NEWS OF THE WEEK.

AnvicEs have 'been received from Oporto down to last Sunday. There was a furious attack made upon the town on Michaelmas- day (MiorrEis jour de fae), which was not resisted without very considerable difficulty and loss, though it was at length re pulsed, and no attempt had-been made to renew the attack up to six o'clock on Sunday morning. We take the following account from the letter of a passenger in the Confiance steamer, which arrived at Falmouth on Thursday—

The night of the 28th was dark and dowering, and towards daybreak the rain poured down in, torrents. Don Pedro's troops were all prepared ; the enemy, as they have always done, concentrated their forces on the line of in- trenchment occupied by the French and British battalion. Soon after daybreak they attacked the former in great force, and were enabled, through the treachery. of the proprietor of a vineyard near the position (a professed friend of the be- sieged), to gain a very great advantage, as he, through a private entrance into his field, admitted about 500 men, who came, upon. the. French troops so Sod-, doily, while they were engaged ha defending another position that they had to retreat until reinforced by some :Portuguese, when they returned, and drove the enemy.befure them in ibe most gallant way; and 1 was told, that in that. field there were found nearly 70 bodies of the enemy's forces. About this time the

attack commenced on the British battalion. From. the nature of their position, it was impossible to discover the immense force which was about to puur oh them ;- and before they-were aware of it, between 5,000 and 6,000 of the Miguelite infantry, aided by two pieces of artillery and one howitzer, obliged them to retreat some distance, until they came to a square in front of their own barracks,

surrounded by walls; here there was a deadly contest, in which the British officers suffered severely : their men were forced to retreat behind the walls next the town. One great cause of this.was their want of ammunition, which unluckily

did not reach thein for alma a quarter of an hour : after that, being reinforced

by three •Conipenies of the rlOth Ccreadomy led on by three privates—two of them sons, and one a cousin, of Captain Fieulai, who took each the command of

a company, as the coinmanding officer was .hors de combat—they fought with about 600 strong, heat back their enemy so rapidly, that they tookthe two guns and the howitzer, with .ti miniber of prisoners, and latterly forced them to retreat beyond their former position. At this part of the lines there was firing kept up until about three o'clock, both parties chiefly behind the walls. "The attack. during, the morning became general at nearly eyery point, al- though from the Villa Nova side only with shot and shells from the batteries,

which did little or no damage, and it was met by equal returns from the batteries

in Oporto. But to the left of the French and British position Don Pedro's troops met the attack most gallantly, assisted as they were most powerfully by

the shot and shells from the batteries in their rear. One gun (12-pounder) and

a howitzer were brought up by the enemy on an opposite height; but I never saw more inefficient firing, as hardly one shot or grenade came near the lines or

batteries, while the shells and balls from Don Pedro's batteries must have made great havoc, from the admirable manner in which I saw them fall on every point where any body of men were to be seen. You may judge of the execution likely to be done, when I tell you that the battery of Caeadores alone fired off

during the day 120 18-lb. and 100 91b. round-shot, with 20 181b. grape-shot, and 76 13-inch shells. Towards four o'clock the enemy began to retreat, in

consequence of a heavy fire being commenced on them, from all the guns which

could be brought to bear on them, and the whole firing soon after entirely ceased. The losses on both sides it was impossible to tell when I left the city; hut from all the estimates that I could hear made of the enemy's, it could not be less than from 1,500 to 2,000 killed and wounded, round numbers, with about 200. prisoners.

" The loss on Don Pedro's side was estimated at about 300 or 400, chiefly in wouittled.- The greatest loss.was among the officers, and the greatest propor- tion of them from among the French and British battalions. Being personally

acquainted with the latter, I can mention most of the names, and am sorry to have to say that Colonel Burrell, Lieutenants Souper and Burton, were killed

on the spot, while nobly defending their post. Major Shaw, Captain Chinnock,

Lieutenants Michell; Walsh, and Wootridge, were wounded, the first only Hnotiy, as he returned to the intrenchment until the enemy was routed. Colonel bd..:s was slightly wounded in the arm; Colonel St. Leger, of the French battalion, was seriously wounded in the arm : the other officers' names I cannot. re- collect. From all I could see or learn until my departure on Sunday morning, the whole affair must be considered a most signal defeat of the previously pro- jected plans of the Miguelite army, and every one inthe city felt convinced they would-have'serions and-milaneholy recollections of the 29th Of September.". When the Confianee departed, at seven o'clock on Sunday morn- ing, everything was qUiet; she-spoke SABTORIUS about six milks Off the town. Hid whole fleet, including the two steamers, were With hire; and he had just come from landing some troops at Aveiro, where they had taken and dismantled a forrof MIGUEL'S.- The troops for that purpose had been despatched froM Oporto the previous Thursday.

