Page:Gems of Chinese literature (1922).djvu/233

 prevent similar troubles for the future; when, lo! Wang Mang leaped upon the throne.

The men of old knew that it was impossible to provide infallibly against the convulsions of ages to come. There was no plan, no device, by which they could hope to prevail; and they refrained accordingly from vain scheming. They simply strove by the force of Truth and Virtue to win for themselves the approbation