Chapter II: Part 2

The King's address was listened to with great earnestness, and every now and then we heard subdued expressions of _Oiaio no_ (True, true,) from different parts of the house. At present we see no cause to doubt that much good will result from the new society, and to those who interest themselves in it we hope to see the honor given which they undoubtedly deserve.

MARCH 3, 1856.

_His Majesty's Remarks to the Hon. W. L. Lee, on his being officially presented and resuming his Seat in the Privy Council, after his return from the Embassy to the United States._

I take great pleasure, Judge Lee, in your return to my
islands, and I extend to you on behalf of myself and Chiefs a
hearty welcome. Your valuable services in the United States
have been such as to merit our warmest thanks and approval,
and I trust the success of your mission may strengthen the
friendly relations existing between the United States and my
Kingdom. It is my desire that you should resume the duties of
your department as head of the Judiciary, as soon as
convenient, but that in so doing you should make your labors
secondary to the improvement of your health.

APRIL 5, 1856.

_His Majesty's Speech on the Occasion of the Opening of the Session of the Hawaiian Legislature of 1856._

NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--I have convoked you to meet this
day under the provision of our Constitution now in force,
which provides for an Annual Session of the Legislative Body;
and with humble thankfulness to the Ruler of Nations, I
felicitate you upon the prosperity which has attended us, as a
people, during the past year.

I am happy to inform you that since your last meeting I have
received from the Heads of nearly all the first class Powers
of the present century, assurances of friendship, accompanied,
in some instances, with promises of assistance should occasion
require it. Never did I consider our hope of stability as a
nation so well founded as they are at this moment.

One of the most important features in my Foreign Relations
during the past year, is that of the Mission upon which my
Special Envoy, the Honorable William L. Lee, proceeded to
Washington, where he was most cordially received, and whose
exertions have been attended with the happiest results. They
have opened, in the minds of our agriculturists and those who
study the progress of our people as producers, hopes, which
only need the confirmation of the Senate of the United States
to become permanently realized, and greatly conducive to our
prosperity.

Negotiations have, for some time past, been in progress
between my Ministers of Foreign Relations and Finance, and the
Commissioner of the Emperor of France, for a new Treaty
between that Sovereign and myself. For farther particulars
regarding my Relations abroad, I refer you to the Report of my
Minister of that Department.

My Minister of War will furnish you a Report showing the
appropriation, necessary to be made for the support of the
Military during the ensuing year.

The administration of Justice, during the past year,
especially in the higher Courts of Judicature, has been such
as to give general satisfaction.

Respecting the business of the Judiciary Department, I would
refer you to the Report of my Chancellor. The measures he
proposes are worthy of being seriously deliberated upon, and I
earnestly recommend to your early consideration that for the
suppression of intoxication. It is painful to notice the
increase of this evil in Honolulu, arising principally from
the sale of cheap and noxious compounds. In connection with
this subject, I would call your attention to the evil arising
from the sale of opium to Chinese Coolies, which, unless
speedily checked, I fear may spread among our own race.

In the Report of my Minister of the Interior you will not fail
to observe a valuable suggestion proposing a fundamental
change in the appointment of the officers intrusted with the
making and preserving of our public roads. It is to the effect
that persons chosen for their ability be appointed by the
executive, in lieu of the Superintendents elected at present
by the tax payers of each district, a system the experience of
several years has proved to be accompanied with many abuses.

I recommend to your notice the several other points contained
in that Report, especially that asking for an authorization to
grant Title Deeds to persons who have proved their claims
before the Land Commission, but received no Patents, in
consequence of surveys not having been made of the Kuleanas to
which they were entitled, and to Konohikis whose lands are
described in the Book of Division, but who have not received
their Awards. Also, the continuation of the Inter-island Mail
Carrier service, and, above all, an appropriation for the
purchase of a proper steamer, to assist intercourse between
the Islands of this group, and encourage industry.

You will perceive by the detailed Report of my Minister of
Finance that the liabilities of my Treasury have been promptly
discharged and the public credit fully sustained,
notwithstanding the large expenditure made for important
public improvements. The law for the more just and equal
collection of Taxes, passed at your last Session, has operated
favorably on the national finances, although I am of opinion
that some alterations in its provisions would still further
improve it.

In addition to the ordinary expenses of the Government, you
will see the necessity of appropriations sufficient to
complete the public works already commenced, even though it
should be necessary to resort to the loan authorized by the
law of the last Session.

My Minister of Finance has also called your attention to the
important subject of a Usury law, which I commend to your
favorable consideration.

He has likewise alluded to a proposed mode of payment for the
steamer before mentioned, which may, I trust, preclude all
embarrassment to my Treasury.

You cannot, at present, regard the law imposing duties on
imports passed at your last Session, as a basis for
appropriations, because it is uncertain whether it will go
into effect.

The state and progress of Education among my people during the
past year, you will learn from the Report of the President of
the Board of Education. The change in that Department, by an
Act of the last Legislature, has proved, thus far, to be
beneficial. It is particularly gratifying to know that
instruction in the English language is prosecuted with so much
success among my native subjects. I recommend you to make as
liberal a provision for the support of this class of schools
as the state of my Treasury will admit.

