Polynesian., 1855-05-19
No. 2

MIR. Richards did not withhold the credit due
to France, through Monsieur Guizot, for This
great service, as you will see by extract no.
z, and by extract from the letter of Ist
April, 1913, of which ] append copy markI
ed No. 9. That they rightly understood NJ.
GuIzot Is shown by Lord Cowley'S letter to
the Earl of Aberdeen, Of the Goth March,
1913, copy of which addmarked No. 10.
The weight of The influence thus brought
to operate upon the mind Of the Earl of ABB
erdeen was decisive with his Lordship. as
will be seen by extract No. Z, although, as |
shall shew below, he was still doubtful of the
policy ofthe government Of the United States.
and required more explicit assurances of
their recognition of the sovereignty Of this
kingdom
If Great Britain hesilared more than either
France, Belgium or the United States. 10 ac-
knowledge the late Kings rights of sover-
eighty, we ought TO remember that by that
formal recognition, she surrendered some an
cient rights Of her own, Of perfect validity
under the laws Of nations, while by the same
act, the other powers, had nothing whatever
TO surrender, but on the contrary, gained by
reducing the Iii then paramount rights of
England to a level with their own. The an
cient rights of Great Britain arc now but me
nlentOs Of the reigns Of Kamehameha !, and
of Kamehameha ii, but as perhaps few of
you know precisely, on hat they were found
ed, append marked No. 1 /, copy of the orr
ginal cession to Vancouver of 18th Februa-
ry, I79i-copy marked No. ID, of his letter
of the End March same year, to be shown to
the Captains of all foreigners visiting the
Isands-copy marked No. IL of King Kane
hameha $ letter of the 9th August, 1910 TO
King George III Of England, declaring the
whole Islands subject 10 the British crowh-
copy marked No. Ii Of letter 10 King Ka-
mehameha by the Earl of Liverpool, dated
Both April, 1912, in reply TO a previous let
ter from that King, dated Sd March, 1910. of
which can find no copy, and marked No.
Is, extract from Governor KekuanaoaIs de-
claration of The offer made to George WITH.
in Windsor Castle, in 1924.
AT the very time that Sir George Simpson
was zealously cooperating with Mr.. Rich
ards, TO free the King, forever, from those
ancient letters upon bis sovereignty, imposed
by his predecessors, Sir Georges nephew,
Mr.. Alexander Simpson, was with quite as
much zeal, fomenting in Honolulu the com
plants Of British subjects, with the declared
intention Of bringing the Islands entirely uE-
der British rule. The Right Honorable Lord
George Paulet, in her Britannia Malesty's
Frlgate Cdrysfoit was sent to the islands to
enquire into those complaints; he credited
them too easily, and without time 10 test the
testimony of the official agents Of his own
government, who had all private interests TO
serve and personal passions to indulge, by
other more impartial and reliable testimony,
Precipitated the late King, rather than yield
to the demands made upon him, to cede the
whole kingdom, Professionally and condition
ally, to Great Britain, as YOU will see BY the
sOlemn act of which append copy marked I6
1t Is not generally known that before that
cession was confirmed by the late King, pro-
posals were made to him, and strongly urged
upon him to cede his Islands to France and
the United States jointly, until the difficulties
with Great Britain and France could be ar
ranged and finally settled. append marked
No. IL copy or the English translation of
the act Of cession which was offered to the
King to sign, on the 23d of February, 1884.
But the King naturally of clear perception
and Of a generous and confiding disposition,
knowing well that all his difficulties arose
from certain subjects of Great Britain, never
for one moment, doubted that the British gov
ernment would do him ample Justice, and
hC ouO HIS u teNl-
porary cessiOn TO the British crown
The Kings Representatives ia Europe, as
yet uniformed Of those high handed mea-
sures, employed themselves in removing the
suspicious which the Earl Of Aberdeen enter
tanned Of the policy of the United States to-
wards the Sandwich Islands.
On the Sd of March, 1913, Mr. HaaIilo
and Richards addressed the Honorable Dam
IL ,bo
add copy, marked No Is.
find no record Of any immediate reply TO
that despatch from the Honorable Secretary
of State, at Washington; but it is presuma-
bic, that, in the usual course Of diplomacy,
proper instructions were sent out to the Hon
orable Edward Everett, who then represented
the United States at the British Court.
The complaints made by British subjects
against the late King and his government,
zeaIously advocated in London, and the fate
Of the possession Of the islands by the forces
under the command OF the Right Honorable
Lord George Paulet, had no effect whatever
in inducing the Earl of Aberdeen 10 recede
from the understanding in regard to the inde-
pendence Of the kingdom. which nc appears
to have come to, both with France and the
United States, before he pledged the British
government to The recognition oil that Inde-
pendence. Hence his Lord>hip's first care,
after the receipt of the news Of the occupa-
ton OF the Islands by British frees, was to
assure the governments Of the U S. and of
France, that notwithstanding these events
Great Britain meant to adhere TO her engage
ment to recognize the independence of the
Islands under their then Ruler In iHusfra-
tion of this important fact. annex, marked
No. 10. copy of Mr.. Fox's despatch of 25th
June, 1913, to the Hon. A. p. Upshnr, then
Secretary Of State, copy marked No. 70 of
Mr.. Upshur's reply of the 5tb July, IS43,