"The great ONE is omnipresent. The great Negative is omnipotent. The great Nomenclature is all-inclusive. The great Uniformity is all-assimilative. The great Space is all-receptive. The great Truth is all-exacting. The great Law is all-binding. "The ultimate end is God. He is manifested in the laws of nature. He is the hidden spring. At the beginning, he was. Had an objective existence. This, however, is inexplicable. It is unknowable. But from the unknowable we reach the known. "Investigation must not be limited, nor must it be unlimited. It must be undertaken from the standpoint of the unconditioned. In this vague undefinedness there is an actuality. Time does not change it. It cannot suffer diminution. May we not then call it our great Guide? "Why not bring our doubting hearts to investigation thereof? And then, using certainty to dispel doubt, revert to a state without doubt, in which doubt is doubly dead?" Doubt dispelled leaves conviction firmer still. Lin Hsi Chung says that this essay begins with the subtle to end in the abstruse. "The force of language," adds he, "can no farther go!" CHAPTER XXV. TSÊ YANG. _Argument_:--Influence of virtue concealed--The true Sage a negative quantity--The great, the small, the infinite--Crime and Capital--Rulers and their vices--What is Society? Predestination or Chance? Illustrations. When Tsê Yang visited the Ch'u State, I Chieh An official of Ch'u. spoke of him to the prince; but the latter refused an audience. Upon I Chieh's return, Tsê Yang went to see Wang Kuo, A local Sage. and asked him to obtain an interview with the prince. "I am not so fitted for that," replied Wang Kuo, "as Kung Yüeh Hsiu." A hermit. "What sort of a man is he?" enquired Tsê Yang. "In winter," said Wang Kuo, "he catches turtles on the river. In summer, he reposes in some mountain copse. If any passers-by ask of him, he tells them, "This is my home." Where I Chieh could not succeed, still less should I. I am not equal even to him. "He is a man without virtue, but possessed of knowledge. Were it not for an air of arrogance, he would be very popular with his superiors. But help without virtue is a hindrance. Shivering people borrowing clothes in the coming spring! Hot people thinking of last winter's icy blast! "The prince of Ch'u is dignified and severe. In punishing, he is merciless as a tiger. Only a very practised or a very perfect man could influence him. "The true Sage, when in obscurity, causes those around him to forget their poverty. When in power, he causes princes to forget ranks and emoluments, and to become as though of low estate. He rejoices exceedingly in all creation. He exults to see TAO diffused among his fellow-men, while suffering no loss himself. TAO is a constant quantity. It can be shared, but cannot be divided.