Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen (5 page)

I
WAS
engaged to Mr. Dominis for about two years; and it was our intention to be married on the second day of September, 1862. But by reason of the fact that the court was in affliction and mourning, our wedding was delayed at the request of the king, Kamehameha IV., to the sixteenth of that month; Rev. Dr. Damon, father of Mr. S. M. Damon, at present the leading banker of the Islands, being the officiating clergyman. It was celebrated at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, in the house which had been erected by my father, Paki, and which, known as the Arlington Hotel, is still one of the most beautiful and central of the mansions in Honolulu. To it came all the high chiefs then living there, also the foreign residents; in fact, all the best society of the city.

My husband took me at once to the estate known as Washington Place, which had been built by his father, and which is still my private residence. It is a large, square, white house, with pillars and porticos on all sides, really a palatial dwelling, as comfortable in its appointments as it is inviting in its aspect; its front is distant from the street far enough to avoid the dust and noise. Trees shade its walls from the heat of noonday;
its ample gardens are filled with the choicest flowers and shrubs; it is, in fact, just what it appears, a choice tropical retreat in the midst of the chief city of the Hawaiian Islands. Opposite its doors is the edifice, recently erected, known as the Central Union Church, which is attended by the missionary families, and indeed most of the foreign residents of American birth or sympathies.

Captain Dominis, father of my husband, had but little enjoyment from the homestead he had planned. He last sailed from the port in 1846, just as the house was on the point of completion, and the ship he commanded was never heard of more. His widow expected, hoped, and prayed, but no tidings of his fate were ever received; slowly she was compelled to recognize the truth so many sailors' wives are constantly learning, and to hope long deferred succeeded grief for irreparable loss. For this reason she clung with tenacity to the affection and constant attentions of her son, and no man could be more devoted than was General Dominis to his mother. He was really an only child, although there had been two daughters older; but while he was an infant they both died in the United States, where they had been left to gain their education. Mrs. Dominis was a native of Boston.

As she felt that no one should step between her and her child, naturally I, as her son's wife, was considered an intruder; and I was forced to realize this from the beginning. My husband was extremely kind and considerate to me, yet he would not swerve to the one side or to the other in any matter where there was danger of hurting his mother's feelings. I respected the closeness of the tie between mother and son, and conformed my own ideas, so far as I could, to encourage and assist my husband in his devotion to his mother. Later in life Mrs. Dominis seemed to fully realize that there had been some self-sacrifice, and she became more and more a tender and affectionate mother to me as her days were drawing to a close.

Soon after our marriage, Prince Lot invited my husband and myself, with Mr. and Mrs. Robert Davis, who were married about the same time, to accompany him on a trip to Hawaii, the largest island of the group, from which its name is taken. We accepted, and it became really my bridal tour. Prince Lot's accession to the throne as Kamehameha V. was then very near. Invitations were also extended to Mr. and Mrs. John Sumner, Mr. Haalelea, another member, like my husband, of the staff of His Royal Highness, and a few other friends of the royal party. It was a most enjoyable trip; we were gone many weeks, but the time passed away most delightfully.

As there are no hotels in our islands, a few words as to the entertainment of the chiefs, with such guests as they might have with them, may not be out of place here. I have always said that under our own system in former days there was always plenty for prince or for people. The latter were not paid in money, nor were they taxed in purse. The chief, by the overseer he appointed, took proper care of their needs, and they in turn contributed to the support of his table. It was a repetition of the principle of family life by extending the same over a large number of retainers. So on the estates of the high chiefs who generally resided at Honolulu were built houses which were sacred to their residence, exclusively devoted to such occasions as the present, when they might choose to visit their people.

Prince Lot had his houses and lands in Hawaii and elsewhere. It was to these we went. His people welcomed our presence; and no matter how protracted our stay, Hawaiian hospitality, or love and loyalty, whichever it may please the reader to call it, was never exhausted. It was the same with all the chiefs of the ancient families, with Mrs. Bishop, for example, who would have found a home on any part of her landed estate; nor has the custom altogether passed away by the many changes which have been wrought through the hands of the foreigner in the Hawaiian Islands. Were any person of the blood of the chiefs, myself for example, to visit Hawaii to-day, scarcely would the knowledge that we had reached the port of Hilo get to the ears of our people when a house would be provided for our occupancy, food would be brought to our doors, and we would be made welcome amongst our people for weeks, months, indeed years, if we chose to continue our residence.

On this visit to Hilo (1862) occurred the first chapter of an interesting history of which the sequel was the nomination of a younger brother of mine to the throne, although he did not live to enter upon his reign. One of the retainers of the Princess Ruth was in our company, and it was near the time of that lady's confinement. As Kalaikuaiwa, one of her people, was about to return to the neighboring island of Oahu, she inquired of Prince Lot what message she could carry back to Honolulu, to be delivered to Princess Ruth in regard to the little stranger about to enter this world. The prince, in reply, told the attendant to charge his sister from him on no account to give the coming child away, to which that messenger responded that it had been already promised to Mrs. Pauahi Bishop, her cousin. The prince repeated his injunction with still more emphasis, saying,"You must go back and tell my sister that on no account is she to give that child to another. I am an adopted child myself, deprived of the love of my mother, and yet I was a stranger in the house of my adoption." He referred to his own and Lunalilo's grandfather, Hoapili-kane. The prince made no further explanations, save to impress it upon the messenger that such must be the message delivered; and as we started for our trip around the great island of Hawaii, the attendant left for her mistress's houses and home in Honolulu.

