THE BOOK OF CELESTIAL DECREES AND DECLARATIONS OF THE IMPERIAL WILL,

Published in the Second Year of the T'Hae ping Dynasty, denominated Jin tsze, or 1852.

The proclamation of the celestial king is to the following effect:

"In the third month (April) of the Mow-shin year (1848) our heavenly Father the great God and supreme Lord came down into the world and displayed innumerable miracles and powers, accompanied by evident proofs, which are contained in the Book of Proclamations. In the ninth month (October) of the same year, our celestial elder Brother, the Saviour Jesus came down into the world, and also displayed innumerable miracles and powers, accompanied by evident proofs, which are contained in the Book of Proclamations. Now lest any individual of our whole host, whether great or small, male or female, soldier or officer, should not have a perfect knowledge of the holy will and commands of our heavenly Father, and a perfect knowledge of the holy will and commands of our celestial elder Brother, and thus unwittingly offend against the celestial commands and decrees, therefore we have especially examined the various proclamations containing the most important of the sacred decrees and commands of our heavenly Father, and celestial elder Brother, and having classified them we have published them in the form of a book, in order that our whole host may diligently read and remember them and thus avoid offending against the celestial decrees, and do that which is pleasing to our heavenly Father and celestial elder Brother. There are annexed to the same some of our royal proclamations with the view of making you acquainted with the laws, and causing you to live in dread of them. Respect this.

"On the 16th day of the 3d moon (21st of April), of the Ke-yew year (1849) in the district city of Kwei (in Kwang se), our heavenly Father, the great God and supreme Lord, said 'On the summit of Kaou laou hill, exactly in the form of a cross, there is a pencil; pray, (and you will get a response).'*

"On the 14th day of the 3d moon (19th April), of the Sin-k'hae year (1851) in the village of Tung heang (in the district of Woo seuen), the heavenly Father addressed the multitude saying, Oh my children! do you know your heavenly Father and your celestial elder Brother? To which they all replied, We know our heavenly Father and celestial elder Brother. The heavenly Father then said, Do you know your lord and truly? To which they all replied, We know our Lord right well. The heavenly Father said, I have sent your Lord down into the world to become the celestial king: every word he utters is a celestial command; you must be obedient; you must truly assist your lord, and regard your king; you must not dare to act disorderly, nor to be disrespectful. If you do not regard your Lord and King every one of you will be involved in difficulty.

"On the 18th day of the 3d moon (April 23d), of the Sin-k'hae year (1851) in the village of Tung-heang, (in the district of Woo-seuen), the celestial elder Brother the Saviour Jesus addressed the multitude, saying, Oh my younger brethren! you must keep the celestial commands, and obey the orders that are given you, and be at peace among yourselves: if a superior is in the wrong, and an inferior somewhat in the right; or if an inferior is in the wrong, and a superior somewhat in the right, do not on account of a single expression, record the matter in a book, and contract feuds and

This passage is very difficult of comprehension; it probably refers to a suspended pencil, balanced by a cross-bar, which agitated by the wind, described certain characters by means of which the insurrectionists were accustomed to divine. See Morrison's Dictionary, Part I. vol. I. p. 40. (Dr. Medhurst.)

The "lord" here refers to the chief of the insurrection. (Dr. Medhurst.)

enmities. You ought to cultivate what is good, and purify your conduct you should not go into the villages to seize people's goods. When you go into the ranks to fight you must not retreat. When you have money, you must make it public and not consider it as belonging to one or another. You must with united heart and strength together conquer the hills and rivers. You should find out the way to heaven, and walk in it; although at present the work be toilsome and distressing, yet by and by you will be promoted to high offices. If after having been instructed any of you should still break Heaven's commands and slight the orders given you, or disobey your officers, or retreat when you are led into battle, do not be surprised if I, your exalted elder Brother, issue orders to have you put to death."

