e o n 
the Greeks call oXiaeo?, penis eoriacsus , and hence plunge 
themfelves into a variety of chronic difeafes. 
C.ONFRI'ERS,/. pi. Thofe of the fame religious or¬ 
der.—It was enacted, that none of the brethren or con- 
friers of the faid religion within the realm of England, 
ffiould be called knights of the Rhodes. Weenjer. 
To CQNFRO'NT, <~v. a. fonfronter y Fr.] To itand againlt 
another in full view ; to face : 
He fpoke, and then confronts the bull 
And on his ample forehead, aiming full. 
The deadly Itroke defcended. Dryden. 
To Hand face to face, in oppolltion to another.—The Eaft 
and Welt churches did both confront the Jews, and con¬ 
cur with them. Hooker. 
Blood hath bought blood, and blows have anfwer’d blows, 
Strength match’d with ftrength, and power confronted 
power. Sbakefpeare. 
To oppofe one evidence to another in open court.—We 
began to lay his unkindnefs unto him : he feeing himfelf 
confronted by lb many, went not to denial, but tojuftify 
his^cruel falfehood. Sidney. —To compare one thing with 
another.—When I conjront a medal with a verfe, I only 
fhew you the fame delign executed by different hands. 
Addifon. 
CONFRONTATION,/ [Fr.] The aft of bringing 
two evidences face to face. 
CONFU'CIUS, or'CoN-FU-TSEE, the celebrated Chi- 
nefe philofopher, was born in the kingdom of Lou, now 
the province of Chan-long,. in the twenty-firft year of 
the reign of Ling-vau, the twenty-third emperor of the 
race of Tcheou, live hundred and fifty-one years before 
the birth of Chrift. He was cotemporary with Pythago¬ 
ras, and little before Socrates. He was but three years 
old when he lolt his father Tcho-leang-he, who had en¬ 
joyed the highelt offices, of the kingdom of Lou; but 
left no other inheritance to his fon, except the honour of 
defcending from Ti-ye, the twenty-feventh emperor of 
the fecond race of the Chang, His mother, whofe name 
was Ching, and w ho fprung originally from the illullrious 
family of the Yen, lived twenty-one years after the death 
of her hulband. Confucius did not.grow in knowledge by 
degrees, as children ordinarily do, but leemed to arrive 
at reafon and the perfeft ufe of his faculties very quickly 
after his infancy. -He took no delight in piaying, or in 
fuch amufements as were proper for his age: he had a 
grave and fend us deportment, which gained him refpefl, 
and plainly foretold that he would be an extraordi¬ 
nary ch a rafter. But what diliinguifhed him molt, was 
Ids’exalted piety. Fie honoured his relations; he endea¬ 
voured in all things to imitate his grandfather, who was 
then alive in China, and a moll holy man: and it was ob- 
fervable, that he never ate any thing, but he proftrated 
himfelf upon the ground, to the fupreme Lord pf heaven. 
One day, when but a child, he heard his grandfather fetch 
a deep figb ; and going up to him with many borings. and 
much reverence, “ May I prefume, (fays he,) without 
loling the relpefl I owe you, to enquire into the occafiou 
of your grief? perhaps you fear that your poflerity Ihould 
degenerate from your virtue, and dilhonour you by their 
vices." “ What put this thought into your head, (fays 
Coum-tfe,) and where have you learnt to fpeak after this 
manner?" “ From yoUrfelf, (replied Confucius:) I at¬ 
tend diligently to you every time you fpeak; and I have 
often heard you fay, that a fon, who does not by bis vir¬ 
tue fuppprt the glory of his anceltors,_does not deferve to 
bear their name.” After his grandfather’s death, he ap¬ 
plied himfelf to Tcem-fe, a celebrated doflor of his time; 
and, under the direction of fo great a mailer, loon made 
a iurprifmg progrefs in antiquity, which he confidered as 
the fource from whence ail genuine knowledge was to be 
drawn. This love for the ancients very nearly colt him 
his life, when he was not more than lixteen years of age. 
