The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-25 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 1856.

While the dungeons of Naples, and the cruel-
ties of King Boats A, their keeper, are engaging
the attention of the French and English Govern-
ment; a cry reaches us from some well nigh for-
gotten victims of oppression in the pestilential
prison, 6,000 miles distant, to which a pitiless
policy years ago consigned them. The parties to
whom we refer are Europeans—Frenchmen—and
their prison is the island of Cayenne. What sort
of a place that is may be imagined when we state
the name given to it by these exiles—it is the
" Island of Despair !" If our Government doubt
the propriety of the designation they have only
to refer to the Emperor NAPOLEON, who is per-
fectly informed on the matter, having sent the
miserable wretches there, and being accountable
for their treatment. It is well the cry in ques-
tion did not reach Europe sooner, for if it had
what a telling argument BOMBA. might have made
of it against French interference, and what a taunt
for the British Government !

What political sympathy these men may fairly
elaim from Englishmen we are not prepared to say.
It may be none. The voice 'lf humanity, however,
pleads very powerfully on their behalf. Whatever
they are or are not, they are men—not a few of
them educated gentlemen—and their cry is very
heartrending. The reader has but to turn to
another column to be assured on this head. There
he will find a letter from Louis BLANC, through
which they are suffered to speak. The cruelties
known to have been perpetrated in French Guiana
on the poor exiles have not, we are now told,
ceased. To have them transported to a pestilen-
tial island, far away from friends and home, is
not enough, nor to keep them when they are there
either—though years have elapsed, and an admir-
able occasion for showing them mercy has pre-
sented itself—they must be made to endure all
that brutal malice can inflict. They are " un-
speakably tortured," and that "on the flimsiest
pretences ;" and have the mortification to reflect
that, confiding in the specious promises of their
Imperial gaoler, the people of this country and
other European countries believe them to be com-
paratively free, and enduring no other pangs than
those of enforced exile.

Let the poor wretches speak for themselves.
They are not criminal convicts, but political
prisoners—men who never were tried at all, but
were condemned and expatriated wholesale. "Out
of five men lately arrested for some talk it had
been the fancy of the overseer to invent, two
were tied to a stake and dealt with as the most
vile criminals. As they were reluctant to submit
to an ignominious punishment, soldiers were called
for, who, rushing upon the victims, bruised them
with blows, tore off their beards, and, reckless of
the shrieks With which wild beasts would have
been moved, bound
them with cords so
fast us to make the blood gush ! To
relate all we suffer, is more than we can possibly
do. Our cheeks kindle with shame, and our
hearts are bleeding. Suffice to say, that while
the French Government has its clemency cried up
everywhere—there are Frenchmen in Guiana who
do gasp for life. Nor are they allowed the so-
journ of the Island of Despair, humble as it is ;
barbarous administrators drag them violently on
the continent, to compel them to a labour of eight
hours a day in the marshy forests, from which
Pestilential vapours are continually rising. We
refused to submit to this outrage upon laws, to
this murderous attempt ; we claimed promised
liberty. The answer is death—a magnanimous

answer after the birth of a Prince. Is there,
indeed, for us any other prospect but
imminent death. With no proper food, no
garments, no shoes, no wine since February last,
is there any chance that we should long be able
to bear both the influences of an exhausting toil
and a deadly climate ? May public
opinion be moved at our misfortunes, and ener-
getically rise against deeds so well calculated to
bring to shame a nation reputed the most en-
lightened and civilised in the world." To
which we say—Amen ! The Emperor outdoes the
King ! and, disgraced as the Neapolitans
are, the French people are more so. What !men,
scholars, gentlemen, who have had no trial, and
whose offences are of a political nature, have to
" gasp for life" in the " Island of Despair," and
"be compelled to labour eight hours a day in the
marshy forests, from which pestilential vapours
are continually rising I" The barbarity of such
treatment is an outrage on every notion of civili-
sation—a libel on savagery itself. IA there no
taker of King BORBA. or King OTHO by the beard
to whisper as much in the car of the little man,
our ally, at the Tuileries

