The Sun.
London, England, 1832-08-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

In our Paper of Thursday, we gave reasons
which appeared in our judgment sufficient to
warrant the King of Belgium in refusing his
assent to the late propositions of Holland. W e
mentioned at the same time, that we did not
consider the Conference of London so incon-
sistent, or absurd, as to have signed the two new
protocols, of which the Belgic Papers have ac-
cused them of being the authors. It is evident,
however, that though the representatives of the
Five Powers are resolved not to make them-
selves absolutely the laughing-stock of. Europe
by the further issue of useless determinations in

the shape of protocols, they decline to enforce
the treaty of the 24 Articles, and that further
modifications of its provisions are still to be ex-
pected. The Dutch Plenipotentiaries, in sub-
mitting their project to the Alliance, took care
to say that the resolution of their master was
not " final and irrevocable," like that of the
Conference, whose decrees had been so often
changed ; but that his Dutch Majesty would
still make further concessions, if necessary, to
preserve their good graces. It was naturally
asked what these concessions might amount to,
and in the height of his satisfaction for even ad-
mitting the possibility of his counter-project,
his Dutch Majesty agreed to some unimportant
modifications. But the main points of difference
between him and the Government of Belgium
are as far from adjustment as ever,—we mean
the evacuation of the Belgic territory as a preli-
minary to negotiation, and the recognition of
the right of the commercial world to the free
navigation of the Scheldt as its inevitable result.
Without the concession of the former, Leopold
is pledged to his legislative Chambers and to his
people, that he cannot even enter upon any new
course of negotiation. If he ventured, there-
fore, to send an Ambassador, to write a de-
spatch, or to propose a discussion on the sub-
ject of peace with Holland, while this neces-
sary basis of all negotiations is denied him, he
would be placing himself beyond the pale of
t r
, andn and to
But re Englandconstitutional law,—he would be breaking a
sacred engagement with the nation, and might
justly forfeit the esteem and confidence of those
whose honour and independence he had
failed to rqpresent, when deposited most
solemnly in his hands. The Conference, in supposing that King Leopold
can do any thing to release them from
their obligation to resist the new propositions of
Holland, or to preserve the peace of Europe, at
the expense of his people, forget the delicacy of
his position, and hazard the security of his
crown. He is a constitutional Monarch, sup-
porting the interests and concurring in the views
of the people by whom he was elected, or he is
nothing. He cannot promise to the Chambers
to demand the evacuation of the Belgic territory
as a preliminary to any modification of the 24
Articles, and remain one day on his throne, if,
in spite of his engagement, he sneaks back to
Downing-street to forfeit his word. Out of re-
gard,ro in t,haer robeffyot rht ehe,enfceo%rov
Conference,
King, whose
w,e andhlaonsde fhr
from
embarrassingillndsp ea arece
te d
from
situation
by
uue
though
the are called upon to in-
terfere, pledges to his own people, the Governments
of r
fe France
immediateno
reasonable
ac upa irid,oen
o
engagement,
entertaining
a discussion th e Koi ono. t
hoef
Belgiumof
f Antwerp.s olm
e m
points of difference before both parties had re-
tired within the limits of their respective States,
the new project of Holland would be inadmis-
sible for a moment, so long as it contained the
restrictions of the 7th article on the navigation
~f the Scheldt. The merchants of Antwerp,
and the commercial interest of all the Belgic pro-
vinces, are naturally thrown into alarm by the ex-
traordinary pretensions of his Dutch Majesty on
this point, and by the countenance supposed to be
given them by the Conference ofLondon. Antwerp
is not only a great emporium of Belgic trade,
but its only emporium. It is not only a seat of
Belgic business, but the very magazine and
counting-house of all its foreign wealth and
transactions. It is the heart which receives the blood
of its commercial system, and propels it to the ex-
tremities by its canals and other channels of coin.
munication. The Scheldt is the great artery of
this system, and, if obstructed, the system goes
to immediate ruin and dissolution. The agri-
culture of Belgium would languish without a
market—the Belgic manufacturers might imme-
diately abandon their business, if the port of
Antwerp were again dosed. Without the free
navigation of the Schelth, the trade of Belgium
could not exist. Even Belgium itself would
cease to be an independent Power. Without
the port of .Antwerp, King Leopold might ab-
dicate to.morrow. He might as well throw his
Crown into the Scheldt as subject to foreign
restraints the noble port which adorns its
banks. To those at at all acquainted with the
history of European commerce, it requires only
a hint to recall the past magnificence of this
great emporium of trade, and its perpetual
dependence on the free navigation of the Scheldt.
From the middle of the 15th century till the.
religious dissensions in the Netherlands, it NV as
the most prosperous commercial city of Europe.
When the freedom of its noble river was made a
sacrifice to Dutch monopoly and jealousy by
the treaty of Westphalia, it fell into a decay which
lasted 150 years ; and since the late peace,
which only restored its general rights, with-
out conferring upon.it any exclusive privileges, it
-- 0-
penance. By the present proposals of the Dutch
to subject the Scheldt to the legislation provided
for the navigation of the Rhine, the freedom of its
trade would be destroyed, and the treaty of
Munster would be virtually renewed. The so.
vereign claims of Holland would be acknow-
ledged, and the vexatious exercise of authority
would soon follow the recognition of the right to
the pos-
oisnepispns
iri
ooe
nsns. soofnltthbeois t
both
rrsuoiedv
ciaet
of
tohfe Holland,zs es
ecai;
but the
Scheldt, in the whole of its course through the
Dutch territory, resembles rather an arm of the
sea than an inland river, It does not, like the
Rhine, require any repairs upon its banks. It
does not, like the Rhine, require a lowing
way for cattle. to drag vessels up its waters. It
does not, like the Rhine, require any police re-
, gulations for parties likely to disembark in Hol-
' land. It is as free and as open as the Thames
at the Nore, and capable of being navigated by
the greatest ships of war. Yet it is on this
river, so incapable of becoming a source of ex-
pense or annoyance to Holland—so different
from other inland streams••••••se necessary for the
trade of Belgium,—and hitherto, since the
peace, so free to tha ships of all nations, that
the Dutch insist upon imposing restraints, or
erecting demands of tribute. If the Conference
countenance such a claim., the trade of Antwerp
is at an end.. His hutch Majesty mu-
destly proposes such heavy tong, by a•similating
its navigation to that of' the Rhine, as would
effectuallyshut it uu; but even though the duties

