Masonry In China.

weak and excitable brain . For there is little reason to doubt that Hung Hsiu-tsuan , the rebel leader , was the true originator of the movement , Avhile there is no evidence to SIIOAV that he ever Avas a member of a Triad , or other secret

association . It is not surprising , however , that the Government should put the "Masonic" element in the strongest light , and make the rebellion an excuse for prosecuting to the utmost Avhatever measures may be decided on for the suppression

of lodges . Under Avhatever name knoAvn , the objects of the society have been the same—politically the overthroAV of the Tartars , and generally , the formation of mutually protective associations . Thus the

chief of each lodge , or of each j ) roviuce , has an absolute poAver over the lives of the brethren , and can , in cases of Avell-proved treachery to the Order , sentence the guilty to death . Nor are his dictates liable to be disobeyed . The chief has

ahvays at his command a police who act as spies and executioners , and who possess a delegated authority to take upon themselves the infliction of

the penalty of death , Avhenever it may seem advisable to them to do so . The selection of a Master appears to be made most impartially , as in many instances the head of a Triad lods > -e is one of the poorest men in it . With such an organisation ,

Avith the startling ceremonial to Avhich I will allude farther on , it is not Avonderful that but feAV are found ready to violate the oath of fidelity . It is said that the members of different lodo-es occasionally fight desperately , and that hence there

can be no overruling system ; but this assertion is , I believe , unfounded . One thing is certain , that whenever a Triad falls into trouble , or is discovered Avhile carrying out any of the nefarious orders of his superiors , the brethren exert the

most strenuous efforts to corrupt his guards , to influence his judge , to intimidate the witnesses , and , if all these fail , to rescue him by violence from prison . And this is done Avithout distinction of lodge membership , just as two men , although

coming from the extreme points of the empire , Avould recognise one another as belonging to the same hypothetical Grand Lodge .

Such are some of the consequences Avhich have flowed from the establishment of the first " Water Lily" Lodge ; but there are other and purely theoretical grounds upon AA hich the intense hostility of the Government becomes explicable . In China there is sufficient of the theocratical

element to intensify an act of rebellion against the constituted authority from a " crime" into a " sin . " The Emperor is the father of his people , and , as their high priest , stands between them and Shang ti , the Abstract Deity , who is revealed and

approached only through the " Son of Heaven . " Accordingly , in the Hsiao Ohing , or " Classic of Filial Reverence , " the duty oAved to the prince is mentioned as part of that due to parents . Thus , in Sec . 5 of the classic just mentioned , Confucius

says , "As scholars love their fathers , so should they love their mothers , and AA'ith the same reverence Avith Avhich they regard their father they should also regard the prince . Pure love Avill thus be the tribute to a mother , pure respect to a prince ,

and to a father a union of both . Wherefore , filial duty inspires faithfulness to the prince . " Again , in Sec . 6 , referring to the universality of the piinciples of filial duty , the sage exclaims " It is heaven ' s great laAV , the social bond of earth , the

croAvning duty of man ! " When referring to the effect of the practice of this virtue , during the days of the early kings , Confucius says , " Thus

Avas the world gladdened with quietness and peace ; no horrible calamities fell on society , nor was rebellion knoAvn . " Anxl , finally , when enumerating the different modes of displaying filial piety , association for rebellious purposes " whereby a war of

weapons is produced , " is given as an instance of the Avant of this exalted virtue' on the part of the guilty . It Avill from this readily appear that the acts of a man who attempts to get up a rebellious movement , or AA ho is knoAvn to be an agent for the

diffusion of disaffected ideas , are regarded not simply as liable to excite troubles and dissensions in the empire , but also as instances of a contempt for the sacred traditions upon Avhich the fabric of

Chinese society is built . I might adduce many examples from the classical writers of China in proof of this assertion , but those which I ha \ r e given above from the Hsiao Ohing will be sufficient . The Triad is a rebel against the majesty of the

Deity , against the Avisdom of the sages , and against the paternal government of the father of the state . Having thus briefly alluded to the moral stain which affixes itself to men engaged in practices savouring of rebellion , I will now refer to the

penalties provided by the Chinese laAV for those AA hose connection with the prohibited societies is proved . For this purpose I cannot do better than quote at length the clauses appended to the two hundred and twenty-fifth section of the Liu Li , or