Statewide County HI Archives History - Books .....Chapter IV, Pages 21-25 1925 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/hi/hifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: J Orr orr@hawaii.com August 9, 2009, 5:13 am Book Title: The Story Of Hawaii And Its Builders Builders page 21-25 The Story of Hawaii An Historical Outline of the Hawaiian Islands By Howard D. Case Chapter IV. Page 21 REIGN OF LIHOLIHO TO THE FIRST CONSTITUTION Histories have little to say in praise of the character of King Liholiho (Kamehameha II), and he is pictured as having discarded the old and wise counselors of his father, indulged in riotous living, squandered the treasures accumulated by his illustrious parent, and finally sinking deeply into debt. Among other things, he purchased in 1820 a Salem-built yacht for $90,000, and later the brig Thaddeus, which had brought the first missionaries to Hawaii, for $40,000. Alexander, the historian, describes the state of affairs at the time as follows: ?Many other chiefs followed his example of extravagance and dissipation, to support which the common people were taxed and plundered until, as they expressed it, ?debt was more oppressive than war.? Vast quantities of sandalwood were collected and sold, but the debts increased still more rapidly, and new methods of extortion were devised. All trade with foreigners was subject to the monopoly of the chiefs, and the common people had nothing that they could call their own.? However, there was some progress and, in Feb., 1823, there were twenty-four vessels at anchor at Honolulu, most of them American whalers. The population of the village was between two and three thousand, trade was brisk, and there were four mercantile establishments. The chiefs had begun to dress in civilized style, many natives had learned to read and write, and numbers had embraced Christianity. But among the common people poverty and misery were on the increase. On April 27, 1823, there arrived the first reinforcement of the American mission, including six missionaries and their wives. They came aboard the ship Thames, Captain Clasby. King Liholiho left Hawaii for England on Nov. 27, 1823, aboard the British whaleship L?Aigle. He was accompanied by the queen and three chiefs. The party was given every attention while in London, but in June, 1824, the members became ill with measles. The queen died on July 8 and the king on July 14. The others recovered, and King George IV advised them to follow the instructions of the missionaries, and promised that he would protect them from foreign aggression. In the meantime a rebellion occurred on Kauai and the insurgents were pit to rout by warriors from Oahu and Maui. In December, 1824, Kapiolani, daughter of a high chief, determined to break the spell of the belief in Pele, the dread goddess of the volcano. Page 22 (photo) Page 23 She journeyed to the volcano of Kilauea and with the members of her company, about eighty persons, descended into the crater. There Kapiolani ate the berries consecrated to Pele, and threw stones into the lava lake, saying, ?Jehovah is my God. He kindled these fires. I fear not Pele.? Then her followers united in singing a hymn of praise to the true God, and knelt in prayer. This defiance by Kapiolani has been declared ?one of the greatest acts of moral courage ever performed.? FIRST TREATY WITH UNITED STATES The early part of 1825 was marked by a second visit by Captain Kotzebue in a Russian sloop-of-war on his way around the world; the arrival of Captain Richard Charlton. Who had been appointed British consul general for the Society and Hawaiian Islands, and the return of the bodies of King Liholiho and his queen. The bodies arrived aboard the British frigate Blonde, commanded by Lord Byron, cousin of the poet. One June 6 the young prince Kauikeaouli was proclaimed king with the title of Kamehameha III. Kaahumanu continued in the regency during the king?s minority. In October, 1826, there arrived at Honolulu Captain Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, commanding the U. S. sloop-of-war Peacock. He had been commissioned by his government to come to the islands in investigate the complaints of Nantucket shipowners, who had sent memorials to the President, to the effect that there were frequent mutinies and desertions among their crews, and that there was danger that the Sandwich Islands ?would become a nest of pirates and murderers.? Captain Jones was commissioned also to secure certain debts claimed to be owing to American citizens by the native government. A council of chiefs was held on December 22, at which Charlton, the British consul, argued that the natives of Hawaii were subjects of Great Britain, and were without authority to make treaties. Captain Jones replied that Charlton?s commission as consul recognized the independence of the islands. The result was that the council agreed to the terms of a commercial treaty with the United States?the first of its kind between the Hawaiian government and a foreign power. The first written laws were published on Dec. 8, 1827, and dealt with the offenses of murder, theft, adultery, rum selling and gambling. CATHOLIC MISSIONARES ARRIVE On July 7, 1827, there arrived at Honolulu the ship Comet, Captain Plassard, with the first Catholic missionaries to arrive in the islands. They were members of the ?Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.? Pope Leo VII, in September, 1825, assigned to this order the work of introducing the Catholic faith into the Hawaiian Islands, and three priests, Alexis Bachelot, perfect apostolic; Patrick Short and M. Armand were detailed for the mission. They left Bordeaux, France, in November, 1826, in company with three lay brothers who were mechanics. Armand died on the voyage. The Catholic missionaries celebrated their first mass on July 14, 1827, and on Jan. 1, 1828, opened a small chapel at Honolulu. Since those early days the work of the mission has spread to all of the principal islands of the group. Schools have been established, and the cathedral in Fort street, Honolulu, is one of the finest older buildings in the city. The mission has exerted influence throughout the Territory, and it is interesting to note that Catholic priests, brothers and sisters were the first persons of a religious order to begin work among the lepers not only at Honolulu before the establishment of the leper settlement on the Island of Molokai, but in the settlement after it was founded. From that time until this the work of the Catholic mission among the lepers has never ceased. In August, 1829, Governor Boki of Oahu had published orders forbidding the natives to attend Catholic worship, and in 1830 Kaahumanu ordered the Page 24 priests to cease spreading their faith among the natives. On April 2, 1831, at