4. "In the Book of Poetry, it is said, "The admirable, amiable, prince, displayed conspicuously his excelling virtue, adjusting his people and adjusting his officers. Therefore, he received from Heaven the emoluments of dignity. It protected him, assisted him, decreed him the throne; sending from heaven these favours, as it were repeatedly.'

5. "We may say therefore that he who is greatly virtuous will be sure to receive the appointment of Heaven."

XVIII. 1. The Master said, "It is only king Wan of whom it can be said that he had no cause for grief! His father was king Ke, and his son was king Woo. His father laid the foundations of his dignity, and his son transmitted it.

2. King Woo continued the enterprise of king Tae, king Ke, and king Wan. He once buckled on his armour, and got possession of the empire. He did not lose the distinguished personal reputation which he had throughout the empire. His dignity was the imperial throne. His riches were the possession of all within the four seas. He offered his sacrifices in his ancestral temple, and his descendants maintained the sacrifices to himself.

3. "It was in his old age that king Woo received the appointment to the throne, and the duke of Chow completed the virtuous course of Wan and Woo. He carried up the title of king to Tae and Ke, and sacrificed to all the former dukes above them with the imperial ceremonies. And this rule he extended to the princes of the empire, the great officers, the scholars, and the common people. Was the father a great officer and the son a scholar, then the burial was that due to a great officer, and the sacrifice that due to a scholar. Was the father, a scholar, and the son a great officer, then the burial was that due to a scholar, and the sacrifice

that due to a great officer. The one year's mourning was made to extend only to the great officers, but the three years' mourning extended to the emperor. In the mourning for a father or mother, he allowed no difference between the noble and the mean."

XIX. 1. The Master said, "How far-extending was the filial piety of king Woo and the duke of Chow!

2. "Now filial piety is seen in the skilful carrying out of the wishes of our fore-fathers, and the skilful carrying forward of their undertakings.

3. "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.

4. By means of the ceremonies of the ancestral temple, they distinguished the imperial kindred according to their order of descent. By ordering the parties present according to their rank, they distinguished the more noble and the less. By the arrangement of the services, they made a distinction of talents and worth. In the ceremony of general pledging, the inferiors presented the cup to their superiors, and thus something was given the lowest to do. At the concluding feast, places were given according to the hair, and thus was made the distinction of years.

5. "They occupied the places of their fore-fathers, practised their ceremonies, and performed their music. They reverenced those whom they honoured, 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.

6. "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 sac rifices to ancestors, would find the government of a kingdom as easy as to look into his palm!"

XX. 1. The duke Gae asked about government.

2. The Master said, "The government of Wan and Woo is displayed in the records, the tablets of wood and bamboo. Let there be the men and the government will flourish; but without the men, their government decays and ceases.'

3. "With the right men the growth of government is rapid, just as vegetation is rapid in the earth; and moreover their government might be called an easilygrowing rush.

4. "Therefore the administration of government lies in getting proper men. Such men are to be got by means of the ruler's own character. That character is to be cultivated by his treading in the ways of duty. And the treading those ways of duty is to be cultivated by the cherishing of benevolence.

5. "Benevolence is the characteristic element of humanity, and the great exercise of it is in loving relatives. Righteousness is the accordance of actions with what is right, and the great exercise of it is in honouring the worthy. The decreasing measures of the love due to relatives, and the steps in the honour due to the worthy, are produced by the principle of propriety.

6. "When those in inferior situations do not possess the confidence of their superiors, they cannot retain the government of the people.

7. "Hence the sovereign may not neglect the culti vation of his own character. Wishing to cultivate his character, he may not neglect to serve his parents. In order to serve his parents, he may not neglect to acquire a knowledge of men. In order to know men, he may not dispense with a knowledge of Heaven.

8. "The duties of universal obligation are five, and

the virtues wherewith they are practised are three. The duties are those between sovereign and minister, between father and son, between husband and wife, between elder brother and younger, and those belonging to the intercourse of friends. Those five are the duties of universal obligation. Knowledge, magnanimity, and energy, these three are the virtues universally binding. And the means by which they carry the duties into prac tice is singleness.

9, "Some are born with the knowledge of those du ties; some know them by study; and some acquire the knowledge after a painful feeling of their ignorance. But the knowledge being possessed, it comes to the same thing. Some practice them with a natural ease; some from a desire for their advantages; and some by strenuous effort. But the achievement being made, it comes to the same thing."

10. The Master said, "To be fond of learning is to be near to knowledge. To practice with vigour is to be near to magnanimity. To possess the feeling of shame is to be near to energy.

11. "He who knows these three things, knows how to cultivate his own character. Knowing how to cultivate his own character, he knows how to govern other men. Knowing how to govern other men, he knows how to govern the empire with all its States and families.

12. "All who have the government of the Empire with its States and families have nine standard rules to follow ;-viz., the cultivation of their own characters; the honouring of men of virtue and talents; affection towards their relatives; respect towards the great ministers; kind and considerate treatment of the whole body of officers; dealing with the mass of the people as children; encouraging the resort of all classes of artizans; indulgent treatment of men from a distance; and the kindly cherishing of the princes of the States

13. "By the ruler's cultivation of his own character, the duties of universal obligation are set forth. By honouring men of virtue and talents, he is preserved from errors of judgment. By showing affection to his relatives, there is no grumbling nor resentment among his uncles and brethren. By respecting the great ministers, he is kept from errors in the practice of governnent. By kind and considerate treatment of the whole body of officers, they are led to make the most grateful return for his courtesies. By dealing with the mass of people as his children, they are led to exhort one another to what is good. By encouraging the resort of artizans, 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 States, the whole empire is brought to revere him.

14. “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 honour to virtue,this is the way for him to encourage men of worth and talents. Giving them places of honour and large emolument, 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