twenty of the finest horses, were sent as a present to the Duke of Loo. The present was accepted. The girls were taken into the Duke's harem, and the horses removed to the ducal stables. The Prime Minister and the government were neglected, and Confucius mourned that Duke Ting should prefer the songs of the maidens from Tse to the wise sayings of the sages of antiquity. As things did not improve, Confucius gave up his post and left the capital.

Confucius was now fifty-six years old. For fourteen years he was an exile, wandering from state to state, offering his services, but no one would employ him. "Your principles," said one of his disciples, "are excellent, but they are unacceptable to the Empire; would it not be well to abate them a little." "A good husbandman," replied the sage, "can sow, but he cannot secure a harvest. An artizan may excel in handicraft, but he cannot provide a market for his goods. And in the same way, a superior man can cultivate his principles, but he cannot make them acceptable." On one occasion, during his wanderings, he is said to have compared himself to a dog, driven from its home. He remarked, "I have the fidelity of a dog, and I am treated like one! But what matters the ingratitude of men? They cannot hinder me from doing all the good that has been appointed me. If my principles are disregarded, I have the consolation of knowing in my breast that I have faithfully performed my duty.".

Although Confucius was not in favour with the rulers, yet he had many admiring followers, who have carefully preserved many particulars of the every-day life of their esteemed teacher. In his dress, we are told, he was careful to wear only the correct colours, viz.-blue, pink, white, and black; he carefully avoided red, as being the colour usually affected by women and girls. At the table he was moderate in his appetite, but particular as to the nature of his food, and the manner in which it was set before him. Nothing would induce him to touch any meat that was high, or rice that was musty, nor would he eat anything that was not properly cut up, or accompanied with the proper sauce. He allowed himself only a certain quantity of meat and rice, and though no such limit was fixed to the amount of wine which he drank, we are assured that he never allowed himself to be confused by it. Whatever the food was that was set before him, he always offered a little of it in sacrifice, with a grave, respectful air. When out driving, he never turned his head quite round, and in his actions as well as his words he avoided all appearance

of haste. We are told that he always had ginger on the table, and when eating did not converse. When in bed, he did not lie like a corpse, and he required his sleeping dress to be half as long again as his body. But during his wanderings he often suffered much. He tells us, " With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for my pillow, I still have joy in these things. Riches and honours acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud."

Confucius was now growing old, and being weary of wandering from state to state, he had an earnest desire to return to his native place once more. History tells us that he retired to Loo in Shangtung, and spent his time in editing the Book of History, studying the Book of Changes, and writing the Spring and Autumn Annals. Having a strong presentiment at one time that his end was drawing near, he is said to have burst into tears, exclaiming, "The course of my doctrine is run, and I am unknown." How do you mean that you are unknown?' asked one of his disciples. "I do not complain of Providence," he answered, "nor find fault with men that learning is neglected, and success is worshipped. Heaven knows me never does a superior man pass away without leaving a name behind him. But my principles make no progress, and I, how shall I be known in future ages?"

One morning in the Spring of 478 B.C., he tottered about the house sighing:

"The great mountain must crumble ;

The strong beam must break;

The wise man withers away like a plant."

"If the mountain crumble," said one of his disciples, "to what shall I look up? If the strong beam break, and the wise man wither away, on whom shall I lean? The master, I fear,

is going to be ill." The master answered, "My time is come to die." He went into the house, took to his bed, and on the seventh day he died. During his short illness, one of his disciples asked leave to pray for him, quoting from a book of prayers to the effect that prayer might be offered to the spirits of heaven and earth, but Confucius would not permit it, saying, "My prayers were offered long ago."

And so, at the age of seventy-three, the great man passed away; and on the banks of the river Sze, to the north of the city of Loo, his disciples buried him, and for three years they mourned at his grave. One of the most faithful, who built a hut near his grave, and lived in it for six years, mourning as for a father, said, "I have all my life had the heaven above my

head, but I do not know its height, and the earth under my feet, but I do not know its thickness. In serving Confucius, I am like a thirsty man, who goes with his pitcher to the river and there drinks his fill, without knowing the river's depth."

And so the Most Holy Ancient Teacher, as his disciples loved to call him, passed away unhonoured, and almost unknown. Little did the few followers, who mourned around his grave, realize that the one of whom they were taking leave, would in after ages number his followers by millions, and that his writings and sayings would be more attended to and obeyed, than perhaps the writings of any man who has ever lived.

But we must pass on now to consider his writings and teaching.

"What Confucius teaches is true; what is contrary to his teaching is false; what he does not teach is unnecessary." This was the creed of the Confucian scholar twenty-five centuries ago, and it is the creed of the Confucian scholar to-day. We may well ask, therefore, what did Confucius teach?

