Tiere soam to be at present two powers in China, from whom danger is to be apprehended, There is, as we know to our cost, the anti-foreign party, strong in the inheritance of immemorial prejudices, and holding positions of no common trust and importance. There is besides, a mysterious influence at work which may affect the fature of the disorganized Empire very powerfully, we mean the Secret Societies. The very phrase is suggestive of evil, for whether we connect with it institutions like those of the Holy Vehm, or when ther we cast back our minds to the cabals and coteries that abounded in France before tle Revolution, we see signs of danger and presages of peril, in the establishment of these confederations, They are a feature of society in an unsatisfactory state; and the realm that is, to use Mr, Disraeli's phrase, honey-combed" with them, has with. ini it grave elements of danger.
At first sight, it would appear that the condition of China and the condition of France and Italy had few common features; but yet attention is simultane ously drawn to the fact that, in the East and in the West, there are organizations of a similar nature, threatening the destraction of the fabric of Government. That mysterious liberal which comprises men of all shades of opinion, from the advanced thinker who is enamoured of the ideal republics, to the ultra radical and "red" who fosters those who would attempt the lives of Emperors and Kings, is declared to have in its ranke countless brotherhoods, who recognize each other by peculiar signs, who meet with considerable mystery, who interchange information on political topics, who inspire journals and books with their sentiments, and who only await a favourable moment to throw their power into the scale against the Imperial and Papal systems, with irresistible force. In China, we havea form of government which exceeds, in impudent arrogance of assumption and actual weakness of performance, the most decrepit institutions of Europe therefore, on reflection, it may strike us as not altogether improbable that combinations like to those that exist beneath the polished surface of Western civilization should be found to lark in the intricate depths of Chinese society. We recently heard a rumour from Nanking which showed that the secret societies exist there; and if the story of the conspirator's answer to Ma be true, we see that the Government stands in awe of the mysterious organization.
For us, however, there is one question of pre-eminent importance. Are the Secret Societies friendly or hostile to foreigners? On this subject we may safely conjecture that they have a uniform creed. His opinion as to what had best be done with the Bar-parian, is the touchstone of a Chinese statesman's political character. The secret memorial luckily gave us an opportunity of finding out the real views of Tseng-kwo-fan, in regard to the treatment of the intruders; and we have little doubt that most of the men in high places share the opinions of the second man in the Empire. But begine terested in the explosion, or at cause the authorities are, as they ima-
least the repression, of the Foreigner, it by no means follows that the organizations to which we have referred, entertain these views. They contain men of various rauks and professions; and amongst these there must be found some who are linked to the foreigners through the medium of com: I relations. If the Secret Societies are nearly as numerous as we have been led to conceive, it is impossible bat that many Chinamen at the Ports, who are in daily communication with the Foreign Hongs, are implicated in them.
The institution of secret societies is not a new thing. We recollect the curious combination known as the Guild of the Water Lily," and we are assured that it was a type of many other like confederations. That in times of quiet and good government these s doties are not often heard of, is nataral; but in days like those through which we are now passing, the latent powers of the hidden organizations are revealed. How the Imperial Government will deal wit! difficulties, we cannot venture to affirm; but that it never was more closely beset, on the right hand and on the left, is clear to every one. Acts of misguided violence on the part of the Cabinet at Peking, or of either Li or Tseng, on their own responsibility, may create grievous temporary trouble, but can only hasten the inevitable end. Itis possible that, if the great mandarins attempt to excite the antiforeign feeling, we may find unexpected allies in the Secret Societies.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.