The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-12 00:00:00

PORTUGAL.

The accompanying despatches were received per
Mar4aret steamer, which arrived at Falmouth on Sun-

day tnornng, with the Malta and Peninsular mails.
H r d4es are from Gibraltar Dec. 30th, C.tdiz 31st,
Lisbon 3d inst., and from Vigo sth inst.
LISBON, J. 3.—By the Neptune steamer, which
arrived in the l'.gus oa the morning of the 31st ult.,
;r ,m Loedon in seven days, and in four from Falmouth,
v e have receivtd English and French papers, the former
up to the 26th ult., and the latter to the 24th. The
French frigate Belle Poule, commanded by_thePrince

de t ,gether with the barque Iguale, brig
Cassard, and steamer L ivoisier, sailed from this for
Toulon on the same dote, 31e. His Highness, after
'Acing Cin.ra aid .Marre, accompanied by the King,
was entertaioed by the Queen on his return at a s(1-?ct
diner given by her expres, and on the day following a
grand-military par :de of the whole fovea of the capital,
ccmin.:nded by the Duke of Terceira, vr.is given, at
which his R yA Highness was present, together with
the Queen-, Knn7.r. and nil the Court. A dinner at the
Duke of -Pamella's, and oa the same evening a ball at
the French Minister's, formed the finale of his welcome
to this city, and the next met-sling witaessed his depar-
ture for the Land of the Gael. • .

Yesterday, the 24, the Chamber was opened by com-
mission, and the follacing is a translation of the speech
delivered by Signor Aguiar, Minister of the Interior.
The prorogation extends to the 21st of February:—
" Sirs—By virtue of the decree which has just been
mad.: known to you, the duty of opening the present
legis'ative session, by commission from her Majesty, in
confarmityto the 42t1 artic!e of the Constitution,devolves
upon the Ministry.
" Daring the short interval which has elapsed since
the closing of the last Session, order and tranquillity
have not been disturbed, nor has the course of public
ffsirs been is any way interfered with. The Govern-
ment has been occupied in giving effect to the laws
passed respecting the different branches of the Adminis-
tration, and for the completion of some of which the ne-
cessary proposals will be presented to you.
" Among the measures which call loudly for your pa-
triotism, zeal; and wisdom, her Majesty hopes that you
will 'bestow particular attention upon the interests of
our colonies, whose wants claim prompt and effective
remedies, as wilt for the welfare of the inhabitants as
for the general property of Portuguese commerce and
navigation.
" Her Ithjzsty continues to receive from the So-
vi-reigns, her allies, the most satisfactory proofs of
friendship and good understanding, and the Govern-
ment never remits its efforts to extend our political and
commercial relations for the benefit of the productive
industry of the country.
" The Government will furnish an account to the
Cortes of the use it has made of the authority granted
to it, as well as of the transactions it has effec-ed, and
measures it has taken to insure the regular payment to.
the diffsaent classes of public servants, and for the pro-
vision a other public expenses.
" The estimate of receipts and expenditure will be
laid Ewfore you, together I.t.ith the accounts of the diffe-
rent departments.
Her Majesty tru,tl that the legislative body, duly
considering the state of the country, will use its utmost
zeal in the discussion of the budget, and in attending to
ail measures esscntid for completing, the organisation of
the public financer.
" The session is opened.'
The Cortes have been adjourned to the 21st of Fe-
bruary.

In the Dilrio do Govcrno of the Ist inst. appear
also the particulars of an arrangement concluded be-
tween the Government and a newly-formed association,

under the name of " The Company of National Cre-

dit," whereby the latter have agreed to make an ad-
vance of money to the former upon the following terms,

viz.---

The nominal amount of tie loan to be 7,520 contos
(1,600,000/.), at 5 per cent. annual interest, payable
by tho Board of Public Credit ; for which amount in-
scriptions are to be given to the Company.
The Company is to deliver to the Government,

Coates.
In money l,OOO
In tickets of arrears due to the civil service,

since 1838 1,600
Ia ditto, ditto, between 1833 and 1838 5OO
In ditto of arrears of pensions and balf-pay

from 1833 to 1841
In bonds of the foreign debt not yet converted 2,000
10 unpaid coupons of the foreign debt 363

