The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1832-12-21 00:00:00

THE LONDON PRESS. M DDLESEX ELECTION. We rejoice to learn, that England may yet escape the sin and disgrace of. exhibiting the denouncer of all who Would acknowledge the Providence of God as the repre-, sentative fur the metropolitan county. Sir Charles Forbes, than whom there lives not, we .believe, d.-fitter representative for the Character of a Christian English man, has consented to replace Lord Henley ; and could we recal the time• which that weak and wavering per son's misconduct has sacrificed, the late .defettion would be more than compensated. However, if the Christian electors of Middlesex do their duty, and if they are indif ferent; or•even lukewarm in the dfgcharge of it, their pre tensions to religion of any kind are extremely.vestion able, if the. Christian electors exert flernselves---as, if they are really 'Christians (and not merely such in name) they will—to disarM the enemy of their religion of the power of injuring it, they are perfectly able to return Sit Charles Forbes and Mr. Byng. We know the cry that_is:ralsed-agttinst any appeal to the religious feelings of the people, or any scrutinising of the'religious tenets of public men—we know it, and we, scorn it. • Were we as little impressed with the truth of revela tion as they are who - raise the yell, We should despise it for the stupid clumsiness of the fraud,for the transparent pretence of so•much prOtitable disgust and well conned extemporaneous indignation as accompanies it.-Standard. THE NEW PARLIAMENT; The elections for the English boroughs hfe : now near _ ly complete, and they verifr_many of. our fears' and ap-; prehenstons as to the result of the very extensive change that has been made in the elective system Of the country. • The bludgeon-and-brickbat doctrine, which was so strong - ly patronized by the organs of the government in the elec.; tion of 1831, exercises its full influence on the general character of the present election; and the wild undefined desire of change is throughout' the boroughs the ruling - ground-work for popular favotir. It was • often stated iu the debates of the last and previous session that the anni 7 hilation of the close boroughs would be the means of ex 4 . eluding almost entirely the representatives of our colonial • posiessrons and other distant dependencies. This apprei hension is now fully verified. - -The government were sedulous in inculcating on the country that nothing was - so foolish and inconsistent with our interests as to hold colonies, and they made . common cause with the Dissen.; ters and Radicals in giving currency to every statement, however exaggerated, that was offered respecting colonial slavery. - This was done without the slightest regard to truth, and eveneontrary to the clearest evidence of what was true. The consequence ha s b een tire - every member of the late parliament who took any part in the investi gation, respecting the state of society in the West Indies, with the view of bringing before the - public an honest exposition of the truth, has, by the influence of the gov ernment and their sectarian associates, been excluded from any voice in the present parliament. As regards our Indian possessions the case is nearly similar; so now < that amiable and intelligent young man, Lord Howick, and his sapient and simple follower, .Lordtioderich, may promulgate what "Orders in Connell " they please, and plaoe in them all the absurdities they think fit, without meeting parliamentary challenge or exposure. We hear .from very good authority that the memorable. Budget is to be reproduced, and that the Canadians and shipowners, who then fought, through their representatives, so gal lantly- and Successfully in upsetting and exposing that extraordinary producrion, are now to have it saddled upon them by the wisdOm and authority of the reformed parlia ment. Y if the government 'have been successful in -.ma • king their own crudities pass 'Current in regard to these interests, their management has been equally successful in shutting out almost ail the great legal talent of ti e country, who might venture to criticise and expose the less learned proceedings and derangements of our present Lord (_ hancellor. We would ask if there was any legal Man in the House of Commons who gave so much use-• fill assistance to the legislature during the last two ses siong as Sir Edward Sugden ? It has been the special and' • unwearied object of our Whig rulers to exclude him from • parliament, and they have succeeded. Their exertions have been equally successful in excluding Mr. 