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 "O my friend, look for me no more. O Tzu-ch'ing, what shall I say ? A thousand leagues lie between us, and separate us for ever. I shall live out my life as it were in another sphere : my spirit will find its home among a strange people. Accept my last adieu. Speak for me to my old acquaintances, and bid them serve their sovereign well. O my friend, be happy in the bosom of thy family, and think of me no more. Strive to take all care of thyself ; and when time and oppor- tunity are thine, write me once again in reply.

" Li Ling salutes thee I "

One of the Chinese models of self-help alluded to in the San Tzti Ching, the famous school primer, to be described later on, is Lu WEN-SHU (first century B.C.). The son of a village gaoler, he was sent by his father to tend sheep, in which capacity he seems to have formed sheets of writing material by plaiting rushes, and otherwise to have succeeded in educating himself. He became an assistant in a prison, and there the knowledge of law which he had picked up stood him in such good stead that he was raised to a higher position ; and then, attracting the notice of the governor, he was still further advanced, and finally took his degree, ultimately rising to the rank of governor. In B.C. 67 he submitted to the throne the following well-known memorial :

" May it please your Majesty.

"Of the ten great follies of our predecessors, one still survives in the maladministration of justice which prevails.

" Under the Ch'ins learning was at a discount ; brute force carried everything before it. Those who culti- vated a spirit of charity and duty towards their neigh-

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