he
promulgation of the law, and was, as a matter of fact, the cause of it;
so the most we can say is that he changed his mind, and changed it for
the better. If the history of his government be considered--how it
originated in an intrigue between the firm and the consulate, and was
(for the firm's sake alone) supported by the consulate with foreign
bayonets--the existence of the least doubt on the man's action must seem
marvellous. We should have looked to find him playing openly and wholly
into their hands; that he did not, implies great independence and much
secret friction; and I believe (if the truth were known) the firm would
be found to have been disgusted with the stubbornness of its intended
tool, and Brandeis often impatient of the demands of his creators.

But I may seem to exaggerate the degree of white opposition. And it is
true that before fate overtook the Brandeis government, it appeared to
enjoy the fruits of victory in Apia; and one dissident, the
unconquerable Moors, stood out alone to refuse his taxes. But the
victory was in appearance only; the opposition was latent; it found vent
in talk, and thus reacted on the natives; upon the least excuse, it was
ready to flame forth again. And this is the more singular because some
were far from out of sympathy with the native policy pursued. When I met
Captain Brandeis, he was amazed at my attitude. "Whom did you find in
Apia to tell you so much good of me?" he asked. I named one of my
informants. "He?" he cried. "If he thought all that, why did he not help
me?" I told him as well as I was able. The man was a merchant. He beheld
in the government of Brandeis a government created by and for the firm
who were his rivals. If Brandeis were minded to deal fairly, where was
the probability that he would be allowed? If Brandeis insisted and were
strong enough to prevail, what guarantee that, as soon as the government
were fairly accepted, Brandeis might not be removed? Here was the
attitude of the hour; and I am glad to find it clearly set forth in a
despatch of Sewall's, June 18th, 1888, when he commends the law against
mortgages, and goes on: "Whether the author of this law will carry out
the good intentions which he professes--whether he will be allowed to do
so, if he desires, against the opposition of those who placed him in
power and protect him in the possession of it--may well be doubted."
Brandeis had come to Apia in the firm's livery. Even while he promised