The Express.
London, England, 1848-01-15 00:00:00

LATEST FROM PORTUGAL.

By the arrival at Southampton this morning of the
steamer Montrose, Captain It. W. Evans— Lieut.
Inglis, R. N., Admiralty agent, we have news from
Lisbon to the 9th. The Cortes were opened on the
2nd, in presence of an overwhelming military force,
assembled for the purpose of maintaining order.
Neither the British minister, the French mi-
nister, nor Sir Charles Napier was present at the
ceremony. The Cabralists STure conspicuously on all
committees. Costa Cabral is appointed ambassador
to Paris, Terceira to Vienna, and Villa Real to London.
There was a rumour that the government intended to
decree a forced loan. We append the letter of our
correspondent :
LISBON, SAM. 9.
Up to the very moment of the actual opening of the
so-called Portuguese Cortes opinions were much divided upon
the point as to whether a postponement would be proposed,
even at the twelfth hour ; and the impression that a further
delay would take place received additional strength when it
was rumoured that Sir Georxe Seymour had, on the vesper
of theday named for the meeting, drawn out and presented a
formal and strong protest to her Majesty against the vali-
dity of the elections. In the face of this opposition, how•
ever, the ill-advised and infatuated queen held firmly to her
determination, and on Sunday last, the 2nd inst., the par-
liamentary session was opened by her Majesty in person, in
a speech teem the throne, which we have already elven.
Upon the termination of the speech, Her Majesty arose,
quitting the hall similarly accompanied, and with the same
formalities, as were observed upon her entrance.
Anything approaching to a severe criticism offs speech from
the throne is at all times an ungracious task, but the remark
cannot fail to arrest attention in the present instance of
the singular abstinence in this document of all mention
of those matters, naturally supposed to be of all-engrossing
attention at the conclusion of a ruinous civil war. tier
majesty deals with but tw. facts ; the one, the necessity of
extraonlinary resources being granted to meet the extra-
dietary:expenses ; and the other, the birth of two more princes.
which the Portugues nation is told to look upon as a special
mark of Divine favour. In the Committees appointed by
the two Roams to wait upon Her Majesty, the obnoxious
brothers Cabral figured conspicuously; Costa Cabral as a
Pear, and Joel Bernardo Cabral as a deputy, being oetenta-
tiously paraded in front of the party. Her Majesty and
mite under strong escort, left the Palace of the 'Neceesidades
shortly rot, r mid.dav, and reached the Hall of the Cortes
about one o'clock. Upon the arrival of the Royal Forty, and
equally so upon return, the guns (rim Lie Portuguese
Squadron and from the solitary French frigate at anchor
in the Tagus, gave the customary salute, the English
Beet preserving an ominous silence, nor were the
English ships dressed out with their flags all was
the case with the others. In the place allotted for the re-
ception of the diplomatic body, the feet of the absence of the
British and French ministers, and of Sir Charles Napier,
hes been accepted as an evidence of the repugnance
with which one of the nations at least, parties to
the Protocol, view the shameless breach of that
faith which, " pledged to her ).)lies," was .unposed
to be an ample enough guarantee for the due fulfilment
of stipulations, every one of which we have witnessed so scan-
dalonsly templed under foot. It was contemplated ae a possi-
huity that in her Majesty's passage to and from the Cortes some
4tsturhance might occur, however the display of an overwhelm-
ing vaiiit,,ry twee who crowded up every avenue through which
the royal pnerudon pawed had the effect of preserving
order Au immense concourse of persons were present; and
certainly if her Majesty possesses only ordinary feeling, the
manner in which the was received must have been
keenly wounding to sensibility. Scarcely a single vira
—in fact, in the discontented looks of the people, the
prof und silence, the absence of any one symptom of
sympathy or of welcome, --- all might surely be in-
terpreted by the Queen as convincing testirno,y of the
contempt and distaste with which all classes of Portuguese,
excepting the Court parasites and greedy adventurers around
her throne, entertain for a government sustained by rapa-
cious exactious, and whose only strength is in the foreign
force that upholds it.
