PROTEST, BY COMMAND OF THE KING OF THE HAWHAN ISLANDS.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 375, 17 November 1849, Page 3

PROTEST, BY COMMAND OF THE KING OF THE HAWHAN ISLANDS.

By Order op His Majesty, Kamehameha 111., King op the Hawaiian Islands, given to the undersigned ou Thursday, the thirtieth day of August 1849, after receipt of a despatch, dated the lame day, and addressed to the undesigned, from Rear Admiral Legoarant de Tromelin, Cominander-in«Cl>ief of the Naval Forces of the Fiench Republic, in the Pacific Ocean, in which, rejecting the offer made by His Majesty's command, to refer all differences of opiniin about the true meaning nnd interpretation of the Treaty ) of the 26th of March, 1846, jointly to France and Gn-at Biitain, who jointly framed it and propoird it to His Majesty (agreea 1 ly to the express understanding between the undersigned and the Cotim'usioner of Franre, and the Consul General of Her Britannic Majesty.) and rejrcling the offer of indubitable security «nd guaranty for the full amount of all indemnity and reparation, in all cases, claims an'l grievances whatsoever, th»t France herself misjht pronounce to be just, after fully hearing and amicable concert with Hii Majeity'i Special Plenipotentiary, or that a friendly nati >n of Her own choice, might declare to be just, as umpire, in regard to points whereon France and His Majesty* Plenipotentiary might not be able to agree, he the said Ad% miral subjects His Majesty's weak and unresisting Kingdom t>> the harsh l<tvr of reprisals, the undersigned Mini ter of Foreign Relations, in His Majesty's name, and on His Majesty's behalf, most solemnly appeals to the good faith and justice of France, under Her Engagement of the 28'h of November, 1843, and Protks rs against the infringement of that Engagement, by the said Admiral, in landing a Military Force, in hostile array, and taking military possession of the Fort, Government offices, and Custom-house of Honolulu, and of those portions of the territory of His Majesty's Domain on wlrch these edifices stand, on the afternoon of Sa urday, the twenty. fifth of August, 1849, immediately wfter the receipt of a despatch from the «nder«ijfned, by His Majesty's command, rendering all such hostile measuies absolutely unnecessary; the undersigned further protests against the attempt of the said Admiral to justify these proceedings upon the ground that His M.ijesty had violated the Treaty of the 26' th of March, 1846, which His Majesty drcliies He has uot violated, but which the Consul of F>anct, in despite of its ratification by tUe late King of tbc French, did violate both in word and spirit, as was khowa in His Hawaiian Mnjesty's ProtbsT, through the undersigned, of the 28th February, 1848 in ieg«rd to Wines, and which the Admiral himself attempted a^ain to a|i. late, in letter and spirit, in regard to spirituous liquors, which violations, if approved by France (which His Majesty does not believe they can be) under the Law of Nations would abrogate said Treaty alrogether ;— the undesigned lurther pr< ti- sts against the said Admiral, for an as umption of His M jesty's Sovereign y, in p;inting and posting up in the streets of H'S Majesty's Capital, on the morning of Sunday, the 26th of Augait, 1849, a Proclamation, in coutempt of His Majes y's Luws and Roy»l Authority, pretending to cancel the said Treaty of the 26 h of March, 1846, and to revive the Convention of Liplace, which never wa* a Treaty bccaHse France never ratified it, and was wholly annulled by the Preamble to the said Treaty of tb^ 26th March 18*6, although His Mij.s'y. at the Arimi al's own suggestion, on the 25th of August, 1849, had nominated Special Coininis-ioners, for the express purpose of making an amicable adjustment with the said Admiral, on principles reconciling the Hoior an'l Dignity of France with the Rights of His Majesty as guaranteed by her&elf ; the undersigned further pro. tests against the said Admiral for the hostile and unnecessary act of beginning to throw down the guns and dismantle His Majesty's Fort, on the forenoon of Tuesday, the twenty-eighth day of August, 1849, at the very time when His Majesty's Commissioners were engaged on board the war steamer Gassendi in Conference with the Admiral, with the view stated ; the undersigned further protests against the said Admiral for the exclusion of the Kinm's Ministes from access to their offices, at the very time, when in the execuiion of their duty to the King, they most needed free access to all their papers for the defence of His Mujsiy's rights unjustly invaded, and tor the protec'ion due to neutral interests; the undersigned further PR' tij&ts agnin.it all and