The Hawaiian gazette., 1873-12-10

brightness in her sky, less charm in her
landscape, less gtain in her fields, less
gold and silver il. her hills or less thrift
in her industries than ours Our Joy rath-
er is that God has made the whole earth
so beautiful, and that every land declares
His glory, and every armament shows
His handiwork- He might have made the
morning and evening sky dingy and SON.
bre, but He has every where lit it with
splendor, and He has poured such mani,
festation of His goodness upon the earth,
that the faces of men are lit up with
gladness in spite of the glooms Of sin and
sorrows and tolls of life. All this should
enter into our gratitude to-day.
And let ME say that such blessings fall
upon us as richly perhaps here as they
would if we were upon the old home
ground. We thank Him that He has here
cheered our lives with his mercies; that
He has here kept our hearts from sinking ;
that he has here given US the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness. Do any
here to-day look upon the year with .
feeling of sadness, because their personal
ambition or desires may not have been
I
without large returns; let them not forget
that God has blessed them in the very air
they have brealhed, and in the thousand
/ glories that he has spread over the sky
and over the land for their eyes to behold,
in the flowers that have bloomed at their
doors, and in the bounty withwhich he
has loaded their tables, and in the fine
raiment that He has permitted them to
wear. Our individual fortune may not
have increased, our business may not
have fourished, our shops may not have
\ hummed with industry, nor our ships
come back filled as we could have wished;
our sugars may have brought us most
/ discouraging returns; and yet none of
the things on which our daily and our
best happiness depends have been with
held. Let US not be unthankful for all
these many mercies, without which we
could have no joy or comfort, even though
all our desires and all that in which we
may have been disappointed had been
given Us. 1t is mercy and joy to us
as individuals, and as community, that
our life and health have been so choicely
preserved, that our funerals have been so
few, that no pestilence has walked abroad,
that the heavens over us have not been as
brass nor the sun rs fire, that the breezes
have not ceased to be salubrious, and that
neither real poverty nor want has looked
into our door. We thank Him also that
the hand of revolt has not been dyed in our
blood, that in critical hours better coun-
sells have prevailed, and peace and safety
are still around our dwellings, that no
sweeping confagration has DESTROYED our
residences and stores. and above all, that
when the throne was vacant and threats
were abroad, and conflict was imminent,
the government was peacefully reastab-
lished and no anarchy ensued- In all this
we recognize the goodness of our God,
aud we render to him our thanks.
And this leads me here to say a word
of the comeliness that God has put upon
our country, in her present perfect peace
He has put upon her brow crown of
beauty in this respect. There is harmony
in her government and among all her
States; and not only does peace as well as
prosperity prevail throughout her borders,
but the grace of Christian fraternity
with all other nations now adorns her.
God has given to her, from out of her
conflicts and yariances, splendid victory
of peace. She wears to-day, in this res
pect, the highest beauty of Christian civ
ilization that has yet been seen on earth.
God forbid, however, that should speak
of the results of the Geneva arbitration,
now so happily consummated and closed |
up by the recent payment of the indem-
nifty, as an American triumph. It's really |
no less triumph to England, and a Joy |
and hope to all the world. 1t is part |
of the comeliness which God is seeking to |
put upon every Christian nation. Peace |
on earth and good will 10 man is vet to |
be the law of nations as well as the rule /
of life in individuals.
And l think that the brave patience of |
America, and her full recognition of the
principle of national rights, ought to as
sure Hawaiians that they have nothing to
fear from her. She wants no conquest
here. She has no grasping design. She
has only love. She would not lay the
smallest finger of oppression upon this or
any other people. She sits to-day the fair
of national peace and good
will on earth, and | doubt not. if ap-
preached on that ground, that she would
grant to this kingdom, out of good will
and, if you please. chivalric love, that
which she would not grant from selfish
motives alone
Again, if l were called upon to mention
The choicest features of our country's
beauty, the highest comeliness which God
mas put upon her, it would be the intelli-
yence, the freedom and virtue of her COM ;
non people. Her renown has gone forth
md she is comely, because of the intelli-
yence, the liberty and religion of her :
masses. Her people to an unusual ex- {
ent are educated, and untrameled and
conscientious, and therefore she is great '
md strong, and hopeful Her glory is in I
he character and individual development.
If her people. 1t is in them that she is !
ich and powerful They are her real |
wealth, and her crown of rejoicing. And g
when 1 say this, when 1 say that the in q
diligence and manhood and industry and e
honesty and truthfulness of her people /
re the bulwarks of her liberties. and her r
trength and safety, l am not unmindful t
f the stains that are on her beauty in this t
particular. 1 do not forget the frauds, a
nd the swindling combinations of capital,
nd the shameful corruption of some that S
re in high places, that mar that beauty, r
ut / do remember also that these are but S