454                 A. M. E. REVIEW.

national metamorphosis which has astonished and mystified
the Occident.  The Chinaman reasons a priori and seems en-
tirely incapable of profiting by experience. He can imitate
 Western mechanisms but does not comprehend Occidental
thought. His manual dexterity will enable him to make the
gun the "foreign devils" use but his a priori reasoning won't
furnish the kinetic energy that actuates the man behind the
gun. The Chinaman believes the spirits will guide and pro-
tect him. The Englishman knows practice will enable him
to shoot straight. The Chinaman gives full reign to his
intuitions, traditions and superstitions: the Englishman in
practical things subjects intuition to reason, belief to knowl-
edge, faith to fact, theory to practice, a priori conclusions to
a posteriori demonstrations.   Thus the Chinaman  often
outrages experience but remains true to his traditions.
The  Englishman on the contrary, follows reason  and
lets  tradition take  care  of itself;  and  consequently,
there  are often  wide  gaps  between  his  apparent
faith and actual practice.  "Trust  in  the right and
pray to the God  of battles," says  the  British  faith,
but "keep your powder dry" adds hard-headed ex-
perience.  The motto of the British soldiery is "Semper par-
atus," (Always ready.)  The Japanese saw all this and
adapted English thinking for development at home and im-
itated Western manners for diplomacy abroad. And that is
the whole story. Correct thinking did the work. Thought
makes or mars nations. All history shows this. The glories
of Israel under David, the golden age of Greece, the marshal
supremacy of Rome, the Elizabethan epoch of England, the
rise and fall of Spanish dominion, the meteoric career of the
first Napoleon, the American Revolution, the triumph of
Nippon over Russia, the shame of Europe and the rape of
Africa, the triumph of the Union and the downfall of the
Confederacy are but illustrations of this truth.  Thought
   determines the destiny of rational  beings.  The  life  of
the individual symbolizes that of the nation.  The American
Negro is no exception to Nature's laws.  The destiny of the




			

OHS/National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center Serial Collection

African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, Vol. 28, Num. 1

Volume:  28
Issue Number:  01
Date:  07/1911