eroiy one of the Demands jointly male on His Majesty's Government on the tvrentv-second day of August, 18 19, by the aforesaid Admiral, and M. Dillon, the Consul of France, as al'ogether unrighteous and unjust in themselves, uu enable under the Law of Nations, and uiged upou iiia Majesty by the before named, with a fesiinatton, co/ency, and limitation as to time, as if His Majesty's Kingdom had been a bcleagu-nd Fortress, and not n friendly independent State under the Special Protection of the joint declaration of France and Great t)>iuin, of the 28th November, 1843, copy of which is hereto appended ; the undersigned further protests against the rejection l>y the aforesaid Admiral of the security for every ju»t reparation and indemnity offered by His Majesty, through the undersigned, on Wednesday, the 29th day of August, 1849, and against the Reprisals after that offur resorted to by the said Admmd, weakening His Majesty's authority, and by the wanton destruction of His Military Stoien, disabling His Majesty from sup pressing intestine diaordeis, repelling Pirates, and extending that protection to persons and prope ties of Fiench citizens, the responsibility of which, the said Admiral, nevertheless, scruples not to throw itiingently npon His Majesty ; the undersigned fuit'aer protests against the seizure and confiscation by the said Admual of the King's Yacht, indispensable to keep up the communications between His Majesty's Islands, and to enable His Majesty to make those progresses throughout His Islands which are necessary to their good government ; the undersigned further protests against the seizure and detention by ord< rs of the said Admiral of all other vessels under the Ha> waiiun or any other Flag, and against the damages thereby done to his subjects and to Foreign Residents whom, nnd all Foreigners within His Waters, His Majesty is bound to protecc as much as His Own subjects ; the undersigned further protests against the printed Proclamation by the Admiral, posted up on the thirtieth day of August, 1849, for the reasons afores'iid, and because it is a flagrant outrage on His M.ijeUy'u rights, guaranteed by France herself, in the joint declaration hereinbefore mentioned, and under the Treaty of the 26tb of March, 1846, c.ipy of which is also hereunto appended ; the undersigned further pROTBii s against the ground Uken by the Admiral in

hit aforesaid Proclamation and ia other documents, that His Majeiyg Government have made a wrong interpretation of either the letter or the spirit of any part of thai Treaty, and in virtue thereof, made any unjust or unlawful exactions whatever, either of French citizent, or other Foreigner!, and against the right arrogated by him and by tile Consul of France to pronounce their own interpretation to be the correct one, and toiubj'ct Hit Majesty to War and Reprisal* ,on a mere difference of opinion, and because Hi* Mnjesfy refutes to adopt their interpretation, until after such difference shall hare been clearly and fairly decided by amicable reference, as international Law provides for in such cases, and at, in th » cisc, was expressly provided for between the undrrsiirned, as His i Majeitj'g Plenipotentiary, and the Commis*ioner of France> and Consul General of Great Britain as aforesaid j the undersigned further pr >TD«Ti against the pretension of said Admiral and Consul to interfere either with the Religion or Education of His Majesty's subjects, or with the appropriation of the funds contributed by His subjects for thosj purposes; the undersigned further protksts ng*in§t their interference with or opposition to the la>vs of this Kn^doin, and to the jurisdiction of Hu Majesty's Courts of Justice at established by law, and against their ext-aordinary pretension to cl.unn duniag s and indemnity of the Hawaiian Gj»ernmeni on Iheir own view of casp.a, before such cases Jia<-e ever been before the Hawaiian Tribuuali. or even been heard of by the. Hawaiian Government ; the undersigned further protests a«ainst the Admiral's imputation of obstinacy to the King* Commissioners, in i dining Demands which, under their duty to their God, to their Gad, to their King, and to their own consciences, they could not fail to resist ; the undersigned further protests agjinst tue voluntary hauling down of the French Consular flag, and the voluntary abandonment of the said Con nil's private house, and of his public office, under values enormously exaggerated, for which values he sought to make the King's Government responsible on the 25>h of August, 1849 ; and the undersigned protic&ts against, and throws the responsibility upon the fcaid Admiral for all damages, injuries, captures, detentions, confiscations, or detriments of any kind whatsoerer, to all pemons or things, that have eniued from the measures adopted by him since the twenty second day of Auguit. 