Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-07-12
iority, was duly proclaimed emperor

jority. was duly proclaimed emperor
and the regency ended
| Apparently Tsu isis career was
closed. Wise and silent. she drew back
| with her sister regent into private I'M
perial life. But she was In fact only
the shrewd, faFseeing spider withdraw
ing into the corner of his web until the
unsuspecting fly should be deeper in
his tolls Trusted by her son and cog
infant Of all the state affairs, Tsu Isl
merely watched closely for the mo-
ment TO make her sortie. II came pres
emily. prefaced by an alarming rumor
that the emperor's health was failing
| seriously. Naturally the government
must be protected, and. with sick.
| perhaps dying, emperor, what more
| suitable and proper than that the re-
| gents who had proved themselves eff
ficient before should be summoned
| again to take the reins of state? With
in a month the youthful emperor be-
came, as his subjects were piously in
| formed, "A guest on high" But the
| government was saved, for the two
| expresses were in full authority, and
obviously, for the best interests of the
country, they would be asked to retain
| It. Tung Chi had married a young
| wife not long before his death, and, as
she was about to become mother, 1t
was supposed that IL she bore a son
he would naturally be proclaimed the
| heir of his father. For reasons best
known to herself. however, Tsu Isl did
not wait for any such development,
but presented at once to the Chinese
people a new emperor in the person OF
Kwang Shu, young son of a brother
Of the Emperor Hsien Fung.
What her reasons for this step were
are not readily understood by even those
most conversant with Chinese history.
Had her daughter-in-law's motherhood
resulted In a male child, her regency
would have been even longer than
with this nephew heir. Her choice,
zoo, OF the new boy emperor was dis
tinct violation of one of the most sa-
cred traditions of the country, that of
ancestral worship, for, as Kwang Shu
was a cousin of his Immediate success
SCR, he belonged TO the same genera
ton. Tsu Isl, however, had reasons
of her own for riding rouGhshod over
natural sequence and hallowed tradl-
ton and effectually carried her point.
In order that no possible complications
should arise a mysterious illness fell
upon the young wife of the late Tung
Chi, and the next imperial funeral was
that of herself and her unborn babe.
Apparently things went to please Tsu
Isl for some years after this, for, ex-
cept the usual beheadings and disap-
pearances that must mark the conduct
of an autocratic government, no deaths
are reported in the royal household.
About 1881, however, IL began to be
rumored that there was some friction
between the senior and Junior regents;
it was not at all extraordinary, there
fore, that the former should develop
heart failure and finally die apparently
from the effects OF this serious trouble,
making Tsu Isl, Isl An, dowager en-
press and sole in authority.
In due time Kwang Shu attained
his majority and Isl An once more
nOminally retired. The health of the
palace continued unbroken until very
recently, when Kwang Shu, who had
declared himself strongly in favor of
progressive reform in the Chinese en-
pire, showed a tendency to succumb
TO the malignant air of the imperial
city, and Isl An was once more i'm
plored to come out of her retirement |
and assume for the third time the |
regency. This she promptly did, but |
Kwang Shu continued i'll. Nor is it |
the skill of the Chinese physicians that |
has availed to keep the young emperor |
alive. IL he still be living of which !
there is no positive assurance. 1t is |
rather the protest from the foreign |
office OF Europe that IL the emperor's |
death were announced the powers |
would demand a strict investigation.
How far the present situation is in |
control of the empress cannot be |
known. 1t is possible that she has let |
loose elements that she will have no |
power to control when they have serv-
ed her purpose. She Is an old woman,
too. and, while she shows little evil
dence of having sheathed her claws or
lost her venom in the apathy or weak
ness of age, 1t is not improbable that
a sense of growing impotence is upon
her. But her race has ever been q
one. She has been content to
bide her time at each crisis of her
career. patiently watching and wait
Ing for the moment to strike the telling
blow, and this may be the case now.
II must be admitted, however, that Isl
An will need all her skill and crafti-
ness, all her cold blooded despotism
and the most diplomatic diplomacy of
ler faithful ally and adviser, Ii Hung
Chang, to come victorious out of the
present complicated situation.
New Field For Artists.