itary aptitude and
preparation and a command of resources which enabled her to defeat the
armies of Russia in every engagement, to capture the great stronghold of
Port Arthur, to win victories on the sea as notable as those on the
land, and in the end to impose upon Russia a treaty of peace humiliating
in its provisions to the proud Muscovite court. This victorious war
settled the status of Japan so far as the decision of the nations was
concerned. The island empire was definitely accepted as one of the great
powers of the world. Its standing in war had been established, and was
rapidly being matched by its standing in peace, its progress in
commerce, industry, and science promising to raise it to the plane of
the most advanced nations.

While little Japan was thus forging swiftly ahead, great China was
stolidly holding back. This was not from lack of intelligence or the
disposition to avail itself of material advantages, but from the pride
of its people and scholars in their own civilization and their belief in
the barbarism of the outer world. This sentiment was so deeply ingrained
as to make it hard to eradicate.

China was not without its reformers, and such progressive men as Li Hung
Chang had their influence. Steamships made their appearance upon the
inland waters of the empire, the telegraph was widely extended, and a
navy of modern war-ships was bought abroad. But the army, organized on
mediaeval principles, went to pieces before that of Japan, while the
ships, though their crews fought with courage and resolution, proved
unable to bear the impact of the better handled Japanese fleet.

Aside from its shipping and the telegraph, China at that time showed
little disposition to accept modern improvements. The introduction of
the railroad was strongly resisted, and commerce, industry, mining,
etc., continued to be conducted by antiquated methods. Nothing of value
seemed to have been learned from the war with Japan, and even the
seizure of parts of its territory by the powers of Europe and the threat
to dismember and divide it up among these powers seemed insufficient to
arouse it from its sluggish self-satisfaction.

Yet thought was stirring in the minds of many of the statesmen of China,
and the small band of reformers began to grow in numbers and influence.
The events of the twentieth century--the Boxer insurrection, the capture
of Peking by foreign armies, the retention of Manchuria by Russia, and
above all t