are led to exhort one another to what is good. By encouraging the resort of all classes of artisans, his resources for expenditure are rendered ample. By indulgent treatment of men from a distance, they are brought to resort to him from all quarters. And by kindly cherishing the princes of the State, the whole empire is brought to revere him.

"Self-adjustment and purification, with careful regulation of his dress, and the not making a movement contrary to the rules of propriety: this is the way for the ruler to cultivate his person. Discarding slanderers, and keeping himself from the seductions of beauty; making light of riches, and giving honor to virtue: this is the way for him to encourage men of worth and talents. Giving them places of honor, and large emoluments, and sharing with them in their likes and dislikes: this is the way for him to encourage his relatives to love him. Giving them numerous officers to discharge their orders and commissions this is the way for him to encourage the great ministers. According to them a generous confidence, and making their emoluments large: this is the way to encourage the body of officers. Employing them only at the proper times, and making the imposts light: this is the way to encourage the people. By daily examinations and monthly trials, and by making their rations in accordance with their labors: this is the way to encourage the classes of artisans. To escort them on their departure, and meet them on their coming; to commend the good among them, and show compassion to the incompetent this is the way to treat indulgently men from a distance. To restore families whose line of succession has been broken, and to revive States that have been ex

tinguished; to reduce to order States that are in confusion, and support those which are in peril : to have fixed times for their own reception at court, and the reception of their envoys; to send them away after liberal treatment, and welcome their coming with small contributions: this is the way to cherish the princes of the States."

CHAPTER IV.

RELIGION.

FILIAL SERVICE DUE TO THE DEAD AS TO THE LIVING.

The Master said, "How far extending was the filial

piety of king Woo and the duke of Chow!

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Now, filial piety is seen in the skillful carrying out of the wishes of our forefathers, and the skillful carrying forward of their undertakings.

"In spring and autumn, they repaired and beautified the temple-halls of their fathers, set forth their ancestral vessels, displayed their various robes, and presented the offerings of the several seasons.

"By means of the ceremonies of the ancestral temple, they distinguished the imperial kindred according to their order of descent.

"They occupied the places of their forefathers, practiced their ceremonies, and performed their music. They reverenced those whom they honored, and loved those whom they regarded with affection. Thus they served the dead as they would have served them alive; they

served the departed as they would have served them had they been continued among them.*

"By the ceremonies of the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth they served God, and by the ceremonies of the ancestral temple they sacrificed to their ancestors. He who understands the ceremonies of the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, and the meaning of the several sacrifices to ancestors, would find the government of a kingdom as easy as to look into his palm.”

OF SPIRITS.

The Master said, "How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers that belong to them!

"We look for them, but we do not see them; we listen to, but do not hear them; yet they enter into all things, and there is nothing without them.

"They cause all the people in the empire to fast and purify themselves, and array themselves in their richest dresses, in order to attend at their sacrifices. Then, like overflowing water, they seem to be over the heads, and on the right and left of their worshipers."

It is said in the Book of Poetry, "The approaches of

*How faithfully has this instruction been repeated and obeyed down through a period of at least twenty-five centuries! We witness the same at every funeral, at each anniversary of the death of a parent, at the morning and evening worship in the ancestral hall, and at the spring festival-the special season for worship of ances

tors.

the spirits you cannot surmise, and can you treat them with indifference?" *

ABOUT OMENS.

It is characteristic of the most entire sincerity to be able to foreknow. When a nation or family is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens; and when it is about to perish, there are sure to be unlucky omens. Such events are seen in the milfoil† and tortoise, and affect the movements of the four limbs. When calamity or happiness is about to come, the good shall certainly be foreknown by him, and the evil also. Therefore the individual possessed of the most complete sincerity is like a spirit.

*The Chinese are all their lifetime subject to bondage because of their dread of spirits, and a large part of their religious ceremonies and offering of sacrifices is for the purpose of propitiating spirits, of which there are, as they suppose, many classes.

† A sort of labiate plant like verbena, anciently used in divination.