The Sun. — London, England, 1832-11-23 00:00:00

anal se futa e wa• ve superior in point of numbers. . Ti•ey were, however, incap.ble of resisting the tried valour rf the Cng ;der-s, and retired at all points, leaving more than 100 prisoners in the • hands of Slewalhach's corp.. '1 he latt , r pursued them, and reached the top of Villa Nova, where they were on the point of destroying a three guh hat:ery, when the bugle ordered their return. The fire for the space of an hour and a half was most vivid and well sustained, and the whole affair highly creditable to the troop , engaged. A party of 300 sallied from the Serra to aid their comrades, aed did excellent service, and IA the number of troops been greater, I entertain no eloubt . but that the main object wou'd have been effected, and the city now fr e from the annoyance of their batte . ries. The numb. r of prisoners and deserters sent du ring the action to this side was 160, exclusive of a sergeant and IS men of Don Miguel's 4th Reeisnent, brought over at their own request by Captain Hill. The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded was very severe ; their numbers and confusion having given the corps from this side the advantage, that their shots could se , ircely miss. The loss upon this side amounts to only 46 killed and wounded; amongst the former an English volunteer, named Hayward, who was for some time past at - ached to the British battalion, but whose career was thus terminated by having offered his services on this occasion to Colonel ShwaTacli, who, having known him, reldily accepted them. The troops re-embarked in the best order, a, el had returned to this side of the river hv ten o'clock. The forces of Don Miguel upon that sire wern very numeious, at least from 6,000 to 7,000 men, comprised of four regiments of the line, a body of cavalry, and a great number of militiamen and guerrillas. With such a force to oppose him, a force too evidently prepare d for his reception, it would have been highly imprudent in Colonel Shwalhach to have proceeded further than lie did; and havirg beaten them, destroyed their battery, and withdrawn his men utimelested, both he and his coil's have earn' d honour for themselves. Very considerable oh ' jects have also been obtained by this attack, as, short as the time was, it sufficed to re open the communication be tween the city and the south side of the river, and the country people flocked from all quarters across the river tlee instant the restraint imposed upon them was removed. Forty-e7ght bullocks, a seasonable supply, were, I under stand, thus got into town, as well as milk, meal, vegetables, and oil, which came from Villa Nova in large quantities. I shall now describe shortly to ye u another part of tle elay's proceedings, which I had the opportunity of wit nes.sing,—l mean an attack made by the sailors and ma• vines from Don Pedro's ships lower down the river, op- 1 pesite Massarellos. I have before mentioned to you that Don Miguel's people had erected two batteries—one on the hill behind the quarantine ground, and another lower down towards the bar. •• 'fhe object of the jacks was to take these batteries and destroy the guns and mortars, and for this purpose about 250 or 300 of them, under the command of Capt iin Morgell and Lieutenant Buxton, larded on the south side, close mole r a pottery, at a little after seven o'clock. Alelidugh I suppose it is needless, 1 will premise by saying, :that the hanks on both sides are steep mountains, on the right exactly like the bills at Clifton, near Bristol, 'alottpt precipices ; on tie left a little more rounded, and with a faint -how of vegetation. When the jack's landed, they remained in silence waiting for the order to advance, which they received in a vert short time, three or four vidette , s despatched by them hav ing returned. • Many of them bad muskets, but several were armed only with cutlasses and pistols, while some carried sledges and pick-axes, designed for the destruction of the guns. These were in position on the top of the hello, short way lower down the river than the spot er, which the landing was effected,—and the sailors has ing formed, advanced obliquely • up the hill, is the direction of the quarantine station. Upon reach. ing the crest of the bill, I lost sight of tlittn for a short time ; but, in a little more than a quarter of an hour, some of them again became visible. and one or two descended the hill with a halting step, e‘ i dently wounded. While they w, re thus out of sight a very slight firing took place, but the sailors succeeded in teaching into the battery, and spiked three guns with their bayonets sod ramrods, tl.e men, in their hurry up the hill having forgotten the sledges and other implements in. ruided for spiking and breaking the trunnions off the guns. I regret to say, that the first man to fall, on the advance to the battery, was the gallant leader of the party, Captain .Morgell, an . officer who has, in every in- - staueee distinguished himself, and wino is latnented by the. Admiral and• all who knew him, both as an efficer and a gentleman. The enemy, who fled in' the first instance, or perhaps pretended to fly, very so: r, rallied; and haVing full room to act. with cavalry; the top. ui the hill being a level plain, rade an endeavour with an overpowering force, to cutoff the party from the shore. Nothing was left to the jacks but to get to their hosts and after an occasional advance.and-retreat, and the useful cover of a wall on the top of the bill, they came in about three quarters of an hour from the first advance running down the bill as fast as they could. The enemy pursued in force, and then a hot fire was opened from the ships in the river, and Don Pedro's post and battery opposite, in order to cover their retreat. This of necessity pro voked a sharp reply, and what I anticipated took place, fire every merchant-ship in the river was instantly under fire, and this continued for several hours, until fa tieue and the heavy rain at length caused a cessation, after . five hours' sharp firing. Should Don Miguel's officers direct shells upon Don Pedro's squadron, the merchantmen stand every chance of being destroyed, as it is utterly im possible for any distinction to be made. Don Miguel's troops, too, are not remarkable for their forbearance; and you may conceive of what a description they are from this fact, that during this day they fired at a poor woman and child upwards of 100 shots, and shouted with delight at seeing the poor creatures run from their valour. The pi isoners taken appear in a wretched plight, and say they have been on half rations for the last three weeks ; and those of them who belong to the militia declare their re pugnance to the service ; but the orders to the authorities of every parish being to burn the houses and property of those who do not serve, and to shoot the unfortunate de linquents who prefer home and quiet to serving Miguel, these poor people prefer death in the field to the destruc tion that wou'd otherwise await both themselves and their . families. The enemy, I suppose, to prove to us that the object of the sortie was not accomplished, have continued during the day to throw in a greater number of shells than they have done on any previous occa sion, and, I fear, have caused a considerable degree cif mischief. On the north, or rather the west side, the enemy pushed forward their pickets to Lordello, and towards Villar. They had some skirmishing