The Sun.
London, England, 1840-06-25 00:00:00

Lately published, a Whole-length
PORTRAIT of THOMAS CLARKSON,
liFq., M.A., a Vice-President of the Anti-Slavery
Society,__

.Author of" The History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade;"
" Life of William Penn," &c. &c. &c.
From the Original Picture, painted by A. E. Chalon, Esq. ,R.
Engraved by C. Turner, Esq., R. A., Engraver in Ordinary
to his late Majesty.
S'ze of the Plate-23 inches by 171 inches.
Proofs before the Letters, 3/. 3. ; after ditto, 21. 2s. ;
Prints, 11. Is.
Published by S. Pi-per, Ipswich ; and sold by H. Palser,
printseller, 366, Strand, London.

MR. HOVFMAN'S NEW ROMANCE.
On Monday no,:.‘, the 29th instant, in 3 Vols. post Bvo.,
GEYSL A E R.
ROMANCE OF THE MOHAWK.

By C. F. HOFFMAN, Esq.,
Author of " A Winter in the Far West," and " Wild Scenes
in the Forest and Prairie."
Richard Bentley, New Burlington• street.

In 3 vols. post Bvo.,
MR. BUNN'S NEW WORK, ;HE
STAGE, Both BEFORE and BEHIND

THE CURTAIN,"
IS NOW READY
And can be had of all Bookieller9,, and at all the Libraries.
Richard Bentley, New Burlington-street.

ROYAL STAREY THEATRE.
Increasing Success Toe Factory Boy." Overwhelming ma-
jority for " The ladies' Matrimonial Club." And another
New Piece,

THIS EVENING, JUNE 25.
Will be acted Haines' New Drama, entitled
THE FiCTORY BOY; OR, THE LOVE SACRIFICE
S epported by the entire strength of the Company.
After which, a C;omedietta, called
THE LADIES' MATRIMONIAL CLUB.
The Address, Orders 'of the Day, Debating, and General limi-
ness, Conducted Entirely by Ladies.
To conclude with a New Melo Drama, entitled
CARTOUCHE,
THE RENOWNED ROBBER OF TRANCE.
Cartouche, Mr. E. F. Saville ; Pierre, Mr. Smith ; Ba-
silo, Mr. Buckingham ; Madelon, Miss Martin ; Canaille, Mrs.
Vining.

ROYAL SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.
BEETHOVEN'S BATTLE SINFONIA ! !
THIS DAY, June 25.
'THREE GRAND PROMENADES MUSICALES ET
CHAMPETRES
Will be given, when the celebrated Grand Battle Sinfonia,
composed by B -ethoven to commemorate the Battle of Vittoria,
and vividly describing by musical sounds all the stirring inci-
dents of that famous Victory, will be produced with its original
effect and grandeur, eaving been arranged from the MS. score,
in the possession of Sir George Smart, for the Band of this
Establishment, to which many eminent Instrumentalists have
been added.
The new animated illustration of Perils and Adventures in
Ithe Frozen Seas! CARTER'S " KONIAPHOSTIC."
ERUPTION OF HECLA, &c., during the Evening.
Admission, One Shilling.
Concert commences at Six.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Why does Thompson Dawson, who sends us a circular addressed
" To all false prophets and hypocrites," not do unto others
as he instructs others to do unto him?

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW.
liforning 44 minutes after !O. Evening 24 minutes alter 11

The Publication of the Evening Edition of THE SUN corn•

menced at 15 minutes after Three.

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LONDON:
THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 1840.

There was no House of Commons yesterday, owing
to tl..e Members not collecting in sufficient number to
for►.n one.