I feel so keenly the necessity of some new stimulus to
agriculture, in all its branches, that I very seriously call
your attention to that point, and shall be happy if in your
wisdom you can devise any measures to promote so important an
object. The Native Hawaiian Agricultural Society, lately
instituted, needs your fostering care in the form in which you
have manifested it towards the sister Association. The
decrease of our population, and the means of staying it,
occupy many of my thoughts; and a subject so important cannot
fail to receive your serious consideration. Intimately
connected with the subject last alluded to, is the still
unaccomplished wish of all the true friends of the nation to
see a Hospital established, and I sincerely hope that those
who have foretold difficulties opposed to the success of such
an institution, will at last allow the experiment to be made.
Fearful, as we all must be, of the introduction of any new
diseases to decimate us again, I beg of you to consider by
what means, under Providence, such a calamity may be averted.

I sincerely trust that the Ruler of all will guide your
deliberations to a result beneficial to the nation.

MAY 24, 1856.

_Reply by His Majesty to the Congratulations offered by the House of Representatives upon His approaching Marriage._

It is with much pleasure that I receive the congratulations of
the Representatives of my People, upon the contemplated event
of my marriage. Your voice is that of the Nation speaking
through its Representatives, and it is a great satisfaction to
me to have your approval of the important step I am about to
take.

You express the hope that the union may be the means of
perpetuating our Sovereignty and promoting the welfare of the
nation, and I sincerely unite with you in that hope.

In conclusion, I thank you, Representatives, for the kind,
prompt and unanimous manner in which you have responded to my
Message.

JUNE 11, 1856.

_His Majesty's Speech upon Proroguing the Session of the Legislature of 1856._

NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--At the close of a Session which
has been marked by so much unanimity as that about to
terminate, and during which so much that displays the wisdom
essential to success in legislation has been observable, I
cannot but feel a gratification in meeting you.

The appropriations you have made for the expenses of my
Government during the next two years, and the zeal you have
displayed to render especially efficient the Bureau of Public
Works, meet with my sincere approval.

In the matter of one appropriation only, do I entertain any
doubts; but if by any possibility the military establishment
can be maintained upon such a scale as to ensure a promise of
security, no exertions will be wanting on the part of my
Government to do so, without overstepping the amount by you
provided.

To the members of the House of Representatives I would express
my sincere acknowledgments for the readiness with which they
have interpreted the public feeling, and provided for my
establishment under the new relations which I am about to
assume.

I have no expectations that any necessity will arise for
calling you together before the stated session of 1858, and I
trust that the interim will be full of prosperity to you and
the nation, the blessing of God making fruitful those
exertions from which I now release you by proroguing the
session.

NOVEMBER 3, 1856.

THANKSGIVING.

PROCLAMATION BY THE KING.

We, Kamehameha, King of the Hawaiian Islands, hereby issue our
Proclamation agreeably to former custom, that:

Whereas, during the year now drawing to a close, we have
enjoyed, as a people, numerous and great blessings; peace and
tranquility have prevailed throughout our islands; we have
been not only free from dangers from abroad, but have
continued to enjoy the most friendly assurances of protection
in our independence from the most powerful governments in the
world; although the times have been hard through the scarcity
of money, and our people have suffered from a drought almost
unparalleled, neither our agriculture nor commerce has
entirely failed; both begin to revive; the crops in most
places have been good; perhaps we have never enjoyed a year of
more general health; our laws have been sustained; religion
and education have been free and prosperous: For all of which
numerous and invaluable blessings we owe, as a nation, a
formal, general and heartfelt tribute of thanksgiving to the
Almighty, on whose favor all prosperity, whether individual or
national, depends.

We do, therefore, with the advice and consent of our Privy
Council of State, designate and recommend Thursday, the 25th
day of December next, as a day of general and public
Thanksgiving to God, our Heavenly Father, throughout our
islands; and we earnestly invite all good people to a sincere
and prayerful observance of the same.

Done at our Palace this 3d day of November, A. D., 1856.
KAMEHAMEHA.

DECEMBER 9, 1856.

_His Majesty's Address at the Stone Church, before the Meeting of the Native Agricultural Society, from the_ =Polynesian= _of Dec. 13._

Our reporter caught only some of the more prominent ideas embodied in the King's address, which was delivered in the pure idiom of the elder chiefs, by which device he connected, as it were, modern science with ancient feeling. His train of discourse was nearly as follows:

It were useless, his Majesty said, to make further
suggestions, for to hear is not always to obey. If only a
tenth part of all the practical hints that had been given from
time to time, by persons standing where he then stood, had
been systematically pursued, the usefulness of the Society
would have been more apparent. Not but that the Society had
done much good, and awakened an interest, in the minds of many
besides its members, which might be considered as the dawn of
a brighter day. His intention was briefly to examine the
actual condition of agriculture science and practice; to show,
not what we might be, but what we are.

