太子爷小说网 > 英语电子书 > roughing it >

第84节

roughing it-第84节

小说: roughing it 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!



beforeonly this; and nothing more; after him would stride his fellow;
with the legs of a pair of pantaloons tied around his neck; the rest of
his person untrammeled; in his rear would come another gentleman simply
gotten up in a fiery neck…tie and a striped vest。

The poor creatures were beaming with complacency and wholly unconscious
of any absurdity in their appearance。  They gazed at each other with
happy admiration; and it was plain to see that the young girls were
taking note of what each other had on; as naturally as if they had always
lived in a land of Bibles and knew what churches were made for; here was
the evidence of a dawning civilization。  The spectacle which the
congregation presented was so extraordinary and withal so moving; that
the missionaries found it difficult to keep to the text and go on with
the services; and by and by when the simple children of the sun began a
general swapping of garments in open meeting and produced some
irresistibly grotesque effects in the course of re…dressing; there was
nothing for it but to cut the thing short with the benediction and
dismiss the fantastic assemblage。

In our country; children play 〃keep house;〃 and in the same high…sounding
but miniature way the grown folk here; with the poor little material of
slender territory and meagre population; play 〃empire。〃  There is his
royal Majesty the King; with a New York detective's income of thirty or
thirty…five thousand dollars a year from the 〃royal civil list〃 and the
〃royal domain。〃  He lives in a two…story frame 〃palace。〃

And there is the 〃royal family〃the customary hive of royal brothers;
sisters; cousins and other noble drones and vagrants usual to monarchy;
all with a spoon in the national pap…dish; and all bearing such titles as
his or her Royal Highness the Prince or Princess So…and…so。  Few of them
can carry their royal splendors far enough to ride in carriages; however;
they sport the economical Kanaka horse or 〃hoof it〃 with the plebeians。

Then there is his Excellency the 〃royal Chamberlain〃a sinecure; for his
majesty dresses himself with his own hands; except when he is ruralizing
at Waikiki and then he requires no dressing。

Next we have his Excellency the Commander…in…chief of the Household
Troops; whose forces consist of about the number of soldiers usually
placed under a corporal in other lands。

Next comes the royal Steward and the Grand Equerry in Waitinghigh
dignitaries with modest salaries and little to do。

Then we have his Excellency the First Gentleman of the Bed…chamberan
office as easy as it is magnificent。

Next we come to his Excellency the Prime Minister; a renegade American
from New Hampshire; all jaw; vanity; bombast and ignorance; a lawyer of
〃shyster〃 calibre; a fraud by nature; a humble worshiper of the sceptre
above him; a reptile never tired of sneering at the land of his birth or
glorifying the ten…acre kingdom that has adopted himsalary; 4;000 a
year; vast consequence; and no perquisites。

Then we have his Excellency the Imperial Minister of Finance; who handles
a million dollars of public money a year; sends in his annual 〃budget〃
with great ceremony; talks prodigiously of 〃finance;〃 suggests imposing
schemes for paying off the 〃national debt〃 (of 150;000;) and does it all
for 4;000 a year and unimaginable glory。

Next we have his Excellency the Minister of War; who holds sway over the
royal armiesthey consist of two hundred and thirty uniformed Kanakas;
mostly Brigadier Generals; and if the country ever gets into trouble with
a foreign power we shall probably hear from them。  I knew an American
whose copper…plate visiting card bore this impressive legend:
〃Lieutenant…Colonel in the Royal Infantry。  To say that he was proud of
this distinction is stating it but tamely。  The Minister of War has also
in his charge some venerable swivels on Punch…Bowl Hill wherewith royal
salutes are fired when foreign vessels of war enter the port。

Next comes his Excellency the Minister of the Navya nabob who rules the
〃royal fleet;〃 (a steam…tug and a sixty…ton schooner。)

And next comes his Grace the Lord Bishop of Honolulu; the chief dignitary
of the 〃Established Church〃for when the American Presbyterian
missionaries had completed the reduction of the nation to a compact
condition of Christianity; native royalty stepped in and erected the
grand dignity of an 〃Established (Episcopal) Church〃 over it; and
imported a cheap ready…made Bishop from England to take charge。  The
chagrin of the missionaries has never been comprehensively expressed; to
this day; profanity not being admissible。

Next comes his Excellency the Minister of Public Instruction。

Next; their Excellencies the Governors of Oahu; Hawaii; etc。; and after
them a string of High Sheriffs and other small fry too numerous for
computation。

Then there are their Excellencies the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French; her
British Majesty's Minister; the Minister Resident; of the United States;
and some six or eight representatives of other foreign nations; all with
sounding titles; imposing dignity and prodigious but economical state。

Imagine all this grandeur in a play…house 〃kingdom〃 whose population
falls absolutely short of sixty thousand souls!

