me that my people, in spite of differences of opinion, are enjoying together the free use of my seashore home.
The king having resumed the executive office, affairs of state were no longer committed to my charge. But I was in a position to observe that our industries were moving along on the high road to prosperity, and that with a fair degree of harmony between the king and his ministers, our government was administered smoothly, and in a manner conducive to the welfare of all his subjects, whether native or foreign born. But there are a few events of the days of my regency which, ere I pass on to another era, may be worthy of mention.
During the king’s absence, and while Mr. H. A. P. Carter was Minister of the Interior, he notified me one day that there was a death-warrant awaiting my signature. This was the first time it had been forcibly brought to my notice that the executive held the power of life and death, and it seemed to me a most terrible thing that I should be obliged to sign an order which should deprive one of my fellow-mortals of life. I simply could not do it, and so said to Mr. Carter. He regarded it as only an official act; but I asked the cabinet if they could not devise some other method of punishing the culprit in order to spare me the pain of signing the death-warrant. Minister Carter tried as best he could to convince me that in no event would I be held responsible, that any mistake or culpability would rest on the shoulders of the cabinet, and I need not feel in the least degree responsible. But he failed to convince me. I told him that I would take the matter into consideration, and notify him if, after thinking it over, I could conform
