The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-12-05
A THANKSGIVING DISCOURSE
By Rev. Walter Frear.

PsALs s5.2. 3.
Ny fellow citizens of the United States @
America
The Chief Magistrate of our loved country ha
again its citizens to render thei
thanksgiving TO the great God of all mercies 70
the blessings of the year. As in the past. so still
1t is in our hearts to heed that luminous though
a wide ocean separates US from the nearer shor
of the home land.
1 cannot but think that this annual thanksgiv
ing, officially proclaimed, and now generally OBJ
served and cherished, has been a means of grea
good to that dear country of ours. 1t not onI,
has been a rigbtful recognition of the Divint
Hand, but as a governmental policy nothing coulC
have been wiser. Nothing has tended more L
promote a true patriotism. Such annual recog
milton of the divine favor in the life and pros
perlty of the nation, with the Joyous family asso.
Citations that garland as with sweet flowers thu
Offering OF praise, in connection with which offer.
ing also, are cherished thoughts of the worth, The
history, the fruitfulness, the freedom of their
land, has done much to awaken that love and
pride OF country which swells Ia the hearts OF
Americans wherever they may be. These thanks
giving days have been as clear still waters beside
which the people have stood, and in which have
been reflected upon their hearts the distinguish
ing excellences of their country and seeing which
they have loved it the more. In a nation so
young and yet so vast, so diffused, SO heteropene-
Gus in its elements, it is remarkable. and a tbinp
to be thankful for, that there is a national spirit,
an enlightened patriotic love of country. which
ages and ages OF history have hardly produced in
other lands.
One year ago on this Thanksgiving occasion. in
the introduction to my address, 1 remarked that
"the day was yet American" And I asked
"Why. 1t should not also be Hawaiian? Why
should not our King recognize in public procla-
nation the Divine Hand, and all the places of
worship on these favored isles, be opened in ma
tlonal acknowledgment of our observation-disclosures
to the Divine Goodness p"
Such proclamation / rejoice to say, has been
issued this year. 1t is to be regretted, especially
at this time, when this Government is seeking
closer relations of amity and mmer with the
United States, that the two nations could not
have united their voices on the same day in the
one anthem OF praise. 1t would have given ex-
to the fraternal interest and sympathy
which we are sure really exist. The departure of
His Majesty. is regarded as the sufficient reason
for the difference in the day this year, but NAV
we not hope that in the future, between America
and Hawaii, there will be but one Thanksgiving
lay, and that the day will be both Hawaiian and
and that all residents will unite in it.
1t is the two days this year have not divided
our thanksgiving. They have but made it to be
In fact as we listened to the discourse.
in this house last week, we saw that there could
1 g T2l Ha y a Thanksgiving that yy II ssIRe88tsfa baytt
there are two, the thanks that 90 up and the
discussed will be much the same. Nor
leeu GthdllhDo lCdE Iudb EQeT voices WOulC De
drowned, if they joined in the one great thanks
song. 1t would be but another note in the
me harmony. Nay rather, how many notes there
would be in that one song, which Americans re-
here, and Hawaiians born here, would
rave 70 sing together. In all that pertains to the
NATIONAL life and government, to culture, to COM
nercial prosperity, to religion and society, their
7oices would have to blend in any genuine song
If grateful praise. Americans here, have MANY
Kings to be thankful for, that are Hawaiian,
as their sunny pleasant place of residence, |
he salubrious breezes that bring the bloom of
lealth to their cheeks, and the fairness of the soil, |
hat is the basis of their prosperity; but the mo-
nent they, or Hawaiians, touch on anything that
s really national, in the way of history, govern
nent, institutions, position, security, fame or life
tself, they strike upon nerve cords and blood
ems that lead straight to the brain and heart of
America.
The Hawaiian people have profound reason TO
e grateful for the divine favor. God has given
hem a romantic home, and a bealthful cline.
lie has brought civilization, and the light of life
o their once dark shores. He has given them
he unspeakable blessings of the gospel, and of
oyernment. Many of them have known the
reciousness of Christ's gift of eternal life; and
be entire missionary work that has been done
ere can never cease to be to them a matter of
ratitude and joy. Great things have been done
Dr. them whereof they and we should be glad.
But let us not live in a fiction. I am per-
uaded, that the sooner we, Hawaiians and all,
Understand our real position here on these Islands.
nd recognize 1T; the sooner we will cease to be
lisunderstood. The more honest we are with
~urselyes, the less need we will feel of the en-
orsement OF those who visit US, and the less
urious we will be to learn how much they have
)und out about us, and what they think of us.
he more we assume to be, the more we will be
Zpected to make good our assumptions. IF we
aim too much in a national way we must not
e surprised if we do not receive favors that we
light otherwise hope for. If we boast of too
luch as having been the result of the conversion
+ a heather people to Christ, we must not be
If we are sometimes viewed in an unjust
I'd unfavorable light. We dwellers here, native
I'd foreign born, it must be confessed are some
hat given to speaking of the great things that
aye been done on these Islands, almost as if they
ere a purely Hawaiian development. 1t is not
to hear this civilization spoken of as
whole, just as it exists here to-day, with its
institutional government, its jury and iurispru-
snce, Its commerce I" that spreads its white
iDgs y in remote seas, its public buildings, it's
ores and warehouses, its extensive foreign rela-
pms, its national peace and order, its accumu-
ted capital and refined society, its working
hristianity, and all that makes up the name and
rtune Of this Kingdom lit is not uncommon to
ar it all spoken of in the lump, In such a wav,
il would seem to have all come out Of pol I
ted beathenism-spoken of as if it were all a '
oud record for the once degraded Hawaiian.
Ut we know that out from underneath all such 4
tements there is peeping at us, with a broad s
in on his face, a funny little fellow, whose @
me is Fallacy. As a nation this people is not, {
d can never be distinctly Hawaiian. Its make q
}, its presentation TO the world, its business g
.aracter, its brains, its achievements, its stores d
d fine residences, its wealth, its commerce, its e
and standing are not a Hawaiian deyel- C
ment. The numerous and influential descend o
ts of the missionaries, and its leading citizens &
nerally are not the result Of converted heathen- a
D. 1t has recognized independence, and in the Il
y of privilege it has real Independence. But ST
has within itself no organizing principle of life, IA
It uni6es into a national being, and peryades B
tn a national spirit, the elements, in which its q
ength resides. It's trade, its professions, its ri
Ts, its government, it's institutions, it's very r
,sonality as a nation, so to speak, are all per- Il
led with a foreign vitality and force, which 70
Atty and force move freely and work well here fr
G. home, but which vet have their living con- =,