The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-07-07

I udN-IIt next III OTaicI DtllB III CdAiA
of the Declaration of Independence. But
first allow me TO express the conviction OF
every American present, that it is the
grandest document ever given by man 70
man. Cheers 1t was the first national
declaration that all men are created equal
that they are entitled 10 an equal share OF
the sunshine OF heaven and the fruits of the
earth; that they are equal before the law as
they are equal before God. 1t has become the
hope and inspiration of the struggling
people Of all the earth, and what was
thought a hundred years ago To be the bold
utterance Of a desperate people warning for
their rights, il now the political religion of
every enlightened people.
The ancestors of the men who framed
that document were those who wrung
Magma Charta from King John and under
the oaks Of old England established the
trial By jury; and when the fathers OF the
revolution took up arms against grievances
that had become uncomfortable, they felt 1t
their duty to justify their action in the eyes
of God and man; and the verdict of me n
and angels was that the accused was guilty
a. charged in the august indictment. But
few of those present have perhaps seen the
original d-claratiOn-fOT a long time in the
Patent Office, but now in the State Depart
ment, 1 believe. II j. yellow with age, and
many of the signatures 10 IL are scarcely
legible. The name of grand old John Han
cock is among the brightest but even that
is growing dim while those of Stephen
Hopkins, whose hand was palsied but
whose heart was iron tcheersl, and others,
can scarcely be read, and all are steadily
fading away. In noting this, "a feeling OF
sadness steals into the patriotic heart. But
/ sometime think il is better thus, for
every thing made with human hand must
sooner or later pass away, and just as these
immortal names fade from the earthly
parchment, they grow brighter and brighter
among the consultations above, where
they are being penned by the hand of the
Recording Angel in lines Of everlasting
light. CGT eat ~cheeTing.)
Mr. Daggetrs remarks were received
with much applause. The Hawaiian Band
having played a few selections.
Mrs. F.. r. Hendry, in a clear and i'm
pressive voice, read the Declaration of In
dependence. We congratulate Mrs. Hendry
upon her undOubted success, her voice be-
ing plainly heard o N the ~verandah, not
withstanding the difficulties undo which
she labOred in having to speak out of doors,
and when some little stir was occasionally
apparent
THE Star Spangled Banner was then
sung by Mrs. Simmons, Mrs. Dickson, Miss
Fillebrown, Messrs. w. Hall, Mccartney,
J. l.. Ross, and W. CLARK, the assemblage
in the chorus.
DIR. VI. l.. Ruth of the L. s. 5. Essex
then delivered the following
oRATIoN:
Ladies and Gentlemen: A few weeks ago,
amid the booming of guns and the mOurnful
strains Of requiem bands, the ashes of an Amer
lean who, from his sad heart, had poured out II
strain which is dear to all the world, were borne
III funeral procession to the City Hall at New
York, there to lie in state. The honors paid to
the remains Of the author of Home, Sweet
Home, the funeral cortege. the booming guns,
the train Of mouTners, the wreaths of flowers,
and the sympathetic tears, were not given en-
tirely to the man, but to the author of the song
which appeals more than any other, in any
to the heart of man and all the
pomp and circumstance Of that day told the one
story that wherever We may wander, be it TO
the lands Of ice and snow OF to the region
the sun sheds its direct ray to the
o~ccident, or to where the Oriental lives
his hive-like life, our thoughts always turn to
the land Of our birth. We are not particular in
this even those whose native lands lie PROSTATE
under the heel Of desPOtism, or whose liberties
are crippled by laws which are harsh aud grind
ing, look, when they are absent, with longing
eyes toward their home. If this be true Of them,
how much more is it true OF US whose land is
the greatest over which the blue vault of heaven
hangs, and whose country is as free as the ocean
which beats upon this island.
Neither time nor distance eau erase the love of
country from our hearts, and to-day, on this
island, this speck in the vast contiguity of
We, Americans, meet to show the world
that although thousands OF miles Of sea separate
Us We are not unmindfuI Of the land which
pore, nor negIectful of the anniversary which
an act which shall be remembered till
The Recording Angel shall roll up his scroll, and
lime shall be no more.
One hundred and seven years ago a knot Of
fearless men assembled together and pledging
their lives. their fortunes and their sacred
honor, declared the Colonies OF England in
America, free and independent States. 1t was
an experiment, and it seemed u deadly one, but
it was an experiment that necessity had forced.
if George the Third had taken the adj
vice of that great statesman aud admirer
of America, Lord Chatham, and If His Majesty
of England had not been blinded by the sophis-
ties of the shallow and Prejudiced TOwnsheud,
at that time had the royal eur, the overt
act which preciPitated the colonies into rebellion
against the mother country might have been for
u time averted. But it was bound to come
sooner or later. The free mir, the boundless
prairies, TIE vast and silent woods, the majes-
tic streams of the western world had been slowly
but surely producing their natural effect, The
great forces Of nature had been at work upon
the sturdy men Of the colonies. Their hearts
had expanded as their bodies grew, and the time
had come when they could no longer brook even
the semblance of a chain. When King George
wrote to his favorite Minister, E the die is cast,
the colonies must either triumph or submit. "
4" If we take the resolute part, they will IN
doubtedly be very meek he little knew the
temper of the men of whom he spoke. He did
not know that constant intercourse with free