with the French, but were driven away by a party of Ceo idores. The Queen's Lancers, Colonel Bacim's regiment, now consisting of five troops, organized with admirable rapidity, were out on service for the first time.' They were reviewed at 1 o'clock by the Emperor, and then sent out, but suffered . nothing save front the rain, which has been falling in tor rents for the last few hours. I did hope that the result of this day would have been the sweeping of the enemy all the way from Villa Nova to the sands of Campo , lello, and bad even a thousand men more been sent out that object would have been effected. The next time I trust an ade quate force will be sent out, and then I have no fear of the result. Another fault I cannot help noticing, viz., that the sailors were sent without any troops to cover or protect them. Had a body of men landed low down with them, the battery now commanding the liar would have been demolished, but Diis alter visum est, and mere mortals have no right to complain. Sir John Doyle, Colonel Bacon, and his officers, have agreed to serve for Portuguese pay, the difference to be made up when the army is in possession of Lisbon. YoU will find this mentioned with great praise in the Chronica. The corps of volunteers, about 30 in number, is formed, and they are armed with rifles. FRIDAY MORNING, NOV. 16. I send you the Chronica of Wednesday evening, which had not appeared at the time I closed my letter. I was in expectation that I should have been able to send you the Gazette account of the affair of Wednesday, particularly as the paper of yesterday only came out this morning. This hope has, however, been disappointed, as the paper contains nothing, I . may say, interesting to you, the lead ing article being devoted to a dissertation upon the point whether a certain section of the constitutional charter has been violated by the grant in perpetuity of 100 contos of iris to the Duke of Terceita. In consequence, and afraid of trusting the thousand-and-one reports; all differing from each other, except on one point, on which there can be no doubt...-the masterly expedition and decision with which Shwalbacb effected his sortie and . return, I shall not venttmre to go further upon that subject, save to correct a mistake or two into which I was led on Wed nesday. The battery taken for short period by the sailors contained three mortars, an a d not cannon and the spiking, from wan‘of proper implementer was not adequately effected. Mayward, the English volunteer, was killed, not with Colonel Shwalbach, but ti ith a party of sailors. The Chronica will inform you that the Co lone' of lUiguel's 4th was killed, and the best feature in the day's work has been the number of men from the other side, who presented themselves, not ae deserters, by twos or threes but in parties. - .Miguel's troops are much dis couraged by his non-appearance amongst them, and by the total absence of pay, in addition to stinted rations. After Captain Alorgell, who led the sailors, was killed, the command devolved upon Lieut. Ruxton, of the Min dells, whom I saw on the brow of the bill, leading on the nn n, and frequently returning to call to stragglers, and reprove the delay of - loiterers. I had heard that he had shared the fate of: his friend Morgell, whom he cart ied down the hill after being shot, in consequence of a mutual engagement between them, that should either be killed the other would take care of his body; but I was glad to meet him yesterday evening safe and well. He had a very narrow escape, three bullets having passed through his clothes. Upon other points, I .have only to tell you that changes still continue. Sir John Milley Doyle no longer has the command of the British Brigade, which I understand has ben conferred upon a Portuguese General Pinto. Major Shaw has been released front his arrest, and restored to the command of his battalion, and the other officers have also been liberated. Some of them, however, lem sorry to s sy, persevere in their determination to go to England. Every thing remains tranquil to-day ; but. we expect that another sortie, with an adequate force, Ivlll be made to nig or to-morrow morning to carry the batteries, which must he done at any price. There are several vessels now off the bar, and perhapshefore I close this we may be aide to see whether the hl: ckade of the port can be enforced by the batteries at the south side. The Nimrod, 20 guns, Lord Edward Russell, is now off th e bar, and corrmunicaing by signal with the Orestes. Miguel's batteries fire at ti e pilot boats that attempt stir. The Midshipman of the Nautilus has been sent bark by Santa Martha, Sir J. Campbell, who was at head-quarters, havin , ! reci•gn'zed him as a British officer. FALMOUTH, WEDNFSTL , Y, 5 O'CLOCK. The Liverpool steamer, Hibbert commander, has just arrived, and landed Colonel Hoda-t-s and servant, who oceeded on to London immediately with despatches from Oporto. The Liverpool left Oporto on the 16th. (From the Morning Reral I.) FRIT,AV, Nov. 1 6 —,IIOKNING. The steamer being still detained by the adverse bar, I am enabled to add a few lines to my already (I fear) overloaded despatches. You will be sur . piised to find that some of my romances have an end as well as a beginning in the same letter, and that, among the rest, the appointment of Sir John Milley Doyle to the command of the British Legion has been withdrawn, and that officer's honours are now confined to his tank as Major-General and Aide-de camp to the Emperor. All the officers phtced under arrest since his appointment have been re leased, which I am particularly pleased with on ac count of C lonel Shaw, who is one of the most sen sible, brave, and solder-like personages convected with the expedition. General Pinto, a Portugue.e, is nominated in Colonel Hodges and Sir J. Doyle's place. Would it not be odd if all this boulever c meat had its origin in thedesire of seeing a native officer at the head of so large a branch of the ser vice.? I understand definitively the the arrange ment with the French General is off, and that Gen. Sandanha, on his arrival, is to be Minister of War. Poor Morgel has been buried this morning; Ad miral Sartorius and all the officers of the fleet at t• nded the funeral. He was a brave but a hasty officer, and if he had not pressed on so fast, his men would have done their work more effectually. Ile is considerably regretted, and I heard the Admiral say that in him he had lost one of his best officers. Captain Ruxton, the second in command, was shot through the collar of tie coat the flap of his trousers, and over the strap button, but - was not hurt. Mr. Hayward, who I thought was killed with Colonel Shwalbach, met Lis fate with this ma rine party. He was noted as a daring man in also former engagements; anti in this instance, finding the flint of his gun was bad, he threw it away, and fought with the bayonet only.. A Portuguese, whom he attacked, ran hint through the body, a , the same instant discharging his musket into him. His companions were not able to carry off the corpse. The sailors got into the mortar battery, but, having forgot the sledges and spikes, they tun bayonet points into the touch-holes, and filled up the mortars with mud and dirt, and flung some of the shells over the cliffs. Having only seen this part of the day's amuse ment, 1 am obliged to take from report my account of die affair above the Serra, and you can have no idea how difficult it is to get at the truth