27 APRIL 1907, Page 17

The mention of the descendant of Confucius recalls the striking

passage in Gibbon's autobiography in which the historian declares that "the family of Confucius is, in my opinion, the noblest upon earth. Seventy authentic genera- tions have elapsed from that philosopher to the present chief of his posterity, who reckons 135 degrees from the Emperor

Ho-bang-ti, the father, as it is believed, of an illustrious line which has now flourished in China 4,425 years." Conceive what such a continuity of history means. It is as if in Egypt there were an authentic descendant of the builder of the Great Pyramid and this personage had a recognised official position of high importance.