The Express.
London, England, 1847-01-06 00:00:00

The Queen's speech was settled in a cabinet council,
held on the 28th, at Madrid. It was also said that a
resolution was come to, to establish two new minis-
tries, to comprise colonial affairs, public instruction,
and public works. It was resolved that the minis-
terial candidate for the presidency of the senate
should be the Marquis de Viluma. The choice was
not expected, according to the Ileraldo, to be popular.
El Ticmpo says that a project of marriage was enter-
tained between the daughters of the Infant Don
Francisco de Paulo, sisters of the King Consort, with
some German princes. It seems, however, that some
religious scruples obstructed this arrangement.
The marriage of the Infant Don Enrique with one
of the daughters of Queen Christina by the Duke of
Rianzares was spoken of.
El Tiempo says that the partisans of absolutism
were working with all their might to raise an insur-
rection in the Basque provinces in favour of Count
Montemolino. The garrisons of those provinces
were reinforced.
Private letters say, that notwithstanding the re-
ports of ministerial changes, the present cabinet was
determined to hold its course, and, if the opposi-
tion should obstruct it, systematically to dissolve the
Chamber. The ministerial candidate for the presi-
dency of the Chamber of Deputies was to be M.
Castro y Orozco. The Deputies held a preparatory
meeting on the 29th, at which deputations were
named to receive her Majesty at the Chamber, and to
fulfil provisionally the functions of secretaries. The
Bourse continued to be weak.

OPENING OF THE SPANISH CORTES.
(From the Times.)
The following is the Speech of the Queen of Spain
on opening the Cortes :

Gentlemen, Senators, and Deputies.,—
" Nothing causes me more lively satisfaction than to find
myself again in the midst of you, and again to give myself
over to the hope that your loyalty. and your every effort will
be consecrated to cement the union of the throne with the
institutions of the country, and to continue the work of the
prosperity of Spain.
" I have contracted a marriage with my august cousin,
Don Francisco d'Assis Maria de Bourbon, agreeably to my
intention announced to the preceding Cortes. I trust that
Heaven will bless this union, and that you, also, gentlemen,
will unite your prayers with mine to Almighty Clod. The
marriage of my beloved sister has also taken place in the
way which has been already explained to the Cortes.
" In our relations with foreign powers no change has
taken place worthy of notice.
" Domestic tranquillity, that first need of nations, is
strengthening itself, in spite of attempts which have been
made to disturb it. I am confident that all legitimate opi-
nions, uniting themselves on the vast and free field of our
institutions, will leave without support the factions hostile
to the public peace, and will contribute to consolidate the
constitutional government, and to efface all traces of the
troubles which have so long agitated the nation.
" In order to attain that important end, I have granted to
persons implicated in those troubles as large an amnesty as
the welfare of the state permits. It is the welfare of the
state which I shall consult at some future time, as to the
question of extending this amnesty to those who, for weighty
reasons, have been hitherto excluded from it.
" It is a great satisfaction to me to be able to announce to
you that, thanks to the pence and the reforms to which
former Cortes have given their support, the national pros-
perity is making notable advances; myefforts will before all
things tend to extend and augment those advances, and I
reckon on your co-operation and assistance in this matter.
" The different branches of the administration of the state
have experienced great ameliera'ions ; these are owing to
the regularity introduced in the payment of expenses in the
various offices, to the preservation of the public peace, and to
the harmony and order which the laws recently established
have introduced into the working of the administration.
"In the organisation of the army some reform., impera-
tively demanded by the public good, have been carried out.
These reforms have brought about a considerable economy in
the expenditure, and it is great subject of satisfaction to me
that their intreductionhasnotiefringed upon vested rightsmor
caused any prejudice to the classes who compose this inte-
resting portion of the nation. In the matter of discipline
and soldierly behaviour the condition of the troops both by
sea and land could not be more satisfactoy, and the fidelity
of all ranks is a sure guarantee that the sacred trust re-
posed to their care will be protected from all dangers.
My solicitude, and that of my government, has not
been less with respect to the Navy. For the first time
since many years the expenses of all establishments have
been covered; considerable works and repairs have been
completed in our arsenals; an impulse has been given to
naval construction, as well in the yards of the state as in
those of private individuals, so that the vessels of our fleet
have been available for all the purposes of the state, as well
as for the protection of our mercantile marine, the rapid
increase of which gives rise to the fondest hopes.
" The amount of the revenue is increasing, and there is
ground for hope that it will be still more considerable when
the projected alterations of the tairiff have been put in force;
my government will notify these changes to you in a proper
form.
. Some alterations have at the same time been intro-
duced in the subject of taxes, and the chief defects which
disfigure that system will disappear as soon as all the data,
which are now being sought for with great care, have been
collected, with a view to a just and equal apportionment of
the contributions.
"My government will present you with the budget of
receipts and expenses for the year 1847. You will there see
the ameliorations and economies which it has been possible
to make. I regret that past troubles, and the very reforms
themselves which must afterwards produce good results,
do not permit of my making at present all the reductions
which I desire.
" It has been equally impossible for my government to
arrive at an arrangement of the public debt in virtue of the
authority given by me for that purpose. However, as I
have a lively desire to satisfy the just demands of the state
creditors, as well domestic as foreign, the measures which
may appear most proper for arriving at this end will be pro-
pord to you at a fitting time.
Agreeably to the law of the 9th of June, 1845, a loan of
aKI millions of reels (50 millions of francs) has been con-
tracted, destined to making new roads ; the works have
partly commenced on several lines, forming parts of the
vast plan of internal communication which my Government
' proposes to carry out.
• Besides the budget, other measures demanded by the
' public weal will be proposed to you.
" A fixed and fitting endowment for religious peewees
and the clergy is a positive and urgent need, as essential to
the welfare of religion as it is for that of the state. My
government will present you shortly with a law on this im-
portant matter.
" Besides these, other laws will be proposed in the course
' of this session ; some with a view to protect the increase of
wealth by curbing the abuses which accompany the first im-
pulse of its development, others with a view to introduce
ameliorations in the different branches of the administration,
' and others, finally, with a view to regulate the arrangements
in force relative to the press and to exceptional professions.
" It is thus, Gentlemen, Senators and Deputies, with the
aid of Providence, and while the efforts of all are directed with
r courage and firmness in the pursuit of the same aim, that
the ameliorations introduced in a political, economical, and
administrative point of view will be consolidated, that fresh
' ones will he introduced, and that, after so much agitation,
' peace, order, and prosperity will be restored to this nation—
' blessings to which her great qualities and her many virtues
give her so great a claim."