Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen Read Online Free PDF Page A

Kamehameha III. The second succeeded it in 1852. Both of these were doubtless drafted under the supervision and advice of the missionaries, of whom, even at the latter date, the Hawaiian nation was beginning to feel a little justifiable jealousy. So when Prince Lot came to the throne in 1863, under the title of Kamehameha V., his first official act was to refuse to take the oath to maintain the existing constitution. His success as Minister of the Interior under his brother had been remarkable, and his character was said to resemble that of Kamehameha the Great; it is presumable, therefore, that he understood the needs of his people better than those of foreign birth and alien affinities. In the month of May, 1864, the king issued a call for a constitutional convention, subsequently making a tour of the islands to explain his plans to the electors. In July of that year the convention assembled in Honolulu; but its time being given to what Kamehameha considered useless deliberations instead of business, on Aug. 13 he declared the convention dissolved, dismissed the delegates, publicly abrogated the constitution of 1852, and one week after that date he proclaimed a new constitution of his own devising, under which Hawaii was happily ruled for twenty-three years. There will be no disputing the fact that this was a period of increasing prosperity; yet until the late King Kalakaua was constrained by the foreign element to abrogate this constitution (which my brother did much against his own will and better judgment in 1887), all parties had lived together in harmony throughout the kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands, under a constitution devised and promulgated by one man, and he of the race of the Hawaiian chiefs. I hope this fact will be recalled when I come to speak of the history of the reign of my brother Kalakaua, and my own administration of public affairs. Let it be repeated : the promulgation of a new constitution, adapted to the needs of the times and the demands of the people, has been an indisputable prerogative of the Hawaiian monarchy.

CHAPTER IV
MY MARRIED LIFE
    I WAS engaged to Mr. Dominis for about two years; and it was our intention to be married on the second day of September, 1862. But by reason of the fact that the court was in affliction and mourning, our wedding was delayed at the request of the king, Kamehameha IV., to the sixteenth of that month; Rev. Dr. Damon, father of Mr. S. M. Damon, at present the leading banker of the Islands, being the officiating clergyman. It was celebrated at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, in the house which had been erected by my father, Paki, and which, known as the Arlington Hotel, is still one of the most beautiful and central of the mansions in Honolulu. To it came all the high chiefs then living there, also the foreign residents; in fact, all the best society of the city.
    My husband took me at once to the estate known as Washington Place, which had been built by his father, and which is still my private residence. It is a large, square, white house, with pillars and porticos on all sides, really a palatial dwelling, as comfortable in its appointments as it is inviting in its aspect; its front is distant from the street far enough to avoid the dust and noise. Trees shade its walls from the heat of noonday; its ample gardens are filled with the choicest flowers and shrubs; it is, in fact, just what it appears, a choice tropical retreat in the midst of the chief city of the Hawaiian Islands. Opposite its doors is the edifice, recently erected, known as the Central Union Church, which is attended by the missionary families, and indeed most of the foreign residents of American birth or sympathies.

    Captain Dominis, father of my husband, had but little enjoyment from the homestead he had planned. He last sailed from the port in 1846, just as the house was on the point of completion, and the ship he commanded was never heard of more. His widow expected, hoped, and prayed,