Around the World with a King

by William N. Armstrong

  After an interview of twenty minutes the King. retired with the Emperor at his side. In the last room of the suite they shook hands again, and we entered the imperial carriage. It carried us, surrounded with a squadron of lancers, for four miles, to the palace of the Enriokwan, which had been assigned to the royal visitor. This was one of the ancient castles of the daimyos, surrounded by a wide moat, and reached by a bridge. Two years before this time it had been occupied by General Grant and his suite. In the large court-yard a battalion of troops was stationed as a guard of honour. The building contained numerous chambers, furnished with the richest Japanese and European furniture. On the table of the dressing-room we noticed, as we passed through it, the trays of confections and sweets which had been placed before us in the audience-chamber; these had been carried by swift messengers and reached the palace before we arrived. There were now in this spacious building only three guests,—the King and his two companions; but a score of servants stood in the parlours and at the doors of the bedchambers. In a distant part were rooms occupied by the officials who were assigned by the Emperor to attend the King. It was assumed that we had European "habits," and spirits and champagne were tendered to us promptly; the Emperor, fortunately, did not place his royal guest under the restrictions which his government placed upon the American instructors who were employed in the Japanese schools, one of which, in a written contract, provided "that the said teacher shall not get drunk."

  After we had admired the rich and delicate furniture which adorned this romantic palace, we entered the King's bedchamber. Here we found the valet, Robert, lying on one of the sofas in a tipsy sleep.

  The suite had discovered in the morning that the King had resolved to give a distinctly Hawaiian colouring to the appearance of his party. He had also, with a view to contingencies, secretly placed in one of his trunks a rich feather cloak, one worn by some of his predecessors. He directed the valet to wear this cloak, but under no circumstances to appear to be a member of the royal party. This additional service delighted Robert, who now, according to a confidential statement made to his Japanese attendant, was "Keeper of the Royal Standard," "Groom of the Feather Cloak," and "Valet in Ordinary." While in the imperial car, on the way to Tokio, the King's suite had suddenly seen Robert, sitting in state in the luggage car, dressed in a silk hat, white gloves, and with the gorgeous royal cloak hanging over his shoulders, the tableau being completed by a group of Japanese attendants who were standing before him, lost in admiration. According to Hawaiian custom this cloak could be worn only by kings or by chiefs of the highest rank. Several of the high officials noticed its brilliant colours and respectfully asked the King about its quality and significance. He replied that it was part of the insignia of the highest office in his kingdom. They at once began to apologise for omitting to pay sufficient respect to the wearer of this rich emblem, and inquired whether they should not forthwith bring the wearer into the imperial car and place him near his Majesty. The King, finding himself in a scrape out of which we, the suite, could not help him, replied that the Hawaiian chiefs might order a servant to wear it for convenience' sake; but this explanation puzzled the Japanese, for, on this principle, a monarch might order his lackey to wear his crown for the sake of convemence. The Japanese asked no further questions, but greatly admired the cloak. After reaching the station in Tokio the valet was taken, with the luggage, to the palace assigned to us, where he found abundance of wines and spirits, which he consumed until we arrived and found him asleep in the King's bedchamber, with the silk hat far down over his head and the gorgeous cloak askew on his shoulders. He was at once deposed from his office of "Groom of the Feather Cloak," but the King refused to discharge him, because he believed he would be useful in Europe.

