It will be remembered that upon the capture of the first city in Kwang-si, Hung-sui-tshuen had sent messengers into Kwang-tung calling all his and Fung-yun-san's remaining friends and relatives to join his standard. Before this could be effected he was compelled to abandon the position. Hung-jin, in the meanwhile, had started upon the journey with some fifty friends of the two chiefs. Upon approaching the neighbourhood of the place appointed to effect a junction, they ascertained that the "God Worshippers" had raised their camp and marched away, and that the Manchoo authorities were seizing and cruelly murdering every one connected with them. Hung-jin now sent back into Kwang-tung all his friends, excepting three, who, with him, made their way deeper into the country, and endeavoured to join the army of "God-worshippers." The Mandarins were, however, so strictly upon the watch for all travellers or suspected persons, that he found himself under the necessity of abandoning his attempt and returning home. Upon reaching the Hwa-hien district, Hung-jin found that from henceforth home to him was but a name. The Manchoo butchers were already in his native village, and he was compelled to seek a refuge amongst strangers. In a short time he again set forth, with several relatives of Fung-yun-san, to join the Ti-pings; but finding the vigilance and cruelty of the Mandarins still more severe than before, they were obliged to return unsuccessful. After another fruitless attempt in the beginning of 1852, the chosen messenger of Hung-sui-tshuen and his relatives in Kwang-tung, again arrived with letters calling upon all faithful adherents of the two clans, Hung and Fung, to join him at the city of Yung-gnan. Upon this, the old rendezvous at Paddy-hill was selected as a place for assembling. Before the day appointed for a general meeting, and when only some two hundred members of the respective clans had arrived, Kiang-lung-chong, the messenger, who had grown too bold and reckless after the easy triumphs he had been accustomed to with the Ti-pings, acted without precaution in the gathering, and involved those already present in destruction. With these insufficient numbers he raised the standard of insurrection, which being instantly reported to the district Mandarin, a considerable body of soldiers were sent against them. The insurgents went bravely to the fight, but being few and wholly unaccustomed to warfare, were soon thrown into confusion. Kiang-lung-chong and a few others were killed, a considerable number made captive by the troops, and the rest dispersed.
Hung-jin with about a dozen friends arrived at Paddy-hill just after the defeat, being totally ignorant of the disaster. He and his companions were seized by the people of the neighbourhood and imprisoned in a house, previously to being delivered up to the Mandarins. As the Rev. Mr. Hamberg's narrative states:—
"Hung-jin, lively and enthusiastic, desirous to lead his friends to honour and to glory, now sat down in the midst of them in deep sorrow and despair, and would gladly have given his own life to save those whom he had brought with him into distress. Feeling the cords wherewith his hands were tied together give way a little, after some effort he got them free, and proceeded to unloose those of his friends who were accessible, and succeeded in liberating six of his companions from their bonds. After it had become dark, they opened the door, and in the rainy night hastened away to the mountains.
"Hung-jin, whose liveliest hopes had been so suddenly frustrated, who had drawn upon himself the hatred and revenge of so many involved in the present disaster, and who had no place of refuge left to himself, now felt his own guilt and despair too hard to bear. He therefore unloosed his girdle and was going to strangle himself, when one of the fugitives came up to him. Hung said, 'Try to escape and save your life, I will put an end to my existence in this place.' The other then seized his hand and drew him forward, exhorting him to continue his flight in company with him, which he did. The next day, when Hung awoke from a short rest in the bush, he missed his companion. He now prayed to God, the Heavenly Father, to spare his life and protect him amidst so many dangers. During the daytime he lay concealed in the bush, and during the night-time he went on. Once the people in search of fugitives passed very close to him without observing him. Finally, after having passed four days and four nights in the mountains without any food, he arrived at the house of some near relatives in a very exhausted state. Here he was concealed six days in a mountain cavern, and afterwards his relatives gave him some money, with which he went on board a passage-boat to go to another district, and seek refuge with more distant relatives of the Hung clan. But even among these, new trials awaited him; for also from their place a few of the Hung clan had gone to Paddy-hill, whose further fate was unknown. Some of the relatives of those missing were now inclined to revenge the supposed death of their brethren, and deliver Hung-jin to the Mandarins, but an old venerable headman took him under his protection, and gave one of his grandsons to Hung-jin as a guide, and this young man, being a Christian convert, conducted him to Hong-kong in the end of April, 1852, and introduced him to me. I was astonished to hear a person from the interior of China speak with such interest of, and display so much acquaintance with, the Christian religion. I liked to listen to his animated narratives about Hung-sui-tshuen, Fung-yun-san, and their followers, though at the time I could form no clear conception of the whole matter, which then was little known and still less believed. He wrote a few sheets of paper, containing a short account of himself and Hung-sui-tshuen, which I put into my desk, until I should have further evidence as to their contents. I expected that Hung-jin, who wished to study the Christian doctrine and be baptized, would remain for some time at Hong-kong; but upon my return from a tour on the mainland he had departed, as he had no means of support in that place. In November, 1853, Hung-jin, who up to that time had been engaged as schoolmaster at some place in the interior, again visited me. He was still very desirous to be baptized, and seemed to be sincere in his wish to serve God. He declared himself willing to leave all matters in the hands of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, and to seek above all the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Hung-jin, with three of his friends from Clear-far, have since been baptized, and are still studying the Holy Scriptures, with the hope, in the Providence of God, hereafter to be enabled to instruct their countrymen in the way of salvation."
Early in 1854, with the funds from the sale of his little work, which Mr. Hamberg kindly gave him, Hung-jin embarked for Shanghae, en route for Nankin; he also carried with him a number of religious books. After remaining at Shanghae several months, during which he was neither able to reach Nankin nor communicate with his friends, he returned to Hong-kong. In the mean time Mr. Hamberg had died, and Hung-jin was received by members of the London Mission Society, and by them employed as a catechist and preacher during the years 1855 to 1858. In the Missionary Magazine he was soon after spoken of thus:—
"He soon established himself in the confidence and esteem of the members of the mission, and the Chinese Christians connected with it. His literary attainments were respectable; his temper amiable and genial; his mind was characterized by a versatility unusual in a Chinese. His knowledge of Christian doctrine was largely increased, and of the sincerity of his attachment to it there could be no doubt."
Similar opinions were entertained by many devout and earnest missionaries who were intimately acquainted with Hung-jin for a period extending over six years; but Mr. Frederick Bruce, the British minister at Pekin (who never saw Hung-jin, or, I believe, any other Ti-ping in his life), true to the policy of his employers, thus writes from amidst his Manchoo friends at Shanghae:—
Dispatch to Lord Russell.
"Shanghae, September 4th, 1860.
"Hung-jin has sent to the missionaries in manuscript a pamphlet which has made a considerable impression upon them. I see no guarantee for the soundness of his doctrine or for the purity of his life. I rather look upon his pamphlet as a crafty device to conciliate the support and sympathy of the missionary body at the time when the insurgents meditated the seizure of Shanghae."