Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh: The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution (Volume I)

The wonderful achievement of the Ti-pings, not only in effecting an important moral revolution, but also a national deliverance of their countrymen, affords an almost incredible psychological phenomenon. Rising, as it were intuitively, from the lowest depths of moral degradation, they suddenly recognize and instantly abandon all those vices and national evils which had become engrafted upon the Chinese mind by the solemn and unswerving practice of 2,000 years. With meteor-like perception, the great originator of the revolution becomes convinced of the degradation of his countrymen. China, rooted to her antiquity, her seclusion, and her apathy, beyond the most distant hope of change or improvement, yields to this new influence, and bows before the teaching of the almost unknown student, Hung-sui-tshuen. The traditional lore of more than 2,000 years, the mystic and deeply-venerated teaching of ancient sages, the profligacy and idolatry sanctioned and indulged in for ages, are suddenly disregarded. But in one way can this be accounted for. Divine Providence has manifested itself in a manner as marvellous and superhuman as in the recorded miracles of old. The miraculous interpositions of Divine Power in the olden times appealed to the senses of small portions of a semi-barbarous people by a physical and visible wonder. This most extraordinary of revolutions has effected the moral regeneration of a vast proportion of the human race by an invisible and wonderful agency. Therefore, whatever may be the apparent result of the hostility of foreign dynasties, of this we may rest assured, the Almighty Power that has seen fit to kindle the glimmering sparks of the first Christian movement in modern Asia has lighted a torch that may not easily be extinguished, faint and obscure as that light may burn amid the gloom of persecution which, in all climes, and in all ages, has marked the dawn of Christianity. Nations may rejoice over the seeming triumph of their policy, and may witness unmoved the martyrdom of the noble Ti-ping leaders, but nevertheless the moment will arrive when that smouldering spark will burst into a fire that may not be controlled by human agency.

I have probably had a much greater experience of the Ti-ping religious practices than any other European, and as a Protestant Christian I have never yet found occasion to condemn their form of worship. In the first place, the principal and most important article of their faith is the Holy Bible in all its integrity—Old and New Testaments entire. These have always been circulated through the whole population of the Ti-ping jurisdiction, and printed and distributed to the people gratuitously by their Government. Besides the Bible, numerous religious works by the Tien-wang (the Tai-ping king), and Kan-wang (his prime minister), have been commonly circulated among their followers; but I entirely deny that these, or any single one of them, tend to alter, modify, or supersede any part of the Word of God, as some persons have taken upon themselves to intimate. These works have been issued as the individual explanations and opinions of the two authors, but never as any essential article of belief. Had such not been the case, is it likely the Bible would have been given in a complete form, by which any peculiar and erroneous teaching of the Tien-wang would have become exposed? And is not this free and unlimited circulation of the Scriptures the very best and most certain prospect of improvement? So anti-Christian, however, have been the arguments of nearly all opposed to the Ti-pings, that it is even possible some of their sect may dispute this truth.

Any one influenced by a sense of justice or Christian feeling will naturally wonder why a large proportion of idolaters, suddenly converted to the faith and accepting the Bible with joy, should require any defence for their unavoidable errors—errors common among the most perfect, and such as new disciples must, in the natural order of learning the holy mysteries, have been surrounded with. The answer must be, that all those in any way interested in the suppression of the Ti-pings, carefully circulated all the errors they could detect and all they could invent, cautiously concealing the fact that, whatever errors there might be are to be attributed to the Ti-pings not being able to thoroughly master, and rightly interpret, in a few years what no Christians have been able to do unanimously in nineteen centuries.

