American Diplomacy in the Orient/Chapter IV

by John Watson Foster

IV

INDEPENDENT HAWAII

The situation and resources of the Hawaiian Islands pointed them out to early navigators as destined to play an important part in the commercial and political affairs of the Pacific. Standing alone in the great ocean, the group must necessarily act as an outpost of the North American continent. Lying in the track of navigation from the central part of that continent to the great islands in the South Pacific, and in the direct course from the Isthmus of Panama to Japan and China, it was plain their harbors would become the resort of the shipping of the world. The trade winds which constantly fanned their shores and the cold currents from the Arctic seas made for these islands within the tropics a most healthful and delicious climate. The genial sun, the plentiful rains, and the mountain elevations caused the soil to respond to every desire of man. It was verily the Paradise of the Pacific.

The islands were not discovered until two years after the United States had declared its independence. But in the very year that the new government was set in motion under President Washington, American traders established themselves there and initiated a commerce, which, with these islands as a base of operations, soon grew into a flourishing and lucrative trade, and for the succeeding century made the American influence the predominating factor in their destinies.

Reference has already been made to the fur trade which was early carried on by the vessels of the United States between the northwest coast of America and Canton. This trade had its origin in the action of several merchants of Boston in 1787, who formed an association for the purpose of combining the fur trade of that coast with the Chinese trade. With this object in view they freighted two ships, the Columbia, Captain Kendrick, and the Washington, Captain Gray, with articles especially adapted for barter with the Indians, and the vessels set sail, via Cape Horn, on their long voyage through an unknown sea. After many trials they reached their destination, in 1788, exchanged their merchandise for furs, loaded them on the Columbia, under command of Gray, which vessel made the voyage to Canton, there bartered the furs for a cargo of tea and returned to Boston by the Cape of Good Hope, after an absence of three years, thus having the distinction of being the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.

Kendrick, with the Washington, remained on the coast, and afterwards established himself on the Hawaiian Islands, where he lost his life by accident in 1793. Gray left Boston on his second trading voyage in 1790, and it was in the course of this expedition that he discovered and entered the Columbia River. To the Boston fur traders must be ascribed the credit of laying the foundation of the great territorial possessions of the United States on the Pacific slope of the continent.^[1]

The pioneer venture of the Columbia marked out the course of traffic to be pursued by the many ships which soon followed. They sailed mainly from the ports of New England, ladened with merchandise and trinkets for the Indians, and passing around Cape Horn went direct to the northwest coast. Here they exchanged with the natives their goods for furs. As the inclement weather approached they resorted to the Hawaiian Islands, where they spent the winter drying and curing their peltries. The following spring found them again trading along the American coast, whence returning to the islands they took on board the skins gathered the year before, and sailed for Canton. By the sale or barter of these furs they laid in a cargo of teas, silks, porcelain, etc., and returned to the United States after an absence of two or three years. The profits of this trade, as already shown, were very large, amounting in successful voyages, according to some narratives, to "one thousand per cent, every second year." But it involved great perils and arduous labors, and called forth energy, courage, and skill—characteristics which distinguished the early American navigators.^[2]

Captain Vancouver, R. N., who was sent out by the British government on a voyage of discovery, visited these islands in 1792, and found American traders already located there. He discourses at some length in his narrative upon "the commercial interests they are endeavoring to establish in these seas;" refers to the new industry being developed by them in, sandalwood, which abounded in the islands and commanded an exorbitant price in China and India; and he states that such immense profits had been derived by the Americans from the fur trade that it was expected as many as twenty vessels would arrive the next season from New England to engage in the industry. Captain Delano of Boston, already cited as an early voyager of extensive travels, spent some time at the Hawaiian Islands in 1801. He speaks of a company of Boston merchants which had been established there for some years engaged in the fur and sandalwood trade, which they had found very profitable; and he predicted the future importance of the islands because of their central situation, the delightful climate, and fertile soil. For twenty or thirty years the Americans had almost the exclusive control of this lucrative trade, for the reason that the Russians were limited to the overland intercourse with China, and private British ships were excluded from the Canton market by the monopoly of the East India Company, which did not venture into the fur trade. Sandalwood proved a great additional source of profit to the Americans, as it also was to the islanders. The king and chiefs held the cutting of the wood as a special privilege, and it was described as "a mine of wealth" for them. By means of it they were enabled to supply themselves with schooners, boats, arms, ammunition, liquors, etc. Writers of the period refer to sandalwood as "the standard coin," it being for the natives the chief article of barter.^[3]

In the course of time, however, the character of the commerce and intercourse with the islands changed. For various reasons the fur trade lost much of its value, and the supply of sandalwood began to be exhausted. In this languishing state of trade, an industry, new to the North Pacific, suddenly sprang into importance, but fortunately for the American supremacy in the islands it was one in which they had long held preeminence in other parts of the world. The first vessel engaged in whaling arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in 1819, but the number rapidly multiplied and the commerce of the islands was soon transformed by them.

