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rank, and become acquainted with its duties by personal experience. In all his discourses on this topic, he exhibits a strain of noble sentiments, which is highly praiseworthy, and bespeaks a comprehensive mind and a patriotic and loyal subject. From a statesman of such eminence as Confucius, we might expect a minute detail of the measures necessary for the regulation of a good government. In this however we are disappointed, for the sage who is so particular in giving rules for the due observance of official etiquette, contents himself with laying down the general outline of what he considers necessary for a good government. A prince may indeed be well versed in the art of receiving embassadors, of giving audiences to ministers, and performing religious rites, and a minister may excel in servility and duplicity, in bowing and prostrating himself according to court etiquette, while both the one and the other are utterly unfitted for the administration of a good government. Etiquette is the grand and all absorbing theme in the political code of Confucius. Virtue and equity are duly recommended by him, but he does not choose to tell his disciples how they are to be applied in political affairs. The Chinese government at the present day, adopting the maxims of the sage, maintains his fulsome ceremonial, and his cant about virtue, justice, and compassion towards all mankind, and especially towards its own subjects, while at the same time it has adopted and carried into constant practice the most arbitrary measures to forward its own selfish views.

In establishing mutual relations and kind offices among friends, Confucius is very laconic; but the little he does say redounds much to his honor. In one instance he recommends general philanthropy. One of his disciples complaining that he had no brothers, the sage said to him; All men between the four seas are brothers; how can you say you have no brothers?' He also recommended orphans and widows to the special care of the prince; but says not a word to secure compassion or protection for the poor. He himself was too fond of high life to think of exercising benevolence and kindness towards those who were in humble circumstances. Heartless indifference for the universal welfare of our fellow creatures, is characteristic of the principles of this great statesman. All under heaven are indeed included in the grand scheme of benevolent and compassionate government, yet the poor are left to themselves in their wretchedness, It is indeed true that Confucius commands his disciples to love and assist their relatives, even to the neglect of moral rectitude; yet relationship and clanship are made the barriers to prevent the exercise of general philanthropy; this wise statesman strongly advocates nepotism, and even cites reprehensible instances, which he deemns worthy of imitation.

The sayings of Măngtsze, or Mencius, form the fourth and last part of the Sze shoo. The great principles introduced and inculcated by Confucius had now been in operation, reforming the government and the nation during nearly two centuries; Mencius, nevertheless, found the politics as well as the morals of the nation even worse than

they were in the days of his master. None of the happy effects, which had been predicted as the sure results of the renovating doctrines were visible; and the new teacher, who was proud of imitating Confucius, set himself to work as a reformer. His addresses to princes were made in a firm tone, reproaching them for unuecessary wars and grievous oppressions. Some there were who listened to him with attention, and reformed abuses; others however turned a deaf ear to his pointed admonitions. We admire the noble conduct of Mencius, which even surpasses that of his great pattern. His style is more diffuse than that of Confucius: some of his contemporaries charged him with verbosity. When he entered on his career, two opposite sects had gained many followers; the one maintained general philanthropy, the other the most sordid selfishness; both of these Mencius gained over to his own opinions. In his political course, however, he was less successful. Though several of the princes, approving of his doctrines employed him for a short time in the administration of their affairs, yet he did not escape their censures. had a great number of pupils accompanying him, who together with himself required large sums of money from the public treasury. This expenditure brought him in some degree into disrepute. Obliged to retire from office, lie wandered about, delivering his lectures at every court he visited.

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Mencius was particularly successful in citing ancient examples in order to illustrate his doctrines. Some of his figures and comparisons too were well chosen. He felt for the common people, and advised princes to enjoy themselves in company with the great body of the nation. A considerable part of his works consists of dialogues, which he held with princes and with his friends. Occasionally he is metaphysical, and endeavors to make minute distinctions in the terms which he employs. The theory of a good government, however, is the theme which chiefly engrossed his mind. To obtain universal empire was, in his opinion, a very easy thing; only maintain a virtuous government, and the nations between the four seas, will all gladly acknowledge you as their sovereign. It is very extraordinary that Mencius himself never made the experiment; and it is still more remarkable that his virtuous conduct never induced the princes of that age to call him their lord. In the practical application of principles, Mencius failed, as all Chinese philosophers before and since his time have done. Almost every prince would acknowledge the excellence of his theory; but not a single one was able to reduce it to practice. Mencius saw this deficiency; yet he persisted in maintaining the excellence of his principles and theory, as all the host of his literary successors have done even to this day, their wars aud insurrections and turmoils notwithstanding.