It may be asked, What had the religion of the Ti-pings to do with the war that has been waged against them?—was that religion the true casus belli? Was any casus belli ever stated? Assuredly not. With none of the circumstances allowed by men to justify killing their species—such as a just war, a defensive war, &c.—the Ti-pings have been most wantonly massacred. It may be urged by some that the sanguinary war maintained by the revolutionists can be held as a proof of their un-Christian character, and that they are endeavouring to propagate their faith by the sword. The simple reply to this is, that the Ti-pings have proved themselves to be far more merciful than their enemies. Oppressed and persecuted, their patriotism became aroused; they sought not to establish their faith by the sword; they sought to recover their patrimony from the usurping Tartar. They fought to uphold Christianity, not to crush it. Far from being incited by fanaticism to deeds of blood, it is a well-known fact—particularly stated by the Revs. Griffith John, Joseph Edkins, Lobschied, Muirhead, and others—that the Ti-ping chiefs have always deplored the great loss of life consequent upon their struggle for liberty. In the tenth century, Christianity was introduced into Denmark by the sword, in the thirteenth into Prussia, and became established throughout Europe by religious wars. All Christianity has been compelled frequently to maintain itself by force of arms. The seventh century witnessed the wars against the Saracens; and if, as some people have stated, the Ti-pings had been fighting for the purpose of establishing their religion, and were wrong for so doing, then it is a sad reflection that all Christianity must be wrong, and that our Christian ancestors should have become either martyrs or Mohammedans.

The annals of history, and the practices of modern civilization, sufficiently prove the necessity of civil liberty for the enjoyment of Christian worship; why, then, should the Ti-pings be blamed if, in order to obtain the latter, they have been compelled to fight for their freedom?

The rise of the Ti-ping rebellion singularly resembles many events mentioned in sacred history, and many of the Ti-pings have delighted in comparing themselves to the Israelites of old. Even should the revolutionists have placed a warlike interpretation upon such passages from the New Testament as, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I come not to send peace, but a sword;" "for he beareth not the sword in vain;" who among us dare judge them as misinterpreters of Gospel, remembering the conversion of the heathen is executed according to the will and pleasure of the Lord, and not by any rule or formula laid down by man? It would be idle and presumptuous to say this must be the plan, or that shall be the manner; and yet there have been found ministers of the Gospel who are ready to justify the outrages committed on the Ti-pings, because they think they have not accepted the Word of God in the manner they should have done!

When the statements of the various missionaries are perused, it must be wondered how it is that those who have been sent to China through the Christian generosity of the British public, have never yet attempted to succour or guide aright the great Christian revolution. The Bishop of Victoria, the Revs. Griffith John, Muirhead, Edkins, Mills, Milne, Lobschied, Lambath, and many others too numerous to mention, have rejoiced in the most eloquent terms about the Ti-pings, have partially approved, and criticised their acts, when sending their reports to England. What have they done to assist those who have "entreated" them, as Mr. Holmes, the Baptist missionary, was entreated, to come and teach the Word of God? Absolutely nothing!

Last year, it was estimated that the whole number of Protestant Christian converts in China, the result of more than thirty years of missionary labour, was some 1,400, and these included all the employées of the different mission establishments, many of whom, I have good reason to know, have an amount of faith similar to that of the Portuguese rice Christians of Macao, who, not long since, struck in a body, and told the priests they would not be Christians any longer, unless they received another quarter of a catty more rice per day. England sends more missionaries amongst the poor benighted heathen than any other nation; yet the work of all she has sent to China put together will not equal the proselytes of one Jesuit. The Jesuits penetrate the vast Chinese empire in every direction, shaven-headed, and dressed as natives. With a sublime earnestness of purpose, many of them devote their lives to their missionary work; adopting the strange and hostile country, and giving up for ever all ties of home, kindred, or nation, these devoted men never depart from China, but, till death relieves them, labour with that unfaltering perseverance so eminently characteristic of the order of Jesus. I do not, by any means, advocate either the principles of the Jesuits, or their peculiar mode of propagating them; but what I do maintain is, that while the self-sacrifice of the Jesuits forms one extreme of missionary labour, so the confinement of Protestant missionaries to the treaty ports constitutes the other, and that many could be well employed in the interior.

What excuse can missionaries give for their surprising negligence of the Ti-ping rebellion? Can it be that ministers of the Gospel egotistically preferred their 1,400 converts to the 70,000,000, and upwards, of those who might have become Christians under the Ti-ping authority during 1861-2, had our missionaries helped them, and our Government permitted them to exist? Of course not! Well then, why? Let the British officials who prevented the few missionaries who would have gone to the Ti-pings reply for them, and those who would not go at all reply for themselves. Their reasons must indeed be plausible to find approbation. If the Ti-pings were very bad, all the more occasion for teaching them; if very good, how is it the missionaries allowed them to be sacrificed without protest? In all probability no reply would be given; but the conduct of the British consuls at Canton, Ningpo, and Shanghae, affords the true answer, as far as those missionaries who were willing to preach the Gospel to the Ti-pings are concerned. At Canton they were refused passports to the territory of insurgents. At Ningpo the missionaries were withdrawn from that city when it was captured by the Ti-pings, as Mr. Consul Hervey states in his despatch of Dec. 31st, 1861, to Mr. Bruce:—

This sinister passage must be remembered when considering the treacherous expulsion of the Ti-pings from the city by the allied Anglo-Franco-Manchoo piratical fleet.

