Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen (27 page)

A
T
Stirlingworth Cottage
I
passed a most delightful month, although the frost often covered the window panes, the snow whirled around the house, and the icicles formed on the trees; the kindly greetings of my Boston friends and the warmth of their hearts deprived a Northern winter of all its gloom. The health of my party was excellent, and it seemed to be a matter of surprise to those who met us that we suffered so little by the change from the mild air of our beautiful islands to the rigors of a New England winter.

The first Sunday of my stay in Boston I accepted the kind invitation of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Armstrong to test the pleasures of a sleighride with them in their carriage-sleigh. In an open sleigh were seated Miss Alice Lee and the members of my suite, Mrs. Kia Nahaolelua, Mr. Joseph Heleluhe, and Captain Julius A. Palmer. The last-named gentleman visited me every day during my residence in his native city, attending to my correspondence or other business simply from motives of love to my people and of interest in me; and as long as I remained in Boston he declined other compensation than the approval of his own conscience.

It was a bright and beautiful day when the jingling bells and prancing horses acquainted me with the much-praised experience of sleigh-riding; and my kind host had determined that I at least should suffer no inconvenience from the cold, for our sleigh was abundantly provided with robes, and was warmed by a recently invented apparatus. My two Hawaiian attendants, however, in the open sleigh, felt the cold most severely. In truth, I must say that I failed to see the delight and exhilaration of the sport, although I enjoyed the afternoon very much indeed; but if I had had the same charming companions on a good road with an easy-riding carriage, it seems to me the pleasure of the ride would have been greater. It reminded me of the play of the Hawaiian children, where they draw each other along with smooth logs for runners. But it was extremely thoughtful in Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong to suggest this for my entertainment, and was only one of the many ways in which these friends showed their goodness of heart towards me. When I returned from a little trip to Niagara, Mr. Armstrong met me at the station, and cordially placed his private carriage and driver at my disposal to convey me to my Brookline apartments, which were not far from his elegant residence on Beacon Street.

During my sojourn in Brookline I attended All Saints' Church. The rector was the Rev. Mr. Addison, and I was pleased to notice the close attention given to his sermons by the congregation. He seemed to be a very popular man with his parishioners; and well they might appreciate such a pastor, for he showed himself to be a man whose heart and soul were in the great and glorious work of teaching the truths of Christianity, and leading others in the worship of God.

One morning Cousin Sara (Mrs. Lee) brought a letter from a lady who was collecting dolls for an International Doll-Show, to be exhibited at fairs for the benefit of charities for children. Having always been interested in the welfare of the young, I was happy to grant the request to have a Hawaiian doll for the charitable object. It much amused my cousin to see me sewing; and it was a pastime to me to make the clothing for the very pretty doll, that resembled somewhat some of my people who had intermarried with the foreigners.

The doll, for some reason, did not make its public
début
until quite recently; and I take the opportunity to insert here a clipping from the
Boston Globe
, Dec. 4, 1897, of the occasion, which is noteworthy, as that paper, I am informed, has been strongly for annexation, and heretofore has had but few kindly comments for the other side.

" Mrs. William Lee of Brookline gave an interesting talk last evening to a goodly gathering of women, and a slight sprinkling of men, at the doll-show opened in Hotel Thorndike, for two days, yesterday, for the benefit of the New England Home for Crippled Children.

This doll-show, which for variety and size exceeds any previous one in Boston, is notable for one thing, — in having among the exhibits three genuine royal dolls, that is to say, three dolls contributed by royalty. Two of them, miniature representations of Eskimo babies, made by the Eskimos themselves, and dressed in full Arctic costume of sealskin, were sent here by Queen Victoria from her own private collection, which is said to be the largest and finest in the world.

The third one was given by ex-Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, who dressed it and decorated it herself in the mother-hubbard-like gown characteristic of Hawaiian women, and the head wreath and neck garland of flowers to which they are so partial on gala occasions. The ex-queen named the doll Kaiulani, for her niece and heir.

Mrs. Lee talked about her friend Liliuokalani, whose name, she said, signifies the preservation of the heavens, and gave an interesting description of Hawaii's history and the peculiar customs of the people.

She asserted that the native Hawaiians are more intelligent and better educated than they are generally credited with being; most of them being able to read and write their own language, and many of them being equally accomplished in English.

