SPEECH OF MR. ROEBUCK ON THE REFUGE QUESTION.

Colonist, Issue 67, 11 June 1858, Page 3

SPEECH OF MR. ROEBUCK ON THE REFUGE QUESTION.

Mb. Roebuck rose to. move the question of which he had given notice, viz. :—" Whether there had been any communication between -the two Governments of England and of France with respect to the alien laws of this country, or with respect to any portion of our criminal code." Since the event which I am sur« inspired every Englishman with feelings of regret and detestation—the recent attack upon the-life of the Emperor of the French—there had appeared in the pages of the Moniteur, certain- addresses to the Emperor of France from the French army. Honorable gentlemen are aware that the Maniteuriß not an ordinary paper; it is, in fact, the Gazette of the French Government. Therefore what appears in the pages of the Mohiteur is

the reflex of the opinions of the Emperor of France. In the pages of the Moniteur there ap? pear these.attacks 6a the.-English people.;, and one colonel Of a French regiment of ; the line—• full, I suppose of military ardour, and that loyalty which he has no doubt. exhibited to every ruling monarch that lias .appeared in France—asks the French Emperor to be led against that haunt, that den, the repaire of homicide, meaning England. Well, that language is published in the pages of the official Moniteur. It is published, in fact,'.by. the French Emperor. That is his opinion ; and I wish now to state my .opinion. : The French' Emperor is the person to direct against England accusations of being the den of conspirators;, and who could speak with greater knowledge of the fact than himself? Has he not enjoyed the protection and hospitality of England? Has lie not, too, while sd enjoying that protection and hospitality, acted the part of a conspirator himself? Did he not leave these shores, armed with the great name of his great predecessor-— the name of the great Napoleon—did he not; armed with that name, and with a tame eagle—. go to France, and there attack the throne of King Louis Philippe—and did he not murderthe man who, iv the performance of his duty* opposed him ? And this is the man who chooses to publish in the pages of the Moniteur accusations against England for being the haunt and the den of homicides, where conspiracies iare .hatched, and which ought, therefore, to suffer invasion. But it is uot confined to that—rthe brother of the Emperor, of France (the Count de Morny) has chosen, in the Legislative Chamber of the French nation, to accuse England of being participant in this attempted crime. And not only he, but the Count de Persjgny, the ambassador of France—in England, iv the presence of Englishmen—has dared to make the sanm accusation; aye, sir, and in the presence tof Englishmen he has not been answered—the only reason that I can conceive being, that the persons who heard him did not undei'stand him. They did not answer him ; but I will. I would have told him that there was nothing in the character of Englishmen that in any way soever conduces to or lends a sanction to assassination;' there is nothing in the history of the country from the beginning to the end that can justify such an accusation, No English King has fallen by the hand of the assassin, though Kings of Fraoce have. We have condemned a King to the block, it is true, but it was in open day. Neither have we ever sent or hired anybody to kill any other Sovereign for our own national satisfaction—privately, I mean, and by assassination. My answer to Count Persigny would have been that the people of England are above assassination. When they feel indignant they express it, and go to war, if necessary, to vindicate their honor; but they do not seek to avenge themselves privately, or by secret expeditions in steamboats, or, by assassins, make private attacks upon any foreign Government, or any foreign Sovereign. When I came into the House yesterday, I heard in my ear some-' thing like an inspiration about a contemplated change in the Alien Act. It was said that at the solicitation of the Emperor of the French, we were about to'alter the Alien, Act. I will say nothing of the ingratitude of the man who now asks us to alter a law by which he has profited so largely. But England owes her position among the nations of the world in consequence in a great measure of the mannei' in which she has treated the people of all nations who have sought the asylum of our shores, .• Napoleon, Metternich, the Bourbons,' and'"Louis' Philippe, have all sought and obtained a safa: refuge here; but no man said, no man had a right to say, that we should alter our laws because we gave them that refuge ; and I say, if we change the law on this occasion we violate the first principles of our constitution, we degrade ourselves before the world, and are no longer the English people that our forefathers' were. What, then, was my surprise to hear from the noble Lord an announcement that he would on Monday move for leave to introduce' a bill for altering the Alien Act in regard to conspiracies. What suggested to the noble Lord the necessity of such a change ? For at least a quarter of a century we have been doing all we could to render the criminal law of England less bloody than it had previously been.- A quarter of a century ago our criminal code was the most cruel in Europe; but from that time to this we have by experience learned that a' mild punishment certainly administered'is the most effectual preventative of crime. Our own domestic experience has.taught us that. What is now-suggested by the noble Lord? That we should retrace our steps; that, whereas conspiracies have beeen. visited by fine and imprisonment-, we should alter and bring back the law to the old standard of cruelty which we' had abandoned. My question to the noble lord is one of very significant importance. If England wishes to hold her place among the nations, if she still wishes to maintain her own1 independent position, "no solicitation of an ally, no threatening of anybody, ought to lead us to1 alter our laws. I have been told that as a justification for the insolence with which England has been treated in this matter, the noble Lord's1 speech at the Mansion house la3t November has been [brought forward. God forbid that the people of Eng-and.should be made.answerabW for all the indiscretions of the noble Lord! f do not say, I do not believe, that the .noble Lord was imprudent on that occasion ; but admitting that he was, no man knows better than the Emperor of France how very little the noble Lord expresses the feeling of the people of England. If there was on that occasion a' little menace—a little vaporing on the. part of the noble Lord, it can scarcely be said that the'people of England, as a nation, is to suffer for the taste of the Minister,- The question I have to' put to the noble. Lord is,-r—Has there been any correspondence with the Court of France or the' Minister of France on the subject of an Alien, Bill, or upon the subject of any alteration Of our criminal code ?