Anarchy in the Air.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 3955, 6 April 1883, Page 2

Anarchy in the Air.

IiKCKNT cable intelligence is calcalated to make people, who are food of generalisation, fancy tbat the world is going to the dogß. From all quarters comes news of sodition,conßpiracy, and premonitions of social upheaval, giving colour to tuo supposition that mankind lnvo been attacked by an epidemic of anarchy, All round the circuit ot tho Northern Hemisphere, from tho Eastern shoro of Asia, to whoro tho tun ends his daily course behind the llocky Mountains of America, tbeio are symptoms oi political and s >Ui»l restlessness, or threuteninga of intei■national strife —which latter, frightful though it may be, ■will be eagerly plunged into t>y some conntries ns a preferable alternative to being involvoa in domestic difficulties, culminating in internecine warfare Such epidemics of anarchy—periods when old Chaos seems bent upon re-assirting his away in the social affairs of the world ■ aio by uo means unprecedented, thonßh we are yet fur from understanding tho lawn which govern thoir appearance. Every successive civilisation that has arisen upon earth has been doomed to go down in tho darkness of civil strifo iuui degeneracy or of barbaric incursion and subjugation. Tho earliest civilisation of which we liavu any knowledge-tbat of ancient Euypt— had a lengthened cxihteuco; but it sank into most complete oblivion— leaving, however, ou the shifting sands of the desott thoso striking monuments of Us gruudtjur and power and learning wbieii have alike resisted tho r.iva^es oi timo aud the destroying hand of the invader, Ot later civilisations it might bo asked, iv the wards of that comprehensive lino in " Lh.ldo ilurolu " : —

" Assyria, Grooco, Homo, Carthago, what aretlioyl" The civilisation of our own day has been a stiudy grontli, uiid in many reepi'ctjj is mill iv the full vigour of its prime ; but despite this uppearanco of stieugtn, and ike claim made ou i;s behalf that it, as contrasted with puiely Pagan civilisation, is baited upoo an eternal foundation, tbere are nut wantiug tho.e wbo assert that the wave of advancement is well-nigh exhausted, and that we are on the ver*e of complete and ignomiuiou9 relapse Into barbatisui, .there may or there may net be truth in ihis gloomy view of tbe situation; but, in any case, it is wiser to look the probaoility in the face than to ignore it, and thug nut merit the rebuke of the Master who iv olduii time exposed the foolish • wise weather proguosiicutors who could not rcid the signs of ths limes. What are the signs of our limes? They are in themselves unuiintakabie, however enigmatical may bo their portent. Everywhen, as wo havo said, but more particularly in tho Northern Hemisphcie, there are symptoms ot rcßtles>ness in the uocinl splure, of revolution in the political. Russia supplies the most frightful example of the precarious state ot society, in thu terioriam of that inot>t significantly-named Society of Assassins, the .Nihilists. ixext comes Britain, which is threatened with social convuliion by the dynamite plots of the Fenian " luvineibles" and tho murder conspiracies of tbe "Inner Circle." Tho coudition of France is little better thau that of Britain between tho iutriguos of Imperial pro tcutlers and tho unsettling dociriucs uf Socialistic agitators, tempered by schemes uf dihtant colonisation, giving promise of war with China and Madagascar. In Italy, though there is no exciting popular movement, it is evident that the Gospel of uynuaiitc has been preached to iome efTtict also, for wo learn tbat a number of violent cxplusious have occurred at Ki-nio, ovidently the work of revolutionists. Germany, eiuce tho a: tempt on tho life of the veteran Emperor, seems to havo kept down sedition with an irou band ; and the phlegmatic Dutchman, like the pen elovinn 'icutoa, does not soem to be deeply infected with tbe prevailing foyer of political unrest; but a quiet revolution is imminent in tho fccandinavian Peninsula, the Norwegians having demanded to be dissevered from Sweden nn.i granted a Republican GoTurnmeut. From Belgium, wo havo reports that a troasonab'e organisation hru been found to exist, and Spain, by iocreaslug her artaatnents, wonld teem to bo providing agaiu.t anticipjted troubles of her own. Simply mentioning the pregnant constitutional agitations which are going on in England and Scotland, let in cios* the Atlantic, and what do we find there ? The United States, with its ten millions of "tho finest peasantry that ever abominated the face of the earth," presents a sorry spectacle in the coinmuiiity of nations. We there sec a Great Republic, at peace with all tho world, either unable or unwilling to restrain a large icction of her citizens from waging distant war with .Britain—opeuly hatching sedition and murder, openly collecting money for tbo avowed pursuit of these ends, and sending out murderous emissaries and infernal nmebincs by tho bundled to spread havoc among the cities of England. The Government of tho United States have other tioubles, for the Indians are restless, aud yesterday we had news of the massacre by these bloodthu sty ' savages of an entire company of troops sour, against them in r»ew Mexico. Even the xfrican continent is not free fiom tht disturbing influence which is abroad. Besides the Madagascar affair, tbere is itill trouble in Egypt with tbe Soudan rebellion, there are threats of war in the Transvaal, and tho abdication of the hittg if Ashantee has inaugurated a reign of anarchy in his dominion*.

What U most remarkable about the signs of the times in the Old World is the cluso resemblance to bo traced between tbe revolutionary movements in different countries. Whether they aro called Jvibihßts, Invloeibleu, Socialists, Terror. ists, Fenians, or Annrchi-ts, their aims are all in oho direction, and their united motto teems to bo " ! over, turn I overturn I" Ho wonder, indeed, when tho mightiest autocrat of the world cannot go through a little piece of tinsel ceremony because the Nihilists forbid him, that tho hussinn Government lately invited the Great Powers of Europe to confer as to means to bo taken to counteract tbo working of secret societies. It is a stato of things which may well cause the kings of the earth to lay aside their private quarrels and consult together as to the means of solfpreservation, Iho "' balaoce of power "in Kuropo has hitherto been maintained by keeping up national projudices and animosities, and engaging the people in strife with each other; bat now the nations appear to be of one mind and determination; and the State and the Church, the two great powors in <!ie governing of the multitude, find themselves face to faco with a foo who sweara to accomplish the downfall of both, We have not studied the prophecy regarding tho great day of Armageddon; but there are indications that a day of trouble, equal to the most disastrous ever prophesied or recorded, is approaching, w c •ie happy in this sunny South in being far removed from tho centre of the threatened convulsion ; and wou'd bo happier still if we could keep at a distance those messengers of dispcace who aie tent to try and embroil us in tbe quarrels of tbo Northern Hemisphere. Let us then continue to keep apart from all that would involve us in schemes of revolution and anarchy, and rathor be ready to offer an asylum to our kindred beyond the seas who may haply have to flee from scene? ot bloodahod and heavy tribulation, giving them tbe assurance that here, at least, tboy will bo free from the dnugers of civil Btrife, and away from the obnoxious effects of the preaching of the noisy apostles of Dynamite,