In the pre-historic days of Hawaii, for 500 years, as the bards
sing, before Captain Cook landed, and indeed for some years
afterwards, each island had its king, chiefs, and internal
dissensions; and incessant wars, with a reckless waste of human
life, kept the whole group in turmoil. Chaotic and legendary as
early Hawaiian history is, there is enough to show that there must
have been regularly organized communities on the islands for a very
long period, with a civilization and polity which, though utterly
unworthy of Christianity, were enlightened and advanced for
Polynesian heathenism.
The kingly office was hereditary, and the king's power absolute. On
the different islands the kings and chiefs who together constituted
a privileged class, admitted the priesthood to some portion of their
privileges, probably with the view of enslaving the people more
completely through the agency of religion, and held the lower
classes in absolute subserviency by the most rigorous of feudal
systems, which included hana poalima, or forced labour, and the
tabu, well known throughout Polynesia.
A very interesting history begins with Kamehameha the Great, the
Conqueror, or the Terrible; the "Napoleon of the Pacific," as he has
been called. He united an overmastering ambition to a singular gift
of ruling, and without education, training, or the help of a single
political precedent to guide him, animated not only by the lust of
conquest, but by the desire to create a nationality, he subjugated
every thing that his canoes could reach, and fused a rabble of
savages and chieftaincies into a united nation, every individual of
which to this day inherits something of the patriotism of the
Conqueror.
His wars were by no means puny either in proportions or slaughter,
as, for instance, when he meditated the conquest of Kauai, his
expedition included seven thousand picked warriors, twenty-one
schooners, forty swivels, six mortars, and an abundance of
ammunition! His victories are celebrated in countless meles or
unwritten songs, which are said to be marked by real poetic feeling
and simplicity, and to resemble the Ossianic poems in majesty and
melancholy. He founded the dynasty which for seventy years has
stood as firmly, and exercised its functions for the welfare of the
people on the whole as efficiently, as any other government.
The king was forty-five years old when, having "no more worlds to
conquer," he devoted himself to the consolidation of his kingdom.
He placed governors on each island, directly responsible to himself,
who nominated chiefs of districts, heads of villages, and all petty
officers; and tax-gatherers, who, for lack of the art of writing,
kept their accounts by a method in use in the English exchequer in
ancient times. He appointed a council of chiefs, with whom he
advised on important matters, and a council of "wise men" who
assisted him in framing laws, and in regulating concerns of minor
importance. In all matters of national importance, the governors
and high chiefs of the islands met with the sovereign in
consultations. These were conducted with great privacy, and the
results were promulgated through the islands by heralds whose office
was hereditary.
Kamehameha enacted statutes against theft, murder, and oppression,
and though he wielded oppressive and despotic authority himself, his
people enjoyed a golden age as compared with those that were past.
The king, governors, and chiefs constituted the magistracy, and
there was an appeal from both chiefs and governors to the king. It
was usual for both parties to be heard face to face in the enclosure
in front of the house of the king or governor, no lawyers were
employed, and every man advocated his own cause, sitting cross-
legged before the judges. Swiftness and decision characterized the
redress of grievances and the administration of justice. Kamehameha
reduced the feudal tenure of land, which had heretofore been the
theory, into absolute practice, claiming for the crown the sole
ownership of the land, and dividing it among his followers on the
conditions of tribute and military service. The common people were
attached to the soil and transferred with it. A chief might
nominate his wife, or son, or any other person to succeed him in his
possessions, but at his death they reverted to the king, whose order
was required before the testamentary wish became of any value.
There were some wise regulations generally applicable, concerning
the planting of cocoanut trees, and a law that the water should be
conducted over every plantation twice a week in general, and once a
week during the dry season. This king constructed immense fish-
ponds on the sea coast, and devoted himself to commerce with such
success that in one year he exported $400,000 of sandalwood (felled
and shipped at the cost of much suffering to the common people), and
on finding that a large proportion of the profit had been dissipated
by harbour dues at Canton, he took up the idea and established
harbour dues at Honolulu.
From Vancouver Kamehameha learned of the grandeur and power of
Christian nations; and in the idea that his people might grow great
through Christianity, he asked him, in 1794, that Christian teachers
might be sent from England. This request, if ever presented, was
disregarded, as was another made by Captain Turnbull in 1803, and
this exceptionally great Polynesian died the year before the light
of the Gospel shone on Hawaiian shores.
