"'Wha-seen-sung (be assured), foreigners and men of the Heavenly kingdom are all brethren. We all believe in the Heavenly Father and Son, and are, therefore, brethren. Is it not so?'
"I then mentioned the object for which I had come, speaking of the deep interest which had long been felt in their cause by foreign Christians.
"After receiving assurances from him of their gratification at my arrival, we retired.
"The Tien-Wang, we were informed on the evening of our arrival, was much gratified at our coming.
"After this, the Chang-wang invited me in to see him again. Being quartered in his house, it was quite convenient to go in at any time.... He then proceeded to give an outline of Christianity, which, though very loose and general, contained little that could be objected to:—God, the Creator of all things; Jesus, his son, the Saviour of the world; the Holy Spirit—the words correct in the main, though I afterwards became convinced that neither he, nor any of them, had any adequate idea of their true signification. 'Was this what we believed, also?' he asked, when he had finished his recapitulation. I gave him to understand that I had no objection to make to what he had said, but that they appeared to have other doctrines which I did not understand the import of, for example, Mr. Pung had spoken of worshipping the Heavenly Father, the Heavenly Brother, and the Tien-Wang, and of these three being one. To this he simply replied that Mr. Pung had preached erroneously."
Now this plain avowal of the correct and intimate knowledge the Ti-ping leaders possessed of Christianity might well, one would suppose, have satisfied even Mr. Holmes; for what more could be expected from men but newly awakened to the truth, and yet struggling towards the gradually increasing light?
Another striking example of the enlightened character of the Ti-ping chiefs is thus given by Mr. Holmes, and should certainly have impressed him favourably:—
"Another similar chair was placed near him (Chang-wang), on which he invited me to be seated, and at once began to question me about foreign machinery, &c. He had been puzzled by a map with parallel lines running each way, said to have been made by foreigners, which he asked me to explain. He then submitted to my inspection a spy-glass and a music-box, asking various questions about each."
The following account may be designated coolly insolent and not trustworthy, being founded on fictions:—