I may anticipate a little in order to continue the thread of this story. When our tour was over, and we returned to Honolulu, the first day of our arrival was a day of rest; but on the succeeding day, possibly a little later, Prince Lot, Queen Emma, Mrs. Bishop, and perhaps some others, were summoned to be present at the birth of the child of the Princess Ruth. The babe was born that afternoon at about three o'clock, in the house called Halaniani, on the veranda of which the prince waited for tidings of the mother and child for hours. Finally, at half-past five, Queen Emma appeared, and addressing the prince, asked him if he had heard from his sister, to which he replied that he had not. She expressed much surprise, and told him that the newly born infant had been taken away as her own by Mrs. Bishop over an hour ago. This intelligence was extremely unpleasant to the prince, and he at once declared that he would never have anything to do with that child. He carried his purpose into immediate execution by insisting within a week from that time that his sister Ruth should legally adopt as her own my brother Leleiohoku, whom she had taken from his parents at birth. He then made out two instruments of adoption for his sister to sign. By one she gave her child to Mrs. Bishop irrevocably, cutting it off from all interest in her property, and by the other she adopted as her child and heir, William Pitt Leleiohoku, the second of that name. All the papers were carefully drawn up by the prince, and everything connected with the adoption was made complete, so that in no event could the legality of my brother's position be doubted. The innocent cause of this disturbance, the child thus adopted by Mrs. Bishop and named Keolaokalani, died in about six months; my brother lived to be named heir apparent, and indeed to fill the office of regent during the absence of Kalakaua.

After making the tour of Hawaii, Prince Lot, accompanied by his guests, returned as far as the island of Maui, where it is possible we might have remained longer had it not been for the illness of his brother, the reigning king. Having been notified that this was approaching a fatal termination, and that his presence was required at the capital, His Royal Highness returned at once to Honolulu, where Alexander, Kamehameha IV., died on Nov. 30, 1863, after a reign of nine years, and being at the time of his death still a young man of twenty-nine. His widow, Queen Emma, although once a candidate for the throne, was never again in public life. She went abroad, however, in 1865, being received in England in a manner becoming her rank. She returned to Honolulu in 1866 on the United States ship Vanderbilt, commanded by Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher, only to learn at once of a new affliction in the death of her adopted mother, Mrs. T. C. B. Rooke.

On the accession to the throne of Prince Lot as Kamehameha V., the last of the Hawaiian monarchs to bear that name, my husband was at once appointed his private secretary and confidential adviser, which position he occupied during the entire reign. The king was surrounded by his own people, with whom he was in perfect accord, but showed this mark of royal favor to my husband simply because he preferred to advise with him on matters of public importance. My husband was further made governor of the island on which Honolulu is situated; and although the appointment was nominally for four years, yet it was always renewed, without the least discussion or hesitation, as long as he lived It was a part of his official duty to make a tour of the whole island at least once a year; this was always rendered a most agreeable excursion, and I invariably accompanied him in the journey. Besides this position he held other offices of importance under the Hawaiian government, being at one time governor of the island of Maui; commissioner of the administration of the crown lands; attached to the suite of my brother, the late King Kalakaua, on his visit to this country in 1874 in the interest of reciprocity; and finally being a member of the Hawaiian embassy which visited this country and Great Britain in 1887, representing our nation at the Queen's Jubilee. But in the fall of 1891, Governor Dominis, who was then lieutenant-general of the kingdom with the rank of His Royal Highness Prince Consort, was in rapidly failing health; and on the 27th of August of that year, seven months after my accession to the throne, he died. His remains were laid in state in the palace; and on Sunday, Sept. 6, he was buried with royal honors.

His death occurred at a time when his long experience in public life, his amiable qualities, and his universal popularity, would have made him an adviser to me for whom-no substitute could possibly be found. I have often said that it pleased the Almighty Ruler of nations to take him away from me at precisely the time when I felt that I most needed his counsel and companionship.

T
HE
Hawaiian people have been from time immemorial lovers of poetry and music, and have been apt in improvising historic poems, songs of love, and chants of worship, so that praises of the living or wails over the dead were with them but the natural expression of their feelings. My ancestors were peculiarly gifted in this respect, and yet it is remarkable that there are few if any written compositions of the music of Hawaii excepting those published by me.