While they were yet colonists of Great Britain, the Americans had shown their superior skill in the whaling industry. The statistics show that in 1775 the principal countries engaged in it were as follows: France, a very few vessels; Holland, 129 vessels; England, 96; while the American colonies had 309 vessels, manned by 4000 seamen, with a product in oil and whalebone of $1,111,000 in value. Edmund Burke, in his famous speech for conciliation with the colonies, devoted one of his eloquent passages to the American whaler. He said: "Look at the manner in which the people of New England have of late carried on the whale fishery. Whilst we follow them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them penetrating into the deepest recesses of Hudson's Bay and Davis's Straits, whilst we are looking for them beneath the Arctic circle, we hear that they have pierced into the opposite region of Polar cold—that they are at the Antipodes, and engaged under the frozen serpent of the South. … No ocean but what is vexed with their fisheries, no climate that is not witness to their toils. Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, nor the dextrous and firm sagacity of English enterprise, ever carried their perilous mode of hardy enterprise to the extent to which it has been pushed by this recent people—a people who are still, as it were, in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood."^[4]

The war of the Revolution, from which Burke would have gladly saved them, and which suspended their activity in that direction, did not turn the New Englanders from their chosen avocation. Within two months after the preliminary treaty of peace was signed and before the permanent treaty had been agreed upon, a London newspaper of the period announced: "On the third of February, 1783, the ship Bedford, Captain Moores, belonging to Massachusetts, arrived in the Downs. She was not allowed regular entry until after some consultation between the commissioners of customs and the Lords of the Council, on account of the many acts of Parliament yet in force against the rebels of America. She was loaded with 587 barrels of whale oil and manned wholly with American seamen, and belonged to the island of Nantucket. The vessel lay at the Horsley-Downs, a little below the Tower, and was the first which displayed the thirteen stripes of America in any British port."

Notwithstanding this early indication of activity, the whale fishery did not quickly assume its former proportions, owing to the heavy bounties of other governments and the embarrassment to our commerce from the Napoleonic wars. Not till after the second war with England did the American industry regain its ascendancy. These reasons explain the late appearance of its whaling vessels in the Pacific. In 1847, when the industry was near its height, it is estimated that the total number of vessels of all nations engaged was about 900, and that of this number more than 800 were Americans, representing an investment of $20,000,000 and an annual product of $13,000,000.

The whaling vessels visiting the Hawaiian Islands soon increased. Six arrived the year after the first one appeared in 1819, the year following more than thirty are reported, and in 1822 twenty-four whalers were seen in Honolulu at one time. From that period forward to the Civil War, when the American whaling fleet was almost swept from the ocean by the Confederate cruisers, the whaling interest was the prominent feature of the island commerce. The number of vessels entered at the port of Honolulu for twenty years from 1824 was 2008, of which 1712 were whalers, and more than three fourths of them were American. The business reached its culmination about 1845, when the local government reported that 497 whalers, manned by 14,905 sailors, refreshed in the ports of the islands. As late as 1863 the number of whaling vessels visiting Honolulu was 102, of which 92 were American. But during the year following one of the Confederate cruisers appeared in the North Pacific, and the industry for a time disappeared. The fleet fell off to 47 in 1871, and since that date has steadily declined, owing in great measure to the scarcity of whales. But for more than thirty years it was the chief dependence of the islands for their prosperity; the vessels disbursed large sums for supplies and repairs; and the inhabitants, being excellent seamen, were largely employed on the vessels.^[5]

Notwithstanding the commercial interests caused the American influence to be predominant in the Hawaiian Islands, a new element was added which increased it and still more affected the social and political development. When they were discovered by Captain Cook in 1778, the different islands were ruled by rival chiefs and were almost continuously in a state of warfare. Captain Vancouver, on his arrival in 1792, found Kamehameha, king of the island of Hawaii, the largest of the group, intent on bringing all the other chiefs into subjection to his rule. He was possessed of military capacity and of many of the higher qualities of manhood, and Vancouver not only advised the rival chiefs to accept his sovereignty, but he instructed him in the arts of war and built and armed for him a small vessel, which proved an important addition to his military establishment.

Kamehameha eventually became the ruler of the whole group, and thus laid the foundation of Hawaiian nationality. He ended his career in 1819, and his death was followed by strange and unexpected events. The natives had for generations been practicing a degrading and sanguinary idolatry and a superstitious and tyrannical system known as tabu. The advisers of the young king Liholiho induced him to put an end to both as false and as injurious to his people.

These events synchronized with the dispatch from Boston, by the American Board of Foreign Missions,—an organization of the Congregational churches of New England,—of a company of missionaries to propagate among the Hawaiians the doctrines of Christianity. A zeal for foreign missions had a few years before been awakened in the churches of that denomination especially, and the attention of their board of missions being attracted to the Hawaiian Islands by the intimate relations of the New England merchants and vessels with them, this movement was set on foot to convert the natives to Christianity.

The first missionaries were kindly received, and hopefully entered upon their labors under favorable conditions. Additional missionaries were sent out from the Boston board, and soon they were actively at work throughout the group. Such great success attended their labors that within a few years the larger part of the population were reported as adherents of Christianity, including the king and the court. In 1843, John Quincy Adams, then chairman of the Committee of Foreign Affairs of the House, made a report to Congress in which he spoke of this achievement as follows: "It is a subject of cheering contemplation to the friends of human improvement and virtue that, by the mild and gentle influence of Christian charity, dispensed by humble missionaries of the gospel unarmed with secular power within the last quarter of a century, the people of this group of islands have been converted from the lowest abasement of idolatry to the blessings of the Christian gospel; united under one balanced government; rallied to the fold of civilization by a written language and constitution providing security for the rights of persons, property, and mind, and invested with all the elements of right and power which can entitle them to be acknowledged by their brethren of the human race as a separate and independent community."^[6]

