untry of Ours," which should be one of our
national school books:

"Out of the habit of dealing with the public domain has come the common
thought that all territory that we acquire must, when sufficiently
populous, be erected into States. But why may we not take account
of the quality of the people as well as of their numbers, if future
acquisitions should make it proper to do so? A territorial form
of government is not so inadequate that it might not serve for an
indefinite time."

It is to be remarked of the Hawaiian Islands that they did not possess
the original riches of timber that distinguished the West Indies,
especially Cuba, where Columbus found four varieties of oranges. One
of the features of Hawaiian forestry is the Royal Palm, but it was
not indigenous to the islands. The oldest of the stately royalists
is not of forty years' growth, and yet they add surprising grace to
many scenes, and each year will increase their height and enhance
their beauty.

Hawaiians will be saved from extinction by miscegenation. There will
be no harm done these feeble people by the shelter of the flag of the
great republic. The old superstitions prevail among them to an extent
greater than is generally understood. I had the privilege of visiting
an American home, the background of which was a rugged mountain
that looked like a gigantic picture setting forth the features of
a volcanic world. Far up the steep is a cave in which the bones of
many of the old savages were deposited in the days of civil war and
inhuman sacrifices. The entrance was long ago--in the days the Hawaii
people describe as "Before the Missionaries." The hole going to the
holy cavern was closed, but there is still pious watching over the
place of bones, and if there are climbers of the mountain not to be
trusted with the solemn secrets of ancient times, they are stalked
by furtive watchmen of the consecrated bones, and no doubt the ever
alert sentinels would resist violation of the sepulchre in the rocks;
and the natives are careful to scatter their special knowledge that
the spot is haunted by supernatural shapes and powers. The Americans
living in the midst of these mysteries are rather proud of the ghosts
they never see, but have to put up with the haunting guard still
ministering to the gods that dwelt in the shrines where the shadows
of extinct volcanoes fall, long before the masterful missionaries
planted their first steps in the high places.

Afte