^^o Voyage of the Novara. 



The Tai-ping suffer no one to preach against their creed, 

 because that would be to diminish the authority of their 

 chief, and damp the ardour of their hopes. In their various 

 proclamations it is expressly declared that Hung-sin-Tsuen 

 is the brother of the Saviour, the Son of God, without any 

 other distinction than such as must exist between an elder 

 and a younger brother. They maintain that there is a 

 celestial mother as well as Father, a heavenly sister as well 

 as a heavenly Brother, and that the recently defunct King of 

 the West, Fung-yun-san, one of Hung's oldest adherents, is 

 now married to the heavenly sister. They hold to the 

 opinion that not one of such of their revelations as clash 

 with the Old and New Testaments, can be decided by such 

 ancient books of religion. Their revelations being the 

 newest, are on that account the most entitled to belief. 



In a letter of greeting addressed by Hung to Roberts * the 



* We extract from the London and China Telegraph of 31st March, 1862, the 

 following severe but just criticism on this gentleman, whose letter, which we also 

 quote, shows him to be a person of but limited education : — " Even the Rev. J. 

 Roberts, who, as our readers are aware, has lived with the rebels at Nankin, and 

 has to his discredit defended their conduct in the strongest possible manner, has at 

 length discovered that they are nothing better than robbers and murderers. This 

 change of opinion in a man who on all occasions so confidently urged the claims of 

 the Tai-pings, arose from a very simple cause: — he at length suffered, personally, 

 from their barbarity. A servant to whom he was attached was killed before his 

 eyes ; and considering his life in danger, he fled to Shanghai, and wrote the fol- 

 lowing letter, dated 22nd January, 1862, reprobating the conduct of his former 

 friends: — 'From having been the religious teacher of Hung Sow-chuen in 1847, 

 and hoping that good — religious, commercial, and political — would result to the 

 nation from his elevation, 1 have hitherto been a friend to his revolutionary move- 



