The Express.
London, England, 1851-09-10 00:00:00

PORTUGAL.

By the Teviot we have Lisbon dates to the 6th
instant. The Lisbon exchange on London was
quoted 34 to 5-14, for three months' bills, but takers
waited the delivery of the Brazil mails per Teviot,
in the hopes of a greater abundance of paper and
better rates. _ _

The experimental squadron was at anchor in the
Tagus.
Our correspondent writes:
LISBON, SEPT. 8.
Senhor Ferrao has yielded to public opinion, and
justified himself from the charge of bnbcry; this
will appear an extraordinary occurrence to the
British reader. I will, therefore, explain it to him in
a few words. Senhor Ferrao is accused of an offence.
lie did not, like others, brave public opinion, nor set
the courts at defiance, but he placed himself volun-
tarily in the character of an accused, went into
court and demanded an accusation ; no one ap-
pearing to sustain any . charge against him, he
becomes necessarily acqufited ; which is a justifica-
tion, pro forma, upon which sentence is given ; he then
stands in the eye of the law in, the position,
not of a person who has been tried and ac-
quitted, but of a person who has never been accused ;
which will approach nearer the English presumption
that amen is innocent till he be found guilty, suppos-
ing him to be accused only, but not brought to trial.
Opinions regarding Senhor Ferrao have been given
by many lawyers, that he might have raised an
action against the defamer, but, as the name in the
books had existed, and been subsequently erased, no
one could have sustained the charge; the process of
justification was, therefore, the only course Senhor
Ferrao could adopt. The charge against Ferrao
arose out of complicated accounts of the contractors
of tobacco, and is now explained by Pimenta, one of
the cashiers—that some one applied to him for a
loan of 2,093,800 reis, upon bilis, some accepted by
Fermo, the others having no reference to him, the
borrower enjoining Pimento by no means to let Fer-
mo know he possessed those bills. The money was
given and an entry made, but some of the bills be-
coming due, or the person who pledged them desiring
to show they
.were still in his possession, requested
them, promising to restore them or an equivalent.
This not having been soon done, the sum was putdown
as a bad debt, Fermo's name being entered in lieu of
the person who borrowed the money. Afterwards
the identical person reappeared, gave a fresh gua-
rantee, and ultimately paid 1,600,000 reis on the Ist
of March, 1849, and 493,600 role on the 16th No-

vember same year. Pimenta mentions other transac-
tions that do not bear upon the question. I there-
fore omit them, considering it the duty of a public
writer not only to abstain from what is irrelevant,
but not to deal in probabilities and improbabilities,
where a fact is on record. Ferrao has not yet re-
entered the ministry ; indeed, his re-entrance into it
is extremely doubtful.
The two branches of Cabralites have united, putting
forward the Duke de Terceira as the nominal leader
of the party. Their object is to gain the election,
failing which, a Cabralista revolution and consequent
civil war (if they are successful) may be expected;
but the good spint of the people bids fair to frustrate
all their rash schemes.
The Miguelites are on the qui rice, and say their
king will return triumphant in the spring.
The report of the yellow fever being at Oporto has
been officially contradicted; the contradiction is
couched in doubtful terms.
It is said news of the death of the king's father
has arrived, but there is no official notice of it up to
the present.
The pensions in the Lisbon district, as well
without as those with consideration, for the month
of August 1831, are ordered for payment, in equal
proportions, beginning with the lit day of Sep-
tember and ending on the 30th. Pay is also ordered
to be made to the officers of regiments, naval bat-
talions (marines), and the officers of the navy serving
on board the vessels of war in the Tagus for the
month of August, 1851 ; also for May, 1850, to
eight more departments; and for August, 1831, to
eight other departments, naval, military, civil, and
judicial.
The treaty of commerce and navigation concluded
between Sardinia and Portugal has been exchanged.
The Myrmidon steamer came in on the 28th alt.
for coals, on her way from Plymouth to the coast of
Africa, and sailed again on the 28th.