here, :where the man who gives a fair narrative of anything that has not proved altogether successful is deemed an enemy to the cause. I understand, h9wever, from an English gentleman who was -looking on at -the entire affair, that it happened exactly thus At half-past five Shwalbach passed his men over, and surprised the first picquet, all of whom were shot. They then rushed on till they came to a rough encampment of about 400 men, whom they . drove before them like sheep, killing many, and taking IGO prisoners and deserters. After that they got at the battery where no cannon were, and, while preparing to dash at the others, Shwalbach saw a large force marching from the bill of St. Ovidio to cuff off their retreat, when he prudently thought proper to recall his men, which he did in the best order, and passed them over again about nine o'clock, his whole loss having been 46 in killed and wounded. The enemy's loss must have been severe, as the first camp was surprised. We are all quiet today—a few shells came over in the night. . The bar is looking more composed, and a brig is said to be outside with horses, on whom, I suppose, the fiat practice of the blockad ing batteries will be made. The Chronica of the 13th contains nothing but a long article about the Duke of Terceira's pension. The young gentleman of the Nautilus has been sent back by Sir John Campbell, with a reprimand. The Nimrod, 20 guns, Lord Edward Russell, is now off the bar, communicating by signal with ships in the Douro. k From the Chronica Constitucional of the 14th Nov.) OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE SORTIE OF THE 13TH. This morning, at a quarter past 5, we effected a sortie with abqut 1,600 men, more or less, three light battalions, a detachment f pioneers, three com panies of No. 6 regiment of infantry, and one of the national volunteers of Oporto, the whole under the ci;rnmand of Colonel Shwalbach. This force crossed the Douro at Quebrantos, and having surprised and,captured two picquets of the enemy, giving them time only to fire a single round, mounted to the positions which they occupied, whilst they were attacked with equal vigour upon the flank. Such was the celerity of our move ments, that by the time the enemy opened his fire, all our force was already in possession of the left bank of the river. Whilst this operation was going forward, and that our troops were gaining the positions upon the right flank of the enemy, General Torres commanded a sortie from the fort of the Serra, with the view of taking the rebels in front. • They could not resist the violence of the two attacks, and retired, leaving their batteries in our bands, from which they yester day fired such heavy metal. Whilst the enemy was being put to flight on the side of Quebrantos and the Serra, a party of sailors from our squadron, armed with swords and pistols, passed the river in front of the Trem do Ouro, and, protected by the fire of the battery of Conego, pos sessed themselves of the enemy's batteries upon the left, spiking the guns. The object of the attacking party being thus glo riously accomplished, the troops retired in good or der, and by half-past o'clock the firing of mus ketry had entirely ceased. During the action, a great many deserters came over to us from the rebel army ; several peasant we men, with supplies of provisions, availed themselves of the opportunity to cross the river. We made several prisoners, and between those taken and the deserters, we count more than 150. The loss of the enemy must be considerable, as in several places the field of action was covered with their slain. Two rebel officers have fallen into our hands, and the Lieutenant-Colonel who commanded the battalion of the 4th Cacadores, was killed upon the field. Upon our side the loss in killed and wounded does not exceed 30, but the official returns have not yet been so far completed as to enable us to make an accurate report of our real loss. Up to this moment (one o'clock, p.m.) prisoners and deser ters are still coming in. More particulars in our next. The Duke of DEVONSHIRE is on his way to tuwn from Chatsworth. His Grace will remain a few days at Devonshire House, and thence proceed to Brighton. • T , -`• LEEDS MEETING on INTERFERENCE with HOLLAND and BELGIUM. THE CONSERVATIVES ROUTED. LEEDS, WEDNESDAY, NOY. 21. The Conservatives of Leeds have made an humble at tempt to imitate the conduct of their brethren in Lond::n, ' by calling a public meeting to address his Majesty, in op. position to the measure of Ministers, in interfering to take Antwerp from the Dutch and give it to its rightful owners. The real object of most of those who called the meeting was, no doubt, to embarrass Ministers, and to affect the ensuing elections. The names signed to the re • quisitien, about SO in number, were, with very few ex ceptions, those of Tories and Ultra-Radicals, the parties who were uniting to favour the election of Mi. M. T. Sadler for this . borough. Mr. &idler's cause • bent greatly at a discount, it was thought necessary to aid it by this mar oeuvre; and it was hoped ..that the prevailing love of peace would enable his friends to carry a measure, which, under the pretence of favouring peace, was in ,ended to stab our reforming Administration. Never did any parties more completely fall into their own trap ; never was any party-scheme so effectually frustrated. The friends ed Reform and of Lord Grey's Administration in s:antly saw through the shallow plot, and attended the meeting in such numbers, that the Tories, if they had not thought proper to secede, would have been overpOwed by a majority of ne.rly 100 to 1. The following is a copy of the requistion addressed to the Mayor : " DUTCH WAR. " TO THE WORSHIPFUL THE MAYOR OF LEEDS. " Sir,—We, the undersigned merchants, manufacturers, householders, and other inhabitants of the borough of Leeds, request your Worship will call a meeting of the inhabitants of the said borough, as early as possible, to determine on the pro priety and necessity of addressing the King against any hostile interference on the part of this country in the affairs of Hol land and Belgium, conceiving that such a measure is not only injurious to the interests of the kingdom, and likely to involve Europe in a general war, but cannot fail to be highly prejudi_ cial to the manufacturing and commercial interests of this po pulous district." This requisition was hanr!ed ahout with extraordinary activity on Monday; late in the evening of that day it was presented to the Mayor, and on Tuesday morning the in babi!ants were appritfd by a p;acard that they were to meet on the following day to discuss the question of the " Dutch War." Almost every name attached to the re qttisition was that of a supporter of Mr. Seller. At the appointed hour of meeting the Court•licuse was tilled to overflowing with one of the most rrspectable as s.unhlages ever witnessed in this town. The Tories took their situations on the bench at the right of the chair, and the leading Refirmers wationed mselves on the left side of the chair. A few minutes before 12 o'clock TriomAs TENNANT, Esq., the Mayor, entered the meeting and took the chair. The MArou said, I do not intend entering into the question no•v before us, but 1 may be allowed to ray that I am strongly opposed to any policy which is likely to involve this country in a general war.