The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1832-12-18 00:00:00

THE PORTUGUESE BUSINESS.

• DON PEDRO stands in the perdieament. of a man who
has displeased everybody. The English volunteers, who
flocked to his standard with good will and in high spirits,
are out of patience with the treatment they have recently
ekperienced ; ,and it is now generally believed that .the
cause of the young Queen is hopeless.. The Portuguese
are either indifferent to her claims,. or secretly favourable
to the usurper. But how are we interested .in a struggle
which cannot.terminate satisfactorily either way ? If the
people of Portugal are not much concerned in the ques-
,tion of the monareliy, why should other nations embroil
themselves in the quarrel ? DON MIGUEL seems to have
ealculated wisely upon his. strength, and to have taken
the measure of. popfilar attachment with some accuracy.
The priests rule, the people, and MiquEL rules the priestS,
and the ergo is inevitable. ,Perhaps,,the whole value of
the contest is to prove that apeople cannot be 'benefitted
against their will. When a nation :becomes accustomed
to servitude,- and to lie doWn. in 'easy acquiescence under
an iron despotism, the.attempt to revive its spirit is often
as ungrateful as it is difficult of accomplishment.—Atla.i.
STATE OF OPORTO.—The Chronicle of this morning
contains:a letter,
.-:signed J. B. Dixon, J. F. Lumley, and
H. Wilkins, who state that they "left. Oporto on the morn-
ing of the Ist ult., in the Britomart, with twenty-five'
officers of Don Pedro's service, disgusted, like ourselveS,
with "the utter embecility 'morgue aristocratique,' 'and
total want of honesty of. those engaged. They proclaim
the cause totally and irrevocably lost.. The foreign troops.
will fight.for their lives, and that is all. Three sorties'
having been latterly made for the purpose of -driving a
few pigs and bullocks within our lines : fresh provisions
procured in this manner are not, as you may suppose,
plentiful, and salt rations had been issued for more than
a fortnight previous to our departure. Pay has been un-
known for months among the officers. The troops, some-
times, when pressed, extract a few dollars by making the
'ruling few uneasy,' and thus only do they find a tempo-
rary relief. The' town (that is, when we left) was bom-
barded day and night in a capital and effectual style. The
south bank of the Douro and Villa Nova was studded with
pfiests and guerillas, whose rifles are most assiduously
employed in picking off anything that might hit their fan-
cy on the adverse side (about a quarter of a mile). The
,Miguelite batteries above are-tremendous—and one lately-
constructed at the entrance of the port is a perfect citadel,
and capable of blowing anything out of the water that
might attempt to enter—in fact, a complete blockade.
The letter is conceived in the spirit, and written in the
language of disappointed men, but so much falsehood has
been palmed on the public to bolster up Don Pedro's
cause, that a little exaggeration on the other may prove
whole some."—Atlas, Saturday Evening.

THE Wino CONSTITUTION.:—Oh ! but who need fear, when
Earl Grey,_ the prime-minister, still • enchants . enlightened
cockney, lord mayors, aldermen,. shopkeepers, mechanics, and
female dealers in small politics and faded impurity, with pro,
fessions of attachment to English institutions,? His Lord-
ship's-egotism; battered into blindness and,deafness, still war-
bles, amidst general scorn, eulogies .on his_perfections. Ac-
cOrding to,his public words and deeds-, what English institution
enjoys his favour? The Crown, possessed of its constitutional
powers and uses? ,-No; he has done'.his utmost to make it the
bauble of the democratic multitude. The Cabinet, limited on
the one hand and invested with discretion on the other, as the
constitution prescribes ?... No! he insists it ought to be the
tool of the democracy, and, in the hands of the latter, an
unlimited tyranny. The aristocracy, duly qualified to balance
the democracy?
