Speeches of His Majesty Kamehameha IV. To the Hawaiian Legislature Part 1

Speeches of His Majesty Kamehameha IV. To the Hawaiian Legislature.

by Kamehameha IV.

PROCLAMATION.

Whereas, It has pleased Almighty G.o.d to remove from this world our beloved Sovereign, His late Majesty, Kamehameha III.; and whereas, by the will of His late Majesty, and by the appointment and Proclamation of His Majesty and of the House of n.o.bles, His Royal Highness, Prince Liholiho, was declared to be His Majesty's Successor. Therefore, Public Proclamation is hereby made, that Prince Alexander Liholiho is KING of the Hawaiian Islands, under the style of KAMEHAMEHA IV. G.o.d preserve the King.

KEONI ANA, Kuhina Nui.

DECEMBER 15TH, 1854.

DECEMBER 16TH, 1854.

_His Majesty's Address to His Privy Council of State in reply to their Condolences over the Death of His late Majesty Kamehameha III._

CHIEFS:--I have become by the Will of G.o.d, your Father, as I have been your Child. You must help me, for I stand in need of help.

To you Ministers, and other high officers of State of Our late King, I return my sincere thanks for the expressions of condolence with which you have this morning comforted me. I request of you to continue your labors, in the several positions you have hitherto held, until when my grief shall have allowed me time for reflection, I make such new arrangements as shall seem proper.

I thank the Members of this Council, in general for their condolence, who will, also, I hope, a.s.sist me with their advice, as though they had been appointed by myself.

JANUARY 11, 1855.

_His Majesty's Address on the occasion of taking the Oath prescribed by the Const.i.tution. Extr. from =Polynesian=, Jan. 13, 1855._

I solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty G.o.d, to maintain the Const.i.tution of the Kingdom whole and inviolate, and to govern in conformity with that and the laws.

Immediately afterwards, His Highness the Kuhina Nui repeated the words "G.o.d preserve the King," which were re-echoed everywhere throughout the Church with loud cheers; His Majesty's Royal Standard and the National Ensign were hoisted and a royal salute fired from the fort.

Afterwards it pleased the King to make a solemn and eloquent address, in native, to His subjects, which was received by them with great enthusiasm, a translation of which is as follows:

_Give ear Hawaii o Keawe! Maui o Kama! Oahu o Kuihewa! Kauai o Mano!_

In the providence of G.o.d, and by the will of his late Majesty Kamehameha III., this day read in your hearing, I have been called to the high and responsible position of the Chief Ruler of this nation. I am deeply sensible of the importance and sacredness of the great trust committed to my hands, and in the discharge of this trust, I shall abide by the Const.i.tution and laws which I have just sworn to maintain and support. It is not my wish to entertain you on the present occasion with pleasant promises for the future; but I trust that the close of my career will show that I have not been raised to the head of this nation to oppress and curse it, but on the contrary to cheer and bless it, and that when I come to my end, I may, like the beloved Chief whose funeral we yesterday celebrated, pa.s.s from earth amid the bitter lamentation of my people.

The good, the generous, the kind hearted Kamehameha is now no more. Our great Chief has fallen! But though dead he still lives. He lives in the hearts of his people! He lives in the liberal, the just, and the beneficent measures which it was always his pleasure to adopt. His monuments rise to greet us on every side. They may be seen in the church, in the school house, and the hall of justice; in the security of our persons and property; in the peace, the law, the order and general prosperity that prevail throughout the islands. He was the friend of the Makaainana, the father of his people, and so long as a Hawaiian lives his memory will be cherished!

By the death of Kamehameha III., the chain that carried us back to the ancient days of Kamehameha I. has been broken. He was the last child of that great Chieftain, but how unlike the father from whom he sprung. Kamehameha I. was born for the age in which he lived, the age of war and of conquest. n.o.bly did he fulfill the destiny for which he was created, that of reducing the islands from a state of anarchy and constant warfare to one of peace and unity under the rule of one king.

With the accession of Kamehameha II. to the throne the tabus were broken, the wild orgies of heathenism abolished, the idols thrown drown, and in their place was set up the worship of the only living and true G.o.d. His was the era of the introduction of Christianity and all its peaceful influences.

