Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1853-08-29
rrea the London rins..


letter. written board the Hermes the vessel which
carried SIR George Bonham hs visit TO the Chinese in
surgents at Nankin tells very quietly tale Of WONDER
Ii is impossible TO doubt aer perusng it that the rigorous
desposm aud the idolarous superstition which for eentu
ries have eramped and insulated empire computed
contain third Of the human have come to end
There Is no change which in magnitude and suddenness
can at all compare with this for in all tormer instances
dynases overhrowu there might be territory
or splendid city captured, great extngushed
OF other circumstance that gave dignity and import
to an event OF hardly corresponding Dimensions But in
this it appears that $40 human beings arr
yielding IL they have already Welded with rapidity
even greater than that read of in the stories Of ancient
conquest medieval conversion The army which has
almost accomplished the destruction Of the Mantchoo ru
lers OF China Is described possessing all the GOODNESS
and confidence OF men certain Of the justice and
OF their cause Occupying Nankin, and apparently beca
guered by an Imperial host rich in mo5ey mandarns
ships and pompous ordinances they nevertheless 20 on
quietly and utnterruptedy collecting immense supplies
Of rice from the surrounding country, appropriatng the
Imperial tribute, repairing the Notifications mounting guns
and preparing for march Pekin at il shall suit
their convenience. They have not doubt of success
and certainly in the condition OF which
is necessary for existence They entertain doubt OF
their strength, of their Divine mission of tho weakness
the opposing dynasty and armies OF the sympathy of the
native Chinese and of the utter rotenness Of the whole
existing system Its condemnation they place IN its de-
grading superstition and its sice and have by this time
the papabe fact TO rely uPon that except in the
one strongly fortified city, they have with any
resistance worth speaking OF With such enemy so near
the seat OF Tartar rule aud the geographical KEY Of the
Empire before very long expect hear that the
whole Empire of China has renowned its idols and en-
oraeed Christianity whatever that may in the pre-.
sent instance.
From all accounts orrather from every possible srrmse
but very small spark Which has made this vas,
conhagration Whether the Prince of Universal Peace
he called, frst conceived his grand scheme as pu
pm OF the Rev Mr. Roberts an American missionary at
Gauion whether he derived his faith from some tradition
NJ the Scriptures long cherished in the remote proyince f
Quangsi whether the nsutrsc took its rise from
the atrocities Of the mtndarns, the dsappoin of
candidate for literary houours, far il not known
The medium OF Chinese communication is still dens, and
highly reflective and il impossible TO get at more than
The imperfect shadoSs of some orgna fact 1t is only
snnderfu that much trauspires We hear OF races Ia
China never quite su6ugated Christianity working its way
and eating the OF that huge superstition in va
rious forms-Jesu Russian, American Baptist, and En-.
Ssh Episcopal by translations dictionaries tracts and
ny certain ancient copies OF the Scriptures preserved for
many centuries at Pekin The religion OF the insurgents
uuapty hkeued TO that ofthe Scotch Coyenanters
though that is the comparison suggested by men who are
Violently anxious tomake the best Oft and to 'lraern-
ze with the future rulers OF China Their belief IN sp,
cial mission destroy the Mantchoos-man womsn and
chd-so that there may be LEFT sprou for the race
reproduce ITSELF must certainly prove bar to our per
feet sympathy with them: and are not sur-ed AT the
,ssduity With which the English recommending 10
heir notice the New Testament in preference to the Old
The extraordinary additions the Christian faith which
appear in the Irneiredl Classic has been chartably en
Nn" into hgn-1ve expressions adapted the Chinese
mind the wife of the elder brother being the Church the
Danger brother oeug aVourcd member OF that Church.
end visit TO heaven being only inspired aud prophet
dream. The officer whose letter we publish to day il
'vdenty disposed to put the favourable construc
IN" tiih Of person, with which he think ii, hi, bu
sness TO establish religious identity. But We must con
20 some grave suspicious that missionaries and
merchants in China will find their difficulties
over when IL has become proiessedly Christian
IL may be proper to hope for the best hut IT, on the
hand, there be in Christian truth power eNtrica
~ itself from accidental errors aud If the Bible must
ther be received or rejected altogether the other
and, there too many examples of alliance between
ruth and long surviving the circumstances of its
rign. 1t may or may not be true that beginning with
he thry'siX wives claimed 10y the Prince OF Universal
Peace, the nsurgeut hierarchy practices carefully grad
uatrd pOlygsmy; it may may not be true that they
eeve IN revelations bidding them TO destroy women and
hiren, and orbdng opium and tobacco; but there is
most suspicious resemblance between these alleged ea
of their creed and those of the Arabian and the late
American mposicr Mahomed ,nisn with all its scfcon.
cte and its leAven OF TRUTH has survived l2UN
gears; aud MOrmomisnl i by the decline
Il Is said the the creedS the greater the hostility
nd, IT all be that is reported of the new sect in
nina, which has sprung mp with the Fapidy of an an
lent heresy, We shall fad IL rejection of heroworshp
iiOlaTy and supr Ing drugs poor compensation
it. license the passions of vengeance sensuay aud
hirst Of dominion. Happily, think these chris
itns are themselves disposed To give time
luge advances before commit ourselves To
close sympathy. The everlasting question Of Ell
quite which useparable from Oriental negotiations
presented itself very first communication with
iusurgeut chiefs AID who did not think il below
ir dignity and the departure of our Off
cr, offer them both hOres and carriages aud press
neir siay till tie morrow nevertheless found in the oms
on Of some titles or forms al nsuperabe bar negota
on. OF almost Ostenatous pllnneSs Of manners some
i them educated it j. said, own omissions aud 4,
iuruca in their civil in their religious system they
already issue With the footing on which they
hall correspond with Her Nasty chief Representatives.
lima Whether this augurs well III for our dealng-
yith this Power, Il may to show that we NAV
pare Ourselves the shame Of precipitate compromis
With questionable form Of christianity There will be
for to look about aul the turn il takes and
whether i be Luther M4hOmet who has broken the
-Iul. OF Cnima