The Sun. — 1840-07-18 (London, England)

PUBLIC JOURNALS.  (7110 M THE DAILY PAPER! OF YESTEItDAY.)  From the Globe.) The Times invariably shoWS itself alike unprincipled, whether as a friend or an adversary-.,equally hollow whether in its oppMitlon or advocacy. Within the last few days the " thunder" of PrititingAmismquare wag dircettd against the National Society, and the " weaker= headed portion of the clergy" who joined with it in op, posing the introduction of Government inspectors, by whose reports to the Committee of Council the public would be informed of the due application of the Parliamentary funds appropriated to Education. The inter.; vention of the Times, and the fury with which it as.. sailed the Society and its " weak-headed " auxiliaries, afforded ground to suspect that the native good sense of the British people had prevailed over the senseless clamour excited against the Government by a comparatively few interested partisans, who had prevailed on a multitude of empty-headed, long-tongued dupes to produce a senseless din against a plan of which they manifestly knew nothing. This proved to be the fact. The heads of the Church had interposed to prevent its real interest from being sacrificed to clamour ; and by giving their consent to the reasonable requisition of the Committe of the Privy Council, effectually silenced those who vainly fancied they had the undoubted sanction of the whole Bench of Bishops to their proceedings. This accounted for the sudden conversion of the Times from an assailant into an auxiliary ; and transformed Lord Ashley and his adherents, lay and clerical, who were previously the wisest and best friends of the Church, into as many " weak dupes," whose zeal in opposing the government plan of national education had " wrought nothing but mischief to the Church !" (From the Standard.) In the House of Ccmmons, Mr. Duncombe and Mr. Wakley both opposed with great earnestness the second reading of the Bishup of Carlisle's (Prebendary of Finsbury) Estate Bill. The object of the Bill is to dispose of Church property with the consent ()fall the parties concerned, and apply it to the endowment anew churches ; the Whole artionnt of each endowment not exceeding, in fact,3ooi. One cif the reasons assigned in the advertised series 7f resolutions entered into bk certain Dissenters, Mr. John Wilki Art-hong others, for rejoicing in the defeat of Sir Robert Ingli4's Church 'Extension Bill. was as follows :—" Because, lotirthly4 the funds of the 'Established Church, duly managed and applied, would Meet any necessity which could be proved id exist." No sooner, however, is a " due application and management" attempted, for the purpose of effect. ing the good here referred to, than it IS opposed with the utmost vehemence by these anti-Church patriots and theit representatives in Parliament. Nor is this determination to embarrass and obstruct the promoters Ot every measure calculated to produce the result recommended in the above resolution Of recent origin. Tne warmest friends of the Chtirch, the most dignified of its members have cheerfully adinitiA from time to time that advantageous changes (with a view td equalise the distribution of certain temporalities the Church) may safely be made, and the Royal Commission, issued with the concurrence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, proved beyond dispute the anxiety of the Church itself to make such changes and equalisation of endowments as circumstances might from time to time admit. (From the Courier.)  Hitherto we have not said anything on the subject of Mr. Kelly's Bill for the abolition of capital punishment. In fact, we have been restrained by the serious and even awful considerations which are involved in the question. Crimes against property only should not be visited with death, unless we are prepared to say that money, houses, or ships are of greater value than human life. But yet as arson, and wilful destruction of vessels, endanger life, we ought must assuredly to pause before we relax the safeguards of society. Mr. Kelly would abolish the punishment of death in all cases short of actual murder. By the burning of a house or the sinking of a ship lives may be lost, and the party so causing death is amenable for murder. This was the particular case of Smithers a few years ago ; he set fire to his house ; in the upper apartments there were several lodgers of whom some were burnt to death, and the incendiary was indicted, convicted, and suffered for the murder. We are quite aware that this is special pleading ; but it does appear to us that some species of arson, or rather some degrees of that horrid crime require restraints of more severity than Mr. Kelly apparently contemplates.