examining and reporting upon their condition and prospects. It is advisable, however, that your absence from your post should not be prolonged beyond the period absolutely necessary for that purpose.

[From Mr. Brown's dispatch, No. 5, of October 26, 1843.]

SIR: I arrived here on the 16th instant, and found here Commodore Dallas, who arrived in the Erie a few days before me, also the Cyane, Commander Stribling. Admiral Thomas, commanding the English naval forces in the Pacific, was also here, having, as you must have learned ere receiving this, restored the flag to the King of Hawaii.

Commodore Dallas having offered me the Cyane to carry me to Lahaina, Maui, the residence of the King, for the purpose of presenting my credentials to the Government, I visited her yesterday and was received with a salute of thirteen guns. This morning, on arriving on board, was informed that the admiral intended to dispatch the corvette Hazard for Mazatlan on Saturday, and, as we are under way, have no time to write as I could wish, being obliged to send this back by the pilot. Everything, however, appears to be going on as we could wish. The admiral appears to have done everything that could have been required to satisfy the King. He appears to be a very fine man, and the conduct of Lord George Paulet is a sore subject to him. The most charitable construction I have heard put upon the conduct of Lord George is that he was partially deranged.

Mr. Hooper, United States commercial agent, informs me that he has sent to the State Department a full account of all that has happened previous to my arrival. The meagerness of this dispatch I hope therefore will be excused. The English corvette Champion arrived yesterday from Valparaiso, which is the occasion of the Hazard being ordered to Mazatlan so soon, thereby giving me so little time to write. On my return from Mani will write you fully of all my proceedings. It affords me much pleasure to know that the President has availed himself of your talents and services in the State Department.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your very obedient servant,

Hon. ABEL P. UPSHUR,

GEO. BROWN.

Secretary of State, Washington.

[From Mr. Brown's dispatch No. 6, of November 4, 1843.]

HONOLULU, November 4, 1843.

SIR: I last had the honor of addressing you on the 26th ultimo from on board the U. S. S. Cyane, on my passage from this place to Lahaina. Not being informed until after the ship was under way that the English admiral was about dispatching a vessel for Mexico, I had only time to

inform you of my arrival here, and of my being on my way to present my credentials to the premier who was residing at Lahaina, Mani.

I arrived here from Tahiti in the brig Catharine on the 16th ultimo, after a passage of 28 days, and found, much to my gratification, that the English admiral, Thomas, had restored the flag to the King, and placed the islandsagain under its native government. It will be unnecessary for me to give you a history of the doings of Lord George Paulet previous to the arrival of the admiral, or of the proceedings of the latter, as I am informed by Mr. Hooper, our acting commercial agent here, that he has written you fully on the subject, giving you every information requisite. I will therefore only say that, from what I have so far learned, both the Government here and the American residents are perfectly satisfied with what the admiral has done. There are some questions and cases arising out of the usurpation of Lord George which are not yet settled, but will have to wait for the arrival of the British commissioner or for the action of the British Government, but there appears no doubt that everything will be amicably and properly arranged.

Learning on my arrival that the King was absent from his usual residence at Lahaina, on a visit to the island of Hawaii, and that he would not return until the 27th, I remained here until the 26th, when I took passage on board the Cyane, which ship had been placed at my disposal by Commodore Dallas, for Lahaina. I arrived there on the 30th at 8 a. m., accompanied by Dr. Judd, the Government interpreter, and wrote a note to the premier, informing her (him?) of my arrival, and re- questing to know at what time it would be convenient for her to receive me. I received an answer that she would be ready at half past twelve.

On leaving the ship I was saluted with thirteen guns, and on landing was received by a number of the high chiefs and conducted to the house of Kekaumohi, the premier, whom, on introduction by Mr. Judd, I addressed as follows;

I have the honor to present to your excellency my credentials as commissioner from the Government of the United States to the King of Hawaii, and I beg to assure your excellency that it will afford me much pleasure in carrying out the instructions of my Government to cultivate the friendship of the Hawaiian Government and to deserve it by all the good offices in my power.

