The Sun.
London, England, 1832-12-06 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM ANTWERP.

(From the Times.)
We have received the following interesting despatch from
our correspondent. The disgusting work of destruction
has begun : the sin be on the bead of the wilful old
King, whose unprincipled ambition is the cause of it

" ANTWERP, MONDAY NIGHT, 11 O'CLOCK.

" The weat► er continues rainy, and adds to the gloom
now overwhelming the city. The police has gone to the
different houses of public resort, to inform all the persons
who choose to quit the town that the two gates shall be
open for their departure, but, once outside the city, none
whatever shall enter. The people now begin to feel the
horrors of quitting their houses, or of running the risk of
losing their lives; some have made up their minds to take
the chance of the city.
" TUESDAY MORNING, 9 O'CLOCK.

" The inhabitants of the city have been in movement
all the morning,—some fleeing from the dangers which
they see likely to destroy their houses and their property.
The officers have been in movement in order to witness
t,e first French fire, which was to take place at 8 o'clock.
Alarm, agitatior, and affright are visible in the groups
collected to look at each other and to hear the news.

" During the last hour Chasse's cannon have been
very silent : a rumour, unhappily unfounded, is circulated
among some of the groups, that a courier has arrived
from Holland, and that the Governor is about to par-
ley : but the best informed shake their heads, to indicate
there is no truth in it.

" 10 O'CLOCK.

" This is St. Barbe's day (in English, St. Barb ira),
the fete-day of the French cannoneers, and before night
they exp,ct to celebrate it with her music. The silent.e
during the last two hours of the cannon of General Chasse
has given much mere anxiety than satisfaction ; it is, as it
were, the last hope of the man doomed to die.

" 11 O'CLOCK.

"M. de Tallenay, secretary of the French embassy at
Brussels, and Colonel Cdradoc, have had a conference, and
it is presumed to relate to the last summons which is to be
sent to General Chasse. The white flag has been waved
from the spire of the cathedral for four or five minutes,
and the officers around have exclaimed, There is some
communication with the citadel.' It is thought to be the
last summons.

" Toe wind has turned to the north, and the weather
has grown clearer, the cannons have begun to roar, the
doubts are removed, the citadel will not yield to the will
of enlightened Europe,—the King of Holland is resolved
to do his worst.

" QUARTER-PAST 11 O'CLOCK.

" Several of the respectable and wealthy inhabitants
hiv. applied to the commandant of the city, Colonel Bu-
ser], for leave to return, after quitting the town, but his
will his fixed. None will be allowed to reenter until it
be known whether Chasse shall fire on the town ; if he
do nor, other measures will be taken, and ingress allowed
to those who obtain permission.
" The troops in the city have been under arms all the
morning ; a regiment of Chas.eurs stand beside their
horses in the Place Vorte. Several cannons are also sta-
tioned near them, in readiness in case necessity arise.
" The French have not yet fired ; the difficulty lies in
the fact, if they will fire from Fort Montebello, which may
compromise the city.
" The number of batteries which they have outside
are stated to amount now to 13, with 60 pieces of artillery
of all descriptions ; nine are for shells.

"HALF PAST 11 O'CLOCK.
" The French have begun to fire principal►y from a bat-
tery between Fort Montebello and the citadel, lying close
on the glacis of the former. The citadel and Fort St.
Laurent, as well as Fort Kiel, have returned the fire. The
city is deserted, and the few inhabitants who remain look
in most painful consternation.

" HALF-PAST 1 O'CLOCK.

" I have been to a high building in order to observe
the firing. The citadel and the Dutch forts appear like
molehills, with casemates. The French fire appears in
general well directed against Fort St. Laurent and the
demiluna behind it, but few Dutchmen make their appear-
ance ; they are all concealed. Several shells have burst in
the citadel ; two bullets from the Dutch, directed on the
b ittery in front, have fallen on Fort Montebello itself.
" The French are said to be at work in the commence-
ment of the Jd parallel. Nothing new in the Scheldt.
The wind and rain, now recommenced, prevent the can-
nons' roar being much heard in the town. Warm work
is expected to-night ; yet it is hoped that the city will not
become the sacrifice of Dutch vengeance. " K."

