a. She was the wife of an
Englishman, Mr. J.O. Dominis, and on a visit to London had
been entertained by Queen Victoria. Her rearing and
education had been under the influence of American
missionaries, and the whites of the islands, who had been in
constant fear of the late king, hailed her accession to the
throne with joy, with the expectation that they would have
in her a good friend. They soon found themselves
disappointed.

The extravagance and ill rule of Kalakaua had left the
country in a wretched state. It was deeply in debt and the
much needed public improvements were at a standstill. The
country had long been divided between two parties, the
missionary and the anti-missionary, the former seeking to
save the natives from vice and degradation, the latter
encouraging such vicious practices as lotteries and opium
sales for their personal benefit.

Under Kalakaua these ill weeds had gained full growth and
the new queen soon showed a disposition to encourage them.
Her whole nature seemed to change, her former friends were
cast aside and new favorites adopted, and though she had a
personal income of about $70,000, it was far from sufficing
for her needs.

To add to her income the agents of the Louisiana Lottery
were encouraged and the opium smugglers found little
interference with their nefarious traffic, while the
frequent changes of the queen's ministers kept the people in
a state of doubt and uneasiness.

At what was called the long term of the legislature laws
were passed favoring the lottery and the opium dealers. The
session was protracted until the grinding season for the
sugar-cane, when a number of the best members were obliged
to return to their plantations, and in their absence the
lottery and opium bills were rushed through.

Many of the Christian ladies of Honolulu now called on the
queen and implored her to veto this pernicious legislation,
which would turn their country into a den of gambling and
infamy. She wept with them over the situation and the good
ladies knelt and prayed that God would help their queen in
the terrible ordeal before her. They left the palace feeling
sure that the country was safe from the dread affliction--an
hour later the queen signed both bills and they became laws.

The passage of these bills created intense indignation. All
felt that it was a piece of treachery and fraud, those who
gave the queen any credit for good intentions looking upon
her as weak and vacill