After the credentials were read the premier replied in the following terms as interpreted to me:

I am happy to see you here as the representative of a nation to whom we owe so much and whose friendship and good will we so highly value and that we shall always endeavor to retain. Your credentials are highly satisfactory.

I was then asked whether I wished to be introduced to the King, and on replying in the affimative, the premier handed me a letter of introduction, observing that on account of lameness she could not accompany me. I was attended, as heretofore, by a number of the high officers of Government, and on arriving at the house of the King found him waiting for me dressed in regimentals and attended by the gov ernor of Mani and his aides. On entering he came forward and took me by the hand, requesting me to be seated. I handed him the premier's letter, which he read. I then rose and addressed him as follows, which was translated by Mr. Judd :

SIR: Having been appointed by the President of the United States of America a commissioner to reside in the dominions of Your Majesty, I have taken the earliest opportunity to pay you my respects. While my Government expects no exclusive privileges, and has no desire or intention to prevent any or all other commercial na

tions from an equal participation in the benefits to be derived from an intercourse with your islands, and seeks no control or undue influence whatever, it has a right to expect that no partial or exclusive favors be granted to other nations. The wish of my Government is that the independence of the Hawaiian territory may be scrupulously maintained, and that its Government should be impartial towards foreigners of every nation.

Allow me to congratulate Your Majesty upon the interest taken in you and your people by one of the most powerful and free nations of the earth, as evinced by the unanimous vote of its representatives that a diplomatic intercourse should be opened with you. It must be a matter of great satisfaction to Your Majesty to think that while not a quarter of a century has elapsed since your country was in a state of heathenism, such progress has been made in civilization and Christianity that you are about to be admitted into the communion of nations who for ages have had advantages which have made them powerful and happy.

Next to the gratitude due from you to the Almighty Disposer of Events, you owe under Him, to those who, for the welfare of your people, left their friends and country to teach them (you) the blessings of Christianity and the arts of civilization, a debt which can only be paid by the knowledge that their efforts have not been in vain.

I assure Your Majesty that it will afford me great pleasure to be the means of uniting more closely the relations heretofore of the most friendly kind between the Government of the Hawaiian Archipelago and my own, and to further by everything in my power a reciprocal feeling of friendship and good will.

To which His Majesty replied as follows, which was also translated by Mr. Judd:

I am much gratified at being informed by the premier of your arrival, and am happy to receive you as a representative of the United States of America whose Government is much respected by me, and whose people have made great efforts to promote civilization and Christianity among my people.

I thank you for the kind sentiments you have expressed, and trust there will never be any alienation between my Government and yours. You may assure your Government that I shall always consider the citizens of the United States as entitled to equal privileges with those of the most favored nations.

Declaration of Great Britain and France relative to the independence of the Sandwich Islands, London, November 28, 1843.

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of the French, taking into consideration the existence in the Sandwich Islands of a government capable of providing for the regularity of its relations with foreign nations, have thought it right to engage, reciprocally, to consider the Sandwich Islands as an independent state, and never to take possession, either directly or under the title of protectorate, or under any other form, of any part of the territory of which they are composed. The undersigned, Her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs and the ambassador extraordinary of His Majesty the King of the French, at the court of London, being furnished with the necessary powers, hereby declare in consequence that their said majesties take reciprocally that engagement.

In witness whereof the undersigned have signed the present declaration, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.

Done in duplicate at London, the 28th day of November, in the year of our Lord, 1843.

[L. S.]

[L. S.

ABERDEEN.
ST. AULAIRE.

Convention of commerce, navigation, etc., between Great Britain and the
Sandwich Islands. Signed at Lahaina, February 12, 1844.†

The differences which existed between the governments of Great Britain and of the Sandwich Islands having been happily settled, the following articles of agreement have been mutually entered into between the King of the Sandwich Islands, on the one part, and William Miller, esq., Her Britannic Majesty's consul-general for the Sandwich and other islands in the Pacific, in the name and on the behalf of Her Britannic Majesty, on the other part, for the preservation of harmony, and the prevention of future misunderstanding between the two parties. ARTICLE I. There shall be perpetual peace and amity between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the King of the Sandwich Islands, their heirs and successors.

