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Intelligence.

MISS CUNNINGHAME, recently imprisoned by the Grand Duke of Tuscany on a charge of attempting proselytism within his realms, has been set at liberty. The "free pardon" granted by the Duke is said to have been the result of the efforts of the English minister. The following letter, addressed to the editor of the Nonconformist, showing the singularly inconsistent position recently assumed by certain rivals in intolerance of the despotic Duke, will interest our readers; and is headed

"Tuscan and Wesleyan Intolerance.-Dear Sir, The Nonconformist of the 5th inst. states that deputations from the Protestant and from the Evangelical Alliance have recently waited upon Lord Clarendon, with reference to the case of Miss Cunninghame. The Rev. Messrs. Beecham, Rule, and W. Bunting, Wesleyan ministers, were among the members of these deputations. With what consistency these gentlemen can interfere with the Duke of Tuscany for prohibiting a lady from circulating books of which he disapproves, will puzzle many a Wesleyan Reformer. These gentlemen are members of the Wesleyan Conference -a body that is as much opposed to free discussion as the Duke of Tuscany himself; and that, as far as English law will permit, has not been behind the Duke in the severity and barbarity of the means it has employed to maintain what you have called itsbaleful tyranny.' In its resolve to put down freedom among the Wesleyans it has spared neither age, character, nor sex; as not only have maidens, like Miss Cunninghame, but 'mothers in Israel,' felt the tyrannous power of the Conference. One supernumerary preacher was, by the authority of the Conference, banished forty miles from Bristol, at great pecuniary loss and domestic inconvenience, because his wife had spoken disrespectfully of that 'venerable assembly,' the Conference. A leader, among the grave charges on which he was excommunicated, was indicted for leaving a tract, advocating Reform principles, at the house of a member. What is this but acting the part of Tuscany in England, by the Priest instead of the Prince? At the

last Conference, the Rev. George Southern, with a wife and seven children, was expelled, and thrown, not into prison-the Conference has not power to do that-but upon the wide world, for the Tuscan crime of publishing his opinions, in a calm and Christian spirit, upon Wesleyan laws. The same ecclesiastical assembly accepted the resignation of the Rev. George Steward, rather than allow him, as the condition on which he proposed to remain in its Connexion to write freely, as a Christian minister, his views

on church polity. Hundreds of members and of office-bearers, of exemplary morals and piety, long standing and of great usefulness in the church, females as well as males, have been expelled by the Conference, for doing amongst British Wesleyans what Miss Cunninghame has been doing among Tuscan Papists-endeavouring to circulate what was deemed scriptural truth among those who were deemed in serious error. Most correctly and expressively have you yourself represented the fierce determination on the part of the Wesleyan Conference to have no Wesleyan Cunninghames; and if any dare show the spirit of one, to exercise its 'godly (Tuscan) discipline,' without any more regard for public opinion than his Highness of Tuscany has for that of heretics. Your words are- Not a thought must stir, not a tongue wag, nor a pen be handled, against its supremacy (Conference), but straightway it falls to cursing the offender, and, precisely as of old, turning him "out of the synagogue." To immorality it is indulgent-upon the prostitution of wealth to corrupt purposes it looks with a lenient eye. But let no man drop a hint which even seems to reflect upon its own supremacy! The Conference has no mercy for such. It has its divinely-appointed mission to fulfil, and that mission is to rule without responsibility, and to nip off every bud of spiritual independence. Its spirit is congenial with its task. It revels in vindictiveness. It licks its lips over new victims. It surveys with pride the desolation which itself has made, and breathes out new threatenings and slaughter. Grim, ferocious, boastful of itself, savage to its opponents, it lifts its Pharisaic eyes to heaven, and thanks God that Methodism is not as other isms are.'

"Had your pen been describing Popery even in Tuscany, it had been difficult to give a more accurate picture of the intole rant and persecuting spirit of the Duke and his ecclesiastics. Before the Wesleyan Trio appeared among deputations to protest against continental and Roman Catholic persecution for conscience sake, these reverend gentlemen ought to have washed their hands of the same intolerance, in which, as members of the Wesleyan Conference, they are deeply involved. They will have liberty for Protestants in Tuscany, but not for Wesleyans in Britain. They denounce the exercise of anti-Christian laws upon foreigners, but they enforce their own unscriptural laws upon their own brethren. Messrs. Beecham, Rule, and Bunting, called upon Lord Clarendon to interfere with Tuscany on behalf of one lady, but they refuse to receive at Conference a deputation

of Reformers on behalf of 55,000 memorialists, and another deputation of Mediationists, representing upwards of 2,000 office-bearers! Let them open the doors of Conference to the Wesleyan public at least; let them allow free discussion on their own Conferential acts; let them abandon the authority of 'Minutes of Conference,' and appeal alone, in maintenance of discipline, to the Holy Scriptures; let them listen respectfully to the claims of thousands of their brethren, who are ready, in a Christian spirit, to support their claims by an appeal to the word of God alone;

ABSOLVO TE.

