The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1898-09-30
RUFUS KING
prosperit,

One of the most valuable publica-
tons issued on the Mainland, Is the
Life and Correspondence of Rufus
King" edited by his grandson Dr.
Charles King, who has a direct de-
scendant in Hawaii now in the person
OF General Charles King, commanding
the American forces here The fifth
volume has just been Issued. In these
volumes are rare sources for the com
position of history, because they con-
tain facts and not historical hctions.
Cotemporaneous history is untrue to
an extent that the public does not APP
preciate, because the motives of the
| actors who make history are so often
selfish ignorant, and studiously con-
cealed. The actors are pledged, by an
unwritten law, to secrecy. After they
are dead, and their immediate rela-
tives also, ii is safe to reveal the ex-
pressed thoughts and opinions of the
men who created events.
These letters of Rufus King have
great value in this respect He, with
Washington, Hamilton, Morris, and
many others Of the fathers, was a
Federalist, and mistrusted pure demo-
cracy. He, with the Federalists, was
opposed to the war with great Brit
ain, declared in 1912, and bitterly criti-
cized President Madison and the demo-
Gratis (then called Republicans) for
making 1t.
The noticeable feature in his con-
duct as Senator was that he supported
the war party, by voting supplies in
Congress. in spite OF his opposition
to the war. That great statesman
Gouverneur Morris, who had spent ms
private fortune in the cause OF the
Revolutionary war, urged Mr.. King
to vote against the granting of sup
plies, but he declined to do so, on the
ground that the country was invaded.
He believed that Madison's admins
tration was incapable Of carrying on
war, and that the capture and burning
OF Washington by the British was due
to the Administrations incompetence.
Mr.. King writes in one of his letters
to Morris that our rulers can neither
make war nor conclude peace" But he
steadily voted for necessary supplies,
although the Federalsts urged him TO
let the administration stew in its
own juice"
II is indeed, a strange commentary
on the progress of political thought
that Morris, who sacrificed so much
for the freedom of man, and his right
to self-government, in the Revolution
AIRY war, was so suspicious OF demo-
cracy that he could put these words in
a letter to Mr.. King:
Democracy honored and loved
Louis XVI; it loved and honored
Robespierre X Company who murder
ed him; 1t loved and honored Bona
parte, who overturned them: and,
should 1t happen that Louis XVIII. ex-
pels Bonaparte and reigns in his place,
he will succeed to the good will, favor
and Partially of our democracy. And
there Is no inconsistency in all this
because 1t is not attachment to France
but hatred Of England, which occa-
sions these apparent changes"
The acute sufferings OF the New
England merchants, owing 10 the war
with England, prompted. as We all
know, that celebrated movement tow
ards secession, which found expression
in the Hartford Convention.
Mr.. King advised his distressed
friends in New England to bear their
ills with patience. He admitted that
they were cruelty wronged, but with
far-seeing wisdom, he advised them
to fight their political battles from
within, and not from without.
Mr.. King, after Hamiltons death
was the most prominent member OF
his own party. But he could not Sc,
cure the vote OF his own State, New
York, for the presidency. Great as h,
was, he was not in touch with his Owl
people in spite of the valuable service,
rendered to them.
| Nearly hundred years hav
passed. While the Ship OF State sail
down the seas, the monuments o
scores OF men sink below the horizon
But the shaft that commentaries thi
great name is still far above the lin
Of vision.