The Sun.
London, England, 1832-12-17 00:00:00

" ORDER OF THE DAY.

" Since the 6th of December the sage has been pushed
to the left bank of the covered road, and the glacis of the
lunette St. Laurent, and to the right of the counter guard,
which leads to the battery of Toledo. A third parallel
has been constructed, of nearly 120 metres, which joins
the road from the foot of the glacis of the lunette St. Lau-
rent, and to the covered way of the counter-guard. The
intrepidity and intelligence of the sappers and miners have
not been belied ; 26 men of this company have been
wounded since the opening of the trenches. The sapper
Ausseil, of the sixth company of the Ist battalion of the
second regiment of genie, has received from the King of
the Belgians the Order of Leopold. The artillery have
constructed and armed new batteries of mortars, howit-
zers, and cannon, before the second parallel : it continues
to distinguish itself by its ability and bravery. Its loss
amounts to five killed and 26 wounded. On the Bth, the
cannoneers Moque and Auseli, of the fourth battery of the
11th regiment, had made themselves conspicuous by the
resolution with which they advanced 100 metres before
the second parallel, i❑ order to cut the streets and hedges
which masked the fire of the small arms of the ramparts,
and for the address with which they silenced several
Dutch soldiers.

" The troops of the line have ably seconded the genie
and the artillery by their constancy and courage in the
works, and in the guarding of the trenches ; they reckon
13 dead and 82 wounded.

" The Adjutant Gilbert and the Clarionet Rajant, of
_ _ _ . .

the 19th Light, deserve mention for their conduct'on the
night of the 7th to the Sth, in seeking near the covered
way of St. Laurent, notwithstanding the strong fire of the
enemy, a wounded Dutchman, whom they succeeded in
bringing to the trenches. The Commander in-Chief is
pleased to bring the names of these brave men to the
knowledge of the army, and to express his satisfaction to
all those who have participated in the operations of the
siege. _ . _

" By order of the Marshal Commander-in• Chief,
" ST. CYR NUGUES."

BERCHENI, HEAD-QUARTERS,

SATURDAY, Two o'CLocK, P. M., DEC. 15. ,
The French have established a battery on Fort St.
Laurent, but have not as yet made any use of it.

There was little firing in the night. This morning
it became brisker. The citadel has bee❑ very silent all
the morning, and the operations of the French have been
confined to the launching a few bombs from Fort Monte-
bello, which tell chiefly in the fosse of the citadel. A
great many bombs fell this. morning on the high road in
Berchem.
The Dutch prisoners taken in the Fort St. Laurent
are to be sent to Valenciennes; the Dutch Lieutenant
left this afternoon, in a diligence, azcompanied by a
French Officer of the Staff.
It is supposed that the French will he prepaitd to corn

Jouti FLEICIING, Esq., then came forward amidst con-
siderable noise and confusion, to say that be would, if
elected, endeavour to correct all abuses, and support all
rational reform—as great an extent of Reform as any honest
man would support. He then attacked the Government
on their foreign policy, and condemned the war with the
Dutch. He opposed the repeal of t'ie corn laws, and com-
plained of an undue influence having been used by the
friends of Lord Palmerston.

