3327. FUGITIVES, Treaties Respecting.—
Two neighboring and free governments,
with laws equally mild and just, would find
no difficulty in forming a convention for the
interchange of fugitive criminals. Nor
would two neighboring despotic governments,
with laws of equal severity. The latter wish
that no door should be opened to their subjects
flying from the oppression of their
laws. The fact is, that most of the governments
on the continent of Europe have such
conventions; but England, the only free one
till lately, has never yet consented to enter
into a convention for this purpose, or to give
up a fugitive. The difficulty between a free
government and a despotic one, is indeed
great.—
To Governor Pinckney. Washington ed. iii, 346.
Ford ed., v, 492.
(1792)
