The Express.
London, England, 1853-08-01 00:00:00

celleney and suite. The Chinese retinue awaited
the arrival of the foreign guests from ten o'clock until
noon, when, seeing no chance of his Excellency
landing, the retinue retired. At one o'clock a depu-
tation, consisting of Mr. Meadows, Captain Fish-
bourne, and two others, landed to express an apology
for the apparent neglect, which was accepted. The
following day was spent in negotiating with the
new rulers. On May let the Hermes took her de-
parture, proceeding beyond Nanking, until they
were fired into by a fleet of junks, nod a Mandarin
boarded the steamer and demanded their business.
lle was informed that we
_were neutral, and

Captain Fishbourne assured him that unless the
juoke' fire ceased the steamer's guns would silence
them. The Hermes was no sooner prepared for
action than the firing ceased. On passingehin-Kcang-
too the Hermes was tired at, and returned the fire
. .

until she passed the stockades. Fur this outrage on
a neutral vessel, a letter subsequently sent on board
apologised, the firing being a mistake on the parts of
the troops before the General could apprise them of
our friendly intentions. All on board the Hermes
speak in terms or great satisfaction of the insurgents,
who invariably saluted them as "brothers,' and
treated them with the utmost cordiality. The idols
were everywhere destroyed. Opium is strictly pro-
hibited, and all other intoxicating drugs and spirits,
whilst foreigners are protected and foreign trade in-
cited and encouraged.
The Hong-Kong journals express great surprise at
the extraordinary news, and do not venture to im-
peach or doubt its correctness. The Register has
evidently nut yet struck its flag, but continues to
maintain that the rebels are robbers, and their revo-
lution scarcely likely to succeed. The Fi lend if
China, OR the other hand, regards the movement with
pleasure, and deems tho success of the patriots cer-
tain. On this subject the Friend says, the Hermes
found at Nanking an army to number bO,OOO men,
well equipped, and from what was seen of them, in
a state of very proper discipline—officers paying
nightly visits to out-lying pickets, roll calls, and
all the formula of regularly drilled troops. But the
most singular circumstance connected with them is
their loud demand to be considered worshippers of

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the triune Jehovah—determined iconoclasts..