'Pember: ton; and lye would further ask any man in this country. who is qualified to judge on the case, if there be any men connected with his Alajesty-s government who hold in the opinion of•the country one-hundredth part the authority : teat these two gentlemen do fur all legislative purposes ? This is a subject we shall have after-cecasions< of recu r _ :curing to, It is one that the mind-of the country must . engage itself with ; and we mistake much if this frenzy in - favoura Whi< , and Radical movement can be of long o -con tin u ance ming Post. The most moderate and rational of the new members, — all those, in short, who support the ministry have agreed that the reform bill, cr the. reformed., parliament, which springs from it; is merely the instrument for effecting furl her imprGrenants. in our institutions, and for insur ing to the people the benefits of good government. "Many of them, like Mr. James Brougham, at Kendal, have shown a peculiar zeal to effect reforms in the church (Abets have - declared more energetically against mono pole, and particularly against the monopoly of bread ; and a third party have dwelt with peculiar emphasis on the — necessity of an immediate change in our colonial system; but none, except Cobbett, have announced pro jects of spoliati-Jn. With respect to the reform bill itself, tho Ugh Many, have spoken in favour of an extended con stituency,—of the ballot, and of shorter parliaments, v e t the majority—the great majority, declare against the apparent necessity of any immediate change. It has "worked well" during - the - presentelectiont.; it has sent into the House of Commons ; or is likely to send, men who fairly represent the national feelings, who are, at least, on a par with the national intelligence, and who have made every pledge to .support the national interests.. ',Me people ought, therefore, honestly to try the efficiency of this instrument before they admit the expediency of attempting its improvement, and not to act with that fickle love of alteration with which the Puritans are -ac cused in Hudibras:= ." As if Ike Senate was intended For nothing else but to be mended." Tines. , The city and borough elections are now concluded, and the public are viewing, with great anxiety, the.con duet and approaching issue of the county representation. The system of class constituency, and the influence of the aristocracy in the counties, expose the reformers to great risk; management acid union can alone insure the return Of liberal men. I he system of double returns, or two members fqr the same constituency, may alWays work a fraud on the elective franchise; and notoriously often ends in the defeat of- that candidate • who polls the . greatest number of eleetors! " Splits," or divided votes, by a mi nority of electors will always seat two candidates, to the exclusion of a third supported by a majority of voters ! It - is unquestion a bly-th e • t tuty- .of the liberal elector, When there are three candidate s In the field, and only one can didate advocating the political opinions of reformers, to Eire his first atachiet support to" the liberal candidate. hen there.are three candidates,—one liberal, and two rank torics,:thtlyefortn elector 'should vote plumpers ; inn where on c.iounil iefut mer and a .moderate . reform er,"4incl an undiFguisefl'tory • are the. three- candidates, the eleetor§ must beware how they allow the.(.;onstitueney, to split for the two latter. • It is the duty and policy of the reformers in such case to support the moderate re former, and thatitain the cross support of his partisans, or otherwise the .moderate reformer and the tory coalescing, will by split votes: oppose the reformer. This rule applies to all the counties where -contests exist under such cir cumsianees,between three .candidates., • Lbcal jealousies and party *bigotry must give way to publk ing Chronicle. . THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. . „ ment of the Dutch army towards the scene of operations ---:13,000 Prussian" troops assembled between Gueldres and AiX-la-Chapelle on the Meuse—if these be not symp toms of war—if this be not actual war—we with 'the schoolmaster, if he be at home, would tell us what war is. In the Guardian of yesterday was published exclu sively, the "Declaration of Prussia to the German Diet," of date the 6th instant, but which none of the ministe rial journals, with that instinctive candour which distin guishes