The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-10-26

Nobler work
or Daniel websters speeches. Com
gresham Mccall well and truly said
in bis Grafton at yarmouth college that
they are good literature. and I doubt
90 in all of them "a sentence can be found
that rs nippant or petty or mean New
England has been proud of Webster
with "a reservation from the day he
made the memorable 9Th Of March
speech. and to this hour his memory is
clouded by what must always be sor-
rowfully regarded as his weak surrcn-
der To the slave power. Yet now when
the intensities ofsthat period have soft
ened into kindlier disposition, the
harsh judgments which Webster
course called forth are clearly seen TO
have been too harsh. and all the incli-
nation is TO forget the blot and to re-
member the glory of his career.
Congressman Mccall has. we think,
marked the vital element of Webster's
power while he was alive and his fame
now that he is dead, in that he was
neither nippant, petty or mean. Even
where he was wrong and whore a strict
regard for the truth must never cease
TO admit that he was wrong, be was se-
rious, and large, and comprehensive.
He did not regard the affairs of his
country as matters To be treated light
ly to be dismissed with a testing phrase
or half-considered thought The life
of an American citizen was to him Sc
rious business, and he showed that il
was serious in every line and every
word Of his speeches on public questions
In these later days, there have been flip
pant critics Of Webster. propounding
the theory that he could not now i'm
press the people of the United states
with his oratory-that in the language
of the street. he would find himself
back number, if he attempted such
speech as that found in his yarmouth
college argument, and in his reply to
Hayne Such comment shows nothing
so much as it shows the shallOwness of
such critics, who fail to comprehend
that his strength was i'm his being a sin
cere man free from fiippancy, pettiness
or meanness. The cynical proverb, mo
man is a hero to his valet" has met
the apt response, that that is because
the valet is not hero himself" And
the attempt to belittle Webster, and es-
pecially the oratOry of Webster, may
well meet some such reply.
Daniel Webster's chief service to the
. United States was not as the eXpounder
of the constitution to quote the long
familiar description. 1t was as the
champion of the union. To him, more
\
that enthusiastic devotion to the
union which after he was dead found
expression in the Offering Of thousands
Of lives for its preservation. Genera
tions Of school boys had not pored over
such paragraph as this for nothing:
Il have not allowed myself, sir to
look beyond the union, to see what
lie hidden In the dark recess behind.
have not coolly weighed the chances of
Q lhnrtU urb ha ha
unite us together shall be broken
asunder. | have not accustomed my
self to hang over the pTecpice Of dis
union, to see whether. with my short
sight, | can fathOm the depth of the
abyss below; nor could ! regard him as
| a safe counsellor i'm the affairs Of this
government. whose thoughts should be
| mainly bent on considering not how
the union may be best preserved but
how tolerable might be the condition Of
the people when it should be broken up
and destroyed. While the union lasts
we have high, exciting, gratifying pros
! poets spread out before us, for us and
our children. Beyond that ! seek not
to penetrate the veil God grant that
in my day, at least, that curtain may
not rise! God grant that on my Wis
! ion never may be opened what lies be-
hind! When my eyes shall be turned
to behold for the last time the sun in
| heaven, may / not see him shining on
the broken and dishonored fragments
! of once glorious union; on states dis
severed discordant, beligerent on
! land rent with civil feuds, or drenched
! 1t may be, in fraternal blood Let
their last feeble and lingering glance
rather behold the gorgeous ensign of
the republic. now known and honored
throughout the earth. still full high
| advanced, its arms and trophies
! streaming in their original lustre, not
a stripe erased or polluted, nor a sin
gle star obscured bearing for its mot
to, no such miserable interrogatory as,
| What is all this WORTH? nor those 9TH
err words of delusion and folly, Liber-
/ ty first and union afterwards; but
| everywhere spread all over in charac-
tiers of living light, blazing on all its
ample folds, as they float over the sea
and over land, and on every wind
under the heavens that other senti-
ment, dear to every true American
heart-Liberty and Union, now and for
ever, one and inseparable!"
Words like these were the seed which
sprang up in the armies of the union,
and in the millions of patriotic men
and women who stood patiently behind
those armies during the weary months
in which the fate of the union was un-
certain. If Daniel Webster after
wards incurred the displeasure of
sensitive moral sentiment, and in some
sense furnished his fame, let it be re-
membered to his lasting honor that he
spoke for the union glowing words
which have never ceased to shine
New Bedford Republican Standard.
ART LEAGUE OFFICERS.
At the annual meeting of the Kilo-
hama Art League held yesterday after
noon the following officers were elected:
President Philip Dodge; vice-pres-
dent, Miss A. N. Park secretary and
treasurer Mrs. Lila G.. Marshal; audi
tor w. r. Castle Jr.; directors, w. r.