The Express.
London, England, 1854-01-04 00:00:00

PORTUGAL.

-4--
LISBON, Dec 29.
In the extraordinary royal session of the Cortes,
which took place on the 19th, the King Regent,
after having taken the oath prescribed by the con-
stitution of the state, made the following allocution:

Worthy Peers of the Kingdom and Gentlemen Deputies
of the Portuguese nation—After the severe pang with which
it has pleased Divine Providence to wound my heart, leave
my dear children orphans, arid plunge into mourning the
generous Portuguese notion, which so much loved their
=Anon. Queen, the first moment of alleviation to my SW.
lOW is this in which I find myself in the midst of the
national representation. In its presence I have just re.
pasted the solemn oath, determined by the constitution of
the monarchy, for the Regent during the King's minority.
. . .

This saved oath will be religiousli observed by me.
My continual aid sincere thoughts shall be employed for
the well-being and happiness of the subjects of the King,
Lord Don Pedro the Fifth, by whose side you see me.
In the abort space of time that is interposed to his 04.
I pity It shall be my greatest are to give him the lessons of a
father and the advice of a friend, in order that be may bo

more worthy to occupy the glorious throne of his august
ancestors. I will not cease to remind him of the eminent
virtues of his ezalted mother and of his immortal grand-
father, the Lord Dun Pedro the Fourth, both of deeply

cherished memory.
In the meantime, trusting to the favour of God, and in
the efficacious cooperation of the representatives of the
Portuguese nation, I hope to resign the kin;dom to his
Majesty the King, my august son, in the perfect enjoyment
of peace, in the possession of her precious liberty, and in
the progress of those industrial and administrative im-
provements so necessary to the well being of all Portuguese
citizens.

-----
After this elocution, the President Cardinal Pa.
triarch made an oration in the same sense' after
which the King and King Regent retired, with the
usual formalities. The Infante Don Luiz officiated
_ _

as Constable of the Kingdom.
The most barefaced act regarding the slave trade
is being carried on at Oporto. Two brigs, the Guerra
sad the Trajano, are fitting out for that traffic in the
light of day, without reserve " they refuse cargo
and passengers ; they take with them large water
casks, numerous trays, water for ballast, stores for
120 persons, strong crew-, and give the seamen's
families an advance of 30 to 40 milrein each" (71. to
91.). " The agents are friends of the government,
sectarians of regeneration, the vilest creatures, en.
nobled and aggrandised by the government." So
says the Portvuez, No. 214, of Dec. 26; and from
the information the press gave on a former occasion,
which has been since proved to have been true, I
have no reason to doubt this notice. On the contrary,
I have the strongest reason to say the slave trade is
being carried on, authorisedly, upon a scale that beg.
gate description.
- - - -

A ud accident occarred in the British squadron here on
the 24th instant. They were to have sailed on that day for
a month's cruise, and about 10 cm. began to get under

weigh. The St. Jean d'Acre, 101, screw, Captain Hon.
Koppel, wee the most seaward ship, and should have sailed
first, but as she wu watering at the time, she contented
herself with getting up her anchor, drifting with the tide
for a full half hour, with no canvas set, and this was the
cause of the subsequent disaster. Next to her were the
Duke of Wellington, 131 guns, screw, Commodore Martin,
and the Cruiser, 20, screw, Capt. Hon. Douglas, which
. .

ships weighed and made nil together. The Duke beat
away to sea beautifully, with the wind W.N.W., and daring
the whole time she was under canvas astonished and