•No ; he maintains it ought not to balance,
and he has suppressed it, save as make-weight to the demo-
cracy. The house of Commons in. constitutional equipoise,
touching restraint as well as .power, with the other estates of
the realm? No; he declares it ought to. be in effect the sole
estate—a despotic executive; and to• make it this he has prac-
tical.y destroyed the other estates. The. House of Lords, in
its constitutional use of acting as a check and limit to the other
house of Parliament and the Crown ? No; he has, in both
intention and deed, made it their abject menial. The Church,
in her constitutional possesions and ascendancy ? No ; she
has to sustain, respecting both, his regular hostility. The
democracy, armed with power and privilege, but balanced, dis-
abled, and limited, as' the constitution directs? No; by doc-
trine and act he proclaims that it ought to• be unbalanced—
despotic—the reverse of the democracy established by the con-
stitution. Speaking" of the Whole, isle' friendly to our mixed
fbrrn of government? No, he is so far from being so, that he
has mane it what he avers it should be—in operation, a demo-
cracy. Ilow, then,. can this minister have the hardihood to
call himself, even to Cockney auditors, a friend to the institu-
tions of England ? The. late declaration of Lord J. Russell,
regarding the vote by ballot, and the other fuel cast by the
Whig Mmisteis from time to time on the revolutionary flame,
render it abundantly manifest that these ministers will aid in
producing the fatal catastrophe. They may at distant inter-
vals affect resistance, they may even pretend to defend the
citadel, but they will first give the garrison, guns,, and keys, to
the enemy.—Eraser's Magazine,

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE•
lIOLLAND AND BELGIUM:

THE SEIGE OF ANTWERP.
We continue our extracts from the Correspondence of tie
Times :
ANTWERP, DECEMBER 10, MONDAY NIGHT, 10 o'CLO,
—The firing is this night very constant on the Dutch side; 'l,,
cannon, the mortars, -the howitzers, and principally the
ketry are employed. From the roof of a high building, on whilst
1, with an officer, took a station to make observations, -60 e
as the darkness of the night would allow, it seemed as 0
French were either making a real or sham attack on the •re
.„ d,
St. Laurent. The .fire of musketry and the throwing of hared
.grerrades was incessant in that direction. The citadel I:.ieh
shells from -mortars and howitzers to a great height, wf;to
showed the French troops to .be near. The French are saT",
have attempted last week to get into the gorge
,between ci
• Laurent and the citadel, with the intention Qf attacking l¢
then • but.the fortifications in, the point of the opposite luni,ert,
of the citadel, with the corresponding entrance into the '13.."0
and the covered way leading between them, being studded '0:11
• loop-holes and well defended, threw the greatest obstacles
. the way. - Determined to spare their men, the French en%)
neers have for some days constructed works to enable therakt,
attack without much risk, ,of which use seems made this fligic.s,
The musketry fire continues without ceasing—not in plalo°o
but rather in single, shots. The shells are numerous, so anal
o.
four are seen together in, the air, and the heavy 16 an
pounders fill up 'the tremendous chorus, while an occasio
pot de feu is thrown out_to cast a light over the dreadful scenC',
It cannot be doubted," said a British officer, ‘‘ thatn
Dutch defend their position well, while they endure such
.a
severe fire.", , The citadel, the bnildings, the tastions, &C. intthio
suffer dreadfully ; those who consider the obstinacy 9f, not
Dutch Monarch, and the resolution of the garrison, Wl' pyo
hesitate to allow , the nation the praise of courage.• It is ,;iig
true, that the garrison had two years to prepare,—that in't." "ati
' has been spared for the defence, and that the soldiers ad
artillerymen are as safe in their position as- they can be blid
iog
their blinds, bud under their casemates ; yet the uniuterne jo
sounds of destruction are fatiguing to even the listeneriScite
Antwerp. So great is the musketry fire, that a French so' 4,
who left the trenches this evening, stated there were 200 rel The
fired, so that the muskets were rendered of little value.
ao
great defence of the garrison is said to be, beside the
09
mates, the erection of mounds, which effectually prevent
enfilading fire from doing them greatinjurv• the!