Their constancy and their trustful nature, she claimed, have been their misfortune. At one period, she said, Hawaii was governed by no laws save the Ten Commandments.

Mrs. Lee expressed the opinion that in view of the power wielded by the whites, and the little influence possessed by the natives at the time of the late revolution, it was no wonder the queen wished to promulgate a new constitution to restore to her people some of the rights of which they had been deprived.

She said further : ' I tell you from the bottom of my heart, I have never found a more devout and perfect Christian under all circumstances than Liliuokalani. I have never yet heard her utter an unkind word against those who persecute her.

I am American by ancestry from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and I love the American flag, and would be the last to see it hauled down if rightly raised; but (here Mrs. Lee spoke with visible emotion) if a Captain Kidd or any other pirate should raise the American flag simply as a decoy in order to destroy, we should be the first to resent it.

I do not oppose annexation as such, but it grieves me to see the way our countrymen have gone to work to bring it about.

I believe the Hawaiians should have their independent government, and that the natives should have something to say as to what that government shall be.' "

On New Year's Day, 1897, a brilliant reception was given by Mrs. William Lee at her residence, where I found myself the guest of honor. It might be noticed here, that, in regard to such occasions as this, the feelings of one who has been imprisoned, politically or otherwise, can only be understood by a person who has passed through the ordeal. With Mrs. Lee's numerous friends and high social position, she would most gladly have given to me an opportunity to receive attentions from the clubs and societies of which she is a distinguished member, and I would thereby have met many very delightful people. But although, since my earliest remembrance, I have been accustomed to ceremonies and receptions, yet, even after a winter's experience in Washington, it is not easy for me to get over that shrinking from the gaze of strangers acquired by recent years of retirement, eight months of experience as a prisoner, and the humiliations of the time when I was under the supervision of government spies or custodians.

Therefore, while I was grateful to Mrs. Lee for the wish, I told her that save in her own house and to meet her personal friends, I would be obliged to decline public receptions. But the number of gallant gentlemen, beautiful ladies, and fair young girls (two of whom served as ushers) that honored this occasion, caused me to be happy that I had made an exception. Music was furnished by some of the younger visitors, one of whom, Miss Sara MacDonald, a sister of the two charming ushers, played most sweetly and skilfully on the harp; and Mrs. Frank M. Goss, Mrs. Farwell, and the Misses Morse and Foster, assisted at the beautifully decorated refreshment table. Although the invitations had only been received on the morning of the reception, the attendance was very large. It comprised many of the most prominent people of Boston and Brookline, as well as those of surrounding towns.

The lovely January day was terminated by a light fall of snow, through which we found our way back to our home, with much gratitude in our hearts towards the kind entertainers and their many pleasant friends who had wished the Hawaiian party a happy New Year.

Mr. J. T. Trowbridge and Mr. W. T. Adams, the latter better known as Oliver Optic, two very interesting literary gentlemen, I met by the introduction of Mr. and Mrs. Lee. Although of advanced years, Mr. Adams was a bright and genial man, and his conversation was adorned with flashes of quiet wit and abounded in good humor, just as he shows himself in his fascinating books. He has since died; and these, his life-long friends, will long mourn his loss to them and to literature.

While at Stirlingworth Cottage Mr. and Mrs. Yea-ton, whom I had met at Mrs. Lee's reception, very kindly presented me with a token which I shall always prize, — a paper-cutter, made by the gentleman himself from the original wood of the old ship-of-war, the Constitution. I have an indistinct recollection that the frigate visited the Islands years ago, when I was quite young, and that I was then told that she was one of the most famous of American vessels.

During my stay in Boston, I made a winter excursion to Niagara Falls. The trip was accomplished in three or four days, without the least inconvenience, although we were all strangers to the route, and to the hotel where rooms had been engaged by wire for myself and suite. All the tales I had ever heard of the grandeur of the great cataract fell far short of the truth; and I was impressed with an awe quite impossible to express in words when I came to look upon that everlasting volume of waters. As I stood at the edge of the precipice on Goat Island, my most constant thought and vivid impression was that of the insignificance of man when brought face to face with nature. While standing by this, one of the great wonders of the world, I felt as in the very presence of the Creator.