  We were now left to ourselves for a short time. After taking off our heavy uniforms we wandered through the chambers of the palace, filled with delicate and exquisite furniture and priceless vases of Satsuma ware, but were soon called to prepare for a reception of the Emperor. It is the rule of European etiquette that a monarch's visit must be returned within an hour, and a bugler had arrived with word that the Emperor was approaching our palace. We resumed our official dress and entered one of the drawing-rooms, where the King stood, near its door, with his Minister of State, while the Chamberlain received the Emperor at the door of the imperial carriage. The King met him as he entered the drawing-room, and they took seats with the interpreter behind them, his body bent in a suppliant posture. The courtiers and the King's suite stood in a group a few steps distant, while their Majesties contrived some conversation. After a short interview the Emperor arose, and with the King walked to his carriage; the battalion presented arms, the bugle sounded, and the imperial carriage crossed the bridge over the moat amid the clattering of the lancers' sabres. The Imperial Princes then called; several of them spoke the English language fluently and had lived in Europe. After these came a score of officials, and then came Judge Bingham, the American Minister, who gave us excellent counsel in all things; kindly assuming to advise us, for our kingdom in truth lay within "the sphere of American influence," where, from an international point of view, it slept for protection like a black-and-tan terrier between the paws of a powerful mastiff.

  The King was asked if he would receive men of note and consideration in the Empire at luncheon and dinner each day, so that they might be honoured with his acquaintance. These luncheons and dinners were in fact State banquets, continued from day to day during our visit of ten days, and were attended by scores of prominent men. An Imperial Prince presided over them, as the ever-present representative of the Emperor. Their service, both in dishes and in table furniture, was entirely European, and would have been creditable to any European court.

  After the strange events of the day, when quiet and strange silence fell upon the moated castle, I asked myself if I were not indeed in a dream, for these events seemed to be as unsubstantial as a visiOn. I had, as a youthful traveller struggling in the common crowd, seen the Queen of Great Britain open the Holbrook Viaduct; the procession of the Emperor and Empress of the French on their way to the Tuileries, to the opening of the Legislative Corps; the entrance into Berlin, through the Brandenburg Gate, of the victorious army of Prussia after its victory over France; the burial of an American philanthropist in Westminster Abbey; and the largest exhibitions of civic splendour in the United States. But here I was suddenly cast into, and become a part of, a pageant of Oriental splendour which far exceeded these others in its romantic aspects and gorgeous display. The Polynesian is only a child at best, and I suspected that my royal master did not regard these events other than as a child would regard a glittering toy. But, aside from these superb spectacular effects, the truly impressive feature of it was that I should be suddenly placed in intimate relations with the men who were making the most brilliant political romance of the century; the reconstructors of an ancient and large empire without the use of a bastille and guillotine; men who were more daring than Columbus in driving without compass or star into the stubborn waves of an unknown political sea; men, too, who were honestly believed to be "pagans" by the people of Christendom, and in the contemptuous sense of that word. We were face to face with vast experiments which concerned the fortunes and destiny of over thirty millions of people. I blessed myself, therefore, for being in this respect a fortunate creature of circumstance.

  CHAPTER VI

  The Shrines of Shiba — Curious Worship — The King's Aphorism — The Japanese Press Discusses the King — Curiosity about his White Attendants — Count Inouye, Minister of Foreign Affairs — Invitation to Prolong the Royal Visit — An Important Diplomatic Event — Proposed Abrogation of an Unjust Treaty between Japan and Hawaii — Delight of the Emperor and His Government — Drafting a New Treaty — The Great European Powers Disturbed Thereby.

  EARLY the next morning three imperial carriages took us to one of the Buddhist temples and the Shrines of Shiba. One form of worship arrested our attention. Around a large image
or idol was a wire screen with meshes an inch in diameter. The worshipper wrote his prayer on paper and then chewed it into a paste, which with his fingers he moulded into a wad. This he cast with force at the image, and if it passed through the meshes and stuck upon the face or body of the image the prayer was granted. The tranquil idol, spotted on his forehead, cheeks, breast, and arms with these salivary prayers, as if he were tattooed, seemed to look through his round, motionless eyes at his worshipful marksmen with some disgust, as if he had received the most humiliating assignment, in the distribution of duties, by the divine conference of gods. Even this grotesque worship was no more absurd than some of the forms of worship common in Christendom.

