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Manifesto by the People of Tinghái.
DEC.
ART. III. A Public Manifesto by all the people of the twenty-
six districts of Tinghai.
OUR district of Tinghái stands orphan-like in the midst of the sea; our manners and customs are plain and unsophisticated, nor are there wanting among us those who have been faithful statesmen and upright men. From the time that the present family ascended the throne, the virtue and valor of our ancestors has been the theme of history, and for the last two hundred years our hills and vallies have been at peace; which may in a great measure be attributed to our daring and hardiness. On a previous occasion, the English rebelled and invaded Tinghái; we seeing that their appearance resembled the human species, though their dispositions were brutish, and that they only wished to hold commercial intercourse, consented to dwell with them, and raised no disturbance; and last year when they again came we treated them as host and guest, and held intercourse as usual. This spring, the imperial soldiers came to exterminate them, but because these people during the two years that they have been here made some show of mock humanity and goodness, we were duped by them, and stood tamely looking on to see who conquered, and who was defeated. And further we found that if we had recourse to arms, it would only confirm their enmity, and expose us more than ever to its deadly effects, which was the reason why orders were sent to stop the progress of the imperial troops. We have submitted to these insults and injuries because of our desire to save our lives and properties, not to say that we have been willingly so foolish and so traitorous. But now their ships having been burned by our soldiers, the English have gone everywhere burning the houses of our people, and have without any cause carried some of them into captivity; they have seized on their persons and demanded money for their ransom; and they have demolished the temples, and desecrated the images of the gods themselves! And they have further called together a band of villains to act as police, who daily rob clothes and other articles, and extort money; and they have forbidden us to plough our fields, and the good grain that was planted near the city they have compelled us to root up again: in fine, to judge from their varied tyranny and oppression, they will be satisfied with nothing less than the very lives of us people of Tinghái! Formerly we sacrificed our good name for our lives and our properties, but these being now as it were no more, what further have we worth caring about?