The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1897-04-16
ON THE ISLANDS
Mr.. 7. 4. Davies Lectures in
Southport.
FROM KINGDOM To REPUBLIC
His Lecture RReviewed
by w. N. A.
Historical Sketch of Political Life
and Customs of
Hawaii.
FROM KINGDOM TO REPUBLIC

"a lecture delivered by Theo. H. Da
vies, ESQ.,, F. R. G. s., before the mem
beers of the Y. NJ. C. A, Southport
December is, 1896"
Mr.. Davies, in this lecture, gives to
his hearers a brief historical sketch OF
the people of these Islands. He seri-
ously contradicts the statement made
by the Kanaka Humes, and Gibbons
and Motleys, that Captain Cook, after
being slain, was converted into sand
witches, and from this circumstance,
the Islands were named Sandwich. Mr.
Davies emphatically denies it, and at
tributes the name to Lord Sandwich
who was, it is said, very wicked man
and quite beyond the heather in his
denominations.
On page of this lecture, Mr.. Da-
vies furnishes a specimen of historical
writing, which Macauley, even in the
earliest of the morning hours, could
not equal in graphic eloquence. The
missionaries had landed in 1926.
1.-The new King welcomed the mis-
sionaries, and the question arose:
Were the new teachers to be allowed
TO remain and publish their doctrines?'
g grave difficulty arose at the outset,
and the King explained to his domes-
tic circle much as follows. He stood
in his audience chamber, with his four
or five wives standing near him, prob
ably like Henry VIII at Nine. LUIS
sands. The King said: My dears,
shall these men stay? Because they
say that if they remain ] must only
have one wife, and four of you must
go The senior Queen Kamamalu i'm
mediately responded: Let them stay.
and these other wives can CO. which
the four accordingly did"
By the Hawaiian laws, of those days.
each one of those women was a lawful
wife. and perhaps Queen. No doubt
Kamamalu followed the national i'm
pulse of woman in kicking her COM
petitOTs out of the house, and made
the most of her chances, but what was
the effect of suddenly striking down
the marriage relation? AS the case is
presented by Mr.. Davies. the King
seemed to regard it as a very good
lark" and left it to the strongest of
the women to decide. Possibly Mr.. Da-
vies. out of his abundant means. will
follow his suggestion regarding Henry
VIII and his wives. and contribute a
group Of noble wax figures to the Bish-
op Museum, representing the scene so
graphically described. The artistic
Professor Brigham would undoubted-
" give Il a most conspicuous place. and
himself deliver annually a series of
painfully eloquent lectures on the sub
ject.
Mr. Davies disposes of the mission
aries briefly. He says: "As I look over
the names, I can trace nearly all the
phases of human character. and there
was a great variation in the standard
Of principle Some exhibited perhaps
the restraining influences of religion.
and led one to wonder what characters
they would have developed without
such restraint"
This is an intimation that some of
the missionaries would have played the
"Old Harry if not restrained by grace.
This comment does not prevent our
belief that Mr.. Davies himself has. on
several occasions, played the "OId
Harry" even under the restraining in
fluences of grace. But Mr. Davies. from
the serene heights of his own higher
and beatic life. does concede that the
missionaries were not bad lot. ga
primitive village Christianity. stern
and perhaps narrow in its rigid lines y
Of course, criticism from one who from
his cradle to the present time, within
gun-shot of his grave has made his
own life one of silent prayer and ali
normal devotion to unworldly affairs.
must be taken with due humility.
Thrice happy are we that there is n
standard" before us in Mr.. Davies. an
insular cloud by day, and volcanic pill
lar of fire by night, to guide the weary
nation on its pathway
Mr.. Davies declares that some of the
missionaries, in the time of Lunalilo
began to count up how much the Unit
ed States Christians had spent in send
ing the Gospel to the Hawaiians and
then to speak as though this gave them
sort of claim to politically possess
the Islands" Mr.. Davies, never having
had a mercantile experience, becomes
rather mixed up in his statement of the
running account between the Lord. the
missionaries and the United States. and
he modestly fails to state how much he
himself pulled out of the transaction
and peremptorily declines to state thai
his own fortune was carved out of the
attempt of the United States to get
closer political union with these Isl
ands. He discountenaced the business
but promptly drew his dividends from
It. 1t is a case of heterogeneous NOR
ais and confused ideas of obligations.
Mr.. Davies describes King Kala
kaua's visit to the Mikado of Japan
@'The Mikado asked the King why 4
was that the Western nations recog
nized the Hawaiian courts of law ant
refused to recognize those of Japan
The King replied: Because Hawaii il
a Christian nation, and accepts tn,
Bible as the foundations of her laws
1t may be stated positively that NJ
such conversation took place. TIL,
King was asked this question by Jap
anese statesman, but he did not carr
TO admit that his own race, the Poly
nesian, were not capable of administer