OPPRESSION OF THE CHIEFS. 425 
from a state of barbarism, and warrants the con¬ 
clusion that they have been an organized commu¬ 
nity for many generations. But whatever anti¬ 
quity their system may possess, they have made 
but little progress in the art of good government. 
The well-being of the subject seems to have been 
but rarely regarded by the rulers, who appear to 
have considered the lower orders in general as a 
kind of property, to be employed only in promot¬ 
ing the interests of their superiors; and the ardent 
love of wealth, which an acquaintance with the 
productions of foreign countries has excited in 
most of the chiefs, has not improved the condition 
of the people. Industry receives no encourage¬ 
ment ; and even those whom natural energy of 
character would induce to cultivate a larger por¬ 
tion of land than was absolutely necessary for 
their bare subsistence, are deterred from the 
attempt by the apprehension of thereby exposing 
themselves to the rapacity of avaricious or neces¬ 
sitous chiefs. Nothing can be more detrimental 
to the true interest of the chiefs, and the civili¬ 
zation and happiness of the people, than the 
abject dependence of the latter, the uncertain 
tenure of lands, the insecurity of personal pro¬ 
perty, the exactions of the chiefs, and the restric¬ 
tions on trade with the shipping, which they 
impose. As the nation in general becomes 
enlightened, it is to be presumed that the policy 
of the rulers will be more liberal, and the general 
prosperity of the islands proportionably advanced. 
On the 31st, Mr. Thurston preached twice at 
Towaihae to attentive congregations, and, with the 
labours of the day, closed a month of toil and 
interest greater than any he had before spent in 
the Sandwich Islands. In the retrospect, he 
