NEWS OF THE WEEK.
ASHARP financial crisis has occurred in Portugal, officially attributed to the non-arrival of gold expected from Brazil, but really due to the failure of the last loan, the expectation of a default, and a consequent collapse of credit. The run on the banks in Lisbon became so sharp, that on Monday a decree was issued granting a " moratorium," or delay of sixty days in meeting financial engagements. This produced universal distrust and hoarding, so that for some days past there has been no currency with which to pay wages, except small and insufficient silver pieces, and distress has conse- quently been very great. The price of Portuguese Threes, normally about 60, fell on Wednesday to 36, and is still hardly above 40. The economic situation is slowly growing better, the Government issuing small notes and coining silver ; but it is reported that the political discontent has become bitter, and that in Spain a revolution is expected in Lisbon. This, as we have pointed out elsewhere, might have serious conse- quences in Europe ; but the apprehension, though reasonable, may be exaggerated. The artillery is faithful and Royalist, and a modern mob will not face shells.
