province of this work, but it had such relations to American citizens and their interests, and engaged to such an extent the attention of the representatives of the United States, that it cannot be passed over without some notice. The leader of the rebellion, when a young man attending the literary examinations at Canton, had had his attention attracted to Christianity by the preaching and tract circulation of native Protestant converts. Some years later he put himself under the instruction of Rev. J. J. Roberts, an American Baptist missionary, at whose hands he sought baptism and admission into the church, which were refused. He returned to his native village and claimed that he had visions and revelations from heaven and that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ.
He proclaimed a mission to destroy idolatry and overthrow the Manchu dynasty. The country seemed ripe for revolt, and unexpected success attended the early movements against the local authorities. Success brought adherents from the disaffected and the lawless, and within three years more than half of the populous part of the empire was in control of the revolutionists, and the dynasty seemed doomed to destruction. At first the missionaries and the Christian world hailed the movement as the dawning of a new and better era for the Chinese. But upon further information it became apparent that the principles proclaimed and the practices observed were a gross travesty of Christianity, and that the leader and his chiefs had abandoned themselves to all the vice and licentiousness of an oriental court.
After the fall of Nankin, Mr. Roberts was invited by
