X. Yen K'ew said, "It is not that I do not delight in your doctrines, but my strength is insufficient." The Master said, "Those whose strength is insufficient give over in the middle of the way, but now you limit yourself."

XI. The Master said to Tsze-hea, "Do you be a scholar after the style of the superior man, and not after that of the mean man.

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XII. Tsze-yew being governor of Woo-shing, the Master said to him, "Have you got good men there? He answered, "There is Tan-t'ae Meč-ming, who never in walking takes a short cut, and never comes to my office, excepting on public business."

XIII. The Master said, "Măng Che-fan does not boast of his merit. Being in the rear on an occasion of flight, when they were about to enter the gate, he whipt up his horse, saying, 'It is not that I dare to be-last. My horse would not advance.' "

XIV. The Master said, "Without the specious speech of the litanist T'o, and the beauty of the prince Chaou of Sung, it is difficult to escape in the present age."

10. A HIGH AIM AND PERSEVERANCE PROPER TO A STUDENT. Confucius would not admit K'ew's apology for not attempting more than he did. "Give over in the middle of the way," i. e. they go as long and as far as they can, they are pursuing when they stop; whereas K'ew was giving up when he might have gone on,

11. How LEARNING SHOULD BE PURSUED.

12. THE CHARACTER OF TAN-T'AE MEE-MING. The chapter shows, according to Chinese commentators, the advantage to people in authority of their having good men about them. In this way, after their usual fashion, they seek for a profound meaning in the remark of Confucius. Tan-t'ae Mëĕ-ming, who was styled Tsze-yu, has his tablet the second east outside the hall. The accounts of him are very conflicting. According to one, he was very good-looking, while another says he was so badlooking that Confucius at first formed an unfavourable opinion of him, an error which he afterwards confessed on Mëĕ-ming's becoming eminent. He travelled southwards with not a few followers, and places near Soochow and elsewhere retain names indicative of his presence.

13. THE VIRTUE OF MANG CHE-FAN IN CONCEALING HIS MERIT. But where was his virtue in deviating from the truth? And how could Confucius commend him for doing so? These questions have never troubled the commentators. Măng Che-fan was an officer of Loo. The defeat, after which he thus distinguished himself, was in the 11th year of Duke Gae, B.C. 483.

14. THE DEGENERACY OF THE AGÉ ESTEEMING GLIBNESS OF TONGUE AND BEAUTY OF PERSON. T'o, the officer charged with the prayers in the

XV. The Master said, "Who can go out but by the door? How is it that men will not walk according to these ways ?"

XVI. The Master said, "Where the solid qualities are in excess of accomplishments, we have rusticity; where the accomplishments are in excess of the solid qualities, we have the manners of a clerk. When the accomplishments and solid qualities are equally blended, we then have the man of complete virtue."

XVII. The Master said, "Man is born for uprightness. If a man lose his uprightness, and yet live, his escape from death is the effect of mere good fortune."

XVIII. The Master said, "They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who find delight in it."

XIX. The Master said, "To those whose talents are above mediocrity, the highest subjects may be announced. To those who are below mediocrity, the highest subjects may not be announced.”

XX. Fan Ch'e asked what constituted wisdom. The Master said, "To give one's-self earnestly to the duties due to men, and, while respecting spiritual beings, to keep aloof from them, may be called wisdom." He asked

ancestral temple. I have coined the word litanist, to come as near to the meaning as possible. He was an officer of the state of Wei, styled Tszeyu. Prince Chaou had been guilty of incest with his sister Nan-tsze (see ch. 26), and afterwards, when she was married to the Duke Ling of Wei, he served as an officer there, carrying on his wickedness. He was celebrated for his beauty of person.

15. A LAMENT OVER THE WAYWARDNESS OF MEN'S CONDUCT, ways," in a moral sense ;-not deep doctrines, but rules of life.

"These

16. THE EQUAL BLENDING OF SOLID EXCELLENCE AND ORNAMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN A COMPLETE CHARACTER.

17, LIFE WITHOUT UPRIGHTNESS IS NOT TRUE LIFE, AND CANNOT BE CALCULATED ON, "No more serious warning than this," says one commentator, was ever addressed to men by Confucius." We long here, as elsewhere, for more perspicuity and fuller development of view. An important truth struggles for expression, but only finds it imperfectly. Without uprightness, the end of man's existence is not fulfilled, but his preservation in such case is not merely a fortunate accident.

18. DIFFERENT STAGES OF ATTAINMENT.

19. TEACHERS MUST BE GUIDED IN COMMUNICATING KNOWLEDGE BY THE SUSCEPTIVITY OF THE LEARNERS.

20. CHIEF ELEMENTS IN WISDOM AND VIRTUE. We may suppose from the second clause that Fan Ch'e was striving after what was uncommon

about perfect virtue. The Master said, "The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration ;—this may be called perfect virtue."

XXI. The Master said, "The wise find delight in water; the virtuous find delight in hills. The wise are active; the virtuous are tranquil. The wise are joyful; the virtuous are long-lived."

XXII. The Master said, "Ts'e, by one change, would come to the state of Loo. Loo, by one change, would come to a state where true principles predominated."

XXIII. The Master said, "A cornered vessel without corners.-A A strange cornered vessel! A strange cornered vessel !

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XXIV. Tsae Wo asked, saying, "A benevolent man, though it be told him,-There is a man in the well,' will go in after him, I suppose." Confucius said,

"Why should he do so? A superior man may be made to go to the well, but he cannot be made to go down into it. He may be imposed upon, but he cannot be befooled."

and superhuman. The sage's advice therefore is-"attend to what are plainly human duties, and do not be superstitious."