From the narrative I have given above it will be seen that in April, 1848, Hung sew tseuen was probably in Kwang tung, Fung yun san in prison; and that in October, 1848, Fung yun san was probably in Kwang tung, Hung sew tseuen, on the way thither. On the 21st of April, 1849, the date of the first recorded communication, both of them were certainly absent in Kwang tung. Now this is the only cabalistic address partaking, as an unintelligible jargon, in so far of the nature of the heathen Chinese systems of divination. The second and third of the addresses, as well as all others in the book, the whole of which were delivered after an interval of two years, when Hung sew tseuen and Fung yun san had not only rejoined their proselytes, but had for some months headed them in an openly avowed contest against the Manchoo dynasty, are all couched in intelligible and simple Chinese, however inappropriate they may be, as proceeding from the Christian God.

When Hung sew tseuen and Fung yun san returned to Kwangse in the autumn of 1849, "they learned that during their absence in Kwang tung, some very remarkable occur

rences had taken place in the congregation of the Godworshippers, which had brought disorder and dissension among the brethren. It sometimes happened that while they were kneeling down, engaged in prayer, one or other of those present was seized by a sudden fit, so that he fell down to the ground, and his whole body was covered with perspiration. In such a state of ecstacy, moved by the spirit, he uttered words of exhortation, reproof, prophecy, &c. Often the words were unintelligible and they were generally delivered in rhythm. The brethren had noted down in a book the more remarkable of these sayings, and presented them for inspection to Hung sew tseuen. The latter now judged the spirits according to the truth of the doctrine, and declared that the words of those moved were partly true or partly false. Thus confirming the already expressed opinion of Yang sew tsing that they were partly from God and partly from the devil.'

"The most remarkable of the sayings which Hung sew tseuen acknowledged as true were those of Yang sew tsing and Seaou chaou hwuy. Yang was originally a very poor man, but he joined the congregation with much earnestness and sincerity. Whilst there he suddenly lost his power of speech, and was dumb for a period of two months, to the astonishment of the brethren, who considered this to be an evil omen: but afterwards he recovered the use of his tongue, and, more frequently than any other, was subject to fits of ecstacy in which he spoke in the name of God the Father and in a solemn and awe-inspiring manner reproved others' sins, often pointing out individuals, and exposing their evil actions. He also exhorted to virtue and foretold future events, or commanded what they ought to do. His words generally made a deep impression upon the assembly. Seaou chaou hwuy spoke in the name of Jesus, and his words were milder than those of Yang. One of the Wang clan had spoken against the doctrine of Jesus, and led many astray, but he was excluded from the congregation, and his

words declared false, being spoken under the influence of a corrupt spirit.

"It appears, also, that many sick persons had been cured in a wonderful manner by prayer to God, and Yang was said to possess the gift of curing sicknesses by intercession for the sick. From the description it would almost seem as if Yang had willingly submitted and prayed to have the sickness of the patient transferred to himself, and that he for a short while had borne his sufferings whereby he redeemed the disease of the patient, and was afterwards himself released from the consequences of his own intercession."

This passage, I may remark in passing, is one of the strongest proofs of the truthfulness and general accuracy of the narrative in Mr. Hamberg's book. The parts therein assigned to Yang sew tsing and Seaou chaou hwuy, the first as the medium of communication, the spokesman, of "God the Father," the second as the spokesman "of Jesus," are precisely those which the latest authentic communication from the Nanking insurgents to foreigners gives to both. In a letter from Yang sew tsing himself as Eastern Prince to the Commander of H. M.'s war steamer Rattler it is distinctly stated that "when the Heavenly Father comes down into the world to instruct the people, his Sacred Will is delivered by the mouth of the Eastern Prince;" and that "when the Heavenly Brother Jesus comes down into the world to instruct the people, his Sacred Will is delivered by the mouth of the Western Princes;" who is Seaou chaou hwuy.

The fact of Hung sew tseuen's acknowledging these two men as communicators of the will of God and of Jesus is also a strong proof of his own perfect sincerity. Had he been merely a crafty, deliberate impostor, he would, as a necessary consequence, have held Yang sew tsing and Seaou chaou hwuy to be equally impostors; and would, sooner than any other, have perceived that this assumed capacity of communicators of the Highest Will virtually gave