His Majesty spoke of the short-comings of the people as an
agricultural population, and though he set down naught in
malice it is equally certain that he extenuated nothing. This
plain speaking tells with the Hawaiians, especially when it
falls from the lips of their hereditary rulers. In the first
place allusion was made to the almost universal want of
perseverance which marks the character of the laboring classes
more than that of any other. The King showed in few words how
necessary it is to make agriculture an absorbing pursuit, the
only pursuit in fact of the man who engages in it, proving
that the intermission of a day may often render nugatory the
labor of a month. No man in fact having put his hand to the
plough ought to look back, till the last process of all
dependent upon ploughing has been brought to the best possible
issue. In the next place, the want of capital was touched on,
and spoken of as a very serious draw-back, though not an
insurmountable objection to the pursuit of agriculture. In
a country like this where the necessaries of life are so
easily supplied, one man's steady labor will always produce
very much more than one man's sustenance, and the overplus
with ordinary thrift--or what would be considered such in
other lands--becomes so much capital with which to increase
the scope of an individual's exertions, and provide those
means and appliances which by reducing labor add to profit. A
carelessness to observe and communicate the results of
observation as to seasons and localities, was another
peculiarity common amongst the Hawaiians. The natives are too
much inclined to make an attempt without first gaining all the
information procurable in regard to the particular plant or
vegetable they intend to cultivate. Slight variations in the
altitude of different fields above the level of the sea, and
differences in the quality of the soil, produce oftentimes no
less results than failure on the one hand and success on the
other. But the Hawaiians are too apt to make an essay without
previous enquiry, and afterwards to keep to themselves the
result of the experiment. This should not be in a country
which is visited weekly in its whole length and breadth by a
newspaper intended, more than for any other purpose, to spread
a knowledge of practical agriculture and afford a medium for
intercommunication upon points interesting to persons engaged
in the original pursuit of our race. The King enforced this
idea with great earnestness, begging his hearers to look upon
themselves as links in the chain of improvement, dependent
upon the past, as future laborers would depend upon them for
such experience as to seasons, methods and localities as might
be worthy of record and transmission to another generation.

The absence of methodical habits in the tillers of the soil
was adverted to. Whilst on this subject, the King spoke of the
utter disregard showed for any regularity in the hours of
commencing and leaving off work. This desultory system is
greatly aided by the want of stated hours for taking food and
retiring to rest. If there were a common hour for breakfast
and dinner, the hours for labor would be regulated and
understood. The want of economy, not of time only, but of
material, too, and labor, was then touched on. His Majesty
seemed to be hinting at the old saying that "a stitch in time
saves nine," a fact usually disregarded by the natives of this
country. One gap in a fence is generally a prelude to its
total destruction, whereas half a day's work might save it for
years to come, and prevent the outlay at some future day of
the labor and material necessary to build a new one. But we
cannot follow the line of illustration used to enforce this
point; suffice it to say that the matter was made intelligible
and the value of economy fully vindicated. After some remarks
on roads and means of communication by water, in which steam
was spoken of as one of the agents to which our agriculturists
must look for a helping hand up the hill that leads to
competency and opulence, the King strongly recommended the
planting of fruit trees, and went into some practical details
of the method now pursued by the natives of Kona, Hawaii, who
as a class bid fair not long hence to be, perhaps, more
comfortably off than the people of any other district. Coffee,
oranges, lemons and grape-vines were more particularly
recommended to the fostering care of the audience. Allusion
was also made to Dr. Hillebrand's very able remarks on the
advantages of shade trees. His Majesty then brought his
address to a close with a few general remarks that told home,
breathing as they did the spirit of his often repeated
exhortation to his people to remember that none will help
those who will not help themselves--that responsible men must
not, like children at their games, sit down to "open their
mouths and shut their eyes," and "see what God will send
them."

MAY 26, 1857.

_His Majesty's Reply to the Address of S. N. Castle, Esq., on Presenting a Bible on behalf of the "American Bible Society."_

The volume you present me in behalf of the American Bible
Society, and the letter with which it is accompanied, I
receive with a mingled feeling of pleasure and reverence. When
I remember the moral illumination and the sense of social
propriety which have spread throughout these islands, in
proportion as the Holy Scriptures have been circulated, I
cannot but admire and respect the human agency through which
Providence has effected its benign purpose. But of all the
members of the institution, there is none with whom I could
more gladly find myself in communication than the Secretary,
whose labors have won for him a name among Christian
philanthropists which might excite a world to emulation.

I will not attempt to echo the tone of fervent admiration and
gratitude with which you allude to the happy changes effected
by the dissemination of God's Holy Word. But from the position
I occupy, the facts meet me whichever way I turn my eyes. I
see them every day and every hour. I see principles taking
root among my people that were unknown and unintelligible to
them at that dark period of our religious history to which you
have referred. They have now a standard by which to judge of
themselves and of each other as members of society. Without
that standard no law but the law of autocratic power could
have ruled them. Its absence would have rendered the gift of
free institutions, such as they now enjoy, a worse than
useless act of magnanimity on the part of my predecessors. The
commerce and intercourse with other countries to which we owe
our present prosperity would have been checked by numberless
difficulties. In one word, we see through all our relations
the effect of those aspirations and principles inculcated by
this sacred volume.

I should be wanting to myself did I not express the
gratification I feel at seeing here present some of those who
were the first to labor in the vineyard. Although they look
for their reward elsewhere, they will not reject my passing
tribute of respect. Their labor has been long and their
anxiety great, but their constancy and patience have equaled
the emergency. The result of their life's work may even
disappoint them if they judge it by the anticipation of their
more sanguine years. Yet, in their decline of life, they see
some of the fruits they prayed for, and they will not complain
when they remember that the measure of their success is from
above.

Allow me to thank you for your personal share in the
presentation, and through you to express my kindest
acknowledgments to the American Bible Society.