Do the subscribers to the mission funds expect Mr. Consul Hervey to be the director of the missionaries, or a competent judge of "a fit or proper abode for teachers of Christianity"?—if so, in the latter case they are wofully deceived.

Captain Corbett, R.N., writes to Admiral Hope from Ningpo on the 20th December, 1861:—

Why all this anxiety to force the missionaries away from their duty? To get them out of the way before the commencement of the hostilities already decided upon, seems the only answer!

At Shanghae Mr. Consul Medhurst has interfered with the missionary work; but, above all, Mr. Bruce's regulations actually prohibit the communication of missionaries or any other British subject with the Ti-pings; in consequence of which, I was compelled to smuggle the Rev. W. Lobschied up to Nankin in May, 1862.

It will thus be seen, the teaching of the Word of God, and the spreading of the Gospel unto the uttermost ends of the earth, has, in China, been made subservient to official intrigue. This may somewhat explain the extraordinary apathy of missionaries, although it certainly cannot justify their neglect of their Master's orders. Missionaries should be servants of Christ alone; but out in China, it appears, they are either politicians, or they permit the object of their sacred mission to be perverted by unscrupulous officials, and thereby become secularized.

Whatever may have been the benefit of the missions hitherto, their wanton, cruel sacrifice of the greatest Christian movement this world has ever witnessed has dimmed their glory with a shadow all time cannot remove; it is even needless to blame them for neglecting the innumerable and less favourable points of the Ti-ping religion—the grand and unalterable fact was the possession of the whole Bible as their only faith, and the hitherto unparalleled free circulation of it by the martyred revolutionists.

Only last June, the Bishop of Victoria, at the Highbury College grounds, referred to some of the remarkable scenes incident to the rebellion, and observed—"that in Amoy, which had suffered deeply, missionary work had made more progress than in any other city in China! One effect of the Ti-ping movement had been the wide-spread destruction of idolatry, by which a vast work had been done, preparatory to that of the missionary."

The idols, indeed, were all destroyed, but the missionaries did not step in. And now that the Ti-pings have been driven from their former possessions, and nearly exterminated, all the idols have been replaced by the Manchoos; and the missionaries may rest assured it will take them infinitely longer to overthrow the re-established Budhism than it occupied the Ti-pings in the first place. The Chinese have been edified by witnessing the Europeans fighting to suppress what has always been looked upon by natives as a religious movement, alien to the ancient and national faith of the country, in fact, as Christianity, or the religion of the foreigners. This being the case, it would be absurd to expect the Chinese will again come forward and adopt the creed for which they are daily beholding the Ti-pings suffer,—a creed to which they are naturally averse, and dare not profess if they would, not only from dread of their Manchoo Government (which will certainly keep a sharp look-out to suppress any new outbreak of a movement which so nearly overthrew their own dynasty), but from the very fact that they have seen the strong and resistless "foreign devils" allied to the Manchoos for the express purpose of exterminating the Ti-ping Christians. There can be no ground for cavilling about the right of the Ti-pings to such denomination, the fact being that they accepted the Bible, acknowledged it as the Word of God, and worshipped His Son, as the Tien-wang has written, "as the Saviour of men's souls." Can the missionary-made Christians do more?

For my part, I shall ever rejoice, because I have been in a position to render what little assistance I could to many hundreds of the Ti-pings who have requested me to give them the foreign interpretation of different articles of faith; and I shall ever regret that, while missionaries are sent with exhaustless munificence into parts that will not profess Christianity, to the Ti-pings, under whose authority millions have professed and accepted the Scriptures with an enthusiasm and firmness of purpose never excelled, not one has been sent or volunteered to go.

