The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1890-06-07

tors labored-which has enjoyed, and
partly failed to utilize. an exceptional
advantage in the island Of Hawaii. The
first missionaries came; they found the
land already self-purged of its old and
bloody faith; they were embraced, al
most on their arrival. with enthusiasm;
what troubles they supported came far
more from whites than from Hawaiias;
and to taese last they stood (n rough
| figure) in the shoes of God. This IS
not the place to enter into the degree
or causes of their failure, such as it is.
One element alone is pertinent, and
must here be plainly dealt with. In the
course Of their evangelical calling, they
~or too many Of them grew rich. It
may be news to you that the houses of
missionaries are cause of mocking on
the streets of Honolulu. 1t will at
least be news to you that when / re-
turned your civil visit, the driver Of nv
cab commented ON the size, this taste
and the comfort OF your home. It
would have been news certainly to
myself had any one told me that after
noon that I should live to drag such
matter into print, But you see, slr,
how you degrade better men to your
own level; and it is needful that those
who are to Judge betwixt YOU and nae,
betwixt Damien and the Devils advo
cate, should understand your letter to
have been penned in house which
could raise, and that very justify, the
envy and the comments of the passers-
by. I think Ito employ a phrase of
yours, which admire) it ''shou!d be
attributed'' to you that you have never
visited the scene Of Damlen's lite and
death. If you had, and had recalled it,
and looked about your pleasant rooms,
even your pen perhaps would have
been stayed.
Your sect (and remember, as far as
any sect avows me, it is mine) has not
done i'll In worldly sense in the Hawalin
kingdom. When calamity befell their
innocent parishioners, when leprosY
descended and took root in the Eight
islands, guild pro quo was to be looked
for. To that prosperous mission, and
to you. as one Of its adornments, God
has seen at last an opportunity. I
know that others of your colleagues
look back on the inertia of your church,
and the intrusive and decisive heroism
of Damien. with something almost to
be called remorse. | am sure it is SO
with yourself; I am persuaded your
letter was
INSPIRED BIZ CERTAIN ENVY.
mot essentially ignob'e, and the one
human trait to be espied in that per-
formance. You were thinking of the
lost chance, the past day; of that which
should have been conceived and was
not; of the service due and not rendered.
Time was. said the voice in your ear. in
your pleasant room, as you sat raging
and writing; and if the words written
were base beyond parallel, the rage, l
am happy to repeat-it is the only COM
pliment shall paw you-the rage was
almost virtuous. But, sir. when we
have failed, and another has succeeded;
when we have stoed by, and another
has stepped in; when we sit and grow
bulky in our charming mansions. and
plain. uncouth peasant steps into the
battle. under the eyes of God. and sue
cors the afflicted and consoles the dying,
and is himself afflicted in his turn, and
dies upon the field of honor, the battle
cannot be retrieved as your unhappy
irritation has suggested. It. is a lost
battle, and lost forever. One thing re-
mained to you in your defeat; some rags
of common order; and these you have
made haste to cast away.
Common honor, not the honor of
having done ANYTHING right, but the
honor Of not having done aught con-
spicuously foul; the honor Of the inert;
that was what remained to you. We
are not all expected to be Damiens; a
man may conceive his duty more mar
r0wly, he may love his comforts better,
and none will cast q stone at him for
that. But will Il gentleman of your
reverend profession allow me an ex
ample from the fields Of Qallantry?.
When two gentlemen compete for the
favor Of lady, and the one succe eds
and the other is rejected, and Gas will
sometimes happen) matter damaging to
the Successful rivals credit reaches the
ear Of the defeated, it is held, by plain
men Of no pretensions that his mouth
is, in the circumstance, also necessarily
closed. Your church and Damien's
were In Hawaii upon a rivalry to do
well-to help, to edify, to set divine ex-
amples. You having lin one huge In
stance) failed and Damien succ ceeded. 81
marvel itshould not have occurred To-
you that you were doomed TO silence;H
that when you had been outstripped in
that high rivalry and sat inglorious in
the midst Of your Well-being, in your
pleasant r0Om-and Damien, crowned
y. /. - 80 -