While some persons imagine that on this night, which„
regard as exceedingly favourable to the operations of the or
sergers, the fort of st: Laurent is to be attacked; otheis cc of
tend,
.from the short .fire directed by the Dutch in the been°,
the contregarde, between the citadel and the Fort Monteh,bot
' where one of the French sappes is stated to he at ,work, 'that
something effectivis_ psppAring,Aligie. It is alio believe. 4 ,-701
the miners are at work as well there as nearihe fort3l.
rent, _ the results of which, will soon make themselve4.lo'%le
The weather is rather dry, and the reports•of the liriseatac
heard.anore than usually distinct in the town, and seen,
(11 o'clock) to be on the increase. - • irgle
It is nut known' how General Chasse can now corn be
with .Holland, particularly as a blockade is established
. T A.lio.bo
Scheldt_by the French troops under General Sebastian'',
Die-
are stationed along the dike from Fort "St. Marie, Snits Whe
vent even small boats 'from being rowed on the river.' Itoo,
Dutch appear now to fancy, that even if the citadel be tiorti
there will be more work for the French in the sieges of.th„ie .03,
of Lillo and Liefkenshock, both of which belong to /361".-
and which they have taken care to surround with water. . the
TUESDAY MORNING.-The firing has continued during, tile
night in the same manner as in the evening on the part, to
garrison, for the besiegers appear to confine thernse",eo
aOl9.
throwing shells and firing off the heavy cannon, so as, e°':,.
to demolish the works of the citadel, but to break, the sh)""del
. the garrison. • One deserter escaped last night from the °it:
by the esplanade into the. town. He looks a young elat to
years of age, begrimed with dirt and smoke, and seems '1;400
have slept-since-the affair began. He represents the gaf;t•tke
as suffering dreadfully from the- tremendous., heavy fireCoor,
besiegers, and-states, that a shell had broke,_ yesterday, t-ari"
some part of the casemate, which, on bursting, killed 45,ta
wounded 30 men. This being the account of a deserter., tpc
be received with caution. told other persons, that ultool'
citadel the garrison has laboured so effectually as, notwitli;teat
ing the heavy fire, to form some communications in dill has
has
parts, so as to pass without danger: No effort, no exPelloar to
been spared. The French operations of last night apP to,
be confined to changing some of the mortar barriers, so yea
place them nearer the citadel. A battery is said to be P froio
near a point of the termination of the contregarde, five
Montebello to the bastion Toledo. In the citadel there al_cuo;
bastions, that of. Toledo, nearly opposite Fort Monteooso
Pacietto, nearly opposite Fort St. Laurent; Alba, olVacle,
Fort dti Kiel; Due, fronting the Scheldt ; and Ferilaiiier
facing the Esplanade of the town. The French sent a "'affer
across the point of the old garden of the Harmony, w_lw„',.acti'
some time was withdrawn, as the attempt was found unco• nP
cable: I have been told: that the preparations for blowlj the
that fort are Tar advanced, but ,that, although last nip': bacl
breach was expected, it turned out a failure through some
arranTENgements. - •
• o'cLocic.—This morning there being considerable,hboa
down the Scheldt, I went to make inquiries -in the neioc three
hood of the port, and have been told that there
...11,c.rch
his' e
lighters laden with-cannon sent down on Sunday, "1
battery
enabled the French troops on the right bank to f0rn3,,,--he Tatter
at Kruys Schans la'Croixs opposite Liefkeensliock. sued t()
fort, now under the command of Colonel Bake, was
fire heavy guns at the intrenchments of the French. wo lii'
formed persons affirm it to be too far off. There are t._..shoc
gates, and a number of gun-boats lying-between Lief ke% are
and Lillo, which really fire on the workmen. The French
said to have laboured also in the renewal of the old WiFort
is
Fort St: Philippe, on the right bank also,'and also
_hcci;.
