respect and all courteous observances, they went to him [and took office]. [But afterwards], if there was a remission of the courteous observances, they left him.

4. "The last case was that of [the superior man] who had nothing to eat either morning or evening, and was so famished that he could not move out of his door. If the ruler, on hearing of his state, said, 'I must fail of the great point,-that of carrying his principles into practice, and moreover I cannot follow his words, but I am ashamed to allow him to starve in my country,' and so assisted him, the help might be accepted in such a case, but not beyond what was sufficient to avert death."

XV. 1. Mencius said, "Shun rose [to the empire] from among the channeled fields. Foo Yueh was called to office from the midst of his [building] frames and [earth-] beaters; Kaou Kih from his fish and salt; Kwan E-woo from the hands of the officer in charge of him; Sun Shuh

CH. XV. TRIALS AND HARDSHIPS THE WAY IN WHICH HEAVEN PREPARES MEN FOR GREAT SERVICES. ILLUSTRATED BY THE CASES OF SEVERAL EMINENT WORTHIES OF FORMER TIMES.

Par. 1. The rise of Shun is well known ;-see the 1st part of the Book of History. Foo Yueh,-see the Book of History, Part IV. viii., where it is related that king Kaou-tsung, having dreamt that "God gave him a good assistant," caused a picture of the man he had seen in his dream to be made, and search made for him through the kingdom, when he was found dwelling in the wilderness of Foo-yen. Sze-ma Ts'ëen says that the surname of the man was given in the dream as Foo, and his name as Yueh, which the king interpreted as meaning, that he would be a "tutor" (foo) to himself, and a "blessing" (yueh) to the people. Kaou Kih is mentioned in II. Pt I. i. 8, as an able assistant of the last king of Yin. In the disorders and misgovernment of that king Kaou Kih had retired to obscurity, and was discovered by the lord of Chow in the guise of a seller of fish and salt, and induced to take office under the king, with whom Kih continued faithful to the last.

Kwan E-woo was the chief minister of duke Hwan of Ts'e;-see II. Pt I. i.; et al. He was carried from Loo to Ts'e in a cage, Hwan having demanded his surrender that he might have the pleasure of putting him to death; but he met him outside the city and raised him to the greatest distinction. Shuh-sun Gaou was chief minister to king Chwang of Ts'oo, one of the five presidents of the States. He appears in the narratives of the Tso Chuen (see Book VII. xi.; et al.) as Wei Gae-lëeh. He belonged to one of the principal families of Ts'oo; but being at one time treated with neglect by the king, he had retired into obscurity, and lived somewhere (it must have been out of Ts'oo) on the sea-coast. The events of his life at this time, however, are all but lost to history. Afterwards, he did good serv

gaou from [his hiding by] the sea-shore; and Pih-le He from the market-place.

2. "Thus, when Heaven is about to confer a great office on any one, it first exercises his mind with suffering, and his sinews and bones with toil; it exposes his body to hunger, and subjects him to extreme poverty; and it confounds his undertakings. In all these ways it stimulates his mind, hardens his nature, and supplies his incompetencies.

3. "Men constantly err, but are afterwards able to reform. They are distressed in mind, and perplexed in thought, and then they arise to vigorous endeavour. When things have been evidenced in men's looks, and set forth in their words, then they understand them.

4. "If a ruler have not about his court families attached to the laws and able officers, and if abroad there are no hostile States or other external calamities, the State will generally come to ruin.

5. "From such things we see how life springs from sorrow and calamity, and death from ease and pleasure."

XVI. Mencius said, "There are many arts in teaching. I refuse, as inconsistent with my character, to teach a man, but I am only thereby still teaching him."

ice to the State. Sun-shuh must have been his designation originally, and Gaou was the name of an office in Ts'oo,-probably the sound of its appellation in the original language of the country. Pih-le He, see V. Pt I. ix.

Par. 3. This par. is intended to show that the same thing may in a manner be predicated of ordinary men. The concluding part seems to say that though most men are not quick of apprehension, yet when things are brought clearly before them, they can lay hold of them.

Par. 4. The same thing is true of a State. "Families attached to the laws" will not readily submit to the infraction of those laws without remonstrating, and their feelings will find a voice in the "able counsellors." This will stimulate the ruler's mind; and foreign danger will make him careful, and rouse him to exertion.

CH. XVI. THAT A REFUSAL TO TEACH MAY BE TEACHING.

There is a sufficient example of what Mencius states here in the second chapter.

BOOK VII.

TSIN SIN. PART I.

CHAPTER I. 1. Mencius said, "He who has exhaustively studied all his mental constitution knows his nature. Knowing his nature, he knows Heaven.

2. "To preserve one's mental constitution, and nourish one's nature, is the way to serve Heaven.

3. "When neither [the thought] of premature death nor

TITLE OF THIS BOOK. Like the previous Books, this is named from the commencing words-Tsin Sin, "The exhausting of all the mental constitution." It contains many more chapters than any of the others,-brief, enigmatical sentences for the most part, conveying Mencius' views on human nature. It is more abstruse also, and the student will have much difficulty in satisfying himself that he has hit the exact meaning of our philosopher. The author of The Root and Relish of the four Books" says: "This Book was made by Mencius in his old age. Its style is terse, and its meaning deep, and we cannot discover an order of subjects in its chapters. He had completed the previous chapters, and this grew up under his stylus, as his mind was affected, and he was prompted to give expression to his thoughts. The first chapter, however, may be regarded as a compendium of the whole."

