"To our two objections Fang replied by assuring us that his party were most anxious to keep well with foreigners, who, indeed, were no other than their brothers, inasmuch as both worshipped one God and one Jesus; and that as for trade, that would be allowed to go on as formerly, while he begged us to feel quite at ease as to the persons and property of our countrymen, any molestation shown to whom would be followed by instant decapitation. Their object being the overthrow of the present dynasty, they could not allow Ningpo to remain in the hands of the Imperialists.
"It was with difficulty that we succeeded in persuading Fang to delay his attack on Ningpo for one week; another day, he said, was to have seen him there, had we not interposed.
"One could not help feeling struck with the earnestness and apparent sincerity of this young leader. Whilst alive to the dangers attending the cause in which he was engaged, he seemed to be confident that the support of Heaven would carry them through all their difficulties, and that, so aided, they must prevail. He told us that nearly the whole province was in their hands, or would be before long, and that Hang-chow, the provincial capital, would fall, 'as soon as Heaven should see fit to give it into their hands.'"
The General Hwang gave the following reply to the communication of the foreign representatives, which, together with Fang's, fairly expresses the aim and feeling of the Ti-ping Government:—
"HWANG, TAI-PING LEADER AT YU-YAOU, TO CONSUL HARVEY."
"Hwang, a noble of the rank of E,[50] with the prænomen 'Paon teen' ('Precious Heavenly'), and Commander-in-Chief of the chief army of his Highness Prince[51] Tsung, who is of the Royal body-guard in the capital of the Heavenly Dynasty, which is the dynasty patented under the true Divine Commission as the Heavenly Kingdom of Universal Peace, addresses an official communication to F. Harvey, Esq., Her Majesty's Consul; W. Breck, Esq., United States Consul; Lieutenant H. Huxham, Royal Navy; Captain L. Obry, His Imperial Majesty's Navy, in reference to the interview held (this day) for the purpose of deliberating on the maintenance of friendly relations between the respective countries.
"From the foundations of the heavens and the earth, the world has been divided into the central kingdom, China, and the external kingdoms, foreign countries. Each kingdom, whether China or those of foreign countries, has been ruled over by men of its own nation. (This has been the universal practice.)
"But in the time of the Ming dynasty the Tartar imps, originally serfs from beyond the northern frontier, stole into China, and usurped the emblems of royalty [lit., seized upon the divine materials], making unclean and polluting the land to a degree that no tongue can tell of [lit., to a degree difficult for the fingers to reckon].
"Even till now, and during a period of more than 200 years, have they been going on in their wickedness, until at last their cup of iniquity is filled to the overflowing.
"At these their sins the Heavenly Father being exceeding wroth [lit., his anger was as an earthquake], would have destroyed the world; then Jesus, the Heavenly Elder Brother, out of his mercy and lovingkindness towards mankind, sent down the true and holy Lord, the Heavenly King, to wash out the stains of the northern serfs, and to set up anew the house of Han [i.e., to re-establish a purely native dynasty].