The Portland daily press., 1900-07-31

Eloquent Address of the Rev. DIR. HO-
ratio stebbins in San Francisco Nearly
Thirty Years Ago.



Embassy Extraordinary to the United
States, the members of which were
splendidly entertained. Among the en-
terta1nments was a banquet over which
Gov. Newton Booth presided. Among
the speakers were GOV. Booth, Gen.
Schotield, Commodore Parrott, Minister
1waukra, Gov. Ito. Minister De Long,
former Gov. Haight, Mayor Alvord, Con-
sui Booker, Samuel Williams, A l..
Stone, S. M. Wilson, and the Rev. Hora-
tito Stebbins, D. d.
On some points DR.. Stebbins provoked
opposition and criticism, although his
speech was acknowledged to have been
very thoughtful and eloquent. Anti
Chinese feeling in 1872 ran very high.
But in its forecast of the future of COM
merce with the Orient it seems almost
prophetic. The island commerce that DIR.
Stebbins foretells has come to pass, and
will increase steadily. Following is the
report of the speech which appeared in
The Bulletin of Jan. ~, 1879:
Governor, Distinguished Guests, and
Fellow Citizens: Allow me to express my
appreclative acknoWledg ments to the
committee for the great courtesy they
have shown me in giving me an oppor-
tun1ty to join in the honors, festivities,
and social exchange of this occasion. The
occasion is interesting, suggestive, and
| important.
An ancient empire outside of Christen-
dom, numbering more than thirty mil
lions OF souls, with civilization unique,
peculiar, having laws, poIIty, manners,
and religion OF its own, standing in
august and solemn grandeurs, apart from
| the general movement of the world S life,
With history running back to the earli-
est period of recorded time, and beyond
into the dim twilight OF the lnythopoetic
! age; history and civilization compared
with which Christendom itself is young,
even the latest child of time; whose royal
line OF k1Dgly blood flowed down through
centuries before Caesar entered England
before Moses received the law In the
glory -sm1tted heights Of Sinai, sends forth
an embassy of peace of all nations, to
observe the arts, Industries, manners,
ana customs or the modem age. Gap
plause.)
TO poetic Imagination it seems a
repetition of the ancient story of the wise
men. the astronomic Magi, led by star
TO the place Where the young Child lay !!
For that star still leads mankind where
the ages are born, and stands above the
place where the best thoughts of human
1ty are nurtured.
Hail, 1lIustriOus descendants of the an
Gent stock, inspired with ! wonder and
desirel The motive that i1npeIs you is a
more fragrant gift than aromatic spices,
franklncense, and myrrh Welcome to
this Western shore of the Western World
This cradle of the latest} born OF the
nations! (Applause.)
Governor, the man 1fest suggestion of
this occasion is the vast appliances of in
| telligence which have been made within
the last century to overcome the obstacles
of time and space, and which, while they
/ a nc hn nI. NF aav1
make such meeting as this possible
1 Vast mountain chains which presented
! impossible barriers between nations and
races, have been dissolved by noble engi-
neering, and the sea, ''that flaw in the
! planet, = no longer separates the nations,
but floating bridges swing on it through
/ all the ATTITUDES, binding the peoples OF
4 the earth together in a common destiny.
| Our transcontlnentaI road, together With
! the Suez canal, has practically annihi-
lated One-third of the periphery of the
/ globe, and there are those here who shall
/ not taste death before the magnetic cur
rents all be made complete, and the spark
! OF human Intelligence. unquenched by
multltud1nOus waters, shall report itself
around the earth in advance OF the sun
| (Applauge.)
The inner idea of this vast conquest is
the unity and ultimate perfectibIlity OF
the human race. Commerce. which is
the inspiration OF man S nobIest achieve
ments over nature is simply the express
/ ION OF the mutual deDendence of man
kind; the reaffirmation of that divine
philosophy which teaches that no man.
no immunity, no nation, no race, can
fulfill it's destiny in an exclusive and iso-
lated life. AS che globe is unit OF or
ganism, holding every island, sea, and
continent IN one organic whole, so COM
merc9, which is the expression of the
mutually dependent life of mankind,
/ draws the populations of the earth by the
/ attraction Of com mon want and a COM
mon end. Already the exclusive system
/ gives signs of modification under the
benign influences of WelI-regulated inter-
/ ests and mutual regards. From hence
forth no exclusive, Isolated, independent
civilization can endure Before the
! spirit of the age its adamantine walls are
/ dust that vanish at q breath.
One word more and have done. There
is nobody here but ourselves, and that
one word 1 VIII say. We here are provi-
dentially placed in near relations with
these exclusive civilizations. The
changes wrought by transcontinental
! communication have changed forever the
area of commercial distribution for this
city. We can never do the business OF
| the Mississippi Valley, and probably we
/ shall not extend or inland commercial
area beyond the summit of the great
mountain chain. To compensate for that
/ we must gather up the islands OF the sea
and push our trade to the unnun bered
/ populations of the Asiatic world But
our position is anomalous. While we are
/ here tonight, wOOing the commerce of
old empires, you, Governor, as the repre-
/ sentative of one political party, and ex-
/ Gov. Haight, as the Representative of the
other, are committed to a policy to ex-
clude these people from our shores The
/ position is absurd and ridiculous AS a
policy, it is nonsense; as a principle, it
is nowhere. 1t is rag tag and bob-taiI.
II any Of you cheap politicians have won
a penny by it in the passions Of an hour,
beware lest the eagle on the reverse side
OF your gold coin stick his talors through
and clutch the face of liberty. (Prolongs
applause.)