USA > Hawaii > Honolulu: sketches of life, social, political, and religious, in the Hawaiian Islands from 1828 to 1861 > Part 8
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"To the Members of the Sandwich Islands Mission, assembled at Honolulu :
" DEAR BRETHREN : As my missionary career is about to close, for the present at least, and I am to remove from my pleasant home among you, I have some peculiar feelings which I take this method of expressing to you now assembled in council. I have lived and labored with some of you fifteen years. I have given to your service my best days, my energy and affection, and I do not sever my connection with you without great mental conflict. And did I not believe that the interests of the mission and the permanency of Gospel institutions were intimately con- nected with the political prosperity of the nation, I should not enter the Government service. I do not consider myself dis- loyal to you, though laboring in a different relation.
" I have doubtless erred in many instances, and do not feel con- fident of avoiding mistakes in the future, but I trust to your magnanimity and Christian love to overlook and forgive.
" I have crossed the rough channels and climbed the steep 'palis' by night and by day in prompt attendance upon your sick, never once consulting my own convenience or that of my family. I believe the brethren best acquainted with me will ad- mit that I have not unduly sought my own. I have endeavored to maintain the strictest economy in all pecuniary transactions, bearing in mind the motto given by my father on parting with him : ' Never spend the hard-earned mite of the widow carelessly.'
" I claim no share of mission property, not even a horse to ride, except in your service. I wish still to serve you in my profes-
II]
Dr. Fudd Leaves the Mission.
sional capacity, as far as consistent with my new duties ; if you require it, even to the sacrifice of my rest and sleeping hours.
"I will employ aid and superintend portioning out the medi- cines for the different stations and families, from the Medical Depository here, until you can command better service.
" I shall depend on your prayers and sympathy."
The members of the Mission voted thanks to Dr. Judd for his past services, and allowed him the rent of the house he occupied until he could make other arrange ments.
Haalilio left this Power of Attorney to Dr. Judd'on his departure from the Islands :
" HONOLULU, OAHU, July 8, 1842.
" In case I go to a foreign land at any future time, I hereby ap- point G. P. Judd to be my agent for the transaction of all my business. And I charge him to take all my property, all my receipts, and all my leases of lands, to collect the same for me. And to pay all my debts, and the remainder he is to keep for me, if I return, or my heir, if I do not return. And I will ap- prove all the acts of my agent, G. P. Judd, which he may per- form agreeably with this writing. T. HAALILIO."
Mr. Brinsmade did not find the desired capitalists in the United States, so he proceeded to Belgium, where he sold his lease of lands, mill sites, etc., to a Belgium joint stock company, took his pay in shares of said stock, and acting in concert with Mr. Richards, whom he met in Europe, made the king a large stockholder, with the liabilities of the company, subject to ratification at the Islands.
XXVIII.
G. P. fudd to the Envoy -Sir George Simpson's Views-About Lands-Extract from another Let- ter-The Lands Recorded-A Lawyer Wanted- Letters - Mr. Richards - Temperance - Tobacco Reform - The Great Commandment - The Gov- ernment Commenced-Queen Pomare-A French Ship-of-War-A Narrow Escape-Letter to Mrs. L. on the training of Children.
E XTRACTS of letters from G. P. Judd to the Rev. William Richards, H. H. Majesty's Envoy Ex- traordinary :
" HONOLULU, August 8, 1842.
"I send you a copy of a letter just received from Sir George Simpson. I need not say you will read his letter with attention. For myself, I am forcibly impressed with some of his opinions. I think some of them, if carried out, would involve the nation in ruin. The encouragement recommended to be given to cap- italists, however much it might benefit the country, would, I feel, at no distant period be the subversion of the present dy- nasty, unless their affairs could be directed by experienced for- eigners.
" I very much fear the gentleman has been misled by the repre- sentation of others to conclude that the facilities which the Islands afford for such speculations are greater than they really are. You, sir, are aware, that with two or three exceptions, no large tract of land is unoccupied, and even those are stocked with cattle. Nor should the Government violate the rights of the people to please foreigners. Although the land might be more productive under new modes of agriculture, the people may not choose to adopt them, or leave the possession of them to strangers. And then what will be done? Do not, I beg of you, promise what ought not to be fulfilled, and what will bring disappointment or a claim for indemnity from the king or Gov- ernment."