"BRUSSELS, TUESDAY, 4 O'CLOCK, P.M.

" About an hour ago a staff officer of the Belgian army,
preceded by a courier from Antwerp, rode in here at full
gallop. He is the bearer, I understand, of despatches for
the King.

" The accounts which have just arrived from .Antwerp
give a melancholy picture of the state of the roads bet ern
that place and Mechlin. They are almost blocked up
with crowds of men, women, and children, on foot. on
horseback, and in every kind of conveyance that could be
procured. The roads are almost impassable, except in the
c ntre, which is taken up by the carriages ; the sides,
which are knee-deep, are crowded with pedestrians who
nave been unable to get any conveyance ; many of them
aged men and women, and not a few children of tender
years, who were literally wading through the mud, and
under heavy rain. When Chasse bombarded Antwerp be-
fore he had no shot fired against him, so that he bad not a
gun to silence. He will now have to return the fire of
nearly 300 pieces of cannon, besides 120 mortars. Every
shot or shel!, therefore, which be throws into the city,
merely for the sake of destruction, will be so much de-
ducted from that power with which he has to attack his
assailants, and it is supposed, for the sake of himself and
his garrison, he will feel it necessary to turn all his force
against them.
" The conduct of Chasse in not availing himself of the
power he had to interrupt the operations of the workmen
is still unexplained. It was calculated by some of the
French military authorities that they would lose about
500 men per day in the construction of their works, hut
up to this moment the total number killed did not exceed 40.

" 6 O'CLOCK, P.M.

" The intelligence brought by the officer whose arrival
I noticed above, was, that at half-past 10 this morning
the firing on the citadel was commenced frem the French
batteries, and was immediately returned by a general
cannonade from Chasse. Up to half-past 11 no shot
had been directed against the city. It was, however, so
uncertain, that notice was given to the inhabitants that all
who pleased might leave the city. Notice had been given
to all strangers to hold themselves in readiness to go out,
and when once the gates are abut, there will be no possi-
bility of further ingress or egress during the siege.
" The fire from the citadel, though very brisk, had in the
first hour been very ineffective. The Dutch did not seem
to have yet exactly measured the range within which the
French cannon are placed. Nothing could exceed the
ardour with which the French soldiers worked through
the night to get every thing ready for this morning. Chasse
did not attempt to interrupt them by even a single shot,
and the weather being much more favourable (or rather
less tempestuous, for it was still bad), nearly the whole of
the cannon were placed in battery.

" HALF-PAST 6.

" A messenger, whom I despatched an hour ago to some
distance on the Antwerp road, has just returned, and as-
sures me that the firing is distinctly herd in that quarter.
Vast numbers have gone out to listen. The wind is at pre-
sent from the north, and therefore most favourable for
bringing the sound in this direction." W."
A Brussels paper of Tuesday, but dated Wednes-
day, came with this despatch, but contains nothing which
is not noticed in our private letters.

