The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-23 00:00:00

TEE SWISS PROGRAMME.

Never was a people called upon to play a more impor-
tant part, morally and politically, in the affairs of Europe
than are. the descendants of Tell and Baumgarten at this
critical juncture. Never have the despots of Europe
attempted a more impu ent and open violation of the
inalienable and legal rights of nations than this demand
made by the King of Prussia, and. supported by the
man of the 2d of December, for the release, without
trial or parley, of the Neuchatel conspirators, simply
because they conspired for a king, and not for a nation.
Take the French, Polish, ar.d Hungarian, Italian his-
tory for the last 50 years. Count up the list of victims
executed often without any form of trial, still oftener
without legal defence, simply because they conspired
sometimes in act, often only in word or thought, to win
back their own God-given rights that usurpers had
wrested from them. Now, take the case in question :
Neuchatel is a Swiss canton, geographically, politically
belonging to Switzerland. In 1814 the Holy Alliance
grants to the King of Prussia certain privileges which in
1848 the inhabitants of the canton withdrew, and to
which withdrawal the King of Prussia makes no demur,
neither at the time nor during the eight years that have
intervened since then. Here in 1856 certain wealthy
men conspire, not to restore those said privileges to the
King, but actually to hand over bodily. the canton of
as
twhi
isesg federalu ti
ea.r
unheard of
Neuchatel to Prussia. The attempt. is suppressed by the
p mutation, the leaders of the insurrection are arrested
and remanded for trial, the crime laid against them
being that of conspiring against the
vernment, the ackn)sviedged government of the country.
A! e sodrythe generosity,heads of
havethat
allowedgo v e rnmtehnet ,
chiefeither - o
conspiratorsfrom weak-
ness
patriots are
to remain at large until their trial—
they are re-
.to
in despotic governments when conspiring
concerned. But this does not suffice ;
quested to give up all the prisoners immediately and
willout trial, and thus to sanction insurrections got
up by the retrograde party by allowing
unpunished and untried -in short,
d'encouragement to any royal co oeftheermatoprpimases
It remains to be seen whether aspirator for the future.
the S wise federal Government the men who compose
situa-
tion. If they remain firm andare equal to their
the population will remain resolute in their refusal,Nei
ther is it pr, bable that the peacefuld and. obedient..
persist in their
refusal. So much disgust hasespots will peorsfiLouis
sa.
poleon—Swiss citizen—whom
the conduct
' Confederation
so enthusiasticallum the Swim! .
Y protected against Louis Phi ipp I' oc-
casioned, that the
French EN has burst its bends
i for an instant, and outspokenrtse true mind. Logically—
for. sooner or later he mustenter into a close alliance
with Russia, Prussia, ad Austria—the French Em-
peror had no choice but to act as he has
acted, and
Support the Prussian King. But (or we
overrate his powers of calculation) he has studied the
map of Europe and the spirit rife among
the pen
PlO4 tJo attentively to force the Swiss into open
wallah!. For, how-ever the federal government !nay
act, whatever discrepancies, whatever elements of disso-
lution may exist in Switzerland, national pride still lives
in the people, and however they may wink at come-