mes, therefore there is nothing to
curb the imagination. The truth is that just as much may be said on one
side as on the other. Domestic happiness is in China--as everywhere
else the world over--a lottery. The parents invariably select partners
in marriage for their sons and daughters, and sometimes make as great
blunders as the young people would if left to themselves.--Harold E.
Gorst in "China."

XIV

THE PRINCESSES--THEIR SCHOOLS[1]

[1] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book.

One day while making a professional call on the Princess Su our
conversation turned to female education in China. I was deeply
interested in the subject, and was aware that the Prince had
established a school for the education of his daughters and the women
of his palace, and was naturally pleased when the Princess asked:

"Would you care to visit our school when it is in session?"

"Nothing would please me more," I answered. "When may I do so?"

"Could you come to-morrow morning?" she inquired.

"With pleasure; at what time?"

"I will send my cart for you."

The following morning the Prince's cart appeared. It was lined with
fur, upholstered in satin, furnished with cushions, and encircled by a
red band which indicated the rank of its owner. A venerable eunuch, the
head of the palace servants, preceded it as an outrider, and assisted
me in mounting and dismounting, while the driver in red-tasselled hat
walked decorously by the side.

The school occupies a large court in the palace grounds. Another
evidence of Western influence in the same court is a large two-story
house of foreign architecture where the Prince receives his guests.
Prince Su was the first to have this foreign reception hall, but he has
been followed in this respect by other officials and princes as well as
by the Empress Dowager.

"This is not unlike our foreign compounds," I remarked to the Princess
as we entered the court.

"Yes," she replied, "the Prince does not care to have the court paved,
but prefers to have it sodded and filled with flowers and shrubs."

The school building was evidently designed for that purpose, being
light and airy with the whole southern exposure made into windows, and
covered with a thin white paper which gives a soft, restful light and
shuts out the glare of the sun. The floor is covered with a heavy rope
matting while the walls are hung with botanical, zoological and other
charts. Besides the usual furniture for a well-equ