Is there then no truth in Kipling s famous dictum that East is East a is West? Of course there is. When you deal withplusequal , there is little or no differe is only when you e to problems as a plus b equal c that there is a great deal of differewee a. But to be able to solve the equation a plus b equal c betwee a, one must have real aptitude fher mathematics. The misfortune of the world to-day is that the solution of the equation a plus b equal Far Eastern problems, is in the hands of John Smith who not only rules the British Empire, but is an ally of the Japaion, _John Smith who does not uand the elements even of algebraical problems. The solu-* ese employed by fn firms in a to be agents between them and ese merts.
tion of the equation a plus b equal c betwee a is a very plex and difficult problem. For in it there are many unknown quantities, not only such as the East of fucius and the East of Mr. Kang Yu-wei and the Viceroy Tuan Fang, but also the West of Shakespeare and Goethe and the West of John Smith. Indeed when you have solved your a plus b equal c equation properly, you will find that there is very little differeween the East of fucius and the West of Shakespeare and Goethe, but you will find a great deal of differeweehe West of Dr. Legge the scholar, and the West of the Rev. Arthur Smith. Let me give a crete illustration of what I mean.
The Rev. Arthur Smith, speaking of ese histories, says:_
"ese histories are antediluvian, not merely in their attempts to go back to the ragged edge of zero of time for a point of departure, but ierminable length of the sluggish and turbid current which carries on its bosom not only the mighty vegetation of past ages, but wood, hay and stubble past all reing. a relatively timeless race could either pose or read such histories: the ese memory could store them away in its capacious abdomen! "
Now let us hear Dr. Legge on the same subject. Dr. Legge, speaking of thestandard dynastic histories of a, says:
"No nation has a history so thhly digested; and on the whole it is trustworthy."
Speaking of anreat ese literary colle. Dr. Legge says:_"The work was not published, as I once supposed by Imperial authority, but uhe superintendend at the expense (aided by other officers) of Yuen Yun, Governeneral of Kwangtung and Kwangse, ih year of the last reign, of Kien-lung . The publication of so extensive a work shoublic spirit and zeal for literature among the high officials of a which should keep for-
eigners from thinking meanly of them. "
The above then is what I mean when I say that there is a great deal of differe only between the East a but also between the West of Dr. Legge, the scholar who appreciate and admire zeal for literature, and the West of the Rev. Arthur Smith who is the beloved of John Smith in a.
A GREAT SINOLOGUE
Don t fet to be a gentleman of sense, -while you try to be a great scholar ;
Don t bee a fool, while you try to be a great scholar .
fucius Sayings, Ch:VI. II.
I have lately been reading Dr. Giles "Adversaria Sinica, " and in reading them, was reminded of a saying of another British sul Mr. Hopkins that "when fn residents in a speak of a man as a sinologue, they generally think of him as a fool. "
Dr. Giles has the reputation of being a great ese scholar. sidering the quantity of work he has dohat reputation is not undeserved. But I think it is now time that an attempt should be made to