The islands were visited in 1860 by the well-known American, Richard H. Dana, who, after spending some time in investigating the work of the missionaries, on his return to the United States published an article upon the subject. From his high standing as a lawyer, and from the fact that he was not a member of the denomination which wrought this great transformation in the population, his statement carries great weight. The following extract is taken from his article: "It is no small thing to say of the missionaries of the American Board that in less than forty years they have taught this whole people to read and to write, to cipher and to sew. They have given them an alphabet, grammar, and dictionary; preserved their language from extinction; given it a literature, and translated into it the Bible and works of devotion, science, entertainment, etc. They have established schools, reared up native teachers, and so pressed their work that now the proportion of inhabitants who can read and write is greater than in New England; and whereas they found these islanders a nation of half-naked savages, living in the surf and on the sand, eating raw fish, fighting among themselves, tyrannized over by feudal chiefs, and abandoned to sensuality, they now see them decently clothed, recognizing the laws of marriage, knowing something of accounts, going to school and public worship with more regularity than the people do at home; and the more elevated of them taking part in conducting the affairs of the constitutional monarchy under which they live, holding seats on the judicial bench and in the legislative chambers, and filling posts in the local magistracies."

The result of this work of the missionaries was seen in the new order of things in society and government. Regulations were decreed by which the outward exhibition of licentiousness and intemperance was sought to be restrained, crime and disorder punished, and the civil rights of the people enforced by judicial process. The government, which had before been a despotic autocracy, assumed a constitutional form, and the king was aided by an organized body of advisers, and later by a legislative assembly. This political reorganization was almost entirely the work of the missionaries. They were not always free from mistakes in government, but they always studied the good of the people and the best interests of the king.^[7]

Much diversity of sentiment has been expressed by writers upon the effects of the labors of the Christian missionaries in the Orient, but the better judgment of candid observers is in favor of their beneficial influence on the rulers and the people, even aside from the religious considerations involved. Their useful service in connection with the diplomatic intercourse of the Western nations with the Far East has been especially conspicuous. Notice has already been taken of the valuable participation of the Catholic missionaries, both as interpreters and advisers, in the negotiation of the first treaty between China and Russia in 1689. It has also been seen that in other missions to Peking during the eighteenth century the Christian fathers were an indispensable part of all of them.

When the British government was making arrangements to send the Macartney embassy to Peking in 1792, search was made for a competent person to act as interpreter, and the secretary to the embassy records that "in all the British dominions not one person could be procured properly qualified," and that after much inquiry two Christian Chinese students were found in the mission college at Naples, Italy, who were engaged for that service.

The well-known English missionary and Chinese interpreter, Dr. Robert Morrison, was the chief interpreter of the Amherst embassy in 1816, and he acted as the official interpreter and trusted adviser of the British government and the East India Company at Canton for twenty-five years. During the Opium War and in the peace negotiations, Dr. Gutzlaff, the German missionary and historian, was in the employ of the British government, as interpreter and adviser, and was most useful in the negotiations.^[8] He was also of service to the government of the United States in a similar capacity, as will be noticed later.

When Mr. Roberts was sent by the American government to negotiate treaties with Siam and other oriental countries, he first went to Canton and there engaged the services as interpreter of Mr. J. R. Morrison, the son of Dr. Morrison. The valuable assistance of Dr. Peter Parker, a missionary of the American Board at Canton, has already been noticed in connection with Mr. Cushing's mission in 1844. In a later chapter his further service to the government will be mentioned. Dr. S. Wells Williams, another missionary of the American Board, it will be seen, was associated with Commodore Perry in the opening of Japan, and there will be frequent occasion to refer to him in connection with the diplomatic service of the United States in the East.

These instances are cited to show what an important part the missionaries have borne in the international relations of the Pacific. The instances might be multiplied, and a detailed examination of these relations will disclose that up to the middle of the last century the Christian missionaries were an absolute necessity to diplomatic intercourse. Their influence upon the people and the governments of China and Japan will be discussed later. In Hawaii, after the conversion of the islands to Christianity, the missionaries were an ever-present factor in public affairs, and eventually their descendants became the leading advocates of annexation to the United States.

Before it had been determined by treaty what were the territorial rights of the United States in Oregon, and five years anterior to the acquisition of California, the President announced to the world by a message to Congress that the commercial and other interests of the United States in Hawaii were of such a predominating character that the government could not allow those islands to pass into the possession or come under the control of any other nation. Notwithstanding the trade relations of the United States were established almost immediately after the discovery of the islands, that fact did not deter other powers from repeated efforts to secure their possession. Their commanding situation in the Pacific was a constant temptation to the greed of colonizing nations.

The first attempt at securing possession was made by the British naval officer, Captain Vancouver, on his third visit in 1794, who proceeded, as he states, "under a conviction of the importance of those islands to Great Britain." Before taking his departure he caused a council of the chiefs to be convened by the king, Kamehameha, and, upon the promise of the captain that the British government would take them under its protection and send them a war vessel, they "acknowledged themselves to be subjects of Great Britain." A copper plate was prepared with an inscription reciting the fact that the king and chiefs of the island of Hawaii "had ceded the island to his Britannic Majesty;" this tablet was placed in a conspicuous position, with much ceremony, the firing of salutes, and distribution of presents; and the squadron sailed away without further act of occupation. The report of Vancouver's action reached England during the troubles growing out of the French Revolution, and no further attention was given to the matter or steps taken to confirm the cession.