DECEMBER 10, 1857.

BY ORDER OF THE KING.

It is hereby proclaimed that Thursday, the 31st of December
ensuing, be kept as a day of solemn fasting and humiliation
for sin, and of thanksgiving to Almighty God for numberless
unmerited mercies and blessings received during the year that
expires on that day.

L. KAMEHAMEHA.

JANUARY 21, 1858.

_His Majesty's Reply to the Address of Capt. Davis, of the U. S. Sloop_ =St. Marys=, _upon the eve of her Departure for San Francisco._

I can heartily assure you, Captain Davis, that it would have
been a source of unfeigned regret to me, had circumstances
prevented my having this last interview with you before your
departure from these waters. When I say last, I mean the last
during the visit of the _St. Marys_, for I sincerely hope to
see you here again, and when you do return, I hope you will
bring with you the same officers whose sojourn here with you
has contributed so much to the social enjoyment of the last
few months.

Your desire to increase the good understanding existing
between my Government and your own has been so conspicuous
that I cannot but congratulate the latter upon the happy
circumstances that in sending a ship here, for the
preservation of safety and order, the command of that vessel
devolved upon no other than you. That you have been successful
in your object, must be a matter of pride to you, and I do not
think you will hear with indifference from my lips the simple
announcement, that I and every member of my Government have
appreciated those exertions, but no one more so than I, whose
opportunities of judging of your intentions have, I am happy
to say, been more numerous than those of some others.

MAY 21, 1858.

_Replies by His Majesty to the Congratulatory Addresses on the Birth of a Son and Heir to His Throne, by A. P. Everett, Esq., for himself and other Foreign Consuls; by H. R. H. Prince General Kamehameha; by the Rev. Mr. Damon and other Clergymen; and by the U. S. Consul, A. Pratt, Esq., for Foreign Residents generally._

His Majesty replied as follows:

GENTLEMEN:--I very kindly thank you for the congratulations
you have just offered to the Queen and myself, and for the
kind wishes you have expressed for the prosperity and
happiness of the infant Prince. I also thank you for the many
expressions of sympathy and good will which you have employed
towards my people and Government, and for the prosperity of
both. I assure you that the prosperity and happiness of my
country, and of all who live within my rule, are subjects dear
to my heart. And there is no greater encouragement afforded me
that the hopes so often expressed by the friends of the
Hawaiian people will be fulfilled, than the knowledge that I
have the support and sympathy of the great and powerful
nations whose officers I rejoice to see before me on this, to
me, particularly happy day.

PRINCE AND SOLDIERS:--The expressions of loyalty you have just
uttered are very welcome to me. There is no tie between the
head of a government and his troops like that of mutual good
wishes and a common object. Such exists between us, and may it
never cease to exist. So long as it does we have nothing to
fear of one another, but every thing to hope. In the Queen's
name and that of our infant son I thank you kindly for your
generous wishes.

Turning to Mr. Damon and the other reverend gentlemen present His Majesty observed:

GENTLEMEN:--For your valuable present allow me to thank you in
the name of my son, whose advent into this life has been
greeted so kindly, so heartily, by the community at large, but
by none more sincerely, or with more ardent wishes for his
real happiness than by yourselves--of that I am sure. The
birth of the young Prince has placed me in a relationship to
which I have hitherto been a stranger, and it has imposed upon
me new responsibilities. I trust that in my conduct towards
him throughout my life, I may remember the particular offering
which your affection deemed most proper, and that as this
Bible is one of my boy's first possessions, so its contents
may be the longest remembered. In the Queen's name and my own
I thank you, and it shall be the task of both of us to teach
our first-born child to kindly regard you.

Then addressing himself more particularly to Mr. Consul Pratt, and from him to the assembly in general, His Majesty added:

GENTLEMEN AND FRIENDS:--I receive your congratulations on this
occasion with mixed feelings of pleasure and pride. I take
pleasure in knowing that the event which has given so much
happiness in my own domestic circle, has caused a pleasure in
this whole community and brought to my house these unmistakable
marks of sympathy and good will; and I cannot but feel pride,
at such a time as this, in knowing that my first-born child,
the destined heir to the position I now occupy, enters the
world amidst your hearty acclamations. I thank you for those
expressions towards the Queen and myself, which are
reiterations of feelings often expressed, and more often
manifested than expressed, but which come doubly welcome at a
time when every parent's heart has a yearning for sympathy.
Gentlemen, you see me a proud father, and by these
manifestations of your love for me and mine you make me a
proud King. Such occasions as these make a throne worthy of
any man's envy, whilst the feelings uppermost in my heart will
establish and seal from this time forth a new tie between me
and every man who, like myself, can say he has a child.

MAY 22, 1858.