Some persons, it does not appear whether they were English or
American, attempted his conversion; but the astute savage, after
listening to their eloquent statements of the power of faith,
pressed on them as a crucial test to throw themselves from the top
of an adjacent precipice, making his reception of their religion
contingent on their arrival unhurt at its base. He built large
heiaus, amongst others the one at Kawaihae, at the dedication of
which to his favourite war god eleven human sacrifices were offered.
To the end he remained devoted to the state religion, and the last
instances of capital punishment for breaking tabu, a thraldom deeply
interwoven with the religious system, occurred in the last year of
his reign, when one man was put to death for putting on a chief's
girdle, another for eating of a tabooed dish, and a third for
leaving a house under tabu, and entering one which was not so.
His last prayers were to his great red-feathered god Kukailimoku,
and priests bringing idols crowded round him in his dying agony.
His last words were "Move on in my good way and"-- In the death-
room the high chiefs consulted, and one, to testify his great grief,
proposed to eat the body raw, but was overruled by the majority. So
the flesh was separated from the bones, and they were tied up in
tapa, and concealed so effectually that they have never since been
found. A holocaust of three hundred dogs gave splendour to his
obsequies. "These are our gods whom I worship," he had said to
Kotzebue, while showing him one of the temples. "Whether I do right
or wrong I do not know, but I follow my faith, which cannot be
wicked, as it commands me never to do wrong."
Kamehameha the Great died in 1819, and his son Liholiho, who loved
whisky and pleasure, was peaceably crowned king in his room, and by
his name. He, with the powerful aid of the Queen Dowager Kaahumanu,
abolished tabu, and his subjects cast away their idols, and fell
into indifferent scepticism, the high priest Hewahewa being the
first to light the iconoclastic torch, having previously given his
opinion that there was only one great akua or spirit in lani, the
heavens. This Kamehameha II. was the king who with his queen, died
of measles in London in 1824, after which the Blonde frigate was
sent to restore their bodies with much ceremony to Hawaiian soil.
Kamehameha III., a minor, another son of the Conqueror, succeeded,
and reigned for thirty years, dividing the lands among the nobles
and the people, and conferring upon his kingdom an equable
constitution. The law officially abolishing idolatry was confirmed
by him, and while complete religious toleration otherwise was
granted, the Christian faith was established in these words:--"The
religion of the Lord Jesus Christ shall continue to be the
established national religion of the Hawaiian Islands." His words
on July 31st, 1843, when the English colours, wrongfully hoisted,
were lowered in favour of the Hawaiian flag, are the national
motto:--"The life of the land is established in righteousness." In
his reign Hawaiian independence was recognised by Great Britain,
France, and America. His Premier for some time was Mr. Wyllie, who
with a rare devotion and disinterestedness devoted his life and a
large fortune to his adopted country.
Kamehameha IV., a grandson of the Conqueror, succeeded him in 1854.
He was a patriotic prince, and strove hard to advance the
civilization of his people, and to arrest their decrease by
reformatory and sanitary measures. He was the most accomplished
prince of his line, and his death in 1863, soon after that of his
only child, the Prince of Hawaii, was very deeply regretted. His
widow, Queen Kaleleonalani, or Emma, visited England after his
death.
He was succeeded by his brother, a man of a very different stamp,
who was buried on January 11, 1873, after a partial outbreak of the
orgies wherewith the natives disgraced themselves after the death of
a chief in the old heathen days. It is rare to meet with two people
successively who hold the same opinion of Kamehameha V. He was
evidently a man of some talent and strong will, intensely patriotic,
and determined not to be a merely ornamental figure-head of a
government administered by foreigners in his name. He ardently
desired the encouragement of foreign immigration, and the opening of
a free market in America for Hawaiian produce. He ruled, as well as
reigned, and though he abrogated the constitution of 1852, and
introduced several features of absolutism into the government, on
the whole he seems to have done well by his people. He is said to
have been regal and dignified, to have worked hard, to have written
correct state papers, and to have been capable of the deportment of
an educated Christian gentleman, but to have reimbursed himself for
this subservience to conventionality by occasionally retiring to an
undignified residence on the sea-shore, where he transformed himself
into the likeness of one of his half-clad heathen ancestors, debased
himself by whisky, and revelled in the hula-hula. He is said also
to have been so far under the empire of the old superstitions, as to
consult an ancient witch on affairs of importance.
