The Sun.
London, England, 1835-11-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY„
,NOVintilE It PO.

would be ridiculous to den y that the I:1;ms and mecha-
nism of a free constituti;)n arc treaclu rously turned
against the vitals cf the State.— Time 3. •
Some of the most monstrous dogmas that were
ever broached—some
.of the most despotic doctrines
that were ever attempted to be palmed off in the days
of the profoundest popular ignorance and credulity,
are now openly brought forward, in the impotent en-
deavour of supporting the unnatural union of Church
and State. That union, barbarous and fallacious in
itself, is not to be advocated hut throtili the aid of
arguments equally barbarous and fallacious, and ac-
cordingly we find the assertors in its favour propagat-
ing the most outrageous' 'opinions, and distorting the
Most palpable facts in maintenance of their hypocri-
tical designs and &testable Ihig,otries. lt is 'asserted
" that the King's Ministers. conspire the abOlition
of the Irish Church Establishment, by depriving
it of the funds from which it has heretofore- been
subsisted." Here, then, is the avowal gratuitously
made, that Religion and Revenue are what we have
so frequently pronounced them to he, synony-
Mous with the champions of the Established Church.
And, again, as if borrowing their code of Faith from
the Poperies which they so vehemently and venomously
denouncc,they say "there must be everywhere some form
of civil government, and we, who hre friends to a Church
Establishment, affirm that there must be some one Es-
tablished Church." The logical acumen of the Popish
catechism, that as there is one God, one one bap-
tism, Caere cannot be but one true Church, is not more
barbarous and intolerant than this. And
,when they
say " the question is for Englishmen. what Church
ouLit to be preferred," it brings it home to every
man's breast to reply '' my own ;" and it would be well
for those fanatical defenders of a dominant Church to
reflect whether in England, not to speak of Ire-
land, the voice of the majority of the people will
declare for the ascendancy of a particular sect, ra-
ther than for the voluntary principle, which allows
every man to worship his Maker as his conscience dic-
tates, and guarantees the individual liberty of all.
Who can be so sunk in delusion as to suppose that
now, when even the modifications of religious opinion
arc so multiform and fine-drawn, that the. principle
will longer be admitted, that the many are to be
subjugate to one—that the grand order of nature is
to be reversed, and that a part is greater than the
whole? Who can suppose or expect that the great
body of the people of Ireland will longer endure the
ministers of one-tenth of their population, not only to
ride rough-shod over the other nine-tenths, but to
monopolize the whole fund designed for the relief, edu-
cation, and spiritual comfort of the whole community ?
If the language of a Conservative zealot he correct
when he says, " The folly of adducing the Papists in
America as a reason for investing them with substan-
tial power here, is utterly contemptible—in America
they dare not stir, or speak a word beyond their breath,
being not above one-tenth of the population !"—if this
be correct in regard to the- Papists of America, should
it not be equally applicable to the Protestants of Ire-
land ; or are the Irish so subdued and degraded by their
wrongs, as to be expected to succumb to hierarchical
principles that would be scouted and spurned from any
other portion of the civilized world ? Again, this
inveterate stickler for ecclesiastical ascendancy and
abuse asserts, " that the creed of the majority ought
to be that of the Monarch Some savage Chiefs
might make temporal sacrifices for the good of their
tribes, but we doubt much whether in their devotion
they would offer up their eternal happiness ; and it is
a long time since a Monarch of England has given
such a proof of self-denial as to offer. tip the one or
the other ; nor should we respect him the more if he
were to do so, as any man, having religion as the
basis of his conduct, should consider it the beginning
and end of existence, and no consideration should in-
duce him to compromise his hopes of a happy futurity.
If the advocates of an Established Church can find
no better arguments than these, their cause is not
likely to derive much benefit from their advocacy ; and
we would recommend a certain Journal to resume the
extracts from the Irish Commission, which caused such
" an extraordinary sensation," rather than indulge in
a commentary which makes it the laughing-stock of
" three-fourths," as it has long been the contempt, of
the entire of the population of Great Britain.—Morn-
ing Advertiser.
It is said that the subject of prison discipline is-at
present under the consideration of his Majesty's Go-
venni-writ, and that measures arc likely to be proposed
in the course of the ensuing Session calculated to
remedy the glaring defects of the present system, and
to supersede, to a still further extent, the brutal execu-
tions of the gallows. It is needless to say that we
rejoice at this. ,The friends of humanity will rejoice
at it, not from an affectation of false sentiment and spu-
rious tenderness so often laid to their charge by those
who, though willing enough to treat the wisdom of our
ancestors with contempt in other instances, felt an
anxiety to preserve the gallows from that innovation to
which they were willing to submit every other institution
of the country. The failure, the palpable failure of the
experiment, which sought to prevent crime by a process
calculated to harden the hearts of the people, and tor
degrade our character in the eyes of Europe, by the
ferocious spirit of our criminal code, was in itself suf-
ficient evidence that it was not by false sentiment, or
pretended humanity, the outcry was raised, which led
to a mitigation of the penalty of death in many
cases, and which happily has proved in the experiment
a more effective check to the commission of crime than
the old practice, now partially, and we hope soon to be
more extensively exploded. If the Government apply
itself vigorously to the improvement of prison discipline
we may look forward, not only to sec our prisons be,
come what they ought to be, the correctives instead o

CITA 7N; CERY COURT.