We agree with Mr. EWA RT in feeling great
aatisfactson that a Tory Member of the House of
Comraons has proposed to abolish the punishment
01 -death in all cases except those of treason and
!murder. We feel no satisfaction, however, at find-
'ng that Lord JOHN RUSSELL and the ATTOR.•
IIEY-GENERA L object to the humane enactment;
and it is due to ourselves, as ene Ministerial jour-
nal sides with them, to show that their objections
are trot shared by all the Liberal papers.
Though we regret the course Lord JOHN Rus-
ELL has taken, we can do justice to his motives.
The Government is bound up with the whole body
'of the laws ; and is not separable from them. It
exists by and through the laws. It becomes,
therefore, the business of Ministers to guard
against alterations of the laws till they are
thoroughly satisfied that the alteration is required
/Is the public welfare. Hence it is that the Whigs
t. office are necessarily, to a certain extent, Conser-
Ivatives, and the Tories, in opposition, may be the
advocates of change.
As a Minister of the Crown, Lord J. RUSSELL
is bound to resist all experiments with the laws,
of the utility of which he is not thoroughly
aware. We blame him less for adhering to this
Principle now, than for his having on other occa-
ainna—rural constabularies and police regulations
I? wit--teo readily departed from it. Such being
hie duty, and it being very doubtful, whatever a
lew ardent philanthropists may say, how far a com-
munity long accustomed to rely on savage laws for
protection, would approve of that abolition, and
now far the popular sanction—without which Jaws
Wont vitality—would accord with the wise and just
toposition of benevolent men, we cannot condemn
"11,4 opposition. Even Mr. KELLY proposed, out
ni deference to the House, to omit high treason
7;°11 murder from his Bill, because he was sensible
that the public feeling, at least in the latter case,
Would not sanction the abolition of the punishment •
of death. Lord JOHN RUSSELL, as the organ of
the Government, the existence of which is bound
il3 with the whole body of the laws, only spoke on
the principle Mr. KELLY acted on, but deferred
qoniewhat more extensively to what he regards as
the Public feeling.
t taut if he, as a Minister, were, perhaps, bound so
° act, we see no obligation on the Tories, except
a
Wish to adapt themselves to what they suppose a
eircwing public opinion, to propose any such
,"ange. Nevertheless, we rejoice that one of them
has done so. Their system of government is
grounded on coercion. It disregards the popular
will, and carries some prettily devised scheme of
rale savage amongst our ancestors into effect by
~YrannY. The whole basis of their policy is terror
nd the principal source of terror is the punish
went of death. Sanguinary laws and Toryism are
gave ; and to propose the abolition of the punish-
Ilent of death for crime is to strike a heavy blow at
erYisns. If law-makers must not inflict death
for• robbery or rape, how shall they dare ever
• Propose it as the punishment of those
who virtuously struggle for freedom ? If the
community will no longer tolerate the infliction of
sudden death, as a punishment for a great
ePass, the Tory system, which relies on the
terror of. lingering starvation in gaol to put down
its adversaries, cannot be supported. On these
rinciples we unfeignedly rejoice to have a Tory
Nember of the House of Commons advocating
the abolition of the punishment of death.
We understand why Mr. KELLY should have
withdrawn murder from his Bill, but the legal crime
°f treason is of such wide extent, that a reforming
legislator should have defined and limited the
crime before he left it exposed to capital punish-
illsent• That a person who attempts the life of
t
tile Sovereign should be liable to the penalty of
eath, the public generally will admit ; but that
he who addresses a public meeting, and advises
the,, people to arm, perhaps against a corrupt
°llgarchy, which may have mastered the Govern-
Tent, should be equally liable to the penalty of
~eath, shocks our reason. Rulers may in both
e 8 inflict it, but unbridled • power is lust.
Which requires restraint, _not approval. Most
persons approve of a murderer being punished
with death, but the legal crime of treason, as of
late expounded by the Judges, is so extensive that
it r`ittires to be confined to overt acts against the
v. of the Sovereign, or to an actual levying of
feelings of mankind, in placing it and murder in
00e category.
0, Some of our Contemporaries, and some Members
el Parliament, are extremely anxious to have se-
C.lldarY punishments made snore effective as a sub-
thitnte for death. They will persist in killing unless
alley ,can torture. They require that ingenuity
Ould exert itself in devising punishment that shall
nt destroy life. We look with some horror on such
i
t, Perversion, and can find more excuse for the
r,assion which prompts hasty bloodshed thaw for
e calm, intellectual contemplation which devises
"new, and cruel inflictions. Old schemes have all
failed, and now new tortures are to be relied on. The
s
;leat system or the Separate system, either of
which is calculated to make the man a savage who
an live through it, is the latest invention. The
very essence of civilization is companionship. The
lass enrr:cts what th':
Silent, or Separate system, seems to us to be