them, have dared to publish. The orders from the Treasury must have been to suppress it ; and well timed perhaps was the suppression, for it would have been of itself the best commentary on the speech of Lord Palmerston. Old Franklin, of America, after listening to a lengthy oration from some brother yankee in Con gress, used to reply to it by standing up, taking off his Quaker hat, and uttering with imperturbable gravity the word " nonsense." This, say the American historians, had a wonderful and salutary effect upon the-prosy speak ers of the revolution. Had a yeoman of Hampshire re-' plied to the noble secretary in the same brief dissyllabic, the answer would have been most appropriate. For, certainly' a greater tissue of nonsense never fell from the lips of any one of his Majesty's ministers—Mr. Thomas Macauley and Lord Durham not excepted. We are not, at war with Holland ! The war is " a mere creature of the vivid imagination and exuberant fancy 'of those v"vho set up the cry." After this, let us have no more libels upon Bedlam. The man who is mad there considers him self the only sane person in the world, and Lord Palmer ston, who is not in Bedlam, is of the same . opinion. 'Strait waistcoats were made in vain !—Guardian and Putlic L edger. FREE TRADE IN CORN. We have reason to belieye,, that in Many parts of the country the agricultdrists are fully alive,to the- danger..us predicament in which they stand;and are deteiinined to exert themselves for their own protection. ThisiSmuch the case in Berkshire, in Glocestershire, in,kent, in Es sex, in Northamptonshire, in Nottinghamshire, in DUI-- setshire, and; in fact, in most of the counties in England. We believe, also, that the manufacturers in many dis tricts are not now blinded by the delusiini they, were with respect to the corn laws, that they now see that the sys tem which gives value to the English corn, gives value, also, to the English 'manufacture. Still, there is Mach restlessness upon the subject; and there are- many well meaning empirics, not to'speak of the levellers, who are ready and anxious to annihilate the whole. of the present system, for the purpose of of giving a full scope to what they designate free trade. Agaio,•there are - others whose plans appear far less comprehensive, but whOse real .de signs are equally as dangerous, and whose mode of pro ceeding is far more Jesuitical. These ,persons call for, some alterations ' as fixed duties, or something of the sort, and pretend that their object is it/benefit:, the farmer They are hypocrites,—the worst of hypocrites: - We do -not mean to say there are not many inerviilierivish well to the agricultural. interest, that do not think a fixed duty would be generally advantageous ;- but we are confident that the . great majority of those who advocate a fixed duty are bitter foes to the agriculturalbody ; for instance, Mr. John Walter, the Times' printer, and a candidate for Berkshire, is one of these: He prates of a duty, and while he does so, knows - no - More of the subject than he does of farming. His. only object is to inditce the agricul: turists of Berkshire -to be foolish enough to desire their old opponents. to• temper- with -the: corn laws ; and he knows full well; if the monkey is once inade_the judge, to whose lot the 'oyster fall. Let the Agriculturists once consent ic. the, Whigs - undertaking the re-arrange ment of the corn laws, and they will soon :find that the apparatus of -averages, depots, and, inspectorS, now so much complained of, are only the necessary fences- foif their own protection. But we wilitiot pow-enter upon that point. Our object' is t r.ence again—at a peculiar inoment—in - fact, on the casting of the die—to entreat the agriculturist to protect hinaself;for we feel-thoroughly assured that, by so doing, he will benefit the community at large. Let him have nothing to say to ,those who now pretend to advocate, a protecting duty, and but a ,L..w years ago openly and strenuously opposed all protec tion. The Times of last Saturday- even-boasts that it " fought against the corn l aws a s long as there was a stump left to stand on ;" and Mr. John Walter would delight in an opportunity, to-Morrow, of falling back to Eris old schemes. Tire farmer, therefore, should - give nn confidence to these new-made, Compulsory friends • but adhere to those who, like himself, live by the land, and: are bound to uphold its cultivators both by -interest and by affection.