The Express.
London, England, 1866-04-10 00:00:00

THE BRITISH and SOUTH AMERICAN
STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY (Limited).
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that an EXTRAORDINARY
OEN ERA.L MEETING of the shareholders will be held at the
Liverpool offices of the Company, No 48, Brown's-buildings,
Liverpool, on 197103 DAY, the 17th of April Metall, at a edges
Is the forenoon precisely, to ssoction and confirman arrange-
Went for the sale nod dispneltlan of two of the steam Towle();
the company.—By order of the Board,
HY. WM. LOWE, lieeratery.
No. 117 and 118, LeedenhalLetreet, London, E.C.
April 7, Mee.

LIFEBOAT SERVICES.—During the storms of
the past year the National Lifeboat Institution, by its life-
boat and other means, contributed to the saving of 707
from Mamas wrecks same coast& The institution arc':
peMed 8.21,374 in the period on its lifeboat establishments,
in addition to granting s'A,PSO for rewards for saving llfe and
exercising the lifeboats.
The committee of the Institution earnestly APPEAL to the
public for ASSISTANCE, to enable them to meet the continued
Um demands on the Institaticm's 153 Lifeboat Stations.
Contributions are received by the London end Country
Bankers , and by the Secretary, Richard Lewis, at the
Institution, it, Johnatreet, Adelphi, London.

TURTLE, TURTLE, TURTLE.
Clear, Thick. and Invalid TURTLE SOUPS Minot ready.
ST. JAILES'S-HALL. REGENT-STREET. PICCADILLY.
WM. DONALD. Proprietor.

LONDON must have a SUPPER and MUSIC
ROOM for Gentlemen.—Remember, we wait for you it
" EVANS'," after the Covent Garden Opera and the Theatres-

Ehe errorefSiS.

TO 0031.32MONDINTEL
dentLeatents tuteedwl for 4' rhe alipress," Loudon Evening
Paper Inuit be at the Moe, 10, Bourerle-stmt, by Two
oke on the day of pubUcatloo.

HAYMARJLIT.

THIS Eviairso, A ROMTNTIC ATTACHMENT. Mears.
Compton and W. barren Mies AdaCavendlah.—THE FAVORITE
OF FORTUNE Mews, Backsione, Chi , and acorn ;
Mn. Chippendale, din—And A DALGH TO MARRY.

PRINCE:MIL
THE graititlO, A GHOST IN SPITE OF HIMSELF—AIter
which THE STREETS OF LONDON. Messrs Vining, T. Mead,
D. Murray, Shore, and Villiers; Mrs. H. Marston, and Mimes E.
Barnett and Y. itodgem

LYCEUM

Tirra Evairraci, SIMPSONAVDFo. —And THE MASTER OF
RAVEISHOOD. Messrs. Fodder, O. Jordan, Venn, Emery,
'addiamb, Fitzpatrick, do ; Madames Tertian, Elawort.hy,
Lama, and C. Lactarot'.

BRITANNIA.

TM,' EVENING, TIM DARK KING OF THE BLACK MOUN-
TAINS. Miss Clara N. Cease, Mn. S. Lena—Master K Senders
—The &Masse Fandly.—And TILE SCUITDiII CRISP. Mr.
James Andernm.

HIOII-WATER AT LONDON-pRIDGE

9Wllm----Afternoof7, 911. 51m.
To-MORROW—Morning, lob. 30m Afternoon, Ilk 9m.

LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 10.