delighted every one by her speed and easy steer-
ing. She is acknowledged on all hands to be
the fastest ship under canvas in tke squadron,
and it is quite a new thing in the navy for a three-decker
to leave the fastest frigates far astern on any wind. The
Cruiser was not so fortunate, owing to the drifting about
of the St. Jean d'Acre. Captain Douglas could not tack as
soon as desirable, and by carrying on, in order to reach to
windward of the Acre, the Cruise, got too far under the
cliffs on the south bank of the Tagus, end, refusing to stay,
would have gone right ashore had not she brought up on
her anchor, which was at once dropped. She immediately
pulled royals and top-gallant sails, and cleared topsails.
After some delay she was safely hove off out of her dan-
gerous position. The rest of the squadron, seven sail,
were now under weigh, nearing the St. Jean d'Acre, some
on the starboard and others on the larboard
tack. The Acre was at this time right before
the wind ; and, unfortunately, this moment was
chosen for loosing sail, when she at once began to run ra-
pidly ahead ; and before her sada could be set, or steerage
got on her, she ran right into the Desperate (6 guns, screw,
Captain Chambers), which ship was nearest to her, and had
Prat stood on the port tack, striking her right abaft the
ASsel, carrying away her main and mina topmasts,
stowing in her bulwarks, do. The St. Jean d'Acre lost het
jib-boom and bead rigging. This took place close to the
south side of the river, and the line-of-battle ship, with
the Desperate hanging on her bows, drifted so close to tke
rocks that persons might almost have jumped ashore from
them. Here they brought up with their anchors,
and for mote than six hours remained in the
most perilous situation. The mainmast of the
Desperate was eventually carried away, and it
was only at nightfall that they were separated and moored
in safety. The great depth of water along the south side of
the Tagus alone saved the Cruiser, St. Jean d'Acre, and
Desperate from incurring great damage, if not entire de-
struction. The lives lost in the last ship from the tall of
her spars, As., have been variously stated at two, four,
five, and six. One report says that no lives were lost; but
though such might possibly be the case, it is scarcely cre-
dible that such an accident could occur on the crowded
decks of a war vessel without the loss of some valuable
lives. On the Prince Regent, flag-ship, one man was killed
in weighing anchor, and she lost her best bower and many
fathoms of chain. It has since been recovered. A
sailor likewise fell from the rigging of the Va-
orous (paddle steamer, Captain Buckle). He was
at once picked up by her boats, but died
shortly afterwards. The St. Jean d'Acre hoe undergone •
temporary repair ; the Desperate is lying • complete wreck
off the palace. Immediately upon the occurrence of the
accident the squadron was recalled and moored—and signal
made from the flag-ship that no communication should be
held with the shore till midday ou Thursday, a proceeding
little calculated to soothe the feelings of the seamen, who
had previously in several of the ships shown marks of dis-
content, if not of complete disaffection and mutiny, at being
sent to sea on the eve of that general holiday Christmas-
day. The effect of this signal was to deprive the men of
those many additions to their Christmas dinner which they
are accustomed to purchase on shore for that day ; and
indeed, the entire policy of the admiral's proceed-
ings may be justly questioned. On occasions of emergency
British seamen have always shown themselves ready and
willing to act ; but it is bard to conceive that anything of
importance had occurred to call for the sailing of the fleet
on the 24th instead of the 26th of December, especially as
Admiral Corry is awaiting his despatches by the Medea
war-steamer. The above is an impartial account of the
accident, as communicated to me by an eye-witness. A
court of inquiry will of course be held. For the present,
beyond the inferences deducible from • brief recital of
the facts, I must suspend my judgment till an official deci-
sion has been given. I cannot, however, pass by without
reprobation the conduct of several persons in the squadron,
who, from ignorance of the facts, or misled by prejudice, have
unscrupulously thrown the whole blame on the shoulders of
Captain Chambers, of the Desperate. That officer has
nothing to fear, but everything to hope, from a court-mar-
tial. I must not forget to mention that the Portuguese
men of war and the arsenal despatched a great number of
boats to the assistance of the English vessels when in dan-
ger, and rendered every assistance in their power. It is
remarkable that our large fleet of ten ships, all of them
steamers except the Prince Regent, was get under weigh
without one of them being under steam ; even the Valorous,
paddle-wheel steam-frigate, was under canvas and beating
out. The squadron remains for the present, and consists of
the Prince Regent, Duke of Wellington, St. Jean d'Acre,
Intherieuse, Arrogant, Amphion, Tribune, Cruiser, Valor-
ous, Odin, and the unfortunate Desperate. The Medea is
hourly expec'ed, when the twelve vessels here will condi-
tote the finest steam-fleet in the world.
The French steamer of war, Tonnerre, went to sea on the
20th, and the Ebrie, also French, on the 23rd. Eschangei
; discount of notes, 21.

FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT AT THE HOUSES OF
PAILLIAMENT.—YesteriIay morning, 'thinly before eleven
o'clock, a frightful accident occurred to Thomas Horton,
at the new Houses of Parliament. lie arcs engaged outside
the building, when he slipped on some snow, and fell
through a skylight a depth of twenty feet. lie was picked
up in a state of insensibility, nod conveyed to Henry Hoar s
Ward, Westminster Hospital, where be now lies in a most
precarious situation, owing to the revere injuries he received
of the head and hack. Not the slightest hopes are enter-
' Wad of his recovery.