came with a request that I would receive the Hons. Kanoa and Kauhane, and ask them to form a cabinet for me. I received those gentlemen; but they brought with them a petition with a list of names, principally of the reform party, that I would nominate from these names my cabinet. They called this (sic) “a constitutional principle.” I knew if I yielded to their request, I should be yielding my own right under the constitution, which gave me the right to appoint, and the House to dismiss.
Two weeks passed, and I appointed Ministers Parker, Gulick, Macfarlane, and Neumann. The policy of this ministry was retrenchment in all directions; and Mr. Macfarlane, as Minister of Finance, immediately set to work with that purpose in view, and laid many satisfactory plans for them to pursue. In order to carry out the rigid economies prepared by Mr. Macfarlane, I consented to a reduction of $10,000 in the appropriation for my privy purse, and further reductions in “household expenses, state entertainments, and the military.” They had, however, been in office only a few days when the American minister, J. L. Stevens, made a request through Minister Parker that he would like to call on me the next day, the 16th of October, and that he would bring his secretary with him.
The hour was set for eleven, and a cabinet council was called to sit at ten. When the hour arrived, the cabinet rose to depart, I asked them to remain; but Mr. Macfarlane begged to be excused, as he had once, while a noble in the House, brought in a resolution against Mr. J. L. Stevens on account of a speech he made on the 30th of May reflecting on the administration in Hawaii. Mr. Gulick and himself were excused, and Mr. Parker and Mr. Neumann remained. Mr. Parker went to the door and received Mr. Stevens, and at the same time asked what was the purpose of his visit, that he might apprise me. Mr. Stevens said he would mention it to me in person. They entered, followed by Mr. H. W. Severance. He seated himself in a manner which no gentleman would assume in the presence of a lady, and drew from under his arm a document which he read, stating that my government had grossly insulted him, the Ambassador of the United States and Minister Plenipotentiary for that nation, and holding