He died amidst the rejoicings incident to his birthday, and on the
next day "lay in state in the throne-room of the palace, while his
ministers, his staff, and the chiefs of the realm kept watch over
him, and sombre kahilis waving at his head, beat a rude and silent
dead-march for the crowds of people, subjects and aliens, who
continuously filed through the apartment, for a curious farewell
glance at the last of the Kamehamehas."
His death closed the first era of Hawaiian history, and the orderly
succession of one recognised dynasty. No successor to the throne
had been proclaimed, and the king left no nearer kin than the
Princess Keelikolani, his half-sister, a lady not in the line of
regal descent.
Under these novel circumstances, it devolved upon the Legislative
Assembly to elect by ballot "some native Alii of the kingdom as
successor to the throne." The candidates were the High Chief
Kalakaua, the present King, and Prince Lunalilo, the late King, but
the "Well-Beloved," as Lunalilo was called, was elected unanimously,
amidst an outburst of popular enthusiasm.
From his high resolves and generous instincts much was expected, and
the unhappy failing, to which, after the most painful struggles, he
succumbed, on the solicitation of some bad or thoughtless
foreigners, if it lessened him aught in the public esteem, abated
nothing of the wonderful love that was felt for him.
He died, after a lingering illness, on February 3, 1874. Although
the event had been expected for some time, its announcement was
received with profound sorrow by the whole community, while the
native subjects of the deceased sovereign, according to ancient
custom, expressed their feelings in loud wailing, which echoed
mournfully through the still, red air of early daylight. On the
following evening the body was placed on a shrouded bier, and was
escorted in solemn procession by the government officials and the
late king's staff, to the Iolani Palace, there to lie in state. It
was a cloudless moonlight; not a leaf stirred or bird sang, and the
crowd, consisting of several thousands, opened to the right and left
to let the dismal death-train pass, in a stillness which was only
broken by the solemn tramp of the bearers.
The next day the corpse lay in state, in all the splendour that the
islands could bestow, dressed in the clothes the king wore when he
took the oath of office, and resting on the royal robe of yellow
feathers, a fathom square. {468} Between eight and ten thousand
persons passed through the palace during the morning, and foreigners
as well as natives wept tears of genuine grief; while in the palace
grounds the wailing knew no intermission, and many of the natives
spent hours in reciting kanakaus in honour of the deceased. At
midnight the king's remains were placed in a coffin, his aged
father, His Highness Kanaina, who was broken-hearted for his loss,
standing by. When the body was raised from the feather robe, he
ordered that it should be wrapped in it, and thus be deposited in
its resting place. "He is the last of our race," he said; "it
belongs to him." The natives in attendance turned pale at this
command, for the robe was the property of Kekauluohi, the dead
king's mother, and had descended to her from her kingly ancestors.
Averse through his life to useless parade and display, Lunalilo left
directions for a simple funeral, and that none of the old heathenish
observances should ensue upon his death. So, amidst unbounded
grief, he was carried to the grave with hymns and anthems, and the
hopes of Hawaii were buried with him.
He died without naming a successor, and thus for the second time
within fourteen months, a king came to be elected by ballot.
The proceedings at the election of Lunalilo were marked by an order,
regularity, and peaceableness which reflected extreme credit on the
civilization of the Hawaiians, but in the subsequent period the
temper of the people had considerably changed, and they had been
affected by influences to which some allusions were made in Letter
XIX.
In politics, Lunalilo's views were essentially democratic, and he
showed an almost undue deference to the will of the people, giving
them a year's practical experience of democracy which they will
never forget.
An antagonism to the foreign residents, or rather to their political
influence, had grown rapidly. Some of the Americans had been unwise
in their language, and the discussion on the proposed cession of
Pearl River increased the popular discontent, and the jealousy of
foreign interference in island affairs. "America gave us the
light," said a native pastor, in a sermon which was reported over
the islands, "but now that we have the light, we should be left to
use it for ourselves." This sentence represented the bulk of the
national feeling, which, if partially unenlightened, is intensely,
passionately, almost fanatically patriotic.
