21st Dec.
Tux history of India has always undergone great changes when invades armies pressed in from the north-west there has never been a time when an empire in central or western Asia could not cause trouble to India. When the Persian cavalry appeared in India B, C 520 it was to conquer, lhe book Esther spanks of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces ruled by the Persian kings from India to Ethiopia, It was then that the art of writing was introduced to India by the Syrian recorders and tax-collectors who were in the employ of the Persian government, The Get were the next to conquer northern India under the name of the Jats. After them came Turkish sovereigns and later still the Mongols, who ultimately founded the empire of Akbar sad Aurungzabe. It was proved however by the Portuguese, the French, and the English conquests that India wus most vulnerable by sea, It was courage combined with fire-arms which gave the ports of India and Arabia to Albuquerque in the sixteenth century, and initiated the series of historical events by which southern Asia and the islands of the Enstern Archipelago came to be ruled by the different maritime powers of Europe.
Ihe resemblances to these events noticeable in the history of China are very striking, North China was quered several times by Turkivh, Mongol, and Tangs cavalry overcoming the patient farming population, Even now mounted robbers on the roads of the northern provinces effect serious depredations in pexceful times; their being mounted gives them an immense advantage and this name Ch'i-ma-tsai is a word of terror in thousands of villages. China was sible to make head against the 'T'srtars in the Han and Mang dyne The Imperial lines of the Liu family and of the Li family were supported by men of ability to aid them in governing these dynasties, while they encouraged earning and were also famous for martial prowess, The empire was strong, many good laws were added to the statute book, and the successful pursuit of study by the scholars of the time was hononred and rewarded by the reigning sovereigns. But the Tartar horsemen returned and China submitted again and again to foreign rule.
Now once more the resemblance with the history of Indin is suggested by the attacks made on the coast of China by several European Pawers in suc ce by means of their fleets; 'The tim later by three' centuries since Albu—qnerque with a small force made himself master without difficulty of what seemed powerful cities on the Ind coset. The effect of the attacks made on the Chinese coast in the 19th century by European ships has been much the same. It' has been instantaneously successful because of the unwillingness of a quiet population to show fight. At the sume time the political problems connected with China undergo a complete transformati Io is the privilege of war to give an advantage to the combatant who makes the first bold movement in a conflict of strength. Science has aided all the nations that have been in a state of war with They have won by the help of scien! The immense mass of people in China renders the spread of scientific knowledge slow. Being without military skill and deeds and without trained commanders, China can when attacked from abroad rely only on diplomacy. By the use of this arm of defence China was able to recover the Liaotung province from Japan, There was a time when Shantung and Kirin with the Amur province constituted the whole patrimony of the Manchu imperial family. They conquered China with no other help than the army which they there raised and disciplined, Vimes have groutly changed. Large Chinese armies poured into Linntung failed to make an impression. Forced to retreat before the victorious forces of Japan, China could only retain Linotnng by receiving it from three European Powers. 'I'he difference between China and India here makes itself felt. India is composed of separate sovereignties consisting mainly however of one nativn, The conquest of Indin was easier to effect on this ne mut, One native ruler after another mitted to British authority: what 2 the results? I education has rapidly extended. Native newspapers have large circulation, There are native and native magistrates and tiative journalists, military authority rules, and while the population continually increases, and there is materia! prosperity in abundance, the hearts of those among the people who sigh for power are in too many cases not with the governing race.
There is a lack of amalgamation between the governing race and the governed population. Their traditions and religions ideas are very different, Yet if a Hinda visits England he becomes Engli his tastes and aims, He prefers sei tific civilisation to traditional superstitions and is soon made in his heart European. Western education has caused this radical change. In Europe he eats all Suropean food without scruple. When he returns to India he resumes the abstemious vegetarian diet of a Hindu, The same effect may ba noticed in a Chinese tattaché to a legation. If he Burope and remains for several ye: becomes Enropeanisd in food, in cation, and in political ideas, He would go farther and would wear the European dress and adopt the Christian religi if the government he represents allowed this, but in fact his freedom is restricted.
There seems to be a certain avd enormous advantage to Asiatic races in receiving the education, science, civilisation, and religion of Europa, 'I'hey grow in intelligence, commerce, and wealth; they acquire broader views of life, Their minds are freed from superstition and their labour is made more. valuable by technical knowledge. For example, China may acquire the power of cultivating and manipulating her tea in such a way as to change the poorer kinds she now produces into teas of first-class qualities. She can do this with technical knowledge and machinery imported from Europe, She cannot do it without these aids; so it is in other things, An Asiatic population requires European help to make improvements in every department of life. Europe is in a position to give to the Chinese population all such improvements. The population of China as of India admits of being elevated by education and such education must be Christian and scientific, The mass of the population can be happy under any government if only they have free scope for industry and sufficient education to grow in mental power and moral excellence, A raggedly clothed population living in poverty and ignorance may by the civilisation and religion of Europe and America be transformed into a population well dressed, well fed, well educated, and in all respects more moral in their life and more comfortable in their homes than they were before. Such a population may be self-governed or it may be ruled by Europeans. If they remain self-governed it can only be by the free admission of Western science and ednontion, It is only in this way that they can secure the change from poverty and ignorance to education and the enjoyment of the comforts of life. " Wisdom and kuowledge," said a political and religious writer two thousand six hundred. years ago, "shall be the stability of the times." This is true of India and of China at present, and the wisdom they require so urgently can only be given tea by the foreigner from Western lauds, "The Health and Vigoc= of an individual depend upon the quantity and quality of the blood. When the tissues have'been at work, there are thrown into the blood waste products, and if these be not eliminated but {through any cause) detained in the blood they influence nutrition and function and finally produce organic disease."—The Huma-unitarian, Tu cases of Scrofula, Scurvy, Eczema, Bad Legs, Skin and Blood Diseases, Pimples and Sores of all kinds, the effects of Clarke's Blood Mixtare are marvellous, Thousands of wonderful cures have been effected by it, Clarke's Blood Mixtare is sold everywhere, at 2s. 9d. per bottle. Beware of worthless imitations and substitutes. 7
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.