_Reply by His Majesty to the Address presented to Him by the Lodge of Free Masons and the Royal Arch Chapter of Honolulu._

MOST EXCELLENT HIGH PRIEST, COMPANIONS AND BRETHREN:

Bound together as we are in a holy league of brotherhood, I
should not be doing justice to the feelings which actuate me
in my relationship with yourselves, and operate amongst us
all, did I deny that I almost expected you would seek a
special occasion to felicitate me in the character in which we
now appear. For all your kind wishes I thank you from the
bottom of my heart, and among the many blessings for which I
have, at this time, especial reason to be thankful to our
Supreme Grand Master, I do not reckon this the least, that I
enjoy the sympathy of a Fraternity whose objects are so pure,
and whose friendships so true as those of our Order. I will
not multiply words, but believe me, that when I look upon my
infant son, whose birth has been the cause of so much joy to
me, and of so much interest to yourselves, the thought already
crosses my mind that perhaps one day he may wear these dearly
prized badges, and that his intercourse with his fellow men,
like his father's, may be rendered more pleasant, and,
perhaps, more profitable, by his espousing those solemn tenets
which make the name of a Freemason honorable throughout the
world.

MAY 25, 1858.

_Replies by His Majesty to the Hon. D. L. Gregg, Commissioner of the United States, and to the Hon. James W. Borden, his Successor, upon his Presentation as the new Commissioner._

His Majesty, turning to Mr. Gregg, replied:

From the renewed assurances of sympathy and good will towards
this Kingdom which, on the part of the President of the United
States of America, you have just expressed, I cannot but
derive the liveliest gratification, reminding me as they do of
the long course of years during which the successive Heads of
your Government have offered, through their Representatives
here, similar professions of amity, without one interruption
having occurred to mar the retrospect. I should be sorry were
the President, or you, to suppose for one instant that I
regard these professions merely as a civil form of words
called for by the occasion.

The Government of the United States has never flattered me or
my Predecessors with expectations of more than it intended to
perform; the action has always followed true to the word, and
we know by experience the value of such assurances as those to
which I have just listened with so much satisfaction.

It is, indeed, a fact worthy of notice and of remembrance,
that the relations existing between the two countries were
never more happy, or more calculated to inspire the smaller
nation with a sense of independence and an appreciation of the
fact that its future is in its own hands, than at this very
moment, when, after having faithfully watched the interests
intrusted to your care for more than four years, you are
resigning that honorable duty into other hands. You have shown
that strength of purpose may be united with courtesy of
manner, and have justified your appointment by proving that
their rights are best guarded, whose representative, being
honest in his own intentions, does not without cause doubt the
faith of the Government to which he is accredited.

Although I am afraid you over-estimate the actual value of the
marks of courtesy and attempts to make agreeable your
residence and that of your family upon these islands, which we
have sought to offer, I thank you for the kind expression of
your acknowledgments, and trust that you will always believe
that my object, and that of every member of my Government, was
but poorly carried out by any manifestations which it has been
in our power to make. But, Mr. Gregg, not to seem to claim
more credit than we deserve, allow me to add that the attempt
was by no means a disinterested one, for in all the relations
of society, those persons are most welcome who ornament it
most and are themselves the most courteous.

I have too much confidence in the good will and sympathy of
the Government of the United States, and faith in the wisdom
of the President, to allow of a single doubt as to the course
which your successor will pursue. It shall be my endeavor, and
that of my Government, to regard him as the honored
Representative of a great nation, and a good Friend. I believe
that his dealings with us will be generous, that he will
pursue the policy which in the hands of his predecessors has
so largely helped to make this nation what it is to-day, and
that if, coming after you, he cannot increase the feelings of
kindness, and on one side of gratitude, which already exist
here and in the United States, he will at least maintain them.

Then addressing himself to Mr. Borden, the King spoke as follows:

In welcoming you as the Representative of the United States,
allow me to say, Mr. Borden, that I anticipate nothing but the
most satisfactory intercourse between you and my Government.
The country from which you are accredited has afforded too
many tokens of good will, and manifested too lively an interest
in all that concerns this archipelago, and that for too long a
succession of years, to leave any question possible as to its
future policy.

So long as such feelings exist on your side, and we retain
gratitude enough to remember with acknowledgments the benefits
we have already received from the Government and people of the
United States, and can appreciate the advantages continually
derived from the friendship and countenance of such a nation,
there is little chance that the harmony now happily existing
will be disturbed. I thank you for the kind terms in which you
have alluded to the birth of the Prince, my son--an event
which has filled me with the greatest pleasure and gives rise
to many hopeful anticipations.

MAY 29, 1858.

_Published by Authority in the_ =Polynesian=, _May 29, 1858._

ROYAL LETTERS PATENT.

Know all men that we, Kamehameha, by the Grace of God, of the
Hawaiian Islands King, by virtue of the power and authority in
us vested as Sovereign of these realms, and in accordance with
Article XXXVII, of the Constitution of our Kingdom, have
decreed, and do, by these our Royal Letters Patent,
constitute, establish and declare the following to be the
style and title of our infant Son, born on the twentieth day
of May, instant, the Hereditary Heir Apparent of Our Throne,
viz:

"HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF HAWAII."

He, Our said infant son, from now and henceforth to assume,
and to receive the aforesaid style and title for himself, and,
in the event of his succeeding Us in the Throne, and having
male issue of his body lawfully begotten, then, the said style
and title shall descend to, and be the style and title of his
first-born son, as being the nearest hereditary and
Constitutional Heir to the Throne of the Hawaiian Islands.
Done at the Palace, in Honolulu, this twentieth day of May,
A. D. 1858, and in the 4th year of Our Reign.
(Signed,) KAMEHAMEHA.

JUNE 11, 1858.

