448 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



mitted that the administration and even the instruction in the new 

 schools is sometimes woefully ineffective. As in Eussia, the student 

 hody throughout the empire is filled with a revolutionary spirit and 

 tinged with idealism. . But it must not be inferred from this that the 

 outlook is other than hopeful, for to one who realizes the strength of 

 Chinese conservatism the progress already made is tremendous and the 

 possibilities of the future illimitable. 



Many will ask why the introduction of modern education in Japan 

 was so much more rapid than in China, a proverbially scholarly nation. 

 The reason is just that in Japan there was no old system to clear away ; 

 the nation began with a clean slate and an immense desire to learn, 

 while in China the value of modern education was but tardily recog- 

 nized and the new had to establish itself in the face of the opposition 

 of the old. Some of the men who have had a prominent part in this 

 have already been mentioned, but I can not forbear to speak of the 

 great body of other Americans who are, far in excess of all other nation- 

 alities, taking a prominent part in the present work. Of the educational 

 work under missionary auspices that of the Jesuit fathers was early 

 prominent and is still important. Missionary bodies of every national- 

 ity are carrying on important educational work, chiefly primary, 

 though secondary work is not neglected, as the American Methodist 

 Peking University, the American Episcopal St. John's College at 

 Shanghai, the Jesuit College at Sicawei, the English Episcopal Anglo- 

 Chinese College at Tientsin, the Christian College at Canton, the Soo- 

 chow University, the Union College at Wei-hsien in Shantung, and 

 many others, serve to testify. These, like denominational colleges in 

 America, held a dominant position at first, and like them can not hope 

 to long hold a leading position in a national system of education. In 

 these, as in the secular schools, Americans are most prominent and, 

 paraphrasing the epigram as to the songs of a country, it seems clear 

 that, with American influences predominating in the schools of China, 

 the future development of that country, now in the throes of political 

 readjustment, can not escape being profoundly influenced by American 

 ideals. 



