Page:American Diplomacy in the Orient - Foster (1903).djvu/145

 have been resorted to against a weak and defenseless state.

A short time before the Artemise affair, the British war vessel Acteon, Lord Russell commanding, had "negotiated a treaty" under the guns of his ship. These and other events made it apparent to the advisers of the king that, unless the independence of the islands could be secured by the recognition of some of the leading maritime nations, they would continue to be subjected to such humiliation and that their independent existence might be terminated. Sir George Simpson, the governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, a man of large experience in dealing with native races, being in the islands, joined in advising that a formal appeal to this end be made to the United States, Great Britain, and France. Accordingly Sir George Simpson, Mr. Richards, the missionary adviser of the king, and Haalilio, a native chief, were appointed a commission to visit the countries named, and ask for national recognition. Sir George Simpson went direct to England, and the two last named first visited the United States, intending to join Simpson in London. On their arrival in Washington in December, 1842, they addressed a note to Mr. Webster, setting forth the reasons why the independence of the islands should be formally acknowledged. They referred to the agreement entered into with the United States through Captain Jones in 1826, which, though never ratified by the United States, had