Perla, on the right bank, between St. Marie and Lief kens„sore
before which there is a large steam-boat, having 20 gup-d the,
board, now cruising. The tide is now running out, abes ao"
wind is not favourable to the movements of the frig,a.,;praoar
gun-boats, which, however, have their sails loose. nn its
states that the cannons and mortars of the French oeo'
were yesterday and last night directed against the sluice_per/
ing from the ditch round-the citadel into the Scheldt, 10;criea
by breaking it, to .empty the ditch at low water. Some a poen!
their purpose to have been effected; but well-informed coasr
say—" not yet." -The garrison is stated to have fire has-
derably during the night, from the flank of the Ferne'is rosl
tion, in the direction of Fort MOntebello. Perhaps taecd,
arise from the guns in the Toledo bastion being &sirloin" chs.
appointedON:°' c
consequencex. --111ars tia loGf
tehr6a rfdo
fort
ts
os t describedari
Laurent serious9t sbktro:
been taken 'during the night ;' the French young sold'g,,,, th'
are not accustomed to sieges, are rather vexed on are,
• they. have not yet succeeded. The efforts of the engMe, thelei
directed towards sparing thenins much as possible, :sc,'
continual labours in the -trenches are not satisfactorry:_ic.
number of killed and wounded last night was conside a5O, ie:
send yott the,list of killed and wounded up to SaturdaY LatioP
elusive.. The project of forming a battery at the terinl_upbolr_
of the contregarde fronting Montebello,.• is described as
_As
tb
' doned.. The- French sappe continues its course towr.re do
bastion Toledo, which is, as it is said, to be that Wn`
breach is to be made. • - •stiag
%%01
Two o'cLocx.—Rumour speaks of the coolness still re-
between Marshal Gerard and Colonel. Caradoc, alrg
turned to his-post. The French factious journals loariact
pear to have embarrassed the Marshal by the false e$PeA
they give the mission of the latter. One might be led t" 005,
from their violence, that they would dare to attribute t4ereas,e
delay to the presence of the British commissioner,
season
of P.
really arises from the nature of the siege at this sea
it o
year, and from the habits of the garrison. Zos
You will have observed, no doubt it must have rel.,
"
through the French papers nearly as soon as it coin, *Pt;
here, that Marshal Gerard, in his letter of the 7th, to lirol
ter of War, explains the causes of the e mooprotracted.sttah
operations of the besiegers. It is quite certain th4,,piaa t"„
light has retarded the works by exposing the Ivor' sufferer
most destructive fire, by which many of them haves. "Or of
The moonlight, however, will give way in- a few daYiefoneeho
ther the second cause of the delay—the obstinate " sto
the Dutchmen—will give way at the same time, reutain
seen.
• siege does
It is one cause of satisfaction at least,_that if the,ca, 01
not make the progress on which many had calmila'
not go back—no step or position gained has beadvatte t
every day the works are becoming more and more a.,
so as now to have nearly reached their closest point Iv, tholo
the enemy. - That it must fall nobody ventures to den_ that .1"
of course opinions now vary as to the probable thee oe
intervene.
• ow h
, otes
The besiegers, as you will see in the accounts hel
gained one point in blowing tip the sluice which kePts'„ve w." 011
to a considerable depth in the fosse of the citadel. • as Owe
tar' men here state that this was a' remature ster'o
probability Chasse will have time top fill his fOsse agar ste,
the French are ready to attempt to cross it. 'roe ,4
You will perceive that the two young Princes of wy,
every day becoming more and more: popular in the a! the eta
their mix up with the men, visit them on posts and T,ith I
vitals, and enter into the most' familiar conversation

,

• vc.,
44.

/. ‘..

111h,the subject of their common object as brother—s-oldie—s-r :-
1168. is more precious than gold in' the 'estimation of -a French
But the young Dukes have not evinced the iuterest
top'. take in the comfort of the soldiets to•words•only...
