The Express. — London, England, 1847-10-15 00:00:00

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T... D.,—lleasJAL 11 gals. —s : 17 S. Twileilew—Mareia& aln. pat Nen:M. 111 ter. ma S. LONDON, FRIDAY, OCT. .15: THERE is no more marked characteristic of our time, than the want of confidence in public men—a want of confidence not in their honesty, but their wisdom. In former times it was the reverse : states men were looted upon as paragons of sagacity and cunning, bat wanting in hi4h purpose and purity of conduct. Their head was in general allowed to hold its full portion of intelligence and brains, but the heart was said to be hollow. The public of the present day have a mach higher opinion of a minister's honesty—a much smaller one of his abilities. Nor is this without a show of reason. Statesmen of old were infinitely more the masters of public events, of which the most important were to be found in a court chronicle or a military gazette. The public was then in its minority, growing, learn ing, exercising, but submitting to be limited in its wants, checked in its aspirations, taught how to con duct itself, and to give as little trouble as possible to its guardians. The public has since grown to maturity of wants and wills—some may say to more than maturity. The statesman class, which once acted pedagogues, now act the part of servants, and are not always able to comprehend, much lees provide for, the necessities and exigencies of their wayward masters. Of all the statesmen of the generation, Sir ROBERT PEEL alone seems to have fully understood, and adroitly suited himself to, this great change, which he has lived and even governed long enough to see commence, increase, and attain its full development. Taking his stand, in the early part of his career, on the principle of authority and the assumption of absolute wisdom and indefeasible right on the part of the governing and privileged classes, he has slowly, can ' tioualy, and skilfully removed one foot from this antiquated pedestal, and placed it on the broad shoulders of public opinion. It has been nice balancing, and he has more than once fallen to the ground between. But he still recovers this position, ready at any time to lean for his whole support upon, not tradition, but opiaion. This forms Sir RoaEar's strength. People do not put faith in any ultra-honesty of his, or ultra. wisdom. But his flexibility, and foresight, and power of self-adaptation, hold the place of both these virtues. He, like the age and its ideas, is in a permanent state of transition. And his authority is far greater than that of any other statesman, simply because there is no one who may not hope in him. If in antagonism to so many-faced a can didate for popularity and power, we find a statesman or statesmen, who oppose dull con sistency to his brilliant versatility, who profess all his respect for the privileged dames, bat fall far short of his flattery and his promises to the popular ones ; if their liberalism be chiefly a theory, and his a practice ; if they seek strength rather in borrowing his cast-off and penultimate opinions, than in putting forth new, and advanced, and matured ones of their own, which, should we say, made the boldest grasp at power ? The whigs have originated, in the reflective retire ment of opposition, almost all the great principles and the great innovations of the time. To them may be traced the great boons and lights of religions equality, electoral emancipation, freedom of trade, the exertion of the powers and resources of the state to feed and discipline the poor, to tend and educate the ignorant, to reclaim without torturing the criminal. The reward for the discovery of these great truths wilt ensure an honoured place in future history. Posterity will be proud of, and grateful to, such men ; but contemporaries know no gratitude. How did the English dissenters revere in the last elections the name of RUSSELL, or the Irish catholics respect those of WISE and Sum ? The future, not the past, gives in our day the claim to power. And' how slight mast that claim be, which can only tell the suffering to be patient, the obstinate that they are wrong, the injured that they deserve to be so. If such are the sentiments, such the views, with which ministers prelude to the opening . of the new parliament, we fear that they are giving far toe many advantages to their rivals, open and concealed. There were excuses last year for a minister resting on his oars ; there will, this year, be neither excuse nor possibility. Great questions, great anxiety, agitate the public mind: it will not do to shirk or pass them over. Rain stalks through the storehouses and very manufactories of wealth—ruin, for which, as there appears there is no adequate cause, government is ailed on for wisdom, temper, and generosity, to probe and alleviate at least, if not cure. When merchants and bankers, possessors of all their wonted wealth, are forced to work each other's destruction, and when the great City of London presents the appearance of the raft of the Medusa, where strong men strangled each other for a drop of water, it will not do to throw the blame on absorption of capital, a cause in operation so many years, and so constantly carried to excess before railways were heard of, and that too in favour of foreign schemes, not domestic labour. It will not do in a CLIANCSLLOR Of the EXCHEQUER to shake his fist at what he calls a monster, and then put his fiat in his pocket, leaving the monster unscathed to bear the odium of ministerial calumny. This is not the way to deal with commercial interests : nor will suds conduct ever pass for political wisdom. At the present conjuncture a CHANCELLOR d As EXCHEQUER, one at least to whom the First Lind d the Treasury gives fall latitude and responsibility, is is facto prime minister. England is looking to Sir CHAR Woon, listening to Sir CHARLES Woon, in his answers to addresses, his lucubration, in the jaea+ nab, which ono day breathe defiance, and the next nonchalance, but which in neither vein meet the question or satisfy the public. The finance policy of the cabinet is at this moment everything. The public are not to be diverted to Spain or Switzerland. They care not for diplomatic notes, or even for educa tional minutes. The most wealthy are asking for bread, or the staff of life, at least for that staff of commercial life, credit Nine-tenths of the commer cial classes declare, that this is denied them by laws founded on the mistaken theory of politicians. Such a complaint, from each a mass of the best and most intelligent and moat industrious men in the state, cannot be set aside, or met by a play between the words currency and credit. If a minister cannot otherwise m,t such a complaint, he had better summon parliament to do so. It would be a cruel derision to call parliament together in January to sit as an inquest over that mass of commercial suicide now committing, and now suffered to take place, whilst the optimist minister exclaims that "All this rain is for the best." The civilised world rings with the woes of Ireland. We hear day after day, hour after hour, ad nauseam, the detail of her wrongs and her sufferings, and the remedies proposed by the various doctors who are each ready with a cure. We seldom, however, hear of the wrongs of Scotland, or of the injustice and misery inflicted upon the Celtic population of her northern and western shores—wrongs quite as acute as any of those which have afflicted Ireland. When the potato fails, the begging box is sent round, and then we hear of the highlands; but at all other times, if we ever