It is difficult to understand, how ministers of the Gospel should not have felt a generous sympathy with men, whose profession of Christianity not only entitled them to the brotherhood they have always claimed with Europeans, but actually deprived their movement of a very great element most essential to its success—the popular national rising against the Manchoos.

Even Mr. Bruce, their greatest enemy, has stated,—

What could appeal more powerfully to our sympathy than this statement of an enemy? But for their profession of Christianity the Ti-pings would have carried the whole population of China with them long ago. Mr. Bruce in the above statement, and all persons acquainted with Chinese character, agree that the minds of the people are so immutable and apathetic, and so fixedly rooted to the ancient superstitions and idolatry of their country, that all change seems impossible. This being admitted, is it not certain that some superhuman effort must be made?

The Chinese, with their strong and peculiar idiosyncrasies, will never be taught Christianity: whenever they become Christians, it will be in exactly the same manner the Ti-pings became so, viz., by their own readings of Scripture, as the Author shall see fit to inspire them, but certainly not through foreign teaching or interpretation. If the Ti-ping rebellion should be utterly extinguished, the result will be dismal for generation after generation. The cause of true religion will have been delayed and driven backwards. It is to be hoped that it may be otherwise, and that the Bishop of Victoria prophesied truly when he said that—

As I have already stated, the principal feature of the Ti-ping faith is their acknowledgment of the Holy Bible as the word of the True God. All their religious practices are deduced from its authority, and, in so far as they have been able to effect it, their form of worship and belief assimilates to Protestantism. All the principal sacraments of the Protestant religion are either observed or celebrated with such error or approximation as they have been interpreted with. The holy communion, unfortunately, has not been correctly understood; in its place every fourth Sunday the Ti-pings are in the habit of partaking of grape-wine. Each Sabbath three cups of tea are placed upon the altar as an offering to the Trinity; it is only since 1859, when Hung-jin, the Kan-wang, joined the Ti-pings, that the cups of tea have been tasted; previously, they were a part of the offerings rendered up at each worshipping,—a custom generated by their confusion of the ancient sacrifices mentioned in the Old Testament with the offerings and the Lord's Supper of the New.

Baptism constitutes the principal and most important of their sacraments. Until the arrival of the Kan-wang at Nankin, none but grown-up persons who, after a strict and lengthened examination, were found duly qualified, were admitted to the fellowship of the Ti-pings and baptized as Christians. The following were the forms observed, as issued by the royal authority of the Tien-wang, in the "Book of Religious Precepts of the Ti-ping Dynasty":—

The prayer of the recipient of baptism was as follows:—

These prayers, together with many others, were slightly altered by the Kan-wang, whose superior, in fact perfect knowledge of Christianity as practised by the English Protestant Church, led to the improvement of many and important forms of the Ti-ping worship. Unfortunately through the total loss of the numerous and valuable original Ti-ping documents I had gathered during my service and intercourse with those people, I am unable to give my readers a literal translation, or do more than notice what may be never otherwise known or rendered verbatim to this world. All my journals, manuscripts, and other original papers, collected upon the spot, have, although often recommenced, been successively captured by the Imperialist troops, with the rest of my baggage; therefore I must request those who may feel an interest in my narrative, to excuse the incompleteness of any parts I have recounted from memory.

Marriage among the Ti-pings is solemnized with remarkable strictness, and the ceremony is performed by an officiating priest, or rather presbyter. All the heathen and superstitious customs of the Chinese are completely relinquished. The ancient customs by which marriages were celebrated—the semi-civilized espousal of persons who had never previously seen each other; the choice of a lucky day; the present of purchase-money, and many others—are abolished. Those only that seem to be retained are the tying up of the bride's long black tresses, hitherto worn hanging down, and the bridegroom's procession at night, with music, lanterns, sedan-chairs, and a cavalcade of friends (and in the case of chiefs, banners and military honours), to fetch home his spouse. As a natural consequence of the absence of restraint in the enjoyment of female society, marriages amongst the Ti-pings are generally love matches. Even in cases where a chief's daughter is given in alliance to some powerful leader, compulsion is never used, and the affianced are given every opportunity to become acquainted with each other.

