The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-29 00:00:00

among our group of ex• Chancellors—as he is also one
of the most remarkable men of genius living—she
es• Chancellor Lord BROUGHAM ! And—coincident
in opinion with L-ird BROUGHAM in this matter—

speaking from the elevation appert4ining to
the actual occupant of the Woolsack—the greatest
among all living Lawyers—Lord WESTBURY,
now the Lord High Chancellor ! These are the
two men whose judgments confirm the pre-
vious decisions pronounced in the lower
Courts in favour of the Respondent ! If the Peti-
tioner is backed by the favourable decision of Lord
WENSLEYDALE, of Lord KINGSDOWN, and of Lord
CHELMSFORD (reversing the judgments pronounced
pronounced against him by the lower Courts, here
in Scotland, there in Ireland)—the Respondent is
backed by the equally positive opinion in her favour
(confirmatory of those previous judgments) by Lord
WESTBURY and by Lord BROUGHAM ! Altogether
the result arrived at, is about as unsatisfactory and
as bewildering of its kind, in regard to the
YELVERTON
.Case, as the decision arrived at the
close of the dispute in the old fable as to the precise
definition of the colour of the chameleon.

The withdrawal of the Mutual Surrender of Cri
mina's (Prussia) Bill will be received with genera

satisfaction. It was not, indted, probable that the
measure could ever have become law in the face of

so formidable an opposition as it excited, but Sir

GEORGE GREY has done wisely in refraining from

prEsslng the matter, and in acknowledging that in
this matter the popular representatives fairly repre-

rented the feeling of the public. It is not surprising

,hat the House of Commons should look with some

suspicion on the terms of any treaty about to be

concluded between this country and Prussia. The
members of our Government have shown themselves

collectively and individually to stand in such

wholesome awe of the terrible M. BISMARK, to be

so easily influenced by his wishes, so readily pacified
by his explanations, so confiding in the general
high-mindedness and generosity of the King, Ca-
binet, and people of Berlin, that plain ED glish
folks, whose views and principles will not adapt
themselves so promptly to foreign fashion, may

naturally be unwilling to leave too much to their

discretion. In the case which has lately been

brought under the notice of Parliament there is
especial reason for watchfulness. There is perhaps

none of the ruling principles of our political
code more generally received and more

readily acquiesced in by men of all shades of op

nion than that which affords unquestioning shelter
and unhesitating protection to the exile flying from
political or social persecution in his own country.
Englishmen pride themselves on the welccmc which
they give to the unfortunate whether or no they
sympathise in the views or the actions which have
produced their misfortunes. Prince and peasant,
Orleanist and Bonapartist, slave-driver and slave,
are alike safe from the vengeance or the prejudice
of their countrymen so soon as they reach our shores;
and in the solitary exception to the national hospi-
tality which occurred in the case of Marshal HAY.

NAt, it must be remembered that he was no fugitive
driven from his country, but a favoured noble tak,

ing his ease while Hungarian homes were desolated
by his means. However much foreign Govern.
ments may dislike or distrust this our traditional
practice they may all feel thankful that they have
such an asylum in reserve, while Continental Sove-
reigns may learn a profitable lesson from the recol-
lection that the past and the present ruler of no less
a country than France have at different periods of
their lives been glad to avail themselves of an
English shelter. But with all our fervour of feel-
ing on this point we do not carry our views to
such an absurd extreme as to wish to harbour
criminals. If our colonists are unwilling to receive
English malefactors, under legal restraints and
with proper guardianship, we are certainly not in-
clined to have the villains of all nations let loose
upon us. We have criminals enough of our own if
we may judge from the disastrous record of the last
few weeks, and the sagacity or activity of our police
force is scarcely competent to keep pace with them.
It is by no means desirable that every law-breaker
of foreign states shall flee to England as a refuge
from offended justice. Neither can we be anxious
that our own offenders shall be able to secure im-
munity from punishment by escaping our shores.
With the immense traffic that is continually going
on it would be a serious thing if every felon who
could contrive to get beyond the immediate reach
of English jurisdiction were able to feel secure. It
would be felt on all hands to be a direful blow to
public security and public order if such a villain as
MULLER were able to elude chastisement bf.cause
he had crossed the Atlantic. A treaty of extradi-
tion then secures mutual interests and public rights.
The code of moral and social offences is happily much
the same throughout Christendom, and those offences
which are most fatal to life and happiness are, by
common consent, regarded with equal abhorrence,
and liable to much the same degree of punishment,
in most parts of Europe and America. But it is
very necessary to preserve a strict line of demarca-
tion between political and other offences, nor is
there any unfairness in our insisting upon mak-
ing the distinction clearly and unreservedly.
If we refuse to surrender political offenders to
their offended Governments, we also refrain from
making any similar demand upon them. Chartists
and democrats who have succeeded in stirring up
agitation in the United Kingdom have escaped
across the seas unpureued, and we are not likely to
trouble France or America with any appeals for
the surrender of a refractory citizen, or unpopular
statesman, or indiscreet man of letters. Our Go-
vernments have hitherto been careful to frame their
extradition treaties with especial regard to this
point, with one solitary exception, of which the
public were probably unaware until the recent dis-
cussion had disclosed the fact, that in the
terms of the treaty concluded with Denmark
two years ago, no such provision was made. If
such be the case, the Treaty needs an immediate
revision and alteration, but one such instance can
be no excuse for committing a still more serious
error. As the general law stands, an English
magistrate must be satisfied that there is evidence
against the accused party of having committed an
offence which is punishable by English law. This
is the great protection for all political offenders,
and our readers will readily recall a notable in-
stance of the action of this clause, when the sur-
render of the fugitive slave ANDERSON was refused
by the Canadian Judge, on the ground that the
offence with which he was charged was not recog-
nisable by English law. But notwithstanding the
general feeling on this matter, and the experience
of so many years, the Government has omitted any
such provision in the terms of the Convention
which it proposes to conclude with Prussia. It
binds us to surrender any person who has been
convicted, on receiving an authenticated copy of
his conviction. So that in place of receiving evi-
dence of the actual guilt of the accused, we are
merely to be told that the Prussian Government
holds him guilty. Considering how very
widely the notions of Berlin differ from
the English sentiments, such a security is
by no means sufficient. There is perhaps
no country in Europe in
which Englishmen are jest
now so little inclined to trust. ; and when we re-
member how easy it is to cite a person known to be