ONE Priest alone can pardon me,
Or bid me "Go in peace;"
Can breathe that word, Absolvo te,

And make these heart-throbs cease.
My soul has heard His priestly voice;
It said, "I bore thy sins-rejoice!"
He show'd the spear-mark in his side,
The nail-print on his palm;
Said, "Look on me, the Crucified;
Why tremble thus? Be calm!
All power is mine; I set thee free;
Be not afraid-Absolvo te."

let them repudiate their dogma of the Divine right of the pastorate, whereby, in the judgment of such men as Isaac Taylor, they stand side by side with Puseyites and Papists; let them cease to expel from their body, men whose only crime is, that they have written a tract or letter, 'unanswered and unanswerable,' against ecclesiastical assumptions; or let them, for very consistency's sake, never appear among deputations to condemn in others what they do themselves. Yours very faithfully, "W. GRIFFITH, JUN.

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Poetry.

In chains of sin once "tied and bound,"
I walk in life and light;
Each spot I tread is hallow'd ground,
Whilst Him I keep in sight
Who died a victim on the tree,
That he might say, Absolvo te.
By him my soul is purified,

Once leprous and defiled;
Cleansed by the water from His side,
God sees me "as a child;"

No priest can heal or cleanse but He-
No other say, Absolvo te.

He robed me in a priestly dress,

That I might incense bring
Of prayer, and praise, and righteousness,
To heaven's eternal King;
And when He gave this robe to me,
He smiled, and said, Absolvo te.

In heaven He stands before the throne,
The great High Priest above,
"MELCHIZEDEC"-that name alone
Can sin's dark stain remove;
To Him I look, on bended knee,
And hear that sweet Absolvo te.
A girded Levite here below,
I willing service bring,

And fain would tell to all I know
Of Christ the priestly King;
Would woo all hearts from sin to flee,
And hear him say, Absolvo te.
"A little while," and He shall come
Forth from " the inner shrine,"
To call his pardon'd brethren home:
Oh, bliss supreme, divine!

'Derby, October 6, 1853."

When every blood-bought child shall see THE PRIEST who said, Absolvo te.

FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS.

When the hours of day are number'd,
And the voices of the night
Wake the better soul, that slumber'd,
To a holy, calm delight;

Ere the evening lamps are lighted,
And, like phantoms grim and tall,
Shadows from the fitful fire-light
Dance upon the parlour wall;
Then the forms of the departed
Enter at the open door;

The beloved, the true-hearted,

Come to visit me once more. He, the young and strong, who cherish'd Noble longings for the strife, By the road-side fell, and perish'd, Weary with the march of life. They, the holy ones and weakly,

Who the cross of suffering bore,
Folded their pale hands so meekly,

Speak with us on earth no more.
And with them the being beauteous,
Who unto my youth was given,
More than all things else, to love me,
And is now a saint in heaven.
With a slow and noiseless footstep
Comes that messenger Divine,
Takes the vacant chair beside me,
Lays her gentle hand in mine.
And she sits and gazes at me

With those deep and tender eyes,
Like the stars so still and saint-like,
Looking downward from the skies
Utter'd not, yet comprehended,

Is the spirit's voiceless prayer;
Soft rebukes, in blessings ended,

Breathing from her lips of air.
Oh, though oft depress'd and lonely,
All my fears are laid aside,
If I but remember only

Such as these have lived and died.
LONGFELLOW.

The Wesley Banner,

AND

CHRISTIAN FAMILY VISITOR.

DECEMBER, 1853.

Essays, Articles, and Sketches.

THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT IN CHINA.

ITS PROGRESS.

