Whenever we drove in the imperial carriage to the public parks, temples, and gardens, extraordinary care was taken of the Emperor's guest. By adroit management he was not allowed to appear as a common person; he did not enter any of the shops or inns; and whenever the carriage stopped, a body of police surrounded it at once, so as to prevent any assault by a Japanese crank.
Many of the prominent men, the leaders in political affairs, did not understand why the kingdom of Hawaii had been promptly admitted as an independent sovereignty into the family of nations, almost at the moment its people came out of barbarism, while Japan, with its high civilisation, had been excluded.
Speaking for the King, I said to them that the prominent geographical position of our islands, lying at what would in time be the cross-ways of commerce in the Pacific, attracted the attention of traders, and especially American whalemen, early in the century; their relative propinquity to the United States brought them within the indefinite sphere of American influence; the British had once captured but had quickly restored the Islands; and that the commercial nations, jealous of one another's acquisitions in the Pacific, had been a practical guaranty of their independence. But the humiliating and conflicting device of "consular jurisdiction" in defiance of international right, as it then existed in Japan, would have been quickly introduced if there had not been established, at an early day, a remarkable and effective administration of justice, through Anglo-Saxon laws, by native rulers who were mainly ignorant of the nature of the laws which they adopted and enforced. This was the direct work of the American missionaries, who had received permission to remain in the country and instruct the people, and in whose intelligence and honesty the kings, chiefs, and people acquired such confidence that the administration of the laws, which were essentially Anglo-Saxon in spirit and letter, was voluntarily placed in their hands. This was so satisfactory that the subjects of the great commercial nations who resided in the little kingdom rarely disapproved the Hawaiian administration of law, and there was therefore no reason for introducing the offensive extra-territorial power of consuls and diplomats.
I did not say-for it would have displeased my royal master to say it-that the natives of Hawaii were, until recently, without a written language, without the arts, and hardly above the state of savages, but were a singularly docile people, readily yielding to the influence of honest and intelligent men. They could not be compared to the Japanese, who had an ancient and in many ways a remarkably high civilisation, and who would not quickly abandon their own political system and inherited ideas on the advice of foreigners.
A noted Japanese statesman said to me privately, in reply to my explanation," Then the natives of your kingdom are under foreign rule." I replied, "Substantially they are, but the Polynesian monarchy will be preserved by the Anglo-Saxons so long as it does not violate their sentiments of justice and order. We who are born in the kingdom are loyal to the throne."
Among the foreign residents of Japan we found that the majority of them, who are merchants and traders, declared that the Japanese are unstable, not truthful, mere imitators, and incapable of maintaining what is called a "civilised form of government."
There are defects in the Japanese character which the thoughtful Japanese candidly admit. But they declare that if the history of their own nation be justly compared with that of other nations, aside from mere material progress, the standard of their own civilisation, defective as it is, will not greatly suffer in the comparison. It was said not sixty years ago, by that wise Englishman, Sir Samuel Romilly, that "the code of the English was the worst code of all nations, and worthy of cannibals;" and Mc-Carthy writes, in the "History of Our Own Times," that "not until Victoria's reign was there a legislative enactment which fairly acknowledged the difference between an English wife and a purchased slave." If this be true of English civilisation, which has developed for a thousand years under the burning light of the Holy Cross, what comment can the Anglo-Saxon make upon the civilisation of a nation upon which the light of the Cross has never shone,—a civilisation which advanced only under the dim moral lights of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shintoism.
Whatever the virtues or vices of the Japanese are, it is one of the marvels of history that this people, numbering over thirty millions, has, in the twinkling of an eye, measuring time by slow historical growth, shaken off an ancient feudal system, destroyed the autocracy of the powerful daimyos, and reached the open highway of political regeneration, with far less turmoil, bloodshed, and revolution than has marked the progress of Occidental political institutions.
In honour of his royal guest the Emperor ordered a review of the Japanese troops, of all kinds, which were stationed in Tokio. Of these about ten thousand were in parade. The King and suite, in an imperial carriage, arrived at the barracks and alighted before the Emperor's tent, which was lined with silk, but otherwise was not adorned. The Emperor, at the opening of his tent, received the King. While the monarchs stood before it, the entire Diplomatic Corps in full uniforms were presented to them. Horses with rich trappings of gold cloth were now brought forward, and the monarchs mounted. The Emperor rode well, while bettos, or running attendants, one on each side of the animal, kept close to his head. The King was a superb horseman, for he was trained in his early days to the use of the lariat in the capture of wild cattle. The cavalry horses in this part of the empire were stallions; the mares were kept in the western provinces. The animals were small, stocky, and active.
The Cabinet Ministers, the General Staff, the King's suite, and the Diplomatic Corps made a considerable cavalcade behind the monarchs. At this time foreign military men undervalued the power of the Japanese for military organisation, though a few of them, who were acute observers, suspected that it would prove to be singularly strong. In our cavalcade were the Japanese officers who subsequently chased but hardly fought the Chinese in the war of 1894. At the close of the review the monarchs entered the tent alone for a few minutes, and then parted.
