that war as
the great conflict of the East and the West. India had not the
slightest idea that Japan would come triumphant out of that conflict.
But the victory of Japan instantly suggested to all men of culture in
India the question, "Why should our land be subject to a far-off, and
a small, western country? Why should we be content with our dependence
and not reveal our manhood and our prowess, as Japan did?" These are
inquiries which have opened up new visions of power and greatness to
the people of India. Japan and its people have been immensely popular
in India since their recent victory. And Hindus believe that the peace
perfected at Portsmouth was the harbinger of a new era of liberty and
independence for all the East.

The growing influence of western education in India has had much to do
with the present state of things. It is true that India is still a
land of ignorance. It is a lamentable fact that only 1 in 10 of the
males and 1 in 144 of the females can read. Only 22.6 per cent of the
boys of school-going age attend school, and only 2.6 per cent of the
girls. And yet the enrolment of more than five million scholars in the
public schools is a significantly hopeful fact as compared with the
past history of India.

This education is distinctly on _western_ lines. And connected with
the five Universities of India there are many thousands of young men
and women who are devoting themselves to a deep study of western
thought and of western ideas of liberty. The Calcutta University alone
has, in its affiliated colleges, more students registered than
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Toronto combined. In that city, which is
the centre of the present unrest, there are 12,000 young men in the
Colleges, and 30,000 pupils in the High Schools. This host of young
men and women are imbibing modern ideas of manliness, independence,
and liberty such as India never knew in the past; and they go out into
the world with new ambitions for their country and inspired with not a
little "divine unrest."

In close connection with this educational influence is that of western
civilization and Christian ideals. The government of this land is
built upon Christian principles and is animated by that spirit of
civilization which dominates the West. And we know that these make for
manhood and independence everywhere. It would be a sad thing for Great
Britain, as it would be for the Christian missionary in India, if
these lofty principles, w