He was born to commence the great moral revolution which began with his reign, and he performed his cycle. The age of Kamehameha III. was that of progress and of liberty--of schools and of civilization. He gave us a Const.i.tution and fixed laws; he secured the people in the t.i.tle to their lands, and removed the last chain of oppression. He gave them a voice in his councils and in the making of the laws by which they are governed. He was a great national benefactor, and has left the impress of his mild and amiable disposition on the age for which he was born.

To-day we begin a new era. Let it be one of increased civilization--one of decided progress, industry, temperance, morality, and all those virtues which mark a nation's advance.

This is beyond doubt a critical period in the history of our country, but I see no reason to despair. We have seen the tomb close over our Sovereign, but it does not bury our hopes. If we are united as _one individual_ in seeking the peace, the prosperity and independence of our country, we shall not be overthrown. The importance of this unity is what I most wish to impress upon your minds. Let us be one and we shall not fall!

On _my_ part I shall endeavor to give you a mild, and liberal government, but at the same time one sufficiently vigorous to maintain the laws, secure you in all your rights of persons and property, and not too feeble to withstand the a.s.saults of faction. On _your_ part I shall expect you to contribute your best endeavors to aid me in maintaining the Const.i.tution, supporting the laws, and upholding our Independence.

It further pleased His Majesty, in accordance with a suggestion made to him, to make the following _impromptu_ remarks, in English, to foreigners owing allegiance to him, and others residing in his dominions:

A few remarks addressed on this occasion, to you, the foreign portion of the a.s.sembly present, may not be inappropriate.

You have all been witnesses this day to the solemn oath I have taken in the presence of Almighty G.o.d and this a.s.sembly, to preserve inviolate the Const.i.tution. This is no idle ceremony.

The Const.i.tution which I have sworn to maintain has its foundation laid in the deep and immutable principles of Liberty, Justice and Equality, and by these, and none other, I hope to be guided in the administration of my Government. As the ruler of this people, I shall endeavor, with the blessing of G.o.d, to seek the welfare of my subjects, and at the same time to consult their wishes. In these endeavors I shall expect the hearty co-operation of all cla.s.ses--foreigners as well as natives.

His Majesty Kamehameha III., now no more, was preeminently the friend of the foreigner; and I am happy in knowing he enjoyed your confidence and affection. He opened his heart and hand with a royal liberality, and gave till he had little to bestow and you but little to ask. In this respect I cannot hope to equal him, but though I may fall far behind I shall follow in his footsteps.

To be kind and generous to the foreigner, to trust and confide in him, is no new thing in the history of our race. It is an inheritance transmitted to us by our forefathers. The founder of our dynasty was ever glad to receive a.s.sistance and advice from foreigners. His successor, not deviating from the policy of his father, listened not only to the voice of a missionary, and turned with his people to the light of Christianity, but against the wishes of the nation left his native land to seek for advice and permanent protection at a foreign Court.

Although he never returned alive, his visit shows plainly what were his feelings towards the people of foreign countries. I cannot fail to heed the example of my ancestors. I therefore say to the foreigner that he is welcome. He is welcome to our sh.o.r.es--welcome so long as he comes with the laudable motive of promoting his own interests and at the same time respecting those of his neighbor. But if he comes here with no more exalted motive than that of building up his own interests at the expense of the native--to seek our confidence only to betray it--with no higher ambition than that of overthrowing our Government, and introducing anarchy, confusion and bloodshed--then is he most unwelcome!

The duties we owe to each other are reciprocal. For my part I shall use my best endeavors, in humble reliance on the Great Ruler of all, to give you a just, liberal and satisfactory Government. At the same time I shall expect you in return to a.s.sist me in sustaining the Peace, the Law, the Order and the Independence of my Kingdom.

The preceding is the address, as it was taken down at the time, by a practised stenographer.

His Majesty afterwards, from the portico of the church, addressed, in native, a crowd of several thousand, who had not been able to find room in the church, and who had congregated in front thereof, outside the military. The crowd listened in breathless silence, and when the King concluded, cheered His Majesty most rapturously.

The whole solemn proceedings were conducted with admirable order, and His Majesty throughout appeared calm, collected and dignified.

JANUARY 6TH, 1855.

_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 G.o.d 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 a.s.sociate 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 a.s.sumption 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 const.i.tutions 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 inept.i.tude, as his late Majesty King Kamehameha III.? It was only in 1844 that His Majesty had the a.s.sistance 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.