CHAPTER IX
The duties of the different classes oh high ministers.
1. The king Seuen of Ts'e asked about the office of high ministers. Mencius said, "Which chief ministers is your Majesty asking about?" "Are there differences among them?" inquired the king. "There are," was the reply. "There are the chief ministers who are noble and relatives of the prince, and there are those who are of a different surname." The king said, "I beg to ask about the chief ministers who are noble and relatives of the prince." Mencius answered, "If the prince have great faults, they ought to remonstrate with him, and if he do not listen to them after they have done so again and again, they ought to dethrone him."