In my school-days my facility in reading music at sight was always recognized by my instructors. At the schools I attended, and of which mention has already been made, there was one boy by my side who could read the airs of new tunes which the teachers were anxious to introduce to the pupils. His name, I remember, was Willie Andrews. The untried music was handed to us; and we sang it by note, the rest of the pupils following by ear until the whole assembly were acquainted with the new music. After leaving school, my musical education was continued from time to time as opportunity offered, but I scarcely remember the days when it would not have been possible for me to write either the words or the music for any occasion on which poetry or song was needed. To compose was as natural to me as to breathe; and this gift of nature, never having been suffered to fall into disuse, remains a source of the greatest consolation to this day. I have never yet numbered my compositions, but am sure that they must run well up to the hundreds. Of these not more than a quarter have been printed, but the most popular have been in such demand that several editions have been exhausted. Hours of which it is not yet in place to speak, which I might have found long and lonely, passed quickly and cheerfully by, occupied and soothed by the expression of my thoughts in music; and even when I was denied the aid of any instrument I could transcribe to paper the tones of my voice.

In the early years of the reign of Kamehameha V. he brought to my notice the fact that the Hawaiian people had no national air. Each nation, he said, but ours had its expression of patriotism and love of country in its own music; but we were using for that purpose on state occasions the time-honored British anthem,"God save the Queen." This he desired me to supplant by one of my own composition. In one week's time I notified the king that I had completed my task. The Princess Victoria had been the leader of the choir of the Kawaiahao church; but upon her death, May 29, 1866, I assumed the leadership. It was in this building and by that choir that I first introduced the"Hawaiian National Anthem." The king was present for the purpose of criticising my new composition of both words and music, and was liberal in his commendations to me on my success. He admired not only the beauty of the music, but spoke enthusiastically of the appropriate words, so well adapted to the air and to the purpose for which they were written.

This remained in use as our national anthem for some twenty years or more, when my brother composed the words of the Hawaii Ponoi. He was at the time the reigning king, and gave directions to the master of the band to set these to music. He, being a German, found some composition from his own country which he deemed appropriate; and this has been considered of late years our national air.

In the changes of the past few years, the words written by His Majesty Kalakaua have been found no longer adapted to public occasions; so while the music is still played, such sentiments as"Look to the people" have been substituted for the ancient injunction to"Look to the king."

In the year 1869 the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred of England, arrived in the harbor of Honolulu, being in command of Her Britannic Majesty's ship-of-war Galatea. As soon as the king learned of the duke's presence he made special preparations for his reception; and for his better accommodation on shore he assigned for his use the residence of the late Kekuanaoa, who died in November of the preceding year. My own mother having died about three months prior to the arrival of the Galatea, I was not taking part in any festivities, being in retirement from society. But this was considered an exceptional occasion, and the king signified his wish to me that I would not fail to do it honor. So at his specific request I gave a grand
luau
at my
Waikiki residence, to which were invited all those connected with the government, indeed, all the first families of the city, whether of native or foreign birth. Major J. H. Wodehouse, so long the ambassador of Great Britain at Honolulu, had just arrived with Mrs. Wodehouse; and they were of the invited guests, the prince specially inviting them to drive out to my house with him. I suppose the feast would be styled a breakfast in other lands, for it was to begin at eleven o'clock in the forenoon. The sailor-prince mounted the driver's box of the carriage, and taking the reins from that official, showed himself an expert in the management of horses. All the members of the royal family of England are, I understand, excellent horsemen; and in doing this the Duke of Edinburgh was only following customs to which he had been trained in his own land. The Queen Dowager Kalama, widow of Kamehameha III., drove out to Waikiki in her own carriage of state, accompanied by her adopted son, Kunuiakea, and my sister, Miriam Likelike; these two being at that time betrothed in marriage, although the latter married Hon. A. S. Cleghorn, and became the mother of the Princess Kaiulani. The drivers of these carriages wore the royal feather shoulder-capes, and the footmen were also clad in like royal fashion. It was considered one of the grandest occasions in the history of those days, and all passed off as becoming the high birth and commanding position of our visitor. The guests were received with every mark of courtesy by my husband and myself, as well as by His Majesty Kamehameha V., who was one of the first arrivals. When the prince entered he was met by two very pretty Hawaiian ladies, who advanced, and, according to the custom of our country, decorated him with
le
i
s
, or long, pliable wreaths of flowers suspended from the neck.

As Mrs. Bush, considered one of the most beautiful women in the Hawaiian Islands, advanced, and proceeded to tie the flowery garland about the neck of the prince, he seemed perhaps a bit confused at the novel custom; but, submitting with the easy grace of a gentleman, he appeared to be excessively pleased with the flowers and with the expression of friendly welcome conveyed to him by the act. Balls, picnics, and parties followed this day of enjoyment; and the prince gave an entertainment in return at his own house, which was attended by my husband and myself, and by most of the distinguished persons in the city. The day of departure for the Galatea arrived; and the prince called on me to express the pleasure he had taken during his visit, and the regrets he felt at leaving us. On this occasion he presented me with an armlet emblematic of his profession; it was of solid gold, a massively wrought chain made after the pattern of a ship's cable, with anchor as a pendant. He also gave me copies of two of his own musical compositions; and to this day I keep and cherish these three souvenirs of the son of England's good queen, and at the same time one of England's noblest sailors. We have met once since those days, at the Queen's Jubilee, during my visit to London in 1887. Our past acquaintance was cordially recognized by the prince, who was then my escort on a state occasion, my nearest neighbor on the other hand being the present Emperor of Germany.