The Express.
London, England, 1846-11-03 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON-nRIDGE.

[atDAT. —T;°nnine, m °mine, 14 a. past 1 ; Afternoon, 37 WA. past I.
'Lo-aanuww.—Moramg, 1 win. past 2; Afternoon, 21 MAIL past 2.

LONDON, TUESDAY, NOV. 3.

IT is a melancholy thing to observe in the Penin-
sula how powerful and irresistible every party ma
personage,and even ally,is to do mischief—how he:p-
less to do good. When any of the princesses or
potentates, belonging to or connected with the country,
chooses to erect a despotism, get up a revolution,
overthrow the constitution, make the throne un-
popular, or abduct its heiress,—all is easy. Whilst
if any statesmen or friends cndcavour to uplio'd the
constitution, to maintain the country's freedom and
independence, recommend an honest administration
of finance, and base the Queen's throne on the hearts
of her subjects,—this is found to be an Herculcan,
an impossible, an ungrateful task. It is like
the drama or the novel, where the villain is always
successful, the hero always beset with failure and
with trouble. Meddling with the l'eninsula, is like
helping a drunken man home ; if able to stand, ho
repays you with kicks and cuffs; if unable, his dead
weight drags you down in the mire.
We shall have now a pretty state of things : Spain,
organised with a court and army keeping don a and
treading on the neck of citizens and constitution;
I'ortugal, disorganised by peppier juntas, dictating to
the court, and giving full licence to democracy. To
keep Spain and Portugal from quarrelling, or not to
interfere in their quarrels, will be equally difficult.
We trust, however, that it will not be found im-
Ipossnhe.
From what we learn of the French court and of the
Spanish, both arc anxious not to add to their late
provocation of Englund by any further interference
or encroachment in Portugal. No doubt, they spi-
rited Donna MARI t and her husband to the late
foolish counter-revolution; but it is probable they
will now abandon her, unaided, to bear the conse-
quences. The tone assumed by the French court is
an affectation of complete disinterestedness and
estrangement towards what may happen in Portugal.
The .Thurnal des DArits declares that the French
Government would think as little of meddling with
it as with Switzerland, nay, went so far• as to say, that
Donna M.SRIA deserved her fate. Senor Isla:stns., in
reply to a stern remonstrance from Mr. IIuLwER, de-
clared that the Spanish Ministry would observe strict
neutrality, and merely send a corps of observation to the
frontier, to prevent the entrance of bands of Spanish
emigrants. Unfortunately for the composure and the
assurance of Senor IsTußrrs, Mr. BuLwER was in
possession of the ordersissued by the Minister of War,
SANZ, to the commanders of those corps of observa-
tion. These orders enjoined them not to respect the
frontier, but to pass it without compunction, and fol-
low into Portugal, for the purpose of routing and
capturing there any body whom theymight suspect of
having designs upon Spain. The injunctions of SANZ
to the Spanish Captain-Generals were, in fact, a copy
of Marshal BunEAtaa's injunctions to his lieutenants,
not to respect the frontier of Morocco, but to pursue
the Abd-el-Kaderites wherever he could descry or
reach them. We hear now that SANZ is to be sacri-
ficed to the good understanding between the countries.
This diplomatic firmness of our envoy in Madrid,
coupled with the presence of a British fleet in the
Tagus, will probably have the desired effect of sus-
pending and deterring any lliapano-French designs
on Portugal, and leave that country to settle its own
political squabbles without foreign intervention. We
before stated our belief that these would lead to
no sanguinary collision. The Conde de Lae
ANTAS acts up fully to the opinion entertained
of him, in his cautious and courteous address
to the QUEEN. Nothing, indeed, can be more respect-
ful, prudent, or wary, than the conduct of the insur-
gents. From practice, we suppose, these democrats
have acquired the quiet gravity of old diplomatists,
whilst the Court, unlearning past experience, seems
to have exchanged its old prudence for puerility.
The QUEEN has nominated her husband generalis-
simo, in order to put him at the head of 6,000 men,
wherewith to defend the lines, which would require
20,000 to man. In the same spirit the heir apparent
to the throne of Portugal, aged nine years, is ap-
pointed colonel of grenadiers, and his younger brother,
somewhat more appropriately, a midshipman !
Meantime the Spanish Court seems losing its wits
with over-prosperity, as much as the Portuguese
Court in its adversity. The Spanish nation was in-
sulted by the entire management and matter of the
Infanta's marriage. Since then, it has been the assi-
duous care of Queen CHRISTINA, Count Biasses, and
Senor Mrsoz, to insult and offend every eminent
Spaniard and class of Spaniards. Diplomatists were
insulted by the princely honours paid to Count BRES-
&ON, the grandees of Spain insulted by the enrol-
ment amongst them of the infant son of that envoy,
the other day but a scribe. The 3lexoz family now
takes the place and treads on the toes of every one.
Its chief supersedes PALArox, gives his daughter
high-legged stools to sit on in the presence of
Castilian grandecship left standing, and, finally, to
rival his great prototype the Prince of Peace, MrNoz
is to be created Prince of Concord. If democracy in
the peninsula used formerly to take most trouble in
earning the character of the wild and the ridiculous,
we regret to say that royalty, under French ads ac,
seems now to monopolise this task to itself.

TnE letter of Lord JOHN RUSSELL to the Duke
of LEINSTER, published in our columns of Saturday,
contains some most important suggestions as to the
course which those Irish landlords who wish well