the secret of half of the hypocrisy of the world.
Thank God! the world moves; and the millennium of truth is at
hand.

The literature of China is, happily, not all linsey-woolsey. The
following sample is of the finest silk, worthy to adorn the purest
saint.

"MING TI of the HOUSE of WEI.

"Reigned 227-239 A.D.

"_On an Eclipse.--A Rescript_. WE have heard that if a sovereign is
remiss in government, Heaven terrifies him by calamities and
strange portents. These are divine reprimands sent to recall him to a
sense of duty. Thus, partial eclipses of the sun and moon are
manifest warnings that the rod of empire is not wielded aright. Ever
since WE ascended the throne, OUR inability to continue the
glorious traditions of our departed ancestors and carry on the great
work of civilization, has now culminated in a warning message from
on high. It therefore behoves Us to issue commands for personal
reformation, in order to avert the impending calamity.

"But the relations of Heaven with Man are those of a father and son;
and a father about to chastise his son would not be deterred were the
latter to present him with a dish of meat. WE do not therefore
consider it part of OUR duty to act in accordance with certain
memorials advising that the prime minister and chief astronomer be
instructed to offer up sacrifices on this occasion. Do ye, governors
of districts and other high officers of State, seek rather to rectify
your own hearts; and if any one can devise means to make up for
OUR shortcomings, let him submit his proposals to the Throne."
[298]

The writer of that was "not far from the kingdom of God."

Father Borri, in his account of Cochin China, describes the effect of
a lunar eclipse upon several scholars in the city of Nuoecman in the
province of Pulucambi. "I showed them that the circle of the moon,
on that side the eclipse began, was not so perfect as it should be, and
soon after all the moon being darkened, they perceived the truth of
my prediction. The commander and all of them being astonished,
presently sent to give notice of it to all the ward, and spread the
news of the eclipse throughout the city, that every man might go out
to make the usual noise in favour of the moon; giving out
everywhere that there were no such men as the fathers, whose
doctrine and books could not fail being true, since they had so
exactly foretold the eclipse, which their learned men had taken no
notice of; and therefore, in perf