the soldiers of Cromwell.  The aid of a large body of rebels was refused, because they did not renounce idolatry, and continued to allow the use of opium.  Hymns of praise to the Heavenly Father and Elder Brother were chanted in the camp.  And the head of the insurrection distinctly announced that, in case it succeeded, the Bible would be substituted in all public examinations for office in the place of Confucius.  This would cause the Bible to be at once studied by all candidates for office among three hundred and sixty millions of people.  It would constitute the greatest event in the history of Christianity since the days of Constantino, or at least since the conversion of the Teutonic races.  The rebellion has probably failed; but great results must follow this immense interest in Christianity in the heart of China,—­an interest awakened by no Christian mission, whether Catholic or Protestant, but coming down into this great nation like the rain from heaven.

In the “History of the Ti-Ping Revolution” (published in London in 1866), written by an Englishman who held a command among the Ti-Piugs, there is given a full, interesting, and apparently candid account of the religious and moral character of this great movement, from which I take the following particulars:—­

“I have probably,” says this writer,[24] “had a much greater experience of the Ti-Ping religious practices than any other European, and as a Protestant Christian I have never yet found occasion to condemn their form of worship.  The most important part of their faith is the Holy Bible,—­Old and New Testaments, entire.  These have been printed and circulated gratuitously by the government through the whole population of the Ti-Ping jurisdiction.”  Abstracts of the Bible, put into verse, were circulated and committed to memory.  Their form of worship was assimilated to Protestantism.  The Sabbath was kept religiously on the seventh day.  Three cups of tea were put on the altar on that day as an offering to the Trinity.  They celebrated the communion once a month by partaking of a cup of grape wine.  Every one admitted to their fellowship was baptized, after an examination and confession of sins.  The following was the form prescribed in the “Book of Religious Precepts of the Ti-Ping Dynasty":—­[25]

Forms to be observed when Men wish to forsake their Sins—­“They must kneel down in God’s presence, and ask him to forgive their sins.  They may then take either a basin of water and wash themselves, or go to the river and bathe themselves; after which they must continue daily to supplicate Divine favor, and the Holy Spirit’s assistance to renew their hearts, saying grace at every meal, keeping holy the Sabbath day, and obeying all God’s commandments, especially avoiding idolatry.  They may then be accounted the children of God, and their souls will go to Heaven when they die.”

The prayer offered by the recipient of Baptism was as follows:—­