CH. I. BY THE KNOWLEDGE OF OURSELVES WE COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF HEAVEN, AND HEAVEN IS SERVED BY OUR OBEYING OUR NATURE.

Par. 1. "To exhaust our mental constitution" is, I conceive, to make one's-self acquainted with all his mental constitution, having arrested bis consciousness, and ascertained what it is. This of course gives a man the knowledge of his nature; and as he is the creature of Heaven, its attributes must be corresponding. I can get no other meaning from this paragraph. Choo He, however, and all his school, say that there is no work or labour in "exhausting the mental constitution; "--that it is "the extension to the utmost of knowledge" of the 1st chapter of "The Great Learning ;" and that all the labour is in "knowing the nature," which is "the investigation of things" of that chapter. On this view we should translate, "He who completely developes his mental constitution has known (come to know) his nature;" but this is a forced construction of the text.

Par. 2. The "preservation" is the holding fast that which we have from Heaven, and the "nourishing" is the acting in accordance therewith, so that the "serving Heaven" is just the being and doing what It has intimated in our constitution to be Its will concerning us.

Par. 3. Man's " [Heaven-]ordained being " is his nature according to the opening words of "The Doctrine of the Mean; "-"What Heaven has con

[that] of long life causes a man any double-mindedness, but he waits in the cultivation of himself for whichever issue,this is the way in which he establishes his [Heaven-] ordained being."

II. 1. Mencius said, "There is an appointment for everything. A man should submissively receive what is correctly ascribed thereto.

2. "Therefore, he who knows what is [Heaven's] appointment will not stand beneath a dangerous wall.

ferred is called THE NATURE." 66 Establishing" this means "keeping entire what Heaven has conferred upon us, and not injuring it by any doing of our own."

It may be well to give the remarks of Chaou K'e on this chapter. On the 1st par. he says:-"To the nature there belong the principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge. The mind is designed to regulate them. When the mind is correct, a man can put it all forth in thinking of doing good, and then he may be said to know his nature. When he knows his nature, then he knows how the way of Heaven considers as excellent what is good."

On the 2nd par. he says:-"When one is able to preserve his mind and nourish his correct [nature], he may be called a man of perfect virtue. The way of Heaven loves life, and the perfect man also loves life. The way of Heaven is without partiality, and only approves of the virtuous. [Thus] the acting [of the perfect man] agrees with Heaven, and therefore it is said, 'This is the way by which he serves Heaven.'"

6

On the 3rd par. he says :-" Double' means two. The perfect man in his conduct is guided by one rule simply. Although he sees that some who have gone before him have been short-lived, and some long-lived, he never has two minds or changes his way. Let life be short like that of Yen Yuen, or long like that of the duke of Shaou, he refers both cases equally to the appointment of Heaven, and cultivates and rectifies his own person to wait for that. It is in this way that he establishes the root of [Heaven's] appointments."

The differences between these interpretations and those of Choo He may well lead the foreign student to put forth his strength on the study of the text more than on the commentaries.

CH. II. MAN'S DUTY AS AFFECTED BY THE DECREES OR APPOINTMENTS OF HEAVEN. WHAT MAY BE CORRECTLY ASCRIBED TO THOSE, AND WHAT NOT. Choo He says this is a continuation of the last chapter, developing the meaning of its concluding paragraph. There is a connexion between the chapters, but Heaven's decree or appointment is here taken more widely, as extending not only to man's nature, but to all the events that befall him.

Par. 1. A man should submissively receive what may be correctly ascribed to appointment" is, literally, "a man should submissively receive the correct appointment." The correct appointment is that which is directly from the will of Heaven; and no consequence flowing from evil or careless conduct is to be understood as being so.

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3. "Death sustained in the fulfilment of one's proper course may correctly be ascribed to the appointment [of Heaven].

4. "Death under handcuffs and fetters cannot correctly be so ascribed."

III. 1. Mencius said, "When we get by our seeking, and lose by our neglecting, in that case seeking is of use to getting; the things sought are those which are in ourselves. 2. "When the seeking is according to the proper course, and the getting is [only] as appointed, in that case the seeking is of no use to getting;-the things sought are without ourselves."

IV. 1. Mencius said, "All things are already complete

in us.

2. "There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.

3. "If one acts with a vigorous effort at the law of reci

Par. 4. The handcuffs or fetters are understood to be those of an evildoer. There is important truth underlying this chapter. Compare with it various passages in the 1st Epistle of Peter.

CH. III. VIRTUE IS SURE TO BE FOUND BY SEEKING IT, BUT RICHES AND OTHER EXTERNAL THINGS NOT.

The general sentiment of this chapter is good, but truth is sacrificed to the point of the antithesis, when it is said in the second case that seeking is of no use to getting. The things "in ourselves "are the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge, the endowments proper of our nature. Those "without ourselves" are riches and dignities. The 66 proper course to seek them is that ascribed to Confucius,-" Advancing according to propriety, and retiring according to righteousness; " but yet they are not at our command and control. Chaou K'e appropriately quotes in reference to them the words of the sage in Ana. VII. xi., as the search may not be successful, I will follow after that which I love."

CH. IV. MAN IS FITTED FOR AND HAPPY IN DOING GOOD, AND MAY BECOME PERFECT THEREIN.

Par. 1. This brief saying is quite mystical. The "all things are taken as "the radical nature of the reasons of things," and then the things must be further restricted to the relations of society and the duties belonging to them. If we extend them farther, we only get perplexed.

Par. 2. The "sincerity" is that so largely treated of in the Doctrine of the Mean.

Par. 3. For "the law of reciprocity" see Ana. XV. xxiii. To have