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