—While we find a candidate for an agricultural county, like Mr. John Walter, inimical to protection be ing given to the farmer, it is satisfactory to find the most intelligent organs of the Manufacturer strenuously up holding the Agricultural body.-- Thus the, Journal of Elemental Locomotion has entered upon the--subject at -considerable length, and with much ability, - From the' article we maim the following extract, 4:1111' . (Inly regret that we have not room for inure : "The importation of a million quarters of foreign grain, at! £1,200,1X)0., will effect a saving of not quite three 'hutilings to; each individnal in the kingdom ; but to effect this the agricul tural interest, the very prop of. the kingdom, is to be rained.: It an additional mithon of quarters- -*me imported the same year wi..hout the highest protecting duly, what ,would be the consequence? The corn-groWeis would lower their labourers' wages two-pence a-day to meet the loss, or give them one day in the week less employment, which would have the effect of taking about tWenty-one millions of money from the labourers' wages, and the circulation of that snm from the shopkeepers and : manufacturers. Thus that amount of productive labour would be Lntirely losfto the country, the home trade would be serious-; ly injured, and the manufacturing interest would be paralysed: at the deficiency upon the usual demand and consumption. Hundreds would he unable to rriainta* their credit, OT continue in a state of solvency, and bankruptcy would inevitably follow. The manufacturing workman, the handicraftsman, andthe agri cultural labourer, would be thrown out of employment. ' 'l he ; credit of the kingdom would be- shaken, and capitalists would draw in every farthing they, could from circulation. The cry of I distress would be raised in every part , of the kingdom, and the people would clamour for cheap bread, foreign corn, reduced rents, tithes, taxes, and poor -rates. • The duties upon two mil lions quarters of corn imported into thekingdom were small in deed compared to the duties upon the consumption of £6,400;000. worth of British goods; besides the possibilit y of gold being de, mantled for foreign corn, when the retur n t o th e revenue wo uld be £41X ), 000 less than the actual gold sent outof the kingdom, and the loss to the labouring population mould. be nn: less than £21,233 ; V 33 Gs. Bd."—Old England., THE NOBLE DUTCH WAR SECRETARY. • The noble Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,• it would appear, is' carrying on a sort of electioneering war in- Hampshire; but whether it rove as peaceful' a war as that before the citadel of Antwerp remains to be seen. In his address to the electors,~i the noble lord has undertaken the defence of himself and his ministerial colleagues, and a more amusing defence we have not read for many a day. He contends that ministers have redeemed, to the very letter, all the important pledges which they made when they accepted office. The pledges, he says, were re form—retrenchment=peace ! That the -have redeemed the first (reform) the noble loilrfook 'Some prove,- and we have no doubt he did so in the most satisfactory manner. With respect to retrenchment, he boasted of some few hundred thousand pounds, exclusive of the money raised by the sale of naval stores, but he forgot to say a word about the increased expenditure. , This was ingenious and worthy of Lord Palmerston. As to the third pledge, good reader, hear the noble lord's own words; and if after perusing' them, you do not fall down in an uneontroulable fit of laughter, yOu must be more or less than mortal : . " Well then, as to: the third pledge---of peace--aye he would take the bull by anchvould tiot . be - daunted by the cries of Dutch war, ivithwhiCh his ears had been assailed. Why, would gentleen believe that, in point of fact, • there is no Dutch war at all • that Eng land is at. war with no power, great or small; that this Dutch war is a mere creature of the vivid - imagination and exuberant fancy of those - who set up the cry. The embargo here and the process of ejectment carrying on •at Antwerp, are not war against Holland.l No ; the nisters.have preserved peace; but if they had not pursued - the course which they are doing between•Hoßand and Belgium, there would have 'been *car, and a gene ral war;' and a war of political principle •which would have set all Europe in flames— It was, InZjeed, because the present. admmistratiun had prevented such a war, .That t.heV are most bitterly attacked by tboie - who hoped •to find in such a war a road to political power." Oh clear! that Lord of the protocols will be the death of us ! The battering of the citadel of Anti erp—the. de .struction of thousands of human lives—a fierce contest saging_alnng.the. whole line of the •hostile d ec l ara ti ons of Russia, Pru ss ia, and Austria--the move- FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. BRUSSELS, FRIDAY, DEC. 14, 1 O'clock P. m.