I have frequently seen the marriage ceremony performed, and I can only say that, excepting the absence of the ring, it forms as close and veritable an imitation of that practised by the Church of England as it is possible to imagine. When the bridal party are all met together, they proceed to the church (i.e. "the Heavenly Hall," within the official dwelling of each mayor of a village or circle of twenty-five families, excepting in the case of chiefs, who are married in their own hall), and after many prayers and a severe examination of the bride and bridegroom's theological tenets, the minister joins their right hands together, and when each have accepted the other, pronounces a concluding benediction in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To the best of my belief divorce is not only not permitted, but actually unknown or thought of. Adultery is punishable with death; and it may be that this is the only case in which the Ti-pings consider a complete release a vinculo matrimonii justifiable. All their rules upon the subject, and in fact their entire penal code, I once possessed; unfortunately I have no translations, and none are to be obtained outside their ranks.

All Budhistic ceremonies are rigidly prohibited at funerals, and also the common Chinese sacrifices to the manes of their ancestors, while a form of Christian burial is established, and a regular service read over the coffin by an officiating minister.

Various forms of prayer, ceremonies, and thanksgivings are used upon all felicitous or adverse events:—upon the commencement of all expeditions, at births, building of houses, previous to battles, after victory and after defeat, for daily use, for all sick and wounded persons, for harvest, for rulers and princes, for blessings and success vouchsafed, which they invariably attribute to God.

In every household throughout the length and breadth of the Ti-ping territory the following translation of the Lord's Prayer is hung up for the use of children, being painted in large black characters on a white board:—

Frequently I have watched the Ti-ping women teaching this prayer to their little children, the board containing it being always the most prominent object in the principal apartment of their dwelling. Children have often run up to me on entering a house, and then pulling me towards the board, commenced reading the prayer.

The seventh day is most religiously and strictly observed. The Ti-ping sabbath is kept upon our Saturday, and no sooner has the last knell of the Friday midnight sounded, than, throughout Ti-pingdom, the people are summoned to worship their God. The Sabbath morn having been ushered in with prayer, the people retire to their rest or duties. During the day two other services are held, one towards noon and the other in the evening. Each service opens with the Doxology:—

This is followed by the hymn:—

After this the minister reads aloud a chapter of the Bible, and then follows a creed, which is repeated by all the congregation standing, similar to that contained in the Ti-ping trimetrical classic, than which a more closely resembling counterpart of our Apostles' Creed it would be difficult indeed to imagine.

After this the whole congregation kneeling, the minister reads a form of prayer, which is repeated after him by those present. When this litany is concluded, the people resume their seats and the minister reads to them a sermon, after which the paper containing it is burnt. During the singing of hymns the voices are accompanied by the music of very melancholy-sounding horns and hautboys. Upon the conclusion of the sermon the people all rise to their feet and with the full accompaniment of all their plaintive and wild-sounding instruments, render with very great effect the anthem:—

Then follow the Ten Commandments, with the special annotations affixed to each:[34]—

The services are concluded with a hymn of supplication, and then large quantities of incense and fire-crackers are burnt.

The Sabbath is most strictly kept; not the slightest infraction is permitted: shops are closed, work suspended, and even military operations if possible. Upon that day, between services, the chiefs meet together to discourse upon religious subjects and frequently to supplicate the assistance of Divine Providence for a deliverance from the incessant dangers and perils of their hazardous life. Meanwhile the ecclesiastics, until church-time arrives, proceed through the camps and dwellings, examining and instructing the soldiers, women, and children.

The ecclesiastical system of the Ti-pings is a form of presbytery. The Tien-wang is king and high priest over his people; four princes occupy the next rank in the lay government of the Church, and after them several grades of clergy, who have to pass special and very severe examinations before obtaining their orders. These clerical examinations are conducted by the Ecclesiastical Court, presided over by the four principal divines and four princes, at Nankin; but before office is bestowed upon successful candidates, the whole of the papers, essays, and work of the student are submitted to that extraordinarily diligent man, the Tien-wang, subject to his approval or rejection. Not only this, but the whole work of his vast territory and numerous followers, passes through and is culminated in his hands.