think of those remote regions at all, we think of them as the abode of a hardy race, living upon much oatmeal and much fish—a race from which the vigour of our colonies is recruited, and from which we may draw an inexhaustible supply of good soldiers, if we should unhappily be in want of any. The Wt, in het, bids fair to be extirpated altogether hens the land of his nativity. The few Celts that remain are a potato-esting, idle, dispirited, and de emigrated race. They will not work if they can Nub ile en charity. Oatmeal, upon which they once fed, h bang rapidly displaced by the more easily-raised ”etto; and when the latter fails, they are in the same deplorable condition as their brother Celts over St. George's Channel, with this exception, that they bear their evil fate with far more equanimity—clamour for no repeal—accuse no Sassenach—ehoot no landlord— nor perform any of the interesting antics so common among, their mercurial relatives of the green isle. Last year, while the charity of England flowed in such copious streams for the relief of the suffering Irish, the suffering Higlanders of Scotland were not forgotten. Subscriptions were commenced in various quarters of the world; and the East and West Indies, Canada, the United States, the Cape at Good Hope—even Constantinople, all contributed their quota, as well as England, for the alleviation of a misery which was represented as so urgent. Altogether, the sum of 119,0001. was collected, exclusive of Indian corn and other provisions generously sent from America to the value of 11,0001. The whole of the provisions were distributed under the direction of an Edinburgh and a Glasgow com mittee ; and 44,0001. of the money was, by the same agency, expended for the relief of the most necessitous of the people. Whilst in Ireland many thousands must have died of starvation (we say nothing of the reverend Sam of a certain Romanist prelate, that two millions perished), not one person in Scotland, thanks to the judicious care of the Scottish Central Board for the relief of the destitution, met this awful fate. The heard, however, was obliged to hold a tight hand over its money, as is evident from the feet that it has yet upwards of 7.1,0001. in the bank, or within 13,0001. of double the amount already expended by its order. The members of the board had their wits about them. They were surrounded by people who had a keen scent for the eleenioeynary, a high relish for money un earned, a sore distaste for labour, and a violent yearn ing for the charitable contributions of the humane. Many landlords, and all the people, shared in this weakness. Like their compeers us Ireland, some pro prietors were anxious that the money should be ex pended in drafting the Highlanders to Canada or to New Zealand—" everywhere, anywhere," out of their estates ; others were desirous that roads should be constructed, and that piers should be built for the tem porary advantage of the people employed, and for the I permanent advantage of the owner of the soil; others fancied draining and reproductive " works as the sole things needful, for which they exhibited a mar vellous love ; as soon as they became imbued with the consoling belief that they , could be undertaken at the expense—but not to the advantage—of the public. The Edinburgh and Glasgow committees were, however, too knowing. There were old stagers among them, who were not to be " done ;" and they buttoned up their pockets and turned a deaf ear to all the solicitations of such questionable Mende of the poor people. They were equally hard-hearted against the soft persuasion of the suffering Celts themselves. They would not pay a man to cultivate his own patch of ground. They would not give relief ex cept to the aged and impotent, unless they got the value of it in labour ; and they instituted a rigid scrutiny into the three or four months previous occu pation of all the applicants for relief. This scrutiny was absolutely necessary, for it appeared that at the first rumour that there was money to be given away in the Highlands, many a Donald who had work in the Lowlands, hurried home to his native district to turn the famine to account, and live for a season without labour. A whole company of them, employed by a well-known Glasgow firm, struck work, demanding wages that they knew could not be given to them, and marched to the famine with a piper at their head. Railways in construction suffered for want of hands, and iron and coal masters were pat to temporary in convenience by the voluntary self-immolation of the northern and western aborigines. The board knew their business too well to encourage the Celts in the comfortable delusion, that they were to be fed without labour ; and most of them, discovering their mistake l ia time, managed to get back again to comfort able qu arters in the Lowlands, to live like English men, upon the fair day's wages that were procurable for a fair day's work. As the summer advanced, and the demands upon the funds grew less urgent, it became a question amongst those who were interested either in this money or in the welfare of the High lands, what was to be done with the large balance on hand. Some patriotic citizen or citizens of Edinburgh started the bright idea that as the suffering Irish and Highlanders had brought fever into the modern Athens, the money might be expended in the erection of fever hospitals, and handsome ones too, in that handsome city. Glasgow, in the person of some of its worthies, would doubtless, had the thing been listened to, have preferred its own claim to a share of the booty ; but, fortunately for the credit of Scotland, the board very peremptorily decided that no such idea could be entertained, and that they had no power to alienate a farthing of the money from the p urp oses for which it was originally intended. The board, however, decided at the same time that they would not return the money. They maintained that the urgency of the case was not yet satisfied; that the failure of the potato crop of 1846 would injuriously affect the Highlands in 1848 and many succeeding years, as well as in 1847 ; and that, therefore, they would fail in their duty to the sub scribers if they did not retain the money, and make the best use of it they could, whenever the calamities which they believed to be inevitable should again spread over these unhappy regions, where the grease, in a landlord's estimation, is the most profitable biped that can exist upon his acres. We wish we could believe that the board indulged in too gloomy a view of the case: but we cannot. Let it be borne in mind that large sheep farms, affording but small opportunities for the employment of labour—and which sheep farms yield heavy additional rentals as grouse shootings—cover the western and northern Highlands, and that the people, thinly . scattered over the moors, or crowded together in miserable villages or clachans, cultivate a wretched patch of potato ground which is their whole subsistence, and we shall have an idea of the deplo rable state of semi-destitution which is the habitual life of the once hardy, proud, and independent Celt. The board in their report touch but gently upon these points. They say that " the land yields the tenantry food irum.fficient for their proper support ; " that the " labouring class greatly exceeds the de mand for labour;" that the "dependence on land and labour is so intermingled, that the tenant scarcely knows whether he is a labourer or the labourer a tenant;" and that the people:" depend upon a scanty potato crop WHICH THEY DRAW BY SUFFERANCE from the ground." A deputation from the Free