[UNDER SPECIAL AUTHORITY.]
His late Majesty, Kauikeouli Kaleiopapa Kuakamanolani, Mahinalani,
Kalaninuiwaiakua, Keaweawealaokalani, whose royal style was Kamehameha
III., was born on the 17th March, 1813, in Keauhou, District of Kona,
Hawaii. His father was the renowned king and conqueror, Kamehameha I.
His mother was Keopuolani, daughter of Kiwaloa, son of Kalaiopuu, of
Kau, Hawaii. On the day before her death, while conversing with the
celebrated chief Kalaimoku, respecting her children, she said, "I wish
that my two children Kauikeouli, and Nahienaena (her daughter), should
know God and serve him, and be instructed in Christianity. I wish you to
take care of these my two children,--see that they walk in the right
way, counsel them, let them not associate with bad companions." But
after her death, the chief who had the immediate charge of the young
Prince's person was Kaikeoewa. When he retired to Lanai, Kaahumanu
placed the Prince under the immediate charge of Boki. The earliest
education which the infant Prince received, was at Kailua, from the Rev.
A. Thurston, and Thomas Hopu, a native who had been educated in the
United States. In Honolulu the Prince became the pupil of the Rev. Hiram
Bingham.
The young Prince had the misfortune to lose his father Kamehameha, on
the 8th of May, 1819, and his mother Keopuolani, on the 16th of
September, 1823. Towards the end of that year King Kamehameha II.
(Liholiho), embarked for England, where he died in 1824. The royal
remains were conveyed back to the islands in the British frigate
"Blonde," commanded by Lord Byron, in 1825. Soon afterwards, say in May,
1825, the reign of Kamehameha III. commenced, but under the political
guidance of a supreme ruler, or "Kuhina Nui," till March, 1833, when he
declared to the chiefs his wish to take into his own hands the lands for
which his father had toiled, the powers of life and death, and the
undivided sovereignty,--and confirmed Kinau (Kaahumanu II.) as his
"Kuhina Nui." He then took into his own hands the reins of sovereign
power, in the twentieth year of his age. How he has exercised that
power, during the twenty-one years that intervened between its
assumption and the 15th December last, when Death released him of all
royal and other earthly cares, it will be the duty of his future
biographer to show. His memory is, and must ever be, dear to his
subjects, for the free constitutions which he voluntarily granted to
them in 1840 and in 1852; for his support of religion and patronage of
education; for his conferring upon them, and upon foreigners, the right
to hold lands in fee simple, and for his willing abandonment of all the
arbitrary powers and right of universal seignorial land-lordship, which
he had inherited. There is scarcely in history, ancient or modern, any
king to whom so many public reforms and benefits can be ascribed, as the
achievements of only twenty-one years of his reign. Yet what king has
had to contend with so many difficulties, arising from ignorance,
prejudice, scanty revenue, inexperience and ineptitude, as his late
Majesty King Kamehameha III.? It was only in 1844 that His Majesty had
the assistance of a responsible legal counsellor, and of a Secretary of
State; only in 1845 that a proper separation of the departments of
government was attempted, and a cabinet formed. The political principles
then established by His Majesty were the following, viz:
"That monarchy in the Sandwich Islands is indispensable to the
preservation of the King, the chiefs and the natives. That it
is the duty of the Ministers, in all their measures, to have a
single eye to the preservation of the King, the chiefs and the
natives.
"That the existence of the King, chiefs and the natives, can
only be preserved by having a government efficient for the
administration of enlightened justice, both to natives and the
subjects of foreign powers residing in the islands, and that
chiefly through missionary efforts the natives have made such
progress in education and knowledge, as to justify the belief
that by further training, they may be rendered capable of
conducting efficiently the affairs of government; but that
they are not at present so far advanced.
"That the best means of bringing them to that desired state,
are the careful study of proper books, and the practical
knowledge of business, to be acquired by ascending through the
different gradations of office, under foreign ministers.
