The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1860-08-23

That persons under these circumstance, and looking
from the English stand point, should fall into what
Ne are fully convinced ! a grieyous error, j. not at all
surprising. Yet when individuals. vince residence
among Us o.. numbered ~ = fe~ brief months. take
II uuoE themselves % declare auihoritaJiyely that the
English ifrguage J. the gres; i-sileratum Of the
time--,he only agency in fact through which the
u1ri.r can Re s.sei and, moreover, when Il :
Directly chtrg-I that the pioneer # the Protestant
miss q G. mui-,ei an ireIcu,abie J.unier in not
having ainpreI originally their own tongue a. the
sa-e ueIuu q their Instructions. ~ teg leSye
20 suggest that these wrII-meauiug friends may posi-
bly, be travelling beyond the recOrl- In any event,
tHe-e eE,raoriina-y positions are simply assumed,
without ever IN attempt TO establish them Dy suitable
proof For ourselves. se cannot but regard them as
incapable Of such proof
Nothing = easier than 70 i.-parage the genera
tons which have gone before u. Yet. let those who
will. 20 housing after The faults oftbe fathers, We say.
We prefer % recount their noble words aud noble
deeds, whilst boiling ~ for the generation and imi-
rat;cn Of those Nho are coming after Us, their fair
names, the opponents ofevery thing magnauimous
sud good among men.
- of the excellent men. the pioneers OF the Protest
ant Mission on these Islands. We have no disposi-
tioa 20 deny that they were men Of ike passions With
ourselves. But they were men If stern Christian
princip,e-meu Of high aims and Of sound practical
sense. and whatever may have been their errors, We
aEe confident that the mere INTRODUCTION Of their own
language a. the medium IF their instructions 10 the
Hawaiian people can never be recAonei IL one o!
them. The bare fact Of possibilities connected with
this particular part Of the question, We shall not here
discuss. But that. acting Is those sensible men then
dii, they acted wisely. no; only for their own time,
but or all subsequent time, we caunot for a moment,
T-uE. g. urT - cannot nm- ha rIyar3e1 ~ "a sfgrf5-
cant tac. that the vast majority Of pioneer Mission
aries at the present day, acting under similar circum-
stances, c9rrobora;e By their own decisions tni-
view Of the case.
The English language was no: a necessity for H4-
raiilus in 1870. neither has il been shown 10 be a
general necessity now. That 10 = limited extent. It
would form a valuable feature in our educational ap-
parltus we are not iuclineI 20 dispute. But that
any thing Ike a general employment e that or Of
any foreign language, III cur common schools, = 10
be deniel, We have never yet seen reasonable evidence.
Indeed OF all the arguments which readily occur t.
one, whether drawn from past experience or from al
appeal ,n general principles, not one can L. male 10
favor the adoption Of any foreign language Tor Hs-
waiiaLs that would not be equally forcib.e i'll a resort
10 the same singular measure, m the case u any
partially enlightened nation on earth.
A. Z, the Hawaiian people, i, may safely te assert
Ell that, ~ a body. they have no desire tor the English
- - study 10 be pursued 70 useful results. Neither
haze the pupils IN our public schools natural capac-
ity sr such 4 study. Iadcel they have little apti-
tude for patient study of any kind. \ sooliy num-
her. doubtless. might be found Jealous for the moment
20 provide an English education for their children
bur the interest would pro.e epheneral, aud chiefly
for the sake OF the eciat which "a scattering Of the
new lruaurge might confer, without any purpose or
a-.. ~ - rrf.4S.r nd Hence V- T. fuTSlIl-
Fl the effort TO Introduce tie proposed study in the
manner yr1pO-el by solue, would, 10: tlriIy, prove
Il miserable failure. Ia making aE estimate Of pro-
liabilities pro and con. let J; be borne ia mind ;hAt
the English r.ur>-,ily the most liHcu'J OF lam
gauges. aud that va, muiriruics - those 20 whom
il . yeru4cuIir, really have 10 sufficient mas
terry OF it ~ serve beyond the most ordinary puT-
poses and the lowest CONDITIONS ol human iIfe-aLd
What can he expected from such IA People a. his:
But look %r a moment at What has already been
achieyeI in the study of English by Hawuiiaus. II
J. not claimed that nothing has heeu accomplished.
Saule valuable results are certainly apparent. But
then how insignificant when Tie amount OF htbor he
slowed is CONSIDERS ! For forty years the language
has been taught more or less systematically, in
various parts Of the Islands, yet how neager are the
fruits Of these forty years those know who are post
Il in the history OF Hawaiian education.
\ comparison Of the Hawaiian people with other
Pacific tribes will aid ia coming to truthful couclu-
s.ous in this matter. Recurring 10 the reliable re-
ports which have been received from Micronesia.
we learn that tribes whose intercourse with English
speaking r~creigners has only heen Of recent date and
exceedingly limited in extent, - such English words
and phrases ~ they have been wont to hear repeated,
with much greater huency than do this people after
a constant English intercourse OF sixty years or
more. The testimony leads Us 10 the unavoidable