As early as 1809 the Russians had visited the islands, and a few years later had some trade relations with them. It is alleged that Baranoff, the able governor of Russian America, seeing the desirability of making the islands a part of the Russian possessions on the Pacific, set on foot an expedition for that purpose. In the year 1815 a vessel dispatched by him arrived at Kauai, and its commander, after some conference with the authorities, landed on the island, and proceeded to build a stone fort, over which the Russian flag was raised. Tikhmeneff, the Russian historian, states that an agreement was made with the king of Kauai for commercial privileges, by which he placed his island under the protection of the emperor of Russia; and that when the agreement reached the Czar he declined to ratify it. But however that may be, as soon as Kamehameha heard of the occupation he ordered the Russians to leave the island, which they did under protest, and the fort was destroyed. This ended all attempts on the part of Russia to gain a foothold in the group.^[9]

The first official connection which the government of the United States had with the islands was through John C. Jones, who was appointed September 19, 1820, as "agent of the United States for commerce and seamen." Under this appointment he discharged the usual duties of a consul, and sustained to the government and local authorities the relation of a political representative. He was the sole foreign official until 1825, when Richard Charlton arrived, as consul-general of Great Britain for the Hawaiian and Society Islands. Both of these officials remained at their posts for a number of years, but neither of them seems to have been happy in their relations with the authorities, and both were finally removed from office by their respective governments.^[10]

In 1825 the government of the United States directed the commander of the Pacific squadron to have one of its vessels visit the Hawaiian Islands to inquire into the state of trade and concert with the government of the islands a better method of conducting relations. The task was intrusted to Captain Thomas ap Catesby Jones, commanding the Peacock, and the mission was discharged with much credit to him and profit to the two governments. He negotiated and signed, December 23, 1826, the first formal treaty ever entered into by the island government with any foreign power. It contained the usual stipulations of a commercial treaty of the period, and it is especially noticeable that it recognized the right and duty of the courts of the country to exercise jurisdiction over the persons and property of the American residents. It was a high testimonial to the progress which had been made by the Hawaiians in civilization that the American authorities were willing to allow the native judges, who had so recently emerged from barbarism, to pass upon the rights of their citizens resident there. When the American government negotiated a treaty with China twenty years later, and with Japan thirty years later, it reserved to its own consuls jurisdiction over their countrymen. The treaty with the Hawaiian king was not submitted to the Senate and ratified in the usual form, but it continued to be observed by both parties to it until superseded by the treaty of 1849.^[11]

Captain Jones found other duties to perform during this visit. Notwithstanding the good effects of the work of the missionaries on the natives and the rulers, they had incurred the bitter opposition of many of the foreign element. The character of the latter was not in all respects commendable. It was made up in considerable numbers of deserters from vessels touching at the ports, of escaped convicts from Botany Bay, and of sailors of all nationalities. While there were honorable and upright merchants, many of the traders were more concerned about making fortunes than conserving the morals of the people. When the government was reorganized under the direction of the missionaries, it made the Mosaic commandments the basis of legislation, and strict laws were passed for the observance of the Sabbath, and for the punishment of licentiousness and intemperance. This strictness interfered not only with the depraved habits of the vicious, but with the profits of many traders. The port of Honolulu was divided into two parties—missionary and anti-missionary—and charges and counter-charges had been made. The anti-missionary party, headed by the British consul-general, proposed to submit the charges to the arbitration of Captain Jones, and the proposition was accepted by the missionaries. The result was a complete vindication of the latter. Captain Jones concludes a report of this trial or investigation in these words: "Not one jot or tittle, not one iota derogatory to their character as men, as ministers of the gospel of the strictest order, or as missionaries, could be made to appear by the united efforts of all who conspired against them."^[12]

Commanders of naval vessels of the United States were often called upon in the early part of the last century, in the far-off ports of semi-civilized and barbarous countries, to act as peacemakers in the settlement of differences between their countrymen and the natives, and in almost all cases their action was on the side of justice and morality. When the exception occurred it was the more noticeable. The controversy which was arbitrated by Captain Jones grew, in part, out of the visit of another naval vessel of the United States, the Dolphin, which anchored in Honolulu on the January previous to the arrival of Captain Jones. Its crew soon created trouble because of the regulations against prostitution. The Hawaiians, before their conversion to Christianity, possessed very loose ideas as to chastity, and upon the arrival of foreign vessels it had been the custom of the native females to go on board in large numbers. When the new order of government was brought about, under the influence of the missionaries, strict rules were enforced putting a stop to this immoral practice. It had met with the bitter opposition of the crews of foreign vessels, but up to the arrival of the Dolphin the new regulations were being successfully enforced. When its crew set itself in opposition to the law, the commander of the Dolphin took up the controversy for his men, and denounced the law as unnecessary, and one which they need not observe. The result was that for a time the law was not enforced, and this action of an armed vessel of the American navy had an evil effect temporarily on the influence of the missionaries.

The arrival a few months after this disgraceful occurrence of an honorable and virtuous representative of the United States navy and his vindication of the missionaries did much to undo the bad example of the crew of the Dolphin. Upon the return of this vessel to the United States a court of inquiry was ordered, and its conclusion was that a court-martial for the trial of the commanding officer was not necessary. An examination of the record of the court shows that its action was based upon purely technical grounds, and that the officer's conduct was in the highest degree reprehensible.^[13]

Three years after the events just related the coming of another war vessel of the United States had a very salutary effect. In 1829 the United States naval vessel Vincennes, Captain Finch, arrived, bearing a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, communicating the views and good wishes of the President. The delivery of the letter and the presents accompanying it was made an occasion of much ceremony and congratulation. The letter was read in translation to King Kamehameha III., in the presence of the chiefs and leading people, the spirit of which may be seen from the following extract: "He [the President] has heard with interest and admiration of the rapid progress which has been made by your people in acquiring a knowledge of letters and the true religion—the religion of the Christian's Bible. These are the best, and the only means, by which the prosperity and happiness of nations can be advanced and continued, and the President, and all men everywhere who wish well to yourselves and your people, earnestly hope that you will continue to cultivate them, and to protect and encourage those by whom they are brought to you."

