The Forrest City times., 1899-02-03
CATHARlNE II. OF CHINA
Grand Old Woman Who Has So LonR
Ruled the Celestial
Empire.

Catharine LII. of China is not merely q
great empress; historic M of the future
may te trusted to regard her as great
woman. A dispatch recently cabled
from Peking to the Herald describes
her as seated on dais receiving the
ladies of the diplomatic corps. The
emperor is reported TO have been also
present, but unimportantly, at her left.
1t was nice of her. though, to let him be
there at all. He is but the nephew Of
his aunt. 1t is the lady who reigns and
who has reigned for 81 years. Said Con.
fucius: Man is to woman what the
sun is to the moon; he orders. she
obeys, and harmony is the result"
Confucius was wise in his generation.
but not in nineteenth century Cathay.
There the moon orders, and not the
sun merely but the nephew also obeys.
1t is as well, perhaps. There are prede-
cessors of his who balked and who be-
cause of it rejoined their ancestors in
stanter. Catharine ii. of China is lady
who likes her own way That. howev-
er, is natural. Catharine l. of Russia
began life as a servant. Catharine IL
Of China began as slave. 1t is said
that, contrary to local custom, her face
is not painted. But everything about
her is contrary to local custom. Never
till she emerged from her scullery has
woman dreamed of usurping the
dragon seat. Fancy an odalesque step
ping from the seraglio and ousting the
sultan from his throne. Such per-
formance is unimaginable, and yet this
lady has done better, one might even
say worse.
The empress dowager is by birth
Tartar. The fact is worth noting. Tar
tars do not mutilate their daughters
feet. The girl had free use Of hers. At
the age of IL she was sold to a manda,
rim. In and about his household hey
feet took her where her superiors could
not go. A Chinese girl who marries
passes from one prison to another. OF
the outer world she knows nothing. OF
that outer world her slaves know all.
1t was this way with little Isl Au.
What she did not know she guessed,
and what she could not guess she
learned. She learned to dance. A bee
could not equal her. She learned to
read. On the tip of her tongue were
a hundred stories each more diverting
than the other. On the tom-tom she
learned to strum. The three notes that
are dear TO the orient she repeated sur
prisingly. She learned more difficult
things, too; how to arrange basket Of
fruit, how TO touch flowers how to
smile, and how to hold her tongue.
Astonished at the prodigy, the manda-
rim sent her as a curiosity to his sover-
eign at Peking. One day the Son of
Heaven noticed her. The slave became
favorite, and, becoming a mother, be-
came also a secondary wife. There, one
might suppose, that had she ambitions
they would have rested. 1t was there
they began. Though that was 81 years
ago they have been increasing ever
since. AS recently related here, there
successfully departed this life the Son
of Heavtn, the Son of Heavens son,
others who were in the way There
after she was supreme.
Lately, when the ladies of the diplo.
matte corps paraded before her she
patted the wife of the British ambas-
sador on the cheek. The Herald states
that in doing so she wore a charming
smile. One may readily believe il Her
hand is as strong as Eer rise Is pro-
digious. In modern times both are un-
paralleled. There is indeed another
instance of slave attaining imperia.
power, but it occurred in Hay.i, and
what occurs in Hayti does not count
Even otherwise this lady is unique. Re-
garded merely as Chinese firecracker,
she is destined TO burn into history
with flame intolerably vicious per-
haps, and yet entirely her own. - COL
lier's Weekly.