Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen (2 page)

H
ER
M
AJESTY
, Q
UEEN
L
ILIUOKALANI
, Constitutional Queen of
Hawaii................
Frontispiece.

H
IS
R
OYAL
H
IGHNESS
, T
HE
P
RINCE
C
ONSORT
, G
EN
. J
OHN
O
WEN
D
OMINIS
, G
OVERNOR OF
O
AHU
................
opposite Frontispiece.

Grand Commander of the Royal Order of Kamehameha.

Grand Commander of the Royal Order of Kalakaua.

Grand Commander of the Royal Order of Crown of Hawaii.

Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of Oceanic.

Grand Commander of the Order of Francis Joseph.

Grand Commander of the Royal Order of Isabella Katolic.

Grand Commander of the Royal Order of the Rising Sun and of the Chrysanthemum.

W
ASHINGTON
P
LACE
..............
page 22

The private residence of Liliuokalani, originally the home and property of Mrs. Dominis, mother of the Prince Consort, J. O. Dominis.

B
ERNICE
P
AUAHI
B
ISHOP
M
USEUM
........
......page
42

H
IS
M
AJESTY
, K
ING
K
ALAKAUA
.........
.........page
50

A V
IEW ON THE
R
OAD TO THE
V
OLCANO
K
ILAUFA
. .
 page
74

K
ING
K
ALAKAUA, H
IS
C
ABINET AND
S
TAFF
.....
.....page
92

I
OLANI
P
ALACE
P
ALACE
(Front view)..........
page
102

"My palace was my prison." In the room at the right hand corner on the second story Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii, was imprisoned. The long low-roofed building at the east side of the palace is the" Bungalow" to which frequent reference has been made.

P
RINCESS
K
IAULANI
,
The Niece of Liliuokalani, and the Heir-
Apparent of
Hawaii............
page
116

T
HE
F
ISH
P
OND
.
Scenery on the Estate of Princess Kaiulani,
page
122

H
ER
M
AJESTY
, Q
UEEN
K
APIOLANI
.
The Dowager Queen, and
Widow of King Kalakaua..........
page
142

G
OVERNMENT
B
UILDING
............
page
186

F
UNERAL
P
ROCESSION OF
K
ING
K
ALAKAUA
.....
page
210

K
ING
K
ALAKAUA
L
YING IN
S
TATE
........
........page
216

The throne room of the palace. The widowed queen is standing, and the Princess Poomaikelani, her sister, is sitting by the king's casket. The plume standards are Kahilis, which are emblems of royalty and nobility.

H
ANALEI
V
ALLEY, ON THE
I
SLAND OF
K
AUAI
....
page
222

K
ING
S
TREET, WITH
G
OVERNMENT
B
UILDING AND
O
PERA
H
OUSE
.................
page
232

The car obstructs the view of Arion Hall, where the American troops were stationed—less than two hundred feet from the palace. When Mr. Poepoe and Mr. Walker protested against their occupancy, Mr. Stevens replied, "We are here, and we mean to stay."

P
ALACE
S
QUARE IN FRONT OF
I
OLANI
P
ALACE
....
page
252

This view is near the place where the men from the Boston drew into line Jan. 16, 1893. The face of Admiral Skerrett is blurred. The man in white with his hand to his hat is President Dole. Next to him is Captain Wiltze, and in front facing Admiral Brown is Lieutenant Washburne. To the right of the admiral, and wearing a light colored derby, stands H. W. Severance, United States Consul during the time of Minister Stevens.

T
HE
Q
UEEN'S
G
UARDS AND THE
B
ARRACKS
.....
page
268

T
HE
T
HRONE
R
OOM
.............
page
286

Here all receptions of State were held, here King Kalakaua's body lay in state, and here the Provisional Government held the trial of her majesty Liliuokalani, and compelled her to sign her abdication.

H
ER
M
AJESTY
, Q
UEEN
L
ILIUOKALANI: WITH
H
ER
L
ADY-IN-WAITING
AND
H
AWAIAN
S
ECRETARY
.........
page
306

D
ISBANDMENT OF THE
R
OYAL
H
OUSEHOLD
G
UARDS
. .
page
380

Mr. Soper, representing the Provisional Government, reads their dismissal, with Captain Nowlein in command of the guard by his side.

In accordance with our policy of making available significant out-of-print books pertaining to the Pacific area, we are reprinting this story of 19th-century Hawaii. Originally published in 1898, it has long been unobtainable.
Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen
could as aptly be called
The Queen's Story of Hawaii,
for here is a compelling and personal account of the last years of a monarchy that was inevitably and inexorably swept along toward democracy. Told with pride in, and love for, her royal predecessors as well as her people, the facts of Queen Liliuokalani's account do not differ from those of other writers and historians of the era, but her presentation, naturally enough, is colored by her deep affection and loyalty.