On her Majesty's way back, an officer of the Lancers (I
quote from toe Pa 'rioto), observing an individual in the
crowd who neglected to uncover as the cortege passed,
whether from rudeness or forgetfulness is not stated, very
teeny raised his sabre and tried to cut him down, The blow
nos partially ended but the hat of the individual cut nearly
" two, remains a memento of the gallantry of an armed hero,
who so va'isntly assaulted a defenceless citizen. So noon as
her majesty had retired from the Cortes, the acting pmi-
dent adjourned the assembly until the following day. Al-
though the Cortes bare since then met daily, yet no business
boYeald trifling discussion hem commenced from the im-
Pealibilityof forming, what in England is called " a house ;"
that is to say, a sufficiency of members not having reached the
rteal to commence the business of parliament. In my last
t Bate you to understand that it was unlikely that the bro-
thers Cabral could, in the face of the hostility of England,
enter at once upon the ministry, and I mentioned the appoint-
Brinedluildy carved out
for
them. In this I have been con-
by the publication of the decrees by which Costa
Cabral is appointed ambassador to France, and the Duke
of Terceira minister to Vienna. Jae Cabral's nomination
to the Bnxihsn crabs op is not as yet published, but I
heliese it terrain, as well as that Baron Torre de Moncorvo
to be recall.' from London, and the Count of Villa Real
hthstituted in his Flue ; the Duke of Saidanha,
the wind Prime Minister, is mentioned as likely
to take the Madrid embassy, but this is rumour.
Ile first public act of the Quceu's Ministry after
e ceremony of opening the Cortes was to addle se a note
to ilia minarets of the three powers, England, France, and
Spain, to the (Fret that her Majesty's government considered
'4, provisions of the protocol to have been carried into effect,

ea. 2..fti aeomegually eigegoessals %kg *Mai *a
re=boi Awed to
=bled*. eziet. WWI aseopffel a
will illosomest
lebesieso--seett ollbostery, =et
witkltoie Lord Poksentooje now ibe subjent of 'avowing
speeidatios.
The Estensiorts (Cabral's paper) has even the impudence
to motet that the amnesty was a ^ highly inconvenient est,
neither dictated by sound policy, nor meeting the
justice of the cue." Now with advisers round the own
openly professing suchsendreents, what can be
clphe prcied nut farther disterbasau—a fruit revolution'

• •
only ma die farther afloat are the reported intentions
of the Queen's goveramant to decree &forced ken, and the
preemies to the Cores the moment they meet in
numbers saSeleut to legalise the act, of a re-
' newel of the suspension of personal guarantees, if
eitt er of these acts should be based upon serious founda-
tion, then it will be seen whether Lord Palmerston will per-
permit the English merchant and resident to be either pilla-
ged in purse, or have his house invaded.
As repects the fleet, or nautical movements, there are
no ch4nges; a rather unpleasant occurrence, however.
happened a few evenings back, by a collision between
some of the blue jackets belonging to the Canopus who
were ashore on leave, and a strong party' of Portuguese
sailors and boatmen. Blows were exchanged. and knives
drawn, the consequences were, that some
_Yew English were
conveyed on board cut about a good deal, while of their as.
'alkali ems miles was killed by a stab through the heart, and
other thee, er fuer badly wounded. The mem who inflicted
the doh swain the death of the Portuguese is presumed to
be sed is in custody and about to be tried.
lon Ciumnsisl matters, the usual remark applies—little
dning.—Embeeso on London at 90 days. 636 f ; 30 dam
631 S. flevereiges, 4,600; dollars, 930; Discount on Lisboa
notes, 40 per seat.

SPECIAL COMMISSION.
cOLINTY CLAM.

(PitOlt 001 OWN exrowritha
ENNIS, TitWOOLY. Jag. 13.
