HISTORY OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS – CHAPTER 13

Embassy to the United States and Europe – Acknowledgment of Independence at Washington – Diplomacy in London – Paris – Belgium  – Independence acknowledged by England, and France – Excitement in the United States – A. Simpson – Correspondence between Mr. Fox and Mr. Upshur – Claim of indemnification on England – Joint Guarantee of Great Britain and France – "Times" newspaper – Return to the United States – Death of Haalilio.

Messrs. Haalilio and Richards entered upon the business of their mission at Washington, in December, 1842. They were favorably received, though the administration did not at first enter so fully into their views as they desired. After some negotiation, the President transmitted to Congress a message, dated December 31, 1842, in which he said:

“Just emerging from a state of barbarism, the government of the 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 the 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 5 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 an attempt be threatened or feared, to take possession of the islands, colonize them, and subvert the native government. Considering, therefore, that the United States possess so very large a share of the intercourse with those islands, it is deemed 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 their 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.''

These sentiments, with the act creating a commissioner to reside at the court of Hawaii, were considered tantamount to a formal recognition, and on March 3d, 1843, George Brown, Esq., was appointed to that office. The king's commissioners arrived in London in February, 1843, where they were joined by Sir George Simpson, and entered into communication with the Foreign office. Lord Aberdeen declined receiving them as ministers from an independent nation, but consented to acknowledge them as authorized to "represent the government of the Sandwich Islands." Their first interview was on the 22d of February. Lord Aberdeen was unfavorable to the recognition of independence, saying "It would be ridiculous, for it cannot be supposed that the king governs himself; he is influenced by others; " and that the islands, through the exertions of the missionaries, were falling exclusively under American influence, to the injury of British interests; but added, "That it was of no consequence to British interests whether the government were under the influence of missionaries or whoever else, so long as justice were done."

On the 8th of March the commissioners left London for Paris, by way of Belgium, where they saw King Leopold, who pledged his influence to aid the great object of their mission. They arrived in Paris on the 15th, and on the 17th had an interview with M. Guizot, who received them with marked courtesy, and promptly gave a pledge to acknowledge the independence of the islands. They reached London again on the 20th, and in an interview with the British minister on the 25th, received "The full assurance that the independence of the islands would be virtually or really acknowledged, and that Mr. Charlton would be removed."

On the 1st of April, the Earl of Aberdeen formally communicated the sentiments of his government to the king's commissioners, as follows:

“Her Majesty's government are willing and have determined to recognize the independence of the Sandwich Islands under their present Sovereign.

 

“I think it expedient to add that Her Majesty's government desire no special favor or immunity for British subjects , on the contrary, they wish to see all foreigners residing on the Sandwich Islands treated on a footing of perfect equality before the law, and equal protection afforded by the government to all."

The commissioners had thus far been successful in their mission, when news arrived of the provisional cession of the islands to Lord George Paulet. Mr. Marshall had already carried it to the United States, where, added to other causes tending to influence the national mind against England, it created a prodigious excitement. Throughout the Union the public press echoed with denunciations of the rapacity of England. The Oregon and California questions were then beginning to awaken public interest. The act of Lord George Paulet was considered as the commencement of the denouement of a grand aggressive political drama, by which England intended to appropriate to herself the islands and the neighboring continent. The people of the United States felt the deepest interest in the independence and welfare of Kamehameha's dominion, both from self-interest, as a depot for their vast whaling trade and other commercial interests, and from jealousy of their great maritime rival, and also as being the petted object of their religious sympathies. They claimed its conversion to Christianity as a moral conquest altogether their own. More than half a million of money, the contributions of their piety, had been lavishly bestowed in redeeming it from heathenism. To prevent so important a post from passing into the hands of England, was an object worthy of national interference. Such was the general voice. Some presses, more moderate, regarding the matter in a truer light, believed that England would hesitate to avail herself of what they considered to be the unauthorized act of her officer. They were correct. Mr. Marshall after delivering his dispatches at Washington, hastened to London, where he arrived in July. The news had preceded him, as also had Alexander Simpson, who immediately repaired to the Foreign office to justify his conduct, and to induce the British ministry to retain the prize he had gratuitously placed in their hands. The British public and government were both astonished at an event so little anticipated. The latter had gone too far to retreat. Public opinion in Europe and America, whatever might have been their real desires, was too strong for them to openly face it in violation of the pledge already given. Alexander Simpson soon learned their decision. He says:

"Instead of a prompt acceptance of the cession, which had public opinion been brought to bear on the subject, would undoubtedly have taken place, the ministers used such red-tapist language as It was quite unauthorized, quite unexpected. Everything connected with it is of a novel and peculiar character it requires a more than usual deliberation on the part of Her Majesty's government to determine the line of conduct proper to be pursued in the matter.”

