The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-01-17
THE PACIFIC
Commercial A0btrtistr.
SATURDAY. JANUARY
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.


Tho panic and subsequent events connected
herewith occupied my last letter, which, though
long enough for a newspaper letter, hardly touched
upon many Of the most important Of those events
and left wholly unnOtieed occurrences Of great
interest and importance, which happened during
the months OF October and November. The first
in time was the meeting Of the
EVAN0ELICAL ALLIANCE,
Which assembled in this city early in October,
and continued in session for about ten days.
This association consists Of members Of all de-
nominations Of Evangelical Christians the world
over. Its objects are the promotion Of Christian
unity and fellowship and the spread Of the relig-
ion Of Christ. 1t has been doubted whether
those members present in New York truly repre-
sented the various branches or sects Of the Chris
tan world outside OF the Roman Catholic church.
Very probably not, for 1t would be difficult to
find a class Of men more intelligent, learned,
earnest and liberal than those who have recently
occupied the attention Of the world by their dis
cussiOns and plans while in session here. And it
is only too well known that the vast majority Of
the Christian world are as iUiberal, as illogical
and rs uncharitable as the whole world was while
under Roman Catholic power. The world " Of
course, means the Christian or civilized portion
thereof. The opening session proved that sufi-
cient llowanc had not been made for public
interest, and from the first till the last day several
meetings were held simultaneously which were
continually crowded. Some Of the most learned
scholars and brilliant speakers Of Europe and
America were present, and every day furnished
specimens Of learning and eloquencc. The New
York papcrE were full Of accounts Of events and
reports Of remarks-but Of all the papers the
Tri6uHs took the lead every morning il furnished
verbatim reports OF the previous days work and
most Of the speeches. 1t was a feat worthy Of
record and was appreciated by the people and the
Association. After the final close the Tribune
published the 8" Evangelical Alliance Extra, :"
which consisted Of four double sheets, the size of
the Tribune, or thIrty-twO pages-one hundred
and ninety-two eolumns-of closely printed mat
ter, giving a full history Of the convention, its
members and the work done, with the remarks of
greatest interest. The subjects discussed and ex-
-amined embrace a very wide range; but were Of
interest to q general audience and to all readers.
Not the least interesting was the day devoted to
the relations Of Science to Christianity, in which
the learned DR.. McCosh, OF Princeton, figured
prominently. Many will be surprised that he
avoided any denial Of a belief in the Darwinian
theory Of species, which Is distinctly opposed to
the Mosaic account Of the creation. Your eorres-
poDdent will attempt no review of the work and
probable results OF this great gathering suffice it
to shy that very great interest has been shown by
the whole nation, and nearly every magazine and
review besides all Of the leading journals Of the
day, have commented and criticised. Some of
the articles have been very bitter, others have
been mild but decided. Perhaps the clearest
and strongest notes Of opposition came from the
Rev. DIR. Bellows in n sermon preached in New
York the evening Of October 18th, from the text,
. For by one spirit are We all baptized into one
DOuys WntbucE we DC Jews OF NcQLlle6, whether 4
We be bond or free; and have been all made to
drink into one spirit" Il Cor. xii:I3.) The
session of the Alliance was closed by four immense
meetings held on the evening Of October 18th, in
the Academy of Music, ~Steinway and Tammany
Halls, and in the great lecture room of Cooper
Union. Immediately following this great demon
~stration came the meeting of the
FREE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA.
Held in this city on October 18th, and following
days. In most striking contrast with the char
acter Of the Alliance was this assembly; the
to strengthen and d~eyelope unity in Christ
as the keystone of religion the second, to reject
Jesus and put in place thereof, individual thought
and conviction. 1t may not be known what this
ASSOCIATION ton Is, a few years age some 1e,u Of the
of the fallacy of existing forms of religion, united
under the above name, but they have no plat
form, no creed, nothing definite and substantial
in common, except bitter opposition towards the
Christ religion and belief. Their organ is The
Inder, Of Toledo, Ohio, and numbers among it's
men of learning and genius. 1t is
very difficult to ~critieise that which is without
substance and positive character, and it may be
said the Free Religious Association represents
nothing but a system OF negations. Indeed,
that fact is gloried in by The hnder. 1t must not
be supposed by any means that this Association
is made up Of ignorant opponents of Christianity
among Its ranks are the names of Col. L. w.
Higginson, Rev. o. B. Rockingham, Oliver
johnson of the Christian Union, James Parton,
Ut. ADDOb hQQ udUy OltlCEc, huOoc eldLuluR -
men of high character and noble lives cannot be
impeached. They are also men of education and
trained in habits Of thought, observation and
reasoning; men whose opinions are worthy Of
respect and who are superior to that spirit which
would push them aside as unworthy Of notice.
But it is very probable that most Of them are
highly imaginative and poetic, to an impractical
extent. The ordinary human being must have
something definite and well defined to worship,
believe, love and defend, hence the purely intel
ook..a khnOrraa o6yanrr1 o~o hauonH Tho aOnn-ra-
hension of most men, and are not fit for mankind
till the human race shall have been raised above
the practical ideas Of the here and hereafter, now
existing. 1t Is somewhat significant that n mis-
Buddhist, and it is very likely that Col. Higgin-
son himself, is the same. He claims that as q
system, it is superior to ChristoIogy, and there
can be no doubt that Buddha (f he ever existed)
was a man Of singular purity and noble char
acter, indeed was so much like the Christ of his
tory az 10 warrant the suspicion that one history
borrowed from the other. Which was the
p asks HigginsOn. From the above
haEty view of their theories and ideas it will at
once be seen what was the character Of the meet
ings held in this city
THE FALL ELECTIONS
In the various States began about this time, and
as usual, Just following the Presidential election,
were not very exciting But they resulted in
general gains opposed to the present administra-
ton, O fact not thought worthy of comment by
the New York Times, which lOftily remarked that
the Republicans all stayed ut home. But as
9 the Republicans worked with energy to Sc
cure the second or November series, and were
beaten, some notice must be taken OF
The reasons which produced this result. Admin
stration organs stoutly maintained that the only
reason was as given above, but 1t covers too much.
. year ago IL was claimed that with the election
IF Greeley financial ruin and panic would result,
bat with Grant returned prosperity would be-
eome unexampled but n few months have elapsed
since the Inauguration, and in the face of large
crops and manufacturing prosperity q terrible
disaster has overtaken the country, and
and want stare the nation in the face.
In the October and November elections voters
remembered the promise, and fultllment; they
Lao raooIIaI - CivI Sarv1ea RaEorn - prnuniSoa