The Express.
London, England, 1846-12-08 00:00:00

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A.6LLIGENCE.
THIS DAY. Four o'clock.
The Times of this morning publishes intelligence
from Portugal, announcing the defeat or the insur-
gents under Sada Bandsira, near Chaves, by the
royal forces, commanded by Baron Camel. Particulars
of the engagement appeared in the Erpress of the
26th nit. When the last accounts left Lisbon, on the
23rd ult., Das Antas was said to be closely invested
in Santarem by Saldanha on the one side, and Schwal-
bach on the other. The attack was to be made as
soon as some pontoons were constructed. A movement
was expected to take place at Oporto, in fay* of
the Queen and the charter. The leaders of the *yok
in that city had been warned to respect the pspson
of Terceira, as any injury he might umiak woad
incur exemplary retaliation. The govanumust bus
contracted a loan with the new Mini of Portugal bit
300 center., or 67,0001.
Our Paris express arrived this morning.
One of the many. symptoms of the instability of
the present ministry in France, and the least equivo-
cal of them, is the frequent visits of Count Mole and
M. Thiers to the chateau. When ex-Premiers are
successively called three or four times in ten days to
counsel the Sovereign, the tenure of the actual
Minister must be rather precarious. Yet, in the
case of both the ex-ministcrs who haves been thus
summoned to advise the Crown, serious difficul-
ties are known to exist. No ministry could
hold office for a single week in the present
state of public opinion in France, except one which
could give an assurance of the re-establishment of the
English alliance, and, unless the tendencies of Count
Mole have undergone a sudden change, his leanings
would be much more towards Russia than towards
En land. The opinions of this statesman are generally
understood to be represented by La Prase, the only
Parisian journal, which has manifested a persevering
and unbending hostility to the English alliance.
With respect to M. Thiers, it is understood that
he has intimated to the Bin& _that in accepting the
reepoissibility of office be cattld 'require to have the
real direction of the business of the State, and that his
favourite maxim, k roi rigne et ne gouverne pas,
' should be frankly. accepted and acted upon. It is
difficult to imagine that such a change can be
brought about in the regime of the cabinet of the
Tuileries during the life of Louis Philippe. He
presides in person at the cabinet councils, sad
his sagacity and vigour, combined with his irrepree,
sible activity of character, would render it impossible
that he should not impress the direction of his will
upon its deliberations and decisions. In fact, be
lie responsible premier who he may, Louis Philippe
will inevitably be, as long as he lives, his own
minister. M. Thiers will not during the present reign
be able, as he wishes, to establish in France the
English system.
The controversy between the leading Ministerial
and Opposition journals as to which is the most effec-
tive partisan of the English alliance, continues. The
Onstitutionnel of Sunday quotes the speeches of M.
Thiers, to prove that he was always its advocate. Le
fade assails the ministry in a furious article for its
bass subserviency to the absolute courts, and its abor-
tive advances to an alliance with them.
If there Is any thing, says that journal on Sunday, ince*.
Mende in the world, it is that our Government, beliefing
that it would not have to render se account to the country
since the almost unhoped-for success of its last fraud, and the
increasing progress of corruption, thought that in the event
of the failure of the revolutionary and compromising alli-
ance (as they considered it) with the Whig Cabinet of Lon-
don, it was in a situation to conclude another more sure and
score solid with the three courts of the north which, like
itself, are Conservative. The advances which were
made to them, the ridiculous empbuis with which
some equivocal expressions of the Czar were repeated
as if the recollection of his cruel words, " the family
of Orleans is a blemished family," which made the blood
mount in the cheeks of the Prince Royal, could ever be
effaced ; the prosecutions directed meter ten years tolerance
against the three poor and inoffensive Polish journals ; tne
monstrous accord which was shown in the disposition of the
Cabinet of the Tuileries and the Austrian government in
regard to Switzerland ; all these symptoms combined mAni-
foisted a tendency more and more marked to an alliance with
the absolute monarchic., and indeed this tendency was not
disavowed until the terrible catastrophe of Cracow.
The circumstance of the protests of M. Guizot
having been despatched on Thursday and Friday to
the three Powers, was made known to the public in
Paris only. by La Presse not a word respecting' it
was given in those journals which are the acknow-
ledged organs of the government. This has excited
much attention, and even raised doubts as to the Utah
of the statement. La Frew, although 'in some
degree connected with the Cabinet, is not its acknow-
ledged organ, and even opposes it on many important!
questions; it has therefore naturally app a-cd strange
and
.unaccountable that a proceeding, of all others
most profoundly interesting at this moment to the
public, and in which the very existenceof the Cabinet
may perhaps be staked, should not be directly or indi-
rectly, even so much as adverted to, either by the
Dilate, the acknowledged organ of the Cabinet, or by
the Epoque, the personal organ of M. Guizet. If
the announcement in La Presse, were of a general
nature, it might be regarded as not having an
official character, or at least as being based on vague
and uncertain information, but La Presse quoted
verbatim, a paragraph of the document.
Since the above was written the Portefeuille, nsemi-
official journal, which appeared in Paris on Sunday
afternoon, has come, before us, in which we find the
entire statement of fa Prase discredited. La Porte-
feuilk declares that it does not believe M. Guizot
would be capable of committing so imprudent an act
as to make a protest, such as that imputed to him by
La Presse. Thus then the matter stands. La Presse
I and La Portefeuilk both have the reputation of re-
ceiving communications from government, though
neither of them are like the Dads and Epoque, its
avowed and recognised organs. The two quasi-ojfivial
journals directly contradict each other on this un-
portant measure; and the two acknowledged official
---ans say—nothing.

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