Thoughts on imperial and social subjects / by the Earl and the Countess of Meath.

  • Meath, Reginald Brabazon, Earl of, 1841-1929.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Thoughts on imperial and social subjects / by the Earl and the Countess of Meath. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Jgouee of JSor^e? thoughts of mankind are flashed from one end of the civilised world to the other, but there are few who realise how great is the influence of these ideas in countries where we least expect it to be felt. Of course we know that Japan has aston- ished the world by the sudden manner in which, within the space of a few years, it has thrown off the garments of an Eastern civilisation, and both literally and metaphorically has adopted the ill- fitting garb of a Western constitutional monarchy. But we look upon Japan as the exception which proves the rule, and we are apt to point to China and India as countries which for generations may yet be expected to present an impenetrable front to the attacks of modern thought. No doubt in one sense this is perfectly true. It will probably take many generations before the 300 millions of people who inhabit India have so thoroughly turned their backs on the customs and thoughts which have come down to them from remote antiquity as to be open to the influence of the West, but not the less is it a fact that the India of to-day is not the India of fifty, or even of twenty-five years ago. A gradual