Under Hawaiian skies, a narrative of the romance, adventure and history of the Hawaiian Islands, a complete historical account, by Albert Pierce Taylor.

166

UNDEiR HAWAIIAN SKIES

and France, to negotiate new treaties and obtain guarantees of
the independence of the kingdom.
As soon as these facts became known, Mr. Charlton, fearing
the results of the embassy upon his own office, left the country
surreptitiously, September 26, 1842, for London, via Mexico, to
lay his colmplaints before the British government, sending back
a threatening letter to the king in which he informed him that
he had appointed Alexander Simpson as acting consul, an apIoilltmlent the Hawaiian government refused to recognize.
At Mazatlan he fell in with Lord George Paulet, commanding
the British frigate Car'ysfort, and by misrepresentation, is said to
have so prejudiced the mlind of this officer, that the grievous
bl)under (as it has heretofore appeared to historians) he is supposelly said to have coimmitted a few months later followed as a
natural result. In later years none saw this more clearly than
Lor( (George himself. Mr. Charlton's career was terminated bv
his ownl act. HIe had no sooner arrived in London than he was
removedl from office under circumstances of disgrace.
Tlle Earl of Aberdeen considered the final act of his diplomacy
as intemperate, improper and ill-judged, calculated to lo great
mischief and( to produce in the minds of the king and his advisers
a resentful feeling, not only against Mr. Charlton, but against
the British government and its subjects. The Earl's sentiments
are auttlentic and( indicate, at least on the surface, that it was no
part o:t:the policy of lEngland, that her commissioned officers
should insult and blrowbeat even tlhe weakest of nations.
Meanlwhile Mr. S;impson had sent despatches to the coast, representing that the persons and property of his countrymen were
in d(anger, which induced Rear Admiral Richard Thomas, commander-in-chief of the British forces in the Pacific, to order the
Carysfort to Ionolulu to investigate. Historians, heretofore,
have generally agreed upon the following account:
The Cary\sfort arrived on the 10th of February, 1843, and Mr.
Sinmpson inmmediately went on board to concert measures with
Lordl 'aulet, whose entire acquiescence in his plans tends to show
that the seed planted by Charlton at Mazatlan was sown on fertile