_His Majesty's Speech at the Opening of the Session of the Hawaiian Legislature of 1858._

NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--Since the Legislature was last in
session, it has pleased Almighty God to bless me with a son. The
birth of an Heir to the Throne is an event which you, now
congregated to pass measures, not for the temporary only, but
for the permanent prosperity of the Hawaiian Islands, under a
Constitutional Monarchy, cannot but regard with solemn
interest. Not only the continuance of his life, but the
characteristics which the Prince may develop as he grows to
manhood, and the education to be imparted to him, are matters
in no small degree inseparable from the future of our
country's history--from that distant part of it in which I,
and many, if not all of you, will take no share. Gentlemen,
the child is yours as well as mine; the circumstances that
attend his birth deprive me of an undivided interest in him,
for if such be the will of Divine Providence, he will one day
be to your sons what I am to their fathers. Destined as he is
to exercise a paramount influence in years to come, I
consecrate him to my people, and with God's help, I will leave
unused no faculty with which I am indued to make him worthy of
your love and loyalty, and an ornament to the Throne of his
great Predecessor who only did battle to establish peace and
lay the foundations of order.

I have called you together according to the requirements of
the Constitution. Having thus fulfilled the duty imposed upon
me, I would suggest to you, Nobles and Representatives, the
propriety, under existing circumstances, of confining the
business of the present session to providing, by a Joint
Resolution, or otherwise, for the financial necessities of the
Government, and appointing a Joint Committee to report after
an adjournment and as soon as practicable, to their respective
Houses, upon the New Code, or such portions of it as may be
ready for presentation by the Commission appointed by the
Legislature of 1856 to prepare it.

The reasons for such a course will appear in the fact that the
Commissioners selected to revise, codify and amend the laws
now in force, partly on account of the ill health of one of
the members, now deceased, and partly from the laborious
nature of the task imposed upon persons whose time was already
occupied by the duties of office, have been unable to perfect
their work within the time, which before the undertaking was
commenced, was deemed sufficient. The Joint Committee could
only receive and proceed to review such portions of the
Revision as are already prepared, and receive more as the
Commissioners progressed. By means of a little inquiry, the
time when their report upon the whole would probably be
forthcoming might be ascertained, when the two Houses could
meet again to review the Report and proceed with the general
business of the country.

The suggestion I have made demands further consideration from
the fact that a new Treaty, negotiated between me and the
Emperor of the French, has lately been returned from Paris,
accompanied by the formal ratification of the Emperor. It now
awaits a similar concurrence, on my part, to render it
effective. In accordance with the provision of our
Constitution, this Treaty is now under consideration by me, in
my Privy Council of State. The provisional Act, therefore,
which a former Legislature passed, will become operative or
otherwise, according to the result of those deliberations I
refer to, and until that result becomes known the Minister of
Finance cannot make to you a satisfactory showing of the
probable receipts of the Government for this and the next
fiscal year; and without such data to go by you will hardly
be able to dispose of the strictly financial business of the
country.

So, too, in regard to the Civil Acts, the passage of which
draws so largely upon the time of your two Houses. It would be
nothing less than a waste of labor to alter, by separate
enactments, those laws which the Revised Code will amend, or
to sanction new provisions, in that Compendium already
provided for, and which temporary enactments would, therefore,
become valueless almost as soon as they should have been
promulgated.

Believing, gentlemen, that you will coincide with me in seeing
the necessity for a speedy adjournment, after having made the
provisions I have pointed out, I forbear to call your
attention to the general business and details to which I
should otherwise direct your notice.

MARCH 31, 1859.

_Special Message of His Majesty sent to the Legislature of 1859._

NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--I deem it my duty, as Chief
Magistrate of the Kingdom, to submit to the Legislature
certain points in regard to which the organic law seems to
require revision.

Experience has conclusively shown that the Constitution of
1852 does not, in many important respects, meet the
expectations of its framers, or of my Predecessor, by whom it
was voluntarily conceded.

It is the part of wisdom to derive lessons from experience,
and to regulate our future policy in conformity with its
suggestions.

The 105th Article of the Constitution prescribes the ordinary
mode of amendment. Without reference to a different manner of
revision, clearly founded on the inherent rights of the
different Estates of my Kingdom, I am, at this time, content
to appeal to the Legislature for such action as will provide
an adequate remedy for all existing difficulties.

I am satisfied that it would result in great public advantage
to allow to my Executive Ministers the privilege of election
to the House of Representatives, except when constituted
Members of the House of Nobles by Royal Patent. It would also,
in my opinion, be politic to permit additions to be made to
the House of Nobles for a term of years as well as for life.
These changes are earnestly recommended and urged upon your
favorable consideration.

I further recommend that the House of Representatives be
limited, as to its members, to a number not exceeding twenty;
and that a suitable property qualification for eligibility be
established. The compensation of such members ought also to be
definitely fixed for the entire period of their service, so as
to avoid all inducements to protracted sessions beyond the
requirement of the public good.

Relying on your wisdom and patriotic disposition, I place
these suggestions before you, in the full confidence that they
cannot fail to meet your sanction. I entertain no doubt that
if the Constitution should be amended in conformity thereto, a
beneficial reform of the Legislative Department would be
effected, and the general advantage of my Kingdom thereby
greatly promoted.

KAMEHAMEHA.

MAY 4, 1859.

