http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26501/26501-h/26501-h.htm
Extract from the Polynesian of January 6, 1855.
OBITUARY.
[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[Pg 8] 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.
[Pg 9]"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 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."
[Pg 10] 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. [Pg 11]
In the Newspapers:
Polynesian. (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, December 16, 1854, Page 126, Image 2
Image provided by University of Hawaii at Manoa; Honolulu, HI
Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015408/1854-12-16/ed-1/seq-2/
Polynesian. (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, December 30, 1854, Page 134, Image 2
Image provided by University of Hawaii at Manoa; Honolulu, HI
Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015408/1854-12-30/ed-1/seq-2/
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