Surrounded by admirers, numbering powerful princes amongst their pupils, followed wherever they went by crowds of disciples, and often possessing honors and riches, the Chinese sages had ample scope to exemplify the transforming influence of their doctrines on the nation. Moreover, the renovation of the government and people

was the great aim of all their instructions. In this they utterly failed. But what they gave up as hopeless and despaired of seeing accomplished during their life time, they believed would be obtained after their death, when their virtuous principles should have more and better opportunity to operate. How egregiously they erred in their expeetations, many pages of Chinese history can tell us. They may have some claim to the title of sages for having reclaimed their countrymen from a state of barbarism; but their system, like all other merely human institutions for renovating mankind, was very imperfect. Not striking at the root of evil, they were unable to eradicate it. The powerful motive of love to God and man, which constitutes the basis of all good governments and of all good actions, formed no part of their scheme. But we will not blame too much those writers, who were unenlightened by divine revelation, though they might have seen and known that the whole world lieth in wickedness.

We come now to the Woo king or Five classics, which hold a very high rank in the estimation of the Chinese. Confucius is the compiler of all these works, except the Chun tsew, of which he is the author. According to his own statement, he merely gathered together the wise maxims of the ancient sages, which had been transmitted by tradition, and gave them to the world in a connected form. All the sayings and sentiments in these books so much resemble his own, that we are rather slow to regard him as a mere compiler. He doubtless found materials enough among his contemporaries, to form the superstructure of his doctrinal edifice, and he himself possessed sufficient genius to mould the whole into his own views. Some passages are objectionable and at variance with each other. Commentators account for this discrepancy by referring to the general destruction of books which occurred under Che Hwangte, the founder of the Tsin dynasty; their glosses however make ample amends for whatever may have been lost; and whenever paradoxical sentences are found, they do not scruple to explain them in different ways.

Of the Five books, the Shoo king is supposed to be the most ancient. It consists of a series of dialogues, designed to give a brief history of China from.Yaou till the times of Confucius. The style is more abrupt and concise than that of any other Chinese book. Much of it is so unintelligible, that it is necessary, in order to understand the meaning, first to read the commentaries and then the text. The opinions of commentators on many passages are found to differ widely, and the question, 'What does the author really mean?' often remains unanswered. The conversations are held between Yaou, Shun, Yu, and the princes of the Heä, Shang, and Chow dynasties, and their ministers and statesmen. Many noble sentiments are found among their aphorisms. In every great undertaking the heroes appeal to Shangte, 'the supreme ruler,' and endeavor to gain his approbation to confirm all their actions. The Shoo king doubtless contains purer morality than any other work which the Chinese have ever produced. Here we meet with the first, slight traces of astronomy; among the inhabitants of China, which perhaps are as ancient as the Chaldean

accounts. As the Shoo king contains the fundamental principles of the Chinese morals and philosophy, it is worthy of careful attention. After a patient perusal of the work, we are still at a loss to determine what the Chinese really were in ancient times; there is reason to believe, however, that since the days of Confucius, the 'celestial empire' has remained nearly stationary. To the antiquarian the Shoo king must be a highly acceptable work, though he will regret that many passages have been lost and others mutilated.

The Chun tsew, literally, 'spring and autumn,' is a mere chronole gical table, which embraces the times of Confucius and a short period immediately preceding. The philosopher published this book to improve the manners of his contemporaries; but why such a work rather than a faithful narrative of facts, should have been selected for such a purpose, we cannot even guess. China, at that time, being divided into many feudal states and engaged in constant wars, presented a wide field for the historical writer, who by relating a series of facts demonstrative of the evils of war, might have boped to repress the spirit of contention. Native historiographers have regarded the Chun tsew as a work of great value. We look in vain to find in it the brilliant talents of Thucydides, who so admirably portrays the Peloponnesian wars; Confucius, however, was not a general or a warrior, but a lawgiver and a man of peace.

