The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-05-18

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lokai shall be named Saint It will be in ylrtu,
Of one work-your letter to the Rev. H. d
You may ask on what authority speak. 1
was my inclement destiny to become acquaint
ed. not with Damien, but with Dr.. HYDE. Whet
his resting grave. But such Information as
have gathered on the spot In conversation
indeed. who revcred his memory. but othert
| who had spared and wranHled with him, who
beheld him with no halo. who perhaps regard
| unprepared and scarcely partial communcn.
tons the plain human features of the man
| shone on me convincinRly. These gave me
what knowledge possess. and learned it in
that scene where 1t could be most completely
you have never visited, about which YOU have
| never so much as endeavOred to inform your
self; for brief as your letter is: you have found
% Less than one-hdJ of the island, you say, " Ia
doyoled to the lepers;" M9okai-" Molotdj
island-aiong all its northern side plunges
| front OF precipice into q sea OF unusual pro-
west the true end and frontier OF the i Island.
Only in one, snot there projects into the ocean
acertal1 triangular and rugged down. grassy;
with dead crater, the whole bearing to the
clltr that oyerhangs It somewh9t the same, ro-
| you will now be able to pick out the leper sta
tIon on man; you VIII be BE-, abb on to Judge how
surf and preeipce whether less than half f op
say. twentieth; and the next time you burst
with us the Issue Of your calculations.
imagine * be of th0sS
place which oxen and wainropes could not
| drag you to behold. You, who do not even
know its situation on the map. probably
your limbs tho while in your pleasant parlor
on Beretania street. When was pulled ashore
the Goat s%t ssss bdne s'h h
bic imitation Of pamienl 10 the lights ana Joys
could not Withhold myself from joining her
Had you been there. it is my belief tina; nature
would have triumnhed even in you; aud as tho
boat drew but u little nearer. and you behold
the stairs crowded with abominable deforma-
tions OF our common manhood. and saw your
self landing in the midst OF such population
as only now, and then surrounds us In the hor-
ror OF a nightmare what u haggsrd eye would
toward tho house ON Beretana street, Had
you gone on ; had YOU found eyory fourth face
a blot upon the LANDSCAPE: had you visited the
ings lying there almost unrecoRnizahle. but
still breathing; still thinking. still remember.
lazaretto is an ordeal from which the nerves OF
man 8 spirit shr!nk. even as his eye quails
Gsve felt It vas even to- day. pitu place 10
OF possible Infection. That seems a lille
and the disgust Of the visitors surroundings,
and the atmosphere Of atliiction. disease. and
physical disgrace in which he breathes. | do
not think am man more than usually timld:
hut never recall tho days and nights spent
upon that island promoptory eight days and
that speak OF my stay as :" q grinding @xperf.
HGrro,Ting is the word land When the 700 Sn.
~ bore me at last toward tho outer world, l
i Kept Te peat to myself with new CONFER
the song:
It's tho most distresssul country
That ever yet was seen.
And ohsa-va. that which 7 saw md apAara1
from was settlement. puIged bettered. beau
titled the new village built the hospital and
Sisters. the Doctor, and the missionaries all
indefatigable In their noble tasks. 1t was a
different place when Damien came there and
first, night under Q tree amidst his ,rottinE
brethren: alone with pestilenee. and looking
sinkiugs Of dread. God only knows, to lie
time OF dressing sores and stumps.
that sights as painful abound In cancer hos.
pitfalls, and are confronted daily by doctors ana
nurses have Long h learned to S samire and
no cancer hospital SO large and popuious as
halawao and Kalaupapa: aud in such a mat
in the pipe OF an OF gan, deopens the note OF the
impression: for what daunts the onlooker is
which he stands surrounded. Lastly. no doe
tor or nurse is called upon to enter once for all
farewell. they need not abandon hope. on Its its
sad threshold; they but go for time 70 their
llRl CalllnR. ana can look forward as they 90
to relief TO recreation, and to rest. But Damien
shut to with his own hand the doors Of his own
sepulchre.
/ shall now extract three passages from my
A. Damien is dead and already somewhat
la6ors and sutYerinGa. He was a good man.
but very oflcious, says one: Another tells me
u asd hs o
OF n Kanaka; but he had the wit t. recognize |
the fact and the good sense to laugh at iover |
nj n in ms In yuuG All
B After Eagsdales death IRaesdale
unruly settlement there followed a brief term lT
OF office by Father Damien which served only |
was In ks ways and Tl be ba oos man
troll. Authority was relaxed Damien's life |
was threatened. and he was eager to resign"
seems to have been man Of the peasant class, ,
certainly OF the, peasant, type: shrewd. igno-
rant. and biGoted, yet with an open mind and
capable OF receiving and dlGestnG a reprOof ii |
1t were hluntiy administered: superby gener-
Gus in the least thing as well aS II the greatest
sacrifice his. life; essentially indiscrect and
league: domineerng In all his ways, which
made him incurably unpopular, with the IA
that his boys laughed at him and he must carry
out his wishes by the means OF brides. Ee
learned 70 haze mania nini ior doGtorlnG and set
reguIa rivals-perhaps III anything matter at
all In the treatment OF such a diseasel the
worst thing that he did, and certainty the east
,st. The best and worst of the man appear
very plainly ia his dealings with MIR. Chan.
mans money. lie had originally laid it out
intended to lay it out entirely for the benefit
II Catholics, and even 30 not wisely bur after
long, plain talk he admitted his error fully
md revised the list The sad state OF the boys
Iome Is in part the result of his lack OF control.
n part OF his own sloveuy ways and ialse ideas
u hygiene. Brother oillcirl5 used 10 call it.
Damien's Chinatown. " ell they would say,
your Chinatown keeps growing And he wouli
augh with perfect good nature. and adhere TO
liS errors with perfect obstinacy. SO much !
AVE gathered OF truth about this plain,
lobIe. human brother and father OF ouIs;
rs imperlectons are The traits of his
elbow his martyrdom and his example
IuthinG cun lesson or Hunul: and only a per-
on here on the spot can properly appreciate
h0lr greatness"
i have set down these private passages, as
ou perceive, without correction; thanks to
uu. the public has them In their buntness.
hey arc almost list oil the mans faults, for
is rather these that was seeking; with his
irtues. with the heroic profile o. his life |
nd the world we're already sufficiently ac-
TAINTED | was besides n little suspicious of
atholic testimony; in no III sense, but merely
because Damien admirers and disciples were
he least likely 10 be critical know you will