  Before another image was a large monkey, which, when he picked up the coin we threw down, bowed and touched the ground reverently with his forehead, and then passed it to his master, who cast it into the offertory box before the image. We stood near an image with a weary expression. He was gradually being rubbed down to nothing; for his worshippers, passing him in line, vigorously rubbed their hands on his defenceless head, in the belief that this act relieved some kinds of disease. These incessant rubbings had worn away a part of his forehead and greatly impaired his sightliness if not his usefulness; nor did there appear to be any shops where worn-out deities could be restored. No doubt his cures for disease were as valuable as the "patent medicines" of Europe and America.

  The Japanese appear to excel all people in the preparation of suitable and imposing places for the repose of their dead monarchs, as in the Shrines of Shiba, where the groves of lofty and solemn cryptomerias, gigantic and dark-plumed sentinels, stand with immutable dignity over the royal tombs.

  As the imperial carriage in which we rode passed under the branches of these watchmen of the dead, a flock of crows flew up, and with much cawing settled in their branches. The King, who was half-asleep from the reaction and strain of the previous day's extraordinary excitement, listened, and then uttered to the Imperial Prince by his side this aphorism: "The noblest aspiration of man is to hear birds sing." The Prince was no doubt surprised at this crisp summary of man's nature and aspirations, but, like a true courtier, he bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, it is true." The King's head began to nod again in peaceful nap, and the crows gave him a screeching encore.

  The daily papers of Tokio published translations of articles in the foreign encyclopædias and geographies on the Hawaiian group of islands, and translations from the press were daily presented to us by one of the officers who attended the King. His bearing and appearance were commended, but the skin colouring of the party puzzled the Japanese writers. It was said that we were Hawaiians, which was of course true so far as place of birth went; but here, the press said, was a dark, almost black, King; a Minister of State who was of the light Anglo-Saxon type; and a swarthy Chamberlain. "It must be," wrote one editor, "a curious race which produces such different types of colour." When the members of the Japanese court learned that the suite were men of American descent, though born in Hawaii, they looked upon it as singular that the King should travel without any native member of his court. They suspected that the white men had already become dominant in his kingdom, and that he was only a figure-head. It typified to them the coming supremacy of Anglo-Saxons in the Pacific regions.

  Count Inouye called with a message from the Emperor, requesting the King to change his purpose of leaving the Empire within three days, as he had informed the Emperor he intended to do; the Emperor wished to give him a banquet, and, as he was the first King of Christendom who had entered the Empire, he desired to mark his visit with a grand ball in the palace, which would, it was intimated, be the most notable given since the new order of things was established; there would also be a grand review of the imperial troops, special theatrical exhibitions, and other entertainments. The King assented to his request, for he was gaining much knowledge, but unfortunately it was through the distorting medium of Polynesian ideas and vagaries.

  In this interview there took place the one serious diplomatic event of our tour,—one which was most creditable to the King and worthy of an humble place in history.

  The humiliating position of the Japanese under their existing treaties with foreign nations was mentioned during this interview. These treaties largely excluded Japanese sovereignty from a number of its own seaports, known as the "treaty ports;" they permitted foreign consuls, some of them being incompetent and ignorant, to be the supreme judges of matters involving the rights of the Japanese. It was admitted by all that these treaties were in violation of international law; but as they had been executed by the Japanese government when it was powerless, and under what Secretary Seward called "gentle pressure," the nations now refused to modify or abrogate them, in spite of the earnest requests of the Japanese government and the demands of the people. The case was illustrative of the use of brute force by the powers of Christendom. The treaty between Japan and the Hawaiian Islands was similar to other treaties, but it was of no practical value, because there was little commerce between the two countries. The King's government had been requested, as other governments had been, to abrogate these objectionable treaties; but the request had not been granted. I had been asked by my colleagues to discuss the subject with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, if we should visit the Empire.