The biennial election of delegates to the Legislative Assembly
occurred shortly before Lunalilo's death, and the rallying-cry,
"Hawaii for the Hawaiians," was used with such effect that the most
respectable foreign candidates, even in the capital, had not a
chance of success, and for the first time in Hawaiian constitutional
history, a house was elected, consisting, with one exception, of
natives. Immediately on the king's death, Kalakaua, who was
understood to represent the foreign interest as well as the policy
indicated by the popular rallying-cry, and Queen Emma, came forward
as candidates; the walls were placarded with addresses, mass
meetings were held, canvassers were busy night and day, promises
impossible of fulfilment were made, and for eight days the Hawaiian
capital presented those scenes of excitement, wrangling, and mutual
misrepresentation which we associate with popular elections
elsewhere, and everywhere.
The day of election came, and thirty-nine votes were given for
Kalakaua, and six for Emma. On the announcement of this result, a
hoarse, indignant roar, mingled with cheers from the crowd without,
was heard within the Assembly chamber, and on the committee
appointed to convey to Kalakaua the news of his election, attempting
to take their seats in a carriage, they were driven back, maimed and
bleeding, into the Courthouse; the carriage was torn to pieces, and
the spokes of the wheels were distributed as weapons among the
rioters. The "gentle children of the sun" were seen under a new
aspect; they became furious, the latent savagery came out, the doors
of the Hall of Assembly were battered in, the windows were shattered
with clubs and volleys of stones, nine of the representatives, who
were known to have voted for Kalakaua, were severely injured; the
chairs, tables, and furnishings of the rooms were broken up and
thrown out of the windows, along with valuable public and private
documents; kerosene was demanded to fire the buildings; the police
remained neutral, and conflagration and murder would have followed,
had not the ministers dispatched an urgent request for assistance to
the United States' ships of war, Portsmouth and Tuscarora, and
H.B.M. ship Tenedos, which was promptly met by the landing of such a
force of sailors and marines as dispersed the rioters.
Seventy arrests were made, the foreign marines held possession of
the Courthouse, Palace, and Government offices, Kalakaua took the
oath of office in private; the Representatives, with bandaged heads,
and arms in slings, limped, and in some instances were supported, to
their desks, to be liberated from their duties by the king in
person, and in ten days the joint protectorate was withdrawn.
Those who know the natives best were taken by surprise, and are
compelled to recognise that a restive, half-sullen, half-defiant
spirit is abroad among them, and that the task of governing them may
not be the easy thing which it has been since the days of Kamehameha
the Great. Nor do the foreign residents, especially the Americans,
feel so safe as formerly, without the presence of a man-of-war in
the harbour, since the people of Oahu have so unexpectedly developed
one of the prominent arts of civilized democracy, cruel, reckless,
and unreasoning mobbing.
Of King Kalakaua, who began his reign under such unfortunate
auspices, little at present can be said. Island affairs have not
settled down into their old quietude, and party spirit, arising out
of the election, has not died out among the natives. The king chose
his advisers wisely, and made a concession to native feeling by
appointing a native named Nahaolelua to a seat in the cabinet as
Minister of Finance, but his first arrangement was upset, and a good
deal of confusion has subsequently prevailed.
The Queen, Kapiolani, is a Hawaiian lady of high character and
extreme amiability, and both King and Queen have been exemplary in
their domestic relations.
Kalakaua's first act was to proclaim his brother, Prince Leleiohoku,
his successor, investing him at the same time with the title, "His
Royal Highness," and his second was to reorganize the military
service, with the view of making it an efficient and well-
disciplined force.
There is something melancholy in the fact that this small Pacific
kingdom has to fall back upon the old world resource of a standing
army, as large, in proportion to its population, as that of the
German Empire.
Those readers who have become interested in the Sandwich Islands
through the foregoing Letters, will join me in the earnest wish that
this people, which has advanced from heathenism and barbarism to
Christianity and civilization in the short space of a single
generation, may enjoy peace and prosperity under King Kalakaua, that
the extinction which threatens the nation may be averted, and that
under a gracious Divine Providence, Hawaii may still remain the
inheritance of the Hawaiians.