The correspondent of the Times states, that the Britomart, which was impatiently expected with militiry supplies; arrived on Friday the 21st. The Consul, on the day that the Britomart ar- rived, paid a visit to the Talavera, which is anchored off the bar; and next day Captain -BROWN went on shore to return the visit. The gallant Captain was not treated with so much courtesy by Mr Gum. as by his cousin NICHOLAS—the troops in possession of Villa Nova fired more than thirty shots at his boat, one of which passed clear through her bows. On the. same day that Captain BROWN was thus cavalierly treated, the Childers and :Orestes _ passed the bar, and took up a position to protect the English of Oporto,. if eireunistaiices -Should render it necessary.' Their coming to an anchor in the river led to a communication with MIGUEL S General, of which Lieutenant ELLIOT of the Briton was the bearer. We copy from the Times the following account of the interview between him and the Portuguese Staff-

" Lieutenant Elliot went to the lines on the north ; on the former he crossed

to Villa Nova. On falling in with Miguel's pickets, Ire was politely and rather pressingly invited to cry Viva el Rey Dan Miguel which of course was not complied with. An officer then came up . and conducted them to another post, • from whence they were directed to the head-quarters, Agoas Santa.; (the same as when the Consul passed by), about a league and a half from this,. between the - Braga and Wimp roads. On arrived, the officer found, the:General asleep. Sir J. Campbell was there, wide awake, but would not open the letters. Gaspar Teixeira made his appearance ; and he too declined to open the letters, telling Lieutenant Elliot to do so if he pleased.. He did sn accordingly, and then handed them to a Mr. O'Beirne, who-accompanied trim as an interpreter to rear! them in Portuguese. This gentleman did not appear to be sufficiently clear . in his interpretation; and the letter was taken away for half an hour, When a correct translation was produced. Gaspar Teixeira behaved with courtesy,

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stating that he had had intimate relations with Englishmen,—that he had busi- ness connexions with them, and was satisfied with their conduct; but that Eng- land had now broken faith. with Portugal, and that to talk of English neutrality • was nonsense. While speaking.of, the present contest, he was greatly agitated; and said that in eight days Oporto would be levelled with the:ground.. While thus expressing himself, he struck his heel, with all the vehemence of a baffled man, against the floor. This was an ehullition.upon his part ; but the-deport. !milt of all those Who surrounded him Was any thing but what might be ex- .

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ported from officers and gentlemen. While entering 'the General's -room, • the . officers of his 'Staff were uttering ejaculations of English blackguards,' and. other similar politenesses, justly calculating. upon their own . security and the Lieutenant's ignorance of the language. The British officer, after a circuitous ride in a broiling sun, asked for a glass of water ; and the answer he .received was, ' There is some in the corner, take it if you want it.' Sir John Campbell stormed most violently • and when the Consul's letter, remonstrating -with respect to the firing on die Commodore, avas read, burst out, I am. glad of ; and I hope, if he comes there again, lie will get more of The attack upon Captain Baowtes boat is not the only one. of which the English have had to complain. At least two hundred- shots were fired at the Orestes and Childers on Friday morning; by one of which, the Captain's steward of the Childers was mor- tally

wounded. The pretence for this violence was the fact of the-

Amelia, a vessel belonging to Don PEDRO, having taken shelter under the lee of the Childers; the shots were ostensibly aimed at the Amelia. It is adinitted, that Palm's Vessel was covered by the Childers; bet the Times correspondent states expressly, that the Orestes, which was chiefly aimed at, though luckily none of the sinks did her*any damage, was not in the line of the Mi- guelites' fire, and gave no shelter whatever to the Amelia.

A vessel With fifty horses arrived in Oporto a few days before the grand attack. .

The Serra was the object of attack ou 'the 29th, but it appears . to have been a feint merely. The Lisbon Gazelle of the 15th Sep- tember contains the following annoenceMent "At this moment (six o'clock in the afternoon) an express has arrived here, • who states that at ten o'clock in the morning the corps of rebels that was in the convent of La Serra fell into the hands of our troops, with six pieces of artillery with which they defended it !"

This is pretty well.