to waylay him; which surrounded him in the wilderness and
held him besieged but unmolested for seven days. Food ran out,
and the Confucianists were so enfeebled at last that they could
hardly stand. We do not hear that terms were offereed, as that
they should turn back or go elsewhere: the intention seems
to have been to make an end of Confucius and Confucianism
altogether,--without bloodshed. Even Tse Lu was shaken.--"Is it
for the Princely Man," said he, "to suffer the pinch of
privation?"--"Privation may come his way," Confucius answered;
"but only the vulgar grow reckless and demoralized under it." So
saying he took his lute and sang to them, and hearing him they
forgot to fear. Meanwhile one of the party had won through the
lines, and brought word to Ts'u of the Master's plight; whereat
the king sent a force to his relief, and came out from the
capital to receive him in state. The king's intentions were
good; but we have seen how his ministers intrigued and diverted
them. In the autumn of that year he died, having become somewhat
estranged from the Master. His successor was one from whom no
good could be expected, and Confucius returned to Wei.

-------
* _Ancient China Simplified:_ by Prof. E. Harper Parker; from
which book the account of the political condition and divisions
of the empire given in these lectures is drawn.
------

Duke Ling was dead, and his grandson, Chuh, was on the throne.
There had been a complication of family crimes plottings: Chuh
had driven out his father, who in turn had attempted the life of
his own mother, Nantse. Chuh wished to employ Confucius, but not
to forgo his evil courses: it was a situation that could not be
sanctioned. For six years the Master lived in retirement in Wei,
watching events, and always sanguine that his chance would come.
He was not sixty-nine years old; but hoped to begin his life's
work presently.

Then suddenly he was in demand,--in two quarters. There was a
sort of civil war in Wei, and the chief of one of the factions
came to him for advice as to the best means of attacking the
other. Confucius was disgusted. Meanwhile Lu had been at war
with Ts'i; and Yen Yu, a Confucianist, put in command of the Lu
troops, had been winning all the victories in sight. Marquis
Ting now slept with his fathers, and Marquis Gae reigned in his
stead; also there was a new Chief of Clan Chi to run things:--
Gae to reign, Chi to rule. They asked Yen Yu wh