A formidable insurrection, excited partly by religious enthusiasm, broke out in the western parts of Chinese Tatary in 1826.  An able leader was found in Tehangir, a descendant of one of the former princes.  He proclaimed himself the deliverer of the faithful from the infidel yoke, drew multitudes to his standard, and proceeded victoriously from city to city.  The imperial army sent to quell this insurrection cost on an average L.23,000 of our money per day; and though victories were, as usual, reported, there was no appearance of the war coming to a termination.  What prowess could not effect was accomplished by bribery.  The Mohammedans were themselves divided into rival factions; and the Karatak (’black caps’) were induced by Chinese diplomacy to turn against the Altktak (’white caps’), to whom Tehangir belonged.  He was betrayed, taken to Peking, and cut to pieces in presence of the emperor; after which, nearly the whole of Turkistan was laid waste by fire and sword.  After twenty more of the rebels had been decapitated, the emperor enacted new laws for the country, with the view of attaching the people to himself by the mildness of his rule.  The black caps were promoted either to offices of trust in their own country, or to places of distinction in the Chinese army.  When Turkistan again became the seat of trouble in 1830, the emperor at once sent 4000 camels with 2,000,000 taels of silver (about L.700,000) to settle matters, which was considered much wiser than to engage in a long and expensive war.  A similar policy was pursued in 1847, when a formidable rising occurred, during which Kashgar was taken, and the Manchoo forces routed.  The Mohammedan leaders agreed to accept the emperor’s bounty; and on condition of all lives being spared, the imperial troops were allowed to recapture Kashgar as by military force.  A splendid victory was of course announced in the Peking Gazette; and in the subsequent distribution of rewards, the diplomatist was raised ten steps above the general.

It is commonly believed that the Celestial Empire dwells in perpetual peace within itself, as the fruit of that universal spirit of subordination and filial obedience which is the great object of all its institutions.  Nothing, however, can be more erroneous.  Not only do the restless Tatars frequently break into revolt, but in China itself, the extortions of the mandarins, or the occurrence of famine, frequently excites a village, a city, or even a large district to rebellion; and there are cases of an infuriated population actually broiling their magistrates over a slow fire.  The usual policy of Taou-Kwang in all such cases was to send an army, but at the same time to set the leaders at loggerheads by administering suitable bribes, and inducing them to betray each other.  In this manner, a civil war can be brought to a speedy conclusion; and then the cruelty of the victorious government knows no bounds.  ’The treatment of political prisoners,’ says our author, ’is really so shocking as to be incredible, if one had not been an eye-witness of these inhuman deeds.’