The Express.
London, England, 1848-05-12 00:00:00

than array them in opposition to all government
from the first. Had the Girondins, at the commence-
ment of the convention, not had the King, the court,
and the ministers, to combat, they would have been
moderate from the first, and would have spared the
country the reign of bloodshed and terror.
LstiaeTthit's policy strikes us as the wisest. It is
evidently, as we said the other day, to leave the
ultra-democrats no margin—to give them no theme
of declamation, no object of hostility. To make every-
thing--eonstitution, assembly, government, as demo-
cratic, and equal, and open as possible, and to defeat,
confound, and bathe them by the ever-vigilant good
sense, temper, and moderation of the msjority.
The closeness of the division, 11l against 38S, on
the proposition of M. DonN ES, shows that the mode-
rates are in no such secure and overwhelming majo-
rity, and that their conduct demands the utmost cir-
cumspection. There are, it is believed, at least 100 legi-
timists in the assembly, who of course will shift their I
cotes in such a way as to aggravate anarchy and con-
fusion, and bring the republican system by degrees to
a *Trent quad absurdum. This, indeed, is the most
dangerous element of the aseembly. It is this, indeed,
that has made a number already propose open voting.
Bat the character of men and parties cannot long
remain ambiguous ; and the
.presence of such enemies
of both republic= or constitutional government may
have the eth et of warning all lovers of liberty to unite
against the common foe.
We are glad to see the communist champions and
ideas so much at a discount. Poor Louis BLANC
is eclipsed—his three-legged stool whipt from under
him. The chief danger appears to us to lie in war.
The Austrians seem not only bent on defence, but
on the re-conquest of Imnbardy and Eng-
land, it is to be feared, is abett them
in this aggressive policy. Not only is UGENT
marching to reduce Venice and thinforce the
line of the Adige, but by the last accounts an Aus-
trian force is threatening to break through the neu-
trality of Switzerland and enter the Orisons, in
order to menace Milan from the Splugen. Should
the Austrians execute such a purpose, or seriously
threaten Milan, it is not to be rxprted that any
French minister could resist the inevitable impulse
and vote of the National Assembly to march at once
to the liberation of Italy.

