Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 8, 1 August 2023 — Letter to the Editor [ARTICLE]

Letter to the Editor

"Ua Mau ke Ea o ka 'Āina i ka Pono" - translated as "The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness" has been the motto of Hawai'i for more than 160 years. Consider, then, the following mana'o: In 1843, British Consul Richard Charlton (1791-1852) and Lord George Paulet (1803-1879), commander of the British ffigate Carysfort, demanded "provisional cession" of the Kingdom of Hawai'i to Great Britain in order to settle claims made by Charlton against the monarchy. On Feb. 25, 1843, the Hawaiian flag was lowered and replaced by the British flag. On July 26 of that year, Rear Adm. Richard Darton Thomas, R.N. (1777-1851), arrived in Hawai'i on the HMS flagship Dublin to rescind cession under Paulet and to restore the monarchy to Kamehameha III (Kalanikauikeaouli, 1813-1854). On July 31, 1843, the Hawaiian flag replaced the British flag, and Kamehameha III in one sentence spoke words at Kawaiaha'o Church, words that described relief from the five-month rule of Lord George Paulet. Taken in context with the events of 1843, the monarch's words stated succinctly, "Ua Mau ke Ea o ka Āina i ka Pono" - The Sovereignty of the Nation is Preserved in Justice. ■ Wayne Hinano Brumaghim