"'How different are the true doctrines from the doctrines of the world!
They save the souls of men, and lead to the enjoyment of endless bliss.
The wise receive them with exultation, as the source of their happiness;
The foolish, when awakened, understand thereby the way to heaven.
Our Heavenly Father, of His great mercy and unbounded goodness,
Spared not His first-born son, but sent Him down into the world,
To give His life for the redemption of all our transgressions,
The knowledge of which, coupled with repentance, saves the souls of men.'"
Of "The Book of Religious Precepts of the Ti-ping Dynasty," he further says:—
"This is decidedly the best production issued by the insurgents. The reasoning is correct, the prayers are good, the ceremonies enjoined (with the exception of the offerings) are unobjectionable; the Ten Commandments[19] agree in spirit with those delivered by Moses, and the hymns are passable. The statements of the doctrines of human depravity, redemption by the blood of Jesus, and the renewal of the heart by the influence of the Holy Spirit, are sufficient to direct any honest inquirer in the way to heaven."
"'The Ode for Youth,'" he says, "gives some admirable lessons regarding the honour due to God, who is the Creator and Father of all. It sets forth in very clear terms the coming of Jesus into the world for the salvation of men by the shedding of His blood on the cross, and then goes on to detail the duties that are required of us as parents and children, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, relatives and friends; concluding with instructions as to the management of the heart and external senses. Altogether it is an excellent book, and there is not a word in it which a Christian missionary might not adopt, and circulate as a tract for the benefit of the Chinese."[19]
"'The Book of Declaration of the Divine Will, made during the Heavenly Father's Descent upon Earth,' details the examination and detection of a traitor, on whom they were about to confer an appointment, when the Father is said to have come down from heaven in person,[20] on purpose to arraign and cross-question the delinquent; and having brought his reason to light, to have returned to heaven.
"There is no word of their having seen any form; but the idea of the Father's presence seems to have been impressed upon the minds of the bystanders.
"'The Book of Celestial Decrees' purports to be a collection of communications from God our Heavenly Father, and Jesus our Celestial Elder Brother. This is little, if anything, superior to the preceding work.
"Their almanac appears to be in some measure founded upon that originally prepared for the Chinese by the Jesuits, but prepared by those who did not know much upon the subject, and therefore they have adopted 366 days, the almanac copied from having been one for leap-year. They, however, stated in contradistinction to the ordinary Chinese almanac, that there are not any such things as lucky days, 'as whoever shall with a true breast reverence the Heavenly Father, the High Lord God, will be looked upon by Him with complacency, and whatsoever times such please to attend to their business, will be lucky and fortunate to them.'
"The book entitled 'The Regulations for the Army of the Ti-ping Dynasty' is very remarkable for the complete organization which it shows to exist amongst them, and for the very enlightened regulations it establishes for the treatment of the people amongst whom they may be.
"'The Trimetrical Classic,'[21] so called from each line containing only three words, is a very remarkable document, as evidencing that the writer, if there was but one, possessed great knowledge of both Old and New Testament history, of the plan of salvation, and of practical Christianity. He appears, also, to have much knowledge of Chinese history, and uses it to guard against the hostility likely to rise amongst Chinese against the Western nations, from the idea that they were entirely indebted to them for a knowledge of the true God."