There were four things which the Master taught,—letters, ethics, devotion of soul, and truthfulness.

21. HOW A MAN MAY FIND INSTRUCTORS FOR HIMSELF. 三人行, 'Three men walking'; but it is implied that the speaker is himself one of them. The comm. all take 择 in the sense of 'to distinguish', 'to determine'.—'I will determine the one who is good, and follow him, &c.' I prefer to understand as in the translation. 改之, 'change them', i.e., correct them in myself, avoid them.

22. CONFUCIUS CALM IN DANGER, THROUGH THE ASSURANCE OF HAVING A DIVINE MISSION. Acc. to the historical accounts, Conf. was passing through Sung in his way from Wei to Ch'in, and was practicing ceremonies with his disciples under a large tree, when they were set upon by emissaries of Hwan T'uy, a high officer of Sung. These pulled down the tree, and wanted to kill the sage. His disciples urged him to make haste and escape, when he calmed their fears by these words. At the same time, he disguised himself till he had got past Sung. This story may be apocryphal, but the saying remains,—a remarkable one.

23. CONFUCIUS PRACTISED NO CONCEALMENT WITH HIS DISCIPLES. 二三子, see III. 24. 与is explained by Choo He by示, 'to show', as if the meaning were, 'There is not one of my doings in which I am not showing my doctrines to you.' But the common signif. of 与 may be retained, as in Ho An,—'which is not given to, shared with, you'. To what the concealment has reference we cannot tell. Observe the force of 者 foll. by 也 at the end;—'To have none of my actions not shared with you,—that is I, Hew.'

24. THE SUBJECTS OF CONFUCIUS TEACHING.以四教, 'took four things and taught'. There were four things which—not four ways in which—Confucius taught. 文 here=our use of letters. 行=人伦日用, 'what is daily used in the relations of life'. 忠=无—念之不尽, 'not a single thought not exhausted'. 信=无一事之不实, 'not a single thing without its reality'. These are the explanations in the 四书备旨. I confess to apprehend but vaguely the two latter subjects as distinguished from the second.