Evening star., 1899-01-28

I
| cowardiy, unprincipied and hopelessly un-
| progressive heather and pagans, as many
do. simply shows how utterly we fail to
| grasp the question. One may handy epi-
| thets about the defects of every nation un-
der heaven there is 10 lack of them wher-
| ever man is foundI Americans need to be
bound by hard and fast legal documents in
| business transactions not a whit less than
Asiatics, and probably try to evade them
| quite as often.
What is required in this question is to
| practice a judicial habit of mind. to try to
discern the other side as we'll TO detect the
| causes underneath. the net result of ages of
| effort and genius amid conditions differing
| from ours; in other words. to discern char
| acter The man who understands the char
| acter of those heu has to deal with holds
| them in the palm Of his hand To succeed
| thoroughly with the Asatic, to make him
| our friend, and thus get out of him the best
/ good for ourselvesr-if that is what We are
| after-we must proceed along the lines of
his character.
| The Asiatic Temperament,
| The character of the Asiatic, though la
! BILE to sudden bat temporary transports of
| fury, is, on the whole, non-aggressive pas
| sive, contented. little moved by curiosity,
| caring little for mere facts and hence in
| different to outside matters not concerning
| him and self contained The wars that
! have agitated Asia have rarely if ever
| been insugated by popular movements or
| desire 10 alter the form of the government.
| They have been due chiefly to personal am
biuCn or disputed succession in countries
| where the law of primogeniture is imper-
! tecty Defined and they have been followed
| by long periods OF repoSe of which history
| takes little account. Whatever happens is
equally accepted by all a continent
| where all whether Mussulmans Buddhists
| or Hlndoos, are practically fatalists. Sur
geonS have told me that AsiatlcS recover
| more readily from severe operations than
| Europeans because their Gamer tempera-
| ment ylelds passively to the inevitable.
Here We see very distinctly the predomi
| nance of the philosophical element for
| winch Aslatics nave always been distn-
SulShed.
The character of the European on the
| other hand is altogether the reverse of the
Aslauc For the most part he is restless,
rowing, impatient, disconnected, deyoured
| by schemes for social changes agitated by
| popular or incendiary movements and often
lil-conSldered attempts to alter the govern
| ment, necessarily active in searching for
social improvements, material inventions
| and scientific discoveries, and reaching out
| for any hing, however impracticable which
| it fatters itself is progress. 1t never halts
| to enjoy what it has won. but presses on
| without rest to find the unattaina ble-to
reach the ever-receding ultima Thule.
This is not because. the European is neces-
sarily better than the Asiatic by nature.
| but because it is his mission, his disposi-
| ton. as one but not the only factor in the
| evolution of the race. It his genius to be
| restless, and like the young man launch-
thing or amounts to anything unless he is
| of the same temper and spirit.
Social Distinctions.
| Here, we see, are two characters essen
| TALLY distinct. the passive and the active,
and hence may broadly divide the hui
| man race into two great families, the
| Asiatic and the European. While at GER
tain points some branches of them may
approach and resemble each other, while
! there may be certain apparent exceptions
| to the rule, and while great diversites may
| exist among the various races of Asia or
! those of Europe, INCLUDING with the latter
America, yet on. the, whole the people of
! these continents represent two great types
| or families.
| AT present the aggressive European mind
| is inclined to underralue, to misjudge per-
| haps to scorn, the oriental mind The lat
| ter perceives and resents this fact, and
| hence maintains a position of suIen re-
| serve, which Yields only an outward ac
| quiescence to the guils, the craft, the insa-
table territorial, lust that are urging mod
| ern civilization on the path of destiny.
| The Asiatic knows that the scientific school
| of the west has paced him in false posi-
| ton, in which his actual accomplishments
| for the development of civilization, and,
| still more, of mans higher nature, are be-
| ing ignored and perhaps deliberately for
| gotten. Let us tSnsider two or three exam
pies of what ASIA Mas done for the progress
| of mankind md Parfiind ourselves whether
we aggressive. nfafeFial minded western
|. ers are not doirfg vu fselves ultimate WRONG
in despising the gr'Aa f. swarming millions of
| Asia and the spice isles that fringe her
| coasts. --. sff
The Asiatic mind has been as useful to
| the world as the European. nor has its
! usefulness ceased because the latter at
present takes the lead in scientific discovery
or military and commercial enterprise The
latter is necessitated by the overproduc-
| tieh of machinery and the overpopthation of
christendom. An equilibrium must inevl-
tably be reached. however, and the western
mind must again receive the impression of
the oriental mind as In the periods sue
ceetiing the conquests of Alexander the IN
vason of Europe by the Saracens. and the
CruSadeS. The two types of character have
each their mission. and hence neither is to
disappear or lose its fructifying power. The
! refiectively conservative is as essential to
genuine civilization as the actively pro-
g1esSiye The idealizing character can no
more be spared than the so-called practical
and up-to date character.
Asiatic Religious Influences.
| What are the great religions Of the world
| which still have vitality and influence over
| the race after existing for many centuries?
Confucianism, Magiarism, or the cult of
| Zoroaster: Brahmanism. Buddhism, to
| which some would add Shirtoism; Judaism,
| Islamism and Christianity. The poetic my
| thologieS Of Greece and Rome. the myster-
| ious arcana of Babylon and Egypt, the dark
| and dread cults of the Druids and Sean
| dinaVians. faded long ago into desuetude II
| not oblivion. But these seven great reh-
! gions still hold sway over the souls of men,
| and they All sprang from the fecund specu-
| lations and inspirations Of the Asiatic mind.
| Does the world owe nothing to the races
| that gave rise TO these reservoirs OF falth,
| hope and comfort to the entire human race
| in its dark journey to the grave and the
unknown beyond? Does ii owe nothing to
the stupendous stores of thought. wisdom
| philosophy. ethics. literature ana poetry OF
which these religions were the source ana
from which the European or western nina
drew the inspiration for its own spiritual
and intellectual development? But it was
essential for the Asiatic mind ana char-
acter. in order that it he fitted for receiving
and orga ganizing such wisdom. that ii should
be mystical in It's tendencies, inclined TO
subtitle, subjective specuiat ton, quiescent
meditation and long periods of brooding,
such as the climate would naturally en-
courage, but of which the western mind Is
generally impatient
To assume, most Christians 90, that
none of these religions except Christianity
is of any merit or avail is to take a posi-
tion that retards the progress OF Christian
ity itself among so-called unbeleVerS; tor
those unbeheverS are sincere and often eX-
ceedingly acute. and are to be Won by gen
tie persuasion to a higher creed rather
than by a direct onslaught or negaton of
4 he x,-hi i,l,t oh of those rpIipinnG