Church, present at the meeting on the 4th inst., when this re port was read, stated "that if proper measures of re lief were not continued, the rising generation would be stunted in its growth ;" and that "the children in many parishes could not attend school at any dis tance, because they were habitually so ill fed that they could not walk." Many other statements of a similar character were made, corroborating the fact well known to every person who has visited the Highlands and used his eyes, that the people, either by their own fault or by that of the proprietors of the soil, are not what they once were, but a listless and deteriorated race, living in continual fear of famine, and using no exertion toremedy the evils of their condition—having no sti mulus to industry—becoming gradually fewer and fewer—and being displaced at every convenient op portunity, for sheep, grouse, or red-deer. The board for the relief of the destitution offer some few sug gestions as remedies for these evils—or at all events suggest a means of improving, to some extent, the condition of the people. We do not think the board show true wisdom in their suggestions, or that they have sufficient courage to grapple with the land lordism, which has reduced a fine country and a noble people to so melancholy a state. In Scotland, as in Ireland, the laws relating to the occupation and ownership of the soil are the sole causes of all the mischiefs that have arisen, and which are augmented every succeeding year. We shall take an early opportunity of returning to the subject, and treating of the remedies suggested by the board, and of those larger and more searching re medies which would very speedily be applied to the case, if English and not Scottish landlords were the persons to be dealt with. lay role the social machine by external force, to moss the task of regulating, in an empirical way the natural interchange of supply and demand, the volaittsey employment of money by those who have s h er it to epod—a proposal like this, we say (the method of getting out of a difficult posi- Vis might be safely left to itself, were it merely the ideeme of some inconsiderate men, who are not re erosible to the public for the consequences of their consols. But if these paper kites were sent up, as some conjecture they may be, to prepare an ex plosion from higher regions—if the inflated paragraphs are but petty pilot balloons preceding the rise of some vast ministerial wind-bag, there may be reason for examining their substance and contents with more attention than they might otherwise de serve. We trust that the rumour of a great empirical measure being in contemplation may tura out to be erroneous. There ie, however, sufficient reason in the mere existence of such report; for keeping the subject in mind, in order that if anything of the kind be really thought of, its character and bearing may not take us by surprise. The idea of any want of a forcible check to the outlay on railways, it is evident, can only exist on the presumption that the money is ready to be thus ex- ' pended, and that the parties liable to calls will eamily them, unless they are prevented by a superior power. The companies are partnerships invested with full ability to conduct their own affairs, and to regulate the i sm of their own funds; if they (meaning of course the majority of the partners in each case) find the ex pense inconvenient to themselves at present, and wish to be relieved from it, there is no new reason what i ever for them to have recourse to parliament for the , 1 relief. They will use their ordinary powers ; meet I to decide upon whatever may be necessary in their present circumstances, and instruct their directors ac cordingly. In this way, as well as by lees formal, but quite effectual, means of making known their wants and wishes, they can exert sufficient control over all that concerns themselves in this matter; and can thoroughly adjust their expenses to their means within doors. We believe this process to be going on in many . quarters; we have already expressed a de cided opinion as to its expediency ; and are persuaded 1 that in this manner all that can be safely and wisely done in the way of restriction, the exercise, namely, of a severely prudential and considerate management, by these partnerships, of their own affairs, tke adjust ment of their present expenditure to their present means, may be and ought to be accomplished. Such being their powers in respect of their interests, no extreme interference of government can be wanted to prutect these. The plea for its agency, in the way it is now advised to take, must therefore be this other — that railway proprietors, namely, are able and willing to lay out, in making the toads which parliament has declared they shall make, a heavier sum of money than it is expedient for the country at large—in other words, more than it suite the convenience of other 1 interests in the country—that they should be suffered 1 to spend on those works at present. Now it will be proper to understand clearly what an interference of this kind means : on what principles alone it can be justified : to what point any consistent 1 pursuit of these principles must carry us. It is to declare, in defiance of all the maxims of political wis dom, that the way in which capital shall be employed, the extent to which it shall be used in certain ways, can no longer be safely left to the parties directly concerned; that the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER is from henceforth to be the judge, from time to time, of how much of their own money men may be safely allowed to lay out in this kind of work, how much in that other kind; that in a time of distress it is his province to issue sumptuary laws for the regulation of commercial expenditure -- to declare extravagant any venture in a certain direction , beyond a given sum that he may deem suf- 1 ficient—to forbid the parties concerned in such ventures to exceed this sum, not because they cannot afford it, but because their use of too much money in that way may . pinch their neighbours. This, in plain language, is what the Examiner and the Times We now calling on the CHANCELLOR OF THE Ex- CHEQUER to undertake. This naked form of the proposal, of course, is covered up by flourishes and phrases that may conceal its true nature,Nbut, stripped of these, such it is; and to this, if the plan is worth anything, if it be a proper remedy in the present crisis, it must inevitably lead us. There is not, it will be seen, in the manner in which'• government is urged to fall headlong on railway finance, and on some estimate of its own to seal and unseal at pleasure the issue of the companies funds, a single condition of necessity or reason, which would not equally authorise, nay require, it to enter at other times into the forcible command of any other class of business suspected or accused of over-trading. If the principle is worth anything, if, indeed, it is not a dangerous and perverted offspring of the fright and perplexity of a moment, it must be available on other occasions. If it be proper this year to say that no more than so much shall be spent en railways, it may be equally so next year, or whenever a new pause may arise, to fix a maximum beyond which no more cotton shall be brought, no more houses built on see culatioskthroughout the kingdom, no more money in vested in draining estates or in building breweries. If the tide can be stayed by Goody Partington's mop this winter, we have every right to put Gaffer Jones's bucket into requisition if another gale brings a flood next year. And from whom, one may be tempted to ask, is this strange way of dealing apprehended ?