—No Ministry ; has vet been formed, though another attempt has been made by the King..BaussEL P. ss.—The accounts received since the morning state that the firing was continued with spirit on the part of the besiegers; and that every exertion was made to get the heavy- cannon in battery in advance.—An account which left head-quarters at 12 o'clock, says that Chasse had com menced a heavy fire of howitzer shells on the Fort St. Laurent. • SIEGE OF TIIE CITADEL QF ANTWERP. We continue our extracts_ from the Correspondent of the Times ANT_AE.UP,. FRIDAY MORNING, DEC. 14.—The French engi neers hate eithibited a triumphant proof of Web' Elkin; Fbrt St. Laurent Was taken this morning by surprise, and with the loss of only two men on their side.- At 4 o'clock the mines were blown.np, and a part of the ditch of St. Laurent was filled with earth, 'front the breach made iu the wall. The Dutch garrison, consisting of 100 men, thought, from the slight noise made, that it was merely a shell that had burst on The parapet. Some detachments of 1 , reach Grenadiers entered the breach, followed by others of Voltigeurs, the Dutch fired two or three shots, but on Inding that two or three of their body fell, and seein the force gconung again them, soon cried for quarter, arid about 40 escaped through the communication into the citadel. The garrison appears to have no notion of the mines which the French have formed during the last three days,--A Lieutenant and 60 men are prisoners. The former, whose face resembles much more that of a Spaniard than of a Dutch man, was, as the French say themselves, most unlucky, for as the Captain having the command had been wounded about 3 o'clock, and had been conveyed into the citadel, he had scared time to under stand his situation when he found himself and his men taken prisoners. He refuses to give any account of the state of Chasse's men or means, but the soldiers, who are mere lads, admit that the garrison of the citadel is worked "off their legs," one half being on duty • and the other half on picquet, having fatiguing labours to perform. The soldiers belong to the 10th Regiment, and, strange to say, are, mostly Jews.— The French soldiers took a howitzer ready charged, which they icamediateiy turned against the citadel. 'they have established themselves in the fort, and are making arrangements to annoy the garrison of the citadel from it; their communications are effectually arranged with the corps ".approaching ,the citadel itself, which will in a few days afford another example of the excellence of their school of engineers. The weather has grown cold, and turned to rain. The firing still continues at and from the citadel; that of ail sorts during the night was very heavy, and principally on the French side. • 11 o'etocK.—Persons who have Come from the arsenal state that the breach-batteries will be ready to-morrow. Others think that a mine will be sprung, as General flax° has great con fidence in these mails, which considerably spare the French troops. 1 o'cLocK.—The firing of heavy guns has been very great to day. On the river there has occurred as yet nothing new. The gun-boats opposite the citadel remain in their former places. The weather has turned to drizzling rain. • THE FRENCH ARMY. sv FOURTEENTII DAY OF THE SIEGE. BEECHEN, THURSDAY, DEC. 13, AFTERNa)N.—The cannon ade from the Lower Scheldt is not heavy. In - general the.firing we hear is from the forts and the Dutch vessels, but They fire at too great a distance. The vessels have fired more than a thou sand balls in the course of yesterday, on the right bank of the river, and killed only two men. I had this fact from an officer of the division of General Achard, who is arrived at the Mar shal's. . 2 O'CLOCK.—The weather is clear, and some officers, with the assistance of spy-glasses, can see the interior of the citadel. ~They say they can clearly : distinguish four soldiers hanging! It appears General Chasse is .badly supplied with hospital ne ' cessartes, and that he has demanded from the town of Antwerp lint for the use of his wounded. It was sent to him immediately, 'and at the same time it was intimated, that on the score of hu manity, the Marshal was disposed to permit his sending off his wounded, which he would be obliged either to keep in the citadel or send to the Tete de Flanders, an unhealthy spot. The French medical department have.sent to Chasse two waggon :loads of medicines, lint, &c. for the use of the wounded. HALF-FAST 8,- AT NIGHT.