TUE miscellaneous estimates for the year are be-'
ginning to ooze out. The " civil contingencies" have
made their appearance. The estimate of what will
be required under this head for 1848 is 100,0001.
The expenditure actually defrayed under this head in
1845 was 85,4541. ; in 181:t it was 113,6421. ; in 1847
it was 93,115/. The probability is, that the expendi-
ture of 1848 will be in excess of the estimate.
The items of expenditure under the contingency
bead are the small pickings of office. Each is too I
petty in itself to arrest attention, though their multi-
plicati el verifies the Scotch proverb, that " many a
little makes a mickle." They are, too, of a kind that
defies criticism, except by the inmates of Downing-
street, who are rarely addicted to the mood critical.
In short, this is a page in the national ledger of
which a satisfactory explanation can scarcely be
hoped for. But there are some things in the mate
rendu for 1847 that provoke inquiry.
The civil list is not a niggardly one. Yet we find
included among the "civil contingencies" of 1847 a
sum of 2,2631. for "expenses defrayed by officers of
the household, &c., not being part of the civil list."'
These expenses relate entirely to matters of show for
adding to the state of royalty, or exercises of
hospitality by the Sovereign. The Lord Chamber-
lain has drawn upon the public for
" furniture or Whitehall Chapel," probes,
collars, badges, &c., for knights of the several
orders," and even for " silver trumpets, &c., for
the Life Guards and household trumpeter." The
Master of the Horse has had recourse to the same re-
fuge of the destitute (courtiers), for the travelling ex-
penses of the)iing of the BELGIANS, the Prince of
LEIN INC. Es, and other continental royalties, while on
visits to this country.
Under the bead of " expenses of entertaining and
conveying persons of distinction, &e.," there is a
sum of 7,594/. for the passages of governors going
to, or coming from, their government', or
" being passed," to borrow a phrase front the law of
settlement, from one government to another. There
are also a number of minor entries for passages of in-
ferior colonial dignitaries. These random shots ex-
cite a wish that we could get some such thing as an
annual colonial budget prepared for parliament. At
present it is impassible to say what the government
of the colonies costs us. W e must hunt the outlay
through half-a-dozen estimates. In one we find the
cost of the Colonial-office, in another of the governors,
and in a third their travelling expenses. And, when
we turn to that estimate which purports to be of
colonial expenditure, we find entries there with which
the colonies have no more to do than the nether
country. The whole expense of this department is so
successfully concealed by being scattered through
various accounts, that one is tempted to suspect a de-
sire of concealment may have prompted this unbusi-
ness-like practice.
The church to wt ich the British state most largely
contributes is that which is constantly found picking
up additional stray sums in little out-of-the-way
corners. Accordingly, it excites no surprise to find
the transportation of four bishops to two districts of
New South Wales, to Adelaide and the Cape of
Good Hope, costing the country 9501., and set down
among, the civil instead of the ecclesiastical contin-
gencies. In addition to this we find a contingency of
1,2001. "distributed among such members of the
episcopalian clergy of Scotland as are most in need of
asssistance ;" 811. for the passage of " the Bishop of
JERUSALEM and suite" from Malta to Jaffa; 301.
"for the entertainment of the Bishop of ANTIGUA
and his chaplain," &c. &c.
One set of entries there is which has every mark of
a system of jobbing—" expenses incurred in passing
letters patent and commissions under the great seal"
for various purposes. The law clerks who enjoy
these jobs contrived to make 3531. by the "dividing
the diocese of Australia into four distinct and separate
dioceses." What they got by the charter establishing
the colony of North Australia does not appear, but
the " revoking " of that charter put 341. 10s. into
their pockets. In the course of the year 1847 they
contrived to make 1,244/. and their Irish brethren
981. by one job.
Commissions of inquiry contribute largely to swell
the amount of the civil contingencies for 1847—fully
one half of them being commissions nominated only
to gain time to shelve awkward questions or proposed
reforms. There is an item of 1031. "to make good
the deficiency of the fee fend in the Jewel-office of
the Tower of London for one quarter." There is
959/. to Messrs. Gurney, for the attendance of " a
short-hand writer" on political meetings in Ireland,
and 71. 163. Gd. for " expense incurred on account of
the conveyance of troops in consequence of sudden
outbreaks and disturbances" in that country. Alto-
gether there is much in this document to suggest a
wish that it could be overhauled by some one suffi-
ciently acquainted with the arcane of office to throw
light upon it.

MADRID, MAY 6. i
Narvaez is at his wits'-end for money. lie has no
better scheme for the nonce thau to tread exactly in the foot.
prints of Salamanca. The (Pszette of today contains a
decree creating Treasury bonds to the amount of a million
sterling. They will be divided into four series of 1,6, 10,
and 20 thouund reels. The bonds will bear interest of 6 per
cent. per annum, payable by instalments, on Oct. 1, 1848, Feb.
I, June 1, and Oct. 1, 1819, on which last day the capital
will be repaid. This newly-created paper will be received in
lieu of the metallic money required in the purchase of na-
tional property,
and will be admissible as effective money at
par, in all deposits and cautions exacted by the government.
Those bonds which are not paid by the government from
whatever cause on Oct. 1, 1849, will be accepted at their full
value in payment of taxes and contributions of all sorts. A
junta, composed of the directors of the Treasury, of the state
property, asd of the bank of San Fernando, will proceed to
the partial negotiation of the bonds by public competition,
every proposal being admissible that does slot fall below
.500,00) reels. In case the competition should not take place
the bonds will be adjudicated to the bank of San Fernando,
according to a contract stipulated previously. The auction
is fixed for the 20th in Madrid and the provincial capitals.
Mr. Bulwer is said to have presented a freak note to the
Spanish government. The fact of Lord Palmerston having
lately pressed the Portuguese to pay their English debts,
leads many to suppose that he will pursue thesame policy
towards the Spaniards. Any measure that can embarrass
the present government may be expected to be applied after
such a display of sauciness on their part.

--- - - -
RP:MOURF.I) CIIANGEi IN PARLIAMENT. The
Hampshire Guardian gives currency to a report that W. C.
Chaplin, Bwi. M.P. for Salisbury, ntends to resign. A
eindlib:.e to fill the vacancy for North Cheshire—soon to be
"led by the elevation of the ion. E. J. Stanley to the
eerage—has already appeared in the person of Mr. F. D.
A'lleY. From the melsneholy announcement made above
it will be seen that a new election for Cirencester must soon
take place.