Little need he said here concerning the Yeih king, a congeries of metaphysical nonsense. We are aware, that much has been written by both Chinese and foreigners to elucidate the system of diagrams, which have been drawn in explanation of those mystical theories. As it is an utterly false assumption, that the world continues to exist by the influence of the dual powers, Yin and Yang, which is the fundamental doctrine of the Yeih king, the inferences drawu from these premises, must be equally illogical or false. Confucius himself considers the Yeih king as a book which it is difficult to understand; but he intimates, at the same time, that whosoever should comprehend it, would be enabled to know all things. Assuredly if we knew causes and effects in endless succession, we should be enabled to enter deeply into the study of futurity; but to man this knowledge is hidden, nor is the way to it known to him. In point of style, this book of riddles, is lucid. It is full of antitheses, which form the greatest beauty of Chinese writings. The Chinese always endeavor to imitate this mode of expression, and delight to study the style of this classic. Both from the recommendation of Confucius and the hidden wisdom which it contains, it is greatly esteemed by native scholars. Confucius, who was a practical philosopher, does not fail to draw inferences for the encouragement of virtue from the combination of the powers, which operate in nature: We should be inclined to consider the Yeih king a book of fate reduced to a regular system, as destitute of reason as is the belief in fate itself, compared with trust in an overruling Providence:

No part of the classics bears fewer traces of the polishing hand of Confucius, than the She king or 'book of odes.' It is a collection of

national odes divided into three parts, abounding in repetitions, without any practical merits. Popular songs, which were sung by the people and recorded some remarkable event, or alluded to some part of his tory, constitute the more important part of this collection. Some are amatory verses, religious idyls, &c. Were we better acquainted with the localities, and could we feel the emotions of a Chinese, in reading these expressions of the men of olden times, we might perhaps better appreciate them; but now we can consider them only as curious spe cimens of antiquity.. There is not the same moral feeling prevading these pieces, which we have observed in the other classics; some pas sages are even not very decent; the commentators therefore remark, that all the objectionable passages have been interpolated. As a work of general reference, the Chinese view the She king with the highest respect. Their most important essays are prefaced by a motto from the She king. Confucius himself has adopted this method in his writing, and often proves his reasoning by citing a passage of the odes. He himself recommends the perusal of the work, as adapt ed to refine the manners of the reader. Europeans who have seen parts of the work in a translation, which improves both the style and the subject, will rather doubt our assertion, when we tell them, that it is very jejune. In poetry, the Chinese have not been able to emulate the inhabitants of western Asia, though they have surpassed them in several other branches of literature. The She king however is by no means their best work of this description, though it is the first book of poetry which appeared among them.

The most extensive of the classics is the Le ke, or book of rites.' It is a code of rites, intended to regulate all the actions, and mo tions, and behavior of men, their sitting, standing, eating, sleeping, walking, weeping, &c. These regulations are interspersed with excellent remarks upon moral conduct, in noways inferior to the best maxims in the other classics. The style is more diffuse; repetitions occur very frequently, and the subject is fully discussed. The book consists of remarks and discourses, in which the author an swers all difficult questions concerning etiquette and expatlates upon the most important rites. By rites, he informs us, man is distinguish ed: from brutes; but by multiplying thein he renders them so tedious that the most perfect automaton is unable to follow them all. He did not perhaps intend to press all as necessary, but to present a whole system for the strict observance of his countrymen, who fol low it so far as suits their own convenience. The Le ke is a work of great importance in the estimation of the Chinese: The religion of the state is founded upon its principles, and a tribunal is established to secure the due observance of its requisitions. It is considered as the

standard of manners. Like some of the other classics it has suffered by interpolations; Chinese scholars complain of this, and some of them do not scruple to despise its authority on this account. Many other works have been written upon the same subject, which altogether afford rules sufficient to trausform a whole nation of 360 millions into perfect courtiers. But after all this, it is strange to see