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Article THE LIFE OF CONFUCIUS. Page 1 of 5 →
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The Life Of Confucius.
THE LIFE OF CONFUCIUS .
SUPPOSED TO IIAVF .. HEEN WIUTTEN BY Oil . JOIIS'SOy . HP HE following memoir of the great Chinese philosopher is taken ""¦ from an account of Duhalde ' s History of China inserted in the Gentleman ' s Magazine for 1 742 . That it has not obtained a place among Dr . Johnson ' s works is a matter ofsupriseas we think no one
, , who knows any thing of the Doftor ' s stile , will question that he was the author . CONFUCIUS was born 551 years before CHRIST : his father was of an illustrious family , and enjoyed the highest offices of the kingdom ; but dying while he was onl y three years oldleft him without any
, inheritance . Lie ' was in his childhood eminently serious and thoughtful , negligent of trifles , and without any regard to the common -amusements of that age ; at fifteen he applied himself to the study of the ancient books , and to the collection of such maxims and principles as mi ght most contribute to the establishment and propagation of virtuean
, employment which was very little interrupted by domestic cares , though he married at the age of nineteen . At this time the several provinces of China were kingdoms governed by their own Monavchs , with absolute -authority , though
with at least a nominal subordination to the Emperors , whom they all acknowledged as chief governors , btit whose commands they frequently rejected , and whose authority they . reverenced only when they were in no condition to resist it ; so that the desire of independency , on one part , and a resolution of maintaining superiority , on the other , gave occasion to perpetual contests and daily disorders . It is related that the courts of all these inferior Sovereigns were seminaries
of corruption and licentiousness ; whether the particular laws of those countries were not well adapted to the regulation of manners , or whether the King was obliged to overlook the faults of his subjefts , that they might give no information of his condudl or designs to the Emperor of China . These irregularities it was the design of Confucius to redress , and
to establish temperance , integrity , and purity of manners , which he therefore incessantly promoted both by his precepts and example , and became in a short time so eminent by his exemplary behaviour , that the highest employments were offered him in the kingdom where he lived , and accepted by him as means of facilitating the progress of virtue , by making it more awful and illustrious ; and therefore quitted
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life Of Confucius.
THE LIFE OF CONFUCIUS .
SUPPOSED TO IIAVF .. HEEN WIUTTEN BY Oil . JOIIS'SOy . HP HE following memoir of the great Chinese philosopher is taken ""¦ from an account of Duhalde ' s History of China inserted in the Gentleman ' s Magazine for 1 742 . That it has not obtained a place among Dr . Johnson ' s works is a matter ofsupriseas we think no one
, , who knows any thing of the Doftor ' s stile , will question that he was the author . CONFUCIUS was born 551 years before CHRIST : his father was of an illustrious family , and enjoyed the highest offices of the kingdom ; but dying while he was onl y three years oldleft him without any
, inheritance . Lie ' was in his childhood eminently serious and thoughtful , negligent of trifles , and without any regard to the common -amusements of that age ; at fifteen he applied himself to the study of the ancient books , and to the collection of such maxims and principles as mi ght most contribute to the establishment and propagation of virtuean
, employment which was very little interrupted by domestic cares , though he married at the age of nineteen . At this time the several provinces of China were kingdoms governed by their own Monavchs , with absolute -authority , though
with at least a nominal subordination to the Emperors , whom they all acknowledged as chief governors , btit whose commands they frequently rejected , and whose authority they . reverenced only when they were in no condition to resist it ; so that the desire of independency , on one part , and a resolution of maintaining superiority , on the other , gave occasion to perpetual contests and daily disorders . It is related that the courts of all these inferior Sovereigns were seminaries
of corruption and licentiousness ; whether the particular laws of those countries were not well adapted to the regulation of manners , or whether the King was obliged to overlook the faults of his subjefts , that they might give no information of his condudl or designs to the Emperor of China . These irregularities it was the design of Confucius to redress , and
to establish temperance , integrity , and purity of manners , which he therefore incessantly promoted both by his precepts and example , and became in a short time so eminent by his exemplary behaviour , that the highest employments were offered him in the kingdom where he lived , and accepted by him as means of facilitating the progress of virtue , by making it more awful and illustrious ; and therefore quitted