—from men who have taken their stand on the furthest ground of prohibitions and restraints, who have pledged themselves to show that the several interests of trade, andof the nation in which tradeexists,cannot be safely left to find their own level, but must each be dammed up between legislative banks, and led into artificial channels by the daily care of the state? Even from the boldest advocates of this theory, a measure of this extent and precipita tion would appear startling, whether we regard the extreme lengths to which it must at once carry the principle of treating commercial society as non rompos, or the immediate consequences which may be expected from suddenly breaking up a main instru ment of national industry. But from the present administration, such a plan, justifiable only on grounds which its members have been combating throughout their public lives—a reading backward of all the lemons of statesmanship and economy their party have claimed the merit of teaching and carry mg into practice —a questionable step, nay an im mense stride down a road which for years they have been telling England to avoid, nay calling on England to praise them for having rendered impassable, such a measure from a govern ment such as we now have would indeed be an unaccountable exhibition. A more unpromising feat of statesmanship and a stranger recantation of political faith could hardly be united in a single mea sure. We trust that neither the cries of the Tines nor the counsels of the Examiner are really meant to prepare us for a spectacle the least edifying that could well be conceived :—To announce a proceeding more like the convulsive action of weakness surprised by dangers which it can neither master nor even com prehend, than the considerate "energy of a power equal to the emergency, directed by a judg ment able to see through it. That the present state of affairs is grievous and gloomy, we all know. Hitherto, to applications for aid from govern ment towards a relief from these straits, the CHAN ceLtoit of the EXCHEQUER is understood to have tarried a deaf ear; for the reason, we may e, that he either could see no case for th e interrnlo w e n or the state, or could discover no way in which it could effectually interpose. It would be strange indeed, if, unable or unwilling to attempt anything, by legiti mate ways of administration, the minister should attempt to burst upon the stage like a deus cx machinel, and try to effect his purpose by a sudden move of the " extraordinary" kind we have been de scribing. What the real effects of such a process would be have been only partially stated on the present occasion. Its.pperation in other ways may also be of serious immediate consequence ; and ender present circumstances it will be proper to bring some prac tical views of another side of the question as plainly as we can before the public mind , in order that, should ministers really intend to interfere, in a man ner beyond all precedent and at variance with all principle, it may at least be known beforehand to what consequences such an operation may lead us. Under the date of the kingdom of the Two Skilies, 25th ult., the Augsburg Gazette says that a reward of • thousand ducats had been offered by the govern ment at Messina to those who should deliver up alive, and half that sum for the head of, each of the Cala brian insurgents who have landed in Sicily. There are a number of persons among the insurgent leaders who assume the name of Romeo. The head of one of these was exposed upon a pike in the public square of Reggio. At Pakrtho measures of the greatest severity were adopted, and the city was continually patrolled by gendarmes. The same journal says that the minister San Angelo had proposed to the King of Naples to make such en lightened reforms as are required by the spirit of the times, citing the examples of Tuscany, Piedmont, Lucca, and Rome, as the only way . of tranquillising the kingdom. On the aK resigned. K . posing this, the mi nister The insurgents had sent grto the Sicilians • pro e, the object of which was to produce concert between their operations. The former were led by two English officers and a Prussian, and had artillery stationed in the forests. A letter from Leghorn of the 6th says that the two new ministers of Tuscany, Marquis Ridolfi and Count Serristori, have accepted the portfolios of the interior and of foreign affairs, on the condition that, in the event of an Austrian intervention, the Grand Duke, with all the government, shall withdraw to the island of Elba, in order to be able to resist it. Letters front Ferrara of the 4th state that the Aus trians still occupied the poets of the city. The commu nal council of I, errara had voted 6,000 Roman crowns (rather more than 30,000 f) for the purchase of mus kets for the civic guard. The Nourelliste of Marseilles gives the following from Naples, dated the sth inst. : I told you in my last letter that M. Pietracatella, the pre sident of the council, not wishing any longer to accept his part in the responsibility attendant on the direction of the government, had sent in his resignation to the king. The fact is exact, but the King refused to accept the resignation. The minister, not being able to overcome the will of the king, has protested against such conduct, and dictated that he should (or the future remain totally a stranger to the busi ness of the cabinet. In consequence, he refused to attend the council of state. The next day all the ministers pro ceeded to his house to hold a council, but M. Pietracatella kept his room, declaring that he was ill, and allowed his col leagues to deliberate as they pleased in his drawin- .room. The arrest and death of some of the Romeos are related so contradictorily that I cannot affirm anything certain to you about them. I can inform you that the bands commanded by Longobucco aid Baron Piotino have reached the wood of Site, whence they often make a sortie to attack the royal troops. General Statella has fixed his head-quarters at Monteleone, in order to watch the limits of Calabria Ultra, ' and intercept all communications with the other parts. Bon , figlio. the leader of a numerous band of brigands, offered Longohucco and Baron Piotino the aid of his men, but the offer was refused, in order not to disgrace the cause of the , insurgents. Ilonfiglio then commenced acting on his own account, and disquieted the government so much, that Gen. Statella has promised 2,000 ducats for him, alive or dead. In ' his last reports, General Statella mentions the general dia ' content, and the sympathy which the insurgents meet with amongst the population ; he does not dissemble that some con cessions, made at the proper moment, would be more favour able to the royal cause than the violence and severity dis played against the insurgent districts. I We find nothing either in our private letters or . the journals to countenance the announcement of the reduction of the insurrection, and the god-like clemency of King Ferdinand, so pompously given by the Journal des Debuts, an Tuesday, on authority "entitled to the highest confidence." ' The Corriere Lirornese published the following letter in a supplement on the 6th, dated Naples, the , lst inst.: _ . Almost everybody is in the dark here ; as the secrecy maintained by government is miraculous. The persona who write from Sicily and Calabria carefully avoid writing one word which might create uneasiness, because govern ment makes no distinction of letters : they open them all, and woe to the person