CHUNG WANG'S HEAD-DRESS.
While in Soo-chow I became one of the congregation of Ti-pings during their performance of divine service on Sunday. The Sabbath is observed not upon the same day as in Europe, theirs being the Saturday of our reckoning. My interpreter was with me, and translated every part of their service. Their numbers, and apparent devotion, could not have been objected to by the most orthodox Christian.
I shall ever remember with feelings of the liveliest pleasure the first few days I spent with the Ti-pings at Soo-chow. I could not move through its streets without experiencing the excessive friendliness of these warm-hearted converts to Christianity and civilization, thousands of whom were afterwards destroyed by a nation whose religion and civilized institutions they were earnestly striving to imitate.
Nor can I ever forget the eager manner with which, the moment I was seated in his house, my entertainer for the time being would give a copy of the Bible to my servant—waiting impatiently with the book in his hands till the etiquette of presenting me some tea had been observed—asking if it was the same as mine; and his satisfaction, when, after hearing parts of it translated, I assured him that it was.
The conversation I had with the Chung-wang naturally touched upon his late repulse from Shanghae by the British and French. He seemed to feel that event very deeply, and deplore the suicidal policy of those he had always striven to make his friends. The points of his communication were:—Why had the English and French broken faith with him? the English particularly, whose solemn written guarantees of neutrality the Ti-ping government held. The Ti-pings and the English worshipped the same God and the same Saviour, and were consequently of one religion and brotherhood, why, then, did they assist the common enemy, the Manchoo imps—the idol-worshippers and enemies of our Heavenly Father and Jesus the heavenly elder brother? By what right or law did the English soldiers take charge of the native city of Shanghae, preventing him, their friend, from capturing it, and defend it for the very Manchoos with whom at the time they were themselves at war?
Neither shall I ever forget the noble, enlightened, and patriotic designs, which absorbed them:—to propagate the Bible, to destroy idols, to expel the Tartars from China, and establish one complete and undivided native empire; to become brothers with the Christian nations of the West, and introduce European sciences and manufactures—seemed always their principal wish and determination.
He continually inquired: "Why are the English inimical to us? Have we ever done them the slightest harm? Have we not always acted with good faith and friendship?"
"Cannot your foreign nations see," he said, "that the imps of Hien-fung (the Manchoo Emperor of China), knowing you are of the same religion and family as ourselves, are plotting to establish a connection with you in order to produce trouble, misunderstanding, and separation between us? To do this they will tell many lies, pretend to be very friendly, and for the time let you do much trade to fool you."
This observation of the Chung-wang's is a good proof of his penetration and judgment; he only forgot to notice the fact that the Manchoo government had been compelled to pretend friendship, to allow increased trade, &c., by the British occupation of Pekin, in the first place; he was, however, undoubtedly right as to their after intrigue.
Another very important remark the Chung-wang made, was:—"If you take Shanghae and a few le round it into your protection, how will you be able, in such a limited space, to dispose of your merchandise, or carry on any traffic with the interior, if I, in retaliation, choose to prevent you?"
When I told him any such policy on his part would probably lead to a war with the English, he replied:—
"Never! unless you reckon upon my forbearance; I have all the silk and many tea districts in my possession, and I can stop all your trade in a moment if I am so inclined. If I beat you, in event of hostilities, I shall then make you reasonable and cause you to mind your own affairs without interfering in our endeavours to expel the Manchoo; but if, on the other hand, you beat me, who can prevent my destroying all the silk and tea plantations, and so removing for ever the only thing you come to China for, and the only cause you would fight about? My soldiers are brave and innumerable, they cover the silk and the tea lands."
These arguments of the Chung-wang were perfectly just and unanswerable. What honest-minded man really acquainted with the facts of the case can deny it?
With all his shrewdness and foresight, the Chung-wang was himself too enlightened and large-hearted to hit upon the true reason for British hostility. It did not occur to him that at the close of an expensive war which had resulted in the legalization of the opium trade, and had otherwise benefitted the English, it would not suit their policy—however beneficial it might prove to the Chinese—however imperatively it might be demanded by the sacred voice of humanity, to interfere with the advantages derivable from the Elgin treaties, the indemnity, and the traffic in opium—the use of which is prohibited upon pain of death by the Ti-pings.
The kindness I experienced was disinterested, genuine, and without a motive. Though some persons have considered their striking friendliness to foreigners has been the carrying out of a plan in order to secure the non-intervention of the European powers, all I saw of the Ti-pings, their earnest religious enthusiasm, patriotism, and generally noble sentiments, impressed me seriously. Before leaving Soo-chow I became warmly attached to their cause, than which—all my future intercourse has convinced me—a more righteous, or holy, never existed upon earth, and I therefore determined to aid and advocate it to the utmost of my power.
When upon the point of returning to my vessel, I informed the Chung-wang of my intention, and volunteered my services, at the same time requesting him to furnish me with some document or pass that would enable me to return, or travel, to any part of his dominions. The Chung-wang, after a short conversation with some of his chiefs, told my servant to inform me he would give me an honorary commission upon his staff, and then I should be able to act in whichever way I might find best, and to traverse every part of Ti-pingdom without let or hindrance.
At last my commission was made out, the Chung-wang affixed his seal, and amidst the congratulations of the surrounding chiefs I became an honorary Ti-ping officer. I afterwards learnt that in consideration of my being a foreigner, and the nature of the commission, the usual formalities of investiture had been foregone; such as examination upon the Bible, swearing allegiance to the Ti-ping wang, and to expel the Manchoo.
After taking leave of my new friends and comrades, I discharged the boat I had arrived in, taking my departure on board a gun-vessel the Chung-wang had kindly placed at my disposal. While on my passage, I observed many people apparently returning to their homes in the neighbourhood of Soo-chow; I halted at some of the villages on my route, and found in all of them huge yellow placards, which my interpreter read as Ti-ping imperial proclamations calling upon the people to return to their homes without fear, to remain quiet, and lawfully to render a certain amount of tribute (a little over a third of the Manchoo taxation) to the Ti-ping general treasury. At the gateways of Soo-chow, and at several villages I passed, I saw heads hung up with notices attached, stating they were those of soldiers decapitated for plundering the country people, one for smoking opium, and another for carrying off a villager's daughter.
It was a singular fact that about every fourth village had been completely burned and destroyed. Sometimes I passed three villages, the two outside ones perfect and the central one entirely gutted. Upon inquiry, the country people said the Imperialists had been the destroyers; others said the inhabitants having run away and gone off with the "imps" (Imperialists), they had punished them by burning their habitations; while some said the destroyed villages had been fortified and defended by the Manchoo troops, and so, when captured by the Ti-pings, had been destroyed. This last I had