be great. Mark those who discharge their duties well, and also mark those who do not do so, (and distinguish them from one another.) Advance the good, to induce those who may not be so to follow (their example).
'The people are born good, and are changed by (external) things,* so that they resist what their superiors command, and follow what they (themselves) love. Do you but reverently observe the statutes, and they will be found in (the way of) virtue; they will thus all be changed, and truly advance to a great degree of excellence. Then shall I, the One man, receive much happiness, and your excellent services will be famous through long ages!'
Book XXII. The Testamentary Charge.
This Book brings us to the closing act of the life of king Khăng, whose reign, according to the current chronology, lasted thirty-seven years, ending in B.C. 1079. From the appointment of Kün-khăn to his death, the king's history is almost a blank. The only events chronicled by Sze-mâ Khien are a coinage of round money with a square hole in the centre,—the prototype of the present cash; and an enactment about the width and length in which pieces of silk and cloth were to be manufactured.
King Khăng, feeling that his end is near, calls his principal ministers and other officers around his bed, and commits his son Kâo to their care and guidance. The record of all these things and the dying charge form a chapter that ends with the statement of the king's death. The rest of the Book forms a second chapter, in which we have a detailed account of the ceremonies connected with the publication of the charge, and the accession of Kâo to the throne. It is an interesting account of the ways of that distant time on such occasions.
1. In the fourth month, when the moon began to wane, the king was indisposed. On the day Kiâ-
