The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1862-11-13
PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
(CorysPondence q the P. C. AdvertiserJ
Marley Hopkins ON Hawaiian Civilization.

enough for all his creatures, and that he adapted i
TO the highest Development Of every individual. He
did not create a necessity that one nation must exter-
inmate another in order to live. nor that man must
trampIe down his fellows 10 make a highway for bis
own elevation. Human depravity only could DO this
We have just laid down a book, written by Mr..
Manly Hopkins, Of London. treating Of the Sandwich
Islands. With the authors compilations from authen-
tic histories, Of their early discovery, traditions. idol
strous customs and manners, we have no great fault
TO find.
We viii preface our criticisms, however, by assur-
ing you, Mr.. Editor, that IRE are neither missionary
nor cIergyman-cau boast Of some good English
blood in our veins-have been intimately acquainted
with the members Of the American mission, the old
regime Of chiefs, the late King Kamehameha ILL.,
and claim some knowledge Of the vernacular Ian
guage, having been a resident in Honolulu more than
thirty years.
It is strange what spiier-like propensities some
authors have q power to extract poison from the
choices flowers, leaving the honey untouched.
IL may be some excuse for Mr.. Hopkins. that he
never visited the country Of which he writes. He
holds an office under its government, nevertheless; is
in correspondence with some Of the Kings minister's
and had a brother by his side, who had spent several
years in the Hawaiian Kingdom, to whom he might
have referred for information.
From the authors statements and illusions through
the volume, concerning the American missionaries,
the reader would infer that the whole body assumed
the reins Of government at q very early period. We
must beg Mr.. Hopkins pardon, the case was quite the
contrary, and if he will allow US, We will go back
and take q brief review Of those primitive times.
The gospel was not whirled into the kingdom upon
q Royal railroad; there was no gilded state carriage
awaiting the first missionary at the landing. nor nc
connIi.baI 1apfIenonIv G,vara;r, - uaI.on,a ,bau,
in their own tongue; they had permission merely to
land and remain a year, on promise Of good be-
hGrior.
Years passed of endurance and privation, such as
are experienced among untaught, uncIad, barbarous
nations, while the naughty Queen Regent, Kaahu-
manu- condescended to extend her little finger to these
humble and patient followers Of Jesus.
Kind attentions TO her 81 High mightiness' during
a long and severe illness was the first Softening in
fHeAes. a while after landing, these pioneers of the
cross were presented at the Hawaiian Court. The
Palace was q straw hut, the entrance or opening
three feet high. There stood his heather Majesty,
Liholiho. tall and naughty as the "Autocrat Of all
the Russias;' his gladiatorlike form encircled with
q narrow slip of green silk, his only covering. Five
Queens. or wives, two Of them sisters, of Amazonian
proportions, stood at his right hand.
The King was heard to ask his favorite one,
whether she thought it wise to allow these teachers
Of a new religion to remain, as he had learned, one
of their tenets was, one rife TO one man ?"
A little hope sprang up when the King sent the
ladies of the mission a piece of broadcloth, and some
shifting with u modest order for q dress suit and a
dozen rufled shirts.
The work was done, though il might be called
4" Tailoring under difficulties" and Royalty was
pleased. Fortunately the King had not yet been to
the Court OF st. James. Kapiolani, the Christian
heroine. whose praise is in all the churches, and Of
whom, the author makes honorable mention, when
first discovered by a missionary. was sitting on the
rocks, by the seaside, oiling and summing herself in
q state of nudity.
OF civilization in the higher cl1sses, when christian
ity was introduced by the American churches.
Progress was slow, very slow the nation was with
out books or n written language; and il was not till
the high chiefs gave their attention to the s'palapala'
and united with the church, that the common people
turned in any considerable number to the subject of
religion.
The Hawaiians are im~itat:re. Mr. Hopkins is
right in this. Their rulers turned to the poHO, and
they followed the example; when their leaders devil
ated from the right way, too many alas did the
They were fortunate in being kept long enough
in the right direction to form a habit, in some Of
them at least.
Independence and stability are not marked traits
in the Hawaiian character. This vaccilIation is per-
~ ooeC
arr influence.
Another bone which we have to pick with the au-
thor. IS in regard TO idIc making. The reader would
infer that the missionaries generally took up state
matters. assumed authority and rode or drove rough
shod over the necks Of the native rulers.
Allow US to state that only four of the whole band
have held Office, or had any voice, in making the
government what it is. and these men were, on enter
ing government service, separated entirely from the
mission, and were rs independent Of it's action rs the
merchant in town. Some OF them left without the
formal approval of the mission, preferring to take
the responsibility on their own shoulders, and not
n precedent, of a religious body setting
aside one Of their number for state serrice. We must
bear in mind, that before the infant nation had fairly
emerged from the lettering weakness Of a degraded
heathenism, commerce increased, and a rush of for
elgners, more greedy Of gain than anxious to promote
virtue. rolled in like an avalanche.
Luxurious habits among the rulers, formed in part
by the visit OF LiholihO and suite TO foreign cities and
courts, had involved them in heavy debts. These
debts on interest kept them at the feet of their credi-
A visit from a ship Of war, was n signal for q
general disturbance. There was no effective police.
no station house, no prison, the laws were verbal, and
by n town crier. The King and Governor
were appealed to, in every petty affair and dispute,
performing IN person, the office Of constable and
sheriff. Foreign Representatives, both American and
showed little Difference for the presence Of
liz was customary 20 rush unanuouncei
and rnbidden before the magnates Of the land. To
the King on his shoulder with the unidentified
Of = Halo. king.i' how do You do, nv
fellow" was an every day occurrence. There
was no handsomely furnished reception hall, where
foreign ladies couh be presented and feel
by IT, .
When distinguished strangers arrived, the mission
Try ladies made social tea parties, TO which the chiefs
invited, where they were introduced and treated
the respect and courtesy due their rank Thirty