The people are so accustomed to nine…jointed titles and colossal magnates
that a foreign prince makes very little more stir in Honolulu than a
Western Congressman does in New York。

And let it be borne in mind that there is a strictly defined 〃court
costume〃 of so 〃stunning〃 a nature that it would make the clown in a
circus look tame and commonplace by comparison; and each Hawaiian
official dignitary has a gorgeous vari…colored; gold…laced uniform
peculiar to his officeno two of them are alike; and it is hard to tell
which one is the 〃loudest。〃  The King had a 〃drawing…room〃 at stated
intervals; like other monarchs; and when these varied uniforms congregate
thereweak…eyed people have to contemplate the spectacle through smoked
glass。  Is there not a gratifying contrast between this latter…day
exhibition and the one the ancestors of some of these magnates afforded
the missionaries the Sunday after the old…time distribution of clothing?
Behold what religion and civilization have wrought!




CHAPTER LXVIII。

While I was in Honolulu I witnessed the ceremonious funeral of the King's
sister; her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria。  According to the royal
custom; the remains had lain in state at the palace thirty days; watched
day and night by a guard of honor。  And during all that time a great
multitude of natives from the several islands had kept the palace grounds
well crowded and had made the place a pandemonium every night with their
howlings and wailings; beating of tom…toms and dancing of the (at other
times) forbidden 〃hula…hula〃 by half…clad maidens to the music of songs
of questionable decency chanted in honor of the deceased。  The printed
programme of the funeral procession interested me at the time; and after
what I have just said of Hawaiian grandiloquence in the matter of
〃playing empire;〃 I am persuaded that a perusal of it may interest the
reader:

      After reading the long list of dignitaries; etc。; and remembering
      the sparseness of the population; one is almost inclined to wonder
      where the material for that portion of the procession devoted to
      〃Hawaiian Population Generally〃 is going to be procured:

Undertaker。
Royal School。  Kawaiahao School。  Roman Catholic School。  Maemae School。
Honolulu Fire Department。
Mechanics' Benefit Union。
Attending Physicians。
Knonohikis (Superintendents) of the Crown Lands; Konohikis of the Private
Lands of His Majesty Konohikis of the Private Lands of Her late Royal
Highness。
Governor of Oahu and Staff。
Hulumanu (Military Company)。
Household Troops。
The Prince of Hawaii's Own (Military Company)。
The King's household servants。
Servants of Her late Royal Highness。
Protestant Clergy。  The Clergy of the Roman Catholic Church。
His Lordship Louis Maigret; The Right Rev。  Bishop of Arathea; Vicar…
Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands。
The Clergy of the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church。
His Lordship the Right Rev。  Bishop of Honolulu。
Her Majesty Queen Emma's Carriage。
His Majesty's Staff。
Carriage of Her late Royal Highness。
Carriage of Her Majesty the Queen Dowager。
The King's Chancellor。
Cabinet Ministers。
His Excellency the Minister Resident of the United States。
H。 B。 M's Commissioner。
H。 B。 M's Acting Commissioner。
Judges of Supreme Court。
Privy Councillors。
Members of Legislative Assembly。
Consular Corps。
Circuit Judges。
Clerks of Government Departments。
Members of the Bar。
Collector General; Custom…house Officers and Officers of the Customs。
Marshal and Sheriffs of the different Islands。
King's Yeomanry。
Foreign Residents。
Ahahui Kaahumanu。
Hawaiian Population Generally。
Hawaiian Cavalry。
Police Force。

I resume my journal at the point where the procession arrived at the
royal mausoleum:

      As the procession filed through the gate; the military deployed
      handsomely to the right and left and f

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 1

你可能喜欢的