It had been a much disputed question in the islands whether foreigners were bound by the local laws, and it was a great gratification to the king and his supporters to have the President say, "Our citizens who violate your laws, or interfere with your regulations, violate at the same time their duty to their own government and country, and merit censure and punishment;" and to listen to his appeal that the citizens of the United States resident in the islands should receive the protection of the government and have their interests promoted by it. The king in his letter of reply said: "Best affection to you, the Chief Magistrate of America. … I know the excellence of your communicating to me that which is right and true. I approve with admiration the justness and faultlessness of your word. … Look on us with charity; we have formerly been extremely dark-minded, and ignorant of the usages of enlightened countries. You are the source of intelligence and light. This is the origin of our minds being a little enlightened—the arrival here of the Word of God. This is the foundation of a little mental improvement which we have recently made, and that we come to know a little of what is right, and the customs of civilized nations. On this account we do greatly rejoice at the present time." The ceremony of the delivery of the letter and presents was followed by a round of civilities, in which the officers of the Vincennes were entertained at the houses of the leading natives, and the American visitors were greatly impressed with the sincerity of their Christian profession and their advance in civilized life and deportment.^[14]

The third demonstration of a foreign power against the sovereignty of Hawaii was on the part of France in 1839. For several years previous the islands had been greatly disturbed by the efforts of the Roman Catholic clergy to gain a foothold and disseminate their tenets. The king from the beginning had resisted the movement, claiming that the ceremonies of that religion were so similar to the idolatry which the people had recently abandoned that it was not wise to allow it; besides, he held that it would bring a disturbing element into the population which should be avoided. The Protestant missionaries were charged with having influenced the action of the king, but this they denied, and while they said they believed in religious toleration, they pointed to the fact that at that time freedom of worship was not allowed in most of the Catholic countries of Europe. The British consul, jealous of the influence of the American missionaries, warmly supported the Catholic movement, one of the priests, an Irishman, being a British subject. The Jesuit fathers who were seeking the right of residence, appealed to France as their protector, and the islands were visited at different times by French war vessels, with a view to adjusting the question with the government, but the latter remained firm in its resolution. Various priests were expelled, and the native adherents were arrested and imprisoned.

On July 10, 1839, the French sixty-gun frigate L'Artemise arrived in Honolulu, and the commander immediately sent to the Hawaiian government a written demand in the name of "His Majesty the King of the French," in which he required that it should be stipulated that the Catholic worship be declared free, that a site for a Catholic church be given by the government, and that it deposit with the commander $20,000 as a guarantee for the execution of the stipulation. To these conditions he added later that the law which had been enacted to keep out liquors be so modified as to allow of the introduction of French liquors at a duty of five per cent., which was a virtual abolition of all temperance laws. The demand of the Artemise included a notice that if the government did not sign a treaty covering these stipulations, "war will immediately commence, and all the devastation, all the calamities which may be the unhappy but necessary results."

Notice was also served upon the British and American consuls that unless the demands were complied with by the 13th, he would open fire upon the town, and offering refuge and protection on his vessel to their countrymen. But to the latter consul he added that the American Protestant clergy would be treated as a part of the native population when hostilities should begin. The king was absent at one of the distant islands, and the French commander, refusing to await his return, forced the prime minister and the governor of Oahu to sign the treaty. To make the humiliation of the Hawaiians more complete, the commander brought his crew on shore in military array with fixed bayonets, and caused a mass to be celebrated in one of the king's summer houses. However much the king and his advisers may have been in error, the conduct of the French government was entirely unjustifiable and would only have been resorted to against a weak and defenseless state.^[15]

A short time before the Artemise affair, the British war vessel Acteon, Lord Russell commanding, had "negotiated a treaty" under the guns of his ship. These and other events made it apparent to the advisers of the king that, unless the independence of the islands could be secured by the recognition of some of the leading maritime nations, they would continue to be subjected to such humiliation and that their independent existence might be terminated. Sir George Simpson, the governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, a man of large experience in dealing with native races, being in the islands, joined in advising that a formal appeal to this end be made to the United States, Great Britain, and France. Accordingly Sir George Simpson, Mr. Richards, the missionary adviser of the king, and Haalilio, a native chief, were appointed a commission to visit the countries named, and ask for national recognition. Sir George Simpson went direct to England, and the two last named first visited the United States, intending to join Simpson in London.^[16] On their arrival in Washington in December, 1842, they addressed a note to Mr. Webster, setting forth the reasons why the independence of the islands should be formally acknowledged. They referred to the agreement entered into with the United States through Captain Jones in 1826, which, though never ratified by the United States, had been faithfully observed by Hawaii; they described in some detail the extent of the American trade; and announced their readiness to enter into treaty negotiations, for which they possessed full powers.