18't9, or that he may hereafter adopr, in pursuance of the unjus. and unlawful demands then wade. And, fiually, the undersigned, in the King's name and on His Majesty's behalf, is commanded to protest that the King does not consider himself at war with France— that he entertain* for France the utmost respect, and that notwithst«nding all he bad unjustly suffered from the Admiral and the Consnl before named, His Majesty has given the strictest orders tlut the persons and properties of all citizens of Fiencb, now ou these Island-, or tint may hereafter «rnve, he as much reipccted and as carefully protected as if the said Admiral had inflicted upon His Majesty and upon His subjects uo injuries whatever. Done in presence of the King and Council, under my hand and the Great Seal of the Kingdom, at the Palace of Honolulu, this third diy of September, in the year of our Lord 1849. R. C. WYLLIE. f The Great Seal "| 1 of the V | Hawaiian Kingdom J This Protest was forwarded to Admiral de Tromelin, with a letter from Mr. Wyllie, written with the ability, cogency of reasoning, an d dignified self-possession by which that Minister's communications were eminently distinguished throughout the correspondence. We add, as not less important than any of the preceding documents, the British Consul's spirited Protest against this outrageous violation of national honour and faith on the part of the French : Her Britannic Majesty's Consulate General for the Islands of the Pacific, Honolulu, Woahoo, Aug. 27, 1849. Sir, — The Government of Great Britain and France, having, on the 28th of Novembar, 1843 entered into a Mutual Agreement ia the form of a declaration (a copy of which I have the henor to enclose to you,) by which they mutually pledged themselves never on any ground or pretext, or under any form, to take posieuiiou of any part of the Territory of the Sandwich Islands, it was with extreme regret, that on the 25th instant, I witnessed the seizure, and military occupation, which is still continued, of the Fort, Cus. torn House, Treasury, Foreign, and other Government Offices of Honolulu, by detachments of armed seamen, from two hundred to three hundred men, belonging to the French Naral Forces in the Pacific Ocvan under your command ; and this act, of lhu» taking and holding forcible possession of a part of the Territory of the Sandwich Islands, being I conceive, a violation of the mutual Agreement entered into by Grea' Britiin and France, I feel it to be my duty, as the Repreientatiye of Her Britannia Mnje»ty's Goternmmt at these Itlands, to protest, and I do hereby protest against that proceeding, and at the same time I bpg to assure you that Great Brita ; n will not see with indifference an exercise of arbiiraiy violence practised to the prejudice of a sovereign and country which she has taken under special protection, while she does not seek, but on the contrary disclaims any wish for paramount influence or privileges not enjoyed yot ntcrbhaions at these Islands. With sentimentn t of the highest consideration, I have the honor to be, &c , (Signed ) Wm. Mili.br.. H. Is, Majeity's Consul General for the Islands of (he Pacific. To Rear Aeminl de Tromelin, Commnnder-in-Chief of tbe Naval Foices of the French ' Republic, in the Pacific. This Protest was accompanied by a letter a the Admiral from Mr. Miller, written in a moat conciliatory and friendly tone, attempting to dissuade him from his proceedings. Hut all proved unavailing. The course of the French had evidently been determined on from the outset, and all the negociations so far as they engaged in them were but the negociations of the Wolf with the Lamb in the fable. And now the deed — the infamous deed, as we calmly and deliberately characterize it, — haa been done. The results remain to be developed. At the conclusion of this, the first, act of the eventful drama, we are informed: — " On the forenoou of the 5 h September, the Admiral, with M. Dillon and his family on board, took his deuai'ure for Sua Francisco in \\\i frigate ' La Pou:»i-

Tante.' The steamer 'Gasiendi' sailed at the Mine time for Valparaiso and Europe. The King'i yacht ' Kamehanaeha,' prists to the French naval forces, was despatched on the 4th, destination unknown. *' In consequence of the strict orders of the King, not an angry look or word was given to any French officer, sailor, or marine, during (he military operations ofhnHu*, taking noiseision, occupying, diiraantling the tort, ('flUructum of arms, powder, &c, poitmg up proclamations, hiu! final retirement onboard."