—(A person in toe meeting, " You should have been so 40 years since.") The Mayor, finding it impossille to obtain a hearing, sat down amidst loud cries of " Adjourn," which lasted a con- siderable time. This disturbance continued, with little interruption, for about twenty minutes, (luring which time Mr. JOSHUA Bowen. moved, and Mr. BAINES seconded, a (notion of adjournment to the Cloth-balbyard. The Mayor, as far as we could leatn, never attem i ded to put this motion,atid he stated distinctly to those who were near him that he would not adjourn. As several thousand persons were at the various entrances to the Coin t-house, and as those near the door were excessively crowded, the uproar and cry of " Adjourn" was incessant, and at length the Mayor declared the meeting dissolved. He lett the chair, and quitted the Court-house along with thirty or forty gentle men, whose &Torture scarcely made any sensible hiatus in the meeting. All the rest of the meeting, amounting to 700 or 800, remained, and by them, on the motion of Mr. RICHARD SON, St - Conti:li by Mr. BAINES, Mr. THOMAS BENYON, jun., was called to the chair. When the chair had been taken, the motion to adjourn to the Cloth-ball was again proposed, and carried with acclamation. The meeting having adjourned to the Cloth-ball•yard, 10,000 or 12,000 were assembled in that spacious area, and amongst them were a great proportion of the leading manufacturers and merchants in the town. Mr. Tome came forward, and was received with cheers. He said, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen,—With re gard to the requisition which I have read, two questions present themselves to my mind —one, what could be the object of the gentlemen who signed it? the other, what would be the probable effect of an address " against any h. s'ile interference on the part of this country in the affairs of Holland ?" As to the first of these inquiries, let us consider the absurdity of now addressing his Majesty to prevent a hostile interference which will actually have taken place before the address can be presented to the King ; the success of such an address is so obviously pr icticable, that it is impossible for us to believe that such was the object of the movers of the meeting. What then was their object ?—Was it to give countenance and support to his Majesty's present Ministers ?—(Cries of " No, no.") I Crow not, fur among the names of the requisitors I re cognise several who in 1813 (just 20 years since when I first addressed my fellow-townsmen as a public speaker) were then, have ever since been, and are now, the decided opponents of the politics of Lord Grey. Can it be believed then that the object of those gentlemen was anything else but to obtain an addrees from the inhabitants of Leeds, which, by expressing their disapprobation of a hostile interference which has taken place, and may at this mo ment be consummated, would convey to his Majesty the idea that the good people of Leeds had ceased to repose their confidence in his present Ministers, and thus encourage his Majesty to dismiss them from his service?—(Cheers.) This leads me to the enquiry, what would he the probable effect of such a proceeding ? It ap pears to me that such an address, if carried, would, in the name of peace, be war in disguise. To explain how I come to this conclusion, it is requisite that I should refer you to the treaties of 1814 and 1815, when his then Majesty's Ministers, instead of obtaining for us, as the fruit of the British blood which, during a war of 20 years, had been shed, and the load of debt under which we are now bur dened, an independent Government in Italy, and the re storation of the kingdom of Poland as it was before the partition of 1773, with ample access for our commerce by sea, they consigned Italy to the military government of Austria, under which it still remains, reduced Poland to a small duchy, and consigned that noble people to the tender mercies of the Emperor of Russia, by whom every vestige of freedom has been annihilated in teat unfortunate coun try ; and to crown al!, they and the Allied Powers by these treaties compelled the inhabitants of Belgium to be come the subjects of the King of the Netherlands. More incongruous materials were never put together ; the man ners and the habits of the Belgians and the Duich are so unlike, that it would be more difficult to make them cor dially unite—(Loud cheers)—than effectually to mix oil with water. So long as the troops of the Allies remained to enforce the observance of those treaties at the point of the bayonet, all was of course submission, and time gave something like the semblance of security to those arranee meats ; but when the French had expelled Charles X ,1 and elevated to the throne their present King, the old feelings of hostility and dislike revived, and it soon became evident that the King of the Netherlands could not govern his Belgic subjects. The Duke of Wel lington was then at the head of the British Government ; and it is evident, from what he inserted in the King's speech, and stated in his own speech to the House of Lords, in November, 1830, that it was his intention, with the aid of the other par ies to the treaties of 1814 and 1815, to enforce the performance of those treaties.—(Great cheering.) Does any man suppose that such a proceeding could have been acconiplislied without a hostile interfe rence on the part of the British Government in the affairs of Holland and Belgium ? W. s there any petitioning against that interference then ? And can it be imagined that such an interference would have been tamely sub mitted to? No, Gentlemen, the attempt would instantly have driven the Belgians into the arms of France, which, in her then excited state, were open to receive them, and then no doubt we should again have been involved in a general war with Russia, Austria, and Prussia, fur the allies of Great Britain against free Governments in Belgium and France. Happily fur us and for mankind, at that crisis Earl Grey was placed at the head of his Majesty's Government, and instead of being actuated by the spirit of war, he and those joined with him in the Ministry who had ever been the advocates of peace, pursued a different course, and instead of en forcing the treaties of 1811 and 1815, be prevailed with the other four great Powers, who were parties to those treaties, to concur in establishing an independent and separate kingdom of Belgium, and to place Prince Leopold upon that throne, the security of which throne was guaranteed to him by the parties of that, treaty. The Dutch King refuses to submit to the terms of that treaty, and to withdraw his troops from Antwerp. Attempts have been wade, almost without number, duce his compliance without force ; he nevertheless refuseS, and the question, under those protracted discussions, be came, whether the five parties to that last treaty would . Udfil the engagement to uphold the independence of th kingdom of Belgium, or would stiffer the dispute betwee that state and the Dutch King to iiitrtain any longer tin settled.