At the departure of the mail yesterday, the Chief Boron
was commencing to address the grand jury. His lordship
spoke in the following manner:
3Lr Luies O'Brien end eteetaanama el Magma pay aCt
the county Clare, the commission which you hue just.
heard read by the 'officer of the court hes informed you
that those to whom the executive authority of the county
has been entrust,d, have deemed it right to anticipate the
ordinary visitation of the law at the assizes, by issuing this
special ;commission, for the purpose of trying offenders in
certain counties, including the county of Clare. Proceed-
ings of this nature are rendered necessary from time to time,
either by the multitude of offenders or the magnitude and
atrocity of crime. Such proceedings are essential with a view
to those objects for which the tribunals of justice are c Bled
into usual operation. It is right and just, if there are men
charged with crime, to give to each of them as are innocent
an opportunity to free themselves from unfounded accusation,
and to obtain their restoration to their ordinary pursuits, mid
to tbe bosoms of their friends and families. It is essential
also, when crime has raised its head, to brine at once into
contact with its perpetrators the powers of the law in-
tended for the protection of the whole community. As a
portion of the community, of which you form a part, you
are now called upon to assist in the administration of
justice. We have been already engaged in proceedings
under this special commission—we have had sittings under
and I lament to say that,
it in a county adjoining yours;
though we were many days occupied there in the perform-
ance of our duties, we have not been able to dispose of all
the business, but shall hays to return to that county, in
order to try other offenders. Although, for the public
convenience, and to facilitate the administration of justice,
that county is separated from yours—yet, whatever may be
its prescriptive boundaries, it is of the umo soil as this,
and the inhabitants of it form a portion of the population
of the same county. I, therefore, feel bound to refer to
some matters that appeared in the course of the discharge
of our duties in that country, as indicating • state of things
that rendered it necessary to issue this special commission.
His lordship then referred to the number and nature of the
outrages which had been committed in the county Limerick.
Those crimes (be continued to sae)—have been, in min,
instances, not committed under the cover of night, but in
the open day—indicating a species of daring which often
rims from a sense of continued impunity. Such is the
gensval nature of the crimes that have been brought under
our notice in the course of the special commission in the
neighbouring county; and I lament to say that there is
reason to believe that outrages similar in character—if
not equal in number—have occurred in the county to
which you belong. It is, however, a consolation to con-
sider, that they do not pervade the entire of your county.
But when crime exists on the confines of our district,
it seldom fails to come beyond the portals; whether it
he from the contagion of crime, or from the contiguity
of the district, or from causes similar, spontaneous, and
concurrent, existing in the adjoining district; it rarely
happens that when a county circumstanced as Limerick is
in reference to yours, is found affected and disgraced by
crime, the adjoining districts are not subjected to similar I
outrages. And it appears so in this instance; for the
calendar submitted to our inspection shows a frightful
picture of the state of society in certain portions of your
county. Among the crimes appears the dreadful crime of
wilful murder. There are no less than eight instances of
the commission of that crime • and in seven of these in-
stances the perpetrators have been made amenable 'Moe the
last assizes. The number of persons charged in those cases
accused of this dreadful crime is twenty-two. Akin to that
&Cul crime is another which has occurred, and to which
the law attaches the penalty of death, as much as if thou
guilty of it had been the perpetrators of murder itself. To
that other crime I shall have to call your attention. There
are, it appears, two cases of conspiring to murder—the
murders having been perpetrated, and two persons being
charged with the commission of each. There is also •
number of other eases in the calendar—such as
attacking dwelling-houses, robbery of arms, burgl ,ry and
robbery, shooting at the person, highway robbery, and
other crimes effected through the instrumentality of arms;
all of which show but too clearly that the portion of the
county of Clare adjoining Limerick shares in the outrages
for which that county has unhappily become too notorious.
