the most
numerous and influential class, constituting at all times the great body
of the people and the strength of the nation, as well as of the army.
The petty farmers owned from twenty to a hundred acres. Some of the
great landowners possessed many hundreds of acres, and being surrounded
by retainers they constituted the aristocracy of the country and imposed
a restraint upon the king, who, without their co-operation, could carry
but few of his measures. They also frequently acted as priests in their
family temples. The common people comprised slaves and servants. The
slaves were captives taken in war. Their treatment was in general mild,
and if peace continued, they often regained their freedom and were
allowed to return to their own country.[13]

[13] W. Ellis, _op. cit._. iii. 94-98. Compare J. Cook,
_Voyages_, i. 225 _sq._

The government of the Society Islands, like that of Hawaii, was at least
in form an arbitrary monarchy. The supreme authority was vested in the
king and was hereditary in his family. It partook of a sacred character,
for in these islands government was closely interwoven with religion;
the king sometimes personated the god and received the homage and
prayers of the worshippers; at other times he officiated as high-priest
and transmitted the vows and petitions of the people to the superior
deities. The genealogy of the reigning family was usually traced back to
the first ages of the world: in some of the islands the kings were
believed to be descended from the gods: their persons were always
sacred, and their families constituted the highest rank recognised by
the people.[14]

[14] W. Ellis, _op. cit._ iii. 93 _sq._

Indeed, everything in the least degree connected with the king or
queen--the cloth they wore, the houses in which they dwelt, the canoes
in which they voyaged, the men who carried them when they journeyed by
land--became sacred and could not be converted to common use. The very
sounds in the language which composed their names could no longer be
appropriated to ordinary significations. If on the accession of a king
any words in the language were found to resemble his name, they were
abolished and changed for others; and if any man were bold enough to
continue to use them, not only he but all his relations were immediately
put to death; and the same severity was exercised on any who should dare
to apply the sacred name to an animal. Thus in process of time the
origi