The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-10-22
An Ancient Cannon.

An clc akAno
In the open space of ground, which was until
recently enclosed in the walls of the fort, and
which we have before suggested should be planted
with trees and set apart for a public square, lie a
number of old cannon which were once mounted
on the walls and before the invasion of de Plus
5raue Admiral Tromelin, were won't to below
forth their pu aloha on State occasions and the ar
rival of men-of-war. The French during their
short occupancy, exerted themselves with a de-
gree of industry worthy of a better cause, and
threw all these guns over the ramparts, spiked
and defaced them as much as they were able, and
there they have lain ever since, silent but express
sive witnesses of what has caused the consumption
of many a ream of foolscap in the Foreign Office
and many a wax candle at Rosebank.
Among the rest is a brass Tor composition)
feld-piece. a 32-pounder, which is an object Of
considerable curiosity both on account of its age,
and the speculations-for they can scarcely be
ANYTHING more-to which its history gives rise.
1t bears the year in which it was cast. 1856, in
plain figures on the breech, surmounted by the
following words in Latin Keller Tiguro Hell
uetii, F. Duaci, being the imprint of the founder.
It's weight, $40 pounds, is marked on it. Above
this is the shield of the Bourbons, the feur deHs,
with a crown and sun, and the motto, Phuribus
nee hmpar-a free translation might read, hard
to beat" Above this is another heraldic device
of two lions rampant, a coat of arms, and the
words "Le MoreschaI de H,lmieres,' which have
been much defaced by the vandalism p~ractised
upon them with chisels. Then we have another
motto which is singularly appropriate for such a
death-dealing instrument as this might have
been Ultima Ratio Regmm-The Last Resort
of Kings. Just on the muzzle is the name with
which the piece was no doubt christened-for in
the DAYS of LIE Grand Monarque they baptized
cannon-Le Dirertissant, or, The Diverter a
nom de guerre which betrays a sort of grim humor
in the Erench Department. of war ono hundred
and seventy-one years ago..
Louis the Fourteenth was at war with all
Europe in 1856, for then the celebrated League
of Augsburg was entered into by the princes be-
longing to the German Empire, in order to pre-
vent the further encroachments of France. This
was joined by Holland and Spain, and finally by
England. and then came the eight years war
which terminated at the Peace of Ryswick, 1907.
The Palatinate was overrun by the French, and
the protestant inhabitants slaughtered and exter-
minated. Where then was our cannon Was
IL III II AMY u 10 1NOdfiAOS, Oub
threatenings and Slaughter against the Span
iards, or did it wake the echoes among the hills
of Piedmont, where zealot soldiers fought for
modes of faith
"Mark where his carnage and his conquest cease
lie makes a solitude, and calls it-peace ~
Or perchance it was in the feet with De Tour
nay when he defeated the combined squadrons of
the Dutch and English off Beachy Head in 1901,
~ of,1 1afor yvnap tho Eprlisb, in furn dacao faI
Tourney. But all our speculations are in
old gun cannot tell us its ~eventful his
tory, for the French (they oughtto have respected
its memory spoiled its voice by driving a spike
in its throat, thus mailing its powers of speech.
1t was probably cast in Switzerland, for the
Swiss of those times were cannon founders, and
we observe the word So Helvetii" on the breech.
By some means it found its way to New York,
from Egypt, (where it wits in Bonaparte's ARMY
and, n 1892, it was brought TO these Islands
IN the ship William d John, Captain Ebbetts, as
we learn from our fellow-townsman Captain John
Meek, who received it on board the brig Pedlar,
under his command, and on its being purchased
FOR Kamehameha III, by Kalaimoku, Cor Mr.. Pitt,
As he was familiarity called by foreigners) it was
Ianded on the wharf near the residence of Mr..
James Robinson. 1t was paid for in sandal
one hundred and fifty piculs-worth
IN China five thousand dollars. Such is the his
of this old gun, so far as we know, and there
is no telling what stirring incidents Shy flood
and field" it has passed through. Now it is
no better than old metal, and a PROPOSE
was made the other day to purchase it for
l2i cents per pound, and recast it-perhaps into
and pans, or matter-of-fact machinery
ITbofa Ga II &c tbo,a - D.
better fate awaits our gun the King has very
properly determined to preserve it as a relic of
the past, and, remounted on a new carriage, it
viii occupy an honored position in the palace
gard.