We had intended to devote a column or two today to extracts from the papers received from San Francisco by the Lady Leigh — but the extent of the stirring intelligence from the Sandwich Islands precludes the possibility of our doing so. We regret this the less, however, as, on reexamination of those papers, we find that almost eveiything of importance in them had been compressed into our summary of Wednesday, and that we could have copied little beyond the details of what we then stated in brief. We add, however, a few further particulars. The Post, Office arrangements at San Francisco wore in the most " admired disorder," About ten Postmasters had succeeded to office in as many weeks, nobody fit for the situation, caring to keep it, as the salary was only 2000 dollars, while (as the Placer Times pithily tells us) » such pay would scarcely furnish clean linen for the incumbent." Bnsiness would seem to be very active, if we may judge from the number and character of the advertisements ; but it is impossible to infer from them, or from any of the other intimations, what particular articles of merchandise would pay best, as the arrivals of one week not unfrequently overstock the markets to repletion with goods which were selling at enormous profit the week before. An evidence of this unceitainty may be seen in the list of the cargo brought back in the Lady Leigh, announced in our advertising columns as for disposal by auction here. We see or hear of nothing, however, to militate against the opinion that our own principal exports — timber and potatoes - will obtain a ready sale, and a remunerating price. The " Aguntiemento" (or Town Council) was making efforts to establish order, though apparently with small success. Their ordinance for raising a town levenue, of which an abstract appeared in our last, created considerable dissatisfaction, several of the duties being deemed "excessive." There are some notices of a religious character. " The Protestant Episcopalian Church of the Holy Trinity,"— the Rev. Mr. Mines, Rector — has two services on the Sabbath, &fc which, an advertisement says, " strangers are particularly invited to attend." There is a Baptist Church, the Pastor of which, the Rev. 0. C. Wheeler, it was announced, would, on the 9th of September, deliver a discourse on the death of Ex-President Polk. The " Israelites of San Francisco" also notified that a building was reserved for their religious observance of the festival of New Year on the 17th and 18th September. A meeting had been held at which it was resolved to form " The Merchants' Exchange Association of San Francisco.". .Arrangements for the election of a Theatre were in progress. . . Hospitals were advertised, which, however, seem to be only the establishments of private practitioners dignified by a sounding title ; and, amongst the medical advertisements, we find one from a Homeopathic Doctor, who in that land of adventure is striving, we suppose, to transmute his globules into gold. Lawyers are also added to the luxuries of the "go-a-head" city. . Gunpowderis vended so freely in almost every street that the Alia California calls the attention of the Council to the danger . . Grapes and melons had appeared in the maiket ; also green corn, offered at two dollars per dozen ears, new potatoes, and onions (" such as California alone can produce") at 50 cents each. One of the Hotels publishes its Bill of Fare, with its charges, which are as follows : — Soup, 25 cents. ; Fish, Mutton, Ham, Beef, Veal, Pork and Beans, 50 cents, each ; Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate, 25 cents, per cup ; Pie 3 and Pastry, 25 cents ; Made Dishes, extra, 75 cents. Champagne, Madeira, and Sherry, 3 dollars per bottle ; Claret, 1 dollar; Porter and Ale, 1 dollar 50 cents. ; Draught Ale and Cider, 25 cents. Board, by the week, in advance, 11 dollars. Another* house, however, offers board at 10 dollars a week. This also must be paid in advance. A remarkable import, by the ship Samoset, was an iron steam -boat of 75 -horse power, complete and ready for immediate use. She was intended to ply between San l?ranciseo and