_His Majesty's Speech Proroguing the Legislature of 1859._

NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--I congratulate you upon having
concluded the labors of a Session protracted beyond my
expectation, and, I imagine, that of the country at large. I
trust that after all the attention which has been expended on
the revised Civil Code, the result will prove a compilation
sound in its principles and convenient in its arrangement. If
it have no other effect than to encourage a decrease of
litigation, by exposing in its proper place the law applicable
to every civil regulation which legislation makes the
frame-work of our national system, your time, and the expenses
of the session, will not have been consumed in vain.

I have heard with satisfaction that the amendments of the
Constitution which I suggested and laid open to your
consideration, have been acted upon, and I do not doubt that
the next session will see them confirmed and made effective. I
think they will initiate a more wholesome system of
legislation, prevent unnecessary delays and expenses, and
place the Executive Government in a position better calculated
for giving explanations and receiving instructions from that
House which originates every fiscal measure.

I thank you, Representatives, for the provision you have made
for myself and those nearest to me; and, while alluding to the
Bill of Appropriations, I cheerfully notice the fact, that in
making distribution of the revenue, you have, for the first
time, proposed for the country a system of expenditure
strictly proportioned to the estimated receipts.

I confess that the act of your two Houses which I regard with
most complacency, is that in which you commit the public
Treasury to the aid of Hospitals. You, Representatives,
amongst whose constituents are those very persons for whom
these places of refuge are principally designed, have
expressed a kind and grateful feeling for the personal share
which I and the Queen have taken in the labor of securing the
necessary means for the establishment of a Hospital in
Honolulu. Whilst acknowledging your courtesy, I wish to take
this first public occasion to express the almost unspeakable
satisfaction with which I have found my efforts successful
beyond my hopes. It is due to the subscribers as a body, that
I should bear witness to the readiness, not less than the
liberality, with which they have met my advances. When you
return to your several places, let the fact be made known,
that in Honolulu the sick man has a friend in everybody. Nor
do I believe that He who made us all, and to whose keeping I
commend in now dismissing you, has seen with indifference how
the claims of a common humanity have drawn together, in the
subscription list, names representative of almost every race
of men under the sun.

MAY 20, 1859.

_Replies by His Majesty to the Felicitations of the Commissioners of France and of the United States, and to the Captain of the Honolulu Rifle Corps, on behalf of its Members, on the first Anniversary of the Birth of H. R. H. the Prince of Hawaii._

GENTLEMEN:--I receive with unfeigned satisfaction the
congratulations which you offer on this the first anniversary
of the birth of the Heir to the Throne. As the Representatives
of nations so pre-eminently called upon, by virtue of their
physical and intellectual resources, to watch and foster the
progress of the human race at large, I rejoice in those
aspirations with which you have connected the future career of
my infant son. To you, gentlemen, and to the Governments of
which you are the honored organs, the best thanks of the
Father and Mother of the Prince of Hawaii are cordially
tendered.

GENTLEMEN OF THE HONOLULU RIFLES:--For the loyal and generous
expressions your Captain has offered in your behalf I thank
you in the name of the Prince of Hawaii, who doubtless will
one day hear in what manner your good wishes were made known
on this occasion. For in families it is not uncommon for
certain incidents and expressions to become traditional, and I
know that neither I nor the Queen can ever cease to cherish
the remembrance of the many tokens of good will and sympathy
this day manifested, or fail to tell our Son in time to come
how the anniversary of his first birth-day was welcomed by the
"Honolulu Rifles."

OCTOBER 3D, 1859.

_Speech of His Majesty at the Extraordinary Session of the House of Nobles held at the Palace October 3d, 1859._

GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF NOBLES:--I have thought proper to
convene you in special session in order to consult on a
matter, which in my judgment relates to the highest welfare of
the nation. In contemplation of a vacancy in the chief
executive office, at all times liable to occur, it is
important that the succession to the crown should be
definitely established in a constitutional manner. To this
subject I invite your attention, in the full confidence that
the recommendation I am about to make will receive at your
hands a hearty concurrence.

The Constitution points out the mode of procedure to be
adopted, and I avail myself of the authority thus vested in me
to designate my infant son, the Prince of Hawaii, as my heir
and successor to the Throne. Your assent and co-operation in
the measure are required, but I do not doubt your ready and
loyal support, not only on grounds relating to the stability
of the existing dynasty, but from motives intimately connected
with the public good.

PROCLAMATION.

KAMEHAMEHA IV., of the Hawaiian Islands, King, to all Our
loving subjects, and others to whom these Presents shall come,
Greeting:--

Be it known that We, in concurrence with Our House of Nobles,
hereby appoint and proclaim Our Son, His Royal Highness the
Prince of Hawaii, to be Our Successor and Heir to the Hawaiian
Throne.

Done at Our Palace, at Honolulu, this third day of October,
in the year of Our Lord 1859, and the fifth year of Our
Reign.

(Signed,) KAMEHAMEHA.

(Signed) KAAHUMANU.

By the King and Kuhina Nui.
(Signed,) L. KAMEHAMEHA.

MAY 23D, 1860.

_The King's Speech to the Legislature of 1860._

NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--In accordance with the
Constitution, I have called you together in Legislative
assembly.

It is with pleasure that I make known to you that my relations
with Foreign Powers are in an amicable and satisfactory
position, and to the Report of my Minister of Foreign Affairs
I direct your attention for information in relation to the
Department under his care.

