Proressor Seeley remarks—" The dif. ficulty which has been found insurmountable in most great empires, is their unwieldy size, and the obstinate antipathy of the conquered nationalities to their conquerors. Government must necessarily become difficult, in proportion to the extent of the territory governed, and the disloyalty of the inhabitants." It is interesting to take this sentence, and to compare it with the condition of the Chinese Empire. It is certainly a vast dominion, and on that ground should be insecure; its population, too, consists of a conquering race and of a ople subdued under them; though, by apse of time, the differences between the two have been greatly effaced. Still we have the two conditions of impending ruin before us; Ist, prodigious extent of territory; 2ndly an uneasy feeling which may be described as "disloyalty," on the part of the governed to the governors; yet the Chinese Empire exists. The dimensions of China are apparent, but some questions may arise as to the extent and violence of the irritation that is experienced by the people. It is easy to point to the Taiping Rebellion, to the disturbances of the Nien-fei, and to the troubles in Yunnan, as evidences of the disaffection of the Emperor's subjects, but no great official high in the imperial trust has raised the standard of rebellion, This is a point well worthy of remark; for, usually, subordinate governers throw off their allegiance and become kings, thus causing the division and dismemberment of the original em-ire. It is clear that, when an empire vetches as widely as did the ancient empires, or attains the huge size of the Middle Kingdom, the difficulties of rule are enlarged to an almost incredible degree. Pashas, satraps, or viceroys of particular provinces are appointed from the necessity of the case, and are invested with titles and powers akin to those of the Sovereign himself. For a time all goes well, and professions of duty, loyalty, and affection ascend like incense tothe Throne; but this onlylasts a short time; in a little space these viceroys grow arrogant, and chafe at the authority maintained over them by their suzerain. To quote Professor Seeley, "This is the regular process of dissolution in empires. Subject nationalities succeed at Jast in recovering their independence, and subordinate governors throw off their allegiance and become kings." We need not look very far to see a political phenomenon which helps to illustrate our meaning. At this very time, the Viceroy of Egypt is doing what any great mendariu in China may attempt to do—viz., he is making himself an independent sovereign. But here, as everywhere else, China takes a line of her own, and refuses to follow custom, or to obey precedent. "Though the land is disordered, no man of mark has hitherto risen to say that he will avail himself of existing disturbance. Grave suspicions were once entertained with regard to Li and Tseng-kwo-fan; but, as far as outward seeming goes, they are still loyal. Still, the risks of rebellion in China are prodigious. The security of European Thrones consists in the adherence of the vassals to the Prince. The stability of the Chinese Throne consists in the distrust of the vassals for each other. At this moment it is probable that either of the two formidable subjects we have named, might menace the stability of the Peking Government by striking a blow. But both hesitate before the tremendous risk. Any one watching the game ax calm spectator, sees how very marked an advantage the man who strack the first blow would get; bat both the men who could gain this advantage are nervous about the trastworthiness of their nominal friends and allies, an@a failure would be synonym mous with ruin and death. It is not impossible that, if a really patriotic party were to appear on the scene, one of the great chiefs might see his way to successful revolution. We recall the fact that Ah Pasha of Janina helped the early attempts of the Greek patriots, and in like manner a really self-devoted man who had the interest of China at heart, might create so strong an anxiety for change in the popular mind, that the work of an ambitious mandarin would be marvellously faci-lirated. The outward and visible signs of a decaying government are very numerous. But the Middle Kingdom is a land of contradic and, despite inference from history, it is possible that even the Ta-tsin dynasty may recover its strength.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.