The Sun.
London, England, 1840-05-07 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION.

Bonds rallied a little after the news from th:l seat of
war, respecting the better appearance of the Christine
cause, was made known this afternoon. The Active
Bonds rallied from 2Si- to 28i ; Portuguese New Five
per Cents. dom.(' heavily at 35± ; Colombian Booths
receded to :25.
The Railway Shares left off' at a slight rally. The
Brighton obtained GI ; the Manchester and Birming-
ham 7:1, ; the Midland Counties 44 ; and the Binning_
ham and Derby 10 discount. The Great Western were
at 19 ; the Birmingham and London at 741, ; and the
South Western at 124 premium. Provincial Bank of
England shares were at 1 premium.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
(From the Times.)
The assertion that the present Administration is negli.
gent of the interests of religion is so often repeated, that
to many persons it it ould seem to be merely an imputation
arising in the heat of party conflict. But instances do
sometimes occur of such grievous neglect and forgetfulness
of the most st important objects, that one cannot but fc.ar
that religion has
.but few suppo,ters in the Cabinet. In
proof of this, it is impossible to adduce a stronger and
more striking ex:mple than the treatment of the Protest-
ant Church at Naples. The British residents in that city
have for many years past made great efforts to obtain a
place of worship of adequate size for the numerous British
visitors and res dents. They subscribed liberally, and still
further pledged themselves by way of loan, hiSping that
with the assistance of the surplus and accumulating fund
of the cemetery they' should obtain their praiseworthy ob.
ject without making any application for assistance from her
Majesty's Government. They have, however, bad the
greatest difficulties to contend with, both from the bigotry
and intolerance of the Archbisllon, the faithlessness and
opposition of the local Government, and the lukewarmness
of the British authorities, which have been almost insur-
mountable ; and the support and protection of her Majesty's
Government have been refused and withdrawn at the very
time r\ hen its energetic interference and remonstrance
have been most essentially required.
(From the Morning Advertiser.)
It is a habit but too common to regard the law as an
instrument of vengeance rather than of reformation, and
while so regarded all punishments lose their best effect
upon the culprit and the community. As soon as the law
is regarded as an instrument of vengeance, its efficacy as
an agent of reformation is altogether destroye I. The
great object of the law should be the prevention cf crime;
it should have nothing whatever to do with vengeance. It
should visit the offending members of society with Its in.
fictions as reluctantly, arm with as much forbearance, ns
au affectionate parent world chastise an offending child.
By this means it would obtain the affection and reverence
of the people ; whereas, by pandering to vindictive pas.
sions, it becomes the subject of retaliation and abhorrence.
Under the present system of transportation the reforms.
Lion of the offender is scarcely to be expected. In many
instances the severity of the punishment aggravates the
demoralization of the individual, and in many others the
leniency with which the law surrenders transports in as-
signment to private individuals prevents their example from
operating with any beneficial effect upon society.

(From the Morning Chronicle.)
While Lcrd Stanley is attempting to convey all the evils
of the English registration (with many aggravations) to
Ireland, Lord John Russell is proposing to correct those
evils. The claimant having once made out his right, be
proposes to protect him for a time from the repetition of
refuted objections. Can any true friend of representation
maintain that he ought to be subjected to such repe-
tition ? instead of 174 revising barristers, deciding in
different places on almost as many different princi-
ples, Lord John Russell proposes to entrust the
whole decision to a small and fixed number, say
fifteen, who, by dividing the country into districts,
to be visited in succession, will approach much
nearer to uniformity ; to which a fin tiler approxi.
mation would be made by three of their number sitting as
a court of appeal on questions of law. Can any true
friend of representation object to this provision for uni.
formity ? And yet there is no want of charity in predict-
ing that to the security, the simplicity, and the uniformity
thus guaranteed, the Tories will object; for the opposite
qualities in registration machinery are the qualities which
they will wage battle to establish in Ireland. There is
one good in Lord John Russell's Bill that has already ex-
cited their ire. iie proposes to withdraw the power of a
partisan tax-collector to jockey a qualified householder out
of his vote. This trick has been frequently practised.
(From the Morning Post.)
The O'Connellite Ministerial Paper of yesterday pub-
lishes with much pomposity a long list of names which, it
seems, was appended to a requisition for an " Ulster pro-
vincial meeting" against Lord Stanley's Bill. It would be
an interesting thing to learn how many of these persons
had not near relatives hanged or banished for rebellion in
the year '9B, or in very imminent peril of those serious
accidents. We are of opinion that if the hereditarily
seditious were excluded from the list, the remaining
number would be very small indeed. But these heredi-
tary rebels aro the fast and only friends of the present
Government in Ireland. Nor is there any inconsistency
in this, although it shows but little sympathy with that
manliness which has been, in other times, the grace of
bold-faced rebellion. The Presbyterian haters of Church
and monarchy in the north of Ireland support the present
Government, because they believe it to be practically, if
not theoretically, hostile to the principles of eeclesiastioal
authority and monarchical Government. They recognize
in the Melbourne Administration, and especially in the Irish
branch of it, the most formidable enemies of Church and
Throne that have appeared in this country for centuries.
(From the Morning Herald.)
The contraband traffic in opium is not less injurious to
the interests of humanity and morals than the slave trade.
This the members of the Anti-Opium Society must sel-
mit. Now, let us only suppose that before the British
slave trade was put down by law, au anti-slave trade so-
ciety had existed, which scrupulously abstained from ex-
pressing any opinion on the acts or omissions of Govern-
ment in regard to that abominable traffic, ss hat could the
truly Christian public have thought of it? If it proved
by its " scrupulous avoidance " of expressing an opinion
upon the acts or omissions of Government touching the
slave trade, that it had no •' political bias," it would surely
prove as clearly that it had no e-y high or active moral
sense, and though its cautious silence might do credit to its
prudence, it would not manifest ally very ardent or gene-
rous sympathy on behalf of the afflictions of suffering hu-
manity. It is of little use to oppose vicious principles in
the abstract, if we tamely assent or submit to them when
reduced to practice.