The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1876-12-02

The FOLLOWING is the account which Mr.. de
Varighy gives in his book of his call to the
Ministry.
1.-THE Prince Kamehameha, now become kameha-
meha v, was a partisan of progress, liberal by
conviction. absolute by the traditions of his family
and his own character. Up to that day he had
appeared to have n preference for the American
party. which placed great hopes upon his advance
ment. A colleague of Mr.. Wyllie for many years,
che had often maintained and uttered opinions at
variance with those of the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, whose profuse verbosity and obstinacy he
bore as they said, with impotence. Having become
King, however, he did not hesitate to make an ap-
peal to Mr.. WIS experience and patriotism, and
Immediately took him as a cOn6dant of his prospects
Of reform and plans for the future. He communi-
Gated to him his doubts, and discussed with him
alone, at first, the choice Of Ministers which he pro-
posed to make. and the plans which ne proposed to
follow.
without, an: excited opinion eanvassed with
inauietude what the new King Was going to do. The
American party, which was most numerous, strong
est, and most ambitious, counted strongly upon
their intimacies with the Prince. Some Of the
boldest of them predicted loudly the fall of Mr..
wyllie, and all of them believed that the future
Ministry would be recruited exclusively from among
their Candidates. NumeEOuS were circulated
from hand to hand, which reflected their expecta-
tions and their wishes.
"The King consecrated the first four days of
November to taking counsel with Mr.. wyllie, and
deciding in the silence of his own closet, the choice
of his Ministers. The 9th of November Mr.. Wyllie
came to my office, and announced to me that he had
the Kings commands to offer to me the situation of
Minister of Finance. The proposition did not take
me entirely by surprise. but, taking into considcra-
tion the general opinion which designated the chiefs
Of the American party as those who would be
called to power. l was astonished at an offer which
seemed to indicate on the part Of the King, tenden-
cies so opposite to those which were imputed to him.
"No one was ignorant that / was. if not an
adversary of the American party, at least, a firm
and declared advocate of the independence of the
kingdom. As a Frenchman I had no political SYM
pathies with the Americans nor with the Protestant
Missionaries. 1 replied to Mr.. Wyllie by asking of
him a list of the new Ministry, which he cOm%uni-
quested tWenty-four hours to reflect, promising him
q reply by the next morning; to which he only re-
[ should consider myself bound in honor not to
divulge the combination which had been submitted
to me.
the 9th in weighing deliberately the offer which had
been made to me. and in taking an exact account of
the state of things and parties. My most serious
thought was, not to allow myself to be drawn by
personal ambition into accepting the Office, without
the conviction that I could bring to the King serious
assistance, and render the country services which
would justify his confidence.
"Once before in 1858, / had, after mature redec-
ton, refused a similar offer from Kamehameha ".
This refusal treasured my conscience somewhat; it
didn't appear to me that / was yielding in 1868,
to personal consideration which had been able to
resist FIVE years before. L had acquired more ex-
perience, more knowledge Of the country, I had
iabored q good deal, learned something, and digested
nv ideas. Confidence had COM with the trial of
nv strength and the responsibility Of action. For
many years, / had employed the considerable leisure
which my duties in the consulate left me, in study
ing the country, especially from a commercial and
political stand point; 1 had in my mind q we'll
arranged plan of reforms which 1 shall set forth by
and bye. The task which appeared to me unpleas-
ant and impossible in 1858, Immediately after the
conclusion Of a treaty which provoked in the Privy
Council and in the public mind, q violent hostility
against France, appeared to me easy, or at least
possible in 1863. The principal obstacle that I saw
was the anger which the entry of q Frenchman into
the Council would raise. hoped to get the better
Of that, and circumstances favoring me succeeded"