And yet man knows no fear, and his ingenuity has mastered here, as elsewhere, the strength of the elements; and by his inventive genius and skill he is now turning this fierce
Kühleborn
into an obedient servant. A company has been created, and its efforts to build a flume supplied from the cataract have been successful. The water-power is carried into a large shed, and there made to generate the electricity which furnishes the whole district about the Falls with light and power. The current for these and various other purposes, I am informed, is carried over more than twenty miles to the city of Buffalo.

We had a fine view from the American side of the Falls; there were wreaths of mist curling upward in the air, blown into fantastic shapes by the breezes which came forth from the Cave of the Winds. Showers also passed over the river, or followed its rapid flow. After lunch we took carriages and drove along the brink, then crossed the great Suspension Bridge to the Canadian side. The bridge itself is a wonder, showing to rare advantage the ingenuity of the brains which contrived and the hands which built it. At the Horseshoe Fall, as well as while approaching it, we found abundant evidences of the wintry season; there were icicles on the fences and houses, the trees were covered with shining crystal, and the trellis-work of wire on the banks at the edge of the precipice was marvellously garnished with pendent icicles of every size and shape. We also visited the boiling lake, had our photographs taken out-of-doors on the snow, and, after a most instructive and delightful visit, returned to our Brookline quarters with a picture to be treasured in memory for life.

Before leaving Boston, as it was my intention to do some time during the month of January, my cousin, Mr. N. G. Snelling, gave a family party at his house, to which my suite was invited, and I had the pleasure of meeting as many of the family as could be brought together. More than thirty relatives and a few of the most intimate friends of the kind host were present. An elegant table laden with refreshments and adorned with flowers occupied the centre of one of the rooms, and the event was made in all respects as delightful as possible to us.

To meet these relatives, and receive from the lips of each some cordial expression of welcome, was unusually grateful after my long, sad experiences; and it vividly recalled to me the previous family gathering, when my dear husband greeted his family kin, and we, with Queen Kapiolani, were Boston's honored guests.

O
N
Friday, Jan. 22, 1897,
I
bade adieu to my cousins, Mr. and Mrs. William Lee, and the other friends who had rendered my four weeks' stay at Boston so interesting and agreeable that I had scarcely noticed the flight of time, and took the evening train for Washington. By my request, Captain Julius A. Palmer accompanied me as my private secretary, and remained as one of my suite from that date to the 7th of August, when he asked and most cheerfully received permission to take a vacation, for he had been most constant and devoted in every official duty. Captain Palmer had been presented to me at Honolulu just as I have met other visitors and correspondents; we had no personal acquaintance until my visit to Boston, but I knew those in my native city who were connected with his family by marriage. Besides which, his interest in the Hawaiian people, and his reputation as a man of unblemished honor and integrity, recommended him to me; and I needed the services of some person more familiar with matters and manners in the United States than could be expected of my Hawaiian secretary, Mr. Joseph Heleluhe, who was now on his first trip abroad.

I have found Captain Palmer to be well informed on all matters relating to Hawaii, whether in those earlier days when he visited the Islands under the monarchy, or since 1893 under the rule of the Provisional Government. Like many others I might mention, he went there soon after the overthrow, and was petted and flattered by the party in power. But all the time he was quietly investigating the situation for himself. The result of his observations was a conclusion that the right of the Hawaiian people to choose their own form of government should be affirmed, and that they should be protected in this choice by the power of the United States, in which event he was fully assured that their queen would be overwhelmingly restored to her constitutional rights.

While in Boston I was constantly asked if there was any political significance in my visit to America, and if I expected to see the President. It seemed wise to say nothing about my purpose at that time, but frankness would now indicate an opposite course. By the first vessel that arrived from Honolulu after I had reached San Francisco, documents were sent to me by the patriotic leagues of the native Hawaiian people, those associations of which I have already spoken in full; and these representative bodies of my own nation prayed me to undertake certain measures for the general good of Hawaii. Further messages of similar purport reached me while I was visiting my Boston friends.

All the communications received, whether personally or in form, from individuals or from the above-mentioned organizations, were in advocacy of one desired end. This was to ask President Cleveland that the former form of government unjustly taken from us by the persons who in 1892 and 1893 represented the United States should be restored, and that this restoration should undo the wrong which had been done to the Hawaiian people, and return to them the queen, to whom constitutionally, and also by their own choice, they had a perfect right.