(From the Morning Herald. )
BERCHEM, Head-quarters of Marshal Gerard.
TUESDAY, 12 O'CLOCK.
ATTACK ON THE CITADEL OF ANTWERP.
The French opened their batteries on the citadel this
morning, at 11 o'clock. The first salute was from 87
pieces. Chasse instantly returned the fire, and both par-
ties are now actively engaged. The first act of Lord
Palmerston's tragedy has commenced—God only knows
where it will end ! I would have given all I possess to have
placed his Lordship in my situation this morning. The
road from Antwerp to Malines was lined with hundreds
of miserable wretches, up to their knees in mud, dragging
their sobbing infants in hand-barrows through a pelting
rain—women, with tender infants at their breasts, falling
down from fatigue and hunger—the aged and bed-ridden
supported on hurdles! Oh ! it would have done his
Lordship essential service to have heard the curses heaped
on the beads of their persecuting friends. About 4,0
, entered 'Malines
carte, lad
olrandienng,waitth9coh,cilldoreekn. and women
The fire of the French commenced from the centre bat-
tery and Fort Montebello. The first volley took effect on
the embrasures of the lunette St. Laurent.
The greatest fear is entertained that Chasse will fire
on Antwerp in consequence of the French having resolved
to avail themselves of Fort Montebello. Yesterday
evening Colonel Buzen and the Regency placarded the
streets with hand-bills, informing the inhabitants that the
attack on the citadel would commence at six o'clock this

morning. Strangers were informed that if they left the
city, they could not return again.
The French are close under the lunette St. Laurent—
the zig-zag reaches to the glacis. _ .

HALF-PAST 1 O'CLOCK.

Chasse has not, up to the present hour, fired on the
city. Orders have been given to the Belgian batteries
a'ong the Scheldt to fire on the Dutch fleet if it should
attempt to mount the Scheldt.
Major Marin Bourgeois has been sent off with despatcl,es
from General D.sprz to the King at Brussels, announcing
the commencement of hostilities by the F ench.
It is reported that the object of the Duke of Orleans's
visit to Brussels yesterday was to inform the King that
unless he permitted Gerard to enter Antwerp, and to at-
tack the citadel from any place be might think proper, he
would, without I esitad .n, raise the siege. The wounded
are to be conveyed to Brussels.

FRENCH PAPERS.

(From Galignanrs Messenger of Tuesday.)

PARIS, DEC. 4 —The Augsburg Gazette of the 30th
ult., states that King Otho of Greece, accompanied by
his brother, the Crown Prince of Bavaria, was to set out
on December 3 for Naples, and remain there until the
fleet from Trieste with the troops on board shall have ar.
rived off Brindisi, when the Monarch will embark for
Greece.

A letter of the 21st ult. from Genoa says—" Ferdinand
11., King of the two Sicilies, has this day completed his
marriage with the Princess Mary Christina, and the Royal
pair received the nuptial benediction this morning from
the hangs of Cardinal Morozzo, in the church of N. S.
dell' Aqua Santa. The municipality has granted dowers
to twelve young girls on the occasion, and this evening
the city will be illuminated."
We bear that simultaneous applications have het n ad.
dressed to the French Cabinet by the Courts of N.ples,
Turin, and Rome, on behalf of the Duchess of Berry.—
Temps.
The Journal de la Guienne states, that so numerous
are the applications for communicating with the Duchess
of Berry, that the authuriiies have been obliged to make
use of lithographed circulars to answer them.
Letters from Perpignan, of the 23d and 24th ult., state
that the waters of the rivers Tet, Tee, and Agly, being
swollen by the late abundant rains, and driven back by
violent gales from the sea bowing directly into their
mouths, have broken their banks, done great damage, and
stopped all communication between Perpignan, Pott-
vendre, Collioute, and St. Laurent. A Swedish vessel
was wrecked on the 24th, but the crew were saved.
Eight vessels, French and foreign, have been lost on the
coast of the Herault, but neither the names of the ships,
nor the countries they belonged to, are stated.
A violent eruption of Mount Etna, which took place on
the 17th and 18th ult., destroyed Bronte, a town situated
nine leagues from Catania, and containing a population of
10,000 persons.

