The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-05-29
LAND And ALTAR
Patriotism is Ably Defined From
Pulpit.
REV. Mr.. KENCAID'S SERMON
Special Service With Display Of
Flags - Why Wars Have Been
Fought Heroes.
REV. Mr.. KENcAID'S SERMON


were held in the Central Union church
The interior was prettily decorated
with large American and Hawaiian
| flags, draped at the entrance and about
the altar and organ. The singing of
the national songs was spirited, one of
the most pleasing features being the
singing of Hawaii Ponoi by the Ka-
mehameha and Kawaiahao girls. Fol-
lowing was the program:
Organ Prelude -. Patriotic Melodies
Hymn ...........
...... God Save Our Native Land"
Responsive Reading ........ 121 Psalm
Authentic Deum ...... Dudley Buck
President Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech
Hawaiian National Hymn ..........
The Kamehameha and Kawaiahao
Girl Schools.
Hymn ........
:. The Battle Hymn Of the Republic
Sermon ...... The Love of Country"
Congregation Hymn ...... America
Organ Postlude -. Patriotic Melodies
Rev Mr. Kincaid took for his text
Ps. 1856 If l forget thee, o Jeru-
salem, let my right hand forget her
cunning.
This year on the Both day of May
wherever the starry flag waves, the
United States will remember hsss9 deao
and heap the graves with choicest bios
sons Reverently will the most beau
tiful flowers be placed on the grassy
,r-ha
Patriotism is an old word 1t is
fraught with no merely secular mean
ing, but expresses lofty feeling and
high inspiration. 1t was the voice of
God that privileged to Abraham the
possession Of country, the first of the
and the descendants of that
same Abraham are now walking
the world seeking the open
door through which they may pass to
the land of their fathers.
We have been mainly nation OF |
peace. But all of our wars, from the |
to the one recently ended, |
have been filled with the spirit Of sell
sacrifice the heroic devotion to coun-
try. Already the Rebellion seems like |
4 dream to many. A generation which /
lOes not remember the great struggle
mas already risen up. But there are
some of us who can distinctly recall
he thrilling hours from the time when
hat shot went whiSting across
Bay calling a great people
o arms, to the time when under the
apple tree of Appomattox, Lee lad
lown his sword We turn with rever-
ence to the great names that illumlne
he pages of those dark days. We turn
With feelings of sympathetic sorrow to
he desolated homes, the bloody
renches and the dreary prisons.
3ravely they lived, heroically they
lied. Beyond the grave God has re-
varded them. We will not forget
hose men who laid down their lives
ret the lessons inspiring love of coun-
ry.
There is in every humble breast the
Iesire to be remembered. Oblivion is
state into which none Of us want to
oass. To be forgotten is the greatest
orrow of the death parting. This very
esire to be remembered, to do some
hing which will keep the name un-
orgotten, exists in the heart of every
american soldier. To this call the
Nation responds and every year,
With tenderest blossoms, the graves OF
ur heroic dead are remembered, the
oil is called again. This is the mean
ng of Decoration Day.
From the deeds of our soldier dead
-e learn lesson Of noble self-sacri-
ce. The cup of water handed by Sir
'hillip Sidney to his dying cOmrade
as been paralleled many times {
our national life. Would !
not be we'll to tell our children the r
tory of our liberty and what it cost
nd thus inspire them with love OF
ountry. A nation without memories.
has been said, is a nation without I
berty. The glorious deeds of the ma l
on's struggles are watchwOTds which
ear a bulwark of defense around a
copies liberty. We should hold our
elves responsible in the maintenance
f those principles for which our sol d
iers died. Go, stranger, and tell the Z
acedaemOni2ns that we fell in de- v
.nse of our country and obedience to '
er laws were the noble words of E
le old Spartans. Decoration day Is q
OF only for remembrance of the dead g
eroes. but for inspiration in uphold %