The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-02-26
The Destiny and Triumph Of
Civilization:
An Address Delivered Februnry IS, 1870,
by His ExceIIeucy =. h. Phillips,
al Rudum HnII, Honolulu.

~
An A Sg Ri: R RssilfrsS Fti Il. PSir lip 1870
al RHGHm Hull, Honolulu.
: must confess, that after accepting, somewhat
rashly, the kind invitation of those who act iol
you, 1 was not 4 little embarrassed to determine
what subject, in this community of varied tastes
and before this audience Of nice discrimination
would be most fit for an hours discussion.
In this uncertainty, / sought relief; and upon
the arrival of one Of the last mails, | fortunately
purchased a few numbers of the Illustrated Lon
don NeUs.-a publication whose character and
success exactly illustrate the direction and de-
veIopment of modern art. The first wood-cut
which caught my eye was a s. pIe,C Of Athens
riM The nel0 RGiitrGy StGtiOH." To superficial
observation, the view was not impressive. a
station-house of insignificant proportions, of no
architectural merit, and most lmperlectly con-
structed ,-surrounded by a few cars indignantly
shaped, could certainly attract but little notice,
in days when the skill and energy of the world are
concentrated upon railway enterprise. Neither
were the surroundings of the picture at once
suggestive. There was a conglomeration of
houses, by no means remarkable, and there were
a few hills whose naked outline and moderate
elevation i'll compared with the mountain scenery
Of the Hawaiian Islands. But a close examina-
ton revealed some more noticeable Objects
especially in the right hand corner. A DOric
temple, almost perfectly preserved, presented with
a chaste design and f~aultless proportions a form
of exquisite symmetry while upon an adloin-
ing crag was another temple, upon which, al
though equally superior to the ravages OF time
and the elements, the vaudal hands of man had
wrought terrible havoc. 1t was dcfled by para
site structures. The false and g%rotesque lines of
Saraccnic art were in unpleasant contrast with
the severe simplicity and standard beauty of the
most triumphant architectural monument of
Greece. But there it stood, magnificent in its
ruins, in its most commanding position, high
above everything else, ancient or modern, upon
which the eye could rest. 1t was indeed the
Parthenon, the immortal shrine dedicated to the
memory of intellectual development and strength,
by which art has paid its contribution to the
cause of wisdom. and indicated to the judgment
of centuries, the proud claims of Athens. Still
other objects arrested the eye. The hill impend-
ing over the city, is the honied Mount of Hymet-
tus, with It's bees buzzing elOquence. The valley
below is watered by the renowned llissus. Mars
Hill and the stone seats of the AreOpagus are
close at hand. Every spot and every structure is
rich with classic memories
"Where'er we tread. Ills haGnted holy ground
20 earth Of thine is lost IN vulgar mould,
But one vast realm Of wonder spreads around,
And all the Muses. tales seem truly told,
Til the sense aches with gazing 10 behold
The scenes our earliest dreams have dwelt upOn.'
Into this honored and sacred domain, of
which it is fit that the soil should be only trod
with reverence, the locomotive and steam whistle
have forced their way. 1t seems like assailine
the ggis of Minerva with rude blows from Vui-
cans hammer, aud as if the b%egrimmed old God
of Fire was to hold the chief place even in the
court of the Goddess of Wisdom.
Does not this idea furnish food for reflection?
Which is worth more to Modern Athens. the
ParthenOn or the railway station? Which will
endure longer, or exert the more lasting influence
upon the welfare and destinies of the world -
the intellectual treasures, which were unveiled
by Pallas and the Muses. and transmitted to a
wondering pOsterity in the literature, art and
philosophy of Ancient Greece or the tremen-
dous power of steam, with it's revoIutionizing in
f1uences, which has almost annihilated time and
space, which has cOnfounded nationaIities, over
coming physical and material barriers, and by
facilitating intercourse, compelling mankind to
forget old differences, to consider their nation as
the whole world, and to identity all their wishes
and aspirations with the cause of enlightened
progress and human advancement. Or, ON the
whole, is any comparison fit and proper? Can
one of these influences exist without the other?
Can either be spared to the world i'll which we
live2 What has been the contribution of either
or both to the advancement of mans estate? In
what have they conduced to civilization? What
is civilization?
While thus specializing, it occurred to me that
an hour might be profitably spent in thoughts
upon the DESTINY AND TRIUMPH OF CIyILIzA-
But in approaching such a subject, it is most
to discard prejudice and vanity. Neither
should too thorough a civilization be arrOgantly
claimed in behalf of any nation or the present
age. The ParthenOn still stands upon its lofty
pinnacle, it's prestige not impaired. In the
nagnifcence of it's ruins, it defes admiration.
Artistic skill and taste, through wondering ages,
nave failed to compass that marvellous beauty,
which is concealed by nothing but severe sim
1licity. When modern taste and imagination
an arrive at the height of this great argument,
when it can supply the missing parts, or even
hose of a BelYiderean Apollo, we may boast of
N art of sculpture worthy of Pheidias or Prax-
teles. The same is true of the intellectual and
lore impalpable monuments of the wisdom, cul-
urp and faEfn Of (.raeNa WIan orators ebaI
risen to the measure of DemOstheues when :
he sublimity of Athenian tragedy shall have ;
cen attained by any dramatist of any country :
r of any age when the wit of Arlstophanes 8
as found a parallel; other cultivated nations =
an afford to boast. When schemes of philOso- :
by can be made perfect without borrowing from 7
.ristOtle and Plato; when military genius can :
improve upon the Retreat of the Ten Thousand .
the tactics of Marathon when a higher COM :
liment shall ever be claimed for any cultivated =
rganizatiOn of human society, or any exquisite =
eveiopment of all that is elegant and ennobling '
the aspect of human life, than that it was
orthy of the Age of Pericles, then and not till 7
zen the world can regard with Indifference the =
)lendid civilization of Greece. 7
But it is not the civilization of Greece alone =
hich the present age is bound to contemplate =
18th admiration and almost despair. Recent ex- ="
into almost forgotten fields of human .
isdom should teach us modesty. AS we are =
tuatcd in these islands, at the halfway place -
etween the civilization of the Old World and :
ew, we can occasionally contrast the achieve -
ents and destiny of a new nation on one side, "
18th the -ecoTd of the Oriental countries on the -
her which extend back into hoary antiquity. ~
Ong before the discovery of America, or before -
illus Cesar ever saw or heard Of Great Britain, VI
sfOre Alexander descended the valley of the In "
rs, great nations which still exist had deyeIoped Ii
civilization which continues TO excite the won
n of the world. 1t is perhaps the highest
ibute which can be paid to the civilization of
nina and Japan, that in the havoc and confusion s.
hIch time and mans devices have made with ii
lie institutions of Europe and the rest of the
orld, the establishment of their political or SC
has been preserved on n firm basis. in
ithout loss of identity, with an unbroken series ii
records, and an unmistakable national character
r a period of twenty-five or thirty centuries. b.
or do we require evidence, in other quarters, of OF
civilization whose refinement has never been Il
sty appreciated One illustration may be found I'll