H. — ^ANTHROPOLOGY. 151 



man? If I understand the recent manifesto of the German anthropo- 

 logists, they are determined it shall not be so. The war is at an end, 

 but the critical time will be with us again, I sadly fear, in twenty 

 to thirty years. How will the States of Europe stand then? It 

 depends to no little extent on how each of them may have cultivated 

 the science of man and applied its teaching to the improvement of 

 national physique and mentality. Let us take care that our nation 

 is not the last in this legitimate rivalry. The organisation of existing 

 human society with a view to its future welfare is the crowning task 

 of the science of man; it needs the keenest-minded investigators, the 

 most stringent technique, and the utmost sympathy from all classes 

 of society itself. Have we, as anthropologists, the courage to face this 

 greatest of all tasks in the light of our knowledge of the past and 

 with our understanding of the folk of to-day ? Or shall we assert that 

 anthropology is after all only a small part of the science of man, and 

 retreat to our study of bones and potsherds on the ground that science 

 is to be studied for its own sake and not for the sake of mankind? I 

 do not know what answer you will give to that question, yet I am 

 convinced what the judgment of the future on your answer is certain 

 to be. It will be similar to Wang Yang Ming's reproof of the com- 

 placency of the Chinese cultured classes of his day : ' Thought and 

 Learning are of little value, if they be not translated into Action.' 