bold enough to speak of anything displeasing to the Kiug! Discordant reports are circulated concerning the affairs of Sicily and Calabria, some pretendiug that Sicily is at the present restored to per fect calm, and the two Calabrias freed from the briganti ; others (and they seem to be better informed, by the minute particulars they report) declare that Sicily is in a high state of agitation, and sometimes, if not at present, in open revolt. They also affirm the two Calabrias to be in the same state as they were two months since, and that the troops of the King are often worsted. It is certain that government is in dread, and in great dread of something, even at Naples, since gear d'armes on foot and on horseback pate the city every night. The Neapolitans say they intend making a prontai clam/ciao. I will, however, tell you two things which concern the King himself, which you may rely on. Some days ago the Count Ferretti, who came from Rome, had a conference with King Ferdinand relative to the concerns of the railway from Capus to the Doman confints, in which the Count Ferretti is greatly interested : they hap pened to speak of Cardinal Ferretti, and the King, who de clared himself to be a great admirer of the cardinal, inquired of his heather how he got on in his charge. The latter re plied in the following terms " Very well ; but lie encoun ters great difficulty in fulfilling his own duties in a proper manner, and in systematising the necessary reforms." " That," replied the King, " is the common lot of us who are in power, for whenever we endeavour to do good we always find ourselves impeded by obstacles, or meet with persons who know how to extract evil from the good itself." About two or three days back, the King, in a council of ministers and private counsellors, went so far as to inquire with the greatest simplicity what it was possible to do to satisfy his subjects, and what they thought necessary to tranquillise and make them happy. Not one of this mass of courtiers encouraged in the King these sentiments, but all joined in representing in such sombre colours the peril to which a King expose" himself in making innovations and in satisfying the foolish caprices of his people, that the King, a kind soul at botom, was frightened and spoke of it no more. It is said the King is himself kind and rational, sad would, perhaps, do much for the welfare of his people, because he is ambitious of being beloved ; but, surrounded as he is, be not only can never do good, but will do harm, and much harm. You well know what happened to Signor Benucci, twenty days since. Government caused it to be reported that he was dead. Signor Benucci is now alive, and is in the Castle of St. Elmo, at Naples. The party devoted to the support of the federal government in Switzerland, on the question of the Sonderbund, have effected the seizure of four waggons of arms and ammunition, which were on their way from the French arsenals to the separatist canton of Fribourg. The Vorort at Berne had been informed of the arrival at the Verrieree of part [of a stock of arms sent from France, and it communicated the fact to the government of Neufchatel. This government did nothing to comply with the decree of the 31st July, and accordingly allowed four waggons filled with twenty-four large boxes, fourteen of which contained muskets, nine shot, and one harness, to leave the Verrieres. But after passing Saint Sulpiee, and entering in the Val do Travers, the waggons were stopped by a crowd of young men of Fleurier and the neighbouring villages, who had spread themselves over the road, and kept watch day and night to pre vent the passage. After ascertaining the contents and destination of the boxes, the latter being the Friburg bank of the lake, the young men begged the waggoners to change their direction. This they dared not refuse, so that the waggons pro ceeded to Sainte Croix, a village of Vaud, at two and a half leagues from Fleurier ; and the local authorities immediately confis cated the boxes. A despatch was then sent to the Vorort to inform it of the important capture. As it was known that a second convoy was to pas. by another road, and as it was especially important to prevent the passage over the lake of Neufchatel, another measure, not less important, was taken. The prefect of Yverdun, a town of Vaud, at the western extremity of the lake of Neufchatel, caused cannon, artillerymen, and carabineers, to embark on board the steamer the Industriel, and sent it to cruise on the Friburg bank from Portalbea to Estavayer, with orders to visit all vessels, and to stop those which might contain arms or ammunition. The boldness of this measure has astonished the people, and espe cially the government of Neufchatel. As there was reason to fear that the Neufchatel patriots, who accomplished a federal duty, might be ex posed to annoyance on the part of their govern ment, the vorort has sent M. Stockmar, Councillor of State, to Neufchatel, as federal commissioner, with, it is ;aid, authority to threaten the canton with mili tary occupation if it persecutes the citizens. He reached Neufchatel on the oth, and had an interview with the President of the Council of State. A letter from Chaux de Fonds states that information had been received that another convoy was to proceed by Morteati, and that the people hoped to seize it, in which case they would send it into the canton of Berne. They kept a watch on the frontier, and had done so for eight days. The event of Val de Travers had caused an immense sensation, and thrown the authorities into a state of great alarm. The Swiss Federal Directory gave a grand dinner at Berne on the 6th, to Mr. Peel, the British charge d'affaires, at which all the authorities were present. igarian Purpose MADRID, OCT. 8. In the Gazette of to-day are published decrees re peeing the late decrees of Salamanca, which ordered the tale of municipal estates and charities. The monetary decree promulgated on the 31st of May by the same minister has also been suppressed. Gloyena has been re-appointed to the offices which ha held before becoming minister, of Magistrate of the Supreme Tri banal, and vice-president of the committee of codes. Few more details have transpired with respect to the sud den ministerial change. It is said, that in consequence of some expressions which fell from the Queen on the evening of the lit, from which General Serrano was leR to gather that his visits to the palace were by no means so indispensable to the 1 royal pease of mind as he might suppose, the irritated " in fluence " took his departure mere abruptly than usual. The next morning his inseparable companion, Roe de Olano, paying his usual visit to the Cuesta de San Domingo, found his patron making arrangements to leave Madrid and retire to his native town of Jaen. When he heard the mum, he laughed at the idea of treating such matters seriously. " Que nthirios son Was!" " What childishness! reine.ber your position and all that depends upon it." It was co very difficult matter, it may be supposed, to dissuade the favourite from his projected journey ; but it appeared to Selsorara an opportune moment for cementing an alliance with Namur. Accordingly he set out immediately in quest of the Duke of Valencia, and brought him to General Serranu's house. Hamm was ready to promise anything. He was full of protestations; from that moment Serrano should be his brother; his safety, his life were dearer to him than his own; he would support him through thick and thin with all his might. The compact was scaled. Meanwhile Ser rano made his peace at the palace, into which the