a council of the high chiefs, an order was issued for the departure of the priests from the islands within three months. This order was twice repeated afterwards, but the priests continued their labors. In the meantime the priests were invited to join the Franciscan Mission in California, and on December 24 Bachelot and Short sailed for the Pacific Coast aboard the brig ?Waverly.? The lay brothers remained in Hawaii to keep the Catholic faith alive. ?With the lapse of two generations,? Alexander wrote, with regard to this incident, ?the bitter animosities of those days have nearly died out, and all parties now regret that any religious persecution should ever have taken place in this kingdom.? FIRST CENSUS OF KINGDOM TAKEN In November of 1833 there was opened at Honolulu, under the name of Bethel Chapel, a frame building, the lumber for which had been brought around the Horn from New London, Conn., by the Rev. John Diell, seaman?s chaplain. It soon became a rallying point for the better elements among the foreign residents and seamen. The first girls? boarding school was opened at Wailuku, Maui, in 1836, and a manual labor school for boys was established during the same year at Hilo. The first census of the kingdom was taken in 1832 and showed a population of 130,313. Another, taken in 1836, gave a total of only 108, 579. The first newspapers published in the Pacific Ocean were the Lama Hawaii, issued at Lahainaluna in February, 1834, and the Kumu Hawaii, issued at Honolulu in October of the same year. The Sandwich Island Gazette, the first English newspaper in Honolulu, was published at Honolulu during the year beginning July 30, 1836. By 1835 the annual export of sandalwood had decreased in value from $400,000 to $30,000, and the chiefs became burdened with debt. From 50 to 100 whaling ships were calling at Honolulu annually, and on July 26, 1835, a tract of land at Koloa, Kauai was leased to Ladd & Co. for use as a sugar plantation. At the same time a silk plantation was started by Peck & Titcomb. The growing and manufacturing of cotton was begun and a factory started at Kailua, Hawaii. Troubles between the Hawaiian government and foreign powers began to make their appearance in 1836. During the latter part of that year, after the Pope had exhorted the two exiled priests in California to renew their attempt to establish a mission in Hawaii, the Rev. Robert Walsh, an Irish priest educated in Paris, arrived at Honolulu and almost immediately was ordered to leave the country. Through the intervention of the British consul and the captain of a French ship, the priest obtained permission to remain on condition that he would not propagate his religion among the natives. In the meantime there was negotiated a convention which defined the right of British subjects to land, reside and build houses in the islands ?with the king?s consent.? The Rev. Fathers Bachelot and Short returned to Honolulu April 17, 1837, and were at once ordered by the governor of Oahu to leave. Later the order was reluctantly carried out, and the priests boarded the ship on which they arrived. But they did not leave, for a short time afterward, after much discussion, obligations were signed on their behalf to the effect that they would embrace the first opportunity to go to some other part of the world. The Rev. Father Short sailed for Valparaiso Oct. 30, 1837. Other Catholics who arrived in that year landed after difficulty, and finally left. The Rev. Father Bachelot sailed for Micronesia and died at sea. EDICT OF REIGIOUS TOLERATION An ordinance rejecting the Catholic religion and forbidding its teaching or the landing of any teacher, was issued December 18 by the king and chiefs. However, in June, 1839, the king was induced to issue an edict Page 25 of toleration, which ordered that all persons then in confinement should be released and that no further punishment should be inflicted on account of religion. This, it appears, put an end to religious persecution in the islands In 1839 the Rev. William Richards, member of the second American mission company, entered upon new duties as an adviser and interpreter for the crown. The king, as well as the chiefs, had become aware that the form of government needed to be remodeled, and the sovereign, in 1836, had written to the United States for a legal adviser and instructor in the science of government. As no such person was obtained, Richards was selected, and was released from his connection with the mission. He delivered many lectures on the science of government and was instrumental in the drawing up of the first code of laws and Hawaiian constitution. The period from 1838 to 1839 was one of intense religious revival. Thousands of persons were admitted to the Protestant churches, and from 1837 to 1839, in Hilo alone, 7,382 converts were admitted to the church there, which was under the supervision of the Rev. Titus Coan. On July 9, 1839, there arrived at Honolulu the French sixty-gun frigate Artemise, commanded by Captain Laplace who, without making any preliminary investigations, issued a manifesto making five demands upon the Hawaiian government. Briefly, these demands were that Catholic worship be declared free throughout the islands, that a site for a Catholic church at Honolulu be given by the government, that all Catholics imprisoned on account of religion be set free, that the king pay Laplace $20,000 as a guarantee of his future conduct toward France, and that the king sign a treaty in conformity to the manifesto. Captain Laplace declared that he would begin war on the islands if the treaty was not signed by July 12. The treaty was signed and delivered, although the king was absent at the time, and Captain Laplace, accompanied by 150 armed men and a band, went ashore and celebrated mass. On July 16 a further convention was presented, which was also signed. This provided, among other things, that no Frenchman should be tried for any crime except by a jury of foreign residents selected by the French consul, and that French merchandise, especially wine or brandy, should not be prohibited nor pay a duty higher than 5 per cent ad valorem. Having accomplished his mission, Captain Laplace sailed from Honolulu on July 20. Additional Comments: The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders. With which is Incorporated Volume III Men of Hawaii. An historical outline of Hawaii with biographical sketches of its men of note and substantial achievement, past and present, who have contributed to the progress of the Territory, edited by George F. Nellist. Published by Honolulu Star Bulletin, Ltd., Territory of Hawaii, 1925. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/history/1925/storyofh/chapteri6nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/hifiles/ File size: 14.0 Kb