6. Mencius answered, "When Confucius was chief minister of Justice in Loo, the prince came not to follow his counsels. Soon after was the solsticial sacrifice, and when a part of the flesh presented in sacrifice was not sent to him, he went away even without taking off his cap of ceremony. Those who did not know him supposed it was on account of the flesh. Those who knew him supposed that it was on account of the neglect of the usual ceremony. The fact was, that Confucius wanted to go away on occasion of some small offence, not wishing to do so without some apparent cause. All men may not be expected to understand the conduct of a superior man."

VII. 1. Mencius said, "The five chiefs of the princes were sinners against the three kings. The princes of the present day are sinners against the five chiefs. The great officers of the present day are sinners against the princes.

2. "The emperor visited the princes, which was called 'A tour of inspection.' The princes attended at the court of the emperor, which was called Giving a report of office.' It was a custom in the spring to examine the ploughing, and supply any deficiency of seed, and in autumn to examine the reaping, and assist where there was a deficiency of the crop. When the emperor entered the boundaries of a State, if the new ground was being reclaimed, and the old fields well cultivated; if the old were nourished and the worthy honoured; and if men of distingushed talents were placed in office: then the prince was rewarded, rewarded with an addition to his territory. On the other hand, if, on entering a State, the ground was found left wild or overrun with weeds; if the old were neglected and the worthy unhonoured; and if the offices were filled with hard tax-gatherers: then the prince was reprimanded. If a prince once omitted his attendance at court, he

was punished by degradation of rank; if he did so a second time, he was deprived of a portion of his territory; if he did so a third time, the imperial forces were set in motion, and he was removed from his government. Thus the emperor commanded the punishment, but did not himself inflict it, while the princes inflicted the punishment, but did not command it. The five chiefs, however, dragged the princes to punish other princes, and hence I say that they were sinners against the three kings.

3. "Of the five chiefs the most powerful was the duke Hwan. At the assembly of the princes in K'weik'ew, he bound the victim and placed the writing upon it, but did not slay it to smear their mouths with the blood. The first injunction in their agreement was,'Slay the unfilial; change not the son who has been appointed heir; exalt not a concubine to the rank of wife.' The second was,-Honour the worthy, and maintain the talented, to give distinction to the vir tuous,' The third was,- Respect the old, and be kind to the young. Be not forgetful of strangers and travellers.' The fourth was,- Let not offices be hereditary, nor let officers be pluralists. In the selection of officers let the object be to get the proper men. Let not a ruler take it on himself to put to death a great officer.' The fifth was,- Follow no crooked policy in making embankments. Impose no restrictions on the sale of grain. Let there be no promotions without first announcing them to the emperor. It was then said, 'All we who have united in this agreement shall hereafter maintain amicable relations.' The princes of the present day all violate these five prohibitions, and therefore I say that the princes of the present day are sinners against the five chiefs.

4. "The crime of him who connives at, and aids, the wickedness of his prince is small, but the crime of him

who anticipates and excites that wickedness is great. The officers of the present day all go to meet their sovereigns' wickedness, and therefore I say that the great officers of the present day are sinners against the princes."

VIII. 1. The prince of Loo wanted to make the minister Shin commander of his army.

2. Mencius said, " To employ an uninstructed people in war may be said to be destroying the people. A destroyer of the people would not have been tolerated in the times of Yaou and Shun.

3. "Though by a single battle you should subdue Ts'e, and get possession of Nan-yang, the thing ought not to be done."

4. Shin changed countenance, and said in displeasure, "This is what I, Kuh-le, do not understand."

you.

5. Mencius said, "I will lay the case plainly before The territory appropriated to the emperor is 1,000 le square. Without a thousand le, he would not have sufficient for his entertainment of the princes. The territory appropriated to a How is 100 le square. Without 100 le, he would not have sufficient wherewith to observe the statutes kept in his ancestral temple.

6. "When Chow-kung was invested with the principality of Loo, it was a hundred le square. The territory was indeed enough, but it was not more than 100 le. When Tae-kung was invested with the principality of Ts'e, it was 100 le square. The territory was indeed enough, but it was not more than 100 le.

7. "Now Loo is five times 100 le square. If a true imperial ruler were to arise, whether do you think that Loo would be diminished or increased by him?

8. "If it were merely taking the place from the one State to give it to the other, a benevolent man would not do it ;-how much less will he do so, when the end is to be sought by the slaughter of men!

9. "The way in which a superior man serves his prince contemplates simply the leading him in the right path, and directing his mind to benevolence."

IX. 1. Mencius said, "Those who now-a-days serve their sovereigns say, 'We can for our sovereign enlarge the limits of the cultivated ground, and fill his treasuries and arsenals.' Such persons are now-a-days called Good ministers,' but anciently they were called 'Robbers of the people.' If a sovereign follows not the right way, nor has his mind bent on benevolence, to seek to enrich him is to enrich a Kee.

2. "Or they will say, 'We can for our sovereign form alliances with other states, so that our battles must be successful. Such persons are now-a-days called 'Good ministers,' but anciently they were called 'Robbers of the people.' If a sovereign follows not the right way, nor has his mind directed to benevolence, to seek to enrich him is to enrich a Kee.

3. "Although a prince, pursuing the path of the present day, and not changing its practices, were to have the empire given to him, he could not retain it for a single morning."

X. 1. Pih Kwei said, "I want to take a twentieth of the produce only as the tax. What do you think of it?"

2. Mencius said, "Your way would be that of the Mih.

3. "In a country of ten thousand families, would it do to have only one potter?" Kwei replied, "No. The vessels would not be enough to use."

4. Mencius, went on, "In Mih all the five kinds of grain are not grown; it only produces the millet. There are no fortified cities, no edifices, no ancestral temples, no ceremonies of sacrifice; there are no princes requiring presents and entertainments; there is no system of officers with their various subordinates. On these ac

counts a tax of one twentieth of the produce is sufficient there.

5. "But now it is the Middle kingdom that we live in. To banish the relationships of men, and have no superior men;-how can such a state of things be thought of?

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6. With but few potters a kingdom cannot subsist; -how much less can it subsist without men of a higher rank than others?

7. "If we wish to make the taxation lighter than the system of Yaou and Shun, we shall just have a great Mih and a small Mih. If we wish to make it heavier, we shall just have the great Kee and the small Kee." XI. 1. Pih Kwei said, "My management of the waters is superior to that of Yu."

2. Mencius replied, "You are wrong, Sir, Yu's regulation of the waters was according to the laws of water.

3. "He therefore made the four seas their receptacle, while you make the neighbouring States their receptacle.

4. "Water flowing out of its channels is called an inundation. Inundating waters are a vast waste of water, and what a benevolent man detests. You are wrong, my good Sir."

XII. Mencius said, "If a scholar have not faith, how shall he take a firm hold of things?"

XIII. 1. The prince of Loo wanting to commit the administration of his government to the disciple Yoching, Mencius said, "When I heard of it, I was so glad that I could not sleep."

2. Kung-sun Ch'ow asked, "Is Yo-ching a man of vigour?" and was answered, "No." "Is he wise in council?" "No." "Is he possessed of much information?" "No."

3. “What then made you so glad that you

sleep?

could not