At the State luncheon in our palace the next day an earthquake shook the building. The table rocked as if it were tipsy. Mother Earth was on a "spree," reeling and shivering as if her bowels were filled with alcohol instead of fire. She has these unseemly bouts in this land to the number of five hundred a year, and occasionally she gets upon a fearful "tear," ripping up the fine clothing of forests and meadows on her back, defiant of the text that "earth was made for man." The Japanese guests showed no excitement; they laid down neither knife nor fork; not one of them looked around or made comment. Here they displayed the delicate refinement of the people, who in social life ignore disagreeable events, even to an extreme. No allusion whatever was made to this seismic orgy until the King asked if earthquakes were dreaded. The venerable and noble Prince Date replied that though they were common they were dreaded, because at times they were destructive, and, like tamed beasts, could not be trusted. A facetious Japanese, who had been educated in England, remarked, when I noticed the equanimity and silence with which the riotous earthquake was received by his countrymen, that it was mainly due to the fact that there were no profane words in their language; but whenever the people learned to use the English language with freedom its superb equipments in forcible oaths would provoke them to make suitable comments on such an event.
A small and unwelcome military skeleton now appeared in our royal closet and began gently to rattle at our feasts. The army of Hawaii, its size, formation, and use, interested the Japanese court. The large and commanding figure of the Chamberlain, with his brilliant Colonel's uniform, made him conspicuous, and provoked many questions about the army. Now, on a "war footing" it numbered about seventy-five men, who were merely volunteers, and were, it was said by an irreverent white subject, lavishly fed on bananas in order to stimulate their courage. Their duties were to guard the Palace, parade on holidays, and "present arms" to the court and distinguished visitors. In the event of trouble it was generally believed that they had no fervent desire "to kiss the hot lips of the enemy'
s guns" or achieve any heroic act whatsoever. We had hoped that the subject of our military establishment would be ignored in our intercourse with foreign courts, for a correct statement regarding it might abate the King's dignity.
At the "squirrel point" in this banquet,—when the guests began to crack the nuts,—an inquisitive Japanese statesman turned to the Chamberlain and inquired, "Colonel, how large is your army?" Thereupon the little skeleton rattled so that we of the royal party distinctly heard it, and the Colonel hesitated. His Majesty was silent, and I waited to see how the Colonel would escape a truthful reply. It was customary, in the Hawaiian celebrations, for the King's poet laureate to represent the army as larger than that of Milton's devils in array to fight the angels; an army so large that its rear lay wrapped in night while breaking day roused its broad front; but on this foreign soil there were no loyal and sympathetic Hawaiian subjects to applaud such an estimate.
The Chamberlain took refuge in brevity,—"The army is not large; it consists of volunteers,"-and became silent. The question was not repeated at this time, but during the tour it frequently and sorely confronted us, and as often as it did the little skeleton grimly rattled and the King and suite were depressed in spirit.
The information regarding our navy was proudly given. For home use a tugboat with a howitzer mounted on its bows was quite enough to sweep our inland seas. As a nation, however, our independence was carefully protected by the jealousy of the European and American nations, so that for all practical purposes their navies were our navy, especially that of the United States. Whenever, therefore, the matter of our navy was suggested at grand banquets, the King usually designated me to answer, which I did by boldly stating that we commanded the largest navy in the world, following the statement with explanations that justified it. We said to the Japanese, "Your navy is our navy, because you are interested in maintaining our independence." At the same time, as an American, I felt that the star of American empire was rapidly moving toward Hawaii, and no other nation was likely to attempt to hitch a line to it to draw it away from its course.
By command of the Emperor one of the tragic dramas was presented in the theatre. It depicted an historical event which involved many sanguinary deeds. The actors declaimed in falsetto voices; the orchestra, between the acts, uttered sounds which to our ears seemed to be the invariable and monotonous repetition of the vowel "uu-uu." The audience consisted of the higher class of the people and were specially invited. The transition of fashion in dress from the old Japanese to the European forms was apparent. Ladies in kimonos and those in Parisian clothing were side by side. Paths of boards on a level with the heads of the audience were laid from the stage toward the doors; and the actors at times strode down these alleys declaiming in the midst of their hearers. The streets adjoining the theatre were illuminated in honour of the King, who at the close followed the example of General Grant and presented to the theatre a large drop-curtain covered with figures and inscriptions in memory of the event.
The next day I returned the official call made on me by Count Inouye, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. On reaching the entrance to his residence a servant removed my shoes and led me over a fine matting to an exquisitely furnished room. On a lacquer table was placed a hibachi filled with white sand, and on this a small charcoal fire was burning, at which we warmed our fingers. The Anglo-Saxon warms his toes, but the Japanese, for some hygienic or other reason, warms his body through his fingers. Snow was gently falling at the time, but the people, like most Europeans, are accustomed to a low temperature which would make Americans uncomfortable. Since the time of this visit the Minister has become justly distinguished as a far-seeing, prudent, and wise statesman. He related to me some of the incidents of his early life. He and Ito, now the Marquis, were members of the Satsuma clan, and were sent by their chief to England in order to ascertain the causes of English power. Boarding an English vessel at Shanghai, and unable to speak the English language, they failed to make the captain understand that they were passengers, and were at once placed in the forecastle and served during the voyage as common sailors. On reaching London they were unable to communicate with their bankers for several days for lack of an interpreter, and therefore begged their way on the docks.
