause. I chose for this the second day of June, a time of the year in which open-air meetings could easily be held, and in which the adornment of flowers was easily obtainable. I gave to this festival the name of "Mothers' Day," because my new departure rested so much, in my mind, upon the sacred claim of mothers upon the lives which they had given. The Universal Peace Society of Philadelphia kindly welcomed the institution of Mothers' Day, which was to be observed with floral decorations and appropriate exercises. For some years the day was observed in Boston, with lovely music and earnest speech and argument. In 1872, I went to England, where I at once sought the advice of Mrs. Josephine L. Butler. She said: "You have come at a fortunate time. The

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