Morning journal and courier., 1882-05-20
Price Four Gents.

equally fond of him. Their mother, an e1- ceedingly ambitious woman, deter mined to climb into power as Queen -Dowager by their means She therefore unfolded her plans to the most powerful among the minis CTS, and soon obtained their support. The Kin Woon- Min -Gyee, the 'Premier," had been in Europe and held strong opinions as to the reforming of his native land. There was little to be gained by the succession of the Nyoung Yan. He was an elderly man, with several wives and a number of children His opinions leaned to the notion that the old national customs were the best, whereas the young neophyte from the royal monastery might be expected to be gery plisble. The whole weight of ministerial authority WAS therefore thrown in for Theebaw, and what resulted is matter of history. All the elder princes were seized and locked up, with the exception of the Nyoung Yan and brother, who sought sanctuary in the British Resideu- cy and eventually got away in safety. Thee baw was consecrated King, but he was cross- ed in love. The elder sister, Selin Soo- o-Payah, ''Selina Sophis,'' as she was irreyerently called by the English residents in Mandslay, declined to marry him, and carried her ob- jection so far that she cut of her hair, and took refuge in a nunnery. The new King had, therefore, to content himself with the younger sister, the Soo Psyah Lat. That young lady very speedily asserted her author ity, and. with her mother, has been much more important factor in Burmese affairs. es- peeislly in Anglophobia, than the nominal sovereign -z-
 The Burmese consistently assert that she was the instigator of the massseres, and that she makes her position more secure by fos- tering the Kings taste for strong drink. Her supremacy was made patent by the fact that she remained sole Queen The usual rule is that there are four chief Queens, those of Il Ig.la ranking in that order, but TheebaE was kept the husband of one wife. It cannot De said that this was due to inclination on his part There are many terrible stories of the fate of palace maidens on whom the King had look ed too fondly. Tales of red hot needles thrust under the fnger-nails, suspension by the ankles with heavy weights tied around the neck, aud so on, efectually deterred the maids of honor from aspiring to the royal favor The Soo Payah-Lat's first child was son, but he died in the sna1pex epidemic of 1880 before he was a year old Then came two daughters. and the King began to be anxious about tine perpetuation of his line. The lordly demeanor of the Queen and the royal mother-in law had raised up many enc mics in the palace and the royal sstrologers secretly announced to King Theebsv that there was 8 spell thrown over the Soo-Payah- Lat, and that she would never bear him an heir. Thereupon his Majesty cast hiS eyes about him and took to himself the grand daughter of the Khampat Min-Gyee, the secretary for foreign affairs, and the daugh- ter of the Pehn Alvin Woon, one of the four ministers of the Interior" These ladies had to be shifted about from plaes to place to escape the nlachinations of the of tended Queen, and eventually the latter was discarded, and the Min-Gyee's granddsugh- ter installed in wing of the palace under guard of soldiery- Meanwhile, constant violent scenes were witnessed in the palace between his Majesty and the Soo-Payah-Lat, and it was even reported that he had wound ed her, and that her reproaches and violence had driven him to the drinking bout of the beginning of the year The taunt that it was by her means that he had succeeded to the throne, and that her displacement might result in his own fall, does not seem to have lost it's effect with the weak-minded Thee baw. At any rate, he hesitated to go to the extremity of casting her of, and the conse- quence WAS that two perfectly distinct and hostile parties came to exist in the palace. Chief of the southern Queens party, and hand glove with her Majesty, was the Yay- noung prince, tho leading spirit of the pal ace massacres of 1879, for which service he gained his title. With him were all the most notorious champions of the national party and haters of the English. They were en- tirely bound up with the o-Payah-Lat, and her disgrace must inevitably result in their ruin, so that they took most direct interest in the Kings marrying new Queen. During Theebag's severe illness of the beginning of the year they schemed for the succession of the Yaynoung prince to the throne, and this seems to have been divulged and has brought about their downfall.
 King Theebaw has had an interval of so- briety, and having got wind of the intrigues, has summarily settled the question by clap ping the whole party in jail. The Yaynoung prince died or committed suicide there. The Pehn A-Twin-Woon, who, through chagrin at the discarding of his daughter, had joined the Soo- o-Payah-Lat party, has been executed, with 8 number of minor officials. The others will probably follow at intervals. The final result as far as we are concerned, is the re- storation of the ministers who held office under the late King The Khampat Min Gyee from his relationship to King Thee baw, is naturally the chief authority, and he will bring in all his old friends. among whom the most important is the Kin Woon- Min-Gyes That astute old diplomatist has always had great liking for the English, and with his influence paramount at court, for the foreign secretary will yield in every thing to his former leader, we may hope that at last really satisfactory treaty may be concluded with upper Burmah- The ini- tial stumbling block seems to be already re- moved. The Pan-Gyet Woon is reported to have said in Rangoon that no great difficulty would be made to the solution of the ''shoe question: If permission be accorded to English officials to appear before the King with patent feathers, or any other covering they choose, on their feet, the great point IS gained, and we may be satisfied If the other articles of the treaty are simply a reinforce ment Of the commercial clauses of Gen fraafv of 1Se-