Lord PALMERSTON would willingly answer the ques-
tion put to him by his Hon. Competitor, but before he did
so he trusted the meeting would allow him to make some
remarks upon observations made by the Hon. Gentleman,
which applied to the conduct of the Government of which
he was a Member; and, first, he was glad to find that his
lion. Competitor had declared himself a Reformer; how-
ever late the declaration, be was glad to receive it. He
believed, indeed, that there were many other converts to
Reform besides the Hon. Gentleman among the ranks of
those who had adopted the new Jangled appellation of
Conservatives. He hoped that the meaning of the term
was not that they were Conservatives of all existing
abuses. It was, however, a stiking homage paid to the
principle of the great measure adopted by the Government
to find, that no sooner was it carried than many, even of
its bitterest opponents immediately declared themselves
R-formers. But where were these Reformers of the
eleventh hour, when, some few years ago, it was impos-
sible to carry the punishment of proved delinquency ; and
when propositions so limited as those for granting Mein.
bers to three or four great manufacturing towns, and even
fur transferring the franchise-from guilty-East Retford. to
the wealthy and populous Birmingham, were rejected?
Het said that the Government of which he was a Member
gave three pledges when they came into office in 1830—
reform, retrenchment, peace,—and be would show
that all three had been redeemed. How the pro-
mise of Reform had been kept the acclamation of the
whole country proclaimed, and upon that he would
not say another word. But the Hon. Gentleman had
questioned the fulfilment of the promise of retrenchment.
Now, on that point he would state two facts, which he
flattered himself would be decisive. The present Govern-
ment had reduced salaries and diminished offices under the
Crown to the extent of an annual saving of 234,000/.,
but was that all ? they had also reduced the charge of the
public establishments of the country between 1831 and
1832 to the amount of 2,272,6861, per annum. He con-
tended, therefore, that they had fully redeemed their pledge
of retrenchment, coming also as they did after a Govern-
ment who had piqued themselves upon the reducriona
which they had effected. Well, then, as to the third
pledge of peace,—ay, he would take the bull by the horns,
and would not be daunted by the cries of Dutch war,
with, which his ears had been assailed. Why, would gen-
tlemen believe that, in point of fact, there is no Dutch.
war at all,—that England 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 eject-
ment carrying on at Antwerp are not war against Hol-
land ! No, the Ministers have preserved peace; but if
they had not pursued the course which they are doing be-
tween Holland and Belgium, there would have been war,
and a general war, and a war of political principle, which
would have set all Europe in flames. It was, indeed, be-
cause the present Administration bail prevented such a war
that they are most bitterly attacked by those who hoped to
find in such a war a road to political power. Ministers were
resolved to maintain peace, so long as peace can be main-
tained consistently with the interests and the honour of
England ; and he was convinced that however desirous of
peace the people of this country may be, they would not
hesitate to furnish as many stout arms and gallant hearts,
and as ample pecuniary resources as the occasion might re.
quire,
if ever the interests and honour of England re,
iquired an appeal to arms. He well knew that it had 'Jeer(
made a reproach to him and to his colleagues, that, during
their administration the old foe of England had been con-
verted into a friend, and that France, formerly our oppo-
nent in war, was now our associate and ally. For his part
he gloried in admitting the charge, but he left to those
who made it to reconcile this accusation with the ardent
love of peace of which they made such a boast ; seeing
that friendship between England and France is the surest
guarantee for the peace of Europe. Another ground of
charge against the present Government was, that they
had carried into practice the principles of free trade, by
which is meant the principle that the industry and capital
of man shall be unshackled,—that men shall be at liberty
tescuy& where they can buy the cheapest, and sell where
.eitej7.,canjet the best price. He accepted proudly the
ac-
etisatron; he considered it as high praise instead of blame.
He trusted that the days were over when those antiquated
prejudices could prevail which tended to fetter the
industry of man, to prevent the intercourse of nations,
to deprive mankind of those advantages which God
and nature destined for their use. It was stated that the
introduction of foreign products into this country deprived,
British industry of employment, but what is the fact ? Do
foreign nations make us a present of what they send us ?
Certainly not. Then for every 1001. worth of foreign,
manufacture which come in, an equal value of British
Manufactures must go out, and thus the more foreign
comma increases, the greater employment must neces-
sarily
s is
were
raeffeot
rr
supposeddece u at
lo:Eahnna
dgt
the i in%as,nhui,f.
prohibitoryt
wu raess
lawsafonrdh
doi
din
edfnuo
rs
Ivrj yde
rs.
But
time
chat
h
not done ? Every body knows the contrary, and that the
smuggler opened the door which injudicious laws woula
shut. The result, then, was, that foreign manufactures
were introduced, but without contributing to the revenue;
and, on the other hand, demoralizing the population by
teaching them the habitual violation of the law. Be it
remembered, that by free trade be meant the freedom to im-
port every thing subject to the payment of duties for the
purposes of revenue. It had been said that the result of
the free trade system bad been to make our commercial
navy dwindle. He believed that if he had come as well
prepared with documents as his Hon. Competitor, be
should have been able to show that this wasnot the case; for
it so happened that he bad hut teen to an Atneri,

