observer, for many years a member of the municipal police force in
Shanghai, whose duty it was to see that floggings were administered to
Chinese criminals, stated plainly in a public report that the bamboo is
not necessarily a severe ordeal, and that one hundred blows are at times
inflicted so lightly as to leave scarcely a mark behind, though the
recipient howls loudly all the time. Those criminals who have money
can always manage to square the gaoler; and the gaoler has acquired a
certain knack in laying on, the upshot being great cry and little wool,
very satisfactory to the culprit. Even were we to accept the cruellest
estimate in regard to punishment by the bamboo, it would only go to show
that humanitarian feelings in China are lagging somewhat behind our
own. In _The Times_ of March 1, 1811, we read that, for allowing French
prisoners to escape from Dartmoor, three men of the Nottingham militia
were sentenced to receive 900 lashes each, and that one of them actually
received 450 lashes in the presence of pickets from every regiment in
the garrison. On New Year's Day, 1911, a eunuch attempted to assassinate
one of the Imperial Princes. For this he was sentenced to be beaten to
death, some such ferocious punishment being necessary, in Chinese eyes,
to vindicate the majesty of the law. That end having been attained, the
sentence was commuted to eighty blows with the bamboo and deportation to
northern Manchuria.

The Chinese woman often, in mature life, wields enormous influence over
the family, males included, and is a kind of private Empress Dowager.
A man knows, says the proverb, but a woman knows better. As a widow
in early life, her lot is not quite so pleasant. It is not thought
desirable for widows to remarry; but if she remains single, she becomes
"a rudderless boat;" round which gathers much calumny. Many young women
brave public opinion, and enter into second nuptials. If they are bent
upon remarrying, runs the saying, they can no more be prevented than the