In the Confucian system everything centred in the family. The same virtues are required in the head of the family as in the ruler of the kingdom. The same respectful reverence should be paid by the children to the father, as is due from the subjects to the sovereign. "Heaven and earth existing," says the Book of Changes, "all things exist; all things existing, then male and female exist; male and female existing, then the relation of husband and wife exists; from the existence of husband and wife, follows the relation of father and son; father and son existing, then prince and minister exist; prince and minister existing, then upper and lower classes; upper and lower classes existing, decorum and propriety are interchanged." "Let the household be rightly ordered, and the people of the state may be taught." All the teaching of Confucius tended to exalt the man, he did not think much of the women. “A woman," he said, "is subject to man and is unable to stand alone, and therefore, when young, depends on her father and brothers, when married, on her husband, and after his death, on her sons. She must not presume to follow her own judgment."

It is difficult for anyone, who has not lived in China, to realize the difference between the reception given to a son, and that given to a daughter. No one welcomes the advent of a little girl; there are no congratulations, no presents; friends

and neighbours freely comment on the misfortune that has come upon the family. And too often the father, by means of a pail of water, or in some other way, will suddenly bring to a close the life of the little baby daughter, who, unwelcomed, has so lately entered his household. In a large country district to the south of the city of Hangchow, the people said that the baby's soul came with its teeth. A soulless baby, dying without teeth, was wrapped in a piece of matting, and left anywhere on the hills, generally being eaten by the dogs, but if the little one had cut even one tooth, the soul was supposed to be there, and a little box was therefore provided for the burial.

A short poem written about 825 B.C., that is about the time of the prophet Jonah, well expresses the feeling in China to-day, as it did the feeling in the country nearly 2,800 years ago. The poem consists of two verses only, one referring to the boys, the other to the girls.

"And it shall be, whenever sons are born,

These shall be laid on beds to sleep and rest;
In loose long robes they also shall be dressed,
And sceptres shall be given them for their toys,
And when they cry what music in the noise!
These yet shall don the scarlet aprons grand,
And be the kings and princes of the land.

And it shall be, when daughters shall be born,
These shall be laid to sleep upon the ground;
In coarsest bands their bodies shall be bound,
And tiles shall be their playthings. Twill belong
To these to meddle not with right or wrong,
To mind alone the household drink and food,
And cause their parents no solicitude.”

Following the example of Confucius we must leave the little girls alone, and indeed the boys only would take far more time than we can give to them to-day.

There was nothing that Confucius thought more important than the education of the young. As we have already seen, that if, through neglected education, a young man went wrong, those, who had neglected to give the education, ought also to be punished. Even now in Central China, if a child be rude or call names, the most cutting thing that can be said is; “I fear you have no father or mother," implying of course that the education had been neglected. At about six years of age the boy goes to school, and places his foot on the first step of that ladder which, if he mounts well, will give him a place in the highest offices in the Empire. At school the boy will have

to master the following books:-viz., The Three Character Classic, The Catalogue of Surnames, The Thousand Character Classic, The Canons of Filial Duty, The Odes for Children, and the Juvenile Instructor. Having been thoroughly instructed in these six books, the young scholar is ready to begin the Confucian Classics, and to prepare for the competitive examinations. Of course many boys, who have to earn their living, never get so far: they have to leave school early and begin to learn a trade, but it is the highest ambition of everyone if possible to be a scholar. The following extract well expresses the national sentiment of the Chinese with reference to the various occupations that may be followed:

"First, the scholar; because mind is superior to wealth. It is the intellect that distinguishes man above the lower animals, and enables him to provide food, raiment, and shelter for himself and others.

"Second, the farmer; because the mind cannot act without the body, and the body cannot exist without food and raiment. Third, the mechanic; because, next to food and raiment, shelter is a necessity.

"Fourth, the tradesman; because as society increases, and its wants are multiplied, men to carry on exchange and barter become a necessity.

"And, last of all, the soldier; because his business is to destroy, not to build up society. He consumes what others produce, but does not himself contribute anything that can benefit mankind. Still he is, perhaps, a necessary evil."

We will now briefly consider the Four Books and the Five Classics, the nine works which contain the writings and sayings of Confucius and his disciples, and which for hundred of years have formed the sole subject of the competitive examinations throughout the land. One has well said; "There is not much, from a westerner's point of view, to commend these ancient literary productions, and yet the incomparable influence they have exerted for centuries over so many millions of minds, invests them, even for us, with an interest no book beside the Bible can claim."

The "great learning" consists of eleven chapters which treat of four important subjects, viz.: The Improvement of Oneself; The Regulation of a Family; The Government of a State; and the Rule of an Empire. The following extract from the book forms a kind of introduction to the consideration of these important subjects:

"The ancients, who wished to illustrate renovating virtue