With a faithfulness above all praise, the Ti-pings have never broken their promises, and although the British government have thought fit to repudiate theirs, still, with an integrity really wonderful, the Ti-pings, although they might fairly have done so, have never retaliated. Had ministers of enlightened mind, or even ministers of honour, taken advantage of that clause of the Ti-pings' line of conduct—and which in spite of the British hostilities has remained unaltered—to go "out or in, backwards or forwards," how great a result would have been attained for themselves, and how glorious a future of freedom and Christianity for the Chinese!
Sir George Bonham, it appears, took umbrage at some imaginative want of respect in the dispatch of the Ti-ping chiefs; still, the following extracts from a communication received from Lo-thai-kang, commander of Ti-ping forces at Chin-kiang, the Triad chief who joined the society of "God-worshippers" in Kwang-si, should have appeased his indignation:—
"We humbly conceive that when the will of Heaven is fixed, man cannot oppose; and when views and feelings are correct, corrupt imaginations cannot interfere therewith; hence it is that honest birds select the tree on which they roost, and that virtuous ministers choose the sovereign whom they intend to serve. But, alas! these false Tartars have displayed their unruly dispositions, in fraudulently depriving us of our lawful patrimony; at home they have injured the subjects of our state, and abroad they have warred against foreign states. On a former occasion your honourable nation, with upright views, marched into our territory, for which you had doubtless good and sufficient reason; but the impish Tartars opposed your entrance, which the inhabitants of China viewed with displeasure; but now our royal master has received the command of Heaven to punish offenders, to show kindness to foreigners, and harmonize them with the Chinese, not restricting commercial intercourse, nor levying transit duties on merchandise, while he leads forward his martial bands, to the number of hundreds of myriads, overcoming every opposition; from which it is clear that the period has arrived when both Heaven and man unite in favouring his design, and faithful and brave warriors exert themselves on his behalf. But these fiendish Tartars, finding their strength gone, and their resources exhausted, have attempted to drive on your honourable nation to exert yourselves in their behalf, unabashed by the recollection that, on a former occasion, when matters went easily with them, they made it their business to oppose you; and now, when they are in extremities, they apply to you for succour, wishing to set our two nations at variance, in order to avail themselves of any advantage arising therefrom. This, we presume, is already seen through by you.
"We remember, moreover, how on a former occasion we, in conjunction with Bremer, Elliot, and Wanking (?), in the province of Canton erected a church, and together worshipped Jesus, our Celestial Elder Brother. All these circumstances are as fresh in our recollection as if they had happened but yesterday."
It is utterly impossible that anything could have been more satisfactory than this first communication with the Ti-pings. Not only were all their documents couched in the most friendly manner, affording a striking and total contrast to those of the Manchoo; but in practice as well as theory their conduct was excellent. They substituted for the old and insulting epithets, "barbarian" and "foreign devil," hitherto applied to all Europeans, the kindlier appellation of "foreign brethren;" while instead of assuming the repellant and exclusive manner of the Imperialists, they evinced the warmest friendliness and most candid demeanour. So pleasing was their conduct generally, that all persons having communication with them were unanimous in expressing their favourable impressions. Captain Fishbourne, describing his visit in the Hermes, says:—
"It was obvious to the commonest observer that they were practically a different race. They had Gutzlaff's edition of the Scriptures—at least they told us so; we know they had twenty-eight chapters of Genesis, for they had reprinted thus much, and gave us several copies; and some of them were practical Christians, and nearly all seemed to be under the influence of religious impressions, though limited in their amount. They believed in a special Providence, and believed that this truth had had a practical demonstration in their own case. That though they had had trials and incurred dangers, these were to punish and to purify. They had also successes, such as they could have had only by God's special interference. They referred, with deep and heartfelt gratitude, to the difficulties they had encountered, and the deliverances which had been effected for them, when they were but a few, and attributed all their success to God.
"'They,' said one, speaking of the Imperialists, 'spread all kinds of lies about us; they say we employ magical arts. The only kind of magic we have used is prayer to God. In Kwang-se, when we occupied Yung-ngan, we were sorely pressed; there were then only some two or three thousand of us; we were beset on all sides by much greater number; we had no powder left, and our provisions were all gone; but our Heavenly Father came down and showed us the way to break out. So we put our wives and children in the middle, and not only forced a passage, but completely beat our enemies.'
"After a short pause he added, 'If it be the will of God that our Prince of Peace shall be sovereign of China, he will be the sovereign of China; if not, then we will die here.'
"The man who, in every extreme, spoke these words of courageous fidelity to the cause, and of confidence in God, was a shrivelled-up, elderly little person, who made an odd figure in his yellow and red hood; but he could think the thoughts and speak the speech of a hero. He, and others like him, have succeeded in impressing with their own sentiments of courage and morality the minds of their adherents."
The Hermes brought away from Nankin the following books, which were published and circulated amongst the Ti-pings, viz.:—