# Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen/Chapter 27

CHAPTER XXVII
ENGLAND’S HOMES AND HOSPITALITY
On one of the days when we were free of other engagements, the party of Queen Kapiolani took carriages, and drove out to the residence of Lady Aberdeen, where Mr. Gladstone was staying for a few days. We were received most cordially by himself and his good wife out under the trees on the ground. The weather was favorable, it was a lovely afternoon for social pleasure, and everything was done to make us feel at home in the society of the “Grand Old Man.” As I remember his appearance, he was a tall, large-framed man, with broad, high forehead, dark, piercing eyes, and a nose which was the most prominent feature of a striking and intellectual face,—certainly a countenance and a presence, once seen, not easily to be forgotten. When he spoke, there was serious thoughtfulness m his remarks, and words of world-wide significance seemed as ready with him as those of common import are with any other. There were a number of visitors claiming the honor of an interview; he listened patiently to any one’s questions, but directed his replies to all those by whom he was surrounded. Mrs. Gladstone was a tall, stylish woman of rather advanced years, of dignified mien and intelligent countenance; she stood by her ​husband’s side during most of the time while he was conversing with his visitors, and from her attentive manner one could not but receive the thought that in the eventful life of the great statesman she must have been a valuable counsellor and a sympathetic confidant.
One Sunday soon after this interview, Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Armstrong called at our hotel, and took Governor Dominis and myself, attended by Colonel Boyd, on a little outing in their good company. Mrs. Newman, and her daughter, now Mrs. John Fowler, were also with us. Arriving at the railroad station, we entered the train, by which we were conveyed some distance out of town to a pleasant place called Richmond, situated on the banks of the river Thames.
There we were conducted to a house exhibited to us as the type of an English inn. I was much interested in the edifice; for I had always read from my earliest days glorious descriptions of English inns, where the pleasures of the chase culminated, and to whose doors the trophies of the hunters were brought. But on entering this house there was a little bit of disappointment, or at least wonder, as I surveyed its contracted quarters. The rooms were low-studded and of small size, so that probably no more than fifteen persons could have found accommodations therein. I could have almost reached the ceiling, had I stretched forth my arm and pointed it upward. Then, where were the banquet halls? Surely the inns of which the English novelists had told me must have been on a grander scale than this one to which I was conducted!
​From the Inn we went on board a steamer, which the forethought of Mr. Armstrong had secured for our comfort, and started out on an excursion which was to introduce a novel experience; for, after steaming up the river a short distance, we came to a lock; to pass it there were in waiting many other water-craft of all kinds, steamers and tow-boats, little vessels propelled by sails, or even small boats by oars and poles. When the gates of the lock were opened, that, and that only, was the moment when these could pass through; so there was such a scrambling in the water about us, such a jostling, such a pushing ahead to see who would get within the lock first, or, more important, that their boat should not be left in the outer waters when the gates closed. It was a lively contest, and often it appeared as though some of the craft would be hopelessly swamped; but the affair passed without accident, for indeed, with all their rivalry, everybody was good-natured, and the occupants of the boats took the matter very cheerfully when passed by a competitor.
But there was one phase of the exhibition which excited my attention, not to say surprise and wonder. This was the indifference of the men in the smaller boats, who lounged in the stern, cigar in mouth, book or paper in hand, while the poor girls with poles exerted their strength to the utmost to shove their boats along into the waters of the lock. Men smoking or reading while the women were doing all the work! Taking their case, while from those called the weaker sex came the exertions necessary to get the boat into her place amongst the crowd of others. It was not a pleasant ​picture, nor did it speak of gallantry. I had never seen anything like it.
We all finally got through the gates of the lock, and steamed up the river until we came to a landing, where our attention was attracted by a very pretty sight; this was a house-boat, very nice in appearance, with an upper and a lower veranda, the upper being trimmed with curtains of a red material edged with white. Through the convenient folding-doors, which were opened above, we caught view of a large apartment, which I took to be the reception room, and the lower room, also thrown open, was probably the dining room. As we watched this neat home upon the water, there appeared a small skiff rowed by a man, but on the seat in the stern was another occupant,—a pretty little lady clad entirely in one prevailing color, On her head she wore a red hat; the parasol she held over it was red; she wore also red gloves and red shoes; but her fair face and golden hair made a contrast most lovely and striking with the tints of her costume and surroundings; and as she turned to look at us, the laughing blue eyes, which peeped out from under her rosy ensemble, made her indeed the picture of a charming Witch of the Thames, We watched her until she reached her house-boat, and disappeared from our gaze.
