Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, OCT. 25, 1900. The Dowager Empress.

Manawatu Herald, 25 October 1900, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, OCT. 25, 1900. The Dowager Empress.

The intentions of the Dowager-Em-press of China are just what everyone would like to know, and considering the very varied information from the interior of that country, are not likely to be known. As a great historical character much interest is centred in her, 'and a sketch of her career, from the cradle to quite recentlyj appearing in tfie Royal Magazine, comes at an opportune moment. The Empress was .given so many names at her birth, some eight, that in self-defence they had to be contracted to Tze-hsi. She is of middle height, with black hair, dark eyes, and feet shaped according to nature. Her father was a Manchu noble who fell upon evil days and

lost his position and wealth until in 1848, when at Canton he was in a state of almost utter destitution. Jlb 1845 starvation stared him in the face and he sold hia daughter to a general, Ti-Du, for fifty taels. The purchaser and his wife were un-i commonly worthy and generous, and instead of immuring Tze-hsi in the family establishment she was permitted a certain amount of fraedom. Her singular intelligence soon attracted the General's notice ; he hired teachers for her and before ehe.was fifteen years of age, was known as one. of the cleverest and most desirable young^wpmett in Canton. When Hsien-lTung, the" Emperor, in 1850 issued a proclamation requesting all girld of Mauchu descent to present themselves at Pekin to become secondary wives, Tze-hsi desired her adopted parents to help her. They changed legal status from a slave to thai' of an adopted daughter and despatched her to Pekin, and was one of the ten selected. fcJhe thus became one of the highest ladies in the land. After five years of her ontrance to . the. Palgwe^ sh©^pr r esentecl her htisbafid^lth aft %en : ito the throne, as the true ' Empress was childless Tze-hsi in -due time was made " Em?pes&fi£ the. West." Some time, after 1860 the Emperor died suddenly "of a bad chi 1," but before doing bo had published an edict appointing Prince of I and his party Regents during the Crown Prince's minority. The Empress (Tze-hsi) was equal to the part and after the funeral published an edict from the Emperor, her son, four years old ! ordering Prince of I and others to be tried for high treason and appointing the Dowager-Empresses Regents of the Empire. Prince of I and others also died suddenly. In 1872 Tze-hsi'p son Tung-Chih was married but being weak, dissolute^ and self-willed he caused much trouble, and in 1875* he departed as "a guest on high.". The Enipress,; seized one nigh*t the infant son of Prince Clum, her nephew, and.^placed -him on the vacant throne, and as it was out of the right course of succession, and Ahluta, the widow of 'tEe late Emperor might have raised difficulties, she passed suddenly, _a\^ay. ... The story of the coup , d'etat of 1900 when Tze-hsi deposed and imprisoned the Emperor is thug tooldj — Kwangsu, to put it plainly is somewhat of a fool. Enamoured of European civilisation, he sought in a day to do the work of centnries ; to change the ancient customs of an almost changeless people. This foolish but well-meant labour was interrupted one fine morning by the appearance of Tze-hse, a document in nor hand. This she laid before the Emperor and bade him sign. It was praqtioally a deed.of -abdication). He refused to obey her ; arid she (relates an~att*nck(/nir wher -witnessed the scene) Handed hini the pen in silence, but with a look on her face more terrible and menacing than the fiercest threat. Kwang-su sank backin his chair in an agony-ftf indecision. Ho knew well what those terrible eyes threatened. Hsien-Fung and Tung-Chih had rebelled against this one in the * ( Forbi4dank t Cit3J%U4ftred to breathe f^^and^H^ utiffllppy 'Kwang-su kn^w t w^«^hgJLb a g^|iust obey or die. So " with a^^oior ana a gesture of despair" the Emperor put nis signature, to the edict and Tze-hsi triumphantly snatched it from her nephew's hand. .... "He, poor fallen _ Majesty, had sunken down in his e&air after sighing tho deed. A sudden deadly pallor spread over his face, and the moment after blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, dyeing , his robe and tile carpet beiteath .him. His excitement had been too much for his weak health, and it seems that he burst one of his lesser bloodvessels." ,i.l;3§sßi removed her nephew to a sequestered part of the palace, a retreat kndwn as -Ying-tai, and there she tendered him with pious care during many weeks' illness. Tze-hsi is not a paragon of virtue. But . she is '& very leasable woman, a strong, and in many ways a sagacious ruler. She knows her own mind, and nothing and nobody does she' permit, with impunity, to criticise or stand in the way of her schemes. An ideal sovereign she is emphatically not, but better, a thousand times better, than the weak or dissolute young men who have occupied the Celestial Throne during the past forty years.