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    -apposition and persecution , according to the very " old story , ' he finally retired to the companionship of his chosen disciples , to study , and to compos © or compile his works , which have become , and continue to be , the Sacred Books of China .

    His political system is founded on the basis of paternal authority . To every father he gave absolute power over his family during their mutual lives , even to life and death ; and filial obedience is the first of virtues in his code . Confucius was remarkable for his attention to ceremonies , and his extreme veneration for authority . The excessive attention to ceremony and etiquette must be an important element in Chinese quietude . A particular form of doing every thing is

    enjoined . After saying , " How great is the way of the Sage ! it is vast and flowing as the ocean ; " Confucius adds , " It contains 300 outlines of ceremonies , and 3 , 000 minute particulars thereof . * ' ( Edinburgh Cabinet Library , vol . 2 . ) His maxim also that the immutable mean , or as the French would call it , the juste milieu , was the foundation of morals , was another taming influence . Moreover , " there is a positive law against the use of things not sanctioned by custom . The Emperor is the general father . " The whole nation is represented by the Emperor , and absorbed in him . " There is

    not a shadow of popular representative government , nor any aristocracy . Rank is not hereditary , nor have riches any influence in obtaining it . The only rank in the country , besides the Imperial power , and that of his family , is held-by the ministers of the government ; and these are chosen entirely according to their talents . Education , or rather knowledge of reading and writing , and of the sacred books , is universal ,

    every lather having a direct interest in the advancement of his sons . There are public examinations every three years , and according- to their knowledge of the books of Confucius , the young men are chosen , who arc worthy to become Mandarins . The Emperor himself is High Priest , and his ministers posse&s a deputed sacerdotal power . The state religion appears

    clearly to be a system of what is commonl y understood b y the term atheism , though great pains are taken , particularly in the Edinburgh publication , to prove that it is not . The creative power in the material universe is adored , and there is

    no detinite expectation of a future state . Worship is performed to Confucius , and to the Emperor , and many temples erected to each . Something- very like worship is also performed by all the people to their ancestors ; and the desire for male issue to sacrifice at their tuinbtJ , is one reason for the

    universality and earlinesB of marriages . Besides this state religion , founded on the writings of their great sage , the Chinese have two sects , each very numerous , in which a supreme creative power of some kind ie undoubtedly acknow-

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    414 Hisioiie $ afi China .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1836, page 414, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2659/page/22/