themselr
were tr, the delay, the visit,
the search, rd vexations to which the ship-
ping would e`e salt jetted, would be equivalent to
the heaviest it npof ,itions. The native merchants
of Antwerp h 'aye naturally taken up the proth-
tion of their co mmercial privileges with zeal.
Though their ',town is liable to bombardment
every minute,tlie it cry is " Let our persons and
property be s,acraficed rather than our rights
abandoned." All Belgium echoes the cry, and
the King could not yield to the Dutch claim
with the least chance of retaining his crown. He
has been addressed to this effect by the com-
mercial body of Antwerp. This same body
has sent a deputation to the Conference of Lon-
don to represent the iniquity of the Dutch pro-
ject. The English merchants in Belgium have
transmitted a petition to Lord Palmerston, our
Foreign Minister, to the same effect ; and we
hope that such a monstrous Dutch pretension
wiii be scouted with the indignation which it
deserves. Englishmen more peculiarly have a
right to speak in support of the free trade of
Antwerp. It was by the association of " Eng-
lish merchant adventurers" that, in 1446, the
prosperity of this great city was founded, and at
the most flourishing period of its annals, before
Alva's butcheries or Dutch monopolies, we find
that English traders gave employment to
20,000 of its inhabitants. The .English mer-
chants within its walls are still wealthy and re-
spectable, and our Plenipotentiary at the Con-
ference should see that neither they nor Belgium
can be sacrificed to Dutch jealousy or Orange
rapacity with impunity.— Times.
The deep interest which the Duke of Welling-
ton takes in the cause of Don Miguel is very
inconsistent with his own conduct when Premier,
of advising his Sovereign to acknowledge Donna
Maria as lawful Queen of Portugal, though at
that time she had not a foot of ground in actual
possession within her dominions ; and now she is
by her forces in possession, not only of the
Azores, but of the second city of Portugal. The
Duke of Wellington did not " recognize" Don
Miguel when he was in complete occupation of
the kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves, ex-
cept as a usurper. What special revelation has
been made to the Duke of the legitimacy of the
usurper's title, since the young Queen has taken
active measures for the recovery of her lawful do-
minions, it is impossible to conceive. If the
Duke were of the Popish faith, we should be
inclined to believe that a monk tand a crucifix
had wrought that miraculous conversion of his
opinion as to the rights of the belligerent claimants
of the throne of Portugal. The Duke states, as a
reason why Government should put an end to the
contest in Spain by acknowledging Don Miguel,
the circumstance that Don Pedro, with all his
force, had made no progress in the course ofa whole
month. The fact of his occupation of Oporto
not having led during the time mentioned to any
further result, we do not mean to dispute ;
still, by that occupation, the Queen's Govern-
ment is de facto established at Oporto, and her
title as Queen de jure will not be denied by
the Duke, who had recognized it himself. Thus
all that is requisite to the exercise of the rights of
full sovereignty the Queen possesses in the second
city of her dominions ; and is that the time in
which our Government should say, " We re-
cognized you, as the Duke of Wellington did,
when in power, as the lawful Sovereign of Por-
tugal. You were then an exile from Portugal,
every portion of which groaned under the iron
rod of the sanguinary and monstrous dominion
of the usurper. But now that you have wrested
the second city of Portugal from his grasp—
now that you have planted your banner, by the
aid ofa handful of brave men, upon the walls of
Oporto, we will retract our recognition of your
title—we will break the faith we pledged to
you—we will throw all the weight of the influ-
ence of Great Britain into the scale against
you,---by declaring that he whom we
L aided and denounced as a perfidious
usurper, is the legitimate King of Portu-
gal, and not the treacherous robber of the diatlen)
of his niece—not the perjured violator of the
Constitution, which he had solemnly sworn to
protect." Such conduct as this, on the part of
our Ministry, could only be adequately described
by stating that it would involve so much of po-
litical baseness and perfidy as would prove they
were qualified for the most intimate union they
could form with such a character as Don Miguel
—invested as he is with all the attractions of an
ianominious celebrity. The admiration of the
Duke of Wellington for despotic principles is,
unhappily, but too well known to the world ; but
on this occasion he has given advice to Ministers
which, if in power, we venture to say he would
not act upon himself. But the Duke says that,
if Don Pedro succeed at all, it must be " by
military means, and contrary to the wishes of the
inhabitants." This argument against the over-
throw of one dynasty, and the restoration of
another, comes with peculiarly ill grace from the
Duke of Wellington, the conqueror, who at the
head of foreign bayonets drove Napoleon
from the throne of France, and restored
the Bourbons, " contrary to the wishes of
the inhabitants ;"—for, whatever might have
been the conduct of Talleyrand, Marmont, and a
few intriguers, the French people never wished
to see the faces of the Bourbons again ; yet the
Duke restored them by military force, and the
wishes of the people were nothing, when weigh
ed in the scale against the logic of the bayonet