Over each parish of five-and-twenty families, a minister is placed, and a Church, or Heavenly hall, is built for him; over each circle of twenty-five parishes, a superior or elder of the Church is appointed, who, in rotation, visits all the churches under his control upon successive Sabbaths. In like manner the chief ecclesiastic of the district performs his duty, and above him, the superior of the department. Once during each month, the whole of the people are assembled—soldiers, civilians, men, women, and children, in some prominent locality under the canopy of heaven; a platform is erected, and their chief Wang or governor preaches to them, and gives a general lecture upon the subject of all orders, military, civil, and social administration. This mass meeting is also practised previous to any grand or important movement taking place.

Issuing forth from the gates of the city, the entire populace follow their governor, who, proceeding to the elevated position selected for him, generally a small hillock or rising ground, harangues them with great energy and enthusiasm. His large—eight-foot square—wang flag is planted by his standard-bearer immediately behind him, while his two snake flags (the armorial insignia of the chiefs) are held upon either hand by their particular bannermen. The foot of the hillock is encircled by the chief's body-guard, outside whose cordon the troops, with their numerous and many-coloured banners, are formed in brigades; between which, the civilians, men, women, and children, are congregated.

As nearly as I can remember, the following is verbatim the delineation of an address I heard the Mo-wang deliver at Pau-Yen. Upon reaching a table in the centre of the elevated platform, he said aloud, "Let us praise the Heavenly Father;" upon which he knelt down, the whole multitude following him and praying for several minutes. The Mo-wang then rose and asked, "Are all the country magistrates present?" Receiving an affirmative answer, he then spoke as follows:—

At these gatherings, the infinite variety of military costume, the bright and gorgeous colours, the rich floating folds of the silken flags, the whole variegated appearance of the multitude of well and becomingly dressed members of a new people, as it were, united for the cause of freedom, and imbued in a wonderful and enthusiastic manner with the fixed determination of Christianizing their mighty empire,—all these combined, presented to the moralist a grand and imposing aspect.

Besides the priests appointed to regular parochial duties, great numbers are attached to the army, and each Wang, or chief of high rank, is provided with several, both to perform the household religious services, and instruct the immediate followers of the chief.

The clergy are all dressed entirely in black; the elders, or superiors, being distinguished by an ornament of pearls worn on the front of their head-dress.

The churches of the Ti-pings are not separate buildings, but consist of a Sacred, or "Heavenly hall," specially constructed for the purpose of Divine worship, in all the principal official buildings, and palaces of the princes or Wangs. In every case the Heavenly hall is the most important portion of the building, and its consecrated character is never violated by being used for other than religious purposes.

CHAPTER XII.

Far brighter dawned the spring of 1861 upon the Ti-ping cause than did the opening of the previous year. In nearly every direction the revolutionists were victorious: the principal forces of the Manchoo emperor were completely routed, and a considerable portion of the most valuable territory in China had fallen into their hands, and was fast becoming thoroughly consolidated as a part of their possessions. It seemed as though at last their heroic struggles were about to receive their well-merited reward. So great was the prestige of their late triumphs that, wherever they marched, whole armies of Imperialists vanished away without striking a blow, or, if unable to seek security in precipitate flight, defended themselves with the wild unorganized desperation of despair.

The extent of country entirely under the Ti-ping rule was very considerable. Along the line of the great Yang-tze river, from N.E. to S.W., their territory extended from its banks below Chin-kiang into the central part of the province of Kiang-si, south of the Poyang lake, a distance of more than 360 miles; while from the boundaries of their possessions N.W. of the river to the opposite limits in the S.E., an irregular breadth of 200 to 250 miles included the whole of their settled dominions, forming an area upwards of 90,000 square miles, and containing a population of some 45,000,000. Besides this, large portions of the provinces of Hoo-peh, Hoo-nan, Fu-keen, Che-kiang, and the distant Sze-chuan, were occupied by powerful Ti-ping armies. The lowest approximate strength of their forces at this time might be estimated at 350,000; but a large proportion consisted of mere boys. This force was divided into five principal armies, the remainder doing garrison duty at Nankin, Soo-chow, and many other of the most important cities within their jurisdiction. One of the five armies in the field was commanded by the Ying-wang in the province of Hoo-peh: the Chung-wang commanded a large force in the southern districts of Ngan-whui; the Shi-wang, with a very powerful army, was operating in the central part of Kiang-si; and the Kan-wang, having proceeded to the province of Hoo-nan, was joined by upwards of 40,000 insurgents from the old seats of rebellion against the Manchoo dynasty,—the provinces in the southern limit of the empire, Kwang-tung, Kwang-se, and Kwei-chow; and, besides this force, far away upon the western boundary of China, Shih-ta-kae (I-wang), the Ti-ping emperor's brother, in command of a large army, was successfully operating in Sze-chuan. In fact, north, south, east, and west, the star of the patriots shone brightly in the ascendant, while that of the Manchoos seemed setting in the gloom and darkness, through which, upwards of two hundred years ago, it had struggled into existence. The greatest empire in the world appeared at length about to be relieved from that incubus which for two centuries had paralyzed its hopes and energies; the enlightenment of China seemed approaching, step by step with the advent of Christianity, which, following rapidly on the expulsion of the Tartar, with its vast train of benefit and improvement, promised, not alone to place that empire upon the pedestal of greatness yet reserved for her, but to realize corresponding advantages for the whole civilized world. One dark cloud alone appeared to cast a shadow upon so bright an horizon—the policy of the British Government. Language can scarcely express how seriously the interests of the universe, and of England in particular, have been prejudiced by a persistence in the suicidal measures dictated by a policy so mistaken.

