the people;—how dare I but aim at the completion of the work formerly begun by the Tranquillizer? Heaven, moreover, is thus toiling and distressing the people;—it is as if they were suffering from disease; how dare I allow (the appointment) which my predecessor, the Tranquillizer, received, to be without its happy fulfilment?'*
The king says, 'Formerly, at the initiation of this expedition, I spoke of its difficulties, and thought of them daily. But when a deceased father, (wishing) to build a house, had laid out the plan, if his son be unwilling to raise up the hall, how much less will he be willing to complete the roof! Or if the father had broken up the ground, and his son be unwilling to sow the seed, how much less will he be willing to reap the crop! In such a case could the father, (who had himself) been so reverently attentive (to his objects), have been willing to say, "I have a son who will not abandon his patrimony?"—How dare I therefore but use all my powers to give a happy settlement to the great charge entrusted to the Tranquillizing king? If among the friends of an elder brother or a deceased father there be those who attack his son, will the elders of the people encourage (the attack), and not (come to the) rescue?'
5. The king says, 'Oh! take heart, ye princes of the various states, and ye managers of my affairs. The enlightening of the country was from the wise, even from the ten men[1] who obeyed and knew the
- ↑ 'The ten men' here can hardly be the 'ten men of worth' above in the second chapter. We must find them rather in the 'ten virtuous men, one in heart and one in practice, capable of good,' mentioned by king Wû, in the second Part of the Great Declaration.