 

With some sharpness he adds:

 

"The do nothing spirit of the Peel cabinet could not be excited even by the gratuitous addition to British possessions of a valuable colony."

From this time Mr. Simpson, disavowed by his own government, disappears. The boldness of his design, and the energy with which he carried it through, with his rational views of the Simpson's History, ultimate advantages to Great Britain of such an acquisition to her territory, present a striking contrast to the petty maneuvering and disgraceful intrigues of his inferiors in talents, whom he used at will as coadjutors or agents in his plan.

Never for a moment does he appear to have faltered in his undertaking from any obligation of right, justice, or even humanity. Boldly and unflinchingly he persevered through all obstacles, and faithfully acted up to his threat of the 29th August, 1842, to Governor Kekuanaoa, made in the presence of witnesses and on official record, that "I will do everything in my power to bring this government into difficulty. I have both talents enough and influence enough to do it." Though the end recoiled upon himself, had the British ministry been less scrupulous his reward and fame would have been far different.

On the 13th of June, Lord Aberdeen informed Messrs. Haalilio and Richards that "Her Majesty's government had no desire to retain possession of the Sandwich Islands." This intention was communicated to France through their minister, and on the 25th of June, Mr. Fox, H. B. M.'s minister at Washington, addressed the Secretary of "State to the same effect, adding, it "was an act entirely unauthorized by Her Majesty's government," and that:

"Instructions which, during the past year, were addressed by Her Majesty's government to the British Consul residing in the Sandwich Islands, and to the naval officers employed on the Pacific station, enjoined those officers to treat upon all occasions the native rulers of the Sandwich Islands with forbearance and courtesy; and while affording due and efficient protection to aggrieved British subjects, to avoid interfering harshly or unnecessarily with the laws and customs of the native government.

 

“It has been the desire of the British government, in regulating the intercourse of its public servants with the native authorities of the Sandwich Islands, rather to strengthen those authorities and to give them a sense of their independence by leaving the administration of justice in their own hands, than to make them feel their dependence upon foreign powers by the exercise of unnecessary interference. It has not been the purpose of Her Majesty's government to seek to establish a paramount influence in those islands for Great Britain at the expense of that enjoyed by other powers." All that has appeared requisite to-Her Majesty's government has been, that other powers shall not exercise

there a greater influence than that possessed by Great Britain.

 

II. S. FOX."

This prompt decision at once quieted the public -mind. Mr. Marshall having become associated with Messrs. Haalilio and Richards in their mission, the three entered into correspondence with the Foreign office in London on the subject of complaints brought by Simpson against their government. In the course of this business, Mr. Addington, the under secretary, remarked that the British government "could not afford to risk their reputation by doing other than justice to a small nation which could not resist them;" thus confessing that innocence united to weakness had become a match for even the greatest power itself. The Earl of Aberdeen having been invited to pronounce judgment himself upon the charges brought forward by Simpson which led to the occupation of the islands by Lord George Paulet, after an examination of the papers submitted, with the aid of the principal law adviser to the crown, came to a decision favorable to the Hawaiian government. The decision in the immediate case of Skinner and Simpson, is worthy of quotation as bearing upon the jurisdiction of the courts, a point since frequently contested.

"After maturely weighing the arguments on both sides, Her Majesty's government are of the opinion that whatever motives Messrs. Skinner and Simpson may have entertained of the impossibility of having justice done them in the courts of the islands, they were bound, in the first instance, to submit their case to the judgment of those courts; and that having neglected or refused so to do, it is not competent in them now to get rid of the effect of a decision adverse to their views."

The minor cases of grievances the government abstained from entering upon, "as not requiring so formal a decision," thus implying their frivolousness.

Mr. Skinner's claim for $3,000 was pronounced unjust, and the government not liable for the sum demanded. Mr. Charlton was required to produce the original grant of the land which Lord George Paulet had put him in possession of, and show it to be genuine. Mr. Addington further assured Mr. Richards that, provided the lease was genuine, General William Millet, who had been appointed on the 25th of August H. B. M.'s Consul General for the Sandwich, Society, Friendly and other islands in the Pacific, "would be instructed not to deliver to Mr. Charlton any ground which had been occupied by others, unless it was occupied against his bonafide remonstrance." If this had been acted upon it would have been tantamount to a judgment in favor of the Hawaiian government. In answer to a claim for indemnification for the damages accruing to the treasury and national property by the illegal acts of Lord George Paulet, the Earl of Aberdeen, on the 16th of November, replied that " Her Majesty's I government, although regretting the inconvenience and expense to which the Sandwich Islands government has been subjected by the cession of the islands to Lord George Paulet, do not consider themselves in any way answerable for the evils arising from it, or liable to make good any expense which may have resulted from the temporary occupation of the islands."