II. The subjects of Her Britannic Majesty shall be protected in an efficient manner in their persons and properties by the King of the Sandwich Islands, who shall cause them to enjoy impartially, in all cases in which their interests are concerned, the same rights and privileges as natives, or as are enjoyed by any other foreigners.

III. No British subject accused of any crime whatever shall be judged otherwise than by a jury composed of froeign residents, proposed by the British consul and accepted by the Government of the Sandwich Islands.

IV. The protection of the King of the Sandwich Islands shall be extended to all British vessels, their officers, and crews. In case of shipwreck, the chiefs and inhabitants of the different parts of the Sandwich Islands shall succour them and secure them from plunder.

The salvage dues shall be regulated, in case of difficulties, by arbitrators freely chosen by both parties.

V. The desertion of seamen embarked on board of British vessels shall be severely repressed by the local authorities, who shall employ all the means at their disposal to arrest deserters; and all reasonable expenses of capture shall be defrayed by the captains or owners of the said vessels.

VI. British merchandise, or goods recognized as coming from the British dominions, shall not be prohibited, nor shall they be subject to an import duty higher than 5 per cent ad valorem.

VII. No tonnage, import, or other duties shall be levied on British vessels or goods, or on goods imported in British vessels, beyond what are levied on the vessels or goods of the most favored nation.

VIII. The subjects of the King of the Sandwich Islands shall, in their commercial and other relations with Great Britain, be treated on the footing of the most favored nation.

Done at Lahaina, the 12th day of February, 1844.

[L. S.] WM. MILLER.

*

Secretary to Consul-General Miller.

Signed in English, and in the language of the Sandwich Islands.

+ Annulled by Convention of March 26, 1846, Vol. XXXIV, p. 22

:

ADDITIONAL ARTICLE.

His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands being anxious to suppress intemperance within his dominions, and with that view having taken measures to obtain the consent of the French Government to the abrogation of Article VI of the treaty of July 17, 1839,* which admits the introduction of spirits and wine, on payment of a duty of 5 per cent; it is hereby further agreed, that if His Majesty the King of the French should consent to the abrogation or to any alteration of the said article, Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain will likewise consent so to alter Article VI of the foregoing treaty as that it may have precisely the same effect in what relates to intoxicating liquors; and that this additional article shall be referred to the British Government for approval, to be afterward appended to the convention at present agreed to.

WM. MILLER.
KAMEHAMEHA III.
KEKAULUOHI.

CASE OF JOHN WILEY.

[Before the governor of Oahu, assisted by Hon. G. P. Judd and J. Ricord, esq., H. H. M. attorney-general, at the Fort, September 4, 1844.]

John Wiley, plaintiff on appeal, vs. The Hawaiian Government.

This was an appeal from the judgment of the inferior judges of Honolulu. The present plaintiff in error had been charged before the court below with the commission of a rape upon the body of an Hawaiian girl, a subject of His Majesty; and proof having been adduced to the satisfaction of the inferior judges, they condemned the present plaintiff in error to pay the statute fine of $50. This fine the plaintiff having paid, he appealed to the governor, and demanded a jury under the Hawaiian statute law, complying therewith by depositing the sum of $25, required by the statute to entitle him to a jury. The governor having given the usual notice of drawing the jury of appeal, he proceeded on the day appointed to draw a mixed jury of half Hawaiian subjects and half, foreigners, required in such cases by the printed stat ute law. In the interval William Hooper, esq., claimed for his Government the right of selecting and proposing to the governor an entire panel of foreign jurors, to try the accused for the crime charged against him, which the governor declined on the ground that he was governed in his administration of justice by the printed law of the land and that there was no treaty extant between His Hawaiian Majesty and the United States of America which authorized him to deviate from the statute.

On the day of trial above named the plaintiff Wiley appeared by his attorney, Richard Ford, and in person, and expressed his readiness to proceed to trial, but before the jury were actually impaneled William Hooper, esq., United States commercial agent, appeared before

*VI. Les marchandises françaises, où reconnues être de provenance française notamment les vins et les eaux-de-vie, ne pourront être prohibées ni payer un droit d'entrée plus élevé que 5 pour cent ad valorem.