—(Loud cheers.) If that - -dOeStion had beet) &lowed to remain unsettled much , lonft;•Or if by means of addresses, disapproving of the artriaintiOn of France and Great Britain, to effect the specific oIFO of driving the Dutch troops from the fortresses of Antweinpol:e King of England should be induced to dismiss hin*feent-Minis tap, can any reflecting person doubt that thi'qui•stion of enforcing the treaties of 1814 and 1815 would be revived, and that a general war in Europe would be the conse quence? Am I not justified, then, in considering that such an address would, in the name of peace, be war in disguise ? Mr. Tottie then moved the following address to the King : Mr. Joshua BOWER, in a short energetic speech, se conded the address. " TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. " THE HUMBLE ADDRESS OF THE MERCHANTS, MANUFACTURERS, HOUSEHOLDERS, and other INHABITANTS of the BOROUGH of LEEDS, in PUBLIC MEETING ASSEMBLED. " Showeth,—That we, your Majesty's dutiful and loyal sub jects, the inhabitants of the borough of Leeds, humbly beg leave to assure your Majesty, that•we have observed with satis faction the earnest and repeated efforts of your Majesty's Go vernment to support, by its moral and diplomatic influence, the cause of liberty in Europe, without involving this country, and the different States of which Europe is composed, in a general war. " We, at the same time, deeply lament that the faith of treaties has been violated in Poland—freedom destroyed in that State and in Italy,—nearly extinguished in the States of the Germanic Confederation,—and menaced in Belgium and in France, by a combination of powerful and absolute Monarchs ; which doings are unequivocal warnings to us, that free Go vernments require all the countenance 'and support which your Majesty's Government can with prudence give. " We consider that your Majesty's Ministers, in pursuing this noble end, have manifested an earnest desire to avoid war ; and that their, object in the negotiations relative to the affairs of Holland and Belgium has been to prevent a great conflict between the free and the despotic Governments of Europe ; which conflict, if not averted, there is great reason to appre_ hend might terminate in the conquest of Belgium, or in the destruction of freedom, both in that country and in France; results alike pregnant with fearful consequences to British in terests, to general commerce, and to liberty. " We are satisfied that the recent Convention formed be tween your Majesty's Government and that of France was dictated by the necessity of ending a dispute likely to pro duce such a conflict ; and, being strictly limited in its object to the expulsion of the Dutch troops from Antwerp, we feel as sured that this purpose will not be exceeded by your Majesty's Ministers. " We beg leave further to assure your Majesty that we con fide in those Ministers as most anxious to preserve to your Majesty's dominions the blessings of peace ; and as determined, if practicable, to avoid being drawn by the pursuit of a just and specific object, into a war with other Powers. We therefore humbly trust that your Majesty will not be induced to withdraw your confidence from them." Mr. II How Ann was sorry Mr. Tottie commenced with the parish church—went from thence to tiie Catholic question, and concluded by attempting to prove that the address placard on the walls was a censure upon the Ministers.—(Cries of "It is.") He would take it upon himself to say, that that ad•iress had nothing to do with his Majesty's Ministers.—(Laughter, and cries of " Oh, what a falsity ; shocking, shocking," and other marks of disapprobation.) The object of that address was simply for the purpose of expressing a degree of apprehension that was entertained on the p irt of the people and the commercial interests of the town of Leeds, that their interests would be injured if Belgium and Holland, Eng land and France, should come in collision. If Belgium was allowed to be torn from the sceptre of Holland, it was virtually connected with France. The fortresses which separated Belgium and France had already been pulled down ; there were now roads in every direction from Belgium into France. They talked of peace ; they sa y the affair is to be ended in a for'night, although there are 77,000 Prussians on the march to Venloo, and all this for the purpose of creating peace. He did not fear to say, that if King Leopold were to die tomorrow, Belgium would be claimed by France. He contended that the inhabitants of Hol'and, consisting of 3,000,000 of men, would never have dared to place themselves in opposition to the great Powers of France and England, unless countenanced by the three northern Powers. Mr. Howard condemned the partition of Poland, and said that the true question before thern was, whether the torch of war was to be again lighted up—whether another war of fifteen years' continuance was again to be endured—a war which would be more terrible than the bursting of lEtna. But fer the interference of which he had spoken, all would have been harmony in Belgium. They wanted no King when they revolted : they waned a popular form of Go vernment, to be governed by themselves, and not by an English pensioner.—(Cries of " Stand down ;" " Go home.") They talk of the grievances of the Belgians,— they have not suffered one half of what the Irish have from a British Government.—(Cries of " That was a Tory Governor: nt.") He begged to read a motion as an amend ment to Mr. Tottie's Address. " That as the country has had sufficient war, a sufficient loss of blood, sufficient loss of lives, and increase of expendi ture, the resorting to another war should be deprecated, since it is calculated to effect more and increased embarrassments." Mr. LEES, Secretary of the Leeds Political Union, said that the proceedings of this day not only involved the ge neral question of peace or war, but the local questions of the continued influence of the Leeds corporation, and of Mr. Michael Sadler's election, both of which he thought were in a very hopeless condition.—(Loud cheers.) Mr. GEORGE HIRST would, with the leave of the meeting, move an amendment to the Address, not em bracing the topics included in what was meant to he the Address, but from a source acceptable to the present meet. ing,—from certain resolutions moved by the present Pre mier, then Mr. Grey, in the House of Commons in 1793, which he read. " That it is at all times, and particularly under the present circumstances, the interest of this country to preserve peace. " That it is neither reasonable nor just to take up arms for the purpose of dictating terms between nations engaged in hostilities, without'any reference either to the cause of the dis pute, or the circumstances of the war. " That the refusal of an offer of mediation is no just cause for a war : " That the expense of an armament must be burdensome to the country, and is, under the present circumstances, as far as this House is informed, highly inexpedient and unnecessary." The amendment was seconded by Mr. BOND and Mr. W. OSBORNE. Mr. E. BAINES, jun., said to the first of Lord Grey's resoluticns, declaring ‘5 that it is the interest of the mon try to preserve peace," he (Mr. E. Baines) would give his hearty, deliberate, and conscientious assent. He was the friend of peace ; and it was as the friends of peace that l.e, Mr. Tottie, and all those around them, came for ward. Their convi c tion was, th a t b y the present inter vention, which was extremely limited in its extent, a great explosion would be prevented ; for they believed that if the present Ministry were turned out, and the Duke of Wellington brought in, an explosion would take place in Europe, and there would be a direct declaration of war by Austria, Ru.sia, and Prussia against Belgium and France, in order to bring back Belgium to the domination of Hol land, and France to the yoke of the old Bourbons. Mr. Howard said, that the question was, whether Eng land and France were now to go to war with Austria, Russia, and Prussia? That was not the question. What h e wanted, and what Government wanted, was to avert a war with those Power.