As we have already intimated, at the close of our former sketch on the causes which mainly led to this extraordinary outbreak, the revolt commenced in the province of Kouang-si, which is situated at the south-western extremity of the empire, and is in itself larger than the whole territory of some of our European sovereigns. Kouang-si is under the administration of a governor-general, and forms a portion of the viceroyalty of the two Kouangs-the second being Kouang-tong on the east of the former, which has for its capital the well-known city of Canton. Kouang-si is a region of mountains bristling with bare crests, and shorn on their summits and declivities of every species of vegetation. Its scenery, nevertheless, is singularly picturesque. The soil, however, is as sterile as the scenery is romantic and wild; it is only suited to certain kinds of cultivation, and only produces a few articles of luxury. The defective fertility of the region is necessarily accompanied by its invariable concomitant-an indigent people. But though poor, they have the nature of hardy mountaineers, and are sober, intrepid, capable of long endurance, and animated by a proud spirit of independence. After centuries of occupation, the Tartars have been unable to reduce the more remote regions of this mountainous district to a state of submission. Now it was among these inaccessible hills that the great conspiracy was hatched, and nothing could have shown the sagacity of the conspirators more than their choice of a starting-place. The very poverty of the inhabitants was an element of strength, and an army of adventurers could nowhere recruit itself so easily as among a population living on the verge of want. Moreover, the rugged country afforded the very best possible battle-fields to those who had yet their way to make by stratagem, by surprises, and mainly by defensive operations against the more numerous troops of the Emperor.

Such were the natural features of the district which formed the birth-place of the insurrection: let us now contemplate the character of the Pretender's first adherents and auxiliaries. These are known as the Mias-tze-a half-savage race, the aborigines of a chain of mountains which take their rise in the north of Kouang-tong, and extend into the central provinces of the empire. They always

choose secluded spots, and their most numerous colonies never exceed 2,000 persons. Their houses are raised on piles, like those of the Malays, and they shelter under their roof the domestic animals which they rear. In general, they follow both agricultural and warlike pursuits, and are fearless, reckless, and capable of any amount of fatigue. The Tartars have never conquered them. They have preserved the ancient national costume, have never shaved their heads, and have always succeeded in repelling the authority of the mandarins, and refused to adopt the customs imposed by the Mantchoos. Their independence is a recognised fact, and in the maps of the country their districts are left blank in order to show that they have not yet been brought into subjection. They cultivate rice, and sell to the neighbouring merchants the timber which they fell in the forests where they dwell. Few, however, dare to approach their retreats, for they are the terror of the civilized Chinese, who regard them as "men-wolves." But this is an ignorant fiction, as they are in reality a fine intelligent race; and as a proof of their improvement, at a recent literary examination, three young Mias-tze made their appearance to take their degrees. Such were the first allies sought and secured by the insurgent leaders.

A curious story is told of the earlier stages of the movement, which, if true, exercised no doubt considerable influence upon the confidence of the patriots. It is said that the chiefs, wishing to mark the date of the inauguration of their enterprise, by the erection of a religious monument, the workmen set about their task. In excavating a hole for the foundations, they came to some pebbles, which, on examination, were found to be very heavy; they turned out, in fact, to be lumps of argentiferous lead, of surprising richness. It was by means of this providentially discovered treasure that the Pretender paid his first soldiers. It was in August, 1850, that the Pekin journals first announced the breaking out of the insurrection in Kouang-si. According to the Official Gazette, the guerilla troops consisted merely of predatory pirates, who had escaped the shots of the English on the coasts of the Fo-kien, and had taken refuge in the mountains. The insurgents were at first in no hurry to contradict these reports, continuing meanwhile to recruit their army, and patiently awaiting the attack of the "tigers," as the imperial troops are, with truly Chinese bathos, designated. During the earliest months of 1850, the rebels performed divers unimportant strategic movements until they approached the frontiers of Kouang-tong. Here they possessed themselves of one or two important towns, and slew three highclass mandarins. The Viceroy of the two Kouangs, a functionary of the name of Siu, and whose prudence amounted to the most pitiful cowardice, at this juncture expressed a pious desire to withdraw from his viceroyalty, in order to prostrate himself before the tomb of the defunct emperor. But he was commanded to keep to his post. In this extremity he despatched troops against the rebels, which, however, were beaten and destroyed. In fact, whenever they took the field against the formidable invaders, the same fate uniformly awaited them. The tactics were invariably of one description. The insurgents feigned flight, and thus drawing their enemies into ambuscades, slaughtered them without mercy. Experience went for nothing. The feint was made a hundred times, and a wholesale slaughter as often followed. Siu, stunned by these calamities, hurried off to Pekin to sound the note of alarm. While he was on his way, new successes were gained by the rebels, who penetrated into the neighbouring province of Kouang-tong, much to the alarm of the Cantonese.