Sacramento. We may here note that the coast near San Francisco is frequently enveloped in a haze, which renders the approach difficult, if not dangerous, to mariners. We are told that it was so dense when the Lady. Leigh was there, that islands adjacent to the harbour which were distinctly marked on the chart could not be seen at all. Several of the projected towns were so far laid out that building lots were advertised, with descriptions of their excellency that would do honor to the New Zealand Company's most accomplished puffer. We have before us such advertisements respecting The New York of the Pacific, the Town of Sutter, Stockton, Springfield, Alviso, Stanislaus, and South San, Francisco,

In complying these items of intelligence, we feel it both a duty and a pleasure to express our sense of the kindness with which Captain White of the Lady Leigh, and Mr. Lietesey, the Supercargo, have afforded to us and to the public generrlly all the information in their power. We appreciate their obliging frankness the more fully from its contrast with the mean and selfish unwillingness to communicate the smallest useful intelligence of which we had to complain when the Osprey arrived here from California.

Insect Visitoiis at Sierra Lfone.— l have had a more novel than pleasant interruption. Whilst sitting on a sofa in mj room busily writing, I suddenly perceived first one black ant, and then a second and third, scampering over my papers, and looking rour d, saw a portion ol the wall covered with straggling ants, wh'le another moment showed me that ths fl >oi was alive with them. Boiling wa'er was immediately put in lequisition, and, for upwards of an hour, poured over tlie outer boarding of the house, where the ants {.warmed pretty thickly. A huge centiped- wu at* tempting to crawl from under one af the p .inks, but quite inable to extricate himself from a (ew ant , who ht regular distances from each other, held then <olos. sal prey undauntedly, while large spiders were running about in terror, trying to hide themselves. Ihe ti ick of the main army was nowhere to he discoveted, and, fis our vigorous opposition had ciused them to retreat from the room, I thought this had been me ely a reconnoitring party, until an outcry was raise-! that they mustered in gieat foice in the piazzas btluw. I ran down atairs, and beheld the floors, pilloro, wa Is, and boarded loof literally hlack with mjriads of at.ts, while here a great sc rp'on, startled out of his den, stood boldly at bay, and there anolh t centipede w..s being dragged away alive, a'tcr having in vain tried to elud pmsuit. But it was not one or two— several dozens of cockroaches, venomous-looking spider-, millipedes, Bnd innumerable other ug!y forfy-footed creatures wtre first pounced upon by a few of their Lill putian enemies, and then in an instant hidden by the accomu* luting masses which fastened upon each i pponent, and bore it off with the utmost regularity. 1 forbade the people to kill any more of the ant», to long as ihey were kept fiom entering the house — leally feeling compunction in waging war against the destroyers o* such detestable reptiles at scorpions aud centipedes, with their a'most equally unwelcome cousins of other tribes. Yesterday 1 discovered on the branch of a coffee-tree a most magnificent spidpr, which I should be sorry to see fall a vict m to ants or to any othei enemies. It was about as large as a pigeon's egg, the back primrose-co'oured, with eight round black spots ; the sides and under part barred with black ; theuppei part of its fore legs primrose-colour, the rest black. It had spun a large web of silky yellow gossamer, and was quite a fat, good-humoured looking spider, very different from one that is sometimes found out of door" here, and whose bite the blacks aver to be highly venomous. It has a rounti flat body nearly as largr as a crown-piece, with legs several inches long, and tre raendous lobster-like claws, tbjck y armed with sharp hard teeth. Ii is odi enough Uitt I iiave never seen a tarantula here, although I hear of one being discovered now and then by the labourer*.— A Residence m Sierra Leone.