Page:An analysis of religious belief (1877).djvu/408

 The root firm, the country is tranquil. When I look throughout the empire, Of the simple men and simple women, Any one may surpass me, If I, the one man, err repeatedly:— Should dissatisfaction be waited for till it appears? Before it is seen, it should be guarded against. In my relation to the millions of the people, I should feel as much anxiety as if I were driving six horses with rotten reins. The ruler of men— How can he be but reverent of his duty?

Many successive dynasties, comprising sovereigns of various characters, succeed these original Emperors. Throughout the Shoo King we find great stress laid on the doctrine, that the rulers of the land enjoy the protection of Heaven only so long as their government is good. Should the prince become tyrannical, dissolute, or neglectful of his exalted duties, the favor of the Divine Power is withdrawn from him and conferred upon another, who is thus enabled to drive him from the throne he is no longer worthy to fill. The emphatic and reiterated assertion of this revolutionary theory is very remarkable. Thus, a king who has himself just effected the overthrow of an incompetent dynasty, is represented as addressing this discourse to the "myriad regions:"—

"Ah! ye multitudes of the myriad regions, listen clearly to the announcement of me, the one man. The great God has conferred even on the inferior people a moral sense, compliance with which would show their nature invariably right (the same doctrine insisted on by Mang). But to cause them tranquilly to pursue the course which it would indicate, is the work of the sovereign.

"The king of Hea (the monarch whom the speaker had superseded,) extinguished his virtue and played the tyrant, extending his oppression over you, the people of the myriad regions. Suffering from his cruel injuries, and unable to endure the wormwood and poison, you protested with one accord your