Ito (1881).
The Minister again told me of the pleasure which our willingness to abrogate the Japanese-Hawaiian treaty had given his government. As I returned to our palace of the Enriokwan in the imperial carriage, I chuckled over the fact that our little insignificant kingdom was throwing some sand into the ponderous machinery of international law. It was the release of a mouse in a ball-room.
CHAPTER VIII
The King Proposes a Matrimonial Alliance Between the Royal Families of Japan and Hawaii — The Plan Fails — The King Visits the Christian Church in Yokohama — Japanese Views Regarding Christian Missions — Their Political Danger.
THERE now occurred an unexpected and romantic incident which gave the King's suite some anxiety and annoyance. The King, without informing us of his scheme, suddenly and rather mysteriously left our palace in company with the Emperor's Chamberlain. It was a neglect of his own suite which was entirely contrary to etiquette. Its secrecy puzzled us, as he usually placed the fullest confidence in us. On his return he did not disclose to us that he had made a secret visit to the Emperor, and that he had asked that it should be treated as a confidential affair. The Emperor, however, for "reasons of State," had told his Foreign Minister about it, and the Emperor's Chamberlain, in order that the King's Cabinet might understand the affair, confidentially intimated to the suite the nature of it. But it was not until we returned to Hawaii that the details of it were disclosed.
In the curious recesses of his Polynesian brain the King had contrived a scheme of matrimonial alliance between the thrones of Japan and Hawaii. He had a vague fear that the United States might in the near future absorb his kingdom. He therefore proposed a marriage between one of the imperial princes of Japan and the Princess Kaiulani, his niece, and heir to the throne, which would naturally enlist the Japanese government against any annexation schemes of the United States. Knowing that his suite would vigorously oppose his plan as utterly impracticable, he chose to take the affair into his own hands. The Emperor received his suggestion with excellent humour and politeness, but declared that it required much reflection and would be a startling departure from Japanese traditions. Soon after we reached home the Imperial Chamberlain of the Emperor appeared in Hawaii on a secret mission, bearing a letter from the Emperor respectfully declining the proposition for a matrimonial alliance. Aside from social reasons, the Emperor, with his advisers, would not aid in any scheme which impaired the "sphere of American influence over Hawaii." This incident did not in the least disturb our pleasant relations with the Japanese court, but it made the suite more watchful against escapades of the Crowned Head it was steering around the world. Had the scheme been accepted by the Emperor, it would have tended to make Hawaii a Japanese colony; a movement distasteful to all of the Great Powers.
The Japanese Christians of Yokohama earnestly petitioned the King to receive from them a copy of the New Testament in the Japanese language. We received an intimation that the Japanese government would not be offended in the least by a public reception of this gift by the Emperor's guest. The King, with his suite, accordingly went privately to Yokohama, and in the Protestant church, partially built with aid from Hawaiian Christians, received it, and, standing in the pulpit, declared that Protestant missionaries had rendered most valuable services in his kingdom. This public testimony to the value of Christianity made by a monarch, the guest of a nation which coldly tolerated it, was not without advantage to the promotion of evangelical missions in the Empire.
The establishment of Christian missions in Japan was often discussed in our interviews with Japanese statesmen. The missionaries were not students of political science, and they failed to see the inseparable union, in all nations, of political and religious habits and ideas. In the
present state of human society, governments, which essentially represent the people's habits, traditions, and beliefs, and do not create them, must rule through those settled beliefs and usages. A disturbance, therefore, of religious beliefs invariably disturbs the political situation. Any religious doctrine which impairs the prevailing creed of a nation impairs the political power of the nation's rulers and tends inevitably toward peaceful or forcible revolution. The missionary is therefore an unconscious political revolutionist, however vigorously he may deny it. The stability of the Emperor's throne in Japan, in the opinion of its statesmen, largely depended upon the abiding faith in the Emperor's divine origin and infallibility. The teaching of the doctrine by the missionaries that no human being or sovereign had a divine origin, though not intended for any political, but purely for a religious purpose, tended to impair the political power of the Emperor and made the missionary a dangerous person in the community. The Japanese leaders well knew the power of Christianity for good in the Western civilisation, but they feared that in the transition state of Japan its general prevalence might unsettle the political condition and retard the reconstruction of the Empire. They believed in the toleration of all religions, because the great nations tolerated them; but they feared the political disturbance which might follow toleration. They desired, during the transition period of Japanese civilisation, to use the popular belief in the Emperor's infallibility as a means of preserving order; as a scaffolding for holding the people together until the new order of things had hardened. The bitter and absurd conflicts of the creeds of Christendom, represented by the many denominations in the Empire, astounded the thinking Japanese. "Unless," said one of their noted men to us, "Christianity can be brought to us with a common creed, converts from the lower classes may be secured; the thinking men will stand aloof."
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