—(Hear, hear)—for if the dispute between Holland and Belgium should continue, there was t h e greatest reason to fear that war would break out. France would take one side, Prussia the other, and a ge. neral war would be the consequence. To put an end to this state of things, and with the manifest and reasonable design of bringing about a settled peace, Lord Grey's Ad ministration had sent the armament against Antwerp, And, he would ask, by whom was that arrangement formed for the union of Belgium with Holland in ISM, that patchwork arrangement which they heard Mr. Macauley so beautifully describe a short time since ? By the Tories.—(Cheers.) The Tory plans sowed the germ of the danger which now threatened Europe. By whom was the interference of England in the Dutch and Belgian dispute begun ? By the Duke of Wellington, the Minister whom it was no doubt the ohject of nine-tenths of th e per sons who signed the requisition to the Mayor, to bring back to p o wer.—(Cheers.) And who had fomented to the utmost of their power the danger which now threat. ened the general prace. He said it was the Tories of England ; for they had constantly encouraged the King of Holland to resist the reasonable demands of the Five Powers, an d yet these men, whose instigations had produced the dan objienacjntedorefd. ger, were to be brought back to power to get us out of the The object of the absolute Governments of the danger. continent was evidently to . turn out Lord Grey, and to e e r f n a meeting iwnntagesr,ews that Ils e to aot f t th p he r i es commer cialee on country i the y get in the Duke of Wellington. The requisition said, calling. manufacturingßtttlhl fc:olmn manbederienniiianufacturing interests of the country were in jured, and had for two years been injured, by the pending dispute between Holland . and . Belgium; and they must that the continue_ ( t H o ea s r u ,. ff h e .e r ar. srio s us om in e jur g y e u n n ti t e i m l t e h n at th di o s u p g u h te t was smetigtihedt.without injury throw off the whole of our trade with Belgium. He would state, therefore, some facts with regard to the trade of Antwerp iu 1825. Of 800 ships, which entered Antwerp from foreign ports, 114 were . ' N from Liverpool, - 7119 from London, and 41 from PI 011, making a total "e 27 7 ships from three English p rts. The smaller ports were not mentioned ; but the fact was, that of all the foreign commerce of Belgium, more than one half was with this country.—(Hear.) Mr. Thomas Baring had the eminent folly to say that the free rixvig4- tion of the Scheldt was of little importance. Why it was of as much importance to the trade of Belgium as the na vigation of the Humber was to the:trade of Yorkshire.— ' (Hear, hear.) He was anxious to state that as his opi nion, and right glad he was that they had had such glorious meeting, as it would have the effect 'of exposing the dirty trick of the Conservatives.—(Cheers.) After some discussion, the amendments of Mr. Hirst and Mr. Howard were put and negatived. The original motion being put, was adopted almost una nimously. Mr. BAINES suggested that the address should be signed by the inbahi tants at large, and moved the appointment of a Committee to take charge of the address. This resolution was put and carried unanimously. The meeting then dissolved. TOTAL DEFEAT OF THE TORIES AT HUDDERSFIELD. BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. HUDDERSFIELD, NOV. 21. The Tories of this place, like the rest of their party in other parts of the country, feeling that they stood at the lowest point in public estimation, resrdved two or three days ago to endeavour to get hick a little popularity by exciting the people on the subject of the armed inter ference of France and England in the affairs of Belgium. They will never attempt such an experiment again ; the events of this day will be a sufficient preventive. - On Monday a requisition appeared in the streets signed by many respectable persons almost entirely of the Tory party, calling on the constable to convene a meeting for the purpose of affording the inhabitants of Huddersfield an opportunity of expressing their disapprobation of the policy . of Minis ters respecting Belgium. They hail under false pretences induced a few Whigs to join in the requisition, and among others Captain Fenton, candidate for the representation of the borough, who, however, repented having taken such a step, On finding out the real purpose of the Tories. Some gentlemen of liberal politics, on finding that the constable had consented to call the meeting fur this day, issued a placard, warning all Reformers against favouring the vieNs of the Tories, which the latter thought so im portant as to require the sending forth three more to counteract its effects. This morning at eleven o'clock, the Court-house began to be occupied, the upper part chiefly by requisitionists and their friends, the rest by the Liberals. At half-past eleven Nlr. J. SMITH moved, and Mr. JAMES Bnoox seconded, that the Constable, Mr. W. STOCKS, be caned to the Chair. Mr. STOCKS opened the business by reading the requisi tion, and proceeded to observe, that lie had pleasure in calling the meeting, as peace was delightful to his heart. (Cheers.) After some further observations on the hleis ings of peace, he called on Dr. Walker to move the first resolution. Dr. WALKER. said Ministers, in entering on this war s thought they could eisily arrest the tide of ill; but when war was once begun, it was impossible to say where it would close. Most wars were popular at first, and he would ask whether the late French war was not at first righteous and popular ?—(Loud shouts of " No, no; "it was a Tory war—it is all stuff and sophistry.") If the country had done its duty then, our debt would not have been so enormous. On what principle were we waging war with a King who had done us no harm, who sat enthroned in the hearts of his subjects, devoted two hours daily to the petitions of the lowest of them, and visited the poor? The Dutch had been our friends since Elizrbeth's time. It was great magnanimity in the King of Holland not to have retaliated for the embargo laid on his vessels in this country.—(Hear, hear.) This was a noble opportunity to sacrifice party spirit on the altar of peace.—(Of Toryism, you mean.) Let us not, said the Doctor, sacrifice great things for less, nor quarrel about what we do not understand.—(lmmense laughter, long continued.) He concluded by moving that " This meet. ing is of opinion that in exercising a friendly mediation l'etween Holland and Belgium, in concert with our allies, Great Britain has sufficiently discharged her duty; and that, however deeply they regret the failure of such me diation, it is neither consistent with our honour nor our interest to resort to coercive measures against Holland." Mr. COOPER seconded the motion. Captain Fawron explained why his name was appended to the requisition. He signed it as a friend of peace. Some persons might form an unf:vourable opinion of him, and fancy him a deserter from his principles for signing the requisition, but in doing so he would ask the gentle men who lirou4ht it to him, what was the ohject of the meeting ? They replied, " Peace." He asked further, whether the meeting was called with the intention of throwing any obstacles in the way of Ministers, whom he believed and knew to he as anxious for peace as any persons could be.