—The greatest tranquillity reigns throughout, and hence it is supposed that hostilities have 'ceased; nevertheless, it is believed the lunette will be blown ui this night. - . FIFTEENTH 'HAY OF THE SIEGE. BERCIIENI, FRIDAY, DEC: 14,• AFTERNOON. — Since 5 'o'clock this morning we have been in possession of the Lunette St . . Laurent. It is an important event, and will facilitate the attack. It animates the spirits of the besiegers, whilst it• greatly dis courages the besieged. When the sap was prepared for the de scent into the fosse, three modes presented themselves to take the fort. One was to attack the gorge by a strong force, by which there was a probability of great loss. The opening of 'the breach by the artillery would be so much loSt time, and the third mode which was Suggested by General Ilaxo, and which was in unison with the principle in which the siege was conduct ed,• was to place a mine in the flank of the lunette. '1 his fast was adopted, and eXectited with brilliant and fortunate results. On the 111th, a raft. Was- construeted under the blindage near the 'fosse. During the night, fourteen ,workmen of the trrigiiree rE; led by an officer, crosscd the fosse, ain't fastening them selves to the left flank of the fort, near the saillant, th e l remained there five hours, during which every means the art could .suggest produced no othdr effect than that e temoving two bricks. The difficulties were such, that in th day following it became a matter of deliberation whether th o should not resort to the more certain, though more tedious, Pr ° ' cess, of opening the breach with artillery. General Haxo P er ;: sisted, -and at 6 o'clock in the evening of the 11th the engine' d crossed the fosse a second time, still unobserved by the besiege. in the fortress, who; by a lucky chance, could not enfilade tbii! fosse, which is not under any . guns but those of the city its e The firing of the besiegers against the citadel was besides at tt time extremely quick, in order to turn off the attention of 1; garrison. To give you an idea of its rapidity, I need only stn that on this night I7;000 cartridges were consumed. After,. hard labour of several hours, and the employment of petaPl the men at last succeeded in destroying a coating of brick,.a n t a thick layer of cement, by which they attained their obie ( A: An excavation was soon made, into which the miners entern Thus these resolute men remained lodged in the very flank . ° f the lunette from the 12th to the 13th, and during this time al had dug to the depth of 30 feet under the . platform of the fe l o f The excavation was in the form of a T, in the upper part' o f which there were three magazines. Yesterday evening e ach b, these magazines was charged with 500 kilograms (10 . , e a English) of powder. The remainder of the night was eln1 31 " ). f iu filling up the excavations with a considerable number ° sacks of earth. It was calculated that the shock produced bY the explosion would throw down a portion of the fosse. Fascia e : were brought up to facilitate the passage immediately e ° r, firing of the mine; the trenches in the vicinity oer, also filled with fascines, to be ready in case of necesst It is now said that at 9 o'clock the officer commanding t":, lunette had a suspicion of what was going on, and c o l or - 11 10 . ' 1 r cated these suspicions to General Chasse, who sent him ans' s° •, that he must be mistaken. Be that as it may, about 4 o'clock T t „ morning every thing being prepared, the train of the in' ti f , was fired. The soldiers then retired within the second paral le _. and in half-an-hour after, a violent explosion, followed by ii eruption of stones, several of which fell at our side, announr n that a , practical breath had been effected. The first detona t i„ was followed by a second, occasioned by the explosion n,„. small magazine of shells and grenades, which had the aPP e '''',:f ance of a brilliant discharge of fire-Works. The garrisot, b ,„ the lunette took the explosion as the effect of a bomb. - shock was very violent; the water was thrown back up to til he e , covered way, and deranged the fascines thrown forward in the fosse. This, however, was soon repaired, and in half-an -h ° a solid footway was made up to the bridge. In the mean ti n : some discharges of musketry, which came from the fort, ay nounced that it had nut yet been abandoned. '1 he elite c° ° „ - panics of the 65th of the line received orders to enter by i t"; breach, and at the same time by the breastwork. This . 