The king chose
his advisers wisely, and made a concession to native feeling by
appointing a native named Nahaolelua to a seat in the cabinet as
Minister of Finance, but his first arrangement was upset, and a good
deal of confusion has subsequently prevailed.
The Queen, Kapiolani, is a Hawaiian lady of high character and
extreme amiability, and both King and Queen have been exemplary in
their domestic relations.
Kalakaua's first act was to proclaim his brother, Prince Leleiohoku,
his successor, investing him at the same time with the title, "His
Royal Highness," and his second was to reorganize the military
service, with the view of making it an efficient and well-
disciplined force.
There is something melancholy in the fact that this small Pacific
kingdom has to fall back upon the old world resource of a standing
army, as large, in proportion to its population, as that of the
German Empire.
Those readers who have become interested in the Sandwich Islands
through the foregoing Letters, will join me in the earnest wish that
this people, which has advanced from heathenism and barbarism to
Christianity and civilization in the short space of a single
generation, may enjoy peace and prosperity under King Kalakaua, that
the extinction which threatens the nation may be averted, and that
under a gracious Divine Providence, Hawaii may still remain the
inheritance of the Hawaiians.
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