I will allude to another bad feature in the native mind; I mean the idea in which too many of you indulge, that a fortune if not made in a day, ought to be acquired in a very short space of time. If a man does not get rich in the first few months of his endeavoring to do so, he suddenly relaxes in his exertions, subsides into his native indolence, and becomes a laughing stock to those whose ideas are in advance of his own. You say commonly, everything a foreigner touches he turns into money. But the fact is that if you worked and persevered as the foreigners do, then you would grow rich like them. There are three essentials to success in cultivating the soil. The first is a place to cultivate—the second, the hands to work with—and the third, perseverance. You have all your patches granted you by law; your hands are not tied either by natural or artificial bonds—but as cultivators you do not succeed, because you have no perseverance.
The concluding sentence was almost word for word as under:
The great sources of poverty amongst Hawaiians are laziness and the want of perseverance. I know that what I now say is a matter of which you and I also have cause to be ashamed. But placed in the position I occupy, and as a Father to my people, I cannot hide the fact.
The King's address was listened to with great earnestness, and every now and then we heard subdued expressions of Oiaio no (True, true,) from different parts of the house. At present we see no cause to doubt that much good will result from the new society, and to those who interest themselves in it we hope to see the honor given which they undoubtedly deserve.
March 3, 1856.
His Majesty's Remarks to the Hon. W. L. Lee, on his being officially presented and resuming his Seat in the Privy Council, after his return from the Embassy to the United States.
I take great pleasure, Judge Lee, in your return to my islands, and I extend to you on behalf of myself and Chiefs a hearty welcome. Your valuable services in the United States have been such as to merit our warmest thanks and approval, and I trust the success of your mission may strengthen the friendly relations existing between the United States and my Kingdom. It is my desire that you should resume the duties of your department as head of the Judiciary, as soon as convenient, but that in so doing you should make your labors secondary to the improvement of your health.
April 5, 1856.
His Majesty's Speech on the Occasion of the Opening of the Session of the Hawaiian Legislature of 1856.