manner in which he established his power after asserting it. He had shed blood freely; yet to the conquered he showed more leniency than might have been expected— more, probably, than natives were accustomed to receive from conquerors. He was not neglectful of extending his influence by donations, through which powerful chiefs became bound to his interest, or by marriage alliances, as a means of settlement and consolidation of the kingdom. In the latter respect, polygamy is singularly convenient; and a king whose marriage partnership are not limited, may, by judicious courtships, add many appanages to his crown. Kaméhaméha had taken prisoner, when he conquered Maui, Keopuolani, granddaughter of Kalaniopuu, a lineal descendant of the ancient kings of Maui and Hawaii; from being his captive, he now made her his wife, an arrangement attended with most satisfactory results. Kalaimoku, who had fought against him, and also become his prisoner, had his life spared; and such clemency was shown to him as converted him into an attached friend and counsellor. The descendants of the late king Kahikili were liberally provided for. Other chiefs and the people received his beneficence, and experienced such humanity that their transfer to a new master was found by them a change not to be regretted. To many generous impulses Kaméhaméha added the kingly faculty of apprehending character, and of enkindling those about him with his own natural resolution and energy. With regard to Kauai, the most westerly of the larger islands, he contented himself, for the present, with the nominal submission of its king; and thus, finding himself ruler of the entire group, he entered, at about the age of fiveand-forty, upon a more peaceful phase of life, dwelling for some years in Hawaii, and afterwards living much

THE DAWN OF PEACE.

161

at Lahaina, a beautifully-situated town in the island of Maui, and now second in importance only to Honolulu.

His time, though spent in peace, was not passed in idleness. He was diligently occupied in establishing his power on a permanent basis. The feudal tenure of lands had been previously an acknowledged principle throughout the islands; but Kaméhaméha, by virtue of his recent conquests, was able to reduce the theory to very practical conclusions; and he claimed the entire and absolute ownership of the land, which he divided among his followers on the tenure of their paying him a portion of its revenue and rendering him military service. We have hitherto considered the feudal system of the Normans to be a very distinctive one; yet here we see, almost at our antipodes, its perfect parallel. It illustrates the fact that corresponding ideas are sometimes independently born in different nations, as in different minds, among which there has been no intercourse and can have been no collusion; and ethnologists should learn a lesson of caution from it, not to declare, from identity of institutions, the identity or even the cognation of races.

Kaméhaméba added to the principle of his being himself the source of all property and office, the rule of hereditary succession: but he did not make this rule invariable, as he retained to himself the power of confirming or dispensing with inheritances. He appointed on each island a governor, to whom it appertained to nominate chiefs of districts, heads of villages, tax-collectors, and all petty officers. The tax-gatherers, not being able to write, kept their accounts by a method not unlike the ancient tallies in the English Exchequer. Upon a cord several hundred fathoms long, the several districts were indicated by knots, loops, and tufts of various size,

M

shape, and colour; and by other ingenious devices the taxable articles and rate of impost were marked upon it.

Kaméhaméha instituted a council of chiefs, with whom he advised on all important measures. At the head of this was Keeaumoku, his father-in-law, a chief mighty in strength, and warmly attached to his master, but unscrupulous in shedding blood when expediency required it, as has been seen in his assassination of Keona. He had, in addition to his council, a number of 'wise men' (a sort of Saxon Wittenagemote), who assisted him in organizing laws and regulating the minor affairs of his kingdom. He enacted laws against murder, theft, and oppression; peace was everywhere firmly established; and, compared with former times, his people had entered upon a golden age, sitting every one under his vine and under his fig-tree, with a general security for old and young, for the innocent and the helpless. It is this part of Kaméhaméha's reign which entitles him to the name which has been, perhaps fancifully, given him, of the Hawaiian Alfred.

CHAPTER XI.

HISTORICAL SKETCH-KAMÉHAMÉHA THE KING HIS DEATH -'I COME TO BURY CESAR, AND TO PRAISE HIM.'

showed his political sagacity in his

relations with the chiefs. To those whom he could trust, important posts were given. Young was made Governor of Hawaii, and held that position for many years. Those chiefs who were dangerous from their own ambition, or likely from weakness to be involved in the intrigues of others, he retained about his person, taking them in his train wherever he went, keeping them away from their own domains and under constant observation. Thus Davis remained always near the King, but enjoyed large possessions and was freed from taxation. The two Englishmen assimilated themselves to the native manners, and won popularity by their usefulness and humanity.

The warrior monarch, now in peace, was not one whit less a king. Henry the Eighth and 'King' Elizabeth could not have entertained higher views of royal dignity and prerogative than did Kaméhaméha. He assumed great state, and the people had less access to his person. All the ancient king-customs were rigidly enforced, and were added to. Wherever he went, all people uncovered their heads and shoulders; and they were obliged to do this when they approached any residence where the

King was, and even upon hearing his attendants' cry as they carried his food to or from him. A greater nudation was required whenever his servants touched any article; and no one might cross the shadow of the King or of his house. His drinking-water was brought from certain springs many miles distant; and his chiefs were obliged to observe ceremonies, obsequious in a greater or less degree according to their rank. Nevertheless, he was too wise to let material advantages suffer by his seclusion or routine; and to promote agriculture and the fisheries, he set the example of diligence by occasionally working at each pursuit with his own hands. With foreigners also, he kept some barbaric state; but in his desire to examine the finer specimens of shipbuilding, and the manufactures and arts of other countries, he would often put aside all forms in visiting vessels which came, and, after one ceremonious visit, would row himself off to them in a canoe, and go on board without any restraints of etiquette. He made great use of his remarkable powers of observation, and soon began to found some of his own institutions upon foreign models, according to the insight he could obtain of them. He collected a small fleet of foreign-built vessels; erected forts; mounted batteries of heavy guns; drilled his soldiers, and gave them a uniform. He engaged in his service a number of European and American artisans and seamen; and he had the wisdom, in his treatment of these his foreign subjects, to liberate them from the troublesome etiquette which the highest of the

* An etiquette tedious and inconvenient, if constantly observed. It recalls the story, lately current, of a reigning German prince who, rigorously insisting that no person of his household should approach him except in white gloves and a white cravat, was startled by the literal obedience of one of his attendants, the gentleman entering the Duke's presence dressed in white gloves and white cravat only.