Forcibly as the moral effect of the general foreign policy of England has been denounced by statesmen, how few have been found to raise their voices in the British senate in protestation against the practical evils which that policy has engendered in the far East, a country abounding in tea and silk, and now paralyzed by opium instead of being enriched by the manufactures of Great Britain. The moral effect of bad statesmanship, however much it may weaken England's just influence and the future peace of Europe, cannot sensibly affect the present wealth and pursuits of the people. Trade, politics, civilization, and religion, are pretty well balanced and regulated throughout Europe; therefore, whatever evil might result from the foreign policy of the British Government, no particular improvement could be expected to take place in a state of affairs which we consider almost perfect. But very different are the results of our peculiar kind of foreign policy in the case of China. With that extensive empire present relations are unsatisfactory, and the mutual benefits to be derived from a free intercourse are yet hidden in the vale of futurity. Mutual benefit is hardly the correct expression, for from a country which may be regarded as the richest in the world in proportion to its extent and population, England would derive far greater commercial advantages than she could possibly bestow. Whenever a prospect of the most satisfactory relations offered, and whenever a free intercourse was not only offered, but actually established by any section or part of that innumerable people, it would be only natural for England to rejoice, if not for the sake of the Chinese, and the higher objects of humanity, at least for selfish motives. But this is exactly what the British Government has proved incapable of appreciating, by preferring temporary interests to those which were much greater and far more lasting.

The Ti-pings offered not only satisfactory relations and free intercourse, but every advantage that England could possibly wish for or be benefitted by. Christianity and civilization, as practised among ourselves, would have become morally and physically certain under their rule. The detestable opium trade would have been completely annihilated, and British produce would have taken its place, to the benefit of the Chinese, and the relief of the choked markets and distressed operatives of England. The fulfilment of the Ti-ping law, that European "brethren" should "go out or in, backwards or forwards, in full accordance with their own will or wish," whether for pleasure or "to carry on their commercial operations," did throw open the whole of their territory to free intercourse and trade, and would have done the same for the entire Chinese empire. The exclusiveness and hatred of the Manchoo Government to the "outer barbarians" and "foreign devils" was by the Ti-pings changed into friendship and kindness. Modern improvements would have been extensively introduced. The trade, at present restricted to a few treaty ports, would have become universal throughout the empire, and the vast stores of mineral riches, almost unknown to foreigners, would have yielded forth their mines of wealth, while a general and enormous commerce, perfectly free and unfettered (excepting opium), would have thrown open an empire richer in itself than all Europe. To England especially, as the greatest commercial power, an inexhaustible source of profit would certainly have been established, and would have produced, without aggression or usurpation of territory, a revenue far excelling any derived from India. All these and many other important advantages were partially established by the Ti-pings, and would undoubtedly have been completed upon the final overthrow of the Manchoos.