It is said that the Duke of Orleans has expressed to
Marshal Gerard considerable disappointment, because the
latter would not allow him to take part in an attack upon
the citadel out of his turn, which the Prince asked as a
favour. Trie Marshal is said to have replied to his Royal
Highness, that before the enemy there was no precedence
given to rank, and that every one must wait fur his turn.
—Temps.
Extract of a letter of the 28th ult., from Rotterdam :
" Scarcely had the word landsturm (levy en masse) been
pronounced by the King, when volunteers poured in from
ail parts, and those who were more than 50 years of age,
and consequently did not come within the terms of the
appeal, were the first to offer themselves. Never was a
more complete unanimity or greater enthusiasm seen."
With the French army now before Antwerp are the
Duke dlitria, son of Marshal Bessieres, Aide-de-Camp to
Marshal Gerard ; the Prince d'Eckmuhl, a Quarter-
master in the 4th Chasseurs ; the Prince de la Moscowa,
and the Duke d'Elchingen, sons of Marshal Ney, the one
a Captain in the sth Hussars, and the other an Aide-de-
Camp to the Duke d'Orleans. The Duke d'lstria and the
Prince d'Eckmuhl are Peers, and the Prince de la Mos-
cowa has also been created a Peer, but has not taken
his seat.

(From the Nouvelliste of Tuesday, received this morning.)
ANTWERP, DEC. 1.-Several Belgian engineer officers,
undrr the direction of Major Dessau], arc engaged in the
works of the siege of the citadel of Antwerp. in concert
with the French officers.

Colonel Buzen has established signals upon the towers
of the cathedral which correspond with the armies of
Flanders and Loire. They have been in motion ever since
the commencement of hostilities.

CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES.—SITTING OF DEC. 3.
M. Gaetan de la Itochef.ucauld wished, before the next
paragraph was adopted, to call the attention of Govern-
ment to a circumstance which pressed heavily on the
commerce of France : he alluded to the embargo on
Dutch vessels, and vessels bound to Dutch ports. Ab-
stractedly he considered it unjust that individuals should
be made to share in the evils consequent on wars under-
taken by Governments.
M. C. Dupin said that the preceding speaker had
confounded embargo and capture ; the former, in the pre-
sent instance, was a simple measure of humanity adopted
to prevent the cruel destruction to which the city and in-
habitants of Antwerp were at this m.unent threatened to
be exposed. He therefore considered any alteration or
amendment unnecessary.—(Loud applause.)
M. Demarcay (from his place) said that be could not
admit that it was just to punish the owners of the Dutch
vessels for the faults of the Dutch Government with regard
to Antwerp.
M. CharlesDupin (from his place) explained that he did
not speak of the embargo as a measure of reprisals for in-
juries sustained, but as a means of preventing the evils
threatened against Antwerp.
The Minister of the Marine said that the embargo was
the result of a diplomatic convention, but that every pre-
caution had been taken for the protection of French in-
terests.

M. Odillon Barrot said that the principles of public
right were, that private property in countries at war with
each other should not be affected by the hostilities of the
Governments, and he could not understand why private
property, in a state of transit by sea, should not be pro-
tected in a similar manner.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs said that M. Barrot
had confounded the principles of maritime war with those
of war on land. He would not pretend to assert that the
system of making prices of private vessels and property du-
ring the continuance of a war between two Governments
was a good system, or one which ought to be perpetually
continued, but it was now so universally acted upon by all
the Governments of Europe, that if any one country were
to abandon it, it would neglect its own interest without
meeting with reciprocal fursearance.

