The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-12-18
At THE CHURCHES
Rev. Kincaid Lectures on
Honor
Rev. Mr.. Pearson on Faith in
Coz" The Advent at
St. Andrews

At Central Union Church last eve
ming the pastor, Rev. VIM. NJ. kincaid,
gave his seventh practical talk on The
Making of Manhood" the subject be-
ing Honor He took for his text
John 5:44, How can We believe, which
receive honor one of another, and seek
not the honor that cometh from God
only?" He said, in part:
What does it mean to be an honor
able man? What is true sense OF
| honor? Does honor depend upon the
station or rank in which we live, or on
| the manner of our living, no matter IN
what position our lot may be cast?
| There are few things about which most
men are more sensitive than the main
tenance of what they call their honor.
| What is meant by this word honor,
| in some ways the finest word In the
| world? We may mean by it certain
reverence, certain respect paid by Us
| to others, or by others to us. But 1t
also means something far deeper-a
certain quality of the soul, nice sense
| of what is right and just and true, as
| it has been defined, "a dignified respect
| for character, springing from priority,
principle, moral rectitude. Honor IS
| that quality of manhood which makes
a man true to his highest ideal of him.
| self. true to his friends, true to those
who are dependent upon him, true to
| his enemies, true to anyone at any cost,
| whose secret of life or death should
come into his possession. Thus 1t
comes TO pass that when a man makes
a promise upon his honor he makes
| RI 10 of
and just and true within him. The
honorable man is he who does not need
| to be put under oath. Wordsworth says:
| Say, what is honor? 'Tis the finest
sense
| Of Justice which the human mind can
frame,
Intent each lurking frailty to disclalm,
And guard the way Of life from all
offence
Suffered or done"
The ambition of the old knight to
keep his honor unstained was a very
noble ambition. This quality of honor,
this sense of what is due to our own
souls, this right and proper pride which
keeps us from demeaning ourselves
through falseness Or injustice, this is
what keeps the world together. The
spirit of that noble dispatch which
Francis I. sent to his mother after the
disastrous battle Of Paria illustrates
this principle: ''All is lost save hon
or" Is it not true that, if he kept his
honor, he kept all that was essential
to his being a king? If honor be gone,
no matter what else man may have,
the man is lost.
In the earlier stages Of society, hon
or belonged to a class only. An act
which would dishonor a nobleman was
not dishonorable in the peasant. It
was not considered dishonorable to
break faith with infidels or Jews. De-
mocracy abolishes class distinctions,
and with their abolition gives class
honor. There are remnants of this
kind of honor left There is a code of
professional honor among physicians,
and another among lawyers, and anoth-
er among merchants, and another
| among workingmen. But democracy
brings in something higher and better
than class honor-it is the honor of a
| man.
| We should be known as those who
under all circumstances can be depend
| ed upon when once we have passed our
word. The word of Christian gentle
man that he will pay debt will be as
good as the payment; his word that he
| will do any service will mean that that
| service is as good as done; he will feel
| that his honor is at stake in every obi
cation he assumes. | say to you, to-
night, let all your promises be sacred.
There is nothing that so effectually I'M
dermines the simplicity of a mans soul,
and his sense of honor, as to allow him
self to be Influenced in his actions by
| the praise of men.
In Plato's Republic" there is a strik-
ing passage in which the souls Of men
are represented as being gathered to-
gether, and allowed to choose the lives
they will live next. All kinds of dis
tinguished lives-of princes, rulers,
poets, philosophers, warriors-are
eagerly sought after. But among the
crowd is Ulysses, and he stands and
waits. He, the veteran navigator and
leader, has proved the emptiness of the
honors and applause of men. And when
| the rest have chosen, he quietly as
sumes the life Of a private citizen,
which lay neglected and dishonored.
He chose we'll, for he knew that no life
had greater opportunities for truly
honorable deeds than the simple, quiet
life of private citizen. Be this wis
dom ours which understands that there
is no life so humble and insignificant
as not to give room for noble and hon
orable action. Let us try to live so
that everyone who knows us shall es-
TEEN US for the soul of honor that is
in us.
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
Rev. G. L. Pearson of the Methodist
Episcopal Church preached on Faith
IN, tod nI3Sx Inr- 1C
The text was Have Faith in God,
Mark xi:22.
he miracle of the withered fig tree
throws some light on the text. Faith
is enjoined as a duty and is therefore
possible. Men can believe if they will:
for it is a cardinal principle that where
duty is enjoined the power to per-
form that duty is implied. God does
not ask the impossible; hence the guilt
of unbelief. It is not SO much an exer-
else of the intellect that is required as