he said that their contents were very
extraordinary. Sin-tshuen, therefore, was induced to
read them from beginning to the end, and, it is
professed, with growing anxiety, because he
found in them the key to his visions! Li
became, it is said, as much excited as Sin-tshuen.
Learning from the books that it was necessary
to be baptised, they performed this rite for
each other, and Sin-tshuen "converted and
baptised" two of his most intimate friends, Yun-
jan, a schoolmaster, and his cousin, Hung-tin,
who is the source of all this information on the
matter.

Sin-tshuen and Li studied, it is said, in Waterlily,
the nine books, and the more they got
entangled into the mysteries of the Bible, the more
they became excited. They had provided
themselves with two swords, weighing nine pounds
each, on which were engraved the words, "Sword
for the Extermination of Demons." However,
even prophets must eat, and having lost all their
pupils, the two friends resolved to go to another
province as pedlars dealing in Chinese ink and
pencil, preaching the new doctrine at the same
time.

The wandering prophets procured Hung-tin
a place as schoolmaster, which he kept for
several years, and in which he "converted"
about sixty persons. The others were wandering
about, and the reputation of Sin-tshuen
spread over the country. In the years 1845 and
1846 he began to think it possible that he might
realise his imperial visions. He often spoke
about it to Hung-tin, and once he said to him,
"God has divided the world into kingdoms and
given them the ocean for boundaries, just as a
father divides his acres among his sons. Each
of them ought to honour the will of his father,
and to cultivate in peace his own. Why may
now these Tartars break forcibly into China?
If God would help me to restore our own, I
would teach all people to remain in their
property, without injuring or robbing one another;
we would keep up a friendly intercourse in
communicating to each other the same principles
and wisdom; we would worship altogether one
and the same heavenly Father, and honour the
doctrine of a common heavenly brother, the
Saviour of the world. This has been the desire
of my heart since that time when my soul was
raised to heaven."

Towards the end of 1846 a man came
from Canton to Hwa-hien (where Sin-tshuen
was then schoolmaster), and said that a foreign
missionary, Lo-han (Mr. Roberts), was preaching
there the true doctrine. Sin-tshuen and
Hung-tin would have gone to Canton at once,
but they could not leave their pupils, and the
man who brought that news returned alone.
He told the missionary of Sin-tshuen, his
visions, his influence, and a Chinese assistant of
the mission invited Sin-tshuen and Hung-tin to
come to Canton. They did so, and received
instruction. The Chinese assistant missionaries,
however, became soon jealous, and induced
Hung-tin to give up the study of theology for
that of medicine, and cunningly advised Sin-
tshuen to ask Mr. Roberts for a monthly salary.
Mr. Roberts cooled towards Sin-tshuen, refused
his request, and postponed also his baptism
for an uncertain time. Sin-tshuen therefore
left Canton in the middle of the year 1847,
with some copper coins in his pocket, fell
amongst robbers, and lost even the little that
he had. The head magistrate of Shan-king gave
him a few pence, and on board a ship he met
four merchants, who paid his passage and gave
him a couple of shillings. Thus he arrived at
last in Thistlehill, where Jung-yun-san had
worked for the new doctrine with great success,
and the number of his converted amounted to
two thousand persons. The arrival of the
prophet was hailed with rejoicings. The wife
of a respectable man said that when she was ill
ten years before, and her soul raised to heaven,
an old man told her, "After ten years, a man
will come from the east to teach you how to
worship God. Follow him."

The new doctrine spread rapidly over the
whole province Kwang-si, and even graduates
of the first and second order were "converted."
There was in Kwang-si a celebrated idol, and
the demon inhabiting it was said to be most
powerful. When Sin-tshuen heard this, he
proceeded to the temple, and destroyed it.

As we were told that after his sickness Sin-
tshuen altered for the better, so we are, of
course, now told how, after having read the
books and become impressed with the idea of
himself as a prophet, his demeanour was yet
more imposing. His gait was slow and full of
dignity; he did not talk much, and laughed
rarely. In sitting, his position was erect, leaning
neither backwards nor sideways; his hands
were resting on his knees, and his feet were
a little apart from each other. Thus he would
sit for hours.

Thistlehill is described as a place of regular
"revival." People fell into convulsions during
the religious service, uttering strange exhortations.
The teachers themselves were bewildered,
but sensible enough to write down the words of
those who were "taken by the spirit," leaving
the decision of their meaning to the prophet
himself. When Sin-tshuen arrived, he said that
some of these speeches came from above, and
others from below. He tried to check this mania
of other folks for revelation by prohibiting the
use of opium and ardent spirits, even of
tobacco.

In the rugged mountains of Kwang-si lived
always robbers and outlaws, who often
ransacked the neighbouring villages. Their number
increased, and they formed regular bands.
Most of them were such people from Kwang-
tung and the neighbouring provinces as were
called by the aboriginal inhabitants (the Puntis)
settlers or Hakkas. These latter had many
villages in Kwang-si, but they were not as
rich as the Puntis, and always quarrelled
with them. Over a marriage case, in
September, 1850, war between the Puntis and
Hakkas commenced. The Puntis were beaten
at first, for the Hakkas were helped by the