is
availing herself of the services of European abilities, for the
purpose of internal improvement.

3. "But," some one may ask, "if the establishment of constitutional
government in Japan is due principally to the inherent excellence of
the institution itself, and not to the superior intelligence of the
Japanese people, nor yet to their peculiar characteristic, how can the
non-progressive tendency of China be accounted for?" The vast extent
of her dominion,[11] the immense number of her population,[12] and her
almost inexhaustible national resources, all combine to make the
question in regard to her future policy a momentous one. With the best
form of government, and under the guidance of an able statesman, it is
within her power to promote the advancement of whole Asia, and mould
the destiny of the world. Yet, to all practical intents and purposes,
she is evidently indifferent to the possibility of such a noble
mission. Nay, more; she ignores it. She reminds us of an opium smoker.
The world is awake, but she reposes in profound slumber, and little
does she care what others are doing. The doctrine of _Laissez-Faire_
is the sinew of her policy toward the European states. She lets them
alone so long as they let her alone, leaving them to wonder for what
she was born. When some one comes and strikes her on the face, she
stands up, still half asleep, slowly gathers whatever strength is in
her, returns blow for blow, but the moment her enemy disappears
torpidity again overtakes her, she relapses into dreamy indifference.
Of what is this opium composed that she smokes?

[11] About 4,179,559 sq. miles.--_The Statesman's Yearbook_, 1891.

[12] About 404,180,000.--_Ibid._

I must not be understood to mean _absolute_ irresistibility of
constitutional government. Already I have touched upon one exception,
viz: inadequate capacity, mental and moral, of people. Instead of
excepting Japan from the pervading conservatism of Asia, I am inclined
to make causes resisting or retarding the establishment of
constitutional government in China exceptions to its irresistibility,
side by side with ignorance. Such causes are, doubtless,
multitudinous. Nevertheless, a careful observer will be able to single
out two principal ones among many others: territorial and
intellectual.

We have seen that the average intelligence of the Chinese people is
not much inferior, if at all, to that of the Japanese, previous to the
revolution. E