When are we to get rid of the German Legion ?
We repeat the interrogatory which we last week
exhibited, and to which the public generally will
require a decided answer. Our own militia has
been disembodied with a prudent regard to ex-
pense. English, Irish, and Scotch have been
sent to the right about. There is no thought as
to their sufferings, or the danger to the country
from having such large bodies of men wandering
about without any ostensible means of subsistence,
and far too many of the number exasperated at
the cheese-paring economy (perhaps breach of
faith would be a„ more correct expression) that
kept back a portion of the bounty that had been
fairly earned. The Government, however,
appears to have but little regard for English
feelings or English opinions. Are there
not the prisons, the hulks, even the gibbets
to repress crime, but the dear, very dear,
Germans must not be exposed to temptation. The
German Legion is therefore kept together, while
its discharged members have liberal gratuities,
sufficient to keep them out of the way of tempta-
tion by enabling them to emigrate, if they think
proper se to do, or to start them in some busi-
ness by which they may earn a respectable live-
lihood, should they be pleased to settle amongst
us.

It is useless to affect ignorance of what is gene-
rally rumoured. It is more than hinted that a
high personage has by no means abandoned the
desire that led to the enactment of the Foreign
Enlistment Bill—that, in fact, H.R.H. the Prince
Consort desires to retain in this kingdom a chosen
body of his countrymen, who shall eventually
supersede the Guards in their especial functions.
That such was the original intention at the time
the bill was brought forward and hurried with
reckless haste through both Houses is but too pain-
fully notorious. When, however, the voice of public
opinion had clearly and distinctly pronounced
against the project, the Ministers renounced the
scheme, and emphatically pledged themselves
against garrisoning England by foreign merce-
naries. A limited number only were to be
allowed while preparing for service abroad. Now
there can be no possible occasion for their
services. The War has been brought to a termi-
nation. A Peace, which the Government affects
to believe to be a permanent one, has been
patched up. The German Auxiliaries (!) should
have been the first to be got rid of. If there
could be any doubt on other matters the gross
insubordination displayed on several occasions,
both at Shorncliffe and Aldershot, and the ill-
feeling displayed towards the English regiments,
should have decided the question ! But no; they
are still kept on, while the QUEEN'S loyal subjects
are discharged under peculiarly unpleasant cir-
cumstances.

It is not merely a matter of s. d. There
were formerly loud complaints against standing
armies, even of our own fellow-subjects, which
were regarded as completely opposed to the true
spirit of the British Constitution. Even as it is
the army is only maintained from year to year,
and a Mutiny Act must receive the Legislative
sanction every session. Such is the judicious
jealousy with which Parliament and the
country regards a matter by which the power of
the Crown may be enhanced to an extent incon-
sistent with the liberties of the people. But
never before was there an attempt to maintain a
standing foreign legion in time of peace. H.R.H.
may be better versed in the German than the
English system of government ; but there is no
such excuse for Lord PALMERSTON, once regarded
as the English Minister par excellence. Not-
withstanding the unconstitutional interference
to which he is subjected he is the party really
responsible to the nation, and who must answer
for any evil consequences arising from what is
considered to be his advice and his po-
licy. It would be far better for his own
reputation that he should respectfully tender his
resignation to his Royal Mistress than sanction
that of which, in his breast and conscience, he
cannot approve. It is not prudent to exasperate
the people to permit them to see how greatly they
are disregarded, and how far their interests are
postponed to those of the more favoured race.
We will not consent to be treated as a conquered
country, or submit to a peaceful invasion scarcely
less galling than that of the Norman adventurers
to our Saxon forefathers.
The time is rapidly approaching when Hor.
Gentlemen will have to answer to their consti-
tuents and to render accounts of their respective
stewardships. It would be well if some expression
of feeling were manifested on this interesting and
important subject ; that it should be shown that
England is to be for the English, and not for the
Germans ; and that, although we may be com-
pelled to submit to a few cormorants, we will
sternly and steadfastly resist the genera/ handing
over of the loaves and fishes to any considerable
number thereof. We are still able to defend
ourselves, and will not have men brandishing arms
in the
piping times of peace which they took care
never to display
in the face of an armed enemy.