To exert such an influence requires greatness.  If the tree is to be known by its fruits, Confucius must have been one of the master minds of our race.  The supposition that a man of low morals or small intellect, an impostor or an enthusiast, could influence the world, is a theory which is an insult to human nature.  The time for such theories has happily gone by.  We now know that nothing can come of nothing,—­that a fire of straw may make a bright blaze, but must necessarily soon go out.  A light which illuminates centuries must be more than an ignis fatuus.  Accordingly we should approach Confucius with respect, and expect to find something good and wise in his writings.  It is only a loving spirit which will enable us to penetrate the difficulties which surround the study, and to apprehend something of the true genius of the man and his teachings.  As there is no immediate danger of becoming his followers, we can see no objections to such a course, which also appears to be a species of mental hospitality, eminently in accordance with the spirit of our own Master.

Confucius belongs to that small company of select ones whose lives have been devoted to the moral elevation of their fellow-men.  Among them he stands high, for he sought to implant the purest principles of religion and morals in the character of the whole people, and succeeded in doing it.  To show that this was his purpose it will be necessary to give a brief sketch of his life.

His ancestors were eminent statesmen and soldiers in the small country of Loo, then an independent kingdom, now a Chinese province.  The year of his birth was that in which Cyrus became king of Persia.  His father, one of the highest officers of the kingdom, and a brave soldier, died when Confucius was three years old.  He was a studious boy, and when fifteen years old had studied the five sacred books called Kings.  He was married at the age of nineteen, and had only one son by his only wife.  This son died before Confucius, leaving as his posterity a single grandchild, from whom the great multitudes of his descendants now in China were derived.  This grandson was second only to Confucius in wisdom, and was the teacher of the illustrious Mencius.

The first part of the life of Confucius was spent in attempting to reform the abuses of society by means of the official stations which he held, by his influence with princes, and by travelling and intercourse with men.  The second period was that in which he was recalled from his travels to become a minister in his native country, the kingdom of Loo.  Here he applied his theories of government, and tested their practicability.  He was then fifty years old.  His success was soon apparent in the growing prosperity of the whole people.  Instead of the tyranny which before prevailed, they were now ruled according to his idea of good government,—­that of the father of a family.  Confidence was restored to the public mind, and all good influences followed.