The conversation here dropped, and the paragraph was
adopted, as were also the pargraphs 12 and 13.
On paragraph 18, relative to Poland, being read,
M. Bignon proposed to substitute for it the following :
" The interest which France feele in an heroic people has
increased with the unheard-of misfortunes which over-
whelm it. The dear cause of the nationality of Poland,
guaranteed by the right of nations and by treaties, will
not have ceased to occupy the attention of Government.
Events change, justice and right never change. If the
voice of European policy, which we are confident will not
always speak in vain, has not yet been able to gain atten-
tion, from this moment at least let the cry of humanity be
heard." M. Bignon, in developing the amendment, after
remarking that Representative Assemblies and Govern-
ments were in different situations, inasmuch as the latter
were frequently compelled, from the situation of negotia-
tions, to be silent on subjects on which it was the duty of
the former to speak, and that, therefore, the insertion of
a paragraph respecting Poland in the address did not imply
any censure on Ministers for not having mentioned it
in the discourse from the Throne, expressed his opinion
that the allusion to that unhappy country made by the
Committee in the address was not sufficiently strong.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs said,—Gentlemen, the
Hon. Member who last addressed you wisely observed
that there are circumstances under which it behoves the
Government to be silent. Amongst these circumstances
those in which the question of Poland is placed stand
pre-eminent. Every one of you, Gentlemen, must per-
ceive that being reduced to employ only expostulations and
exert an influence purely. moral, our Government ought to
place itself in the most favourable position possible with
regard to that of St. Petersburgh. I shall not discuss the
ain,ndineot which has just been submitted to you. The
Government on this point throws itself upon the wisdom
of the Chamber. It simply submits that irritation is not
for the interest even of Poland. I therefore shall content
myself with repeating that we appeal to the wisdom of the
Chamber.
General Lafayette supported the amendment. He al-
luded particularly to the gratitude which France owed to
Poland for having, by the revolution of Warsaw, prevented
the advance of Russia against the French revolution of
1830. He depicted in vivid colours the barbarities to
which the Poles were subjected, the tearing of children
of the tenderest age from their mothers, the banishment of
300,000 individuals to the Caucasus, the enrolment of
Poles of all ranks as private soldiers in the Russian army,
the suppression of Universities, the persecution of the

national religion, and the confiscation of property without
regard even to the rights of creditors. The amendment of
M. Bignon went, he said, rather further than the para-
graph of the commission, and therefore he supported it.
After the Hon. General had concluded,M. Levrault ad-
vanced towards the tribune, but the cries for a division
were so numerous that the President put it to the vote
whether the discussion should be closed ; the negative was
carried by a small majority, on which M. Levrault took
possession of the tribune, and read a discourse, of which
not an entire sentence could be beard, amidst the incessant
cries of " Aux voix" from the opposition. We under-
stood the purport of the speech to be that the paragraph
of the commission was all that ought to be said on the
subject, because the Emperor might be induced to use
further severity towards his revolted subjects if a foreign
nation were imprudent enough to use threatening language
in their behalf.

The amendment was then put to the vote and adopted
by a very l irge majority, only about 20 deputies in the
centres rising against it.—(Great applause.)
General Lafayette proposed the insertion of the following
sentence before the 19th paragraph :—" The avowed
object of the expedition to Ancona having been to pro-
tect that portion of Italy from the encroachments of a
n•iglthouring intervention, and your Majesty's Ministers
having at the same time announced the speedy realization
of the institutions promised to the Roman States, we shall
hope to ;earn, from communications by Government, that
in the various te'ations resulting from this measure the
honour of the tricoloured flag has not b.•en in any respect
compromised." The Hon. General, in support of this
proposition, said that though, from respect for• the Cham-
ber, he had employed a tone of doubt in his para-
graph, his own conviction amounted to certainty. The
tri• coloured flag, which, according to the Journal drs
Debats, waM to represent the principle of liberty at An-
cona, had been displayed there in vain. The liberal in-
stitutions promised by the Pepe, and guaranteed by the
French Government, had never been granted ; the
Ambassador of France had sanctioned the dissolution of
the Civic Guard, the best defence of liberty ; and the only
answer to the remonstrances of the oppressed Italians was
an excommunication. He was even told that the French
commander (probably in pursuance of the instructions he
had received) had ordered the arrest of the printers en-
gaged in preparing a protest against that excommunica-
moo. The Hon. General added, th it even the
liberation of the prisoners at Venice—victims of
Aus,rian piracy—was not complete, as General Zuc-
chi was still in strict confinement, and others had
been sent to Milan, where they were imprisoned
anew. Six P,iodenese refugees also had lately been
seized in the Papal States, and sent back to Modena.
If it he asked, continued the Hon. General, what
we could have done, I reply, we should have done what
an English Minister, Mr. Seymour, has done—complain
loudly and publicly of the breach of positive engagements.
We should have consulted with Mr. Seymour, instead of
with the Austrians, if we wished to obtain the fulfilment
of the promises which have been so shamelessly violated.
On all these points I demand an explanation from the Ad-
ministration.