The Chief Justice in his Report has given a general view of
the administration of the department of law. There are some
portions of the report to which I desire to call your special
attention. By reference to the comparative view of convictions
contained therein, you will observe that two classes of
offences against the laws constitute nearly two-thirds of the
whole number of convictions. The inevitable effect of these
offences is to demoralize and destroy the people, and I would
designate as well worthy of your careful consideration and
adoption, the recommendations of the Chief Justice in relation
to such amendments or alterations of the existing laws as will
tend to eradicate or diminish these evils.

The Report of the Minister of the Interior will furnish you
with full information in relation to the affairs of his
department for the last two years. The financial prospects of
the country, as exhibited in the Report of the Minister of
Finance, are satisfactory, and I would particularly direct to
your favorable consideration his suggestion that provision be
made for paying off outstanding liabilities as they become
due. I would also call to your attention for careful
consideration, his suggestions in relation to the assessments
and collection of taxes, and in relation to the transit
duties; also to the proposed alteration in the mode of
remunerating District Justices.

The all-important subject of Education now occupies the public
mind with more than usual interest, and I particularly
recommend to your favorable notice the suggestions of the
President of the Board of Education, with reference to
substituting English for Hawaiian schools, in so far as may be
practicable, and also in relation to the granting of Government
aid towards independent schools for the education and moral
training of females.

Through the laudable efforts of a number of private
individuals--whom I take this first public opportunity of
thanking--several establishments of this latter description
have been instituted during the past year; and although thus
far little more than a commencement in the good work has been
made, their progress has been satisfactory. I dwell on this
subject, Nobles and Representatives, because our very
existence as a people depends on the youthful training of the
future mothers of our land, and that must not be jeopardized
through lack of effort on our part.

To your careful consideration I recommend the proposed
amendments to the Constitution, as passed by the last
Legislature.

The "Queen's Hospital," at Honolulu, instituted for the relief
of the sick and indigent, has now been in operation for nine
months, and to this praiseworthy institution I direct your
attention, that suitable provision in aid thereof may be made
in the biennial estimates, with a view also that branch
Dispensaries may be established at other places in the
Kingdom.

In conclusion, Nobles and Representatives, I trust that in
your deliberations on the necessary business that may come
before you, that you will combine care with dispatch, and I
will join with you in supplicating the Ruler of all nations
for that wisdom which will best direct your efforts.

MAY 30, 1860.

_His Majesty's Reply to Rev. W. P. Alexander, on behalf of the "Hawaiian Evangelical Association."_

I assure you, gentlemen, that no expression of good will
towards myself or my people is necessary on your part; that is
well known. Nor need I say that the same confidence and
friendly regard which was ever cherished towards you by my
predecessors is entertained by myself. The feeling with me is
not only personal but hereditary.

In regard to those portions of my speech to the Legislature to
which you are pleased to refer, I shall certainly rely upon
the co-operation of the clergy in carrying into effect any
measures that may be adopted for the suppression of those
great evils referred to, and I am confident that I shall have
it not only in this but in every other good work.

Gentlemen and ladies, I am always happy to see you, while on
these yearly visits to the metropolis.

AUGUST 14, 1860.

_His Majesty's Special Message to the House of Nobles and Representatives, delivered by the Royal Commissioners._

KAMEHAMEHA IV., by the Grace of God King of the Hawaiian
Islands:

_To His Excellency_ M. KEKUANAOA, _Our Governor of Oahu, and
the Honorable_ ELISHA H. ALLEN, Our Chancellor:

GREETING:--We hereby commission you in Our place and stead, to
deliver to the Nobles and Representatives, Our Message,
touching certain alterations proposed to be made in the
Constitution of Our Kingdom: And for so doing this shall be
your sufficient warrant.
Given at Our Palace in Honolulu, this Fourteenth day of August,
in the year of our Lord 1860, and in the sixth year of
Our reign.
KAMEHAMEHA.

KAAHUMANU.

At the request of the President, Mr. R. Armstrong read the Royal Message in Hawaiian, after which the Chancellor read the same in English. The following is the English version:

NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--I called the attention of the
last Legislature to the amendments of the Constitution.
Experience of the practical operation of that instrument has
impressed me with their importance, and in this view that body
coincided. But from some omission the publication was not made
in conformity to the provision of the Constitution, and hence
you have very properly expressed your constitutional inability
to pass finally upon the amendments as adopted by them.

Therefore, it has become my duty to call your attention to
some of those amendments, as well as others, which a more
mature reflection has suggested.

I regard favorably the eligibility of the Ministers to the
House of Representatives. The experience of monarchical
governments has illustrated the importance of their services
to the popular branch. It is a power of selection which may be
wisely entrusted to the people to exercise. A property
qualification of a limited amount will tend to make the
selection from the more substantial men of the Kingdom, and
the payment by a salary for their services, I regard as more
just than a per diem allowance as now provided. A limited
number of appointments to the House of Nobles for a term of
years may afford that body valuable aid.

When the Constitution was adopted, its provisions in reference
to a successor to the throne, were made with especial
reference to my Predecessor, who had no lineal heirs.
Additional provisions now seem to be necessary as a protection
to the Heir Apparent to the Throne, and so secure beyond
reasonable contingencies the stable administration of the
sovereignty.