Duke of Valencia was introduced the next night. The security of ministers was singularly &Vinton' or suspicions. Buschenthal was told on Saturday night that the ministry was in dan ger, and charged to put Salamanca upon his guard. Both Buscheathal and Salamanca went into the country. The next night, when Salamanca returned, he was met in the lobby of the opera by de la Vega (who, by the way, had been removed from the post of private secretary to the Queen, on account of his friendship for Salamanca ). Don Jai, answered! with an incredulous " Pshaw!" to his friend's de nunciation of the intrigues on foot. De la Vega intreated him to go to the Queen's hot and make a last effort to save himself. But " Quota Deus vult perdcre prius dementat,"— Salamanca would believe nothing, would do nothing. He learned his fate at the council the same night, where he ex hibited the same torpor. The political causes which have led to the triumph of Narviiez may be traced briefly thus. Ever since Serrano has found himself exalted to the isolated eminence which he occupies, aware of the perils that lie in wait for him, be has sought to strengthen himself against the evil day of reverses by some powerful alliance. To pas. over the coquetting that went forward during the Pacheco ministry with the chiefs of the progresistas, and the impracticability of which the favourite accused these to his private friends, the programme of the Salanaanca-Goyena ministry, and the decree Tutoring Espartero to hie honours may be considered as a manifesta tion of a desire on the part of Serrano to procure the alliance of Espartero. Bat it seems that the steps taken by the latter, particularly his not very prudently worded letter to the Queen, which was considered as pitched in rather too patronising a key, were looked upon as in auspicious. But what more than all tended to put the services of Espartero out of the question was the conduct of his secretary, Ounce who, when he came, neither called upon Serrano, nor expresse d any wish to do so to any of the general's friends. Meantime harrier was at hand, insinu ating offers of service and devotion continually through Hos de Olano and others. One of the reasons (among others which perhaps remain hid from the light) why the 3rd of October was chosen fur the coup d'etat was, no doubt, the precipitate decree-legislation of Salamanca and Escosura being then in full swing, and giving a colour for taking the reins out of the hands of these Phaetons. The appointment of the Condesa di Montijo as Camarara Mayor hi, attracted much notice. This ulace has been vacant since the dismissal of the Margie:eade Santa Cruz. The condesa is, of course, a great friend of Narvaez. She is a dashing fashionable woman, a great giver of soires, and the leader of Madrilenian ton. As she is a grandmother, of course she is no longer nello prima gi , ,ventii ; for the rest, she possesses the remains of considerable beauty, and is a consummate itirrioutinte. The Espaynol observes that the Coudesa de Monello is ad- Tamed to this confidential post to countermine the influence of the accomplished Marquess de Villa-Garcia; but this is a refinement of penetration, for the latter lady has long ceased to pwtsess any court influence, and seldom area the Queen. The Heraldo asserts that General Concha is not to be dis placed. The Conde de Alcay (Roncali) bas been appointed Captain. General of Madrid. He is called the hero of the bofeton (buffet), having, when Captain-General of Grenada, cutfad the son of one of the first noblemen in the place fur not taking off his hat to him as he passed. The Conde de Vist►-Hermosa is appointed Political Chief of Madrid. A payment is announced for the active and passive classes. Nervaez is full of liberal professions. He says he wishes to keep fair terms with the progresistas, if they will only let him. No mass can be fairer spoken. We shall see soon how far his deeds correspond. He says he will be immirtial in the distribution of office. I hear that the progresista Prim has been appointed Captain. General of Puerto Rico. It is also reported that Espartero is to be ambassador at London ; and mentioned as probable that Miretlores will have the embassy at Paris. the Atarquifi of Villafrvoca (alias Duke of Medina-CO), Montemolin's great friend, is here. He arrived the day before yesterday. Itianzares is also whispered not to be 100 miles off. LEGHORN, Ocr. 4. You have of course seen accounts in the newspapers of our Tuscan revolution, for though no blood has been shed the present movement cannot be called by any other name. The changes which have taken place within the last few months have been very great. Th ere has been a law pub lished on the press, permitting newspapers to treat of the sets of government. There is a censorship, merely, however, to prevent the publishing of, anything that may be against reli. pion or morality, or against the, character of the prince sr individual; in fact, perfect freedom without license. The odious system of police has been abolished and will be remodelled. No one can now be punished for political or other crimes without a regular trial in open court. A commission has been appointed fur the revision of the civil and criminal code, and the punishment of death has been abolished. Another com mission has been named to examine into and report on the present state of the municipalities, with a view to a liberal change. A council of state has been appointed, the mem bers of which are not paid. To this council all important state matters are to be referred, and their opinion in writing to be given to the ministers. A national guard has been es'ablished, comprising all Tuscans from 18 to 80 ; and, lastly, a change of ministry has taken place. Two old fellows have been replaced by the Marchese Ridolfi and Count Serristori, both men of ability and of the - liberal party. All this has been accomplished since the beginning of May, and you will allow no time hat been lost. Through the imbecility and weakness of the late ministers the people have been completely masters for some months. Yet not a single outrage has been committed, which is the more extraordinary as we have had monster meetings in all quarters. All this movement we owe to that great man Pius IX. ; for no political orators could have moved the masses as they have done had not the Pope by his proceed ings at Rome spoken also to the religious reelines of the lower classes. Formerly liberalism was held in abhorrence by the religious now freedom and religion go hand in-hand. Many who had no religion about them are now, or pretend to be, staunch supporters of the church. The movement in Tuscany has been a meg- nificent one, and all that is nmesary are men of ability, good sense, end standing in society, to lead it ; but I much fear these are wanting ; at least in Leghorn we are sadly de ficient in this point. Still I trust the good sense and good feeling of the masses will point out the necessity of obedience to a government which at present enjoys all their confidence. The feeling of nationality is now very strong. None wish to dethrone the present rulers, but by a confederation of the various princes make Italy a country to be respected by foreign powers. As yet, Rome, Tuscany, and Lucca stand alone. Naples, I fear, is a long way off from the right road, and Piedmont, strong in a well disciplined army, shows no signs of making concessions, whilst nothing an be expected Irons the Austrian government in the north of Italy. Still a beginning Ins been made, and time will do the rest ; for I hope the good cause will at last prevail. I have given you a pretty long political stave, for which, perhaps, you will not thank me. But it is the all-absorbing subject with us, and you must, therefore, excuse me. The caisson of Lord Minto km given great satisfaction to all here, and forms a great contrast to the conduct of the French government, whose organ, the Journal des Dibals, is exe crated throughout Italy. soldlerl, IT w e 13/10111LL umlisykon, i The picture s a pretty one; but pity 'tie, 'tie not cor- O ur P ar i s despatches of Wednesday contain nothing d'affaires, at which all the authorities were present; rect. The highlands of Scotland may be the Arcadia Ws have already expressed the hope that the of general interest. of grouse shooters, deer stalkers, and trout fishers manifestos in the Times and Examiner, on the stop- AUSTRIA.