(II2)
II3
A Temperance Nation.
II.
" May 5, 1843.
". . . . I returned yesterday from Maui, after a month's absence, attending a council of the king and chiefs. At present I can only state that a record was made of all the lands owned by in- dividuals throughout the kingdom, and a law passed that all leasing of land shall be done by proper officers of Government.
". ... It took ten weeks to make a complete record of all the lands and the names of individuals attached to them. It ap- pears that very little land belongs to the king personally ; the chiefs, particularly Victoria, being by far the greatest owners.
" I fear you will not be here in season with your English lawyer to assist in the adjustment of our affairs. Pray come as soon as you can. Have you guarded the position of the king and Gov- ernment in the Belgian Company, so that we shall not be re- sponsible for the debts of the company in case of failure? I have much anxiety on that score. G. P. JUDD."
Mr. Richards has accomplished a great deal since he entered the Government service. The taxes are better regulated, and duties are defined somewhat between the rulers and ruled. We hope much from his foreign em- bassy, that, with the co-operation of Mr. Brinsmade, some of the pending disputes with the English will be settled, and the independence of the Hawaiian kingdom be acknowledged. I am sure, if any people on earth deserve favor, it is the Hawaiian.
Temperance laws are now triumphant, and the nation is a temperance nation, from the king on the throne down to the little children. All are collected into a " cold-water army." We have had a grand festival. Fourteen hun- dred children marched in procession with music and banners, dined together, made speeches, and hurrahed in the most approved style.
One needs to have lived among such a people, when there was no restraint upon the natural love for stimu
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Honolulu.
lants, and to have been a spectator of the excesses when a whole village was drunk. What pencil can portray the loathsome picture ?
The king adheres to his pledge nobly, and appears to be fully aware that his temporal salvation depends upon it. We indulge in renewed hope that his soul will be saved. He appears sober and thoughtful, and is very attentive to religious services.
The tobacco reform creates great excitement. The natives of all classes are inveterate smokers. The pipe- lighter (a little boy) is an indispensable member of every aristocratic or respectable family, and is required to serve at all hours, day and night. The smoke is sometimes inhaled into the lungs and produces injurious effects.
Moral suasion and every effort to enlighten public opinion is loudly called for, but it seems rather overdoing the matter to make the disuse of the drug a test of dis- cipleship. I asked a native inquirer the other day, which he thought the great commandment. He replied, Mai puhi paka. (Do not smoke tobacco). I asked him if he found it in the Bible. He supposed it was there, he said. I told him that to love God with all his heart and mind and soul, was the first and great commandment. It is always easier to do penance than to repent and be- lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ.
We remain for a year in our old home, under the shade of trees our hands planted. How I shall grieve to leave a neighborhood of such pleasant associations, but it does not answer for pilgrims to make plans for permanence and say, "I shall die in my nest." Since the death of our first born I feel this more than ever.
Dr. Judd has opened an office in town for public busi- ness, and attends at regular hours every day. A little space is cleared in the Augean stables. Some of the most im-
II5
Seizure of Tahiti.
perious creditors are paid off, and several long standing disputes settled by the courts of the country. Dr. Judd is obliged to do all the writing in foreign transactions, as no natives can read and write English well enough. Hc hopes soon to secure the services of a thorough book- keeper for both languages. Foreigners look upon Gov- ernment service as degrading, and will serve in a mer- chant's counting-room for less pay. We trust this state of things will not last always.
Righteousness exalteth a nation. A great effort is being made to withdraw the king from his gambling haunts and low company, and throw around his person a little dignity, as becomes the chief magistrate and sov- ereign. Long habit is powerful.
We seldom hear from the envoys. Mails are like angels' visits, few and far between. We watch the ocean in our anxiety to catch the first glimpse of a sail, and listen with suppressed breath for every item of news.
Mr. Brinsmade has started out here quite a number of people, who are anxiously waiting the success of his scheme and his return. I wish we could be persuaded it was the best thing for the nation, but our opinions are all to the contrary. A few may be aggrandized at the expense and ruin of the many.