In response to the representations of the recreant viceroy, a new functionary was sent into the scene of hostilities-no less a personage than the redoubtable Lin, whose glory it had formerly been to give occasion to the war with England by his wanton destruction of their 20,000 chests of opium, valued at more than 2,000,000l. sterling. The envoy of this austere commissioner was answered by the following proclamation, which constituted the first political act of the insurgent chiefs. It was remarkably plain, and to the point; and, as Messrs. Callery and Yvan observe, "makes the Chinese appear much less Chinese than they are generally supposed." It shows that the leaders thoroughly comprehended their position and the philosophy of their enterprise. The document ran as follows:

"The Mantchoos, who, for two centuries, have been the hereditary occupants of the throne of China, were originally members of a small foreign tribe. With the aid of a powerful army, they took possession of our treasure, our lands, and the government of our country, proving that superior strength is all that is required for the usurpation of an empire. There is, therefore, no difference between us, who levy contributions on the villages we have taken, and the officials sent from Pekin to collect the taxes. Taking and keeping are both fair alike. Why, then, without any motive, are troops marched against us? This appears to us very unjust. How! have the Mantchoos, who are foreigners, a right to collect the revenues of eighteen provinces, and to appoint the officers who oppress the people; while we, who are Chinese, are forbidden to take a little money from the public stock? Universal sovereignty does not belong to any individual to the exclusion of all the rest, and no one ever saw a dynasty which could count a hundred generations of emperors. Possession, and possession only, gives a right to govern."

What is this but the principle recognised by our old English bandit-which is universally acted upon by all states, not excluding Christian ones-and which has been thus sententiously expressed by one of our poets, as

"The ancient rule, the good old plan,

That he should take who has the power,
And he should keep who can.'

The promulgation of this document was the last notable act of the insurgents in 1850, and gave the insurrection a most portentous significance. The death of Lin, from the harassing cares of government, occurred almost simultaneously. The year 1851 opened with a declaration of war to the death. In China the scabbard is thrown aside for ever when once the scissors are drawn forth. When the rebels announced their resolution to restore the ancient dynasty of Ming, they made it incumbent upon their adherents to cut off their pigtails, and to exchange the chang and Tartar tunic for the open robe worn by their ancestors before the Mantchoo invasion. It was a last and desperate appeal to the patriotism of the people, and it required almost superhuman courage to respond to it. But the courage was there. Hundreds of tails strewed the earth, and the alarm and horror at Pekin were intense. The Rubicon was passed.

Although crafty attempts were made to ignore the advances and triumphs of the patriots, in order to keep up the spirit and morale of the troops, by the publication of fabricated documents in the Official Gazette, yet a new commissioner was forthwith despatched to Kouang-si, in the place of poor Lin. While conflicting reports were being forwarded to the court, as to the cause of the reverses, each functionary in turn criminating and denouncing his fellow, the warfare went on; the patriots acting with admirable discretion, and seldom attempting any new movement, except when certain of victory. Thus their prestige daily increased. One instance of the moderation and discipline of the insurgents at this period may be cited with advantage. In March, 1851, the small town of Lo-Ngan was taken by the rebels after a sharp resistance. The victors laid the city under contribution, and, having seized the contractor of the pawning establishment, fixed his ransom at 1000 taels (about 3207.) The merchant paid his price, and was released. The following day the imperial troops, having driven the rebels out, re-entered the town, and came upon the inhabitants for a fresh contribution. The luckless contractor was laid hold of again, and this time was forced to pay a ransom of 3000 taels. Disgusted with his treatment, and enraged at the conduct of those from whom he had a right to expect better treatment, he harangued the people in the public places; other orators took up the discourse; the people became excited with the words, and swore that from henceforward there should be an end of the Tartar dominion. Then and there the populace cut off their tails, and threw away the chang. They next placed themselves in communication with the rebels, to whom they opened the gates of the town during the night; of all the imperial soldiers not one escaped to tell the tale. One illustration is as good as a score; and the one we have just narrated thoroughly exemplifies the general spirit and tendency of the movement. Considerable mystery still envelopes the master-minds which originated and continue to control this wonderful rebellion. Very contradictory reports are in

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