His first attempt on politics was made under the auspices of what is called the missionary party,and the canvass conducted largely (it is said with tears)on the platform at prayer-meetings.It resulted in defeat.Without any decency of delay he changed his colours,abjured the errors of reform,and,with the support of the Catholics,rose to the chief power.In a very brief interval he had thus run through the gamut of religions in the South Seas.It does not appear that he was any more particular in politics,but he was careful to consult the character and prejudices of the late king,Kalakaua.That amiable,far from unaccomplished,but too convivial sovereign,had a continued use for money:Gibson was observant to keep him well supplied.Kalakaua (one of the most theoretical of men)was filled with visionary schemes for the protection and development of the Polynesian race:Gibson fell in step with him;it is even thought he may have shared in his illusions.The king and minister at least conceived between them a scheme of island confederation -the most obvious fault of which was that it came too late -and armed and fitted out the cruiser KAIMILOA,nest-egg of the future navy of Hawaii.Samoa,the most important group still independent,and one immediately threatened with aggression,was chosen for the scene of action.The Hon.John E.Bush,a half-caste Hawaiian,sailed (December 1887)for Apia as minister-plenipotentiary,accompanied by a secretary of legation,Henry F.Poor;and as soon as she was ready for sea,the war-ship followed in support.The expedition was futile in its course,almost tragic in result.The KAIMILOA was from the first a scene of disaster and dilapidation:the stores were sold;the crew revolted;for a great part of a night she was in the hands of mutineers,and the secretary lay bound upon the deck.The mission,installing itself at first with extravagance in Matautu,was helped at last out of the island by the advances of a private citizen.
And they returned from dreams of Polynesian independence to find their own city in the hands of a clique of white shopkeepers,and the great Gibson once again in gaol.Yet the farce had not been quite without effect.It had encouraged the natives for the moment,and it seems to have ruffled permanently the temper of the Germans.So might a fly irritate Caesar.
The arrival of a mission from Hawaii would scarce affect the composure of the courts of Europe.But in the eyes of Polynesians the little kingdom occupies a place apart.It is there alone that men of their race enjoy most of the advantages and all the pomp of independence;news of Hawaii and descriptions of Honolulu are grateful topics in all parts of the South Seas;and there is no better introduction than a photograph in which the bearer shall be represented in company with Kalakaua.Laupepa was,besides,sunk to the point at which an unfortunate begins to clutch at straws,and he received the mission with delight.Letters were exchanged between him and Kalakaua;a deed of confederation was signed,17th February 1887,and the signature celebrated in the new house of the Hawaiian embassy with some original ceremonies.Malietoa Laupepa came,attended by his ministry,several hundred chiefs,two guards,and six policemen.Always decent,he withdrew at an early hour;by those that remained,all decency appears to have been forgotten;high chiefs were seen to dance;and day found the house carpeted with slumbering grandees,who must be roused,doctored with coffee,and sent home.As a first chapter in the history of Polynesian Confederation,it was hardly cheering,and Laupepa remarked to one of the embassy,with equal dignity and sense:"If you have come here to teach my people to drink,I wish you had stayed away."The Germans looked on from the first with natural irritation that a power of the powerlessness of Hawaii should thus profit by its undeniable footing in the family of nations,and send embassies,and make believe to have a navy,and bark and snap at the heels of the great German Empire.But Becker could not prevent the hunted Laupepa from taking refuge in any hole that offered,and he could afford to smile at the fantastic orgie in the embassy.It was another matter when the Hawaiians approached the intractable Mataafa,sitting still in his Atua government like Achilles in his tent,helping neither side,and (as the Germans suspected)keeping the eggs warm for himself.When the KAIMILOA steamed out of Apia on this visit,the German war-ship ADLER followed at her heels;and Mataafa was no sooner set down with the embassy than he was summoned and ordered on board by two German officers.The step is one of those triumphs of temper which can only be admired.Mataafa is entertaining the plenipotentiary of a sovereign power in treaty with his own king,and the captain of a German corvette orders him to quit his guests.
But there was worse to come.I gather that Tamasese was at the time in the sulks.He had doubtless been promised prompt aid and a prompt success;he had seen himself surreptitiously helped,privately ordered about,and publicly disowned;and he was still the king of nothing more than his own province,and already the second in command of Captain Brandeis.With the adhesion of some part of his native cabinet,and behind the back of his white minister,he found means to communicate with the Hawaiians.Apassage on the KAIMILOA,a pension,and a home in Honolulu were the bribes proposed;and he seems to have been tempted.A day was set for a secret interview.Poor,the Hawaiian secretary,and J.D.