—VIENNA, OCT. 7.—The Hungarian D f iet is conyoket! the the 17th ofof November for the . purpose of dukes with long rent-rolls, who love the wilder- page of railway calls, may not be found to coincide The Madrid mails of the Bth have arrived, but con- 0 0 f t v:c a e ff e s d in ing of th h e e k e i l w eAo it ea l ptaline aod the w disculmon new because it affords them sport ; but they are any- with any foregone conclusion, in their sense, in tain little news. The letter of our correspondent will thing but an Arcadia for the aboriginal inhabitants. official quarters. The proposals to lock the wheels o. be found in another colamo. minion is puma. h Emperor ill open the THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 15, 1847. PORTUGAL. The following appeared in a portion of our last evening's issue. The Oriental and Peninsular' Company's steamer Montrose, Capt. C. F. Burney, Lieut. Perceval, ILN. Admiralty Agent, arrived yesterday at South ampton. Her dates are: Gibraltar, the sth inst.; Cadiz, the Gth ; Lisbon, the 9th ; and Vigo, the 10th. Owing to the state of the weather, the steamer could not communicate with Oporto. As the Mon trose was leaving the Tagus she passed H.M.S. Ter rible, with Count Bomfim and the other Portuguese exiles from Angola. The Portuguese government was still in very straitened circumstances. The treasury was exhausted, and yet the troops were in arrear of pay two months, and the civil empio.s&r seven. LISBON, OCT. 9. The financial embarrassments of the Lisbon govern ment 'seem to bid defiance to all M. Franzini's efforts at stemming them. The last expedientipf the finance minister has been an attempt to forestall months of the public income to meet present pressure, by a mode, which, if successful. would, though it might assist immediate exigencies, tend only to the more complete and irretrievable bankruptcy of the country. A rablie porteria appears in the Diario, the state guette, endaimmaring by the seductive bait of excessive usurious advailiper, to induce the minor fry of capitalists to enter be 841 of discreditable speeulsbon, and lend their aid, to tke treasury, by loans fixed at the mini. mum amounts dais cent°, of reis, or about 14,001. British sterling. Up to the present moment it is not known to whet extent M. Franztni has proved successful, but facts of common notoriety in respect to the cessation of the ordinary treasury payments, would indic►te that but small assistance had been di rived from so anatatesmanlike and improvident a measure. In the meantime, excepting M. Franrini, the the of wbooe position none can doubt, we nay mat aptly apply to ministers Junius's biting sarcasm, that they seen to go wrong by design." Instead of dishanding the so-called National Battalions, and, while removing oa t of the moot bitter, indeed the very principal source of grievance with the popular party, getting rid, at she same instant, of an expenditure weighing eib billtTilT upon the reaources of the country, the court, sag with a perversity and infatuation oth erw i se e , insist upon maintaining this, at a ll dams proved asalto ' n and most disorderly force, on foot. The soldiery, now many months in arrrax, are condoctire themselves as troops too o ft en do under circa an 4 accounts and remonstrances come teeming in f a rm n _ . - , d south, • • w t. o r the countq. east, west, north, and .._ _..., complait. log of the moot frightful disorders; while, within the kit few days, the commandants of several battalions have ad. dressed significant representations to the Minister of War, to the effect that unless some portion of the arrears of pay also not presently issued to the soldiers and officers, the continued discipline and subordination of the military force cannot be de pended upon ; and desertion, upon a lime scale, follows. In the civil departments of government, affairs are, if pos sible. more deplorable. This shameful state of matters even extends to the palace servants, those attached to the royal stables b , ing twenty two months behindhand. A second representation to the Queen and to the foreign I ambassador', from the Septembrist leaders, has met with bat little attention. The only relaxation of the hasty arrange. menu in reference to the hurrying on the elections has been a brief postponement, until the 13th of the present month, for closing the registrations. The Stromboli is anchored off Fort St. Juliana, for the purpose of stopping the Terrible, whenever she comes in, with the object of taking out the Count Bonifim and the rest of the political priyners, and landing them in the neighbourhood of the fort. Tat govern. ment wish to make it out that they fear the priumen may meet with outrage should they come ashore at any of the usual landing places within the city. The mercantile exchanges have experienced but slight fluctuations • indeed, the quotations (for paper)) may b e esteemed as 'almost nominal. The recent heavy tams in England, coupled with the frauds of the government of Postugal in connexion with the bank question, have caused general distrust, and, as far as English houses are (Queened, transaction, either for remittances:or otherwise, are for the present almost confined to metal. Exchange on London, 30 days, 64 to Sit ; 90 days, 341; sovereigns, 1,400 ; dallier, Bessilian, Spanish, or Mexican, 0 0 _0; French .If. piece, 860; and discount upon Lisbon bank waste water (the owed, note), is 1700. To foreigners visiting or intending to pass the winter in Lisbon, it may be as well to advise the supplying themselves with English bank poet bills, or notes. Letters of credit what with commissions, and the other small mean items of deductions, suffer a considerable reduction. F RANCE.—PARMOCr.I3.—ACASEFORSAN/TART REFOIt M IN PAHIN.—A melancholy accident has occurred in the suburb of Vaugirard. There is in this part of the city an open sewer into which the drains of the whole neighbour hood run ; it is very deep, and entirely devoid of railing or protection of any kind, passers by being in continual dang er of fulling in. About three weeks since a gentleman fell over the edge of this pool, and was with great difficulty saved from suffocation. Despite this warning, no precaution win taken to prevent a recurrence of such an accident, and on the Bth inst. two girls were passing the pool; one of them ap proaches' the edge, her foot slipped, and she disappeared under the water. Two labourers hastened to her assist ance, and a light was procured, together with a hook and a ladder. After feeling about with the hook for a few minutes they drew up a corpse, not that of the unfortu nate girl who bad just fallen in, but the body of a south about 15 years of age. The hook was again used. and the last victim to this absence of proper local government was drawn up The male body was recognised as that of a youth who had disappeared about a week before; he hid !men sect with a sum of money in his charge, had acquitted himself of his mission, and had never returned. This acc ident has caused considerable excitement in the neighbourhood, and at length a barricade of planks has been put round the pool, which, it is said, the authorities are about teemp'.3- and it is expected other bodies will then be found. INTERMENT OF THE DUKE DE OCISE.