On landing, our party wended its way to another of the English inns. It had attracted our admiration from the water as it nestled prettily under the trees by which it was surrounded. On arriving we found a charming place. The long and well-kept walks of gravel and pebbles encouraging us to stray into its grounds; ​and one by one we followed this inclination, while Mrs. Newman and some others, impressed with the same desire, climbed a neighboring hill. It was not a very difficult one, nor at all high; but it was a conspicuous object, because covered with tempting verdure and dotted with flowers, chiefly of the species of the rhododendron, whose vari-colored blossoms stretched out, all over the hillsides, in charming profusion.
But the wanderers were soon called to return, and the party reunited, because an omnibus had driven up by which we were to be taken to Clifton House, an estate owned by the Duke of Westminster. A short drive brought us to its doors, where we were welcomed, and shown through the apartments. This was nearer to my ideal of an English country-house; for here were lofty ceilings, and a spacious banquet hall, opening out on a lawn of richest and most luxuriant green. Looking out over this verdant foreground could be seen far away In the distance the blue line of the River Thames, winding in and out through the forest trees which rose along its border. The view was most beautiful, and I could well believe that in the past it had been the lordly estate of the Duke of Buckingham. With the aid of a lifelike portrait of a noble lady, which from its place on the walls of the manor looked silently down, I could picture to myself the days in which she had been the charming hostess of the reception-room in which we stood. I could see her doing the honors of this beautiful residence, and making guests welcome to her handsome estate, receiving the grand lords and lovely ladies who met there after the fatigues and excitements of the ​chase, The element of sport, and the thirst for pleasure, largely influenced the customs of that former epoch in English country life; and yet, with all their gayety, they were able to provide for the sustenance and happiness of a large number of retainers or tenantry without enormous expense. For these, their people, lived under their lords and mistresses with loving submission and loyal devotion, understanding the duties of their station in life, and therewith content; they looked to them for their maintenance and kind consideration, and asked for no mere. The relation between master and retainer was one of love on both sides, of pure affection for a trusted and faithful vassal, of devotion and desire to please from the man to the master.
But at the present day all this has gone, the changes introduced by an entirely different civilization have made the former life impossible; the laws of trade, the demands of mercantile life, the advancement of commerce, of which London is the grand centre, have effected a revolution, which has entirely overthrown the relationship existing at other times between the country gentleman and his retainers. Now the lord of the manor rises early, and hurries away to the city, where important matters at the bank, or the shipping-office, or the lawyer’s desk, are waiting for him; the places on his old-time estate, which long ago were filled with trusty retainers, are desolate, and often large halls stand permanently vacant. Walls are bare of ornament or picture because there is no one to keep up the establishment. Is England better and happier for the extinction of a style of life read of in history but not to-day ​existing? At least, by such souvenirs as this manor house, are pictures brought back to one’s mind of a past, that had much in it of sufficient worth to awaken emotions of sadness that it has gone forever.
We again boarded the little steamer which had awaited our return to her decks; and when we were comfortably settled, she steamed away up the river. On the picturesque banks of the Thames we saw, as we passed, many pretty pictures of modern life. The water, too, was alive with moving craft, pleasure-boats and toiling steamers, while at several points were stationed bands of music, the strains of which came softly over the waters to our ears. All these sights and sounds added to the pleasure of our outing; and yet most of the actors in this vivid pageant were, doubtless, only intent on the business of making a livelihood, We went about as far as the depth of the water allowed the steamer to ascend, and then turning, steamed back to the landing. I must not forget to notice that our enjoyment and understanding of the places we passed was increased by the presence of two entertaining young men of leisure invited as guests, They were strangers to us, but contributed much to our pleasure and information, One was a Mr, Skinner, but the name of his associate has for the moment escaped my memory. Disembarking from our steamer, we entered the cars, and were soon again at our hotel, and with the added happiness of having stored away the memory of a most delightful day on the celebrated River Thames, as well as of Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong's charming hospitality.