6 1. ,e1 was executed with great bravery. M. 13orrelis, Lieut. tfr u j and Lieut. Duverger, both of the 65th, at the head of and men, crossed the fosse, and quickly mounted the breach, ati' d were seen at the top of the slope. '1 here they encountere about 100 Dutch, who after a few charges of the bayonet calle' d for quarter. The officer who commanded them. came forw ar and presented his sword to M. Richepanse, ati officer of the ff sta, who had already arrived in the lunette. During this tint a company of grenadiers had entered by the gorge withon meeting any obstacle, but having to carry ladders with the n ', they - . necessarily lost - some time. The Lunette P o i rent was defended by only 108 men : of this number, nb' t forty availing themselves of the confusi on o f th e nionle 11 ; escaped into the citadel by the gate of the Secours: sixty-fn u ; including the officer - remained prisoners. Of is these, w .° ,; I dangerously wounded. Two underwent a m p u t a ti on t01daY ,3. 4 will not, it. suppose, survive that operat ion . The grea te o attention - has been bestowed on the wounded D u t c hinenA u l r whom their conquerors no longer recognize an enemy. - soldiers were the first to demand, that they should be treate d themselves. The prisoners are in general badly and mea l ' clad, and the greater part Jews. The Dutch officer has more °t a Spanish than a Dutch countenance ; be seems a man of grO, strength of mind, and appeared not at all inclined to answeranit questions put to him. '1 he soldiers say there is much discontet!r in the garrison of-the citadel at the seclusion in which the' Commander keeps himself. There was found in the Lun ette five pieces -of artillery, two of which were mortars. It is stlP posed that in the course of yesterday it was disarmed by t t e Dutch. During the night we had 40 wounded, among w h oa' is the brave Captain Montigny, whom I spoke of yesterdaY• 4 o'cLocx AFrEnNuoN.—Our tire has become more reisse and from this time until the whole of our b a tt er ies be read) ! to t , commence iu breach, we shall not have any thing of line tance to relate. FRANCE. r 2 PARIS, DEC. 15.—1 n the Chamber of Peers, yesterday' h e Marquis de Dreux Breze put the following questions to Minister of Foreign Affairs, but the latter declined to reply • a 1. Will , the taking of Antwerp citadel be succeeded by peace less onerous than that of the last fifty months? r by 2. Is France to be reimbursed by the other powers° a n? Belgium, for the expenses she has incurred in this expel' And 3. Are the strong places in Belgium to remain dismantled' nothwithstanding the treaty to the contrary made by the c ference of London ? To these questions the Minister of Foreign Affairs mad e reply, though pressed more than once to do so. • withthe The French government is extremely embarrassed question of the citadel. That embarrassment it cannot coal-y, Marshal Soult says that when the fortress shall be t Vt •n he "we shall see what is to be done next;" but no memb er au}' speaks with confidence of preserving peace, o r o arrangement. GREECE. According to letters received on Monday from Paris, Prirtse, 6th Instant to take possession of the sovereignty a or (as we must now' call him) King Otho, left Munich on the He was accompanied by the King and Queen about two leagq s on the road; his brother (the Prince Royal) and one ot 1 10 maternal uncles were to accompany him as far as Nal4 e6 " From thence Otho was to proceed by Otranto and Brintl' Corfu, the place of rendezvous for the little army which was to accompany him. It was hilculated that he wouid not be ab' e to reach Nauplia before the end of the mouth 'of January, In the political circles of Munich, great suspicion prevaik e ", that Russian intrigue would be active in throwing difficult ic in the way of the young Sovereign. It is affirmed that the Greek thief, Colocotrini, did not -affect to deny his conneld..l, with that government, and even that letters from Admit,f" Ricord to him, have been discovered, which fully substantiate that fact. To such interference is further . attributed the delai which has occurred in the setting out of Otho on his journt which has had the effect of postponing the expedition to ale 7 unfavourable season of the year, which would render the old age far more trying to the soldiers, none of whom had h a the least experience Of the sea, and who entered on the Wl dertakiug with great reluctance. • Greece,. TURKEY. SMYRNA, Nov. 17.