The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1878-11-23
THE PACIFIC
mnlertlalAOOertlse
SATURDAY. NOVEMBER %.
Beecher Interviewed.
The PLrxoUTn PASTOR a GRANT Man AND ALSO
AN EToLCTIoSIsT.

An EToLUTIoNIsT.
Interview in the san Francisco Chronicle:
You are interested in politics, Mr.. Beecher!"
al am interested in everything that concerns
the welfare Of the human race"
And a Grant man. | believe p"
Yes, l am a Grant man-hrst, middle, and
last. / always have been a Grant man. | have
never swerved from that faith. l think him 70
have the very genius of common sense. When
called 70 power ne made the mistakes natural 20
a man brought up IN the army. de undertook
to manage the Government as If it were an army.
Later in our history he will be looked back to as
one of our greatest men. We never had a Pres
ident who was not called a scoundrel, and cri-
ticised as imbecile. corrupt, incompetent, foolish
and everything else, but as soon as they went
out Of office the clamor all died out. Fifty years
later they loomed up on the horizon as great
men, and people began to make pilgrimages 70
their tombs. L think it will be the same way
with Grant. | think he will yet be shown 10 be
one of the wisest and on the whole most sensible
Presidents we have ever had"
did you not make some allusion to Butler in
your lecture last evening p
"Yes, | believe | said something about Butler.
He is a very big-brained man. He has a certain
kind Of ability, but he is not the man | should
select for a saint-a political saint, | mean-one
whose aureole is not expected to be very brilliant.
When all that is of the earth shall have been
winnowed out of him, there may be something
left in the other world
What do you think of President Hayes and
his p~olicy?"
"Mr. Hayes seems to be a most excellent gen.
tleman-a man with the very beet intentions,
with q great deal Of quiet persistence, but with
out that big power of brain by which he can
make his will coerce the will of other men. |
think that in a time of comparative peace, when
there were questions of only ordinary Importance
to be settled, be would make a model President.
He is not for a time like this, when there are
eddies, and conflicts, and tides; when it is neces-
sary for a man, by force of disposition, to make
other men do right.
"Do you believe in the methods which some
Of his party have used to thwart or oppose his
plans 2"
'sMr. Conkling and his friends seem to me to
be harsh in the course they are pursuing. L have
not liked their temper, although L am a Repub-
Iican. AS for Mr.. Conkling, l have always held
him personally in high esteem
"Do you hope for a speedy return Of good
feeling in the South?
'I think the Government has done all that it
can do at the South. Some people think that
the feeling in the public mind in that locality
can be allayed by outside influence. 1 do not
think so. When the present generation dies out
and another comes L think the South will expe-
rience an era of prosperity which we of the North
can hardly realize"
Have you anything further to say on the
labor question? ?"
While you fellows ont here are crying out
against oppression, l don't think you know any
thing about it. You know nothing of the slavery
which we at the East are suffering. 1t is the
capitalists, the bloatcd bondholders, the business
men, the manufacturers there who are ground to
powder. This is so, at least in our great city,
where L see wealthy men rolled in a sea of
trouble and helpless. In the wave of disaster
that has passed over this country everybody has
got to suffer some."
After some further elaboration on this point,
with some suggestions in respect to public edu-
cation and the law of progress, MIR. Beecher went
on to say:
81 have a strong leaning to the Darwinian
theory, though L am not a technical Darwinian.
l think that evolution is the theory of nature. l
think that all men in the Church who are well
informed agree in this, sharing the opinion with
such eminent scholars as DIR. McCosh, of Prince
ton College, in whom the Church has conf
dence."
Taking Agassiz's view, perhaps? p
:" Yes or Cope's or Wallace's. As to the
general facts there can be no manner Of doubt
among thoughtful and religious men who have
reached forty years of age. The theory is going
to revolutionize theology"
What will be its effect on religion?"
81 don't think, in the long run, religion will
be injured. On the contrary, it will be helped
that is, man viewed from the moral side will be
better when all these scientific truths shall be
surely known. Theology | deem to be an attempt
~ ~ ~ oA NHS "NANA W u Wiz
The method of accounting for these facts, which
we call Calyinistic, seems to be less and less
applicable"
Will not what is called orthodox religion
suffer from these onslaughts Of science ?'
Mr.. Beecher paused, looked a little doubtful
and then said
81 think not. My impression is that the
New Testament contains more scientific truth
than we give it credit for. Were Paul alive now
l think he would shine as an evolutionist."
Before continuing his theological discussion,
Mr.. Beecher diverged a little, to give a disserta-
ton on the Chinese question. He said 81
am against you yet 1 am here as a student,
bound to make every inquiry. L have always
been an abolitionist. l am a Democrat in the
ory-too much of one to belong to the Demo-
cratic party. l am a friend to the laboring-men,
but L don't believe in coddling them and moan
ing over them. L think our workingmen are
largely responsible for the ills they suffer. They
want the ability to come to the front, to take
part in the affairs of life, and in legitimate ways
to compel the righting of their wrongs"