The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-07-09
Correspondence Of the Pacific Com. Advertiser.l
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Mr.. SpIrcR:l read the remarks of your last and
this week s paper upon the subject of Oahu College with
deep regret Net because 1 feared the unwilling or ex-
posture of any secret wickednessw which had been prac-
ticed by the trustees or officers, because l knew none
existed, at least I had been able to discover none,
and my opportunities. for doing so have been more
favorable than those Of most others, having been a
member of the Board of Trustees of the college from
the beginning, and of Punahou School from its first
institution, and rarely, I think never, absent from a
meeting of the Board of the Executive Committee, of
which | have always been a member and also treas
urer of the Institution, except during my visits to
the United States, in 1872 and 1852. Neither did
my regret chiefly arise from the suspicion which the
insinuations Of those remarks were adapted to throw
upon the integrity of the whole body of trustees and
OF the executive officers of the college, for however
unjust l may believe them to have been to all as
individuals, and however dear personal reputation
must be any one, still, it cannot be allowed to cat
weigh great public interests. My chief source IF re-
gret is that, so far as those remarks exert al influence,
it will be adverse to the college. Though they may
not have been intended, yet they are adapted to throw
obstacles in the way of the success OF the enterprise,
whose interests Messrs- Beckwith and Armstrong have
gone to the United States to promote.
To build up institutions of learning has at all times,
and in all places, been found to be a difficult ana APP
hill work, and especially where their endowment has
been by voluntary contributions; and L should be
sorry that any good man could be found in this COM
munity who desired the failure of the enterprise at
Punahou, or who would Intentionally or even willingly
contribute to such q result, and l cannot believe that
you would do 50, and yet such seems to me the direct
tendency of your remarks. 1t seems unwise to throw
obstacles in the way of the success of this enterprise
even in . pecuniary point of view, for the tendeReY
OF educational institutions is to build up ssSsy and
render its foundations more @-s5-ouu this uniformly
enhances the value of property, it attracts good and
desirable men, and is in every respect a pecuniary
advantage to property holders, to say nothing of the
vastly greater value of social blessings which attend
them. These united advantages are deemed SO im-
portant that few communities are to be found which
are not wiling to make large pecuniary sacrifices te
establish educational institutions in their midst. How
often = there i 1audable emulation stimulated be.
swcen different cities or sections Of country, and how
liberal often are the subscriptions to secure the location
of a college. Such have been the feelings of commu-
mites fbr ages.
Ii 1873 The city Of Leyden, in the State of Holland
md united kingdom of the Netherlands underwent
one of the most memorable sieges of history. Spair
then in its glory and at the head of European mon.
arches, carried persecution withfr and sword into thu
low countries, 4 zen her provinces. Her victims were
50 numerous that the labor of erecting gibbcts was too
great and the trees shading the walks in the neigh.
/ borhood of the cities were adorned with the bodies O
i fhe dead till the air was loaded with pestilence. NJ
hneer able to endure these atrocities, the Netherland,
loso in rebellion against the gigantic Spanish power
to win for themselves if possible the blessed boon o
IeFeILgious freedom. The invincible armies Of Spair
poured into the country, determined to crush the re
Z 1ellior&>d " nnssiblo tn supnress the last sir'.@e-