21. CONTRASTS OF THE WISE AND THE VIRTUOUS. The wise or knowing are active and restless, like the waters of a stream, ceaselessly flowing and advancing. The virtuous are tranquil and firm, like the stable mountains. The pursuit of knowledge brings joy. The life of the virtuous may be expected to glide calmly on and long. After all, the saying is not very comprehensible.

22. THE CONDITION OF THE STATES TS'E AND LOo, Ts'e and Loo were both within the present Shan-tung, Ts'e lay along the coast on the north, embracing the present department of Ts'ing Chow and other territory. Loo was on the south, the larger portion of it being formed by the present department of Yen-chow. At the rise of the Chow dynasty, King Woo invested "the great Duke Wang" with the principality of Ts'e; while his successor, King Ch'ing, constituted the son of his uncle, the famous duke of Chow, prince of Loo. In Confucius' time, Ts'e had degenerated more than Loo.

23. THE NAME WITHOUT THE REALITY IS FOLLY. This was spoken with reference to the governments of the time, retaining ancient names without ancient principles. The vessel spoken of was made with corners, as appears from the composition of the character, which is formed from Këŏ, “ a horn," a sharp corner." In Confucius' time, the form was changed, while the name was kept.

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24. THE BENEVOLENT EXERCISE THEIR BENEVOLENCE WITH PRUDENCE. Tsae Wo could see no limitation to acting on the impulses of

XXV. The Master said, "The superior man, extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, may thus likewise not overstep what is right."

XXVI. The Master having visited Nan-tsze, Tsze-loo was displeased, on which the Master swore, saying, "Wherein I have done improperly, may Heaven reject me! may Heaven reject me!

XXVII. The Master said, "Perfect is the virtue which is according to the Constant Mean! Rare for a long time has been its practice among the people."

XXVIII. ́1. Tsze-kung said, "Suppose the case of a man extensively conferring benefits on the people, and able to assist all, what would you say of him? Might he be called perfectly virtuous?" The Master said, "Why speak only of virtue in connection with him? Must he not have the qualities of a sage? Even Yaou and Shun were still solicitous about this.

2. "Now the man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others. 3. "To be able to judge of others by what is nigh in ourselves; this may be called the art of virtue."

benevolence. We are not to suppose, with modern commentators, that he wished to show that benevolence was impracticable.

25. THE HAPPY EFFECT OF LEARNING AND PROPRIETY COMBINED. 26. CONFUCIUS VINDICATES HIMSELF FOR VISITING THE UNWORTHY NAN-TSZE. Nan-tsze was the wife of the duke of Wei, and sister of Prince Chaou, mentioned chapter xiv. Her lewd character was well known, and hence Tsze-loo was displeased, thinking an interview with her was disgraceful to the Master. Great pains are taken to explain the incident. "Nan-tsze,” says one, "sought the interview from the stirrings of her natural conscience." "It was a rule," says another, "that officers in a state should visit the prince's wife." "Nan-tsze," argues a third, "had all influence with her husband, and Confucius wished to get currency by her means for his doctrine."

27. THE DEFECTIVE PRACTICE OF THE PEOPLE IN CONFUCIUS' TIMES. See the Doctrine of the Mean, III.

28. THE TRUE NATURE AND ART OF VIRTUE. There are no higher sayings in the Analects than we have here. 1. Tsze-kung appears to have thought that great doings were necessary to virtue, and propounds a case which would transcend the achievements of Yaou and Shun. From such extravagant views the Master recalls him. 2. This is the description of "the mind of the perfectly virtuous man as void of all selfishness. 3. It is to be wished that the idea intended by "being able to judge of others

BOOK VII.

CHAPTER I. The Master said, "A transmitter and not a maker, believing in and loving the ancients, I venture to compare myself with our old Pang."

II. The Master said, "The silent treasuring up of knowledge; learning without satiety; and instructing others without being wearied-what one of these things belongs to me?”

III. The Master said, "The leaving virtue without proper cultivation; the not thoroughly discussing what is learned; not being able to move towards righteousness of which a knowledge is gained; and not being able to change what is not good:-these are the things which occasion me solicitude."

IV. When the Master was unoccupied with business, his manner was easy, and he looked pleased.

by what is nigh in ourselves," had been more clearly expressed. Still we seem to have here a near approach to a positive enunciation of "the golden rule."

HEADING AND SUBJECTS OF THIS BOOK." A transmitter, andWe have in this book much information of a personal character about Confucius, both from his own lips and from the descriptions of his disciples. The two preceding books treat of the disciples and other worthies, and here, in contrast with them, we have the sage himself exhibited. 1. CONFUCIUS DISCLAIMS BEING AN ORIGINATOR OR MAKER. Commentators say the master's language here is from his extreme humility. But we must hold that it expresses his true sense of his position and work. Who the individual called endearingly "our old Pang" was, can hardly be ascertained. Choo He adopts the view that he was a worthy officer of the Shang dynasty. But that individual's history is a mass of fables. Others make him to be Laou-tsze, the founder of the Taou sect, and others again make two individuals-one this Laou-tsze, and the other that Pang. 2. CONFUCIUS' HUMBLE ESTIMATE OF HIMSELF. "The language," says Choo He, "is that of humility upon humility." Some insert, "besides me," in their explanations before "what,"--"Besides these, what is there in me?" But this is quite arbitrary. The profession may be inconsistent with what we find in other passages, but the inconsistency must stand rather than violence be done to the language.

3. CONFUCIUS' ANXIETY ABOUT HIS SELF-CULTIVATION:-ANOTHER HUMBLE ESTIMATE OF HIMSELF. Here, again, commentators find only the expressions of humility, but there can be no reason why we should not admit that Confucius was anxious lest these things, which are only put forth as possibilities, should become in his case actual facts.

4. THE MANNER OF CONFUCIUS WHEN UNOCCUPIED.