We have lately heard of the seizure of Tahiti by the French, which increases our anxiety to get our affairs on a surer basis. The Tahitians had the Gospel thirty years before the Hawaiians, but have fallen a prey to their enemies. Poor Queen Pomare is dispossessed of power and property. The people are strongly attached to the Protestant faith, and numbers refuse submission to Roman Catholic masters, and have fled to the mountains. They will doubtless be hunted down and compelled to surrender.
II6
Honolulu.
A French ship-of-war touched here not long since, and made very serious charges against the Government, as not having kept the La Place treaty. When the com- mander learned that the king had sent commissioners to France to adjust these difficulties, he very quietly with- drew his charges and went to sea. A French resident, in the secret, tells us it was the intention to take possession of the islands and raise the French flag here, as well as at Tahiti. ·
We regard it as a narrow escape. The Lord does watch over His people, and will hear the cause of the poor and needy, who cry day and night unto Him. Our hope is in the sympathy and prayers of the people of God, in behalf of this struggling infant nation. Why can they not be let alone for a little while ?
The following letter I preserve, as describing the diffi- culties of the missionary mother's duty to her children :
" HONOLULU.
"MY DEAR MRS. L. :- The Waialua messenger has just brought me your letter, and my sympathies are drawn toward you very tenderly.
' Woman's lot is on thee.'
" You are young and resolute, it is true, but you will soon find your strength is not the strength of iron. The constant care of your little ones, carrying about one in your arms as you do, when at your work, will overtax your powers, and you will sink under it. I know what it is by experience to watch the ills of infancy, to weep and pray over the first development of a depraved nat- ure, the anxiety in guarding the little flock from surrounding evil, which often drinks up the spirits. Days of care and nights of watching-I know them all. There are no changes in our climate-no bracing winters to renew prostrated energy and renovate the constitution. When once down, there you must lie. There are no kind mothers, or sisters, or cousins to come over and spend a few weeks, to take charge of the little ones.
II7
Training of Children.
No, there is no relief for mothers, sick or well, even for a day or an hour.
" Are you an exception? Can you calculate upon strength tc nurse, and train, and educate your children unaided ? Now, my dear friend, let us consider the matter, and try to act wisely. Your husband helps you now. Oh, yes! It is a new thing, but young fathers are very apt to use up their real enthusiasm with the oldest child. And by the time the sons are four or five years old, and need a little guidance and instruction, 'Oh, there is so much business on hand,' and it is Really, my dear, you can do it a great deal better than I can.'
" Besides, I know some mothers, who are not willing to take their husband's time to perform nursery duties, which can be safely trusted to a native nurse under the mother's superintend- ence. Every hour which I might reasonably claim of my hus- band's aid in domestic care, and from which I excuse him, I re- gard as so much public work done by myself, and feel great pleasure in it."
" You object to native nurses. The native character is not all we wish in purity and judgment; yet among the mercies scat- tered through fourteen years, none elicits more gratitude than my faithful native helpers. Pali came to me just after my ar- rival. She was born a heathen, and narrowly escaped death at her mother's hands. She was young, wild, and untaught ; now she can wash and iron infants' clothes without injury to the most delicate texture. She can feed, tend, bathe, and dress a very young child with more skill than many white mothers I could name. When the little ones are ill she sits by the cradle, watches, waits, and mingles her tears with mine, and prays to her God and my God for restoring mercy. She sits by me tending the baby now while I write, and I think our older children have learned much less of evil from her than is commonly acquired from servants in the most favored families in our own beloved native land. Now take my advice, divest yourself of prejudices, seek a woman, the best you can procure. Tell her your wishes, what you expect her to do. Teach her patiently, 'giving line upon line, precept upon precept : here a little, there a little ;' you will succeed. Yours in like bonds,
I. F. J."
XXIX.
Cession of the Islands to Great Britain -Arrival of the "Carysfort"-Revenge of the Deputy-Consul- Arrival of the King-Deputy acknowledged-More Demands-Dark Days-Many Men of many Minds -The King gives up-Flag changed-Islands gov- erned by a Commission-King returns to Lahaina --- G. P. fudd to Envoys-Arrival of the "Constella- tion"-Admiral Thomas arrives-He restores the Flag - The Ceremonies-United States Commis- sioner and English Consul-General.