Liliuokalani would have been an outstanding woman in any age, any country. What is most amazing is that a woman of Victorian times, born and educated in a tiny Pacific island kingdom at the time when its written language was less than twenty years old, could attain such a level of knowledge, understanding, and accomplishment. The answer is undoubtedly the combination of her natural intelligence, her eagerness to learn, her deeply religious zeal, and her sympathy and love for her subjects.

A paradoxical personality—imperious, warmhearted, stubborn, modest, poised, devout—Liliuokalani believed firmly in the divine right of absolute monarchy, yet she personally organized and supported efforts to improve the native Hawaiians' health, welfare, and education in an age when more "advanced" rulers did relatively less. She traveled, observed, and learned in both the United States and Europe, where she met in regal style the royalty and leaders of all the countries she visited. An honored guest at Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887, she continued her friendship with the queen until Victoria's death. President and Mrs. McKinley entertained Liliuokalani both publicly and privately. A lavish and generous hostess, even by Hawaii's fabulous standards, she entertained many world-famous figures at her various homes. The Duke of Edinburgh, Victoria's son, was a memorable visitor, and it is said that the
luau
she gave in his honor at her Waikiki villa has never been surpassed.

If Liliuokalani had never done more than follow her avocation as a musical composer, she would be forever famed as the writer of the once-heard-never-forgotten "Aloha Oe." And this is only one of her many musical works.

The great qualities of her character are most clearly revealed in the final chapter of the book. Deposed, retired, widowed, she begs for understanding, not of herself but of her cause: Hawaiian autonomy. Without rancor or passion and in simple and eloquent manner, she states her case and pleads that the American conscience judge. It is an especially moving document despite the fact that a Hawaiian kingdom was a political and practical impossibility in a world where smaller entities could no longer prevail against or compete with the ever-growing great powers.

Now that Hawaii is the fiftieth American state, Liliuokalani's story is part of the American heritage, and, to place it in its frame, a brief background setting is necessary.

Uncounted centuries ago the Hawaiian archipelago burst through the then unnamed Pacific Ocean from a submerged volcano, and during many more hundreds of years the resultant rock mass gradually became verdant land, unknown and uninhabited for possibly an equally long period. One theory is that the first settlers were migrant seafarers from Polynesia around the 5th century
A.D.
Evidence of their existence is found in temple remains, fish ponds, and irrigation canals. These first settlers vanished mysteriously at some later date, and it was not until about
A.D.
1000 that a second migratory group arrived—this time, it is believed, from Tahiti. The newcomers were a very different type—rulers, warriors, priests—and they settled on the various islands, bringing with them their amazing collection of awe-inspiring gods, superstitions, and taboos. Since they did not read or write, only their chants remain to tell of their fierce and constant warfare through the next several centuries. Corroboration is found in the accounts of the first white men to visit the islands. Captain Cook is credited with their discovery in 1778, although it is likely that unrecorded white men had landed there a hundred or two hundred years before. Cook, who was killed on the big island, Hawaii, named the archipelago after his patron, the Earl of Sandwich, and for many years and on old maps and charts they were known as the Sandwich Islands. After a lapse of some years, other white explorers began to arrive at these islands, and two of them —an American and an Englishman—were captured by the Hawaiians and eventually made chiefs. These men later became influential advisers to Kamehameha I, the warrior who during this period succeeded in conquering and uniting all the islands under his rule and that of his successors.

The influence of the white man led to an interest in the Christian faith on the part of the native rulers, and after the conversion of some of the chiefs the old idols and taboos were overthrown. The moment was appropriate for the arrival of the first missionary group in 1820—a band of about twenty sturdy Congregationalist New Englanders. Their efforts and successes in teaching and converting were crowned by their establishment of the first Hawaiian alphabet. The Hawaiians' ardent desire to read and write accounts for their achieving widespread literacy in an incredibly brief space of time. Gratitude toward the missionaries led the rulers to seek their guidance in other fields —government, agriculture, public health, commerce—and their advice became a dominating factor in the life of the islands.

Naturally not all was idyllic in the development of this island kingdom to a modern American state. Opposing the missionary viewpoint were business and shipping interests, adventurers from many nations. Disease and disaster struck in these beguiling islands as elsewhere in the world. Political differences arose, were settled, and arose again. External influences, however, gradually weakened the monarchist hold, and during the next sixty to seventy years various constitutions were promulgated, lessening the kings' power. Good and bad rulers came and went, and eventually the greater strength of the white man, along with other pressures, brought about the situation and the events of the story so movingly told in the following pages by Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last monarch.