fect sweetness the independence of solitude."

Confucius is the first man in point of time to proclaim the divinity of
service, the brotherhood of man, and the truth that in useful work there
is no high nor low degree. In talking to a group of young men he says:

"When I was keeper of the herds I always saw to it that all of my cattle
were strong, healthy and growing, that there was water in abundance and
plenty of feed. When I had charge of the public granaries I never slept
until I knew that all was secure and cared for against the weather, and
my accounts as true and correct as if I were going on my long journey to
return no more. My advice is to slight nothing, forget nothing, never
leave things to chance, nor say, 'Nobody will know--this is good
enough.'"

In all of his injunctions Confucius never has anything in mind beyond
the present life. Of a future existence he knows nothing, and he seems
to regard it as a waste of energy and a sign of weakness to live in two
worlds at a time. "Heaven provides us means of knowing all about what is
best here, and supplies us in abundance every material thing for present
happiness, and it is our business to realize, to know, to enjoy."

He taught rhetoric, mathematics, economics, the science of government
and natural history. And always and forever running through the fabric
of his teaching was the silken thread of ethics--man's duty to man,
man's duty to Heaven. Music was to him a necessity, since "it brings the
mind in right accord with the will of Heaven." Before he began to speak
he played softly on a stringed instrument which perhaps would compare
best with our guitar, but it was much smaller, and this instrument he
always carried with him, suspended from his shoulder by a silken sash.
Yet with all of his passion for music, he cautioned his disciples
against using it as an end. It was merely valuable as an introduction to
be used in attuning the mind and heart to an understanding of great
truth.

Confucius was seventy-two years old at his death. During his life his
popularity was not great. When he passed away his followers numbered
only about three thousand persons, and his "disciples," or the teachers
who taught his philosophy, were seventy in number.

There is no reason to suppose that Confucius assumed that a vast number
of people would ever ponder his words or regard him as a prophet.

At the time that Confucius lived, also lived Lao-tsze. As a youth
Confucius