Confucius had great faith in the power of example. He could not carry out all his schemes nor always adhere to his rules. Yet the people rejoiced in his rule, and at their work sang songs, describing him as their saviour from oppression and injustice. The tendencies of the times were against the enthusiastic reformer, yet he struggled on. After he was dismissed from office in Loo he became the counselor of princes. He went from State to State, and ruler to ruler, until he was sixty-nine years old. He never lost confidence in himself or in his mission. One morning, in the spring of the year 478 B.C., he walked in front of his door, saying: “The great mountain must crumble; The strong beam must break, And the wise man withers away like a plant.” He was now without honor among the princes. As he said, “No intelligent monarch arises; there is not one in the empire who will make me his master. My time is come to die.” That same day he took to his bed, and after a week’s sickness he died. He was buried with great tokens of respect by his disciples. TEACHINGS AND WRITINGS OF THE CHINESE SAGE. No man, probably, has been treated with so much contempt during his lifetime, and with so much veneration after his death, as Confucius. His life was a standing protest against the iniquities of his time. The teachings of Confucius are contained in three thin volumes, called the Lun Yu, or “Confucian Analects;” the Ta Hioh, or “Great Learning;” and the Chung Yung, or “Doctrine of the Mean.” Confucius also edited the Yeh King, or “Book of Changes;” the She King, or “Book of Odes;” and the Shoo King, or “Book of History.” He derided spiritual teaching, did not refer to the future life, and had little to say about the gods. As to where man came from, or where he was going, Confucius was never troubled. He taught, man is master of his own happiness and destiny. He might, by his own efforts, become the equal of heaven. As to morals and good government Confucius’s teachings rank high. He was really a Statesman and Reformer, rather than a Religious Teacher. Some selections from his three books will be of use as illustrating the style and substance of his teachings: THE WISDOM OF THE SAGE. “Is he not a man of complete virtue who feels no discomposure, though men may take no note of him?” Tsăng, the philosopher, said, “I daily examine myself on three points--whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful; whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere; whether I may have not mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher.”