Gentlemen, many of those outrages have been committed
for the direct purpose of controling those who are in the
enjoyment of property—for the purpose of controlling them
in the exercise of those rights, in relation to that property,
which the law has conferred. It unquestionably does ap-
pear that many of thou outrages have occurred in conse-
quence of transactions connected with land. If the evil
stopped it there would be in itself of magnitude sufficient to call
for the vigorous application of all the powers of the state to
put down • system of outrage by which the law is violated
in order to accomplish purposes which the law forbids and
condemns. But this application of the law is not required
merely for the protection of the particular class whose rights
are invaded, but for the protection of all classes in the commu.
nity. If the rightsof any ene close in the community can be in-
vaded with impunity, there is, in truth, an end to civil govern-
ment and social order. Such state of things as that involves in
it the destruction of all civil society, as it erects the sway of
anarchy and violence in substitution of the government of
the law. If, u I have said, the evil stopped there—if only
one chstelin the community were affected by those out-
rages, it would be the duty of those charged with the
administration of the law and the maintenance of the pub-
lic [peace, and who are charged with the responsibility of
providing for the safety of all classes, to arrest crime in the
extent to which it has made progress, even for the benefit
of those who would be afterwards involved in the conse-
quences of more extended disorder. But, gentlemen, the
evil does not stop there. It cannot—it never did—it never
will. The spirit which involves the rights of one class
of the community will extend to the destruction of the
rights and liberties of others. It is the character, the un-
questionable character of outrage, if allowed to go un-
punished, to multiply and extend itself. Yesterday the
landlord, the agent, the bailiff, employed in the enforce-
ment of sigh's—the process server employed in executing
the process of the law, by which, according t o law, those
rights are to be enforced, may have been the victim. To-day
the farmer, the humble person in humble life, and who is
the object of different passions, will become the victim of
outrage. I have referred to the proceedings that have
come before us judicially in the course of our
labours in Limerick and those proceeding supply an
instructive confirmation of these general truths. And
to judge from the calendar, I hold in my hand, I think 1
may extend those observations to the county of Clare also.
If I were to point out the class of the community who are
placed in the greatest risk, who are exposed to the worst
mischiefs of these outrages, and for whose protection the
administration of the law is meet needed, I would point to
that large clue of the people—from the wealthy occupier
to the person who supports himn-lf by his industry, with a
small holding, and scanty capital-1 would point to the
farmers who, by their numbers, must form • large portion
of the population—and who are, possibly, in the greatest
ri-k, and most need protection. New, what are the in-
stances of outrage with respect to this claw in Limerick ?
His Lordship here referred to the facts detailed on the trials
of William Ryan (Puck), Renihan, and Dee, convicted of
murder, and to other outrages perpetrated, and went on—
Now could those outrages have taken place in the open and
daring manner they did, unless there was something like •
sense of impunity felt by the perpetrators, from the belief
that the prevalence of the outrages would prevent their
detection and punishment ? If these things be so, am I not
right in saying that no class in the community requires
protection from the law, or whose ce-operation is more
essential for the purpose, than the class I have mentioned ?
Such as you, gentlemen, who live in dwellince in which
sfrom the charecter of your residences, and your means of
ummoning around you your servants and dependents—
you can protect yourselves from such attacks. It is, indeed,
• dreadful state of society in which it is necessary to adopt
such means of protection. But the farmer it is who is espe-
cially exposed to three outrages; he cannot depend upon
the nature of his dwelling, or the number of his servants or
dependants, to protect him against the number of his assail- I
note. His protection is only in the supremacy of the law.
When, therefore, I say that the co operation of all cies-es in
and for the suppression
so-
cietyofoutsresheuel.dlbeacigivneontin,
laitdhinofkth, efairawweong in saying that no
class in the community should be more stimulated—not
merely by a sense of duty, but by a sense of their own
personal interest—to lend that co-operation with zeal,
determination, and vigour, than those who belong to the
class of farmers. It is impossible that crime could have
been perpetrated to each an extent of that class did do
their duty—and lent to the determination of the law the
co-operation they ought. In some instances that co-
operation may have been withheld from the influence of
the prevailing intimidation—in others from a lamentable
but mistaken sympathy. But one thing inspires me with
hope that these outrages will be put down by. the co-
operation of all classes. I allude to the instances in which
courage was displayed in resisting
dingy
the perpetrators of out-
rages—and not courage in that way only, but there
with which men came forward to appeal to th , and