? Be strong to do good. That is all your

1. The duke Wan of Tang asked Me "Tang is a small kingdom. Though I d t to serve those large kingdoms on either si cannot escape suffering from them. What c I take that we may do so?" Mencius re erly, when king Tae dwelt in Pin, the barba north were constantly making incursions up ved them with skins and silks, and still h rom them. He served them with dogs and h ill he suffered from them. He served them and gems, and still he suffered from them. is, he assembled the old men, and announc saying, 'What the barbarians want is my I have heard this,-that a ruler does not i ople with that wherewith he nourishes them. en, why should you be troubled about havin

I will leave this.' Accordingly, he lef d the mountain Leang, built a town at the f K'e, and dwelt there. The people of Pin s a benevolent man. We must not lose who followed him looked like crowds hast rket.

On the other hand, some say, 'The kingdo to be kept from generation to generation. lual cannot undertake to dispose of it in his 1. Let him be prepared to die for it. Le it it.'

'I ask you, prince, to make your election be

know where you are going. I venture duke said, "I am going to see the scholar is this!" said the other. "That you der prince, in paying the honour of the first mon man, is, I apprehend, because you th a man of talents and virtue. By such m ceremonial proprieties and right are obse the occasion of this Mang's second mou servances exceeded those of the former. see him, my prince." The duke said, “I

2. The officer Yo-ching entered the cou audience. He said, "Prince, why have y see Mang K'o?" The duke said, "One t the occasion of the scholar Mang's seco his observances exceeded those of the for that account that I have not gone to see is this!" answered Yo-ching. "By what ceeding,' you mean, I suppose, that, on the he used the rites appropriate to a schola second, those appropriate to a great office used three tripods, and afterwards five duke said, "No; I refer to the greater ex coffin, the shell, the grave-clothes, and the ching said, "That cannot be called 'exc was the difference between being poor a

3. After this, Yo-ching saw Mencius, a "I told the prince about you, and he was coming to see you, when one of his fav Tsang Tsang, stopped him, and therefo

come

according to his purpose” Men

man's advancement is effected, it may be, by others, and the stopping him is, it may be, from the efforts of others. But to advance a man or to stop his advance is really beyond the power of other men. My not finding in the prince of Loo a ruler who would confide in me, and put my counsels into practice, is from Heaven. How could that scion of the Tsang family cause me not to find the ruler that would suit me?"

BOOK II.

KUNG-SUN CHOW. PART I.

CHAPTER I. 1. Kung-sun Chow asked Mencius, saying, "Master, if you were to obtain the ordering of the government in Ts'e, could you promise yourself to accomplish anew such results as those realized by Kwan Chung and Gan?"

2. Mencius said, "You are indeed a true man of Tse. You know about Kwan Chung and Gan, and nothing

more.

3. "Some one asked Tsang Se, saying, 'Sir, to which do you give the superiority,-to yourself or to Tszeloo?' Tsang Se looked uneasy, and said, 'He was an object of veneration to my grandfather.' Then,' pursued the other, 'Do you give the superiority to yourself or to Kwan Chung?' Tsang Se, flushed with anger and displeased, said, 'How dare you compare me with Kwan Chung? Considering how entirely Kwan Chung possessed the confidence of his prince, how long he en

5. Kung-sun Ch'ow said, "Kwan C prince to be the leader of all the other made his prince illustrious, and do y would not be enough for you to do wha

6. Mencius answered, "To raise Ts'e dignity would be as easy as it is to turn "Th

7. "So!" returned the other. your disciple is hereby very much in was king Wan, with all the virtue which and who did not die till he had reached a -and still his influence had not penetra the empire. It required king Woo a Chow to continue his course, before greatly prevailed. Now you say that t nity might be so easily obtained :—is not a sufficient object for imitation?"

8. Mencius said, "How can king Wa From Tang to Woo-ting there had app en worthy and sage sovereigns. The e attached to Yin for a long time, and thi made a change difficult. Woo-ting had coming to his court, and possessed the had been a thing which he moved rou Then, Chow was removed from Woo-ti interval of time. There were still remai ancient families and of the old manners also which had emanated from the ea and of their good government. Moreo the viscount of Wei and his second Highnesses, Pe-kan and the viscount of

kih, all, men of ability and virtue, who gave their joint assistance to Chow in his government. In consequence of these things, it took a long time for him to lose the empire. There was not a foot of ground which he did not possess. There was not one of all the people who was not his subject. So it was on his side, and king Wan made his beginning from a territory of only one hundred square le. On all these accounts, it was difficult for him immediately to attain the Imperial dignity.

9. "The people of Ts'e have a saying-A man may have wisdom and discernment, but that is not like embracing the favourable opportunity. A man may have instruments of husbandry, but that is not like waiting for the farming seasons.' The present time is one in which the Imperial dignity may be easily attained.

10. "In the flourishing periods of the Hea, Yin, and Chow dynasties, the imperial domain did not exceed a thousand le, and Tse embraces so much territory. Cocks crow and dogs bark to each other, all the way to the four borders of the state-so Ts'e possesses the people. No change is needed for the enlarging of its territory: no change is needed for the collecting of a population. If its ruler will put in practice a benevolent government, no power will be able to prevent his becoming Emperor.

11. "Moreover, never was there a time farther removed than the present from the appearance of a true sovereign: never was there a time when the sufferings of the people from tyrannical government were more intense than the present. The hungry are easily supplied with food, and the thirsty are easily supplied with drink.

12. "Confucius said, 'The flowing progress of virtue is more rapid than the transmission of imperial orders by stages and couriers.'

13. "At the present time, in a country of ten thou