Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/44

16 a trifler in toy lanterns and paper fans, and will have vindicated her claim to be regarded as one of the manufacturing nations of the world.

Herein, then, we become conscious of a subtle change. Some new influence pervades the otherwise familiar atmosphere of the East. The presence of a new force makes itself felt,—a disturbing force, perhaps a dangerous force, but in any case a force fraught with fateful possibilities,—the force of national assertion, fostered by a growing desire among Eastern peoples for the liberty, the equality, the democratisation of the West, and rendered formidable by the acquisition of the applied sciences of Europe. As the true signification of the new signs and portents in the East dawns upon the mind, it gradually becomes clear that a new order of things is arising which is destined to give a new turn to the course of history and to provide the dominating element in the evolution of mankind during the twentieth century.

As the pioneer in the new movement, Japan presents at the present time a subject for