Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen/Chapter 50
CHAPTER L
A NEW ENGLAND WINTER
At 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, Yeaton, 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.