Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/35

 10 s. VIIL JULY is, loo?.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

ARROW-BREAKING: ITS MORAL LESSONS.

BUCKLE'S ' History of Civilization in England,' 2nd ed., vol. ii. ch. iii., cites Lindsay of Pitscottie's ' Chronicles of Scot- land ' to this effect :

"And when, in consequence of the murder [of the Earl of Douglas], the Douglases and their friends rose in open rebellion, Kennedy gave to the king a crafty and insidious counsel, highly characteristic of his profession. Taking up a bundle of arrows, he showed James that when they were together, they were not to be broken ; but that if separated, they were easily destroyed. Hence he inferred that the aristocracy should be overthrown by disuniting the nobles, and ruining them one by one."

Opposite to this practical example of the motto " Divide et impera," the Japanese moral works record the following tale in illustration of another maxim, " Unity is strength " :

"Mori Motonari (1502-71 A.D.), on his death-bed collected round him his sons, ordered as many arrows to lie brought, and spake thus : ' When bound together, these shafts are hard to break, but separately they are easily broken ; so, you brothers, unify your mind in order to ensure prosperity by dint of your complete harmony.' Takakage, his third son, remarked thereon : ' Verily strife takes root in avarice ; if we only endeavour to shun avarice and to respect duty, what can induce us to quarrel ? ' Much pleased with this wise saying, and commending it to be followed by all his progeny, Motonari died." Yuasa, 'Jozan Kidau,' 1739, torn. xvi. chap. ii.

. In the Waseda Bungaku, Tokyo, April, 1907, p. 174, Mr. Nakao traces this Japanese story to one of ^Esop's fables, which narrates how a father gave a lesson to his ever-con- tending seven sons, by exhibiting the facility with which seven sticks were broken sepa- rately. H

Ossuki Bankei in his ' Kinko Shidan,' 1855, torn. i. fol. 8, quotes a Chinese passage in this connexion, and ascribes the close resemblance of the Japanese and the Mongol traditions to a mere coincidence. The passage runs :

"'The Records of the West Tsin Dynasty [385-431 A.D.],' by Tsui Hung, relates : Tu-ye-kune 0-chai, when about to die, gathering together his sons and brothers, ordered them to fetch each one an arrow. After this was done, he asked Mu-yen, one of his brothers, to break the arrow he had brought. After which he desired him to break nineteen other arrows in one bundle. Observing his bootless effort, O-chai told them : ' Thus you know that a single thing is easy to break, whereas associated many are difficult to crush ; only your unison both in mind and in flesh can secure the lasting solidity of this State.' After these words he expired."

Haiton's ' Oriental History,' originally

written in 1307 (French translation in Pierre- Bergeron's ' Voyages faits principalement en Asie dans les XII., XIII., XIV., et XV. Siecles,' The Hague, 1735, cols. 31, 32)^ contains another variant making Genghis- Khan its hero, and reading thus :

" C'est pourquoi Changius fit venir en sa presence ses douze fils, et les avertit de vivre en bonne in- telligence, et leur apporta cet exemple : il ordonna a chacun de ses tils d'apporter une fleche ; et lorsqu'il les cut assembles ensemble, il ordonna a 1'aine de les ronipre ainsi toute douze, ce qu'il tacha de faire, inutilement : ensuite il proposa la m3mc chose an second ; puis au troisieme, et ainsi aux autres, sans qu'aucun en peut venir a bout. Apres quoi il fit separer les fleches d'une apres 1'autre, et ordonna au plus jeune de ses fils de rompre les fleches 1'une apres 1'autre, ce qu'il fut fort facilement. Alors Changius, se tournant du cote de ses fils, leur dit: pourquoi, mes enfants, n'avez-vous pu rompre les fleches que je vous ai presentees? ils repondirent. Seigneur, parce qu'il y en avoit plusieurs ensemble : et pourquoi votre plus jeune frere les a-t-il bien rompues ? Seigneur, dirent-ils, parce qu'il les a rompues 1'une apres. 1'autre. He bien, reprit Changius, il en sera de meme de vous autres : tant que vous serez de bon accord, votre empire subsistera toujours ; mais si vous etes divises, vos domaines seront bientot re- duits k rien."

KUMAGUSU MlNAKATA.

Tanabe, Kii, Japan.

ST. PETER-LE-POER CHURCH, OLD BROAD- STREET. The following extract from The Standard of 22 June chronicles another act of vandalism, and the place of St. Peter-le- Poer will no longer be known in London : By Order of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for

England.

Old Broad Street, City of London. The very valuable Freehold Site, together with the fabric of the (late) Church of St. Peter le Poor, occupying a fine position in the heart of the City, within a short distance of the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange, and the Royal Exchange, having a bold frontage of over 52 feet to Old Broad Street, partly abutting, on the north-east side, upon Crown Court, and covering the large area of about 4 200 ft. super.; the site is eminently adapted for a Bank, Insurance office, or other first-class office premises, and offers every advantage for the erection of a handsome well -lighted building. Messrs. Deben- ham, Tewson, Richardson, and Co. are instructed to Sell this important Freehold Building Site (with Possession), at the Mart, on Tuesday, July 2, at 2. Particulars, with plan, may be had of Messrs. Milles, Jennings White, and Foster, solicitors, 5, Little College Street, Westminster, S.W.; of Messrs. Glutton, surveyors, 5, Great College Street, Westminster, S.W. ; and of the Auctioneers, 80, Cheapside, E.G.

The church is situated in Old ^Broad Street, just opposite the Merchants' Clun House, and has for me an interest, as in the days of my boyhood I used occasionally to attend it. The front was flush with the