Page:The Awakening of Japan, by Okakura Kakuzō; 1905.djvu/125

 What has become of India? It is today acountry where the names of Asoka and Vikramaditya are even forgotten. It is a country of rajas whose breasts are starry with dishonor, and of national congresses that dare not protest. Burma was in existence but yesterday: in the rubies of Thebaw cries the innocent blood of Mandalay. The Kohinoor is even as a teardrop of Golconda. What need to mention the painful comedies enacted in Persia and Siam or to call attention to the "protectorate" established by France over Tonkin? Protectorate! Against whom?

In 1842 a Christian nation forces opium on China at the mouth of the cannon and extorts Hongkong. In 1860, on a slight pretext, the joint armies of France and England invade Peking and sack the Summer Palace, whose treasures