The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-07-07

"'Fellow Citizens and Friends.--We
! are gathered here to-day, strangers
to each other, yet bound together by
the bonds Of common country and the
brotherhood of man, to celebrate the
| greatest event, the nohlest achievement
in the annals of history. We meet to-
day, men from every quarter of this
mundane sphere, but all Americans, TO
&, celebrate the birthday OF this great re-
public. We celebrate it because on this
day our ship of state was launched, our
banners were first unfurled to the
breeze. and then the chains of slavery
and abasement fell from the limbs and
souls of men, the tyranny OF caste and
lplutocracy vanished from the earth, and
like the sweep of a prairie FIRE, above
the din and carnage Of battle, there
arose on the horizon of new hopes the
sun of Justice and freedom, and man,
until then the lowest of his kind, stood
up, an equal amongst his peers.
cit was then that in every spot
where men who aspired to freedom
found home, they with longing eyes
aud gladstone hearts turned their
TIN Ughts to the Infant Republic Of the
West, and cried in unison God save
Ameriea
/, ''On this day one hundred and thir-
ty-two years ago was issued the Dec|a-
J ration of Independence. 1t came upon
the DELAYED and decaying monarchies
: of the Old World like lightning flash
across storm.swept sky. 1t echoed
J and reverberated from meridian to
meridian, from pole to pole as a state
, and scholarly document, as the outpour-
ing of honest and fearless and patriotic
; hearts, as a message of cheer to the
oppressed of every land. 1t stands
unique, solitary and alone, one of the
greatest human documents that ever
emanated from the mind of man.
J cat and previous to the time the
, Declaration of Independence was issued
the lot of the common man was but one
remove from that of the beast of bur-
den--if he was not slave, he was a
serf; his condition was one of per-
! petual servitude, privation and misery;
that surrounded them, and with pro-
, phetic eye the fate that awaited them,
r they decided that man was created for
nobler purposes, and that the time for
action had come.
''Casting loose from the trammels of
the past, they buckled on their swords
! and swore by their lives, their property
and their sacred honor that this land
, and its people should be free.
''From the opening shot of the Revo-
! lutionary War until its glorious close,
through the dark and dismal days of VAL
ley Forge, Brandywine and Germantown,
the bright and heroic days of Trenton,
Monmouth, Charlestown and Fort Moul-
trie, and until the capture of Burgoyne
ratified the Declaration of 1ndepend-
ence, through sufferings and perils,
through blood and tears, they kept our
flag flying, they fought and conquered
and kept their vow.
cit is said the blood Of martyrs is the
seed of the church; it strengthens and
solidifies it. 1t is the blood of the
patriots of '76 and N that has given
us this great country we have to day,
this noble heritage; and my friends,
what great and glorious country is
this of ours! Men from the rttermost
ends of the earth sigh for our land as
Moses and the prophets of old sighed
for the Messiah. Here we have a refuge
for the oppressed, labor for the in
dustrious, happiness for all who seek
and strive. Our civilization, institutions
) and laws are of the best ard noblest
type that wistsrf, lenraipa and pa
, triotism could devise. Indeed have
everything that makes for the com
/, his taskmasters, the volrptuous and
effeminate rich, lorded 1t over him, and
ground him down with an iron hand,
for those were the days of the divine
right of kings and persecution for all
who dared protest.
"In those days our country was the
poorest amongst the nations. 1t was
also the smallest, narrow strip, bound
ed on one side by the bleak Atlantic
and on the other by boundless and in
hospitable Prairie, the home of bears,
, buffaloes and savage foes. Our popu-
lation was about three millions, but
amongst those three millions were me Il
/ Drawer than any of Caesars legion,
more patriotic and self-sacrifcing than
any Spartan of old The founders Of
this great republic were men that were
animated by the noblest motives that
ever fructifed in the hearts of mer.
1 Seeing the desolation and oppressio n
fort, happiness and freedom of man.
"Ours is land of progress and OPP
, portunity, land where the humblest
+ man may aspire to and, if he has the
: ability, attain any position, for here
all avenues of advancement and emolu-
ment are open to him; he has but to
strive and the prize is his; and it is
our boast that our greatest men, our
country's best and noblest sons, came
from the ranks of the common people,
the names of the men whom we love to
dwell upon with reveration and with
: pride, those names that are best re-
\ membered and will never be forgotten
whilst our flag flies or our country en-
dures-the names OF men who first saw
the light in humble homes worked on
2 the farm, and got their education in
the village school.
"Ours is land of youth and hopper
g hope that springs eternal in the human
: heart, whether that heart beats in sor-
: row or in Joy, is robed in silk OF dun
garee, this hope that abides within us
is the God-giving force that nerves men
in bo ouuoa Of riuht IN ln and dare.