The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-12-02
THE PACIFIC
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SATURDAY ...........DECEMBER .. 1852

He hath not dealt so with any nation."-
Psalm 147, T.. 20.
The above words of the inspired Psalmist
are ITO doubt the sentiment of every patriot,
whatever may be the condition or position
of his country. This very text has been
adopted as one of the national notices of
the Republic Of Mexico, and the traveller in
Mexico sees displayed on the walls of the
national Legislative Hall, and on tab
lets in the sacred church edifices OF that
country the Latin version of the Psalmist's
words, "non fecit tdliter Onlni nationi."
The citizen Of the United States sojourning
i'm Mexico looks with amusement and a
feeling akin to scorn on this motto adopted
by q nation which he esteems so much in
ferior to that to which he himself belongs.
But III n consideration of the physical char
acteristics of the land, the Mexican can
point out to the American with some pride
the loftier mountains, the richer mines, the
greater variety Of products which the fer
tile soil yields both by nature and in re-
turn to the Iabors of the cultivator, and
also the more ancient civilization of his
country. And more than this, he will tri-
u~mphantly confront his boastful norther
neighbor with certain social facts which,
however the latter may esteem them, the
majority of ank take to be evidences of
n desirable land. He will tell him how little
his country knows of the conflict of creeds
which disintegrates American society. He
will show him that whilst the United
States can boast of q yearly increase of
population from other lands, Mexico is pro-
Life of population born on the soil that
Mexican women nave not succumbed to the
physical degeneration or learned the secret
arts by which the women of American birth
have become so sterile. He can truly say
that whilst racial characteristics have made
him unsettled politically, there is a greater
social union, a more thorough oneness of
the people in religion, in every day habits,
and in desires, than can be found across the
northern border Of his State.
Physical greatness has been somewhat
too much dwell upon by orators who,
taking the past, the present, and the ex-
pected future of the United States for their
theme, rave descanted on her mountains,
plains and rivers, the capabilities of her
soil, the robust energy of her population,
the wide space that remains within her
borders for incoming millions. But if mere
physical vastness is to count for so much,
the Tartar may hold up his head with a
challenge, and claim to be in the van of hui
man affairs. He nay peint to the bewil-
dering extent of his mighty steppes and the
all but insurmountable physical buIwarks
which surround the region which he calls
his own. He may show us the snow clad
mountains which have so few peers, and
the wide areas over which his countless
hOcks and herds car ruam, and ask what
there is in the survey-bounded limits of
even an American prairie ranch to compen-
safe for the wide liberty, the almost bound
less space which he enjoys. He may boast
of the calm and equable existence which
hc and his fathers have enjoyed from I'M
memorial time, varied only by warIike cd
venture sought for as II relaxation and an
amusement, and ask what an artificial lie
in the crowded cities, whose grandeur ami
rapid gro With is the Americans boast, and
amid the hurry and strife whose motto is
"the devil take the hindmOst" which
forms the everyday life of the American,
can present to compensate him should he
lose the tranquil patriarchal life he now
leads. Tt is told of the IcelaRder in London
that he fell hOmesick in that center of
civilization and looked back with regret TO
sights which surrounded him as he grew
up to manhood, to the grandeur of glaciers,
SAlON -COhCACA DCeHo ~ OhCAlhS So
and in that richest and busiest of cities
sighed for those abundant sources of wealth
which he had been taught to esteem-the
whales, the walruses, the seals of his icy
seas. This poor Icelander was ready To
say, "God hath not dealt so with any ma
tion," with all the fervor with which the
Psalmist of old uttered the words. And so,
for the reasonable self-cOmplacent gratula-
ton ofthe patriot of any and every country,
this exclamation is a very suitable one.
The resident in this country, be he native
or naturalized foreigner, may
and with especial propriety adopt
the same language, and claim as hi, own
the fervent ejaculation, "God hath not
dealt so with any nation" How favorable
and how goodIy in aspect are the physical
conditions in which we live. Here we are
free from those violent tempests which
sweep so destructively over portions of the
American continent, uncursed by the
hurricane which uprOots forests amid
houses and their inhabitants amid
the turmoil of the elements. Neither are