from him, in which 'sincerity' is celebrated as highly and
demanded as stringently as ever it has been by any Christian
moralist; yet he was not altogether the truthful and true man to
whom we accord our highest approbation. There was the case of
Mang Chih-fan, who boldly brought up the rear of the defeated
troops of Lu, and attributed his occupying the place of honour to
the backwardness of his horse. The action was gallant, but the
apology for it was weak and unnecessary. And yet Confucius saw
nothing in the whole but matter for praise [4]. He could excuse
himself from seeing an unwelcome visitor on the ground that he
was sick, when there was nothing the matter with him [5]. These
were small matters, but what shall we say to the incident which
I have given in the sketch of his Life, p. 79,-- his deliberately
breaking the oath which he had sworn, simply on the ground that
it had been forced from him?

1 Ana. VII. xxiii.
2 Ana. VI. xx.
3 See above, near the beginning of this paragraph.
4 Ana. VI. xiii.
5 Am. XVII. xx.


I should be glad if I could find evidence on which to deny the truth
of that occurrence. But it rests on the same authority as most
other statements about him, and it is accepted as a fact by the
people and scholars of China. It must have had, and it must still
have, a very injurious influence upon them. Foreigners charge a
habit of deceitfulness upon the nation and its government;-- on
the justice or injustice of this charge I say nothing. For every