The New York herald., 1879-09-04

from his government. Whether this measure is or
Is not intended AZ partial reparation for the Hes
pera outrage We have means OF knowing. We
happy to believe that it certainly will not be
cepted as such by the authorites Of this Empire.
HOW CHINA IS GovERNED-THE TWO DIN
WOMEN WHO CONDUCT THE REaENcy-A
STRANGE STORY.
For tho greater part of the past nineteen year,
says the correspondent of the London Times. China
has been governed by two old women wives of tho
imbecilc voluptuary Hsicn Feng who died in 1861.
Hsien Fcng was succeeded by his infant son. and
during tho long minority Of Tungchih, which did
not terminate till lS73 the affairs of the Empire
in the hands Of the Dowager and the Mothe.
Empresses acting Regents. In that Va
Tungchih came of age and took the reins OF gove1n
ment in his own hands. The two ladies had to =.
into retirement. and were assigned q residcnc
some of the repaired ruins Of tho magnificent Sum.
mer Palace ut Yuen ming Yuen which was destroyed
by Sir Hope Grants troops after the capture Of Pekn
in 1860. On the death OF the Emperor after short
personal reign OF only two years: the old
ladies were once more summoned from their
retirement to serve the State by fixing
on tho member of the. imperial family
who entitled to succeed to the throne This was
task which offered considerable scope for intrigue
and was moreover. OF some little difficulty for
the following reason Tho Chinese government Is
patrarchal, and the whole of tho State system and
polty arc based on the family. Tho model family is
tho imperial ono tho State roligion in so far as
and. in order to secure tho due perform
of the rites OF ancestral worship, which
mako up the greater part OF Chinese State core
monies every Emperor must by birth or sdoption
stand to his predecessor ia loco fii. What should
have been done was to have selected child Of the
imperial house belonging to tho generation below
Tungchih and placed him on the throne as his
adopted SON. with the wife Of Tungchih as regent
to order the Succession as to reinstate thom
selves in the position Of regents by placing on tho
throne an infant Of the same generation as
the late Emperor and by getting the various
leading men of the government to take part
tn on was ~ ssr Se
Of Ruangsu the title of the reign Of the present n-
FAINT the girl Empress wife Of Tungchih, who should
have been regent. was announced having died
and 1t was currently reported ut the time that her
mysterious death was In some way connected with
the lust of power which actuatod the old women
who rulo China whom they withhold for their
own aggrandizement the adoption of son to the
are far practical to he ready to ccndone put
up with chicanery by which the ends of govern
Of Tap
at all the strange action Of the regents and the
of foul play excited no official comment. aud
for four years it has not even boon limited that tho
wrong person was put on tho throne.
SECRET REvRALED.
The whole story, however, was brought bo-
fore tho country in the most prominent and. ill.,
deed. painful manner the other day. One Of the
secretaries Of tho Board OF Civil Once an official o
the highest rank named Wu Ko-tu, has for tho last
four years been broOding over the misconduct in
this matter Of the Empresses-kegcnt. Unable to
of opium aud then hanged himsolf in May last. BY
his corpse was found q "death bed letter. to tho
Empresses which. in ordor to aay suspicious Of
the manner in which no came to his end. has been
published in tho Official Gazette. 1t Is much too long
to translate here at lenath' The following extract
that 1t shows that the government OF China il
now strong enough and wise enough not to fear
publicity and not to attempt to stfe criticism OF its
action startling and theatrical as this has boen:-
During the i've or six years that hayo passed away
since your guilty servant selected secretary OF
the Board Of Civil ONCE he has looked round bus
found at Court mindful of this groat
question Of the succession to the Thrope. The ato
Emperor having been consigned to his everlasting
rest among the hills all remembrance Of him will
probably fads away Your guilty servant. ham
now wait no longer when Your Slajesties. ii
January. 1875. issued an edict causing th'
inheritance Of the present dynasty as Empero,
OF China and to become the adopted son OF HsioE
Feng. saw. with all humility. that Your Majestic'
were wrong aud then wrong again TO make tht
present Emperor son OF Hsien Fcng Is not to estab
lish successor to his late Majesty Tungchih. No
explicit statement In writing has over been made
securing the future course OF the dynssty. There
is now no open for Your Majesties. II thii
wrong is to be made right. but to issue decree
announcing in clear terms that the dynastic sue
cession will hereafter more revert to the he'll
of Tungchih; thus alone will tho traditional law
Being. as your guilty servant now is on the
verge Of death. my mental energies are so dim and
confused that the words and sense OF this my
memorial surc to fall Birds sing mournfuil!
before they die. and so tho words of q dying maj
should be- wisdom. Temper mercy with severit!
where necessary; make of aged councillor
whose experience Is matured and. finally, charge
your Majestes not to strive after those thingt
which foreign countries especially contend for
Keep something in reserve for the central howery
land. Engage In no new enterprises In which
your ancestors have not engaged. Your guilty
servant here ends his words here ends his desiroi
and here ends his ife." The worthy man. aftei
writing this. appears to have hanged himself II
IL exceedingly dramatic incident. and one hardly
knows whether to admire the boldness of the
language OF the rcmonstrauce or the boldness O
the government which published the whole incideu
to tho world. A high CONT mission has been appointet
to consider tho contents of Wu's last speech Their
is no doubt that his suicide caused by belio
that IL would be the only method Of securing tn
attention of the government to what he believed =
be State error OF tho gravest kind.