es of licentious and tyrannous kings, would have had
no room for blame if the murdered duke had been like unto Kee or Show.
But the outrage was one which Confucius felt should be avenged, and he
therefore bathed and presented himself at court.

"Sir," said he, addressing the duke, "Ch'in Hang has slain his
sovereign; I beg that you will undertake to punish him." But the duke
was indisposed to move in the matter, and pleaded the comparative
strength of T'se. Confucius, however, was not to be so silenced.
"One-half of the people of Tse," said he, "are not consenting to the
deed. If you add to the people of Loo one-half of the people of Tse, you
will be sure to overcome." This numerical argument no more affected the
duke than the statement of the fact, and wearying with Confucius'
importunity, he told him to lay the matter before the chiefs of the
three principal families of the state. Before this court of appeal,
whither he went with reluctance, his cause fared no better, and the
murder remained unavenged.

At a period when every prince held his throne by the strength of his
right arm, revolutions lost half their crime, and must have been looked
upon rather as trials of strength than as disloyal villanies. The
frequency of their occurrence, also, made them less the subjects of
surprise and horror. At the time of which we write, the states in the
neighborhood of Loo appear to have been in a very disturbed condition.
Immediately following on the murder of the duke of T'se, news was
brought to Confucius that a revolution had broken out in Wei. This was
an occurrence which particularly interested him, for when he returned
from Wei to Loo he left Tsze-loo and Tsze-kaou, two of his disciples,
engaged in the official service of the state. "Tsze-kaou will return,"
was Confucius' remark, when he was told of the outbreak, "but Tsze-loo
will die." The prediction was verified. For when Tsze-kaou saw that
matters were desperate he made his escape; but Tsze-loo remained to
defend his chief, and fell fighting in the cause of his master. Though
Confucius had looked forward to the event as probable, he was none the
less grieved when he heard that it had come about, and he mourned for
his friend, whom he was so soon to follow to the grave.

One morning, in the spring of the year B.C. 478, he walked in front of
his door, mumbling as he went:

"The great mountain must crumble;
The strong beam must break;
And the wise man wit