Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/31

Rh at Agra, the tomb of Tamerlane at Samarkand, the beautiful mausolea of the Shoguns at Tokyo and Nikko.

But the chains that bind her to the dead are being loosened; with the spread of modern education are rising new thoughts and new ideals, her gaze is slowly being directed away from the immutability of the past to the possibilities of the future. A force of incalculable potentiality for influencing the destinies of the world has been given birth, and it is no longer possible to ignore the immense significance of the movement which, beginning in the extreme East, is sweeping back over Asia and leaving an indelible mark upon every country in its flight. Japan has already emancipated herself from the fetters of Oriental fatalism and inaction—with what startling results we already know. China stirs uneasily with the child national assertion in her womb. In India agitation seethes and bubbles and takes feverish hold of any weakness which the ruling Power displays. Persia, until recent years the home of the luxury and splendour, the pomp and pageantry, the unfettered and illimitable