.They
kit.soo.francs to the Wounded in.the hospital at Antwerp: The
„,..,ug.and- Queen here have also,been very, liberal to those who
nt ered in.-their prOperty, by the accidental shot and shell in the
41t -
Yaya dOnation of ,0000 francs..
.4;:eklAtF-PAsr 5 O'CLOCK P. m.—Thee accounts which left Ant-
„t.l:l) at half-past 1, and those which left Berchem at 2, de-
Itbe the contest as going on rather more briskly at both sides.
'e Lunette St. Laurent had' not yet been taken. • •
h At . the moment that I write the cannonading can be heard
.4re as distinctly as it was five or six days back, so that up to
1s instant-we. know they are actively engaged in the work of
destruction. W.
'l2he following are from the morning papers :
(From the Moniteurßeeofficial account.
IA-NTwERP, DEc. 11; N00N.7-21he parapets of the trenches.
nearest to the citadel, were to-day manned with ten. fusileers
aeh, who kept up a continued fire of muskey, which must
4jo greatly annoyed the Dutch artillerymen in working their
s ; for the citadel has for 24 hours past kept up only a weak:
drown
like that of musketry from behind the works, and of bombs:,
',own from the masked mortars:
;iIV-ea fire of the'besieged is less brisk than it has been for some.
`Qs- At 6 o'clock a detachment of the Dutchnnade a sortie
41 the covered.way of the bastion No. 2, and threNV down,
ele gal:lions:of/the head of the sap, which bordered on the
:44eis•of this bastion. A company of_ the troops guarding the
tr:t9ches advanced to the relief of the sappers, and the enemy!
tired precipitately to the covered..way..
Ache openingparallel to the left face of the Lunette St. Lam.
ti,!it has reached the roadway to Boom, which passes between
L'lBlunette and-the half-moon. A ne* passage has been open-,
t
ill 0 keep up the communication between tht which gees-from
e covered-way-of the counter scarp canandth ew place d'armes
• slablishedlO support the head of these new works. •
is now possime to attack the Lunette St: Laurent in the
h•tast-work, when we 'shall have silenced the fire of some
places which still bear on that point.
(.•12, WEDNESDAY. EVENING.—The appearance of. the
:i;lt-adel,, at which L gazed during.. an-hour and.a half this even-;
1),„g,-: was hideous; its -buildings in ruins; its parapets and em-,
',"tsures torn; its fire nearly"extinet; not a creature passing
li,thin it, while the French bombs continued to shower upon it.
-e defence, which. was hitherto so decided, seemed to relax
lacreely a cannon. was fired•off in it, but a cOnsiderable
was kePtup from the right flank of the bastion Fernando.
th4(lging from the direction of this musketry, it would appear
4t the workS of the French approach near to the counterscarp
k,ofthe left flank of the demi-lune, between.the bastions Toledo.
Pacietto.. The French bornbardment from Fort Monte-
fled°, and one or two batteries near it,. was incessant. This
• h4)lrtirival fire, Whichisnow an resolute, as ever;is, as it appears,
itole of the proceedings of a regular siege, and has for its object
i Prevent the besieged from all attempts at new constructions
the citadel, and also to protect ale workmen in the trenches,
' 'llse French engineers are amused.with the siege, which,.
tT,'Y say, is but an easy practical lesson, at which they can take
4(-'ir ()Im time. The Fort St. Laurent is represented as silent,
rrhaps in expectation of the attack which is said to be prepared
tit this night—ln proportion as the. defences of the citadel
fro
weak, the greater, in the. opinion of. some persons, be-
t4oes the security of the • city. Its neutrality. wilt he,allowed.
4the garrison, if any credit can be placed in the assertions Of
a .russels journal, follDerlr a violent patriot, but now the de-
. I‘Pi'sed supporter of the anti-Belgian Government of the Dutch
• enarch which asserts that it has the best authority for stating
t at that:Monarch has sent instructions to General Chasse to
t„_-esPect the city. If. the. King, of Holland.wishe.s to prove his
' tteration, why not accept and act by the treaty of November,
,7 42? Why-sacrifice ,his best Dutchmen far nothing in this
4eless contest?

