The enclosure contains many tablets erected by emperors of different dynasties in honor of the great philosopher.

More than two centuries after his death, the feudal system, which had hitherto prevailed, was overthrown by the Emperor Tsin. Finding the followers of Confucius an obstruction to his efforts, he entered on a fierce persecution, burying alive the professed disciples, and ordering the destruction of the ancient books which Confucius had exerted himself to arrange and preserve. The dynasty of Tsin soon passed away, and the dynasty of Han sought to retrieve the loss by recovering the ancient books, and in every way doing honor to the memory of Confucius. Since that time each successive dynasty has vied in testifying its reverence for the moral instructor of the people, and all writers have extolled his example and precepts. The descendants of Confucius constitute a distinct class in Chinese society. They number many thousands, and in the city of Kiuh-fow four-fifths of the inhabitants bear his family surname, Kung.

Confucius spent much time in transcribing, abridging and lecturing on the national histories and poems. The most ancient of these, the "Yih King" or Book of Changes, consists of sixty-four variations of straight and broken lines. These are now believed to have been syllabaries brought from Western Asia. But early Chinese writers gave them a mystical explanation, which Confucius accepted. Others used the combinations for divination. The only extended writing of Confucius is called "Spring and Autumn." It is hardly more than a chronological table of the history of Lu from 722 to 481 B.C. But upon examination it appears that the historian took the strange liberty of making the events accord with his own notions of right. The Chinese commentators, while lauding the work in the highest terms, restate the facts with striking differences. In order to rectify evil dispositions among its readers the historian had suppressed the unpleasant truth and substituted spceious falsehoods. Yet this untrustworthy compilation has been assigned a place among the "Five Classics" of the Chinese.

Confucius left no writings detailing the principles of his moral and social system. From his oral teaching his grand

son Tze-sze wrote, "The Doctrine of the Mean," and his disciple, Tsang Sin, "The Great Learning." Other disciples compiled, in a disorderly way, his discourses and dialogues in the "Analects." Of later writers, who treat of his opinions, the most noted is Mencius, who was born in 371 B. C., and died in 288, being thus contemporary with Aristotle and Demosthenes. Mencius, while professing profound respect for Confucius, amplified his doctrine, acting thus somewhat as Plato did towards Socrates.

Confucius never claimed to have a divine revelation. Though he was scrupulous in performing the ritual ceremonies, it was out of respect for antiquity rather than belief in communion with God. For the older words denoting the Supreme Being or Almighty Ruler he substituted the impersonal term Heaven. Though he said, "I have long prayed," he did not command or even recommend prayer. Men were advised to study themselves. In the "Analects" it is said that there are four subjects of which Confucius seldom spoke-extraordinary things, feats of strength, rebellion and spiritual beings. He did not attempt to explain the custom of sacrificing to the spirits of the departed. To an inquirer he said, "While you do not know life, what can you know about death?" But while Confucius avoided dogmatizing about spiritual existence, he had a strong belief in human nature, as fitting man to live in society, and to this his thoughts were chiefly directed. Good and evil would be recompensed by their effects either on the actor or on his descendants. His teaching was purely ethical. He emphasized the power of example, and urged upon all in authority the duty of benevolence. A bad man is unfit to rule, and will therefore lose the power of ruling. But a virtuous ruler will secure virtue among his subjects. The ideal at which he aimed he called "the superior man." He considered all men as having moral sense, and that compliance with its indications is the rule of life. The duty of a ruler is to enable his subjects to pursue this course tranquilly. The following are some of his sayings with regard to the superior man :

"The superior man is dignified, and does not wrangle; he is social, but not a partisan."

"What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the inferior man seeks is in others."

The loftiest of his utterances is his form of Golden Rule: "What you do not like when done to yourself do not do to others." Though negative in form it was interpreted as positive in application. At the request of a disciple Confucius expressed it also by a single word or symbol (shu) meaning literally, "as heart." This is imperfectly translated by the English word "reciprocity;" it denotes full sympathy with the feelings and desires of others.

The character of the Chinese people is largely formed by their study of the sayings of Confucius, whether genuine or apocryphal. The learned classes can repeat every sentence of the classical books; the masses of the people delight in recalling the Confucian maxims. All practice the ceremonies which he constantly performed and enjoined. This blind adherence to antiquity is both the strength and weakness of Chinese character.

IGNATIUS LOYOLA.

HE sixteenth century was an age of religious warfare. Mohammedanism began to be forced back from its conquests in Europe. Moors and Turks gave way before the swords of Spaniards, Hungarians and Poles; Judaism was buried in the prison cells or burned out by the fires of the Inquisition. The Protestant Reformation advanced in triumph from the North to attack Catholicism in its strongholds. From Germany, Holland, England and France, the new doctrine was proclaimed and fundamental questions of religion were discussed. To stop this torrent which threatened to sweep Roman Catholicism from the face of the earth a strong barrier was needed. It was found in the religious order, called the Society of Jesus, and destined to become a potent influence in the history of the modern world.

Ignatius or Inigo Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, was born in 1491, at the castle of Loyola, in the province of Guipuscoa, Spain. He was the eleventh child of Beltran Jaquez and Mary Saëz, both representatives of the Biscayan nobility. When scarcely fourteen years of age Ignatius was sent to the court of Ferdinand V., King of Spain, who attached him to his personal retinue in the capacity of page. He followed his sovereign in the wars against Portugal, France, and the Saracens, and was everywhere distinguished by his knightly bearing, chivalric courage and gallantry, both in the service of Mars and under the banner of Venus. In 1521, while engaged in the defence of Pampeluna, then besieged by the French, he was so badly wounded by the bursting of a

bomb that he remained a cripple for life. This misfortune cut short his career of love and war; and during a long and tedious period of sickness and convalescence, the reading of some pious books fired his imagination with religious fervor.

Henceforward Loyola declared himself a Knight of the Holy Virgin. He is said to have had numerous visions, in one of which Christ and Satan appeared to him, contending for the supremacy of the world, enrolling souls, and arraying them in hostile armies, between which the great struggle of light against darkness was to be decided for all eternity. In this dread conflict, Ignatius saw himself enlisted under the banner of the cross; and from this time forward believed himself divinely called to a mission the success of which would redound to the glory of God and the happiness of men, through the holy Catholic Church. As the first step in his great mission he resolved on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He set out on his journey to Barcelona, but on his way turned aside to the church of the Benedictines at Montserrat, in Catalonia. Here he made a full confession of the sins of his past life, the recital of which occupied him for three days, and then revealed to his confessor the purpose of his soul as to his future course. In observance of the custom of entering knighthood Ignatius took his sword and dagger to the church and spent the whole night in front of the altar, imploring forgiveness and supplicating the favor of the Blessed Virgin. On account of the plague raging in Barcelona he turned aside to the town of Manresa. While living in a cell in the convent of the Dominicans, he scourged himself with the lash, prayed unceasingly, and fasted three and four days at a time, until severely rebuked by his confessor for this excess of asceticism, But later he subdued the desire for seclusion and solitude, and began to regard himself as the servant of others, and a guide of souls. Although he had not paraded the austerities he had practiced, the people soon began to know that a saintly member of a noble house was among them, and crowded around him. Thus he was led to active and incessant labor, and was never deterred from ministering to the lowest and most degraded.

After a year's stay at Manresa Loyola directed his steps to