  I now asked Count Inouye to remain while the King, and I, as Royal Commissioner, could briefly consult in private. We soon returned, and I, speaking for the King's Cabinet, said to the Minister that the King would at once consent to the abrogation of the harsh and unjust clause of our treaty with Japan, subject to the approval of his entire Cabinet, though we were satisfied that it would abide by our act. Speaking for the King, I said that he hastened to do a just and friendly act, since he had been so cordially received by the Emperor. The Minister was deligthed. He declared that the day on which our treaty was modified would be a red-letter day in Japanese history, and this prompt consent to abrogation would give the Emperor and the people of Japan unbounded pleasure. It was then agreed between ourselves that this act should remain an open State secret until the Hawaiian Cabinet had approved of it; for the publication of it officially would greatly disturb the ambassadors and ministers of the European Powers, who would see in it an entering wedge which would, by example, force open the humiliating clamp of iron wherein the Powers had held the Empire for twenty years. As soon as the Japanese Minister left, I sought the American Minister, Mr. Bingham, and related the results of this interview. He approved of what we had done and smiled at its audacity. An instrument abrogating the unjust clause in the treaty was immediately drawn up. I addressed a letter, with the King's cordial consent and the approval of the Chamberlain, who was an excellent adviser, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in which was written:

  "The Hawaiian government is willing to incorporate in a treaty a full and complete recognition of the integrity of the Japanese Empire, and it will relinquish all claims of whatsoever nature which may arise out of what is known as the extra-territorial rights in the existing treaty."

  This was the first diplomatic business in which I had been engaged, and I looked at it as a boy looks at his first successful composition. The use of such condescending language to a nation which could flip the Hawaiian people into the sea by a turn of its hand seemed to be absurd, but our little kingdom, so far as maintaining this obnoxious treaty was concerned, had behind it the power of Europe. Aside from being a party to an act of justice, I rather enjoyed the fun of throwing fire into the dried grass of the international prairie,—a fire which would soon force the uneasy diplomats who represented the Great Powers to scurry about to extinguish it. This tour was therefore not without its uses. I have no doubt, when the diplomats discovered this deed after we left, they exclaimed in private, "Oh, bother the little Hawaiian beggar for getting between our legs!"1

  When the Emperor and the men of the Empire were confidentially told of this transaction, they were greatly pleased, and resolved to make the King's visit most
memorable if lavish hospitality could do it.

  Footnote

  1 The instrument abrogating this treaty was not executed, owing to the strenuous remonstrances of the European governments. Seventeen years after this negotiation the humiliating clause was removed from all the treaties, and the complete integrity of the Japanese Empire was recognised by all nations.

  CHAPTER VII

  Entertainments in Our Palace — The King Receives the Representatives of Foreign Nations — Dr. Benjamin Franklin's Japanese Descendants — The King Carefully Guarded — The Position of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the Pacific — Its Growth — The Japanese Character — The Sudden Rise of the People and Their Reformations — Review of Japanese Troops — An Earthquake — The Skeleton in Our Military Closet — The Hawaiian Army and Navy — A Japanese Drama — The King Presents a Drop — Curtain to the Theatre — The Hawaiian Minister Visits Count Inouye — His Residence — Strange Adventures of Two Japanese Statesmen.

  ON the day following this transaction our evening banquet was unusually fine. At its close twenty noted singers and dancers entertained us in one of the drawing-rooms. Following them was a seemingly grotesque dance, in the costumes in fashion two centuries before this time. The performers at certain intervals turned somersaults, producing effects which were undeniably amusing and picturesque.

  The next day the King received the ambassadors and ministers of foreign nations at the Japanese court. These, the British, French, German, Austrian, Russian, Chinese, with their attaches, made a brilliant company, as they appeared in court attire. The King announced that he should appoint Mr. R. W. Irwin, the Hawaiian Consul, and the clever great-grandson of Dr. Benjamin Franklin; to be the Hawaiian Minister at the Japanese court. Mr. Irwin had married a Japanese lady, by whom he had a number of children. The old Doctor never dreamed of his descendant in the third generation living in an Oriental empire of which he had not heard, and of his own blood mingling with a curious and strange race which had leaped in a moment from paganism into European "civilisation." The predictions of "Poor Richard," in his "Almanack," never included such an extravagant horoscope as this.