Mr. Webster promptly replied to their note, making just acknowledgment for the protection extended to the trade of the United States and the hospitality to its citizens; and proceeded to state the views of the President, in terms highly gratifying to the commission. This was followed the same month by a special message of the President to Congress, carefully drafted by Secretary Webster.

Its importance to the islands and the future interests of the United States justifies the following extract:—

"Just emerging from a state of barbarism, the government of the Sandwich Islands is as yet feeble; but its dispositions appear to be just and pacific, and it seems anxious to improve the condition of its people, by the introduction of knowledge, of religious and moral institutions, means of education, and the arts of civilized life.

"It cannot but be in conformity with the interest and wishes of the government and the people of the United States, that this community, thus existing in the midst of a vast expanse of ocean, should be respected, and all its rights strictly and conscientiously regarded. And this must also be the true interest of all other commercial states. Far remote from the dominions of European powers, its growth and prosperity as an independent state may yet be in a high degree useful to all whose trade is extended to those regions; while its nearer approach to this continent, and the intercourse which American vessels have with it,—such vessels constituting five sixths of all which annually visit it,—could not but create dissatisfaction on the part of the United States at any attempt, by another power, should such attempt be threatened or feared, to take possession of the islands and colonize them, and subvert the native government. Considering, therefore, that the United States possesses so very large a share of the intercourse with those islands, it is indeed not unfit to make the declaration that their government seeks nevertheless no peculiar advantages, no exclusive control over the Hawaiian government, but is content with its independent existence, and anxiously wishes for its security and prosperity. Its forbearance in this respect, under the circumstances of the very large intercourse of its citizens with the islands, would justify this government, should events hereafter arise to require it, in making a decided remonstrance against the adoption of an opposite policy by any other power."^[17]

This positive declaration of the interest and purpose of the government of the United States had the desired effect in Europe. Mr. Richards and Haalilio met Sir George Simpson in London, and without much difficulty brought the British government to an agreement to recognize the independence of Hawaii. More difficulty was encountered at Paris, but after due explanations as to the policy of the island government respecting the Catholic religion, the French government consented to the recognition. England and France united in a declaration that they "engage, reciprocally, to consider the Sandwich Islands as an independent state, and never to take possession, either directly or under the title of protectorate, or under any other form, of any part of the territory of which they are composed." The government of the United States was invited to join in this declaration but declined under its general policy of avoiding complications with European powers.^[18]

While these negotiations were having such a satisfactory conclusion, the fourth attempt at the overthrow of the island government was being made at Honolulu. The British consul, Mr. Charlton, who had been in controversy over certain claims which he was urging upon the government, left Honolulu without notice and laid his grievances before the commander of the nearest British vessel. Her Majesty's ship Carysfort, Lord George Paulet commanding, made her appearance in the harbor of Honolulu in February, 1843. Finding the king absent, Lord Paulet informed the governor of Oahu that he had come to ask reparation for certain insults offered to her Majesty's representatives and for injuries to her subjects, and requested that the king be immediately notified to return. On his arrival an unsatisfactory correspondence ensued, which ended in a written demand being made upon the king for his immediate compliance with a series of stipulations, unjust in their nature and entirely subversive of his authority.

In view of the threatening attitude of the British commander and of the inability of the king to accede to the stipulations, the latter, upon advice of his council, determined to cede temporarily the possession of the islands to the British commander, and appeal to the queen of Great Britain for the restoration of his rights. Thereupon Lord Paulet accepted the cession, took charge of the government under a commission nominated by himself, pulled down the Hawaiian flag and raised the British standard in its place over the forts and public buildings, and organized a native regiment, called the "Queen's Own," officered by British subjects and paid out of the Hawaiian treasury, but required to take an oath of allegiance to the queen.

The king sent letters to the queen of Great Britain and the President of the United States, appealing to them to restore him to his throne, and issued the following pathetic proclamation: "Where are you, chiefs, people, and commons from my ancestor, and people from foreign lands? Hear ye! I make known to you that I am in perplexity by reason of difficulties into which I have been brought without cause; therefore I have given away the life of our land, hear ye! But my rule over you, my people, and your privileges will continue, for I have hope that the life of the land will be restored when my conduct shall be justified."

The British occupation took place February 25, 1843, and early in July, Commodore Kearny, in command of the United States ship Constellation, anchored at Honolulu, en route to the United States from Canton, China, where he had rendered valuable service to his country. As soon as he had informed himself of the situation, he sent a vigorous protest to the authorities against the cession, and every act and measure connected with it, and held them responsible for all injuries that might result therefrom to American citizens or their interests. Meanwhile the commander of the British naval forces in the Pacific, Admiral Thomas, having received intelligence of Paulet's action, reached the islands on July 26, and immediately upon becoming possessed of the facts, disavowed the act, and proceeded to make restoration. In order that the disavowal should be as public as possible, he arranged for a large military display, took the king with him in a carriage to the public square, and in the presence of the people restored him to power, supplanted the British with the Hawaiian flag, and caused it to be saluted by all the forts and vessels in the harbor.