.1116 Di DA V.

pelcre Sir C. PE: Ys and Sir J. BC2ANQUET, the Lord,:
Commissioners.)

WATKINS V. LRENT.
This was a motion to..discharge an order of the Vice-
Chancellor, appointing a receiver of the estate and effects
of a Mr. Timotl.l• Brent, who died in 1833, and directing
at the same time that Mr. William Brent, the defendant,
be restrained from receiving any of the moneys, or other-
wise interim-Ailing with the estate. Mr.. Timothy Brent,
the deceased, bad.no children ; and it appeared that, for
scare time previous to his death, he carried about with him
.a small box, containing three several papers relative to the
disposal of his property. By the first of these papers he
gave directions that the whole of his property was to go to
Mrs. Margaret Brent, his widow,, to be enjoyed by, her
during her life, and at her decease to be.divided into three
shares, one of which was to go to Mr. William Brent, his
nephew, who is the Judge of the Palace Court, and the
other two shares to be divided among certain of his next of
kin, mentioned in the document in question. The other
papers kept in the box were letters to Mr. W. Brent, in
Nvhich the deceased informed him that he Wished him and
his widow, Mrs. Margaret Brent, to act as his executors.
The next of kin then took objections to Mr. W. Brent tak-
ing the management of the property, and their representa-
tives filed a bill in this Court praying an injunction against
the•defendant, and the appointment of a receiver to the
estate. His Honour the VieE-CHANcELLoa, after hear-
ing Counsel for all parties, granted this application, and
the motion now made was by way of appeal from that de-
cision.

Mr. KINDERSLEY opposed the motion; and
Mr. WIGRAM having replied,
Their LORDSHIPS took time to consider their judgmen

the nurseries of crime, but to see a good systeth of se.
condary punishments operating steadily in the reduc-
tion of offences. Several propositions have been made
with this view, and we believe it will be found that the
result of the investigations directed by the Government
in the United States of America, and elsewhere, en-
courage an opinion that much may still be done for the
protection of the community against culprits, without
having recourse to the scaffold.. One of the recent
'changes introduced into our prison discipline would
seem to have already struck terror; not only into the
hearts of offenders, but into those of benevolent persons,
who are constitutionAy averse to the infliction of
strong punishments. We allude to the " silent system."
It is. admitted upon all hands that this system works
well, not only as a punishment, but as a preventive of
that moral contagion too frequent in prisons. Several Ma-
gistrates have-borne testimony to its efficacy in different
parts of the country where it has been tried, but an
outcry has been attempted to be raised against it upon
the ground that it produces insanity. If this imputa-
tion were true, we should at once admit that no tri-
bunal had a right to inflict such a visitation upon any
even the worst offenders. Nothing, however, has yet
' come btdore the public in the shape of evidence to au-
thorise that assumption, though we arc aware that it
has been repeatedly made and strongly' insisted on.
The fact that the system• still prevails •in America is
against it, for we cannot believe of any Government
of rational creatures, that - they • would rather inflict
madness than death. Of one thing we are certain,
that the moment such a fact was ascertained in this
country, that moment would be the last of the system.
No doubt .the Government will not exclude from its
consideration a point of such importance as this, nor
omit to inquire of what modifications it may be sus-
ceptible, in order to fulfil, the purpose for which it is
intended. What we want. is a .system of prison
discipline unfavourable to the propagation of crime, and

.
avowable to its extinction, that we may be enabled to

dispense in most, if not in all cases, with the penalty of
death, and yet reserve to the law the power of vindi-
cating its own authority.—Morning Herald.

The fall of rain in this neighbourhood during the
last few days has been very great, every brook and lake
being nvorflown, and the lowlands and roads in some parts
presenting a complete deluge, and a great loss of property
has been the consequence. On Tuesday last, in Cower, the
rush of water in the Burry was so great and sudden that it
swept away a new bridge, substantially built, at Cheriton,
and also a Wooden bridge at Stainbridge.—Cambrian.
FIRE-DAMP AT OLDHAM.—An explosion of fire-
damp occurred on Monday at the Black Ridings Pit, Bloke
lane. A collier named Ogden was the only person seriously
injured, and he now lies in a dangerous condition.—llfan-
ehester.Chrottick.
. .