The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-09 00:00:00

The Extradition of Mazzini.

demanded
the extradition of Mazzini from England be
at our bands by the French Govern.
meat? The Law Times of to-day argues in the
negative thus distinctly as follows The Paris
Pipers, particularly the Gazette de France, attach
great
importance to this fresh sentence against
inasmuch as they think it enables the
_French Government to apply for his extradition, or
at least his expulsion from England. Both, we
may take the liberty of informing the French law-
yers, are out of the question. The convention be-
tween the Queen of this country and the King of
the French, of the 13th Feb., 1843, was, that the
contracting parties should, on requisition made in
their
name, through their respective diplomatic
agents, deliver up to justiee persons who, being ac-
cused of the crimes of murder (comprehending the
crimest designated by the French penal code by the
er.ale, assassination, parricide, infanticide, and
pms,ening),orof an attempt to commit murder," corn-
taitLed within the jurisdiction of the requiring
party, should seek an asylum or should be found
'thin the territories of the other." Accordingly
the 6th and 7th Vict., c. 75,: for carrying the Con-
vention into effect, provides for the surrender of
persons who, being accused of having committed
murder or of an attempt to murder within the
territories
the and jurisdiction of the King of
French, shall be found in the Queen's
dominions.. The Act omits the words " seek an
1)118)111.02p" which are in the Convention. Probably
arliament was jealous of words which have a
Political rather than a criminal association. But
there can be no doubt that the Act, as well as the
Convention, speaks of persons only who commit
Within the French jurisdiction the crimes specified,
quitting that jurisdiction, flee to, and are found in
the British dominions. If it was from the brewery
and from Thurloe square, or any other
.place in
tendon, that Mazzini pulled the strings (if he didat all), clearly he is not a person within the
Convention or the Act.
As to expulsion from England, unless in the
execution of a sentence of penal servitude, there is
no such power in the British execntive against a fo-
reigner any more than a native. It is true that in
June, 1848, when there was a fear (groundless
or otherwise) that foreign agitators might combine
'with the Chartists to overthrow British society, or
the British constitution, which means the same
thing,
an Act (11 Vict. c. 20) was passed giving to
a Secretary of State who, on authentic written in-
formation, believed such a step expedient for pre.
serving the "peace and tranquillity" of any part of
the realm, power to order the removal of any alien.
tut that Act was made to continue only to the
end of the next session, and then expired,
In case of the existence, and communication
to the British Government. of evidence showing
the complicity of any person, whether alien or
British subject, in a plot to murder the Emperor,
the only proceeding of wbieh the French Go-
vernment could call for the adoption would be a
prosecution under the 4th section of the Consolida-
tion Act relating to offences against the person:
(24 and 25 Vict. c. 100.)
All aeonsp who shall conspire, confederate and agree to
murder y person, whether he be a subject of her Majesty
or not, and whether he be within the Queen's dominions
or not, and whosoever shall solicit, encourage, persuade, or
endeavour to der any persuade, or shall propose to any person, to
,Tur
other person,' whether ho bo a subject of her
'l"Jesty or not and whether he be within the Queen's
dominions or not, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and
of convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion
of the court, to be kept in penal servitude for any term
Sot more than ten, and not less than three years, or to
orimprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with
without hard labour.

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