For this act of justice so cordially rendered, Admiral Thomas has been held in high esteem by the Hawaiian people. As soon as the intelligence reached the British government, the act of annexation was publicly disavowed, and the British minister in Washington made the fact known to the Secretary of State in the most emphatic terms. On the return of the Hawaiian commissioners from Europe to the United States, on their way to the islands, they found that Congress had authorized the appointment of a diplomatic agent, that he had already repaired to his post, and had been received by Kamehameha III. Thus did it seem as if the Hawaiian government was at last established upon a stable basis, with the recognition and support of the great maritime powers of the world.^[19]

But there were trials yet in store for the young and feeble member of the family of nations. The treaty which the French naval commander had forced upon the king in 1839, at the cannon's mouth, contained two objectionable clauses—the first, that no Frenchman should be tried on a criminal charge except by a jury of foreigners proposed by the French consul; and the second, that all French goods should be admitted at a duty of not more than 5 per cent. The British government having made demand in 1844 for like terms, the Hawaiian king was forced to grant them. It was most unfortunate that these two treaties, obtained by constraint, should be made the occasion of a serious disagreement with the diplomatic representative of the United States, whose coming had been hailed with so much satisfaction. A case of rape on the part of an American citizen arose, and Mr. Brown, the United States commissioner (diplomatic representative), intervened, and, under the terms of the treaty with France and Great Britain, claimed the right to demand a trial by a foreign jury, but the Hawaiian authorities proceeded without granting his demand. They were clearly in the wrong, and although justifying themselves on technical grounds, their action was undoubtedly provoked by Mr. Brown's domineering and insulting conduct. He was sustained by the Secretary of State, but at the request of the Hawaiian government he was recalled and a new commissioner appointed.^[20]

This incident directed attention to the unsatisfactory state of the treaty relations with foreign powers. While both England and France had recognized the independence of the government, their treaties placed it in a dependent or restrained position relative to judicial procedure, the tariff, and the temperance laws. No treaty had been made with the United States since the unratified agreement of 1826, which was still recognized as binding by the island government, but it was very imperfect in its provisions. The Secretary of State, therefore, addressed himself to the task of making a treaty which would in all respects place Hawaii on an equal footing with all other Christian powers. Authority was conferred upon the new commissioner of the United States, Mr. Ten Eyck, to negotiate, and a lengthy correspondence ensued with the Hawaiian foreign office, but as the American plenipotentiary insisted upon clauses similar to the objectionable ones in the British and French treaties, no agreement was reached. Meanwhile Mr. Ten Eyck, having become unacceptable to both his own government and that of Hawaii, was recalled, and the negotiations transferred to Washington, where a treaty was signed December 20, 1849, between Secretary Clayton and John J. Jarves, special commissioner of Hawaii. This treaty was free from the objectionable clauses referred to, and was similar in its provisions to those negotiated by the United States with other Christian nations. It remained in force during all the subsequent existence of the Hawaiian government, and its terms were ultimately accepted by Great Britain and France. Thus for a second time was the United States successful in its support of the claims of this new nation to complete autonomy.^[21]

While the negotiations were progressing at Washington, fresh troubles with France had arisen at the islands. A new consul had arrived in 1848, and he soon became involved in quarrels with the native officials. Having communicated his grievances to his home government, on August 12, 1849, two French men-of-war arrived at Honolulu, under command of Admiral De Tromelin, to support the demands of the consul. On the 22d the admiral sent to the king a peremptory demand embracing ten demands, the most important of which was that the duties on French brandy, which it was alleged were prohibitory, should be reduced one half, and that the French language should be used in official intercourse; the others being of a petty character. The demand was accompanied by a notice that a reply was expected within three days, and if it was not satisfactory, the admiral would "employ the force at his disposal to obtain a complete reparation."

The answer did not prove satisfactory, and on the 25th of August an armed force was landed from the war vessels, with field-pieces, scaling-ladders, etc. Possession was taken of the forts and government building, and of all Hawaiian vessels. The forts were dismantled, the guns spiked, the ammunition thrown into the sea, and the king's yacht confiscated. These "reprisals" having been taken, the troops were withdrawn on the 28th, the consul and his family went on board, and the French squadron sailed away.

This outrage led to the dispatch of a special commissioner to France, Dr. Judd, accompanied by two native princes, the heir apparent and his brother. The commission spent ten weeks in Paris seeking to negotiate a treaty, but without success. In London the basis of a new and equitable treaty was agreed upon with Great Britain, similar to the one signed with $he United States. Returning by way of Washington, they solicited the United States to join with England and France in a tripartite convention respecting Hawaii, which was again declined; but the government agreed to use its good offices with France for a settlement of existing difficulties. Its attempts in that direction led to animated conferences between the American minister in Paris and the minister for foreign affairs, in which the French government was given to understand that the United States, owing to its paramount interest in those islands, would allow no forcible occupation of them by any foreign power.

The French government, being still apparently bent upon forcing its demands, sent out a special commissioner, Mr. Perrin, who arrived at Honolulu in a war vessel in December, 1850. He presented anew the former demand with its ten articles, and entered upon a voluminous and irritating correspondence which continued through three months. The king, perplexed by these persistent demands and threats of violence, with the advice of his privy council, signed a proclamation in due form, in which he declared that, "despairing of equity and justice from France, we hereby proclaim as our royal will and pleasure that all our islands, and all our rights as sovereign over them, are from the date hereof placed under the protection and safeguard of the United States of America," until a satisfactory adjustment could be made with France, "or, if such arrangements be found impracticable, then it is our wish and pleasure that the protection aforesaid under the United States of America be perpetual." This proclamation was signed March 10, 1851, and was delivered sealed to the American commissioner, on condition that if hostilities were begun by the French it was to be opened and carried into effect; but otherwise to be held to be void.