1843.
I 'N February, 1843, an English man-of-war, the Carys- fort, under command of Lord George Paulet, came into port. It had been ordered here by the admiral of the Pacific Squadron, from the misrepresentations of the English Consul, to redress alleged injuries done to En- glishmen. It was now the time for the surly mastiff left as deputy to avenge himself upon the king and defense- less Government who had refused to acknowledge him. All intercourse with the resident authorities was refused, and a demand to see the king immediately presented. He was accordingly sent for from Lahaina. On his ar- rival, before he had time to change his sea apparel, an imperative demand was sent him to acknowledge the deputy-consul forthwith or prepare for the alternative- a broadside upon the town from the Carysfort. Eight hours of grace were granted for deliberation. The de- mand was acceded to, and Mr. Alexander Simpson was acknowledged as Her Britannic Majesty's representative in the Hawaiian kingdom. Then came the tug of war The august gentleman said, as did one of olden time,
(IIS)
119
Dark Days.
Whereas my predecessor "chastised you with whips, I will chastise you with scorpions."
Daily interviews with the king were demanded, and granted, only to pour upon him insult upon insult. De- cisions in the courts were required to be reversed ; claims to large tracts of valuable land to be confirmed .; and a great amount of hypothetical damages demanded. The king was neither judge nor constable, and was utterly ig- norant of the facts in many of the cases brought before him; his knowledge of English was imperfect, and the properly-appointed translator and interpreter was treated as obnoxious. The demands which the defenseless king was obliged to acknowledge, ran up in a few days to about eighty thousand dollars, quite enough to cripple the nation. The ship-of-war was brought around, so that the mouths of her guns yawned continually upon the town.
Ah, those were dark days! The intention was suffi- ciently clear to rob the treasury, by extorting large sums of money, and compel the king to yield his sovereignty, to prevent it (they said among themselves) from falling into the hands of the French. The sympathies of the whole foreign community were with the king; but un- fortunately each had a separate plan to propose. Some said : " Don't yield a single iota ; let them fire." Others asked, "In that case, who will pay for the American property thus destroyed ?" One proposed a cession of the Islands to the United States and France pro tem. Another inquired, " Will the United States Government accept and protect, and the French ever relinquish their hold, if once in possession ?"
The interest of some of us was identified with that of the nation; with it we must live or die. The king and chiefs broke down; and after a night of prayer and
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Honolulu.
deliberation, the king said : " I will not die by piecemeal, they may cut off my head at once. I will yield the breath of my kingdom, and trust to my commissioners in London and to the magnanimity of the British Gov- , ernment to redress the wrong and restore my rights."
Preliminaries were arranged with the belligerent party for a cession of the Islands, under protest ; and on Sat- urday afternoon at three o'clock, on February 25, 1843, the Hawaiian flag we loved so well, was lowered in the Fort, and an English one run up in its place and sa- luted by the batteries of the Fort and the guns of the Carysfort. English soldiers marched into the Fort and the band played "God save the Queen," and " Isle of Beauty, fare thee well." The latter was played by the request of some lady friends of Lord George, and re- garded by us as a refined cruelty, which could only ema nate from a woman.
For five long months we ground in the prison-house, like poor blind Samson. After the cession my husband came home and threw himself down, utterly exhausted in body and mind, after the sleepless week of fasting and torture. I sat by him two hours, ransacking heart and brain for arguments of consolation. There was no stain on his character; he had committed no crime. No blood had been shed. He had done his best, and what more could be required? İ advised him to lie down in the arms of a kind Heavenly Father, and in good time he would come forth with new strength for the conflict ; and it was so.
A commission was formed for the government of the Islands, consisting of Lord George Paulet, one of his officers, Lieutenant Frere, and G. P. Judd, the king's deputy. One of the Government schooners was imme- diately dispatched to bear the news to the admiral at
I21
·
Cession of the Islands.
Valparaiso. Dr. Judd was retained in the financial de. partment and left in possession of the Government pa- pers. The king and premier returned to Maui. Every avenue of communication with the king or foreign coun- tries was most jealously watched and guarded by his lordship, in order to prevent any statement of affairs derogatory to his own from being sent abroad.