—(Loud cheers.) The deputation re plied, that so far front wishing to embarrass the Ministers, they desired to put it more e&ctually in their power to promote peace.—(Cheers and laughter.) On that assur ance he had signed the requisition, but he did not agree to the resolution, and would therefore move as an amend ment an address, which he produced, but which was with drawn as out of order, at the request of the Chairman. The Captain concluded by hoping that. his conduct had been satisfactorily explained, and retired amidst cheers. Mr. BATLEY, of Armitage, took it for granted that the originators of the meeting intended to put forth the deci sion of this day to the world as the public opinion of the town and its neighbourhood, and he felt himself justified in opposing the attempt which had for its object hurling the present Ministers from their seats.—(Loud cheering and some hisses.) When he first saw that resolution, it occurred to him that it was not a question of peace or war, whatever might be the professions of the party. The requisition was part of one general Tory movement, having for its origin the London city address, and was now tra velling the round of the provinces. It was a movement like those on Irish education and the Russian-Dutch loan, and seized on with the same eagerness, as affording too tempting an opportunity of assailing Ministers, rasing po pular indignation against them, and furnishing ground to elevate the pacific, reforming, economic, liberty-loving Wellington.—(Laughter and applause.) If he was to examine the whole Belgian question, he should not under stand if, as had been observed before—(Laughter)—but lie could comprehend the object of the requisition. When he saw a party who had been the consistent, determined, undeviating supporters of a system of war—men w h o hal signed away their lives and property for carrying on one of the most ruinous contests which ever disgraced a civilized people—a war under the effects of which the nation still groaned to the very centre of the body politic— he was justified in suspecting their motives, even though they did cry, " Peace, peace." He would ask them one question—supposing the Duke of Wellington and his party were in power at this moment—supposing that the Conference had come to the same decision as they now have, and they had used the same means—would this meeting have had any existence ?..—(No, never.) Would this address have ever been heard of?—(No, no.) Would the party now coming forward to embarrass Ministers have so embarrassed the Duke of Wellington and his friends ?—(Repeated cries of " No, no," and great laughter.) He left them to make the application. He concluded by moving, as the shortest way of disposing of the question, . an amendment, which was, that this meeting be adjourned to this day twelvemonth.--(This proposition was hailed by the meeting with enthusiastic cheering.) art ir n.hrei Walker unprovoked eaAl realkNs e eqr uh a d e oswnta fw a o trbe r edwf,o a irt r teh d t h atttli o l ewe second meKewienet girneogt voluntarily motion. H gn W oo it h A n a l i r i.liwanWttaops. N l t an w l a s ; but the fact was, that there was in the possession of the Dutch, a citadel which all the five Powers had decided to belong to Belgium, and which the Dutch King was de termined to hold. It was a not war against the Dutcb, bat an effort to secure peace between Holland and Belgium— in fact, the general peace of Europe.—(Applause.) The objection to the present measure in the hearts of the requi sitionists, if he were not much mistaken, was not that it was war they disliked, but war conducted by a Whig Ministry. They disliked a war which was to give to 4,000,000 of peo ple the right of being governed as they pleased.—(Cheers.) The reforming Administration had been abused by the Tories because they had diverted the interference with Belgium in favour of liberty, instead of attempting, as the Wellington Ministry had done, to consolidate the union between Holland and Belgium. If that were not the case the Duke of Wellington had said what was false. Much had been said of the value of the Dutch trade to Rudders. field. Was Dr. Walker sure that he did not include-in his statement the trade to Belgium? He put it to 'that meeting if there were not ten times as much:business from this neighbourhood to Belgium as to Holland? Th e e f, feet of such addresses as that to be proposed to this meet ing would be a war, and peace is most likely to be se cured by the defeat of the attempts now making to, get 'up such addresses, the result of . which would be to upset the present Ministry.--[This speech, like Mr. Batley's, was most favourably received, and loudly applauded.] Mr. RICHARD OASTLER then presented himself, and was received by a part of the meeting with vocifel cheers, but by the great majority with hisses, yells, other marks of disapprobation, which predominated the applause, and tot.illy prevented his being heard. I t r 1 eeneral dissatisfaction was repeatedly manifested, until V WILLANs came forward and entreated a heating for ti t Oastler, which was at length granted. He comme by observing, that he received the hisses With pleas and repeated the same statement several times, at each which he hid a repetition of his gratification, the hi and hooting, being louder every time, At last;the to was stilled, and he was heard in support of Dr. Walkel resolution. The present measure was certainly likely procure peace.—No, no.) He had been a member of peace society for eight years and gloried in it, and oisl ported the ori g i na l reso l ut i on, not f rom a d es i re to e Ministers, but because there never could be a good tins , do a bad action.—(Hear.) The inevitable canseque o of the present policy of Mitaistets would be to cause ar il neral war.—(Cries of " No, no ;" " toUr measure OP cause one.") Mr. MA ETIN, of the Huddersfield and Halifax irt press, supported the amendmeLt ; and Mr. JAMES BKcit Secretary to the Factory Bill, opposed it, amidst gt laughter, and cries of " Question." Mr. BAtLEY, as the mover of the amendment, rose . , reply, He supported Mi n i s t er ' s chiefly oh aeboont P, of confidence that their policy would be pacific. Could I , point out one instance in which they had begun to in fere ?—(No, no, and cheers.) Had they not goaded on to interference on behalf of suffering Poland b/, the powerful a pp ea l s o f t h e press ? B u t th oug h th ey could weep over the injuries of that country, they knew lOte t their duty to England, and forbore to interfere. Tbt abstinence from interference in this case, as well as in ty. of Portu ga l, p rove d th a t th ey were no t a war -l ov i n g . nistry.