—The in ferment of the infant Duke de Guise took place on the 12th 'at Dross. The Duke de Montpensier attended as chief mourner, accompanied by General Rumigny, Count Friant, and Colonel Dumas, the King's aides-de-camp, the private secretary and the director of the domains sat the Duke d'Aumale. and Captain Bro, one of the King's orderly officers. The procession left it. Cloud at six in the morning, and at twelve arrived at Drenx, where the garrison was under arms to receive it, with a detachment of the national guard, the sub-prefect. the mayor, the municipal council, and a numerous assemblage of the inhabitants. The service was performed by one of the almoners of the chapel, in the absence of the Bishop of Morocco. All the authorities were present. After the mass the body of the young prince was deposited in a temporary place until the King shall point out where it is finally to rest. The ab-olution being pronounced, the Duke de Montpensier retired, and at eight o'clock arrived back at St. Cloud. . _ . INUNDATIONS IN FRANCE.—The inundations which the approach of autumn generally ushers in, have commenced. Torrent, of rain have been falling near Montpellier and Nimes. The river lierault has overflowed its banks and caused much damage, carrying away with its current casks, wood, and other objects of value. The rising of the waters has been destructive in many towns along the banks of this river. At Bunten, the water reached as high as the first floor in many houses, damaging property to a large amount. A silk manufactory had especially suffered. Siren] bales of 'ilk had been carried away by the current. At Vigan a flock of sheep had been drowned, trees uprooted, and sa ' rta and horses lost, the carmen themselves with difficulty escaping. At a mill, near Gignac, several people were saved by the greatest chance. The mill was at work as usual, when a strange noise was suddenly heard, and the corn fell into the sieves only par tially ground. A cry of" the Wrault has risen" was heard, and preparations were made to save the flour in the place by bringing it to the top story. The water, however, continued to rise, and soon covered the floor of the highest part of the mill. The boat belonging to the place had been swamped, and there was no chance of escape but by swimming. A boat, however, luckily came to the assistance of the incast, and the inhabitants of the mill saved themselves by coming out through the windows. A quarter of an hour after, the highest point of the roof had disappeared under the water. At Alain, the Garden had risen considerably, and the people had been obliged to move their goods out of the lower stories of their houses, in order to save them front being spoiled by the water. At Lasalle serious damage was caused. No loss of human life has, however, occurred. LOLA 21IONTES.—It may be remembered that an action was brought tome time back before the Tribunal of Commerce against Lola Monies, now Countess de Lansfeld, for a debt of 3,000 fr., due for ;howls and other articles of dress. A verdict was given in her favour, the court having declared itself incompetent, on the ground that it could not be proved that she had obtained the goods with a view to commercial purposes, and the creditor was condemned to pay the costs. As he refused, on application, to defray the expense, amounting in all to 19 francs, the law agents of the countess brought an action against him to recover it. The case came on on the 12th, and the court decided that the cre ditor, to whom 3,000 francs were due, was justified in withholding the amount demanded for coats. HOLLAND.—THE HAGUE, Ocr. 13.—Prince Alexander continues to improve so satisfactorily that be in tends to sail for Madeira on the 20th.—A cabinet wawa was held on the 11th, when the speech from the throne was considered, It is to be delivered on Monday nest at the opening of the States General. BAVARIA.—Mancit, OCT. 8 —According to the Wurtzburg Gcaette, Herr Schretzer, one of the members of the diet, has brought forward two motions, having in view to petition his Majesty to abolish the censorship with roped to domestic affairs ; to mitigate its rigour with reference to other states belonging to the Germanic Confederation, and to co-operate with the other states in reali,ing the thtl. arti cle of the act of confederation relating to the lame, 01 the press. AUSTRIAN STATES.—Vemce, Ocr. 6.—The young Archduke Frederick, admiral in the Al:Lerida navy, died on the evening of the sth. Ile had been ill for twelve days, but hie complaint was not considered dangerous. 02 the bth, however, he was taken suddenly very ill with fever, vomiting, and rapid exhaustion of his strength, and he never rallied. Many think that he died of cholera. The Arch duke Frederick succeeded in 1841 as commander-in-thief of the Austrian navy is the Adriatic to Admiral Bandiera, the father of the unfortunate young men who were shot in Calabria. RUSSIA.—Sr Prrensnutto, Ocr. 2.—On the re commendation of the Minister of Finance. the Emperor Lae allowed the commercial bank to make advances en too de" posits, until the navigation of 1848 be opened. Those Mass will run from three to seven months. POLAND.—Wassaw, Ocr. 2.—The Emperor of Russia was shortly expected in the above city, and great Pm partitions had been made to receive him. AU the begam had been arrested, the city has been newly adorned (aufgeputzt),and severe measures on the part of the police have been taken, in order to assist in enabling his Majesty to see the city , in its most favourable light. All the hoose owners had received orders from the police to admonish their lodgers, in case the latter should wear beards, to cat them off. The serfs in Russia are compelled to wear their beards ; but such hirsute additions to free men's facts give ries to political euthicion. CENTRAL AMERICA. GUATEMALA. Ac' counts received in Holland, by way of Honduras, are to the 28th of July. They inform us that Guatemala hes con cluded a treaty of commerce and navigation with Greet Britain and the Hanseatic towns. A delay of eight months has been stipulated for the ratification of these treaties. The country was perfectly quiet, and the useful direction giro to the affairs of the country by the president had gatn. for him very great popularity. INTERCOURSE WITH TILE CONTINENT.—Onr usual returns show the following numbers of passeugers, pawing vice versa between England and France, in the ports of the Channel. Through Boulogne, 1,791 ; through Calais, 339. Corresponding period in 1846; through Boulogne, 1481 ; through Calais, 464. The 1,761 passengers through Bolder , * are subdivided u follows from Folkestone, 443; ht. Dover. 144 ; from Loudon, 220; total, 807. To Folkestone, 496 ; to Dover, 217; to'Loudon, 241 ; total, 9 51 - To PERSONS ABOUT TO M illßY.—Yesterday , the Rector of St. John's, Clerkenwell, announced his intention of performing the marriage service without fee on Advent Sunday next for all poor persons desirous of entering the holy state of matrimony, and who by application to the clerk at St. John's Church, any Wednesday during the pre sent month, will have the banns published lot t'iwith, free a all expense. V'