Dispatches, prepared in the silence of midnight in the royal tomb, with Kaahumanu's coffin for a table, were sent off in canoes from distant points of the island; and once, when the king's signature was required, he came down in a schooner and landed incog. at Waikiki, a neighboring village, at twilight, read and signed the pre- pared documents, and was on his way back across the channel, while his lordship was dining and having a pleasant time with his friends .*
This lasted some three months, when Dr. Judd, find- ing the conditions of the cessions were disregarded by the other members of the commission, protested and withdrew the king from all further participation in their councilse
Extracts from letters to the king's commissioners, Messrs. Richards and Haalilio :
" .... His lordship has enlisted soldiers (natives), which he calls the 'Queen's Regiment,' and put them upon regular pay ; also a police corps, at an expense of $713 per month, and on his return from Maui last week brought an order to me (sealed, of course), from the king and premier, to pay no more money on that account. This I communicated to the commissioners, when the Carysfort hoisted sail again for Maui. Another letter
* On this occasion Mr. James F. B. Marshall was commissioned to join Messrs. Haalilio and Richards, the king's commissioners in Lon don, and was sent off incognito (in the same vessel that carried the British consul) with the dispatches above referred to.
IIc
I22
Honolulu.
from the king, in which he positively prohibits me from paying any more money to the soldiers. I received also from the com- missioners a demand to pay instantly, or they will put another person into the treasury office. This letter was brought me by Lieutenant Frere, in full uniform, with sword drawn. Of course I was obliged to comply."
The archives were carefully removed from the office and deposited in the royal tomb. Another quarterly pay-day was just at hand. On the refusal of money it was expected that his lordship would take possession of the treasury and demand the papers.
Commodore Kearny, in the United States ship-of-war Constellation, arrived with a rumor that the United States Government had recognized the independence of the Hawaiian Government, and had appointed a commissioner to treat with our sovereign, as in other kingdoms.
This news inspired some courage.
We had just arisen from family devotions one morn- ing, where we had been pleading for the prostrate nation, in the hands of those who were crushing out its vitality, and trampling in the dust its best interests, when we were startled by the native cry of "sail ho!" An im- mense man-of-war hove in sight, floating the flag of an English rear-admiral of the white. 'What was his errand? Had he brought relief, or had he come to declare our bondage perpetual? We held our very breath to await the answer.
Admiral Thomas landed and requested an immediate interview with the native authorities. The first glimpse of his mild, benevolent face inspired confidence. Nego- tiations were not difficult. The admiral, who had ordered the Carysfort here, was evidently pained at the course pursued, and anxious to restore the king. Lord George had destroyed every Hawaiian flag he could find, flatter
I23
Restoration of the Islands.
ing himself they would never again be called for. The admiral had a new one made on board the Dublin ex- pressly for the restoration ceremony.
It was on Saturday, July 31, a little more than five months after the cession or seizure, that the marines from the Dublin, Carysfort, and other English ships, under their respective officers, were ordered to be on the parade ground on the plain, in full uniform, at eight o'clock A.M., under Lieutenant Frere. A pavilion was erected for the ladies. Foreign residents of all classes, missionaries, and thousands of natives assembled at an early hour. Admiral Thomas preceded the king in the carriage of the latter. When the king, on horseback, arrived upon the ground, the admiral gave him a salute of twenty-one guns from the field artillery of the squadron. Lord George was not present.
At a signal given, the English flag-officer advanced toward the king, surrounded by his guards, bowed his colors most gracefully, while the splendid Hawaiian standard was unfurled, and, as the breeze caught its am- ple folds, displaying the dove and olive branch in the center, the guns from the Carysfort fired first, then the Dublin, and the other English ships, followed by two American ships-of-war. Each poured forth a salute of twenty-one guns, which was responded to by the fort and - battery of old Punch-bowl. The roar and reverberations were loud and long, and one would think the royal slum- berers in the adjacent tomb might be startled in their long sleep. As the cannons ceased, thousands of human voices mingled in one patriotic cheer. Men and boys, black, white, and red, shouted themselves hoarse, as the king returned from the plain. The king and chiefs pro- ceeded to the stone church, where, in the midst of the great congregation, they gave thanks to their God for deliverance from a foreign yoke.
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