are not members of a definite organization with a regular
machinery for action. They are, however, moved by common emotion and
purpose, because they are conscious of a permanent bond that creates
mutual sympathy. They are citizens of the same country. They are
mindful of a national history that is their common heritage. They are
proud of the position of eminence that belongs to the Western
republic. There is a peculiar quality to the patriotism that they all
feel and that calls out a unanimous expression. Their minds work
alike, and they come together to give expression to their feelings and
convictions. They are under the direction of a presiding officer and
the procedure of the meeting is according to the parliamentary rules
that guide civilized assemblies. However urgent of purpose, the
speakers hold themselves in leash, and the listeners content
themselves with conventional applause when their enthusiasm is
aroused. After a reasonable amount of discussion has taken place, the
assembly crystallizes its opinions in the form of resolutions couched
in earnest but dignified language and disperses to await the action of
those in authority.

24. =International Association.=--Still another type is the incomplete
group that is composed of men and women of similar moral or religious
convictions who never assemble in one place, but constitute a certain
kind of association. Kipling could sing,

"The East is East and the West is West
And never the twain shall meet,"

yet through missionary efforts people of very different races and
habits of living and thinking have been brought to cherish the same
beliefs and to adopt similar customs. Thousands of such people in all
parts of the world constitute a unified group because of their mental
interaction, though they may never meet and are not organized in
common. The only medium through which one section has influenced
another may be a single missionary or book, but the electric current
of sympathy passes from one to another as effectively as the wireless
carries a message across leagues of space. In the same way sentiment
and opinion spread and reproduce themselves, even through long periods
of time. Before the middle of the nineteenth century Chinese sentiment
was so strong against the importation of opium from India that war
broke out with England, with the result that the curse was fastened
upon the Orient. The evil increased, spreading through many countries.
Meantime