The Express.
London, England, 1852-01-17 00:00:00

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TO CORRESPONDENTS.

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LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 17.

OPMAT efforts are being made to get up a cry of
"the coast in danger!" .%1I who conceive that poli-
tical profit is to be gained by n panic regarding in-
ration, and all who discern professional advantage to
exerue from irereuaed armaments, are ready to sr:ell
the chorus of alarm, and to urge the demand fur aug-
mentations of our naval force. One day we are told
that Sheerness lies defencek•-is, ready to be seized on
by some piratical expedition of our continental
neighbours. Yet hardly is the apprehension uttered
than accounts apjwir of the mounting of heavy
guns on the new batteries of the port in question :
whereupon another turn is given to the attliir, and
from Ihl fart just mcnt• 11, occasion is taken to
preach fre,h terrors, -for if government were not seri-
ously uneasy from tonic canine- or other, why would
these guns be mounted fur the first time, just now
Again, we are assured that Brighton might be bom-
barded i.ome fine night atter it bad gone peacefully to
bi-d,and that l'ortieaoutlimay at any 11111 l new full unrc- !
glidingly into the hands of those unrivalled mariners,
the motlern Gault.

It is within the bounds of possibility that the
good understanding which for so inane years has
h.eppily subsisted between the French &nil English go-
y!. rimed, may be superficially disturbed by the itera-
tion on our side of senseless cries. We say superficially.
because we cannot believe that at heart the people
of tithe.: country cherish any other thoughts than
those of impreora intercourse for purposes of Luainess
or pleasure. and of multiplied relations in every
branch of trade and commeree. 'llw small proprietor
of France has as little to gain by war as the small
shopkeeper in England. Both feel their annual pay-
ments to the tax-gatherer to be quite heavy enough.
They know very well what military glory is made
of, and understand pretty clearly what "a splen-
did victory" usually costs. So long as the Na-
tional Assembly existed, and the Paris press was
free to utter whatever sentiments were likely to nil
an echo in the popular breast, we beard nothing
of ache mese for a descent on England. We arc still
inclined to hope.— however we may denounce recent
changes —that Me pr p'e of France still feel desirous
of keeping up the cordial feeling which has now so
long subsisted between them and the people of Eng-
land.
The government of France has, it is true, been
latog.fftef changed since WA); the press and the
Assembly exist 110 more. It is also true that a way-
ward and wanton misuse of power may more
readily be cammitted by an absolute power than by
a constitutional one. fiat there are countervailing
considerations on this score of no trivial weight.
Loots Nteou.oa might no doubt declare war to-
morrow without resuionable cause- against this or any
other country in Europe; but the risk of eventual
failure, even though at first he were to snatch a
temporary triumph,—must for him be greater than
for any ruler se Ito has presided over the destinies of
France for many years. Military renown would
probably contribute to consolidate his hold on the
supreme power; but the example of his illustrious
relative cannot fail to remind ham that the ,glut of a
dozen triumphant campaigns may be more than
effaced in the national chagrin at the humiliation
and loss of one. A usurper cannot afford to fail
egregiously in any great undertaking; but, above
all, he cannot, without recklessness amounting to in-
sanity, afford to wage internecine war with a gr at and
powerful nation. lie may meditate encroachments
partly by negotiation and partly by overwhelming
force upon those of his territorial neighbours who are
too weak to be ever able to exact retribution. But to
arouse wantonly the indomitable spirit and deter-
mined resentment of the greatest empire in the
world.—with no other hope than to win a burglarious
notoriety for the hour,—is, for a man in his precarious
position, a somewhat incredible supposition.
We admit at once, however, that the ultimate
futility of any such attempts on the political inde-
pendence of Great Britain does not exonerate our
rulers from the duty of providing sufficient means
of protection against surprise, should anything of the
kind be madly designed, now or at any future time.
We consent to pay seven millions annually for the
maintenance of a navy for this purpose. When,
tikes:fore, we hear it said that "the coast is in dan-
ger," we have a right to ask, where, then, is the
fleet ? If not good for this, what in the world is it
good for? Let us make provision de nuvo, by all
means, for the country's safety ; but let us, at the
same time, retrench tho 7,000,0001. which the naval
force—wherein we have hitherto trusted—annually
coats us. The fact is, however, notorious, that the
existing fleet is more than doubly sufficient for all
defensive objects, were it made use of in that way.
We have ships of the line, steam-frigates, and trained
gunners enough afloat ; but i astead of being kept within
call, they are scattered ostentatiously and idly all over
the world—some employed in very questionable oc-
cupations in the Indian Sea—some engaged in still
more doubtful pursuits off the coast of Brazil—some
floating indolently in tho Levant—and, filially, some
learning to rot in the Tagus. Let us take the last-men-
tioned squadron us an example. By the last advice,
brought by the Peninsular Company's steamer the
Iberia, welcarn that on the oth inst. there lay in the Bay
of Gibraltar, besides smaller vessels, her MAJESTY s
war-steamers Janus and Dragon, and in sight of the
Portuguese capital no less than five vessels of war,
namely, the Prates Regent and La Rogue (line of
battle ships), and the Leander, Dauntless, and Are-
thasa (first-class frigates).
In the name of 7,000,000/. a year, what are these
boating fortresses maintained fur there? Are the
war steamers guarding the impregnable Rock against
a surprise from the powerless Spaniards, or from the
still more feeble Moors? And is a British squadron
such as we have described kept in the Tagus as a
complimentary guard of honour of tho wretched ,
female sovereign whom the Portuguese compelled to I
pay for miagoverning them Donna MARIA DA GLORIA
owed her original elevation to the throne of Portugal
to British money, diplomacy and blood. We went
interineddling in matters that did not concern us;
and uur reward at the end of twenty years is the
conviction that the imbecile monarch and corrupt ad-
ministration which we contributed to impose upon Por-
tugal is only to be maintained in security against popu-
lar dislike by the presence of a British fleet at anchor
under the 'palace windows. So literally is this de-
plorable and disgraceful statement believed in Lisbon,
that the standing reply to all inquiries as to why the
squadron does not occasionally set Pail and make a
voyage elsewhere.—if it were fur nothing but to keep
the crews in practice,—is, that political affairs are in
so precarious a condition that there is no saying what
might happen were the fleet to put to sea! So that
while it is pretended in England that our own coast
is in danger, we are actually playing the gaoler over
an unfortunate country in whew internal affairs we
have no business whatever to meddle. If ships are
wanted to watch Cherbourg or to patrol the Channel,
let the Tagus and Brazil fleets be ordered home to do
the duty. Let us properly employ the force we
have, before the people of England are asked to pay
for more soldiers and sailors. If England needs
defence, call into play her natural defenders. Fetch
home the Tagus fleet.

Tiit British public has, we fear, ceased to take
much interest in the native prince's of India,
whether fallen, tolerated, or about to fall. The
Indian authorities have pretty much name 6:macho
to deal with them. And if the Ntzvu he mulcted
or cheated, the OUTWVAR ransomed, and he of
Battarah left to starve, all the help and 'sympathy
we have left does not amount to a shrug. The be-
haviour of the Singh princes, as the royal
race of the Sikhs were culled, blotted all
humane fii ling. And yet their subjugation,
and the disappearance with them of any really
formidable opponent east of the Indus, might
invpire the rulers of that region with magnanimity.
The kindly feelings of the British public were,
perhaps, never so much excited ton anis any race of
Indian princes as towards the Ameers of Scinde.
We had come into their country, craving the free