The Express.
London, England, 1849-01-08 00:00:00

FRANCE.

PARIS, SATURDAY, 6 P M.
Last evening the President of the republic re-
ceived at dinner MM. Thies, Mole, 0. Barrot, and
Leon Faucher. This evening his cousin, M. Napoleon
Bonaparte, and several leading members of the party
of the National, dined with him.

I am aimed that another ministerial crisis is far
from being improbable at the present moment,
although nothing on this subject hu yet transpired in
the press. Several conferences have been held by the

President on the one hand with the leaders of the me-
dente party, and on the other with the republicans
of the twills. The family of Prince Louis
cease urging him to a coalition with the latter. It is
said that the President has directly put it to the'
leaders of the moderate party, that their position at
present is indefensible ; that, true or false, it is as-
sumed by the country that they stand bebiud the
Cabinet prompting and inspiring it, but leaving to it
the whole responsibility ; that they ought to come
forward and take the responsibilities of office, or allow
a Cabinet to be formed from other element?, the real
chief of which would stand ostensibly forward. It is said,
that upon this M. Thiers has submitted a ministerial
combination, in which Marshal Bugeaud would form
a part, as well as two or three of the present
cabinet, and of which he would himself, of course, be
the chief. It is further said, that the family of Prince
Louis, who are in relation with the party of the
National, are prompted by M. Armand Marrast to
propose a cabinet, oomposed of republicans of the
will., in which MM. Marred and Mature would be
united with M. Barthelemy St. Hilaire. I cannot
guarantee the accuracy of these reports, which are not
very widely spread, though circulated in quarters en-
titled to much consideration.

In the Assembly to day, M. de Maleville announced
that all the documents in the archive. of the Interior
relating to Prince Louis at Boulogne and Strasbourg
had been put under seal.

PORTUGAL.

We announced on Saturday the arrival of the
Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer Iberia
at Southampton, with advice. from Gibraltar, Cadiz,
Lisbon, and Vigo.
It was said that after the Cortes were opened in Lis-
bon on the 2nd Jan., they would be closed until the
20th. It is known that the majority of the house are
against the actual government for their continual
anticipations of the revenue. There is not a
farthing in the treasury. All classes continue to be
seriously in arrow. The dividends, army and navy,
are in a deplorable state of need. In the mean time,
all expenditure seems to continue as usual. At
Cadiz quarantine laws were of much injury to every
pursuit and speculation. To show the poverty patent
at Lisbon, a ship-of-war (Vasco de Gama' 74) is re-
quired at Rio Janeiro for protection of Portuguese
interests. The government were too poor to fit her
out. '1 he merchants advanced the means, and have
agreed to pay the necessary keep of the ship while
there, as her imposing presence is quite necessary for
their protection. Gibraltar, exchange on London,
90 days, 49 to 49j. Prince Adelbert, of Bavaria,
left Gibraltar for Tangier on the 27th, in the Poly-
phemus. He left under a salute of 19 guns from the
garrison. He goes home through Spain and France.
The following ts a translation of the royal speech,
which was to be delivered at the opening of the
Cortes on the 2nd inst. :

Worthy Peers of the Realm end Gentlemen Deputies
of the Portuguese Nation,—
With extreme pleasure I again see the national representa-
tives re-united around my constitutional throne.
Public tranquillity has remsined unaltered during the in.
terval since the last session. Peace and order—essential
guarantees of the representative system, founded upon public
liberty and prosiarity—have been maintained without the
necessity of extraordinary measures, which are always of a
painful nature.
The Portuguese nation, in the free use of the liberties
guaranteed by the constitutional charter, has become worthy
the envy of the nrisr civilised countries, in consequence of
the p ace and trarquillity it enjoys whilst Europe has been
d vastated by the films of civil discord. The monarchical
and social principles, in so many places threatened, derive
their force in Portugal from the hearts of suliects wen-
tislly venerators of the crown and of the religion of their
ancestors.

1 haws been careful to reciprocate the proofs of friend-
ship I continue to receive from foreign powers, and my
government seeks still further to consolidate and cement the
ties which ally them with the Portuguese nation.
With profound sorrow I received accounts of the unhappy
events wkich made the Holy Fr her consider it necessary to
withdraw himself from his dominions and proceed to Gaeta,
to which place he was followed by my minister in Rome,
who attended him in all his tri:rulatiorui, according to my
orders. _

Animated by the religious sentiments which gained for my
august predecessor. the title I so mach •ilue of " Most
Faithful Bons of the Church," I sent a pear of the realm,
who is a chamberlain of my palace, upon an extraordinary
mission to the sacred pontiff, to wham I wrote ES an
obedient daughter, assuring him of the joy it would cause
me should he be pl aced to sanctify these realms with his
presence.
In consequence of these events it is to be feared that delays
will arise in the solution of pending negotiations, which are
called for by the spiritual necessities of the people, and by the
interests of the crown, in the enjoyment of rights which were
always held in great value by the monarchs of this kingdom.
Meanwhile, I have the satisfaction to announce to you that
some resolutions, adapted to promote the religious well. being
of Portuguese subjects, had been agreed upon in common
accord with the Holy See, as my government will iu due
time inform you.
You will likewise be snide acquainted with a convention
entered into with the empire of Brazil, for establishing a just
reciprocity in navigation dues, founded upon the mutual con-
venience of both countries.

The state of the public treasury suffers from the defects
of the present system of taxation, in which important modi-
fications have become of urgent necessity, in order to com-
bine the bond fide collec•ion of the imposts with the convie
Merles of the people, founding the improvements of the
apstrm on the clearness and simplicity of its regulations and
the responsibility of its agents.
My government will lay before you the budget of the re-
ceipts and expenditure of the state, and will render you an
account of the execution of the laws recently passed fur the
administration of the public nee.
Upon fixing the naval and military forces, you will attend
to the exigenci. s of the public security and the honour of the
nation, seconding my government in the measures it has to
propose for attaining those important results.
All my ultramarine provinces continue in perfect tran-
quillity. If their position be not so prosperous as might be
expected from their valuable resources, it has, however, ge-
aurally improved. My government will propose to you such
measures as it considers most appropriate for aiding the de
velopment of those resources.
I rely upon your devoting most serious attention to the
examination of the budget and the proxies!, of organic laws
which my government will present to you, and thus promote,
by care and united efforts, administrative improvements in
the most important branches of the service, adopting, with
respect to each, such measures as experience i .dicaus and
the public necessities demand.
I hope that the chambers will give to my government the
•fficscious and enlightened cooperation which the cause of
the monarchy, of order, and of liberty exacta.