It is only when such a precious despot as Don
Miguel is put in danger of his ill-got power that
the Duke objects to the use of military means,
and thinks that nothing ought to be done except
by the spontaneous efforts of the people. But
onithenrininigy
and the prisons crammed to excess with captives,
charged with disaffection, notwithstanding the
numbers that have perished on the scaffold, or
by the secret cruelties of the dungeon, afford
ample proof of the sort of attachment which the
better informed classes of the Portuguese, who
are not the ignorant slaves of priestcraft, have
for the paternal dominion of Don Miguel
—a dominion gained by the foutea trench.
ery, and only retained by the sword. The
Duke adds that " if the invasion should succeed,

nothing could be hoped or expected but a con-
tinuance of the war in that unhappy country,
which would spread itself into Spain." Cer-
tainly, should Spain think proper to interfere in
the internal affairs of Portugal, as, by the large
army concentrated on the frontiers, she is evi-
dently prepared to do, if a favourable opporitt-

nity- should offer, the war will spread into Spain,
and possibly consume in its flames the absolute
thrcne of the " pious and beloved" Ferdinand

hire elf. If this should happen, the Spanish
c-taßs of the Duke of Wellington will, in all

possibility, pass away with the absolute throne.
Indeed, if it were not for the bayonets of those
Bourbons whom the Duke was so instrumental

in restoring to the throne of France, against the
wishes of the people, Ferdinand must have con-
tented himself with a Constitutional sceptre, or