The Minister of the Marine explained that the object of
the expedition to Ancona was not a hostile one, but merely
to act as a counter check to that of Austria, and to assert
an equal right of interference. A promptitude of execu-
tion (continued the Hon. Minister) arising from fortuitous
circumstances, or from military ardour, always praise.
worthy in a French soldier, militarily speaking, but in
this instance followed without reflection, brought out ves-
sels before Ancona sooner than had been expected. The
officer who commanded them, impelled by a feeling which
I will not characterize, and acting perhaps under inte-
rested information, did not wait for the arrangements which
were in progress at Rome, but precipitated the occupation
of the town and citadel. By this act, I will not say of
rashness, but of blameable impetuosity, the character of
the expedition appeared for the moment to be changed,
and I must say perverted.
M. Sa'verte said that the Minister had not replied to
the most important part of General Lafayette's speech, or
stated whether the expedition had produced its effects, and
whether the long-promised institutions had been granted ;
as, if not, the honour of France was compromised.
The amendment was put to the vote, and rejected by a
large majority.
The 19th paragraph was adopted without observation.
M. Cormenin proposed to add, alter the words " respon-
sibility of Ministers," "and other agents of power."
The Minister of Justice did not object to this, as the
bill to brought in would include all classes of functionaries.
The amendment was then adopted.

M. Lefebvre considered that the adoption of the amend-
ment rendered it necessary to omit the word " independ-
ence," as that ought not to apply to subordinate agen,s, who
must be dependent en their superiors in authority ; but
M. Charles Dupin and M. Laurence urged that inde-
pendence, in a moral sense, was equally in the power of
the lowest and the highest functionary, and that the ex-
pression could not imply any want of proper subordina-
ton.

M. Lefebvre did not press his rbjection, and the pa-
ragraph, as amended by M. Cormenin, was adopted.
On the 22d paragraph, relative to the diminution of
public expenses.
M. Dulong proposed the following amendment :—" We
hope also that, in order to pay to the people the debt of
the revolution of July, your Government, Sire, will seek
out every means of alleviating the public burdens, parti-
cularly those which weigh upon the poorer and suffering
classes, by a diminution of the public expenditure, and by
a better distribution of the taxes ; and that it will endea-
vour to put an end to the state of provisoire which em-
barrasses and complicates the collection of the public reve-
nues, and to limit, with greater strictness, the expenses
to the grants accorded by the budget."
M. Charles Dupin said that the amendment implied a
censure on the Government for not having endeavoured to
atneliorwe the condition of the lower classes. He would
show how unjust this was.—(The orator was here inter.
rupted by loud cries of" Question ;" he asserted the liberty
of the tribune, and the President with considerable diffi-
culty succeeded in obtaining comparative silence.) He
then proceeded to read a series of calculations, to prove
that since the revolution of July the taxes which weighed
most heavily on the consumer had been reduced, while
those which affected particularly persons of property only
had been increased.

The amendment of M. Dulong was put to the vote and
rejected. Several other amendments being rejected the
Chamber then proceeded to ballot upon the ensemble of the
address. The following was the result of the scrutiny :
For the address
Against it ll9
Majority for Minsters -114
The President afterwards drew the natn.-s of 20 mem-
bers to form the grand deputation to present the address
to the King, and announced that his Majesty would
receive them on the morrow (to•diy) at H. o'clock.
Messrs. M iuguin, Dupont de l'Eure, and Laffitte, are
among the deputies on whom the lot fell.--Adjourned.