Early on the morning of the 3rd the following communication, written on a long piece of yellow silk, was received on board:

issue a decree to the English from afar, who have hitherto revered Heaven and have now come to give in their allegiance to our Sovereign, specially enjoining them to entertain no doubts but to set their minds at rest.

"The Great God, the Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord in the beginning created, in six days, heaven and earth, land and sea, men and things; from that time till this, the whole world has been one house, and all within the four seas have been brethren; there can be no difference between man and man, no distinction between high and low born. But from the time that evil spirits entered into the hearts of men, they have not acknowledged the great grace of God, the Heavenly Father, in giving and sustaining life, neither have they acknowledged the great merit of Jesus, the Heavenly Brother, in the work of redemption; and they have caused lumps of

* This title has no meaning in the Chinese language. The second name, "sew," of the Eastern Prince is composed of two other characters, ho and nae. The title probably refers to his powers as a seer.

clay, wood and stone to do strange things in this world. Hence it was that the Tartars, the demon Huns, succeeded in thievishly possessing themselves of our Heavenly country.

"But happily the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother have from early times displayed divine manifestations among you English; and you have long revered and worshipped God, the Heavenly Father, and Jesus, the Heavenly Brother, so that the true doctrine has been preserved, and the gospel has had its guardians.

Happily, now again, the Great God, the Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord has manifested His great grace. He sent angels to take the Heavenly Prince, our Sovereign, up into Heaven; and there personally gave him power to sweep away from the thirty-three heavens the evil spirits, whom he expelled from thence into this nether world. Again, to our great bliss, in the third month of the Mow shin year (April, 1848) the Great God, the Heavenly Father manifested His great grace and compassion by descending on earth, and in the ninth month (October) the Lord, the Saviour of the world, the Heavenly Brother also manifested His great grace and compassion by descending on earth. From that time, for six years, the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother have largely directed our affairs and helped us with a mighty arm, displaying numberless manifestations and evidences, exterminating a vast number of evil spirits and demons and aiding our Heavenly Prince in assuming the sovereignty of the world.

"Now since you English have not held vast distances too far, but have come to acknowledge allegiance here, not only are the armies of our Heavenly Dynasty in great delight and joy, but in the high heavens even, the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother will also regard with pleasure this evidence of your loyalty and sincerity. We therefore issue this special decree, permitting you the English chief, with the

The Chinese word is that used to mark the proper feeling of a subject towards his Sovereign.

brethren under your superintendence, constant ingress and egress in full accordance with your own inclination and wish, whether to aid us in the extermination of the demons or to pursue as usual your commercial avocations. And it is our earnest hope that you will, with us, achieve the merit of diligently serving our Sovereign, and, with us, repay the goodness of the Father of souls.

"We now bestow upon you English the new Books of Declarations of the Tae ping dynasty, in order that the whole world may learn to revere and worship the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother; and also know where the Heavenly Prince exists, so that all may offer their congratulations where the true commission (to rule) has fallen.

"A special decree for the information of all men, given this twenty-sixth day of the third month of the Kwei haou year (1st May, 1853,) of the Heavenly Kingdom of Tae ping."

Lae, the second officer beneath the Princes, followed the above communication on board of the Hermes. I have little doubt that the assertion of the universal supremacy of the Heavenly Prince which it contained was made contrary to his advice. It was to him that I had, but three days before, distinctly expounded the international doctrine of the perfect equality of independent States and their Sovereigns. I had shown him that in point of rank the Sovereign of even the smallest Christian State was considered on an equality with that of the largest; and that the idea of our Sovereign, who was at the head of one of the most powerful States in the world, being in any manner or respect beneath any Chinese Sovereign was not for a moment to be entertained, being in fact absurd. I had seen that in mind as well as in words he had assented to this, for him quite novel doctrine; and my opinion was that he came off to the Hermes after the above "Decree," in the wish to soften the effect which its reasser

* All opposers of Hung sew tseuen's mission are held to belong to the kingdom of the devil, and are called "demons.'

tion of supremacy was sure to produce. But it was intimated to him by order of the Plenipotentiary, that the contents of the "Decree" were such as to render further discussion useless; that an answer would be given immediately; and that we should leave at 4 P.M. He departed, and the answer followed him soon after by the hands of a young aide-de-camp, whom he had left to bring it. It was as follows:

"I have received your communication, part of which I am unable to understand, and especially that portion which implies that the English are subordinate to your Sovereign. Owing to its contents, I am now compelled to remind you that my nation, by Treaty entered into with the Chinese Government, has obtained the right of trading at the five ports of Canton, Foochow, Amoy, Ningpo and Shanghae; and that if you or any other people presume to injure, in any manner, the persons or property of British subjects, immediate steps will be taken to resent the injury in the same manner as similar injuries were resented ten years ago, resulting in the capture of Chin kiang, Nanking, and the neighbouring cities, and in the Treaty of Peace, the conditions of which you will have learnt from the copy sent to you the day before yesterday.

Shortly after this letter was taken ashore, we saw one of the yellow-clothed Princes and another leader in a yellow jacket and red gown ride in great haste down to the river bank; whither, it presently appeared, they had come for the purpose of urging on the completion of a ditch and stockade from the river to the city walls on the western side of their position. This was the side nearest the Imperial flotilla, which the Hermes had visited the day before; and it was plain that that visit, coupled with the tone of our letter of the succeeding morning, had led them to apprehend a combined attack. The two leaders ascended the high stern of one of the vessels which were lying with their heads

touching the bank; and I then with the help of a glass made them out to be the Northern Prince whom I saw on the day of our arrival, and the Ching seang, the officer next in rank to the Princes, whom we had seen in the city. From the stern of the vessel they could at once see up the river, and at the same time get the best view of the men laboring at the trench and stockade where these works abutted on the bank. There were as many men employed as could get at the work, several of the officers in their short yellow jackets with broad scarlet borders laboring with the spade or the pile-driver to stimulate the others. A large state umbrella was held over the head of the Northern Prince, who was attended by aide-de-camps and body guards in scarletbordered yellow jackets; and this group together with the men and officers laboring like ants at the trench and stockade formed a very peculiar and striking sight.

The Hermes started at 4 P.M., on the 2nd May, anchored for the night some distance above Kwa chow and Chin keang, the former of which places we reached early in the forenoon of the 3rd. Before Lae left us on the preceding day, I had explained to him that in ascending the river the Hermes, though fired upon several times, had not returned the fire because she had appeared under suspicious circumstances; but that now all parties having been made fully aware of the pacific nature of her visit, any future firing at Chin keang or other places must be returned. "In reply he stated, that no thought need be taken on that score as communications had, since the arrival of the vessel, been exchanged with Chin keang, and that the nature of her position to the Tae pings was there well known. The communications in question would not appear, however, to have been acted on with sufficient promptitude by publication to the forces generally for on the approach of the Hermes to the stockaded batteries erected to protect the entrance of the Grand Canal at Kwa chow she was fired at; and, so far as could be judged on after inquiry and consideration,

T