To injure none by thought or word or deed,
To give to others, and be kind to all
This is the constant duty of the good.
High-minded men delight in doing good,
Without a thought of their own interest;
When they confer a benefit on others,
They reckon not on favours in return.

(iii. 16782, 16796.)

Two persons will hereafter be exalted
Above the heavens the man with boundless power
Who yet forbears to use it indiscreetly,

And he who is not rich and yet can give.

Bear railing words with patience, never meet
An angry man with anger, nor return

Reviling for reviling, smite not him

(v. 1028.)

Who smites thee; let thy speech and acts be gentle.

(v. 1270, 9972.)

If thou art wise, seek ease and happiness

In deeds of virtue and of usefulness;

And ever act in such a way by day

That in the night thy sleep may tranquil be;
And so comport thyself when thou art young,
That when thou art grown old, thine age may pass

In calm serenity. So ply thy task

Throughout thy life, that when thy days are ended,
Thou may'st enjoy eternal bliss hereafter.

(v. 1248.)

Esteem that gain a loss which ends in harm;
Account that loss a gain which brings advantage.

(v. 1451.)

Do naught to others which if done to thee
Would cause thee pain; this is the sum of duty.

(v. 1517.)

He who lets slip his opportunity,

And turns not the occasion to account,
Though he may strive to execute his work,
Finds not again the fitting time for action.

(xii. 3814.)

Enjoy thou the prosperity of others,
Although thyself unprosperous; noble men
Take pleasure in their neighbour's happiness.

Be active now,

(xii. 3880.)

While thou art young, and time is still thine own.
This very day perform to-morrow's work,

This very morning do thy evening's task.
When duty is discharged, then if thou live,
Honour and happiness will be thy lot,
And if thou die, supreme beatitude.

(xii. 6534.)

This is the sum of all true righteousness
Treat others, as thou would'st thyself be treated.
Do nothing to thy neighbour, which hereafter
Thou would'st not have thy neighbour do to thee.
In causing pleasure, or in giving pain,
In doing good, or injury to others,
In granting, or refusing a request,
A man obtains a proper rule of action
By looking on his neighbour as himself.

(xiii. 5571.)

Before infirmities creep o'er thy flesh;
Before decay impairs thy strength and mars
The beauty of thy limbs; before the Ender,
Whose charioteer is sickness, hastes towards thee,
Breaks up thy fragile frame and ends thy life,
Lay up the only treasure: do good deeds;

Practice sobriety and self-control;

Amass that wealth which thieves cannot abstract,

Nor tyrants seize, which follows thee at death,
Which never wastes away, nor is corrupted.

(xiii. 12084.)

THE birth of Confucius is believed to have occurred in the

year 551 B. c. "Of the parents of the Sage we know but
little, except that his father, Shuh-leang Heîh, was a mili-
tary officer, eminent for his commanding stature, his great
bravery, and immense strength, and that his mother's name
was Yen Ching-tsai. The marriage of this couple took place
when Heîh was seventy years old, and the prospects, there-
fore, of his having an heir having been but slight, unusual
rejoicings commemorated the birth of the son, who was des-
tined to achieve such everlasting fame.
Of the early

years of Confucius we have but scanty record. It would
seem that from his childhood he showed ritualistic tendencies,
and we are told that as a boy he delighted to play at the
arrangement of vessels and at postures of ceremony. As he
advanced in years he became an earnest student of history,
and looked back with love and reverence to the time when
the great and good Yaou and Shun [sovereigns of the legend-
ary dawn of Chinese history] reigned in -

'A golden age, fruitful of golden deeds.'

"At the age of fifteen 'he bent his mind to learning,' and when he was nineteen years old he married a lady from the state of Sung. As has befallen many other great men, Confucius's married life was not a happy one, and he finally divorced his wife, not, however, before she had borne him a

son.

"Soon after his marriage, at the instigation of poverty, Confucius accepted the office of keeper of the stores of grain, and in the following year he was promoted to be guardian of the public fields and lands. . . . At the age of twenty-two we find Confucius released from the toils of office and devoting his time to the more congenial task of imparting instruc

tion to a band of admiring and earnest students.' From about the age of thirty until his death the career of Confucius may be described as that of an itinerant teacher and reformer. He journeyed from court to court of the struggling, ephemeral states which composed the troubled empire, offering counsel to the rulers in turn and sometimes holding important offices for a season, but having little success on the whole. He had faithful disciples who adhered to him throughout, and his fame as a sage grew great even in his lifetime. He died in 478 B. c. at the age of seventy-three.

"There is nothing spiritual in the teachings of Confucius. He rather avoided all references to the supernatural. In answer to a question about death, he answered, 'While you do not know life, how do you know about death.' Life, then, was his study, and life as represented by man as he exists." ROBERT K. DOUGLAS, "Confucianism and Taouism.”

SIXTEEN CONFUCIAN MAXIMS.

(From "Confucianism and Taouism," by Robert K. Douglas.)

Towards the close of the seventeenth century the Emperor K'ang-he . . . issued sixteen maxims, founded on the teachings of the Sage [Confucius], for the guidance of the people, whose morality "had for some time been daily declining, and whose hearts were not as of old." He thus summed up, as it were, all the essential points in the Confucian doctrine, and thus he wrote:

1. Esteem most highly filial piety and brotherly submission, in order to give due prominence to the social relations.

2. Behave with generosity to the branches of your kindred, in order to illustrate harmony and benignity.

3. Cultivate peace and concord in your neighbourhoods, in order to prevent quarrels and litigations.

4. Recognise the importance of husbandry and the culture of the mulberry-tree, in order to ensure a sufficiency of clothing and food.