The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-13
EMPRESS DowAaER OF CHINA.

.
 EMPRESS DowAaER OF CHINA.
 How She Gets Her Great Power and Rules Over Her People.
 Boston Transcript.
 When he had finished his lecture in Huntington Hall Thursday evening on Woman in China the Hon. Chester Holcombe, answered questions from the floor. and tqueries were fired at him in rapid succession for twenty minutes. He answered them with the same ease with which he has handled the Various phases of Chinese life in his eight lectures, and drew from the audience hearty applause for President Mckinley, Secretary Hay and the influence of Americanism in Chi ma in recent years.
 In his lecture he defined the status Of the woman in three different periods of her life. and explained wherein lies the press Dowager exercises over the affairs of her nation. To quote his explanation, During the past three years the en-ire civilized world has been watching, won- dering at and criticizing the conduct of one Chinese woman, as she has dethroncd an Emperor. taken the goveEnment of
 the empire into her own hands. appoint ed successor to the throne, whom, in turn, she thrusts back into obscurity, de- fled all the armies of America and E,i- rope. fled from the capital to remote western city, where she established the seat of government. and where she sttli was recognized by all Chinese as the source of all authority. and from which she has but recently returned to Pekin, bringing the depOsed and reinstated en- peror with her. and where she now is. an exceedingly shrcwd and able. but ter riply frightened, old woman. 1he pres ent Empress Dowager has commonly been called by foreigners-never by Chinese--s
 usurper. She is not that in any sense of
 the word. But in all Chinese history probably no circumstances have occurred which might serve to illustrate so com pletely the natural position and autocrat- ic power Of mother as those of the last fesy years in which the Dowager Em-
 press has played the most conspicuous
 part.
 The Dowager is the sole surviving wid-
 ow of the EmperorHsien Feng, who died
 in 1881. In later years, by a process of
 adoption known only in China. the pres
 ent Empress Dowager became the grand
 mother of the present Emperor. Actual
 ly she is of no discernibe relationship to
 him. But, by that process of adoption.
 constantly practiced and everywhere rcc-
 ognized in China she is his only surviv- ing grandmother. And here Is The one
 source of power and authority. alike over
 him and over the Chinese race. Not as
 Empress. but as mother. she has the full r:ght to rule under every foundation priu- ciple of the Chinese governmental sys-
 tenn. However unwise. absurd and disas- trous to the empire any act or acts of hers may have been. they have been well within the limits of her authority. &C., cording to the constitution and laws of the empire. Only death or an entire over- turning Of the entire system of authority
 can either relieve or rob her of her rights, not as empress. but as mother"
 In early life many of the women in China commit suicide. One has no legal protection against her master, man. He may abuse her, and neglect her. fail to provide for her wants. desert her. and di- vorce her. In practice husbands divorce their wives for any reason. Any scrap of paper upon which une fact of divorce Is written, and stamped with tho impression of the thumb of the husband, is all that is necessary. The most serious of all hardships which fall to the lot of the Chinese women come with her marriage. And these are often so bitter as to be uncomfortable and to end in self-destruc- tion. She Is betrothed in infancy or child hood to boy whom she has never seen, and whom, certainly. she does not know. The betrothal Is a legal ceremony, no less binding than marriage. She has ab- solutey no choice regarding whom or when shc shall marry. and any expressi o1 of opinion. or semblance of interest in a matter which vitally concerns her would bc so sadly immorest as to ruin her reputation.
 The members of her own family take no part in the wedding ceremonies; usu- ally they are not present. She has sep ATaIed from them forever. ana LeT rcla- tfonship Is broken completely. She is dressed by her mother, and when her toilet is completed and the appointed hour has arrived for the wedding, q large bag, made of red satin and brilliantly embroidered. Is drawn down over her head and shouldeds to the waist. where 1t is tied; thus completely blingng her and pinioning her arms to her sides Meantime l a procession has come from the house of the parents of her future husband. head | ed by band of music, and in which the l most conspicuous object is a red sedan | chair-the wedding chair-borne by four or eight men. This chair is brought close | led and half carried to d seat in 1t. The curtains of the chair are closely drawn | so that not d ray of light can enter. When she has been placed within 1t, tlG doer | is closed and locked by the girls mother. | such precautions are taken that the we'd l ding chair shall be tightly closed and no one given even glimpse of the in l mate, that, in hot weather, at the end of a short journey, dead bride may be | delivered to the waiting groom, the poor l girl having ben suffocated-
 The lecturer also presented the brighter | side of life, and his account of how wo- man sometimes exercises her great inilu- | ence was interesting. He said :''The aver | age Chinese old woman, be she the wife | of boar or the consort of prince, has one terrible weapon. which long contin- ' ped exercise has rendered keener than a l two-edged sword, and nimble beyond be- | lief. In force volume, raptdtty Of acton | rivaled upon the earth. It is her tongue. And when she allows it to play at full speed the boldest warrier who ever led armies to battle will. If he has morsel of discretion, mixed with his Valor take | to his heels.