the progress of the western world, mechanically
memorizing dead classics, and standing compara-
tively still amid the tremendous onrush of modern
civilization. I say comparatively still, for if we
carefully study Chinese history, we shall find that
this vast nation has not been so inert as we have
long supposed. The very revolutions and internal
commotions of all kinds through which China has
passed would have prevented mere inertia. But
when we compare these movements and the
changes that they have wrought with the kaleido-
scopic transformations in Europe and America,
China appears to have been a stationary nation.
She has moved less in centuries than western peo-
ples have in decades. The restless Anglo-Saxon
is alternately irritated and awed by this massive
solidity, not to say stolidity. There is, after all,
something impressive about it, the impressiveness
of a mighty glacier which moves slowly and
majestically. So the duration of an ordinary
nation's life appears insignificant as compared with
the almost timeless majesty of the Chinese Empire.

Second, the vastness of China. Her territory
and population are so enormous that her people
found sufficient scope for their energies within
their own borders. They therefore felt indepen-
dent of outsiders. The typical European nation
is so limited in area and is so near to equally civ-
ilized and powerful nations that it could not if it

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