Rede himself.
In the latter part of His Excellency's reply, he very
properly lays it down as 'the duty of government to administer
equal justice to all;' which is no doubt the noblest principle
of the English constitution, and we certainly have no fears
for the peace of even colonial society, with all its supposed
discordant elements, so long as that principle is practically
carried out; but we are under well founded apprehension
if the reverse is to be the order of the day.
There is a paragraph in our petition to the effect, that
if 'His Excellency had found sufficient extenuation in
the conduct of American citizens,' we thought there were
equally good grounds for extending similar clemency to
all, irrespective of nationality; and that it was unbecoming
the dignity of any government to make such exceptions;
and if such have been done (and that something tantamount
to it has been done, there is ample proof), it is a violation
of the very principle enunciated by His Excellency in his
report viz., 'That it is the duty of a government to
administer equal justice to all.' What we contend for is
this:--If it be just to grant an amnesty to a citizen of
one country, 'equal justice' claims an amnesty for all.
We wish it to be distinctly understood by our American
friends, that we do not for a moment find fault with His
Excellency for allowing their countrymen to go free, but
we do complain, in sorrow, that he does not display the
same liberality to others--that he does not wisely and
magnanimously comply with the prayer of our petition by
granting a general amnesty.
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