The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1886-07-06

vance taken in the cause OF human
ity. He concluded by calling on
the Royal Hawaiian Band, which
responded with grand medley of |
national airs, that was heartily APP
plauded.
Mr.. r. Jay Greene read the De-
claration of Independence with fine
elocutionary effect,
Mr.. Merrill said it was related
that when the bell on Independence
Hall announced the Declaration of
independence an impulsive Yankee
standing by could not resist shout
ing, "Glory, Hallelujah! He
therefore called on the audience to
sing "Glory, Hallelujah," which
was done with a will, accompanied
by the band.
Rev. j. A. Cruzan, on being call
ed upon as the orator of the day, be-
gan with classical allusion, by say
ing that on last Thursday q bolt as
of Jupiter had struck the orator
originally selected and made him a
Hawaiian Attorney-General, and
another had struck him and made
him the substitute speaker for this
occasion. AS the witty Mr.. Choate
had remarked on being asked to ill
an unexpected blank, that lie could
not hope to fill it but would try to
rattle round in it little, so he
would say on this occasion, and told
the audience to expect some " tall
rattling round" for the next few
minutes. Beginning with l776, he
referred to the increase of stars in
the national flag from l3 then to 3S
now. Croakers bewailed the lapse
of those good old days, but he be-
lieved that America was now in her
best days. The days of Jefferson
were the iron age. This is the silver
age-''too much silver" (laughter),
but the golden age is coming. AS
people the Americans rank higher
intellectually to-day than in that
generation, Notwithstanding all that
is said about the giants of those
days. Their ablest men when sent
to represent America at the English
court in the early times were charged
to take no important step without con-
sulting the French Minister. Think of
James Russell Lowell or j. Stuart
Phelps receiving similar instructions
to-day! No. America has men to-
day who can represent her without
consulting Frenchmen. The revo-
lutionary period had an exceptional
number of great men, but times of
| great crises develop great men. So
l776 gave them Washington, Adams,
Jay, etc., and 1861 gave them
Lincoln, Grant, Chase, Wilson, etc.
-1S61 can overmatch 1776 for
great men. To-day, they had Til
den, Evarts, Cleveland, Schofield,
Blaine and many others who COM
pared well with the great men of
any previous day. In point of
educational development the present
period was immeasurably in advance
of those times. A hundred years
ago public free schools had hardly
an existence. The newspaper, that
great educator, was then only
weekly pamphlet, existing only in
the larger towns. 1t was printed on
a clumsy wooden press at the rate of
hundred an hour, while now the
modern printing machine prints and
folds the great daily paper at the
rate of 10000 an hour. Then the
library of family in moderate Cir
cumstances consisted of the Bible,
BaXter's Call, and an Almanac.
Now the workingman has library
that the scholar of those early days
could not hope to possess, and the
schoolboy in a country school to-day
can know as much science as the
student in Harvard College hun
dred years ago. He proposed to
take the breath from the croaker by
saying that these days were polite
ally Americas very best days. An
old Greek on telling Alcibiades that
"These are degenerate days." got
the answer from the philosopher
that he believed it, for he heard his
father say the same thing, which the
latter had heard from his father.
Never before was the conscience of
America so keen and so quick as now.
That was what caused the defeat of
Blaine. There was common deter
mination that jobbery and venallty
: must 90. The moral standard is
; higher than ever before. The speaker
: cited history in many instances tc
l show that the times of l776 were
4 not so immaculate as they have beer
v taken to be in the dim distance
Congress once tried to raise none,
< by lottery in order to pay thu
: national debt. One hundred and 81,
years ago Massachusetts was slav
3 State. Greeley was quoted as de
e scribing the condition of the countr.
t from l776 to 1900 as Fearful.
e Very amusing accounts were give
n of the colossal extravaganza ant
r foppishness of the great men of tina
day. The ridiculous prejudices an
o scruples of the people then were in
# stanced to the great merriment @
!, the audience. The famous law G
d New Jersey, still unrepealed, maxim
e unmarried women who corralle
r.. l.