In the midst of an age of war, the world is struggling for peace. The law of the jungle ceased to be the recognized principle of history, and war lost its standing as a means of obtaining justice because of the efforts of a man to guide public opinion by means of a book. No one could have conquered militarism with a sword in the old days, and it is doubtful whether it can be done now, but the strong silent force of enlightened opinion can do it. The history of modern international law as a basis for the preservation of peace among nations really began with the publication in 1625 of a book entitled _De Jure Belli et Pacis_. It was written by a Dutch publicist by the name of Hugo Grotius. This book came from the press in the midst of the Thirty Years’ War, and it began a process of leavening the popular mind with the idea that justice can be obtained by peaceable means. The end of that process will yet be the complete triumph of international law over international strife. It was the pen of a writer which was used as the original instrument for the blazing of the path to an age of concord and fraternity. The great literary need of the present day is for a man who can snatch the torch from the dead hand of Grotius and bear it a little farther. He will not receive high praise from the militaristic camp, but his efforts will be appreciated by those who really love their country enough to desire its preservation from the blasting blight of war. Some gifted pen will yet inoculate the popular mind with an ideal of peace and brotherhood which will make war forever impossible. No one will ever be able to measure correctly the influence which the pamphlets of Thomas Payne had in the crystallization of the sentiment which held the early American patriots to their cause. The historians have not neglected, however, to give them large credit in their final reckonings. They provided a sort of mental artillery, making possible the work of the advancing sword of a Washington. The break between the sections was healed with mortar which was mixed not only with the blood of the soldier, but also with the pen of the writer. The one thing lacking for years was the decision of the popular will to settle once for all the difficulty between the states. One day in June of 1851 there appeared in Gamaliel Bailey’s paper, _The National Era_, the first installment of a story entitled _Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly_. It was written in the spare time of the busy wife of a theological professor, and she herself did not take it very seriously at the time of its publication. The result was, however, that in less than a decade public opinion had crystallized, and the sections were ready for the test. The rest of the story needs no telling, but the memory of Harriet Beecher Stowe deserves to have it said that the history of America in that time of crisis was largely moulded by the hand that held the pen.