—(Loud cheers.) This very condemned meager ( was one displaying wise policy, and at the same time 0 1 ' enlaced to preserve the peace of Europe. He trusted WI the meeting would hot Hagen to the original resolution. There being loud cries of " Question," the dilatitl4o l( proposed the amendment first to the meeting, and re' quested those in its favour to hold up their hands. Criel of " All, all," were heard, and almost every person in tM Court-house, which was now crowded, held up his hand' On the opponents of the amendment being requested show themselves, from 30 to 40 hands were held nil' Shouts of acclamation burst from all parts of the meek ing, and continued long, being varied at intervals by ire' mentions stamping and clapping of hands. Thanks were voted to the Chairman, and the niectifit separated in high delight at having had another opporta• nity of thrashing the Tories to their heart's content, while that little party retired, repeatedly protesting that part! spirit was their aversion. The Tories certainly to° nothing by their motion. It is curious that not a single one of the Tory oratotli ven.ured on the smallest censure o n the general policy the Ministers, but all paved their way to the attention 0' the meeting by protesting, that in acting as they did oa this occasion they had no desire to overthrow Ministers. HOLE-AND-CORNER MEETING. NOR WICH, Nov. 22. One of the most contemptible meetings, if not the mos t contemptible ever holden iu this city, took place on Thurs day, at 12 o'clock, in the Common-council Chamber. The handbill by which it was announced, and which con' coined the address, called it at the Hall in the market; and just at the entrance a written bill, in a full round band, stated " The Common-hill meeting will be held i ° this Court !"—thus directing the persons to the low er Court, where a large body had assembled. In the me an time, however, between 60 and 70 persons, and not tnnr e (for I counted them) were meeting in the Common room upst iirs, an officer, standing at the gate of the upstairs landing, allowing only such as were of the Tory party t° ewer. Thole were present :—Alderman S. Harvey, Alder man S. Bitnold. and Alderman Booth, the Recorder (J• Preston, Esq.), Counsellor W. W. Browne, Rev. Webster, Messrs. R. S. Turner, J. Skepper, a nd C . Gilman (solicitors), J. Watson, Esq., Messrs. J° Wright, F. Hinges, and T. Gunton (nanufacturer ls), Messrs. W. Moore, G. Seppings, W Rye, J. Bexfield, l3. Cundall, J. Stacy, anti J. Colley (respectable tradesmen ill the city), Mr. Rooks, Surveyor to the Paving Coma , i s " sion.rs, several young men, Sic.t. &c. These were the principal persons present. Alderman - HARVEY was called to the chair, who, after alluding to his wish to serve the city and the citizens, said that the object of the present meeting was to address the Kiug to prevent a war with the Dutch, who were our old Allies, and with whom we were a favourite nation. Holland had taken all our manufactures ; and formerly there were large exports of our manufactures there, though th.y did not take so much now. The Alderman spoke of the unnatural union between France ;And England—a coalition with the resources of England to fight against its friends. He recollected the words of Nekon, and had always felt an inclination to follow them. They were—" To obey your superior of; firer, to fight for your country, anti to hate the French. He thought that these recommendations were good and salutary. He askal if the French had rendered us an) benefit, and whether they would not do us an in]ury as soon as possible ? Alderm n H. went on in the same strain, occasional y cheered by his almost family part)' , and read the following address : " We, the undersigned, Merchants, Bankers, Manufae' turers, Traders, and other Inhabitants of the city of Norwich , approach the Throne, animated by feelings of unsubducl loyalty and undeviating attachment to your Majesty's Itoy3 Person. " Remembering that Englishmen are greatly indebted to 3 Prince of the illustrious House of Orange for their admirable political institutions, which alone have enabled them to clai ° for their beloved country the foremost rank among the nation' of Europe, we deeply regret that your Majesty should have bee° recommended to commence hostilities against the King of the Netherlands. " It is also a source of painful reflection to us, that the flag which our immortal Nelson (the pride of Norfolk) led so ofte° to victory against the oppressors of France, should now be lent to their design to insult and to injure a brave and free people, whose only offences, as far as we can discover, are, an un shaken fidelity to their King, and a patriotic determination t ° resist foreign aggression. Far from relying upon the friendlY professions of France, we distrust the apparent friendship o f that people and their Government, and we cannot but fee l surprise at measures which have a direct tendency to increase the power of a nation which has ever shown itself, and, we arc persuaded, will ever remain, the most wily, the most dange . and irreconcilable enemy of our country. " We cannot, Sire, bring ourselves to believe that the real end and object of the present attack upon our old friends and allies, the, Dutch, is the promotion of your Majesty's interest or that of your loyal subjects. ‘. We beg leave further to represent to your Majesty, that, in our conscientious opinion, the effect of the war, which seetn , now to he more than contemplated, will be the infliction upo , ' our commercial interests of the most serious and perhaps irre parable evils—the probable imposition of new taxes, wind' your faithful people are ill able to bear—and an expenditure of blood and treasure, which we feel it to be our duty to our coun try to deprecate in the most solemn manner. We, therefore, respectfully, yet with the earnestnes s which the occasion demands, entreat your Majesty to aver t from your people the incalculable ills of so unnatural and need less a warfare," Alderman BOOTH proposed, and Mr. Moors seconded the address, which was carried, of course, nem. con. The RECORDER propo9ed the Earl of Orford as a Noble man fit to present it to the King, at Brighton, in right of his Peer aze. The address lies for the signature of the inhabitants. WINCHESTER, Nov. 23.—A most appalling circumstance has occurred at Old Alresford, about eight miles to the north-east of this city, which has excited the deepest horror among the inhabitants of that village a nd the surrounding neighbourhood. THOMAS By LPETT, E-q' an opulent farmer, and a partner in Messrs. KNAre's Winchester Bank, has been deprived of life by the hand of his own son, a maniac! The unhappy parricide, who bad been the inmate of a lunatic asylum, was a few months since removed home to his family contrary to the wishes of the keeper, who expressetf a conviction that some dreadful calamity would be the result of his being suffered to go at large, and medical gentlemen foretold similar consequences. With what fearful veracity their predic tions have been verified, the melancholy sequel well show. On Sunday evening, after supper, the deceased and his son were drinking some spirits and water, when the latter sv.as desirous of replenishing his glass, which the father refusing to permit, he abruptly quitted the room, and soon returned with a loaded gun, and discharged it at his father, who was in the set of unbuttoning his gaiters, pre paratory to retiring fir the night. The skull of the un fortunate gentleman was - literally blown to atoms. An inquest was held on the body by \lr. Toon, and the Jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased came by his death in censequence of being shot by his son, Who was in a state of insanity. The unhappy young man is now placed under that strict restraint from which be ought not to have been released. The deceased Mr But.' PETT was 65 years old. CITY PUN.—CAPTURE OF THE 'VERNOY ACCOUNTED FOR. —A British vessel, off the Mitch ebasft bailed a fishing-boat with the quetion of had there been any English ships of war captured ? To which the Dutcl ;nail, in broken English, and through his trumpet, roared out, in reply, " The vcr' none."—Morning Paper.