4. "That he can get from the whole empire the most talented individuals, and teach and nourish them ;— this is the third delight.

5. "The superior man has three things in which he delights, and to be ruler over the empire is not one of them."

XXI. 1. Mencius said, "Wide territory and a numerous people are desired by the superior man, but what he delights in is not here.

2. "To stand in the centre of the empire, and tranquillize the people within the four seas;-the superior man delights in this, but the highest enjoyment of his nature is not here.

3. "What belongs by his nature to the superior man cannot be increased by the largeness of his sphere of action, nor diminished by his dwelling in poverty and retirement ;—for this reason that it is determinately apportioned to him by Heaven.

4. “What belongs by his nature to the superior man are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge. These are rooted in his heart; their growth and manifestation are a mild harmony appearing in the countenance, a rich fulness in the back, and the character imparted to the four limbs. Those limbs understand to arrange themselves, without being told."

XXII. Mencius said, "Pih-e, that he might avoid Chow, was dwelling on the coast of the northern sea when he heard of the rise of king Wan. He roused himself and said, "Why should I not go and follow him? I have heard that the chief of the West knows well how to nourish the old.' Tae-kung, to avoid Chow, was dwelling on the coast of the eastern sea. When he heard of the rise of king Wan, he said, 'Why should I not go and follow him? I have heard that the chief of the West knows well how to nourish the old.' If there were a prince in the empire, who knew

well how to nourish the old, all men of virtue would feel that he was the proper object for them to gather

to.

2. Around the homestead with its five mow, the space beneath the walls was planted with mulberry trees, with which the women nourished silkworms, and thus the old were able to have silk to wear. Each family had five brood hens and two brood sows, which were kept to their breeding seasons, and thus the old were able to have flesh to eat. The husbandmen cultivated their farms of 100 mow, and thus their families of eight mouths were secured against want.

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3. "The expression, The chief of the West knows well how to nourish the old,' refers to his regulation of the fields and dwellings, his teaching them to plant the mulberry and nourish those animals, and his instructing the wives and children, so as to make them nourish their aged. At fifty, warmth cannot be maintained without silks, and at seventy flesh is necessary to satisfy the appetite. Persons not kept warm nor supplied with food are said to be starved and famished, but among the people of king Wan, there were no aged who were starved or famished. This is the meaning of the expression in question."

XXIII. 1. Mencius said, "Let it be seen to that their fields of grain and hemp are well cultivated, and make the taxes on them light;-so the people may be made rich.

2. "Let it be seen to that the people use their resources of food seasonably, and expend their wealth only on the prescribed ceremonies:-so their wealth will be more than can be consumed.

3. "The people cannot live without water and fire, yet if you knock at a man's door in the dusk of the evening, and ask for water and fire, there is no man who will not give them, such is the abundance of these

things. A sage governs the empire so as to cause pulse and grain to be as abundant as water and fire. When pulse and grain are as plenty as water and fire, how shall the people be other than virtuous?"

XXIV. 1. Mencius said, "Confucius ascended the eastern hill, and Loo appeared to him small. He ascended the T'ae mountain, and all beneath the heavens appeared to him small. So, he who has contemplated the sea, finds it difficult to think any thing of other waters, and he who has wandered in the gate of the sage, finds it difficult to think anything of the words of others.

2. "There is an art in the contemplation of water.— It is necessary to look at it as foaming in waves. The sun and moon being possessed of brilliancy, their light admitted even through an orifice illuminates.

3. "Flowing water is a thing which does not proceed till it has filled the hollows in its course. The student who has set his mind on the doctrines of the sage, does not advance to them but by completing one lesson after another."

XXV. 1. Mencius said, "He who rises at cockcrowing, and addresses himself earnestly to the prac•tice of virtue, is a disciple of Shun.

2. "He who rises at cock-crowing, and addresses him self earnestly to the pursuit of gain, is a disciple of Chih.

3. "If you want to know what separates Shun from Chih, it is simply this, the interval between the thought of gain and the thought of virtue."

XXVI. 1. Mencius said, "The principle of the phi losopher Yang was- Each one for himself.' Though he might have benefitted the whole empire by plucking out a single hair, he would not have done it.

2. "The philosopher Mih loves all equally. If by rubbing smooth his whole body from the crown to the

heel, he could have benefited the empire, he would have done it.

By

3. "Tsze-moh holds a medium between these. holding that medium, he is nearer the right. But by holding it without leaving room for the exigency of circumstances, it becomes like their holding their one point.

4. "The reason why I hate that holding to one point is the injury it does to the way of right principle. It takes up one point and disregards a hundred others."

XXVII. 1. Mencius said, "The hungry think any food sweet, and the thirsty think the same of any drink, and thus they do not get the right taste of what they eat and drink. The hunger and thirst, in fact, injure their palate. And is it only the mouth and belly which are injured by hunger and thirst? Men's minds are also injured by them.

2. "If a man can prevent the evils of hunger and thirst from being any evils to his mind, he need not have any sorrow about not being up with other men."

XXVIII. Mencius said, "Hwuy of Lew-hea would not for the three highest offices of state have changed his firm purpose of life."

XXIX. Mencius said, "A man with definite aims to be accomplished may be compared to one digging a well. To dig the well to a depth of seventy-two cubits, and stop without reaching the spring, is after all throwing away the well."

XXX. 1. Mencius said, "Benevolence and righteousness were natural to Yaou and Shun. Tang and Woo made them their own. The five chiefs of the princes feigned them.

2. “Having borrowed them long and not returned them, how could it be known they did not own them?" XXXI. 1. Kung-sun Ch'ow said, "E Yin said, 'I cannot be near and see him so disobedient to reason,'

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and therewith he banished Tae-kea to T'ung. The people were much pleased. When T'ae-kea became virtuous, he brought him back, and the people were again much pleased.

2. "When worthies are ministers, may they indeed banish their sovereigns in this way, when they are not virtuous ?"

3. Mencius replied, "If they have the same purpose as E Yin, they may. If they have not the same purpose, it would be usurpation."

XXXII. 1. Kung-sun Ch'ow said, "It is said, in the Book of Poetry,

'He will not eat the bread of idleness!" How is it that we see superior men eating without labouring?" Mencius replied, "When a superior man resides in a country, if its sovereign employ his counsels, he comes to tranquillity, wealth, honour, and glory. It the young in it follow his instructions, they become filial, obedient to their elders, true hearted, and faithful. -What greater example can there be than this of not eating the bread of idleness?"

XXXIII. 1. The king's son, Teen, asked Mencius, saying, "What is the business of the unemployed schol

ar?"

2. Mencius replied, "To exalt his aim."

3. Teen asked again, “What do you mean by exalting the aim?" The answer was, "Setting it simply.on benevolence and righteousness. He thinks how to put a single innocent person to death is contrary to benevolence; how to take what one has not a right to is contrary to righteousness; that one's dwelling should be benevolence; and one's path should be righteousness. When benevolence is the dwelling-place of the heart, and righteousness the path of the life, the business of a great man is complete."

XXXIV. 1. Mencius said, "Supposing that the king