"If a ruler knows this,-the difficulty of being a prince,-may there not be expected from this one sentence the prosperity of his country ?”

4. The duke then said, "Is there a single sentence which can ruin a country?" Confucius replied, "Such an effect as that cannot be expected from one sentence. There is, however, the saying which people have—“ I have no pleasure in being a prince, only in that no one offer any opposition to what I say!

5. "If a ruler's words be good, is it not also good that no one oppose them? But if they are not good, and no one opposes them, may there not be expected from this one sentence the ruin of his country?"

XVI. 1. The duke of She asked about government.

2. The Master said, "Good government obtains, when those who are near are made happy, and those who are far off are attracted."

XVII. Tsze-hea, being governor of Keu-foo, asked about government. The Master said, "Do not be desirous to have things done quickly; do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished."

XVIII. 1. The duke of She informed Confucius, saying, "Among us here there are those who may be styled upright in their conduct. If their father have stolen a sheep, they will bear witness to the fact."

2. Confucius said, "Among us, in our part of the country, those who are upright are different from this.

The

were commentators' sayings, about which the duke asks, in a way to intimate his disbelief of them,

16. GOOD GOVERNMENT SEEN FROM ITS EFFECTS, 1. She;-see VII, xviii. 2. Confucius is supposed to have in view the oppressive and ag gressive government of Tsoo, to which She belonged.

17. HASTE AND SMALL ADVANTAGES NOT TO BE DESIRED IN GOVERNING. Keu-foo was a small city in the western borders of Loo.

18. NATURAL DUTY AND UPRIGHTNESS IN COLLISION. 1. We cannot say whether the duke is referring to one or more actual cases, or giving his opinion of what his people would do. Confucius' reply would incline us to the latter view. Accounts are quoted of such cases, but they are probably founded on this chapter. Ching seems to convey here the idea of accusation, as well as of witnessing. 2. The concluding expression does not absolutely affirm that this is upright, but that in this there is a better principle than in the other conduct.-Anybody but a

father conceals the misconduct of the son, and the son conceals the misconduct of the father. Uprightness is to be found in this."

XIX. Fan Ch'e asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "It is, in retirement, to be sedately grave; in the management of business, to be reverently attentive; in intercourse with others, to be strictly sincere. Though a man go among rude uncultivated tribes, these qualities may not be neglected."

XX. 1. Tsze-kung asked, saying, "What qualities must a man possess to entitle him to be called an officer? The Master said, "He who in his conduct of himself maintains a sense of shame, and when sent to any quarter will not disgrace his prince's commission, deserves to be called an officer."

2. Tsze-kung pursued, "I venture to ask who may be placed in the next lower rank?" and he was told, "He whom the circle of his relatives pronounce to be filial, whom his fellow-villagers and neighbours pronounce to be fraternal."

3. Again the disciple asked, "I venture to ask about the class still next in order." The Master said, "They are determined to be sincere in what they say, and to carry out what they do. They are obstinate little men. Yet perhaps they may make the next class."

The

4. Tsze-kung finally inquired, "Of what sort are those of the present day, who engage in government?” Master said, "Pooh! they are so many pecks and hampers, not worth being taken into account.'

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XXI. The Master said, "Since I cannot get men pursuing the due medium, to whom I might communicate my instructions, I must find the ardent and the cautiouslydecided. The ardent will advance and lay hold of truth;

Chinese will say that both the duke's view of the subject and the sage's were incomplete,

19. CHARACTERISTICS OF PERFECT VIRTUE, EVEN WHEN ASSOCIATING WITH BARBARIANS.

20. DIFFERENT CLASSES OF MEN WHO IN THEIR SEVERAL DEGREES MAY BE STYLED OFFICERS, AND THE INFERIORITY OF THE MASS OF THE OFFICERS OF CONFUCIUS' TIME.

21. CONFUCIUS OBLIGED TO CONTENT HIMSELF WITH THE ARDENT AND CAUTIOUS AS DISCIPLES. Compare V. xxi., and Mencius, VII. Bk II, xxxvii.

the cautiously-decided will keep themselves from what is wrong."

XXII. 1. The Master said, "The people of the south. have a saying-'A man without constancy cannot be either a wizard or a doctor.' Good!

2. "Inconstant in his virtue, he will be visited with disgrace."

3. The Master said, "This arises simply from not prognosticating."

XXIII. The Master said, "The superior man is affable, but not adulatory; the mean is adulatory, but not affable." XXIV. Tsze-kung asked saying, "What do you say of a man who is loved by all the people of his village?" The Master replied, "We may not for that accord our approval of him." "And what do you say of him who is hated by all the people of his village?" The Master said, "We may not for that conclude that he is bad. It is better than either of these cases that the good in the village love him, and the bad hate him."