This was further in the line of the only instructions which to this day have ever been given by the United States to the so-called Republic of Hawaii, and those were that the President acknowledges
the right of the Hawaiian people to choose their own form of government.
Were that one sentence literally carried out in fact today, and the Hawaiians sustained in the carrying out of the same, it would be all that either my people or myself could ask.

The second package of documents received by me in Boston was addressed to President McKinley, and was similar to the others I already had, only they were addressed to Hon. Grover Cleveland while he was president. Accompanying these papers were other documents, showing that full power was accorded to me, not only as their queen, but individually, to represent the real people of Hawaii, and in so doing to act in any way my judgment should dictate for the good of the Hawaiians, to whom the Creator gave those beautiful islands in the Pacific. Commissions were also issued to Mr. Joseph Heleluhe, empowering him to act with me; he having been chosen by the Hawaiians as the special envoy of those deprived by the Provisional Government, not only of the franchise, but also of any representation at the capital of that American nation to which they have never ceased to look for the redress of national wrongs, brought upon them by the hasty action of United States officers.

When I speak at this time of the Hawaiian people, I refer to the children of the soil, — the native inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands and their descendants. Two delegations claiming to represent Hawaii have visited Washington at intervals during the past four years in the cause of annexation, besides which other individuals have been sent on to assist in this attempt to defraud an aboriginal people of their birthrights,—rights dear to the patriotic hearts of even the weakest nation. Lately these aliens have called themselves Hawaiians.

They are not and never were Hawaiians. Although some have had positions under the monarchy which they solemnly swore by oath of office to uphold and sustain, they retained their American birthright. When they overthrew my government, and placed themselves under the protectorate established by John L. Stevens, — as he so states in writing,—they designated themselves as Americans; as such they called on him to raise their flag on the building of the Hawaiian Government. When it pleased the Provisional Government to give their control another name, they called it the Republic of Hawaii. To gain the sympathy of the American people, they made the national day of the Independence of the United States their own, and made speeches claiming to be American citizens. Such has been their custom at Honolulu, although in Washington they represent themselves as Hawaiians.

At Honolulu these annexationists made speeches abusing the Senate of the United States for the delay in annexing Hawaii; they further said the most grossly insulting things of President Cleveland because he frustrated their plans, and included Secretary Gresham in their condemnation because he failed to recognize them as Americans. Of these pseudo-Hawaiian s, Mr. Hatch is a lawyer from New Hampshire. His first exploit in the ring of adventures was not a diplomatic success. He met some of his annexation associates at Canton, Ohio. Mr. McKinley sent word that the state of his health obliged him to decline to receive visitors, so the embassy returned to the national capital. "Minister" Cooper, another alien (less than a year in Hawaii in 1893, when he stood on the steps of Iolani Palace, and read the proclamation against me), has been given office, probably as a reward for the risk he ran. Mr. William A. Kinney has been better acquainted with life at Salt Lake City, as it was in the past, than with simple, amiable — but, alas, no longer happy—Hawaii. Without military experience, he was commissioned a captain, and afterward charged with the duty of Judge Advocate in attacking me, and those of my people who sought liberty from the foreign oppressor. So I could go on multiplying indefinitely recollections of these and other so-called Hawaiians. Those who are not recent arrivals are sons of the missionaries, or allied to the families connected with the American Mission, and claim foreign citizenship to this day. When a political question was under discussion, they would be very active in soliciting the native Hawaiian vote for the side of the missionary party. The true Hawaiian, you see, has no representation in these several commissions.

The number of articles written or inspired by the Commissioners or their allies is enormous; articles skilfully calculated to deceive the American people on most important topics; also articles intended to place me in an awkward or utterly false position in the great and good land where I have been four times a visitor. I can see the inspiration of it all, because I know the character of several of the men so engaged. Allusion to episodes in the career as a monarchical official of one of these men has already been made. Mr. Thurston's political methods need no mention. His measures with the press are well known; but, unfortunately for him, he rewarded newspaper enterprise once too often. His position as at least a nominal member of the diplomatic corps gave him certain advantages, which he treacherously used to give official correspondence to the press. For this he was promptly rebuked by Secretary Gresham, and recalled to Honolulu as
persona non grata.
The Dole government was too weak to defend its agent, and Mr. Thurston went home in disgrace. He is again attempting to negotiate a treaty, bartering away his adopted country.

