The Express.
London, England, 1868-01-10 00:00:00

trite ervrefio•

TO COItitiePONDENTS.
uhvellamodt• Intended fee The Sorer." London leveahis
=,mast be at the Moe, 10. Bouvereastatee. hS Two
ea the day of pablbsedioa.

HAYMARKT.
—A
Tgl EYENINO, FAMILY JAM WIFE WELL WON.
Marra. Eotharn, Ilnekstora, Howe, Kendal, loge" Wald, Wes.
thershy, and Miss Robertaow.—After which AN OTTER
PER-Y=BlON OF THE BRlGAND.—Commence at 7.

PRINCESS'S.
THIS Eczema, THE COLLEEN BAWN. Mr. and Ms. Dion
Bomb:Wt.—After which THE STRE OF LONDON. M.
Vining, Messrs. Murray. Shore, Neville. Foalsier, Mellon, der;
Misses Mswortby, Z. Barnett. Rachel Sanger, and iire. Addle.

ITILLND.
THis %memo, KIND TO A FAULT.—Atter which the °nod
Orleutal Ext. magenta, THE CALIPH OF BAGDAD. Messrs.
Thorne, James. Turner, Murray, and Fenton ; Mesdames Ada
Bwanborough, Johnstone. Holt, de.—And OUR 1114010fIC8.

HOLBORN.
Tine Remelt, TAB TWO POETS. Messrs. Prise sad WM-
dleomb.—And VALENTINE AND ORSON : OR. HAILLEQI'LN
THE IsIO BEAR AND THE LITTLE FAIRY. Messrs.. Lupine,
Green, and Swells ; Mesdames Saunders, Uoadall, Montero, B.c.

lIIIITANN
Tan E UIX LLvrerre, DON QOTE ; OR, SANCHO PANZA AND
Ills WIFE TERLZA. Mn. Lee, &Mews idwluaßooth Pan-
tomimist' Dews. Deane, Louts, Newham, and Vietorelll :
C. Stephan and MIN Roan Nathan.—And WHO DID IT I

HIGH WAITS AT LONDON =DOI.
raze DAv —MomAm 50
, 0---Aftemoon, IDA
Co-YOARoil—Morning, —..Alcarnooo, 31. 80.

LONDON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 10.

RESERVATIONS and double meanings are not
the exclusive privilege of newspaper commen-
tators. The Emperor NAPOLEON has delivered
is good many reassuring speeches since the
ever-memorable one at the municipal banquet at I
Bordeaux some sixteen years ago, when ho declared
the Empire to be peace. If all these neat and well-
turned sentences were collected into a small
volume, they would be found to be a perfect
manual of all the virtues, all the felicities, all the
good intentions, and all the good works with which
the ideal of human government has ever been en-
dowed by the fancy of poets or the credulity o:
mankind. Who shall blame an all-powerful Sove-

reign who feels and knows that by the very con-
dition of his authority he is believed and bound
to be the Second Providence of the nation wl•oso
destinies be controls, if, whenever he opens his
gracious lips in reply to a deputation, or a mayor,
be represents his policy as identified with peace,
happiness, and prosperity for his subjects, and :or
all the listening and admiring world around ?
Suppose that instead of declaring the Empire
to be peace, NAI'OLZON had annourced to the
merchants of Bordeaux that the Empire would be
a succession of wars and foreign expeditions, and
that the only peace he could promise them was
an armed peace, and that alter some fifteen years'
results of a constantly pacific policy, the security
of France and of Europe would be such that it
would be her duty to put every adult and N.did
Frenchman under arms, for glory and conquest
first, and then for safety and defence? The
Sro.tih,fion e f is unreasonable and impolitic in
putting so fine a point on these sovereign
commonplaces, of which nobody complains. The
only result of its querulous remonstrances will
be to remind many of its readers of those in-
teresting passages in the correspondence of ..he
First NAVAJO:ON which show the use he made of
spoken and written words ; and to some much
more recent passages in the official oratory of the
Second Empire ; in which the Minister of State
for the time being informed the Legislative Body
and the world that his master had no intention of

setting up an empire in 'Mexico ; that he would
not retire front Mexico until the empire he had

set up was consolidated and triumphant ; that the
first proposals for the cession of Luxemburg to
France had come from the King of HOLLAND.
These are but a few random extracts that
might be produced to justify some little dis-
crimination on the part of " commentators." But
what are these to the choice extracts which
the inspired columns of the Coestittitionscl could
supply I It may bo confidently affirmed that
there is no act of folly of the Second Empire
which the i'.,e.,titt;:obel has not begun by deny-
ing and ended by glorifying. Nor do we blame
the Coastite i.,,0e/ for playing its many parts to
the best of its ability. We only venture to sug-
gest that if it had a longer memory or a less
elastic conscience, it might be a little more tolerant
at this time of day of the hesitations of its con-
temporaries, in the presence of certain acts so
difficult for ordinary minds to reconcile with
certain words:. Honest and discerning commen-
tators will fix their attention upon acts, and let
the words take care of themselves.

LORD RANCLAGII, to take his own account of
himself, is performing a valuable public service ; at
a personal sacridce, he is forcing railway directors
to provide sato:sing carriages for passenger, who
like • cigar. His method is a simple one—he sets
their bye-laws at defiance; of course ho gets fined,
but, that done, directors are at once struck with I
tho impropriety of • state of things which has
a consequence so shocking, and the smoking
carriages are immediately provided. He was
once so fined on the Richmond line, but
within a week afterwards smokers bad the free-
dom of that railway. On the 20th of December
last Lord RANELAOH was a passenger by the
Metropolitan Railway, and smoking. A guard
named PALSONS reminded hint, as he had done the
nightbefore, that the practice wasnot allowed, when
the noble traveller replied that " he would smoke,
" and be damned to him," and kept his word.
For this offence Lord RANELAGH has been fined
2.1.15. at the Clerkenwell Police-court. Of course
the Metropolitan will now have its smoking car-
riages, for it will never do to make the line a trap
for distinguished passengers. If so, Lord RANE•
LAC II will deserve the thanks of his brother
smokers ; but whether, upon a larger view, his
proceedings are to be approved of, is another ques-
tion. Those who write for the ornamental por-
tion of society are constantly denouncing the
decay of authority among us, the increasing
want of reverence for the law and for those
who have to administer it. There is a great
deal of cant in these piteous complaints, which
have been heard in all ages, and are often
made merely to serve the purpore of a party or
a class. It is, however, for the convenience of
society that rules which have been deliberately
made in its interest should be obeyed ; it would
be a greater misfortune for most of the passengers