The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-11-30

the elo-IueEce II the orator. the art O. the lawyer Anu
the eaihusiasn Of the apostle were tremendously
combined. appealed to the people, and said, Of We
may translate the original in the spirit which many
critics say the original warrants,) "le men Of Athens
Everything indicates your deep religious sensibility.
for - | passed among you and beheld You at your
deyotions, l saw al altar with this inscription, To the
Unknown God. Whom therefore We iguorantly
worship. Him. declare l unto your'
But the most practical considerations fully justify
the eforis VI public opinion 10 command full atten-
ton 70 physical culture Go into a community Of
sh0emakers, and notice the reduced forms, contracted
chests and unhealthy appearance ~ the men, which
indicate how many are Systematically Sacnhcei 20 i
mere love Of money They are sacrificed 10 the ne
eessities and ayarice OF others; and public opinion
~enlures the spectacle. Let public opinion lie REFORM
Ell, and 10 prevent the degeneracy OF the race, there
Will be secured reasonable hours Of Labor, more
healthy lodgings and workshops, sta.el anu inVlsor-
Gtiug exercise, more regular habits, greater abs,in-
ence from gross indulgence, frequent and improving
social intercourse. With this will come = higher in
iellectUal growth and the increase Of generous sent-
ments Il = not necessar- FOR men TO drudge al
their DAYS. \ bOuuteOus Providence gives Us enough
and 10 spare. The generous earth distributes Its
abundance in excess vi human wants, and the Wit Of
man was not been taxed in vain for " the improve
ment Of mans estate" Ii i said, by careful Oh
servers, that the great increase Of labor saving
machinery has but one effect which all coneede; and
that Is 10 lessen the demand for exhaustng and pro
tractei human labor. The introduction Of sewing
III lL- ltN AGA4NFA NG 0AIN-l~N +NNA@-- -
garments really cost less, more are bought or cloth
used Of a superior quality. Nobody's expenses Of
living are materially diminished, but the hours OF
manual labor have been very much shortened Ing
reduction Is still going Oh, and the most difficult social
problem Of the age Is the extent 10 which the reiuc-
ton shall be carried. In all this confusion nature Is
asserting her rights, and the desire of all mankind
20 promote physical culture and Improve their phy-
steal condition, Is all indication and a cause OF the
rapidly changing state of things There Is II deep
significance i'll the general establishment of athletic
clubs, which deserves the careful consideration of
philanthrUpists and all who study social science.
IL seems TO Inc therefore, young gentlemen, that
you are not merely following the fashion of the day,
but that your organization Is rendering its contribu-
ton 10 the cause of human advancement.
Your situation Is most ftNorabie; and there Is much
in the circumstances under which you have cOm-
mencel TO excite enthusiasm. Ii it were not enough
to take n most practical view Of the subject, it would
lie easy TO run INTO a rhapsody about the inspiring
influences 10y which you are surrounded. But l wish
to improve my time and speak Of the other objects Of
your organization
! understand that physical culture and training Is
not your only object. You desire the sound mind rs
we'll a. the sound body Of which Juyenal speaks; and
You now wish TO lay the foundation of an institution
which shall contribute to the intellectual development,
and elevate the Intellectual standard, Of the COM
munity. In this all will almi; that you have chosen
well. Neither will your labor lie vain. But there
are many things 10 lie considered and remembered.
Some think u warm climate unfavOrable to intel
lectugl Development. 1t Is often urged that some
pressure Of necessity, like the constant care for animal
comfort IN "A cold country, or the fear of impending
starvation, l. Indispensable TO secure the vigorous
and healthy action of the human intellect; and, there
fore, that the severity of an Iceland or Siberian win
ter j. more eOngcnial to the culture II the human
mind than the gentler atmosphere OF Greece, or the
exhaustive climate Of HIndOstan. by similar reason-
ing, some may claim that intellectual effort Is out Of
the question IN these Islands, rich "a the situation Is
IA all that Is curious and exciting to the human i'll
tellect.
This proposition. striped of it, DISCUSSES. is equiv
alent 10 a declaration that the natural state Of man is
n state Of Incidence and inaction; which is even more
startling than the proposition Of Hobbies, who aver
rel mans natural state TO lie that of war. Now,
there i u vast difference between the desire 10 avoid
exhausting labor. and u disposition TO lazness. The
spirit Of the age demands, as We have seen, ON behalf
Of oppressed humanity, some relief from the grind
ing aud debasing toll which has been the lot of too
many for too long a time But ii Is the same spirit
wh;ch is exacting an increased attention TO the laws
of mans physical well being; and We have shown the
inevitable consequences 81 the latter 10 be the eIeNa-
ton Uf mans moral AMI intellectual nature. IL
should therefore, seem to follow that, inasmuch as the
conditions of climate, in warmer ATTITUDES, secure the
race against overwhelming physical eXertion, and
leave the opportunity for physical culture and reason-
able recreation, there should be found even within
the tropics, the most delicate intellectual susceptible
ity and the widest range for intellectual effort.
This view, | think, is confirmed by human expert
ence. | have already spoken Of Greece in another
connection. But Greece was no Siberia. 1t was the
land Of the olive and the vine. In the narrow sense
of the term, understood by some, Its people were not
industrious. The condition of severe labor was not
imposed by the sternness of the climate, nor accepted
by the spirit of the people The criticism of St. Luke
in the book of Acts was that the Athenians and
strangers which were there, spent their time IN moth
ing else, but either to tell or hear some new thing.
Such a population we're restless and versatile,-not
indOlent, nor was the national intellect sluggish or
undisciplinei. Neither were their works vain, for
the intellectual monument reared by Greece has sur
vivid the crash of kingdoms, and the change of intel
lectUal centres. As We stand here IN the midst of the
Pacific Ocean to forward by our efforts the civilizng
a fta ~ allar enunfrfaS y.prmelfIpn fhronppI
these distant Islands, | am tempted TO use the closing
words Of Macaulay's famous tribute to the immortal
fame and mighty influence Of the Grecian intellect.
" When they who have witnessed her downfall shall
have shared her decay, when the sceptre shall have
passed away from England, and visitors from some
distant island shall in vain labor TO decipher upon
the PEDESTAL Of some moul1ering monument, the in
~scription Of her %proudest chief, shall hear savage
hymns chaunted to some m~isshaped idol from the
dome Of her most yenerated cathedral, or shall see a
single naked fisherman mending his net in the city
Of ten thousand masts, her influence and her glory
shall still survive, fresh in immortal youth, exempt
from mutabili,y and decay, eternal as the life giving
principle TO which it owes its existence and over which
il exercised control"
| NAV have wandered from the proposition imme-
diately under discussion, which was that human ex-
perience had disprOved the claim that a cold climate
was a condition CT inteHectuh excellence, ana was
illustrating II by the decisive example OF Greece
Other illustrations are not wanting. IL Is hardly
worth while TO go into questions of the comparative
intellectual power of races about which ethnclosists
uiner- ii L hFH, Hl-ut Spthh VI III SAS"' NS
of the Saracens in the meliseval period in preserving
the vestal fire of civilization, or Of the vas; fund Of
intellectual treasure, which recent explorations Of
Oriental literature have revealed. | ask You TO turn
% Hin,lostan, and satisfy yourselves by four memoir
able examples, what the Anglo Saxon mind can
achieve ia that s~corching and sweltering land. Its
climate Is hardly endurable TO the Caucasian races-
At least il is thought not TO be. To send an English
man 10 India is thought by many equivalent TO guar
anteeing him a fortune and the liver complaint; and
il would hardly he supposed that in such a country,
whose temperature is assumed TO be Inconsistent with