The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-23 00:00:00

REVOLT AT TONKIN.

The Moniteur de la Flotte-says:--- -- -
"The news of a revolt at Tonkin seems likely to
be confirmed. If creditis to beattachedto a Manilla
letter of the 23d Oct. which has been communicated
to us, the chief of the insurrection is a Prince of the
Trinh dynasty, whose father died in 1851 only,
after having enjoyed great popularity at Tonkin.
This family:reigned contemporaneously with the
Le dynasty until the end of the 18th century, and
was dethroned by the usurpers called Tay-Son, who
only held power for a few years, and were in turn
vanquished, after a severe struggle, by Hoang-De,
of the Nguyen dynasty, who owed his success to
the Bishop of Adran, so justly celebrated ; to the •
French officers commanding his armies, and to the
Roman Catholics, his noble auxiliaries. Iloang-De,
once victorious, joined Tonkin to Cochin-China, and
assumed in 1802 the natne of Gia Long, under
which he immortalised.himself. That Prince pro.
tected the French and the Catholics, to whom he
owed everything. But at his death, in 1820, his
son and successor, Minh-Menh, changed the system
entirely, and broke off relations with the old
friends and the brave lieutenants of his father.
Thieu-Tri, the son of Minh-Menh, having attained
to power in 1841, commenced persecuting the
benefactors of his family ; and his successor
Tu Due, the present Emperor being animated by
a worse spirit than even his predecessor, con-
tinued to exercise against the Christians, to whom
he owed his crown, a system of persecutions and
tortures which recal to mind the sanguinary annals
of the reign of Diocletian. Seldom has more stupid
ferocity been seen united to blacker ingratitude.
His sanguinary reign commenced in 1847, and his
tyranny has not only been exercised against the
Christians, but has weighed heavily on the other
populations of his States, and especially on the in- •
habitants of Tonkin, who entertain a profound
aversion for his government.. This hatred explains
the sympathy which the last descendant of the
Trinh dynasty has met with. It was stated at
Manilla that the new pretender exhibited the most
favourable dispositions towards the Christians, and
it is already known that, about 1837, his father
having wished to consolidate his position, for that
end had sought to secure the support of the Chris-
tians. We shall not be long in finding out whether
these reports are correct, and what is the extent of
the revolt, for Father Rivas, sent to Tonkin to as-
certain the real state of matters, left on the 14th
October. What appears certain both as regards
Tonkin and Cambodia, is, that the country gene-
rally is in a state of agitation. It is easily under-
stood that • Admiral Rigault de Genouilly, Com-
mander in Chief of the expedition, whose merit and
devotedness are known, finding himself among
population of several millions of souls, wishes to be
well acquainted with the position of affairs before
undertaking his great operations towards the centre
of the country, which. will commence as soon as
circumstances allow."

COUNTRY MA_RKETS.

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE-Mx. 21.

At this morning's market the trade in wheat was in-
active, and the few parcels disposed of were at last week's
rates. The trade in barley was confined to a few fine malt-
ing samples, at previous rates. A fair demand for oats,
and Saturday's prices realised. Very few inquiries for
flour, but it was not offered on any lower terms. In other
articles nothing doing.