Year: 1873

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CHOOSING A BRIDE FOR AN EMPEROR.


A correspondent of the London Daily
Ne,cs, in a description of the marriage
of the Emperor Of China, writes: 1.-The
manner in which the bride was select
ed for the Emperor of China is worthy
of being told. A Chinese Emperor is
not like European Monarch. He ac-
knowledges no other King or rank of
his own kind hence there is no Princes
daughter.who can be asked for his
wife. There are Princes in China; but
they are of the Imperial family, and
cannot intermarry. He must take
wife from the people, and she must be-
long to one of the eight banners. 1t so
happens that there are two Expresses;
the one is called the Eastern Empress
and the other the Western. The EN-
press of the late Emperor is not the
mother of the present one; she had no
son. In such a case if one of the other
wives has a son she is raised to the I'm
perial rank, and is called the Western
Empress. When the selection of
bride had to be made, these two ladies
issued orders to all the chiefs who had
daughters OF the desired age to send
them to the palace. One would natur-
ally think that such an order would
have been obeyed with the greatest alac-
rity, and that futtering hearts would
have crowded to the palace in hopes of
gaining such prize, and such arts
as were practiced for Cinderella's slip
per would be largely employed to pro-
duce whatever may be considered the
ideal type of beauty in Pekin; that
dress, ornaments, cosmetics, and what
ever could add q charm to the young
beauties would be freely used. Strange
to say, it is the very opposite of all this
takes place. It would seem that fami-
lies do not like their daughters to be-
come the wife of the Emperor, not even
to be his Empress. A girl is in sense
lost to the family, for she is kept SO Sc
cluded in the palace that her relatives
seldom or never see her and it brings
the parents and family into a position
that is dangerous in country like
this. So they try every plan to avoid
sending their children. Parents allege
that they are cripples, or deaf, or blind,
and in some cases lameness is initiated
and deformities are artifcially pro-
duced. To such an extent had it been
carried, that orders it is said, were is
sued that blind, lame and deaf were all
to be sent to the palace. Somewhere
about six or seven hundred girls ap-
peared on the day fixed, and they
were brought before the Eastern and
the Western Empressess in squads of
ten. The two ladies minutely inspected
the girls, spoke to them, and put ques-
tons as to their education and such
matters as they considered important. It
would be curious thing to know upon
what principle they acted in such q
case-whether beauty, good sense, or
behavior and education, or what, were
considered the most important points.
About fifty or sixty young ladies were
selected as result of the first inspec-
ton. Their names were taken, and
the character and position of their fami-
lies were inquired into; their horos-
cope also would be carefully calculated.
After this had been done another
inspection was gone through, and thir-
ty were separated from the batch; these
we're then kept in the palace, SO that
their merits and demerits could be
more accurately ascertained. After a
short trial the number was reduced to
twenty, then to ten, and at last it be-
came q tie of two; and thus an Empress
was selected. At the same time four
other wives we're chosen, and these will
form the commencement of the Impe-
rial harem.


There is very curious bit of ro.
nance told about the Emperor while
this competitive examination was going
on for his bride. He had dream at
the time, and he told it to his mother,
It was that he had fallen in love with
q young lady, and that she was hump
backed. As lame and deformed were
ordered to the palace, q humpbacked
girl was among the number, and the
Empress took the dream as an omen
that this was the one who ought to be
his wife. She was one of the first fifty
or sixty selected, and medical men were
consulted as to the possibility of curing
the deformity. After some vain efforts
it is said that farrier, very strong
man, tried by force alone to push in the
hump, and it ended in the death Of the
poor girl"


@ jackson, Tennessee young ladies
tie up their taper fingers, and when the
young gentlemen callers in the evening
inquire the cause. hlusAingly reply, 4
burnt them while hroiling the beefsteak
this morning."


Sc Men Of high or mean birth may
be possessed of good qualities. but fall