The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-04-20
the BINGHAM TABLET.

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{. The gray-headed men, with one
younger representative of the past and
the present among them, who yester-
day afternoon poured out eloquent rem
iniscences over the tablet dedicated to
the Reverend Hiram Bingham, filled
the measure of their allotted duty and
added gems to the volume of written
history 1t is, however, in the mighty
future that the full significance of the
occasion is to be read.
The tablet stands in the exact spot
where this pioneer civilizer of Hawaii
established Christian home, pervaded
with intelligence. virtue and refine
nent. 1t was the home of man who
was at once teacher and prophet, and
who planted the germ from which
much of the civilization of Hawaii has
sprung, when he dedicated himself and
all he had or acquired to the advance
Enent of Christian education.
Mr. Bingham was not without col
leagues and he has had successors who
share in the honors that have bright
ened his memory. The effect of his and
their work is seen in all that is best
and most durable in the Territory and
in its population and beyond that, has
= extended to centers of influence in va
rious parts of the world. But the ulti-
mate result stretches towards the still
remote ages. The pessimists say that
man dies and his labors collapse. The
exact reverse is the truth. From the
Christian fountain near the Punahou
spring, a fertilizing stream of intel
IectuaI energy and of moral purity
flowed. that expands with the expand
ing years and is destined to reach the
hearts. the minds and the souls of
packed masses of humanity.
The greatest events in history have
been simple. The birth of Christ in the
stable at Bethlehem had no terrestrial
reception. The mourners around the
cross were few in number. The barons
who forced Magma Charta out of King
John were a select company. The rev.
olution in England had a small begin
ming. Our national independence orig
mated with few immortals.
And yet, it is such events as these
and not great battles nor the resold7f
tons of mass meetings, that have MADE
civilization what it is. The privations, +,
the endurances, the concentrated pur-
poses, the unintermittent labors of such
men as Bingham and Thurston, rank |
them with the true conquerors of un-
power they exercised and left behind |
them, increases with the increase of
the material to which it was applied. /
The scene yesterday was one of sur |
passing beauty. The setting of the pic
ture was the permanent contribution of ,
Nature. The generations present COW
cred the accumulated products of
missiary enterprises and zeal, al
most the entire trend of constitution
al government and of the conversion of
the natives. The absent figures, who
planted religion and education in Ha-
wall. were present in a true sense, not
only in the fruits of their labors and |
sacrifices, but in their descendants. |
Bright-eyed children of both sexes, ra- |
diant with the blended happiness and
aspirations of youth, drank in the story
of the past that is blended into their
own lives. The occasion was suggestive
and inspiring in the highest sense.
The future of Hawaii is not in doubt
nor is the realization of its prosperity
very remote. AS the horoscope is pro-
saically cast, the touching pathos of
the chief speaker, when he bridged the
distance between himself and his dead
mother and father, may well change to
exultant paeons, as he feels their as
cendant power INCREASINGLY projected
into the recesses of time.
The detailed history of the Hawaiian
Islands is yet to be written, and it may
be hoped, by him who has already
proved his capacity for the task. And.
when written, its finest pages will be
those that tell the story of the mission
aries and leave their traducers
TN the vile dust from which they
sprung
Unwept, unhonored and unsung."
The second liquor bill is much better
h. fret hut is- IN Wit