"That such foreign ministers hold their commissions only by
the grace of the King, and agree to surrender them at the will
of His Majesty in favor of native subjects, whenever they
become properly qualified.
"That the King being recognized as Sovereign by Great Britain,
France, the United States and Belgium, has to maintain his
position and rank as such, and that all his ministers and
officers are to assist him in doing so, by deporting
themselves towards him with that respect and consideration to
which all sovereigns are entitled; and to discharge their
duties so as to do honor to his appointment and credit to
themselves.
"That it is the duty of the ministry to discourage all
republican tendencies and specious attempts to degrade the
King to the rank of a mere superior chief, as calculated to
undermine his influence and authority, and place the islands
in subjection to white men.
"That the subjection of the islands to white men, would lead
to the extinction of the native race.
"That the ministers ought to promote the numerical increase of
the natives, and their happiness, and wealth, by encouraging
religion, education, the arts and sciences.
"That the co-operation of Christian missionaries should be
admitted towards these objects, but that they shall not
interfere in the purely political concerns of the King's
Government.
"That equal rights and privileges should be allowed to all
foreign nations.
"That the revenue necessary to support the King's Government,
religion, schools, and to reward public services, should be
raised without such oppressive taxes as would oppress the
natives, and shackle their industry.
"That the faith of all treaties, conventions, contracts,
engagements, and even promises, should be religiously
observed.
"That a constitution and code of laws be provided, adapted to
the genius of the nation, to the climate and soil, and to the
wealth, the manners, and the customs, and the numbers of the
people."
These principles, so far as they could be applied to the good of his
people, were faithfully adhered to by the late King, as will be seen by
his recommendations to the Legislature, embodied in his speeches for the
last nine years, which have been published together. The annual reports
of his Ministers, and of his Chancellor and Chief Justice, best show
whether those principles have been _mere profession_, or have had an
_operative effect_, in promoting that progress which, for the last
_decade_ of his late Majesty's reign, has unquestionably surpassed that
of any other nation during the same period of time. All the reforms
effected have been achieved without the creation of a national debt, and
without one violent convulsion. The inference is irresistible, that
monarchs may spring from the Hawaiian race, capable of well performing
all the duties of constitutional sovereignty, and of fulfilling all the
requirements of the government of an enlightened, independent nation,
both in its internal and foreign relations.
Revolutionary violence, therefore, has no excuse except in the selfish
rapacity which prompts it. It cannot plead the example of any country
bordering on the Pacific, where life and property are more secure than
they have been here, under the reign of the late King; where foreigners
enjoy greater privileges, and where, like this Kingdom, foreign commerce
(excepting spirituous liquors) pays a contribution to the State of _only
5 per cent. ad valorem_.
In private life, the late King was mild, kind, affable, generous and
forgiving. He was never more happy than when free from the cares and
trappings of state. He could enjoy himself sociably with his friends,
who were much attached to him. Having associated much, while a boy, with
foreigners, he continued to the last to be fond of their company.
Without his personal influence, the law to allow them to hold lands in
fee simple could never have been enacted; neither could conflicting
claims to land have been settled and registered by that most useful
institution, the Board of Land Commissioners. It is hardly possible to
conceive any King more generally beloved than was his late Majesty; more
universally obeyed, or more completely sovereign in the essential
respect of independent sovereignty, that of governing his subjects free
from any influence or control coming from beyond the limits of his own
jurisdiction.
The sister of the late King, the Princess Nahienaena, died on the 30th
December, 1836.
On the 4th of February, 1837, the late King was married to Kalama,
daughter of Naihekukui, who has survived his Majesty, and is now the
Queen Dowager. The King had by her two children, Keaweaweula and
Keaweaweula 2d, who died in their infancy.
Being childless, the late King adopted as his son and heir ALEXANDER
LIHOLIHO, who was born on the 9th of February, 1834, and who now happily
reigns as KING KAMEHAMEHA IV.