---
some of their chiefs were professing Christians we
know; but to Bnd such a spirit animating so many
exceeds all that ever could have been conceived."
The China Mail believes "the accounts of the
religious furor which actuates the rebel army
to be ridiculously high coloured ; but that it
does exist too certuin extent there is no reason
to doubt ; and may in some measure be accounted for
by one or more of their leaders having been fur
some time under the instruction of foreign mis-
sionaries." The North China Herald, published at
Shanghae, views the recent movement with great
satisfaction, as opening China to Christianity and its
ports. to mercantile adventure. The Herald tarnishes
lie following highly interesting particulars of the
leaders of the civil war, their opinions, &c.:—
The insurgents are Christians of the protestant form of
worship, and anti-idolators of the strictest order. They
acknowledge but One God, the 11 ly Father, the
Allwise, Allpowerful, and Omnipresent Creator of the
world; with him, Jesus Christ, as the Saviour of M oikind;
a'cd also the Holy Spirit, as the last of the Three Persons
abbe Trinity. Their chief on earth is a person known a.
Tee p leg want, the Prince of Peace," to whom a kind of
divine origin and mission is ascribed. Far, however, from
claiming adoration, be forbids in an edict the application to
himself of the terms "Supreme," "Holy," and others, hitherto
constantly assumed by the Emperors of China ; but which
he declined receiving, on the ground that they due to God
alone. Their morel code, the insurgents call the " Ilea.
reply Rules," which on examination proved to be the Ten
Commandments. The observance of these is strictly en-
forced by the leaden of the movement, chiefly Favrangse
men, who are not merely formal professors of a religious
system, but practical and spiritual Christians, deeply in-
fluenced by the belief that God is always with them. The
hanlehips they have suffered, end the dangers they have
innund, are punishments and trials of their Heavenly
Father; the successes they have achieved are instances of
his grace. in conversation, they " bore " the more worldly-
minded by constant recurrence to that special attention of
the Almighty of which they believe themselves to he the
objects. With proud humility, and with the glistening
eyes of gratitude, they point beck to the fact that at the
beginning of their enterprise, some four years ego, they
numbered but one or two hundred, and that, except for the
direct help of their Heavenly Father, they never could have
done what they have done.
H.M. sloop Lily has arrived here with four days
later advice, front Shanghai, but they contain no-
thing. of political importauce, beyond the tact that all
remained quiet at that city.
By the ship Hero of the Nile, from Amoy, May
19, we have received details of the capture of that
important trading port by the insurgents, by a move-
ment
at once sudden and effective. For some days
prio: to the capture, rumours were current that an
attack was contemplated, and these rumours assumedl
so reale character, that on May 14, Mr. Backhouse,
the British Vice-Consul, on information he had re-
ceived from the Chinese authorities, sent a circular to
the British community stating that a body of 3,000
insurgents were within 30 miles of the city, and re-
questing merchants to provide for the safety of their
treasure and property. All due precautions were
taken by the foreign community. At Amoy, the
greater part of the native inhabitants are members of
the Triad Society, the peculiar tenets of which are
not distinctly known. On the 18th of May, the in-
surgents appeared, and carried the town. The par-
ticulars are so fully and correctly given in the fol-
lowing letter from a commercial house at Amoy, that
we need not offer any comment—the intelligence may
be relied on
AMOY MAT 19, 1833.
For several days past business has Moo completely at an
mi. Oa tits :It inst. the am hies notified the English
ennui of the soar approach of MAO 3,600 rebels, who, on
that day, it became known bad invested Hai-Tens, a walled
town, aboet 12 miles up the Chang-Chow river, and be-
headed the chief mandarin of the place. Various rumours,
as to the direction which the rebels would take, went about,
and it appeared most probable that they
Chew, and aot wale hem at one., where they ght fear
would po
rno Chang-
** opposition of hake:: vessel. 0a tits the, °Phial
,setts ships were, at the request of the English cons.:l. moved
late the inner harbour, to be la readiness to protect more
effectually the 'widgets, atom of whom sent their valuables
ea hoard ; yet many were loth to believe that the saheb
moldiness to this,while 061111 even doubted the esiseieseet
say organised rebel force in this neighbourhood, supposing
the men spoken of to be bands of thieves, of whom
large numbers are always on the river. On the 'yetis, of
W 17th it was suddenly reported that during the night
1,000 to 3,000 rebels would arrive ; the shops were all detail
earlier than usual, and the liai-kwan and liai-fang, it was
afterwards found out, with their dependents, left thee
ellen.
That such a force could be conveyed down the river si
eameditiously appeared incredible, and few, if any, believed
the landing would take place ; and at the same time it was
said the Taow-kai, who has been at Chia-Chow for Mlle
weeks, would arrive during the eight with 1,000 men, eed
that if he reached first, the entry of the rebels into the d
would he &satiated, and, probably, as the Taow hal is Trey
popular with the natives, a compromise would have bees
come to. Much anxiety prevailed all night, every one is
the town seemed to be awake ; till halt-past 4 o'clock am,
of the 16th all remained qtriet ; but about that time large
mambos of boats, of all descriptions and rises, bearing red
6.p and filled with men, were descried approschisg cash
extremity of the town. The Chinese admiral got his fleet
under weigh, and kept up an ineffective fire on the boats, but
whether owing to the want of wind or inclination, the
junks kept a good distance off, so the landing of the rebels
was ahead unopposed ; the first boats could scarcely bevel
egmbed the shore, when it became evident that 'steely all
the wharf *wadies, boatmen. policemen, and labourers of
Amoy belonged to the rebel army, and only waited the
arrival of the leader to appou sueh. The public offices
is the suburbs were immediately brol:r °Pent and sacked;
oloe,
sae or two of them were burned, but thi, da, ,70" d
way of
destroying them was not, we are happy to say, es:.,
gave in the outskirts. The destruction of the C y
estent-
bowie from its proximity to the foreign hong, was a scene of
Merest to the inhabitants of the latter, and the systematic)
manner in which it and the residence of the Custom-house
'bre& were sacked, without the slightest injury being
offered to any of the neighbouring houris, attracted much
notice; the work being performed by men soparen-ly (tithe
lowest order, armed with knives, spears, and matchlocks, '
and whose appearance would justify the belief that they
were an infuriated mob let loose for the purpose of destroy-
ing the town; yet they carefully avoided any injury to
private houses, showing that some most dila, nt system of
control is kept up by the society.
The Taow-tae did not arrive; and though the city con-
tinued to hold out, the natives seemed to doubt its
submission to the rebels ; it appears besides many members
of the society were introduced previously into the city; the
garri.oe had nearly all joined the society, end only waited
a favourable occasion to open the gates mud admit the rebel
force.

A slack desultory tire was kept up till about noon, when
it became quiet ; probably fatigue and hunger dictated the
propriety of a short truce. An hour er two later, the gar-
rison opened the gates, and allowed the rebels to enter un-
molested, joining wi•h them, so that the mandarins were
quite helpless; but no desire to capture them seems to
have existed, for while the four gates were thrown open,
only by three did the rebels enter, the fourth being left
purposely to facilitate the escape of any whi wished, a pri-
♦ilege they all availed themselves of. About this time the
admiral, with moat of his junks, retreated round the
island to sea, and has not since returned. Several of the
junks he left behind have been burnt.
The rebels from the mainland continued to pour in in