The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-27 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 27, 1853.

A morning contemporary, high in the confi
hence of the Premier, announces ex cathedra its
certainty that " the Government must, and will

propose, on the opening of Parliament, a measure
for the punishment of political assassins.' This
is a significant intimation, more especially when
coupled with the threatening speeches against
England on the other side of the Channel, and also
the strangely consistent rumours as to diplomatic
demands for the expulsion of certain political fugi-
tives, and the modification of the right of sanctuary
in this country ! We cannot believe that Lord
PALMERSTON could be so wanting to himself as to
surrender for a moment, to any pressure however
urgent, the sacred duty of hospitality hitherto
freely exercised iu favour of every political
refugee, no matter what may be the nature of his
opinions, or under what standard he may array
himself. Should the Premier be so ill advised as
to make the attempt under any dictation, it will
not only be the signal for the immediate
overthrow of his Government but for his own
permanent exclusion from office. He might then,
indeed, "bid farewell, a long farewell, to all his
greatness." No future act could restore the public
confidence, forfeited by the timid concession
is the time appropriate for any alteration inNthe
Nor
law. Although of little practical importance in
itself, it would be ascribed to fear, and be the
signal for new demands, mere urgently insisted
on, and more difficult to be resisted.
" Nolumus loges Anglice mutari." We shall not
surrender the smallest portion of our constitu-
tional rights to any Prince or Potentate on the
face of the earth. One of the most cherished of
those rights is that of affording sanctuary to every
victim ! We shall not condescend to act as the
police of any State, or to hand over to the tender
mercies of despots, those who have had the
misfortune to incur their suspicions, which
would practically be to become parties to
legalised murder. We demand from all
who obtain asylums in the British dominions
strict obedience to our laws. If they be guilty of
any offence, they will be duly punished. But the
question must be decided by a British or mixed
jury, and the penalty inflicted by the sentence of
a British judge. In no case can they be sent out
of tee country, except they have, in the first in-
stance, been adjudged to undergo a term of penal

servitude, and then only to a British penal settle-
ment, to share the fate of other cowrie" We
should far rather receive as guests honest patriots,
unfortu-
nate he
who had struggled for a noble, albeit
an
causel than any despot, aye, though
"bore his blushing honours thick upon him."
As to the insulting and threatening demands
of -venal and restricted journalists, f toadying
functionaries, or even of any. government or
coalition of !governments, lye shall exclaim with
old Honaex—
" Non ardor eivium prava jubentiutl
" Nec vultus instantis tyranni
Meats quatit solid a."
We shall turn a deaf ear alike to their threats
and blandishments, and still afford shelter and
protection to every claimant who can fairly and
reasonably claim it at our hands. And we tell those
who are now most noisy in their demands that
the time may come, as it has been heretofore,
when they themselves would be the persons who
would bitterly regret any unmanly or cowardly
concessions on such a point.
It is not very long since we declared that the
EMPEB.OE. himself was the last man who should
sanction any subversion of the privilege by which
he had largely profited, not merely in England,
but in Switzerland. Can he have forgotten the noble
self-devotion with which the republican authorities
unawed by the threats of France, refused to de-
liver him up ? They were prepared to risk their
last man and last shilling in such a cause—not
for the man, but for the holy principle. Can he
forget how he was treated in England, when, after
invading France from her shores, on what was
then, at least, little better than a filibustering
expedition—after he had been tried by a French
tribunal and condemned, and after a long deten-
tion was again enabled to avail himself of her
hospitality ? It was that very protection that