—The situation of the Porte is extreme l y critical ; it is threatened not only by external attack by Ibralto;, Pacha, but by divisions in the Divan itself, which, paralyse a, its movements. There is still in the Divan many adherent s : , the old system, who consider all their misfortunes as c on s en of the innovations introduced by the Sultan, wou impute to him as a crime, that he has slept under th e ire roof with Franks, being of. onion that the Christians In a t ,, use of him to undermine the Mahometan religion. This par has most of its adherents in the' powerful class of the [nein which has lost much of its importance in the state by the il tan's reforms. This party is of course displeased that the the tan seeks assistance from foreign Christian powers agains t in i Arabs, their fellow believers. n the assembly of the Divan'... which the question was put, whether, under such trying eirc uj f; stances, it might not be advisable to apply to the Russian E n t, peror for assistance against Mehemet Ali, such agitation ensu, ed, that the Sultan, dreading more serious consequences,.ca u T, the proposal to be withdrawn, and an assurance to be giv en pi the most influential members of the Divan, that he would n ev i i `e have assented to this step, though he had received from to_ Emperor of Russia many marks of friendship, andto vinced that he was the only foreign monarch who wished vfell' a l t the Porte. While they are debating at Constantino le abort re the propriety . of asking foreign assistance, the Egyp..an s an preparing to make the most advantage of their victories to e a.. . force the hardest terms on, the Sultan. In this critical situ tion, the Sultan must eitherbe defeated or must depart fro m eye course which he has hitherto followed with so much per ses. 4 he ante. He must return to the old system, and behave with the same hypocrisy as Mehemet Ali, that.the great majority of be Mussulmans, who are still rigid adherents to all the forms of t Koran, may consider him as orthodox and themselves bound to obey him. But it is difficult for' the Sultan to ac conittwci at ,..„ c himself to such a part, and, according to his custom, he wilt''' . ther expose himself to the greatest personal nounce the completion of. his reforms. He • have been quite in earnest in the ready withdr posal to apply. to Russia, for we know that ner foot with England for the same purpose. Tr not cause so much dissatisfaction as an appl would do, though many are especially averse 'Sultan will need great energy and prudence under such adverse circumstances. Besides situation of his affairs at home, he has to con F It nave taissi( with that that u he Wu Al( al danger than re- if .t may therefore not drawal of , the pro- tegoc i at i ons are 00 Phis, however, doe C" dieation to HOP' to England. oe,, to support hitoself the unfavourable ntend with an ). j I . It THE PORTUGUESE BUSINESS. We have, after a long interval of silenee, received in telligence from Oporto. It comes down to the 9th inst. The prospects of the Pedroites were daily becoming more and more desperate,—provisions were so scarce, that a proclamation was' hourly expected, limiting the consumption' of fresh meat to the hospitals. A fresh im portation of vagabonds from St. Giles's had been made, and even the Pedroite- accounts describe them as the very offscourings of society. They were brought in the . Lord of the Isles steamer, which passed the Miguelite batteries by hoisting British colburs. If this be not in stantly' inquired into, and severely punished, it is plain that the neutrality in the. Douro is a farce. That Don Miguel's batteries are perfectly able to make the block , ade effectual, was proved by their sinking a French vessel immediately after. Nothing but the respect paid to the EngliSh flag saved the Lord of the Isles ; and, we trust, .-that'after this we shall hear no more of the case of 'the Raven, about which so much has been said. Don Miguel had arrived before Oporto, and the firing both of shot and shells was becoming very hot and de structive. The British battalion was discontented, hold .ing meetings daily to obtain redress for broken promises; and, on the whole,_ the accounts are of such a nature, that we sho'uld not be astonished to hear, by the next ar rivals, that Oporto is in the hands of!Don Miguel.— Standard.