can paper a complaint, supported by documents, prov-
ing that the amount of American -shipping bad progres-'
sively degreased of late years,. acd the amount of British
shipping entering American ports had proPortionably
increased. With regard to the corn laws, he was in one
respect disposed to agree'with-the Hon: Gentleman, for he
thought that the present law• had worked well, and bad
produced a moderate and pretty steady price of corn. On
this subject he would only say, that of all laws those which
relate to the subsistence of the people ought to be handled
with peculiar delicacy, and not to be lightly or inconside-
rately tampered with. The last topic of the Hon. Gentle-
man's speech was that upon which be had been called on
to answer a question. The Hon. Gentleman had asked
him whether every elector who held a situation or employ-
rnent under the Government would be free to vote as he
pleased at this election ; to this he gave an unhesitating
and unqualified reply of yes. He was convinced, indeed,
that the reply was unnecessary, because he did not
believe that any attempt had been made by any
one to exert such influence in his favour. For him-
self, the overwhelming pressure of his official duties,
on the one hand, which prevented him from taking any
pat t in the canvass, and his entire confidence that those
who had done him the honour to invite him had the
pori er as well as the will to make their investigation good,
had prevented him from himself soliciting votes; and be
felt that on this one and only point it would be difficult
perhaps for him to exculpate himself from what might
appear to some a want of due respect to the electors, or a
want of sufficient anxiety for success. He could assure
them, however, that he was guilty of neither. But not
only would he distinctly answer, as he bad done, the ques-
tion which had been put to him, but he would also go
further, and he would say that he hoped and trusted that
none of' those who did him the honour to wish well to his
cause would exert that power which they might possess,
either as landlords or as customers, to control the free
conduct of any elector in his favour in the present con-
test. One of the great merits of the Reform Bill was, that
it swept away the abuse by which individuals existed in
small boniughs—a paramount influence over the votes of
the electors; but if this evil should be now only trans-
ferred—if great proprietors, instead of controlling a small
corporation, should coerce an extensive tenantry, the abuse
would be increased instead of diminished, by being spread
over a wider surface. But he had no fear on that point, as
far as regarded himself and his supporters. All those who
would vote for him would do so with a free and hearty good
will ; they needed no coercion to bring them to the poll ;
they required no menaces to make them give their votes ;
and what was more, upon such men coercion or menace
would have the opposite effect from that which they were
intended to produce. It was the cause, and not the man,
whom they were preparing to support. H. well knew
that in point of personal pretensions there were many
gentlemen who were more qualified, perhar, than himself
to be the object of their choice. It was ou account of the
principles on which he stood that they were goinz, he
hoped, to elect him. In conclusion, he would only say
that, proud as he should be of the high and distinguished
honour of becoming the representative of their free and
unbiassed choice, the seat to which he aspired would only
have value in his eyes by its being so obtained.
Sir G. STAUNTON, Mr. HOY, and Mr. GEORGE, of
Ramsey, then respectively attempted to address the meet-
ing, but the noise and confusion was so great that they all
retired without speaking.
A show of hands was then called for by the Deputy
Sheriff, which he having declared to be in favour of Mr.
Fa ming and Lord Palmerston, Sir George Staunton im-
mediately demanded a poll, which will commence on Tues-
day and Wednesday next, at the hall in the market-place.
It is said Mr. Penleaze will petition against the return
of the Members for this town, on the score of bribery, and
the allowance by the barristers of improper votes.

WORCESTER—(EASTERN DIVISION.) DEc. 15.
The nomination for the election of two Members for the
Eastern division of this county took place this morning.
The candidates were Thomas Henry Cooks and Cengreve
Russell, Esqrs., both Reformers, and John Somerset Pa-
f-ington, Esq., a Tory and stanch supporter of Colonel
Lygon, who was yesterday returned with Air. Foley, with-
out opposition, for the Western division. Mr. Pakington
was first proposed, amidst loud yells and execrations from
the supporters of the other candidates.

Mr: PARINCTON said the elect Ors had been told he hail
changed his principles. He solemnly denied it. He had
been accused of being a Conservative; be gloried in the

name.

Mr. RussELL then addressed the electors, and expressed
his attachment to the principles of the Reform Bill.
The Sheriff Navin; taken the show of hands declared
them to lie in favour of Mr. Pakington and Mr. Cooks,
when a poll was demanded on behalf of Mr. Russell. The
different parties then left the field.

SUFFOLK.—(EASTERN DIVISION.)—DEc. 15.
(From a Correspondent.)
_

Further changes have taken place amongst the candi-
dates to represent the eastern division of the county of
Saffalk. John Fitzgerald, Esq., of Wherstead-lodge, who
came forward with the declaration that he would sup-
port Earl Grey, has just retired. His retirement has not
much surprised; it is only surprising that he held on so
Ling against so many d,fficulties and suspicions. He was
Member for the rotten borough of Seaford, he voted
against its disfranchisement, and gave other corresponding
votes; he then came forward to support Earl Grey, but
afterwards voted against Earl Grey. The county could
not be thoroughly convinced of the sincerity of such ra-
ther sudden conversion. Many declared that they would
prefer the openly avowed Toryism of Lord Hen-
niker and Sir C. B. Vere to such weathercock
principles. His retirement was immediately followed by
the declaration of Mr. Bunbury as a candidate,
the son of Sir H. Bunbury—he who so signally threw
nut " Gaffer" Gooch, but who was obliged to retire on ac-
count of his health. Though Mr. Bunbury has come for-
ward very late, his name and his principles are very popu-
lar. The other popular candidate is Robert Newton
Shawe, Esq., andihis return is deemed certain. Bunbury's
ought to be so.