A Peace Society was formed in New York in August, 1815; and in November of the same year the Ohio Peace Society. The Massachusetts Peace Association (Boston) started in January, 1816, and a similar society was begun in Rhode and Maine in 1817. These, with that of South Carolina, united in 1828, and formed the American Peace Society, an association which is still in active operation. Also in Philadelphia an association was formed, which was succeeded in 1868 by the Universal Peace Union.
In 1814 a zealous philanthropist, Mr. William Allen, a member of the Society of Friends, invited a number of persons to his house in London to form a peace association. They did not at once agree upon the best method, and the proposal was deferred for a time. But after the conclusion of peace was signed in 1816, Mr. Allen, with the assistance of his friend Mr. Joseph Tregelles Price, also a member of the Society of Friends, called his friends together again, and succeeded in bringing into existence the English peace association, under the name of the Peace Society.
The source from which the association sprang is to be found in the Society of Friends (Quakers), that sect which has always been a faithful proclaimer of the peace principles of Christianity. But the founders were not all of this society. Some were members of the Church of England and of other religious persuasions.
As the foundation of its effort, the association advanced the great principle that war is contrary to the spirit of Christianity and to the true interests of mankind. It has always been open to persons of all persuasions. One of its first stipulations was, that "the society shall consist of all ranks of society who will unite in forwarding peace on earth and goodwill amongst men." The association has always been international. From its commencement it proclaimed its desire to bring other nations as far as possible within the reach of its operations. Some of the first acts of the founders were to translate its most important writings into French, German, Spanish and Italian.
Immediately after, in 1816, Mr. J.T. Price, the most zealous amongst the founders, undertook a journey to France to gain adhesion and co-operation amongst Christians and philanthropists in that country. Many hindrances lay in the way of forming an association in that country which should have peace only for its object. These difficulties were overcome by founding a Society of Christian Morals (La Société de morale Chrétienne), whose aim was to bring the teaching of Christianity to bear upon the social question. This society continued for more than a quarter of a century and numbered amongst its members many illustrious Frenchmen. Its first president was the Duke of Rochefoucauld-Liancourt; its vice-president was the Marquis of the same name, the son of the above. Amongst the members were Benjamin Constant, the Duke of Broglie, de Lamartine, Guizot, Carnot, and Duchatel. The promotion of peace was one of the objects of the Society.
A branch of it was formed in Geneva, under the leadership of Count Sellon, and the English parent society stood in close and lively connection with both these associations. It had for many years in its service an active man, Stephen Rigaud, who travelled through France, Belgium, Germany and Holland, held meetings, distributed tracts, and formed committees and associations in furtherance of peace.
Between the years 1848 and 1851 a still greater aggressive peace movement was set on foot upon the European continent, by means of congresses held at Brussels, Paris and Frankfort, and by the attendance of many hundred delegates from all the countries of Europe.
This effort for peace was entered upon by the Secretary, Mr. Henry Richard. At least twenty times he visited the Continent, speaking for peace and arbitration in many, if not most, of the largest cities—Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Pesth, Dresden, Leipsic, Munich, Frankfort, Brussels, Antwerp, Bremen, Cologne, the Hague, Amsterdam, Genoa, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Turin, etc.
These efforts bore good fruit. The friends of peace began to stir. Peace societies were formed, devoted attachments were made, and personal intercourse created between the adherents of peace principles in various lands.
This was especially the case in France, where la Ligue Internationale de la Paix was founded by M. Frédéric Passy. In 1872 the name of the league was changed to the Société Française des Amis de la Paix. This name it retained until its amalgamation with the Comité de Paris de la Fédération Internationale de l'Arbitrage et de la Paix, founded by Mr. Hodgson Pratt in 1883. The new society, formed of the union of the two, bears the name of the Société Française de l'Arbitrage entre Nations.