424 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES, 
people any voice in the proceedings of government. 
But the king, though accountable to no one for 
the measures he adopts, seldom acts, in any affair 
of importance, without the advice of his confi¬ 
dential chiefs. These counsellors are in no degree 
responsible for the advice they give, nor liable to 
suffer from any conduct the king may pursue. 
He, however, always pays a deference to their 
opinion, and seldom acts in opposition to their 
wishes. In all matters of importance, it is cus¬ 
tomary to summon the governors and principal 
chiefs of the several islands to a national council, 
when the subject is freely discussed. Their deli¬ 
berations are generally conducted with great pri¬ 
vacy, and seldom known among the people till 
finally arranged, when they are promulgated 
throughout the island by the king's heralds or 
messengers. The king sends his orders directly 
to the governor of the island, or principal chief of 
the district. Formerly, a courier bore a verbal 
message; now, he carries a written despatch. The 
office of messenger, as well as that of herald, is 
hereditary, and considered honourable, as those 
who sustain it must necessarily have possessed the 
confidence of the king and chiefs. 
The Hawaiian system of government—whether 
derived from the country whence the first settlers 
emigrated, or established by warlike chieftains in 
a subsequent period of their history, as an expe¬ 
dient to secure conquests, to command the services 
of their tenants on occasions of war, and to per¬ 
petuate the influence which military prowess or 
success in the first instance had given them, exhi¬ 
bits, in its decided monarchical character, the here¬ 
ditary descent of rank and office, and other dis¬ 
tinguishing featuies, considerable advancement 