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XXV. The Master said, "The superior man is easy to serve and difficult to please. If you try to please him in any way which is not accordant with right, he will not be

a

22. THE IMPORTANCE OF FIXITY AND CONSTANCY OF MIND. 1. I translate the word "wizard," for want of a better term. In the Chow Le, Bk XXVI., the woo appear sustaining a sort of official status, regularly called in to bring down spiritual beings, obtain showers, &c. They are distinguished as men and women, though the term is often feminine, witch," as opposed to another, signifying a wizard." Confucius' use of the saying, according to Choo He, is this:-"Since such small people must have constancy, how much more ought others to have it!" The ranking of the doctors and wizards together sufficiently shows what was the position of the healing art in those days.-Ching K'ang-shing interprets this paragraph quite inadmissibly: :-" wizards and doctors cannot manage people who have no constancy.' 2. This is a quotation from the Yih-king, diagram xxxii. 3. This is inexplicable to Choo He. Some bring out from it the meaning in the translation.-Ch'ing K‘ang-shing says:"By the Yih we prognosticate good and evil, but in it there is no prognostication of people without constancy.'

23. THE DIFFERENT MANNERS OF THE SUPERIOR AND THE MEAN MAN. Compare II. xiv.; but here the parties are contrasted in their more private intercourse with others.

24. How TO JUDGE OF A MAN FROM THE LIKINGS AND DISLIKINGS OF OTHERS, WE MUST KNOW THE CHARACTERS OF THOSE OTHERS.

25. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SUPERIOR AND THE MEAN MAN IN THEIR RELATION TO THOSE EMPLOYED BY THEM,

pleased. But in his employment of men, he uses them according to their capacity. The mean man is difficult to serve, and easy to please. If you try to please him, though it be in a way which is not accordant with right, he may be pleased. But in his employment of men, he wishes them to be equal to everything."

XXVI. The Master said, "The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease."

XXVII. The Master said, "The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest, are near to virtue.”

XXVIII. Tsze-loo asked saying, "What qualities must "The a man possess to entitle him to be called a scholar? Master said, "He must be thus,-earnest, urgent, and bland-among his friends, earnest and urgent; among his brethren, bland."

XXIX. The Master said, "Let a good man teach the people seven years, and they may then likewise be employed in war.

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XXX. The Master said, "To lead an uninstructed people to war is to throw them away."

26. THE DIFFERENT AIR AND BEARING OF THE SUPERIOR AND THE MEAN MAN.

27. NATURAL QUALITIES WHICH ARE FAVOURABLE TO VIRTUE.

28. QUALITIES THAT MARK THE SCHOLAR IN SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. This is the same question as in chapter xx. 1, but the subject is here "the scholar," the gentleman of education, without reference to his being in office or not.

29. HOW THE GOVERNMENT OF A GOOD RULER WILL PREPARE THE

PEOPLE FOR WAR. "A good man,"-spoken with reference to him as a ruler. The teaching is not to be understood of military training, but of the duties of life and citizenship; a people so taught are morally fitted to fight for their government. What military training may be included in the teaching, would merely be the hunting and drilling during the people's repose from the toils of agriculture.

30. THAT PEOPLE MUST BE TAUGHT, TO PREPARE THEM FOR WAR. Compare the last chapter. The language is very strong, and the instruction being understood as in that chapter, shows how Confucius valued education for all classes.

BOOK XIV.

CHAPTER I. Heen asked what might be considered shameful. The Master said, "When good government prevails in a State, to be thinking only of his salary; and, when bad government prevails, to be thinking in the same way, only of his salary;-this is shameful."

II. 1. "When the love of superiority, boasting, resentments, and covetousness are repressed, may this be deemed perfect virtue?"

2. The Master said, "This may be regarded as the achievement of what is difficult. But I do not know that

it is to be deemed perfect virtue."

III. The Master said, "The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort, is not fit to be deemed a scholar."

IV. The Master said, "When good government prevails in a State, language may be lofty and bold, and actions the same. When bad government prevails, the actions may be lofty and bold, but the language may be with

some reserve."

HEADING AND SUBJECTS OF THIS BOOK.-The glossarist Hing Ping says, "In this Book we have the characters of the Three Kings, and Two Chiefs, the courses proper for princes and great officers, the practice of virtue, the knowledge of what is shameful, personal cultivation, and the tranquillizing of the people;-all subjects of great importance in government. They are therefore collected together, and arranged after the last chapter which commences with an inquiry about government. Some writers are of opinion that the whole book was compiled by Hëen or Yuen Sze, who appears in the first chapter.

1. IT IS SHAMEFUL IN AN OFFICER TO BE CARING ONLY ABOUT HIS EMOLUMENT. Heen is the Yuen Sze of VI. iii.; and if we suppose Confucius' answer designed to have a practical application to Hëen himself, it is not easily reconcileable with what appears of his character in that other place.

2. THE PRAISE OF PERFECT VIRTUE IS NOT TO BE ALLOWED FOR THE REPRESSION OF BAD FEELINGS. In Ho An, this chapter is joined to the preceding, and Choo He also takes the first paragraph to be a question of Yuen Hëen.

3. A SCHOLAR MUST BE AIMING AT WHAT IS HIGHER THAN COMFORT OR PLEASURE. Compare IV. xi.

4. WHAT ONE DOES MUST ALWAYS BE RIGHT; WHAT ONE FEELS NEED NOT ALWAYS BE SPOKEN:-A LESSON OF PRUDENCE.