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Article THE LIFE OF CONFUCIUS. ← Page 3 of 5 →
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The Life Of Confucius.
Confucius , therefore , after having visited several princes , and offered his instructions in policy to the magistrates and Kings , and his precepts of morality to persons of every condition , was so far from finding a reception agreeable to the merit of his coiidtift , or the benevolence of his intentions , that he was reduced to the lowest stale of poverty , in which he was far from losing any part of his philosophical dignity , and tfhic'h he never endeavoured to relieve b mean action .
y any _ It was probably on this occasion that he said what is recorded of him in one of the classical books ; ' 1 am reduced to extreme indigence , having nothing to live upon but a little rice and water , with which , however , I am content , because I look upon dignity or wealth unjustly acquired , as upon clouds driven by the winds . ' This constancy cannot raise our admiration after his former conquest of
himself ; for how easily may he support pain , who has been able to resist pleasure ! The several , passages of his life are not related in order of time , or connected with any circumstances which may contribute to fix their dates ; it is therefore impossible to discover when the following adventure happenedwhich yet deserves to be related .
, Confucius being once abandoned b y the people , and without the protection of the Prince , was in the hands of a Mandarin of war , remarkably savage and licentious , and therefore implacably exasperated by a man whose lectures were continual satires tip-n his conduct .
He therefore no sooner saw Confucius in his power , but he accused him of some pretended offence , and commanded him to be executed . Some of the spectators , who saw the injustice of the Mandarin , and the illegality of the proceeding , advised him to retire , after the example of most of his followers , whom the first appearance of danger had driven from him ; but Confucius , though he saw the sword drawn for his destructionremaining calm and unconcernedanswered
, , without any hesitation , ' If we are protected by Heaven £ T yren ] what have we to fear from this man , though he be president of the tribunal of the army- ?' We are not informed whether he escaped this danger by the veneration which his intrepidity produced in the officer , or by the interposition of others , who had courage to oppose the execution of
an unjust sentence , and regard for his virtue sufficient to engage them in his cause ; or whether the Mandarin designed in reality only to try whether his principles were sufficient to support him under immediate danger , and whether he would not forfeit that reputation , which was so much envied , by abandoning his doctrines at the sight of death ; that this was his intention seems probablebecause it
, appears from the relation , that when he threatened him most nearly , he still left him an opportunity of escaping , which he was doubtless desirous that he should have used , for the flight of Confucius would hare gratified his malice more than his death .
That he did escape is certain , for in his seventy-fifth year he died of a lethargy , occasioned , as it was imagined , by a dejection of spirits ; at the sight cf the disordered state of the empire ; for a few
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life Of Confucius.
Confucius , therefore , after having visited several princes , and offered his instructions in policy to the magistrates and Kings , and his precepts of morality to persons of every condition , was so far from finding a reception agreeable to the merit of his coiidtift , or the benevolence of his intentions , that he was reduced to the lowest stale of poverty , in which he was far from losing any part of his philosophical dignity , and tfhic'h he never endeavoured to relieve b mean action .
y any _ It was probably on this occasion that he said what is recorded of him in one of the classical books ; ' 1 am reduced to extreme indigence , having nothing to live upon but a little rice and water , with which , however , I am content , because I look upon dignity or wealth unjustly acquired , as upon clouds driven by the winds . ' This constancy cannot raise our admiration after his former conquest of
himself ; for how easily may he support pain , who has been able to resist pleasure ! The several , passages of his life are not related in order of time , or connected with any circumstances which may contribute to fix their dates ; it is therefore impossible to discover when the following adventure happenedwhich yet deserves to be related .
, Confucius being once abandoned b y the people , and without the protection of the Prince , was in the hands of a Mandarin of war , remarkably savage and licentious , and therefore implacably exasperated by a man whose lectures were continual satires tip-n his conduct .
He therefore no sooner saw Confucius in his power , but he accused him of some pretended offence , and commanded him to be executed . Some of the spectators , who saw the injustice of the Mandarin , and the illegality of the proceeding , advised him to retire , after the example of most of his followers , whom the first appearance of danger had driven from him ; but Confucius , though he saw the sword drawn for his destructionremaining calm and unconcernedanswered
, , without any hesitation , ' If we are protected by Heaven £ T yren ] what have we to fear from this man , though he be president of the tribunal of the army- ?' We are not informed whether he escaped this danger by the veneration which his intrepidity produced in the officer , or by the interposition of others , who had courage to oppose the execution of
an unjust sentence , and regard for his virtue sufficient to engage them in his cause ; or whether the Mandarin designed in reality only to try whether his principles were sufficient to support him under immediate danger , and whether he would not forfeit that reputation , which was so much envied , by abandoning his doctrines at the sight of death ; that this was his intention seems probablebecause it
, appears from the relation , that when he threatened him most nearly , he still left him an opportunity of escaping , which he was doubtless desirous that he should have used , for the flight of Confucius would hare gratified his malice more than his death .
That he did escape is certain , for in his seventy-fifth year he died of a lethargy , occasioned , as it was imagined , by a dejection of spirits ; at the sight cf the disordered state of the empire ; for a few