This opinion is founded on the allegation that the cession was a "perfectly spontaneous deed " on the part of the kinq.

In a letter of March 13th, 1844, the Earl of Aberdeen, in reply to the claim again presented, on the assurance that Lord George Paulet took forcible possession, says: "But it is obvious that there was no necessity on the part of the king to take so extreme a step. He might have refused compliance with the terms imposed upon him; and in declaring his intention to appeal to Great Britain, he might have left Lord George Paulet to take on his own responsibility whatever measures he might think proper. Had the king adopted this course, and had Lord George Paulet taken forcible possession of the country, then there might have been ground for the Sandwich Islands government to claim compensation; provided the grievances which led to the occupation should have been admitted by the British government to be unfounded, or even insufficient to justify so strong a measure."

The doctrine which makes the aggressor the sole judge over his own illegal act, would most likely save his purse. The case would indeed have been clearer, and the damages greater, had the occupation been forcible; but would the British government have assumed the j monetary responsibility growing out of the losses arising to all classes in case of a resistance, whether active or passive, which the peaceful policy of the king, relying upon their justice, alone prevented? If the Earl meant to imply that Lord George would not have taken that "responsibility," it was more than the king had any reason to believe, as he was then situated, an unrecognized semi-savage chief. History shows that acts of aggression on barbarous powers without the pale of nations pass unreproved and unnoticed, and there is reason to believe that whatever Lord George had done would have been no exception to the rule. On the contrary, there was great reason to fear that resistance would have led to the fulfillment of Simpson's ardent desire, the permanent acquisition of a valuable colony to the British crown. Under such circumstances, after a virtual condemnation of Lord George Paulet, it cannot but be viewed in a moral and equitable sense, however diplomacy may shuffle about it, as a small matter for England to refuse, to redress her own wrong when it comes to matters of dollars and cents.

On the 28th of November, the Hawaiian commissioners obtained from the governments of France and England a joint declaration to the effect that:

"Her Majesty, the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of the French, taking into consideration the existence in the Sandwich Islands of a government capable of providing for the regularity of its relations with foreign nations, have thought it right to engage reciprocally to consider the Sandwich Islands as an Independent State, and never to take possession, neither directly nor under the title of Protectorate, nor under any other form, of any part of the territory of which they are composed.

 

"The undersigned, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and the Ambassador Extraordinary of His Majesty the King of the French, at the Court of London, being furnished with the necessary powers, hereby declare in consequence, that their said Majesties take reciprocally that engagement. "In witness whereof the undersigned have signed the present declaration, and have affixed thereto the Seal of their Arms.

 

"Done in duplicate, at London, the 28th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1843."

 

(Signed,) ABERDEEN.

ST. AULAIRE.

This solemn engagement on the part of these two powers was the final act by which the kingdom of Hawaii was admitted within the pale of civilized nations. The London Times of August 20th the same year, in a semi-official leader, had thus announced the views of the British government in relation to the independence of the group: "In their independent condition, the islands of the Pacific were useful to all nations, and dangerous to none;

and all that was needed was to respect that independence, and to leave them alone. The British government, acting upon this principle, even after our neighbors had avowed their determination to hold the Marquesas and the Society groups, repudiated the sovereignty of the Sandwich Islands, and withheld its approval from the act of cession which had been concluded, subject to the final orders from the home government. That decision was taken, not from any want either of right or of power to defend that right, but simply because it was held to be inexpedient to found a colonial establishment, and to awaken the jealousy of other countries for no purpose that cannot be equally secured by the maintenance of the independence of the country. But before the temporary connection is dissolved which has placed the sovereignty of the Sandwich Islands in our hands, it obviously becomes the duty of our government to secure by the most positive and formal pledges, both from France and from America, that independence which we now propose to restore to the native princes. We are perfectly well satisfied that the ports of these islands should remain open, as harbors of refuge and supply, to the vessels of all nations, in time of war as well as in peace; and the establishment of this neutral and independent character is an object not unworthy the policy of a high-minded statesman."

The commissioners returned to the United States in the spring of 1844. On the 6th of July, they received a communication from Calhoun, Secretary of State, confirming the "full recognition on the part of the United States, of the independence of the Hawaiian government." In November they took passage from Boston for Honolulu, in the ship Montreal, Capt. Snow. Haalilio, whose health had been very precarious during the latter period of his embassy, died at sea, 3d of December, 1844. His remains were taken to Honolulu, where they were deposited in the royal tomb with much ceremony and sincere mourning. His loss was severely felt; for from his intelligence, and the ardor with which he stored his mind with knowledge derived from the intellectual circles he visited abroad, great hopes were entertained of his enlightening influence, especially in matters of internal polity, over his brother chiefs.

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