7,465
These two amoun's do not tally exactly, but the reason
of the difference is that of the arrears of pay tickets ;
the most modern in date are to be taken at 20 per
cent. above their nominal value, and the others at par,
while those for arrears of pensions are to be received
at various rates of discount. The whole plan is ex-
ceedingly complicated ; but one thing clearly to be made
out from it is, that the very showy figure of seven thou-
seed and odd contos will shrink down to a very small
amount in hard cash—a dim.nution of hulk for which
the effect produced upon a huge bundle of spinach by
the process of boiling, is the best simile I can think
Thus, while an addition of above a million and a
half sterling is made to the funded debt of the coun-
try, and a further annual charge of 80,0001. is iecur_
red, the immediate and only benefit derived by the Go..
seri-melt from this financial operation is a temporary
lift to the amount of little more than 200,000/., which
will soon go, leaving the country more heavily bur-
dened, and therefore in a worse state than before. The
conclusion of this arrangement is announced in a de-
cree. in which it is also provided that the civil servaets
of the State shall henceforth and for ever be paid with
the utmost regularity. This, of course, is to be under-
stood with the tacit clause, " If there should be money
to pay them with ; "and I must confess myself much at
a loss to conceive how this ono loan is to fill up for
ever after the gap resulting every year from the ineffi-
ciency of the revenue to cover the expenditure. On
the contrary, it seems evident that tire annual deficit
must be rendered still greater by the addi!ional ch age
incurred for the interest on the new loan. This mea-
sure is, as you will perceive, the long-canvassed general
capitalisation scheme, which I mentioned in my last,
as basing been insisted upon by the Finance Minister,
.and
opposed by his colleagues,' who at last gave way
to him ; and the " Compslay of National Credit " is, in
fact, the Bank of Lisbon, the Directors of which have
thought it most prudent to engage in this transaction
under an assumed firm, as they have reason to fear that
if it were known generally that the bank itself, after the
very large claims it already has upon the Government,
had engaged to make further advances of money to so
great an amount, iti credit might be greatly shaken,
and a general run upon it might be the consequecce.
The Prince de Joinville sailer] from this, in the Belle
Peale frigate, on the 31st ult., having only stayed a
weekinstead of a fortnight, as he at. first said he would
do. He was treated -with great distinction during his
short stay here, both by the Court and the principal
nobility. The French Minister gave a grand ball- in
his honour on the eve of his departure.
A new Minister has arrived here from the United
States. His came is General Barrow.
In reference to that part of the Royal Message to
the Cortes conveying the satisfactory assurance that
.‘ order and tranquillity reign undisturbed throughout
the country," I have to state that, on the 26th is tent,
a grand fracas took place, at the Uniyersity of Coimbra,
between the students and the Municipal Guar& in which
trio persons were killed aad fifteen wounded. Also
that at ..kmeizoiera, thirty miles from this city, a caravan
of passengers was stopped and plundered by a mounted
guerilla to the amount of 5,000 crowns.
The notorious Mattos Lobo, who murdered a whole
family in this city about six months ago, and is now
under sentence of death, attempted suicide, on Friday
Last, in a very vevd manner; that is, by gnawing both
his wrists so at to open the veins, in order to bleed to
death the What agonies of remorse
rnust'lelee driven him to so frantic a resolution! He
did not succeed in his object, however, for the weather

being exceedingly cold the blood soon coagulated, and
refused to flow.
By an order from the Patriarch, public prayers pro
felici partu of the Queen, are to be offered up in all the
churches on the 9th, 10th, and 11th of each month, till
the event takes place.
On the 30th ult„ a grand review of all the troops in
this city, about 5,000 in number, took place at the Ta•
pada Park, at which the King was present, as also the
Prince de Joinville and his officers. Marshal the Duke
do Terceira commanded on the occasion.
Although the abolition of the differential duties will
begin to have effect on the 18th instant, an additional
charge of one-fifth of the'amount of duties will continue
to be levied upon goods coming in vessel; of nations in
whose ports additional duties are charged upon cargoes
imported in Portuguese vessels. Therefore, as the
British Orders in Council imposing extra tonnage dues
upon Portuguese ships, an? extra duties upon their car-
goes, have not yet been rescinded, all goods coming in
English vessels to this country will be subjected to the
payment of the additional one-fifth of the duties, until
those Orders in Council shall have been rescinded. It
is important to commerce that this should be generally
known.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF CHANCERY, Jan. 11:

This being the first day of Hilary Term the Lord
Chancellor did not take his seat in Court till half-past
one o'clock, having, as usual, to entertain the Judges,
Masters in Chancery, Queen's Counsel, &c. to breakfast,
at his Lordship's residence in George-street, Hanover-
squire. On his Lordship taking his seat, he was ac-
companied by the Master of the Rolls, the Vice-Chan-
cellor of England, Vice-Chancellors Knight Bruce and
Wigram, and A/ asters Duckworth and Richards.