will not displease others: these constitute female conversation. Let her diligently spin, and make cloth; let her not indulge her appetite, in regard to savory food and liquors; let her prepare good things to set before the guests: these constitute female labor. These four combine the essential virtues and duties of women. They are exceedingly easy, and she who practices them is a virtuous woman.'

A PRECOCIOUS YOUTH.

The examples of intelligent youth rising to the highest offices of State are numerous in all the works designed for beginners, and stories illustrative of their precocity are sometimes given in toybooks and novels. One of the most common instances is here quoted from the Eastern Garden's Miscellany, that of Confucius and Hiang Toh, which is as well known to every Chinese as the story of George Washington barking the cherry-tree with his hatchet is to American youth.*

"The name of Confucius was Yu, and his style Chungní; he established himself as an instructor in the western part of the kingdom of Loo. One day, followed by all his disciples, riding in a carriage, he went out to ramble, and on the road came across several children at their sports; among them was one who did not join in them. Confucius, stopping his carriage, asked him, saying, 'Why

* Williams' Middle Kingdom.

The story is quoted by Dr. Williams from the Chinese Repository, Vol. X, p. 614. We may, in passing, be permitted to call attention to this book-the Middle Kingdom-two closely printed volumes of 600 pages each. It is undoubtedly the fullest and most reliable work of its kind on China which has yet appeared.

is it that you alone do not play?' The lad replied, 'All play is without any profit; one's clothes get torn, and they are not easily mended; above me, I disgrace my father and mother; below me, even to the lowest, there is fighting and altercation: so much toil and no reward, how can it be a good business? It is for these reasons that I do not play.' Then dropping his head, he began making a city out of pieces of tile.

Confucius, reproving him, said, 'Why do you not turn out for the carriage?' The boy replied, ' From ancient times till now it has always been considered proper for a carriage to turn out for a city, and not for a city to turn out for a carriage.' Confucius then stopped his vehicle in order to discourse of reason. He got out of the carriage, and asked him, 'You are still young in years; how is it that you are so quick?' The boy replied, saying, ‘A human being, at the age of three years, discriminates between his father and his mother; a hare, three days after it is born, runs over the ground and furrows of the fields; fish, three days after their birth, wander in rivers and lakes: what heaven thus produces naturally, how can it be called brisk?'

Confucius added, ‘In what village and neighborhood do you reside, what is your surname and name, and what your style?' The boy answered, 'I live in a mean village, and in an insignificant land; my surname is Hiang, my name is Toh, and I have yet no style.'

Confucius rejoined, 'I wish to have you come and ramble with me; what do you think of it?' The youth replied, 'A stern father is at home, whom I am bound to serve; an affectionate mother is there, whom it is my duty to cherish; a worthy elder brother is at home, whom

it is proper for me to obey, with a tender younger brother whom I must teach; and an intelligent teacher is there from whom I am required to learn. How have I leisure

to go a-rambling with you?'

Confucius said, 'I have in my carriage thirty-two chess-men; what do you say to having a game together?' The lad answered, 'If the emperor love gaming, the empire will not be governed; if the nobles love play, the government will be impeded; if scholars love it, learning and investigation.will be lost and thrown by; if the lower classes are fond of gambling, they will utterly lose the support of their families; if servants and slaves love to game, they will get a cudgeling; if farmers love it, they miss the time for ploughing and sowing: for these reasons I shall not play with you.'

Confucius rejoined, 'I wish to have you go with me, and fully equalize the empire: what do you think of this?' The lad replied, 'The empire cannot be equalized; here are high hills, there are lakes and rivers; either there are princes and nobles, or there are slaves and servants. If the high hills be leveled, the birds and beasts will have no resort; if the rivers and lakes be filled up, the fishes and the turtles will have nowhere to go; do away with kings and nobles, and the common people will have much dispute about right and wrong; obliterate slaves and servants, and who will there be to serve the prince! If the empire be so vast and unsettled, how can it be equalized?'

Confucius again asked, ' Can you tell, under the whole sky, what fire has no smoke, what water no fish; what hill has no stones, what tree no branches; what man has no wife, what woman no husband ; what cow has no calf,

what mare no colt; what cock has no hen, what hen no cock; what constitutes an excellent man, and what an inferior man; what is that which has not enough, and what that which has an overplus; what city is without a market, and who is the man without a style?'

The boy replied, "A glowworm's fire has no smoke, and well-water no fish ; a mound of earth has no stones, and a rotten tree no branches; genii have no wives, and fairies no husbands; earthen cows have no calves, nor wooden mares any colts; lonely cocks have no hens, and widowed hens no cocks; he who is worthy is an excellent man, and a fool is an inferior man; a winter's day is not long enough, and a summer's day is too long; the imperial city has no market, and little folks have no style.'

Confucius inquiring said, 'Do you know what are the connecting bonds between heaven and earth, and what is the beginning and ending of the dual powers? What is left, and what is right; what is out, and what is in ; who is father, and who is mother; who is husband, and who is wife? [Do you know] where the wind comes from, and from whence the rain? From whence the clouds issue, and the dew arises? And for how many tens of thousands of miles the sky and earth go parallel?'

The youth answering said, 'Nine multiplied nine times makes eighty-one, which is the controlling bond of heaven and earth; eight multiplied into nine makes seventy-two, the beginning and end of the dual powers. Heaven is father, and earth is mother; the sun is husband, and the moon is wife; east is left, and west is right; without is out, and inside is in; the winds come from Tsang-wu, and the rains proceed from wastes and wilds; the clouds