Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 166, 7 April 1891 — KING KALAKAUA. [ARTICLE]

KING KALAKAUA.

Now that all thefu9s, the pomp and vanity is (tver, when every one was willing to vie with one another ū.> displaying their grief for His lale Majesty Kalakaua, it is a pieasure to u« to note a contribution in memoriutn of our iate King, in kind and appreciative language of the goed qual:ties whieh he posse?ssed. Toomany of who were benefitted and made wealthy through hie efforts have already forgotten him. Kueh is the perverted t hat we rarely remember that we j owe our present prosparityand eivil | ization to those who have done their nhare of the world's work arid gone on into the unknown rather thanto our own exertions. To the Editor of The Evcmng Post: Sir: īn justice to the memory of ■ one who, apparently, hasno one else in America to speak for him, will you kindly allow one who wns called to niinister to the late King ©f Ilawaii in his last hours, ānd who saw inneh of the royal party at tlic tiuie, to tell your readers of Boii)e of th(; most Christian deeds arul characteristics of this i emarkable man, whose ancestors only fou r-score ven rs ago were heathen men and anthropophagi ? The King was a member of the Knglish Church and a regular communicant thereof. Contrary to the practice of the average American abroad, he never failed v during his recent visit io this country, to attend eeme plaee of worship on eaeh return of the lvord-s Pay. His firet Sunday on these shores saw Him worshipping in ■ *01d Trinity," San Franeiaeo, and an humble eemmunieatttbefore the altar. Shortly after, on the 25th day of Decemher last, the rector received a note fro"m the Chatnberlain of lhe court, whieh read thus: u His Majesty desires to attend Christmas service at Trinity Church this morning. Will you kindly arrange a pew for the party ?" At home his late Majesty paid equal henor to the first day of the week. On the oeeaeio» of the last anniversary of his birth, whieh fell on a Sunday, he refused tō allow the public dejnonstrations to begin until Moßday, and urged of the day to prayer and charity f«r the lepers, for whieh noble action the Bishop of Honolulu thanked him in a letter, whieh I bave been allowed to see. I have also his Lordsbip ? s sermon before me as I write. Every . Sunday afternoon. •too, the wont to summon to tbe palaee a choir from one of the for an hour of sißging and prayer. His Majesty was ever greatly conc6rned fer the lepers of his kingdom, and quite recently chartered a vessel for a visit to Molokai, where he seiected a site for the monunjent to be erected to the inemory of Father Damien, and cl>eered the settiement by 1 is kind and loving words. Kothirig was dearer to his heart than the Christianization of his people, and his private subscriptions for new churches for their rruniodation ran up among the thousands. * One who has known of their private life speaks of the King and Qneen as dignitied v yet kind and generous, always Vj looking out

for the intere«ts of their peopi<jv antagonizing oniy those who wou!d bar their way and keep them from the encouragement of natiTe talent. No one who witV nessed her faithful vigil will ever forget Kalua, the handmaiden. of his Majesty, who, worshipping him as the Iving of her ad<dpted home and the royal patron whosē generous care had transformed the s!ave into the cultured and gracious women. clung to him in his last hours with the loving tenderness. of a ch4ld—4er its Tather.. And she is only one of a great mnltitude of the forgotten i classcs for whom his sympathies were aroused, and to whoni tbe royal patronage and purse were continually extended. No one, no matter how poor or friendjess, ever applied in vain for help and recognition; and the lovely island kingdoni i;i the Paeiiie must bc a v.»rital)le house of n)ourning to-dav becauye of the abser.ee of hi?n whose heart felt the niiseries of the strugglnjg children of Doverty and i;enius. I have i'; a!so from one well acquainted with the eouple that "his Majestv was alwavs very thougtful of the v»*ishes aiul prōjects of the Queen; and, froin a personal inspeetion of the correspondence, I know how he entered into the pious and charitable schemes of the housf»hold, and his intense interest in the Bible classes and eleemosynary inBtitutions of his consort and the Princess. He was a composer ef considerable merit, a fine musician. master ®f languages. The sad music of the band that fell upon the evening air, as his body was lowered to the deck of the CharlcBlon, on the 22d of J«nuary laBt, was a favorite melody that he had given to the world. It is also a well-estabiished fact, I believe, that. unless oAieial duties orcourt etiquette required his attendance, nothi;ig was allowed to intcrfere with his allotted hours of study; and it has been ,affirmed by his intnnates, that he was • familiar with the eontents of every book in his magnificent library. The heat of the Bonthern eun was in his veins, and yet it is universally conceded en this side of the continent, where he wan well known, that he was one of the most forgiving of men, never bearing a grudge, and alw/)ys generous towards his traducers. He was a King, and yet a true and gracious friend. fleredity was ail against him, and yet |je developed traits and qualities that are not alwaye seen in the modern representatives of Con6tantine or Alfred the Great. He was superstitious, it is said. Were the Anglo-Saxons sapient and sensib)e in thēir religious be liefs seventv-five years after their discovery of the vanity of Thor and Odin ? He was n6t a holy mar., I have heard it inurrnured. llow many of the professing ! Christi ins of Ameriea are noted j.for their purity and truth ? What | proportion of the foreign Chrisjtian population of Hawaii are ! free from lust, rapaeity, and j fraud ? i The last mail from lionolulu j brought nie two letters from tho royal famiiy. In one the Queen ra > t-o exi ress

her deep sense uf gratitud;? to the people of Amnno.i for tin j ir generous treatfinent of her <]ead lord, v and to sav for her that 4, the kindness of the eit]zens of the United States, its Governnient. and oflācials will uever be forgotten by my (her) people." u We wrere preparing," she further says, '* to ireceive the - King i n better heaUh than when he left us, bnt this was not tbe will of our Father in H§aven. It helps us to bear the stroke when we remember that be died aniong friends although far away from us, in a foreign land. And we take oomfort īn knowing that, if he had been conscious~ of what was doing around him, nothing woukl have been morfe sootliing to his de parting gpirit than to be aware of your ministrations as the representati ve of th e Ch r 1 sti a n eommunion in whieh he kvng ago cast his lot." ,In the other letter, autograph of some seven pages fro:n the Queen Rogn;-.nt, a si-milar-ref€rence is m;ide to the courtesv and atteiition of our country, and she goes on to say: anything ean nvitigate our apart from the~ eor.solation of the H r ord of Life, it is the evidenee we huve of the extreme good friendship shown our late brother in the United States as the living guest of your most friend'y country, and of the more than fraternal devotion, exhibited in efforts to prolong his life, and, when these failed, the honors bestowed on his body and his memoryi" To say that this man had weaknesses is to say that human. To say that he had virtues and graces, was cultured, refined*' eharitable, gēnerous, sympathotie, a believer in prayer and sacraments. is to say tjiat spmething of the struggles and the victories of hei'oie spirits. J. Sanders Reed, Rector of Trinity Chu]*ch. Sa'< Francisco, March 3. -