Another without gratitude, and false to the country to which he owes his life, whose letters to the press have frequently appeared, is Sereno E. Bishop of Honolulu, a man who owes his seventy years or more to the vigor given to his infancy from the breasts of Hawaiian women. Broadcast have been his letters reviling my people, and repeating the vilest of falsehoods as to myself, since he failed to have Hawaii annexed by praising the country, its people, and his queen. One has but to peruse Mr. Bishop's paper in the
Review of Reviews
for September, 1891, to see how false must be his later statements. I trust those who read these pages will obtain that number of the
Review
, and read the article.

I cannot impress too strongly upon those who truly desire to know about my country and to do it justice, the importance of reading that "article" of September, 1891. Although it was written not to serve Hawaii, but in the interest of the annexationists, the plea used was that the Hawaiians had shown themselves so capable of self-government, and were so proud of their autonomy in the Pacific, that they would be well qualified to be United States citizens. How vastly opposite and false is the plea that is made by them now for annexation !

Early in their present mission the Annexationists secured the services of Mr. John W. Foster, who succeeded Mr. Blaine as Secretary of State under Mr. Harrison, and employed him to deliver in Washington a lecture on Hawaii. Before this, I had received a letter from an American residing in that city, advising me to lose no time in retaining the services of Mr. Foster in presenting my case to the National government. To this, as to several other offers of legal aid, I returned the reply that I thanked the friendly counsellors, but that I had already in my letters and protest placed my case before the Chief Executive (since my first communication more than one president has occupied that position), and that I would trust in their honor for redress. But if I had not believed in the integrity of the American nation, and its treaty-making representatives, it would have been well to have awaited the delivery of this lecture, before retaining the services of Mr. Foster; because had he shown such a lamentable ignorance of my affairs as he did of those of Hawaii when he tried to speak of that country, her rulers, her people, even her situation geographically and socially, my case as a client would have suffered from his ignorance. Notwithstanding the historical truths, that although the gospel has been preached in Polynesia for a century or more, and that there is no other nation which has made such rapid progress in civilization and Christianity, yet Mr. Foster had the assurance to stand up in Washington, and revile all the native Hawaiian sovereigns. Not content with using bad language about my brother, King Kalakaua, and myself, he had to take up each one of the Kamehamehas, and refuse to them successively even one good quality, or to the Island people one redeeming characteristic.

This is only one of Mr. Foster's blunders, — truly a serious one. Another blunder savors of the ridiculous; I did not see it, but it was described to me by those who did. It seems that his remarks were to be illustrated by lantern slides; and on opening this series of illustrations, there first appeared on the screen a dark form, which no one in the audience could recognize, yet the lecturer nothing daunted, with pole in hand, began to describe the situation of the Islands; then it suddenly occurred to him that the dots on the Pacific as shown by the slides were placed near enough over to annex, if not to the United States, then to Mexico; so he paused in his remarks while the artist made a second attempt; but he had only fled from one extreme to another, for now the unfortunate group, so far as location was concerned, had every appearance of annexation to Japan. This was going from Scylla to Charybdis. It was not until the third trial, when poor little Hawaii regained that position in the Pacific Ocean in which the hand of the Creator had left her, that the lecturer, after some hesitation in order to be sure that this time he was right, dared to proceed with his discourse. There was not one original idea in his lengthy misrepresentation of my native land, its people, and its sovereigns.

Mr. Foster made one brief trip to Honolulu, in the interest, it is said, of the cable company projected by Mr. Z. S. Spaulding. Whether this was a mere pretence or an original motive ending in failure, cannot be decided now. But the present rulers took charge of him at once, as they do of all new-comers; and he was greeted, feasted, and generally entertained by the members of the government and by their friends. A meeting was held where the cable scheme was discussed, annexation also receiving some notice. A feeble opposition was developed under the leadership of Mr. W. G. Irwin. Mr. Foster immediately replied that unless there was perfect agreement on the part of the planters, nothing could be done, there was no further use for his services; and if the cable scheme was so unpopular he might as well leave, which he did without even warning those friends who had been so attentive to him. Soon after his arrival in Washington, he delivered his lecture, and then had it printed at the public expense, and sent to the Senate by the money of the people, all upon a subject about which he knew nothing save the absurd stories and intentional misrepresentations repeated to him by those who were writing them out continually for American newspapers.