0444_Bk

I. ANCmNTmSTORY. I5
In due time the impulse came to Fa, to succour his dis-
tres_ed country from the miseries it was suffering under
the grinding heel of its tyrant, and on first taking the field
he was at once voluntarily joined by 8o0 princes and
chieftains, who flocking to his banner urged an immediate
advance on the Capital. Fa, however, asserting that
Heaven had not yet utterly cast off the Emperor, diver.ted
the host against and subdued the unprincipled ruler of Li
_g, as a warning to the Emperor of the temper and resolve
of his barons. Impervious to such an admonition,
and deeming himseK in secure possessic_ of his ancient inheritance,
the tyrant added impost to impost and crinm to
crig_e, for the gratification of his ever changing never
satiated desires, until the cry of the people aroused Fa to
once more lead forth his forces.
In his " Great Declaration" he thus indicts his s_ver-
eign :*_" He has sawn through the shin bones of men
who were wading in the morning, he has cut out the heaxt
of the good man, he has used his majesty to kill and slay,
he has poisoned and afflicted all within the four seas ; he
honours and trusts the depraved and crooked, he Patsex-
peUed his advisers and the guardians of his throne, he has
cast aside the laws, and imprisoned or enslaved his upright
officers. He has ceased to observe the sacrifices to Heaven
and Earth, and to make offerings in the Ancestral Temple,
He makes wonderful devices and extraordinary contriv-
ances to please his woman. Hence God is no longer with
him, but with a curse sends dowa upon him this timely ruin."
_ _; v.I. 3. :l.