Strong as these inducements should have been to cause England to adopt a different policy towards China, and much as such a course would have tended to her own advantage, there was another and a higher consideration which she should have permitted to influence her. As a powerful and influential nation, a duty was cast upon her, if not to extend the hand of friendship to a people who were nobly struggling to follow her in the path of civilization and to learn the true religion, at least not to thwart such efforts, and, by untimely interference, render them hopelessly inoperative. Personal experience, the reports of men of intelligence and honour, all prove but too plainly how the friendly Ti-ping nation was crushed by British interference. It has been urged that the friendly professions of that people were not genuine, and that their undertaking would never have been performed. Had such a course, so opposed to their nature, been pursued, surely it would have been more grateful to the martial spirit of England to resort to arms for the purpose of enforcing an observance of good faith and honour, than for that of avenging the capture of a wretched opium smuggler.

Upon the 11th of February the expedition under command of Admiral Hope, started for the Yang-tze-kiang with the object of opening that river to foreign trade, in accordance with the treaty lately concluded at Pekin. In all respects this expedition was of the greatest importance, as well to the Chinese as the foreigners whom it most particularly interested. Its results were entirely prejudicial to the Ti-pings. The diplomatic and military authorities of the expedition mostly opposed the Ti-ping movement for its interference with the "carrying into due effect the terms of the treaty" just forced from the Manchoo at the cannon's mouth, and the almost certain prospects of its success, which would not only sadly affect the "China indemnity," but their own individual prospects of office and aggrandizement expected through their intercourse with the suddenly changed polite and obliging Manchoo mandarins. The deputation of the mercantile community attached to the expedition was utterly absorbed with its trading pursuits, and looked upon anything and everything likely to interfere with its immediate profits with no little amount of hostility: the future was completely ignored; its expectations were an uninterrupted trade for three years, and a return to England with a large fortune; therefore it is hardly to be wondered at that it looked with hatred upon the change progressing in the shape of the Ti-ping revolution. Besides the personal and spontaneous prejudice entertained by these two classes against the Ti-pings, it seems pretty certain that directly after all the efforts of the Manchoo Government to repel foreigners by force had failed, intrigues to deceive and induce them to act against the rebels they were unable to subdue, were successfully adopted. Even Mr. Bruce (who had stated in his despatches—"If there is one art of diplomacy understood by the Chinese it is that of separating interests which ought to be identical") seems to have been thoroughly imposed upon, while the false professions of the Manchoos, in order to obtain the assistance of the British against the Ti-pings, have had no small share in consummating that gross outrage. Again discussing the policy of assisting the Imperialists (which the latter had requested, making great protestations of "friendship," "mutual commercial interests," &c.), he says:—"It is evidently for the interest of the Chinese authorities to induce us to embark in a course of action which will embroil us with the insurgents."

Yet, eventually, Mr. Bruce chose to place implicit faith in their professions, and took one occasion out of many, in that disgraceful affair of the Anglo-Chinese fleet (depending upon the truth of the truthless Prince Kung, whose hands yet reeked with the blood of our murdered countrymen), to give his favourable opinion to the British Government; and the British people, depending upon their representatives, who depended upon the Government, who depended upon Mr. Lay, who depended upon Wan-siang, president of the Manchoo Foreign Office, who depended upon Prince Kung, who depended upon some one else, actually permitted the very laws of the land to be set aside, by allowing the ordinance of neutrality to be broken, and the Foreign Enlistment Act to be declared null and void. Fortunately the disgraceful affair terminated in the most ignominious manner, and the British sailors were saved the degradation (that had been thrust upon the soldiers) of becoming the mercenary braves of a corrupt and sanguinary despotism.

Upon the opening of the Yang-tze to trade, and the selection of the cities of Han-kow, Kiu-kiang, and Chin-kiang as the treaty ports, it became necessary to enter into some agreement with the Ti-pings, who commanded the river throughout its principal positions; in fact, by their possession of Nankin, Wu-hoo, Tae-ping-foo, the cities of Seaou-shan, Tung-shan, and several others, this trade was almost as completely in their power as the valuable silk trade had been since May, 1860. In consequence of this, Admiral Hope (ignoring, with all the arrogance of superior strength, the fact that the murderous repulse of the Ti-pings from Shanghae had given them a perfect right to make it a casus belli, and to retaliate upon British commerce, lives, or any other possession) communicated with the Ti-ping authorities at Nankin, and pledged the neutrality of the British nation once more.

The Earl of Elgin's instructions to Admiral Hope contain the following:[35]—