196 Voyage of the No vara. 



of tlie native Chinese society of Iloei, or Tuite-Hiiy (Brother- 

 hood of the Heavens and the Earth), printed on a fabric of 

 reddish cotton, which bears 91 various written characters, for 

 the following translation of whicli, as also for the accompany- 

 ing particulars respecting the objects of this very remarkable 

 society, we are indebted to the kindness of the renowned 

 Cliinese scholar, Professor J. Neumann of Munich : — 



" The Brotherhood of the Heavens and the Earth frankly 

 declares that it considers itself called on by the Supreme Being 

 to put an end to the frightful contrast between wealth and 

 poverty. In its view tlie possessors of earthly power and 

 wealth have come into this world under the same ceremonies, 

 and leave it in the same manner, as their defrauded brothers, 

 the poor and oppressed. The Supreme Being never willed 

 that millions should be held in slavery by a few thousands. 

 Father Heaven and Mother Earth have never conferred on 

 the few thousands the right to swallow up the property of 

 millions of their brethren for the mere satiating their own 

 luxury. To the rich and powerful their fortunes were never 

 bestowed by the Supreme Being as an exceptional right ; it 

 consists rather in the labour and the ' sweat of the brow' of 

 the millions of their oppressed brethren. The sun with his 

 beaming face, the earth with her treasures of wealth, the 

 universe with all its joys, are boons common to all, and 

 must be seized from the grasp of the few thousands for the 

 satisfaction of the necessities of the naked millions. The 

 world must ultimately be purged of all oppression and woe ; 