Falling into difcourfe about the Chinefe books with a 
pericn of high quality, who thought ^hem obfcure, and 
C O N r>7 
not worth the pains of fearching into, “ The books you 
defpife (lays Confucius) are full of profound knowledge, 
which is not to be attained but by the wile and learned ; 
and the people would think cheaply of them, could they 
comprehend them of themfelves. This fubordinati.on of 
fpirits, by which the ignorant are dependent upon the 
knowing, is very ufeful, and even neceffary, in fbciety. 
Were all families equally rich and equally powerful, there 
could not fob fill any form of government; but there 
would happen a yet ltranger diforder, if mankind were 
all equally knowing, viz. every one would be for govern¬ 
ing, and none would think themfelves obliged to obey. 
Some time ago (added Confucius) an ordinary fellow 
made the fame obfervation to me about the books as you 
have done, and from fuch a one, indeed, nothing better 
could be expe&ed ; but I wonder that.you, a doilor, 
fliould thus be founcTfpeaking like one of the lowed of. 
the people.” This rebuke had, indeed, the good eifedl of 
filencing the mandarin, and bringing him to a better opi¬ 
nion of the learning of his country ; yet vexed him fo, as 
it came from almoif a boy, that he would have revenged 
it by violence, if he had not been prevented. 
At the age of nineteen, Confucius took a wife, who 
brought him a fon called Pe-yu. This fon died at fifty, but 
left behind him a fon called Tfou-tfe, who, in imitation of 
his grandfather, applied himfelf entirely to the lludy of 
wifdom, and by his merit arrived to the highelt offices of 
the empire. Confucius was content with his wife only, 
fo long as (he lived with him; and never kept any con¬ 
cubines, as the cujom pf his country allowed him to do, 
becaufe he thought it contrary to the law cf nature. At 
the age of twenty-three, when he had gained a confider- 
able knowledge of antiquity, and acquainted himfelf with 
the laws and cidioms of his country, he began to projefl 
a fcheme for a general reformation. All the petty king¬ 
doms of the empire depend upon the emperor ; but then 
every province was a cliltinct kingdom, which had its par¬ 
ticular laws, and was governed by a prince of its own. 
Hence it often happened that the imperial authority was 
not fofficient to keep them within the bounds of their 
duty and allegiance; but elpeciaily• at this time, when 
luxury, a love of pleafore, and a generaFdiffolution of 
manners, prevailed in all thofe little courts. Confucius, 
wifely perfuaded that the people could never be happy, 
fo long as avarice, ambition, voluptuoufnefs, and faife 
policy, ffiould reign in this manner, therefore began to 
enforce temperance, jultice, and. other virtues, to iu- 
fpire a contempt of riches and outward pomp, to excite 
to magnanimity and a greatnefs of foul, which ffiould make 
men incapable of diflimulation and infincerity ; and ufed 
all the means he coujd think of, to redeem his country¬ 
men from a life of diffipation to a life of reafon. He was 
every where known, and as univerfally beloved. Kings 
were governed by his counlels, and the people reverenced 
him as a faint. He was offered feveral high offices in the 
magittracy, which- he fometimes accepted; never from a 
motive of ambition, but always with a view of reforming ' 
a corrupt Hate, and amending mankind; for he never 
failed to refign thofe offices, as foon as he perceived that 
he could be no longer ufeful in them. Thus, for inftance, 
he was raifed to a confulesable place of trull in the king¬ 
dom of Lou, his own native country ; where Ire had not 
exercifed his charge above three months, when the court 
and province's, through his counfel and management, were 
become quite regenerated. He correfled many frauds and 
abufes in mercantile concerns, and reduced the weights 
and meafures to their proper llandard., He inculcated 
fidelity and candour amongfl the men, and exhorted the 
women to challity and fimpiicicity of manners. By fuch 
methods he wrought a general reformation, and eltabiiffied 
every where fuch concord and unanimity, that,the. whole 
kingdom leemed as if it were but one great family. 
The neighbouring princes began to be jealous. They 
thought that a king, under the counfels of fuch a man ah 
Confucius, wouid quickly render himfelf too powerful 
fates' 
