The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-04-17

The Two Dowagcrs or the Celestial succession
The title of this article does not refer to It
p novel of Mrs Southworth or Miss BraddOn
but 10 the solid facts of history. Who after
the latest news from China, shall deny thai
women are adroit in statc-craitE Two dow
ayers have Just usurped the sovereignty OF the
celestial cmoirc, and have added another cX
ample of the skill Of female rulers in the
Orient to the great multitude that are noticed
in Mr.. Mills Essay on the Subsection o
Women
The Chinese had a great deal of trouble il
selecting Il successor to the Emperor Iung
che, who died of smallpox month or two
ago. The common people, rs Is usual under
! ImOnarChic governments, escaped the perpicA
ity, for the mobiles and c0urticrs assumed The
entire responsibility of making the selection
- Tung-che died young and LETT no chliurcn
} His marriage was very fully described III the
Il kreHiRg Post few months ago Al the Iat
est mail adyiCcs it was reported that pos
Ithumous heir might be born to him although
1t has also been reported that the imperial
widow, Ah.lu-tc, has committed suicide by
taking a dose of gOldlcat, which Is always
fatal TO royal personagcs IN China, while IN
this country similar doses are taken every uay
with mpunity, by people OF all classes III
the way of dentistry. In China, however,
court etiquette requires that the death OF an
Emperor be announced only by his successor,
and thus the high officers OF the stale were put
| to the unpleasant necessity OF either Dleaklng
"A venerable custom or themselves Seleclins
more speedy successor TO the throne IMAM
the expectant son of All lutte. Etiquette OF
course carried the day, and way was ueVls-
ed out of their difficulty, which was more
easily followed in China than ii might have
been in other countries, where the laws OF
primorenlture are strictly observed. a NV
ing Chinese Emperor often passes over hls
eldest son and selects younger one Tor his
! successor, and there have been instances we
believe, where he has gone out OF MS Own
family in search of an heir. II living En-
peror can do this, Of course the admlnlstra-
tive officers of China were JUSTIFIED IN not
waiting long for an heir TO be born TO a ueau
| Emperor.
/ Tung-chc, as we have Satd, dled Ci small
poX When his death was known, ny lhe
i change in the color of the viCeregal seals from
the usual vermilion to the pallid blue, it was
thought that the Choice OF his successor would
| he between the son of Prince Tun, aged SIX
wears. and the infant son OF Prince huns.
! Both had the qualification of extreme yOulh,
and the selection of either would nave lei
annie oppOrtunities for able and ambitious
men to acquire power and reputation under
the regency which would rule during long
minority The clever women, however
known rs the mpresses-Dowager, have up
set the public expectation. one OF theSt
women Is the widow of the predecessor and
father of Tung-Che, the late Emperor Hen
flung; the other was ConcuDinc OF tha'
monarch and mother OF Tung-Che, ana was
raised to the rank Of "ConsortAdjolnt,' on
account of having furnished an heir TO the
throne The easy names of these danes are
fI.'y An n.k
and Tsze IITwan- Yuk 'ang-l. The person
they have selected to SIT on the Dragon Throne
is Tsai Tlen, son OF the sister OF the con
sort-Adioint" and Prince Ch'un, generally
known as the Seventh Prince" THIS boy Is
between three and four years old, and he as
cends the throne as the son OF Hlen-fung, the
official customs of China requiring that each
| Emperor shall, by pious fraud, II necessary
be regarded and treated as the son OF some
one of his predecessors, so as to preserve the
imperial line ia an ostensibly unbroken sue
CessiOn.
A great many curious documents have been
issued in order to make the choice OF Tsa
ITicn binding In one paper the boy Is for
mally adopted as the son of the Emperor
Wen Tsung Hen, the name under which Iii
en- flung was canonized, the reason assigned
for this being that "Tung-Che has assembled
upon the dragon to be q ghost on high" lin
other words, has become a real ccleStial)
without offspring" Another paper consists
of a yaledictOry address which, nulc pro tine,
Tupg.che is assumed to have written on his
death. bed for the regulation Of the succession
II is almost needless to add that Tsai Tien is
the person therein designated to be the heir OF
the aDlvine Vessel as the throne of China
is called in that country The dead emperor
assures his faithful subjects that the lad he has
chosen "is virtuously disposed and filIal, and
endowed with bright intelligence" The
point of the document is that the Expresses.
DowaGer are recognized as the rulers OF the
state during the minority Otthe young prince.
Another decree prcscrlbes that the style OF
the new reign shall be "kwangSn,' meaning
continuation of glory" Not to be behind
hand, the infant Tsai Tien has issued II paper
from his nursery, in which he officially aC-
cepts the position of Emperor, and another in
which he designates the Expresses DOwagcr
as regents until he reaches years of discretion
He assures his subjects that grave in our
mind is the trust bcqucathed, the burden OF
which is charged upon our unworthy per
SOM" but he finds some consolation in the
fact that "as it has happily been ordered, the
protection Of their two Maiesties the EN-
presses is vouchsafed until in person we take
INTO our hands the supreme power"
Such are the arrangements which have
been made for the continuation of the present
imperial dynasty OF China twill be Observ
ed that Ahlutc, the widow of Tung- che has
no place in the new government. Very many
finer late husbands subjects will sympathl2C
with her, and if she is alive and becomes the
mother of a boy, it Will not be surprising tC
hear of an effort to seat him upon his father
, throne Princes Tun and kung, we may alSC
assume, are not greatly pleased with the Sigh
bestowed upon their sons, and certain glca
Mandarin, Iii Hung Chang, man of tried
ability and valor aud of great experience
but not very popular, is spoken of as posi-
bic source of danger to The new emperor? He
however, has two women on his side, boti
clever and both experienced in public affairs
land they may possibly be as successful in
maintaining his power as they have been in
gaming IT.
i There is romance cnduGh in all this tC
III - /. t,l, g1tn1