•
French
NIGHT, 10 O'CLOCK.—The detertaillittiOaoaf the
thl•ench Generals to spend eight or ten days more•in the siege
-
"411 what-the Dutchtlefenee requires, is now evident. Their
perics continue to fire as usual upon.the citadel, where, as
jeneh eye-witnesses of the last few
.hours state, the 'soldiers
ae themselves at every bomb that arrives, and fire merely
• :4)111e -rampart guns whey they fear no danger. The garrison
°jeasionany threw' some -pots -.de feu, which some French.
:Idiers wished to extinguish„when-a doken of the rampart guns
• pere let off,comse, some of those that approached the
the
beeame victims. • Some persons who express surprise at
41 small numher of soldiers killed by the .fire and sorties of the
Urrison, imagine that Genaal Chasse has the • intention of
4ifiein a' mat nuMber when theassault is made ; the breach.:
h - , • • 1, *
-attenesiwit., it seems cxpecte..i .be ',hay two OA li
trea' days, and the Fiench,are resolved to take lime to make
(7111 as little. expemive of the lives of their .soAtiers as possible.
• ,ttie of the batt,cries cestined to break the .ea face, of thebastion
"led° tO,be hi„a„stat'J of 6.reat, for wardnesS. -There aie
, two I,2l;encit.oliinion n 5,.,0f the on,miiitary, reSpeeting the.
'ete-ace st, said that the gar; iun has'ing. double the
it44lliber a- ought, det. si iunt,A to sell itSelrdearly, tu,
ave made so.ti•-s,,lnti•io. have s.au.:;litered thousands of the as 7.
but, say those reasoners u:e 'IOW defend they-.7,
E lies fe'cliry.'helinut the walls, and dare not Vetiftite cut.- Alto-
,"l' opinion-is, that the. Dutch ale. doing' as Well as cats be
'N t,.e.etect„and of.this opinitin..are thusp who do nut wish to
',V.arage the Dutch garrison,
.lest' there should not be :sufficient
4.'ury for the army that is to Make it stiri ender. Put of the
wall 01 1 ()it St.l.anieut is mined according to . report; and
41, three cavities -cif which .1,500 kilogrammes of powder` are
• 14'1ced, with the train laid; to' be blown up when required. In'
• Itllllsfoit there are said to be 300 men, Whom Marshal' Gerard. is
esirous of taking, as welt .aS the whole of the -garrison, prison-
'. 1, of war.. -The-DULhmen iii. Fort St: Laurent are Said by
game. report, to.haye offered to give up the- fort, provided
reY be perMitted.to 'care 'into-the citadel„,"lnit the:. beSiegers
• -I;li.refuSed those terms, as they have giniSso.placed as.to-oyer
,-
o
"eAn thispimy in the case theV attempt
fart pge. 'lt i therefore, atect, -that the men in the
rt sum lender ats, discretion. Ail this report requires con--
MouNING, DEC. 13.—The obstinacy of the King
2 .-.,l_llolland continues still to'draw doWria dreadful fire upon the
14-Cited Bari of the citadel, 'of which,the chief defence now
the wish of the French nut to shed the blood of their%
as they say, "we were i essed for time, by the fetus of
approaeh7of an army..to relieve w the citadel, e should storm
ectly ; bu 11
t 0W we proceed slowly and surely, without any
491tecesSary riskS."
o'cLocx..,-Lhase made inquiries-into. the real state of.
* ,the besieging army, and-find that there is no. truth,. as to the
removed
up of Fort St. Laurent,. as the garrison there can. be
the orincreased at the pleasure of General Chasse: within,
there
last 2,1 hourS,there have been but very few soldiers in it, and
'ere. have been.,but fe.w,guns fired from it., 'The..min,e, which is
to do it injury, is described as much advanced. •