A live knowledge is dangerous, but depth of knowledge gives modesty and caution. The really book-ignorant man is far from objectionable. The fisherman, the goat-herd, the woud-cutter and che farm-labourer may be fouud really pleasant and philosophic persons. But the pe.iantic creature who has read much and digested little and who las probably never been beyond the confines of his own province and certainly never beyond the limits of the Ewpite in which he has been produced and on which for sume occult reason, he is to has never had any experience except those of committing tom seutences, and borrow nitoly inferior to the rustic, Yet he is still superior w the creature who has never entered the hall of any but stood in the portals of many learnings, who has never acquired avy principles, but has committed to memory without realising the me may ings, and who sits on the rail prepared to into civilisation or barbarism, well-or evil-doing as opportu rd uy suggest. Let us hope that every creature has its use—the worm serves as food tw the bred, and this asx warning to man that creatures should not be of the sphere for which nature intended In " northern province of China there was water carrier. He had two suns, They were taken by missionaries to America and educated. They returned to China but their instincts did nut lead them to be missionaries but rather t" dollars, smoking, women and wine—they went to the bad, It is dangerous to meddle rashly with what we do not understand. Had these boy been left tu carry water and had they bee taught as much Christian honesty as they were capable of receiving, they might have lived and died as coolies. What Chit not European literature but European Christian honesty. If anything can save China it is Christianity, for Christianity will produce honesty, and what China requires to give her life Now let us look back into the history of the world. Persia, great extensive Persia, attempted the conquest ut little Greece, but the great easter power recoiled shattered by the force, the bravery and the cohesion of the little western power. To the west of Greece lay Rome, and Greece went down before Rome, fighting bravely it is true, but fighting ineffectually against the sterner and stronger stuff of which the western power was made. Abvut this time Christ entered the world in a little, powerless state. He preached a doctrine of peace, kindness, long-suffering and humanity. Never before had the teaching "Do to others as you would have others do to you" fallen on the human ear. Christianity became the religion of the Roman emperors and empire; but in becoming state religion it became an impure religion. The pure Christianity of the early Christians was still But the Christianity of the An Roman Empire was tainted by paganism. dri the northest of Europe was a race, of great bone and sinew, fierce, indeed bloudthirsty; yet when the warlike passions were not called forth, kind, noble, generous, and great. Aftera long strife Rome went down. before these men as Greece had before Rowe, as Persia had before Greece.
From that day to this the descendants of these men have held sway in the world, They adopted Christianity, they greatly divested it of its sacred rites and puritied it by their study of its sacred books until they made it almost as pure as it had originally been. The purification and intensification of Christianity held pace with the increase of scientific knowledge and with the increase of military power, Mohametism made a ladyment in Spain but it was defeated by France and by Spain rolled buck into Africa. Iveffected alodgment in south-eastern Kurope, but here Austria and Hungary rolled it back and here it now exists, merely because Austria-Hungary, Russia, and England of agree as to the disposition to be made of the lands which it cumbers, The tide of Mongolian conquest under Gengis Khan set westward until it almost touched the eastern frontier of Germany, but this the Russian rolled back eastwards and now the mighty Russian power stands in a position to place his hand when he will not only on Mongolia but on Peking tuo. Let us look at the map ut the world, regard the Christian countries and think of their power, America, Kurope, Australia, South Africa, lik India under Britain's What remains What is the power of what remains! Tarkey existing merely because the powers cannot decide as to its apportionment, Persia existing merely because Jandand Russia are not agreed. Afghan-stan exists merely because England considers it would not pay to gover But Tarkey must soon be partitioned and Persia and Afghanistan must soon be wiped out of the map of the world and become provinces in the Russian and British Empires. Japan, Siam, and Cores are small and inconsiderable—Japau may exist for a considerable tim China then only renmins. It looks as if China would fall to Russi Tt may be that some of the ther western powers may demand a share. But let us return to our subject. The Greek and Roman civilisations produced military systems quite strong enough to break down all eastern nations with which they came in contact. The east has never been able to withstand the west. But Christianity produced " new civilisation in Europe and the new Kuropean civilisation produced a new military system. European civilisation improved) and the military system which it produced improved. This military sistent has now attained to such a power that a few European ships and a few European regiments could conquer the entire non-Christian world. The weakest of European nations could shatter any non-Christian power except Turkey. Yet Kurope with its races which once delighted in war, with its war ships and its machine guns, neither enslaves ner yet plunders the rest of the world. What restrains it? One thousand years ago the fathers of Scandinavia, Germany, England, America and parte of and blood. "The fierce freebooters harried France, Italy and Spain delighted in rapine
southern Euro] northern Africa and western Asia. If they had got to eastern Asia, oh! how they would have stormed and sacked and laid great tracts of country waste. Oh! how these feeble eastern people would have been mowed down by their heavy swords. In fancy I can see 50 Northmen storming and sacking Shanghai, going up the Yangtze and obliging every town to Chungking and beyond to pay a ransom or become ruins and ashes! Aye, I can see Tientsin sacked and burned, Tungchow held by a boat's crew or two, and Peking either paying a heavy ransom
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.