my people.' In a time of good government he took office, and when confusion prevailed, he also took office. He said, 'Heaven's plan in the production of mankind is this: that they who are first informed should instruct those who are later in being informed, and they who first apprehend principles should instruct those who are slower in doing so. I am the one of Heaven's people who has first apprehended;-I will take these principles and instruct the people in them.' He thought that among all the people of the empire, even the common men and women, if there were any who did not share in the enjoyment of such benefits as Yaou and Shun conferred, it was as if he himself pushed them into a ditch; for he took upon himself the heavy charge of the empire.

3. "Hwuy of Lew-hea was not ashamed to serve an impure prince, nor did he think it low to be an inferior officer. When advanced to employment, he did not conceal his virtue, but made it a point to carry out his principles. When dismissed and left without office, he yet did not murmur. When straightened by poverty, he yet did not grieve. When thrown into the company of village people, he was quite at ease and could not bear to leave them. He had a saying, 'You are you, and I am I. Although you stand by my side with breast and arms bare, or with your body naked, how can you defile me?' Therefore when men now hear the character of Hwuy of Lew-hea, the mean become generous, and the niggardly become liberal.

When he

4. "When Confucius was leaving Ts'e, he strained off with his hand the water in which his rice was being rinsed, took the rice, and went away. left Loo, he said, 'I will set out by and by:'-it was right he should leave the country of his parents in this way. When it was proper to go away quickly, he did so; when it was proper to delay, he did so; when it

was proper to keep in retirement, he did so; when it was proper to go into office, he did so :-this was Confucius."

5. Mencius said, "Pih-e among the sages was the pure one; E Yin was the one most inclined to take of fice; Hwuy of Lew-hea was the accommodating one: and Confucius was the timeous one.

6. "In Confucius we have what is called a complete concert. A complete concert is when the large bell proclaims the commencement of the music, and the ringing stone proclaims its close. The metal sound commences the blended harmony of all the instruments, and the winding up with the stone terminates that blended harmony. The commencing that harmony is the work of wisdom. The terminating it is the work of sageness.

7. "As a comparison for wisdom, we may liken it to skill, and as a comparison for sageness, we may liken it to strength;-as in the case of shooting at a mark a hundred paces distant. That you reach it is owing to your strength, but that you hit the mark is not owing to your strength."

II. 1. Pih-kung E asked Mencius, saying, "What was the arrangement of dignities and emoluments de termined by the house of Chow?"

2. Mencius replied, "The particulars of that arrangement cannot be learned, for the princes, disliking them as injurious to themselves, have all made away with the records of them. Still I have learned the general outline of them.

3. "The EMPEROR constituted one dignity; the KUNG one; the How one; the PIH one; and the TSZE and the NAN each one of equal rank:-altogether making five degrees of dignity. The SOVEREIGN again constituted one dignity; the CHIEF MINISTER one; the GREAT OFFICERS one; the SCHOLARS OF THE FIRST CLASS one; THOSE OF THE

MIDDLE CLASS one; and THOSE OF THE LOWEST CLASS one :altogether making six degrees of dignity.

4. "To the emperor there was allotted a territory of a thousand le square. A Kung and a How had each a hundred le square. A Pih had seventy le, and a Tsze and a Nan had each fifty le. The assignments altogether were of four amounts. Where the territory did not amount to fifty le, the chief could not have access himself to the emperor. His land was attached to some How-ship, and was called a FoO-YUNG.

5. "The chief ministers of the emperor received an amount of territory equal to that of a How; a great officer received as much as a Pih; and a scholar of the first class as much as a Tsze or a Nan.

6. "In a great State, where the territory was a hundred le square, the sovereign had ten times as much income as the chief ministers; a chief minister four times as much as a great officer; a great officer twice as much as scholar of the first class; a scholar of the first class twice as much as one of the middle; a scholar of the middle class twice as much as one of the lowest; the scholars of the lowest class, and such of the common people as were employed about the government offices, had the same emolument ;-as much, namely as was equal to what they would have made by tilling the fields.

7. "In a State of the next order, where the territory was seventy le square, the sovereign had ten times as much revenue as the chief minister; a chief minister three times as much as a great officer a great officer twice as much as a scholar of the first class; a scholar of the first class twice as much as one of the middle; a scholar of the middle class twice as much as one of the lowest; the scholars of the lowest class, and such of the common people as were employed about the gov ernment offices, had the same emolument;-as much

namely, as was equal to what they would have made by tilling the fields.

8. "In a small State, where the territory was fifty le square, the sovereign had ten times as much revenue as the chief minister; a chief minister had twice as much as a great officer; a great officer twice as much as a scholar of the highest class; a scholar of the highest class twice as much as one of the middle; a scholar of the middle class twice as much as one of the lowest; scholars of the lowest class, and such of the common people as were employed about the government offices, had the same emolument;—as much, namely, as was equal to what they would have made by tilling the fields.

9. "As to those who tilled the fields, each husbandman received a hundred mow. When those mow were manured, the best husbandmen of the highest class supported nine individuals, and those ranking next to them supported eight. The best husbandmen of the second class supported seven individuals, and those ranking next to them supported six; while husbandmen of the lowest class only supported five. The salaries of the common people who were employed about the government offices were regulated according to these differences."

III. 1. Wan Chang asked Mencius saying, "I venture to ask the principles of friendship." Mencius replied, "Friendship should be maintained without any presumption on the ground of one's superior age, or station, or the circumstances of his relatives. Friendship with a man is friendship with his virtue, and does not admit of assumptions of superiority.

2. "There was Mang Heen, chief of a family of a hundred chariots. He had five friends, namely Yoching K'ew, Muh Chung, and three others whose names I have forgotten With those five men Heen main

tained a friendship, because they thought nothing about his family. If they had thought about his family, he would not have maintained his friendship with them.

3. "Not only has the chief of a family of a hundred chariots acted thus. The same thing was exemplified by the sovereign of a small State. The duke Hwuy of Pe said, 'I treat Tsze-sze as my master, and Yen Pan as my friend. As to Wang Shun and Ch'ang Seih, they

serve me.'

4. "Not only has the sovereign of a small State acted thus. The same thing has been exemplified by the sovereign of a large State. There was the duke Ping of Tsin with Hae Tang-when Tang told him to come into his house, he came; when he told him to be seated, he sat; when he told him to eat, he ate. There might be only coarse rice and soup of vegetables, but he always ate his fill, not daring to do otherwise. Here, however, he stopped, and went no farther. He did not call him to share any of Heaven's places, or to govern any of Heaven's offices, or to partake of any of Heaven's emoluments. His conduct was but a scholar's honouring virtue and talents, not the honouring them proper to a king or a duke.

5. "Shun went up to court and saw the emperor, who lodged him as his son-in-law in the second palace. The emperor also enjoyed there Shun's hospitality. Alternately he was host and guest. Here was the emperor maintaining friendship with a private man.

6. "Respect shown by inferiors to superiors is called giving to the noble the observance due to rank. Respect shown by superiors to inferiors is called giving honour to talents and virtue. The righteousness in each case is the same."

IV. 1. Wan Chang asked Mencius, saying, "I venture to ask what feeling of the mind is expressed in the