Tux members of the House of Commons may
justly be congratulated on the restoration of
their SPEAKER to the chair, and he is to be
congratulated with no less heartiness on his re-
storation to health. His absence has been,
however, a matter, not of vexation, but
only of regret. "All the said members," to
quote from the Journals of three centuries ago,
" were very sorry for Mr. Speaker his sickness ; "

he had the satisfaction of being sure of this, and of
their "gentle and courteous acceptance of that his
" so reasonable excuse ; " and the House had every
reason to " rest well satisfied " with his temporary
representative in office. Nor is it mere antiquarian-
ism or affectation of quaintness to describe present
occurrences in Parliamentiu the language of the past.
Far back among the Journals as are the sentences
we have quoted, and far off in time as is the scene
they describe, yet if not in style, in truth, they
sound in unison with " familiar matter of to-day."
For, dignified as is the House of Commons, the
practical simplicity of those " gra►ve and ancient
" parliament men " that gave our great assembly
the life both of principle and usage still animates
the HOMO in style and power of action. And
where the life of the Commons is most concen-
trated—round the SPEAKER'S chair—this union of
simplicity and power is most visible ; it is the tra-
ditional characteristic of the holders of that
office—their influence is based on a union
of authority and friendship. Mr. BERKE
justly spoke of " the terrors of the Speaker's
" brow ;" and it is also felt by the House, to quote
from the Journals of 1602, that the Speaker is
" one of ourselves." Hence it is both a pleasure
and an advantage to the House to see Mr. DENISON
resume the active discharge of his high trust ; for
they see in him both the friendly colleague and
the impartial judge.
And though the world—the world of politica now
especially—is too busy to give heed to matters that
work well, still a few words may be permitted
touching that arrangement to which this return is
owing. If the i ale had not been in force by which
Mr. DoesoN was empowered to discharge the func-
tions of a Speaker, Mr. DENISON'S return to
the chair would have been impossible.
This change in practice was effected in
1853, in deference mainly to the anxious
solicitation o: Sir i:•)hERT INGLIS. And considering
that the emergency which he feared—the chair
made vacant by the Speaker's illness—had not oc-
curred during the preceding 36 years, and the con-
servative resistance to change in its internal
arrangements that the House invariably shows, his
Success in procuring the appointment of a Deputy
Speaker was the more remarkable. This rule has
now been .tppiied on four occasions, and never was
Sir R. I Nears,'s foresight more justified. Without
it delay and confusion in the transaction of public
busine.s would have arisen, the SPEAK ER would
have been subjected to much mental anxiety in
addition to bodily pain, and would have had to
relinqui 1i his post, for the Reform Bill must
have been introduced on the appointed day.
Nur would this have taken place if the Commons
had been tilen a headless body. Worse evil would
thus have arisen even than delay and confusion ; the
House would have lost a SPEA K ER whose innate judg-
ment is accredited by the weight of many years' ex :a.-
rience ; and owing to a trilling accident Mr. DENI-
SON'S career of well-deserved respect would have
been cut :dee. As these unpleasant contingencies,
however, have not occurred, it may be noticed as
a minor feature of historical interest connected
with the Ifouae, that just a century ago, in 1764,
the then Speaker, Sir JOHN CUSP, had to claim the
indulgence of rest for a cause very similar to the
origin of our SPEAKERS disablement, "because he
cluld net set one of his feet to the ground ;" and
that the present occasion is the nineteenth instance
within the last three centuries of illness keeping
the occupant (4' the chair from his post. That this
event should be so infrequent, that it should have
happened only five times within the last 80 years,
is a remarkable proof of devotion to duty. And
the sole drawback to the satisfaction of seeing Mr.
DENISON again in Lis place, is fear lest he should
be preferring the consideration of his high trust
to consideration for his health.

THE Grand Jury yesterday ignored the bill pre-
ferred E';a;net Mr. FERGUSON, who had been com-
mitted by Mr. TRAiLL for inflicting wounds on a
plain-clothes policeman under the belief that he
was defending himself against a footpad. Although
the decision of the Grand Jury was undoubtedly a
very pro,:cr one, it forms an unsatisfactory ending
of the ca c. F.r it will be remembered that the
anly,s..;::,,:e to r liieli Mr. FEm:usos was subjected,
in the Limi 0: remands and commitment, after the