This provisional cession and the troubles which brought it about were reported to the Department of State by the commissioner, Mr. Severance, and Secretary Webster informed him, in reply, that while it was the purpose of the United States to observe scrupulously the independence of the Hawaiian Islands, it could never consent to see them taken possession of by either of the great commercial powers of Europe, nor could it consent that demands, manifestly unjust and derogatory and inconsistent with a bona fide independence, should be enforced against that government. Respecting the cession of the sovereignty to the United States, he reminded the commissioner that it was a subject above any functions with which he was charged, that he should forbear to express an opinion upon it, as the government at Washington alone could decide it, and that he must return to the Hawaiian government the document placed in his hands.

The French controversy happily did not reach the acute form of hostilities, and was finally adjusted by an agreement assuring the Catholic clergy of full liberty of worship and the regulation of their schools (one of the points embraced in the ten demands), and securing the desired reduction in the duty on French spirits. It is due also to France to state that after the treaty of 1846 had been signed, the $20,000 which had been exacted as a guaranty in 1839 were returned, and delivered at Honolulu in the original cases and with the seals unbroken.^[22]

The appearance of the French man-of-war in 1850, with the belligerent consul, was the last attempt of foreign aggression threatening the sovereignty of the islands. Twice had the British raised their flag, once the Russian, and twice the French, but the little kingdom had outlived the designs of these powerful states. It seemed now left, with the good-will of all the nations, to work out its own career. It provided itself with a new constitution in 1852, in which greater representation and power were given to the people. Religious liberty was guaranteed. Society and the industries were feeling more and more the influence of commerce and contact with the outside world. The government had the trials incident to all countries and some peculiarly of native origin. We shall see in a subsequent chapter how those elements worked together for its ultimate destiny.

Footnotes:

1. Hist. of Oregon, etc., R. Greenhow, Boston, 1845, pp. 179, 200, 229, 235; Oregon and Eldorado, T. Bulfinch, Boston, 1866, pp. 1–3; Northwest Fur Trade, W. Sturgis, Hunt's Mag. xiv. 534.
2. Hist. of Oregon, R. Greenhow, 266; 1 Astoria, "Washington Irving, New York, p. 31; Adventures of the First Settlers, etc., A. Ross, London, 1849, p. 4; Hist. of Hawaiian People, W. D. Alexander, New York, 1891, p. 127.
3. 1 A Voyage of Discovery, etc., Captain George Vancouver, London, 1798, pp. 172, 188; Delano's Voyages, 397, 399 ; Alexander's Hawaii, 156 ; Papers of Hawaiian Hist. Society, No. 8, p. 15.
4. 2 Works of Edmund Burke, Boston, 1866, p. 117.
5. Hist. American Whale Fisheries, A. Starbuck, U. S. Fish Commission, 1875–6, pt. iv. pp. 96, 225; Residence in Sandwich Islands, H. Bingham, New York, 1847, p. 609; Hist. Hawaiian Islands, J. J. Jarves, Boston, 1843, p. 231; The Hawaiian Islands, R. Anderson, Boston, 1865, p. 251; Alexander's Hawaii, 181, 297; W. H. Seward in U. S. Senate, July 29, 1852, Cong. Globe, vol. xxiv. pt. ii. p. 1973, 32d Cong. 1st Sess.
6. H. Report No. 93, 27th Cong. 3d Sess.
7. Anderson's Hawaii, 99. For account of work of missionaries, see Anderson, Bingham's Sandwich Islands, Jarves's History, and History of the Sandwich Islands by S. Dibble (1843). A letter from the secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, dated May 7, 1902, estimates the total expenditures of the Board in the Hawaiian Islands at $1,595,335.
8. Staunton's Embassy, 24 ; Davis's China during the War, etc., passim; Williams's Hist. China, 106, 184, 190, 204.
9. 3 Vancouver's Voyage, 56; Greenhow's Oregon, 250; Hopkins's Hawaii, 123; 4 Foreign Relations of U. S. (folio ed.) 855; Jarves's Hist. Sandwich Islands, 201; Hawaiian Hist. Soc, Paper No. 6.
10. A. H. Allen's Report, Foreign Relations, U. S. 1894, Appendix ii. p. 8; Jarves's Hist. 251, 268; Hopkins's Hawaii, 274; 2 A Journey round the World, Sir George Simpson, London, 1847, p. 95.
11. Foreign Relations, 1894, App. ii. 8, 35. As to exterritoriality in Hawaii, 7 Opinions of Attorneys-General, 29.
12. Jarves's Hist. 266; Bingham's Sandwich Islands, 301.
13. Hopkins, 210; Jarves, 263; Bingham, 283; Report of Court of Inquiry, Naval Archives.
14. For. Rel. U. S. 1894, App. ii. 8, 39; Bingham, 353; Jarves, 287, 379.
15. For. Rel. 1894, App. ii. 9, 36; Jarves, 320; Hopkins, 245; Bingham, 536.
16. Sir G. Simpson's Journey, 171; Bingham, 586.
17. H. Ex. Doc. No. 35, 27th Cong. 3d Sess.; also For. Rel. 1894, App. ii. 39.
18. Bingham, 606; For. Rel. 1894, App. ii. 64, 105.
19. For. Rel. 1894, App. ii. 9, 45–60; Bingham, 592; Hopkins, chaps, xviii. and xix.
20. For. Rel. 1894, App. ii. 11, 38, 65, 66.
21. For. Rel. 1894, App. ii. 12, 13, 69, 79.
22. For. Rel. 1894, App. ii. 13, 70–78, 86–104; Alexander's Hist. 261, 264, 270.