Virginia Argus

INSURRECTION IN CHINA.

From the Bombay Courier, July 22.

A letter from the Viceroy of Pekin, twelve days after the attack on the palace, to the Viceroy of Canton, states, that the chief town of the district Hwa, in the province of Honan, was destroyed by the insurgents and the officers of government put to death; that the whole district of Gan yan was in possession of the insurgents ; that, on hearing the imperial troops advancing to attack them, they burned the chief town of Can-yan in the province of Pe-chele, and fled ; that they had taken the chief town of Tingtaou district, in the province of Shan-tung, &c.

It is said, that the imperial army had, in some districts through which they passed, put men, women, and children to the sword.

The rebels, in a place where the famine was very severe being incensed against a very corpulent Mandarin killed and eat him!

The Chinese are credulous in the extreme, especially about the interference of invisible beings and departed spirits in their affairs. It is reported, and generally believed, that as the imperial army drew near to the rebels to battle, there was lightning. and the appearance of a man in the clouds, with a red fiery angry countenance, and that the leader of the rebels was struck dead. This imaginary being was, it is said a man who, in his life, was very eminent for his virtues, and (being deified) was expected to appear for the deliverance of the country in some season of distress.

The imperial army gained a great victory, for the others are said to have been dreadfully alarmed by this appearance-

The leader of the rebels in Shantung. whose name is Lin, affirms himself to be Law-peuen-te, a man famous for goodness and valour, who lived about a thousand years ago He founds this assertion on the commonly received opinion of the metempsychosis.

There are many and various opinions about the causes of the present disturbances in China. Some think it is the consequences of the appearance of a comet, which was seen upwards of two years ago. Others say, and the Emperor's letter seems to confirm it, that it rose from the disaffection of one of his own brothers. Three of his brothers were said to be engaged with the rebels.

Several attempts were made to take the life of his majesty ; one by endeavoring to convert his pipe into a rocket : but happening to be reading an official paper when the pipe was brought to him, and holding it carelessly in his hand, it went off close by his ear, without hurting him ; he then rose and struck the page that brought it, so that he soon died.

One of the eunuchs of the palace brought a cup of ginseng to his majesty, but his majesty felt an aversion to it at the time, and gave it as a mark of his regard to a favorite page, who drank it, and died in the course of the evening

The Emperors disaffected brothers. together with the eunuchs, are thought to have been at the bottom of both these plans, Eighteen eunuchs were put to death during the attack on the palace, several of the ladies put an end to their own lives.

The Emperor had been out hunting at his summer house in Tartary, and was expected to return the night the principal attack was made on the palace, but was unavoidably detained several days longer, and thus escaped the snare that was laid for his life. The Chinese who are loyal say that these escapes are by the Teen ming-ie (by the decree of heaven.)

There are other persons who think that the oppressive government of the Mandarins, together with the famine, are the more immediate causes of the rebellion : and it is highly probable that these, too are at the bottom of it : for however good the laws of China may appear in a book, it is well known that at present they have a very different appearance in the hands of most of the Mandarins : and a season of scarcity, when the people cannot pay the public duties, is often embraced by them to give vent to their murmurings

In several provinces of China the famine was very severely felt during 1813. and it was feared would be still more so in the present year The yellow river, which rises in the mountains of Tybet and falls into the sea near to Nankin, had broken down its banks and destroyed the rice fields in several provinces.

At Canton in February, there was a subscription set on foot by order of the Emperor, professedly for the relief of those provinces.

It was not ascertained to what extent the rebellion was likely to be carried It appears to have been the most serious of any during the two last centuries. It was, however, supposed that the imperial army would finally prevail.

The rebels had taken themselves to the mountains of Tee-hang. which are about 400 miles in circumference; and unless the imperial army can cut off their provisions, they may hold out for a long time, as numbers of disaffected persons will join them.