The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-21 00:00:00

TO THZ IDITOIL OP TEI 17711218.

6/14—Everyone to whom i have shown the fol-
lowing correspondence agrees with me in thinking
that it ought to be published, with the view of
showing what sort of instruments were employed
by the authorities in punishing the alleged rebel-
lion in Jamaica. The seta of the court-martial at
Morant Bay which I impugned were mainly
these :—I did not complain of anything that was
done before the time that Governor Eyre wrote to
Mr. Oerdwell that the rebellion had been got under
" long before "—in fact, before Friday, October 20,
the tenth day in the history of the affair, when all
shadow of -danger and excitement was utterly
away. On that Friday, October 20, at
d Morsnt Bay alone (exclusive of 31 executed else-
where), 19 were hung. The next day, Satur-
day, 18 were hung ; on Monday, 19, including
poor Mr. Gordon. OnTuesda , 14; Wednesday,lo;
Thursday, 13 ; Friday, 13 ; Saturday, 1L On the
following Monday, October 30 (eighteen days after
the outbreak), 12 ; on the Tuesday, 14 ; on the
Wednesday, 15 ; and still later 23 more persona
were hanged. Seven of them were women,
although the stories of the atrocities inflicted by
women at the outbreak were proved before the
commission to be unfounded. It might be sup-
=that all the 180 persons whom Lieutenant
and' his compeers were allowed to bang
must at least have been guilty of some sort of con-
nection with the murders that had taken place.
Will it be believed that except twenty-five, they
were not so much as accused of having
been engaged in any murder whatever,
but of rebellion alone 1 Of these rebels,
accused of rebellion or sedition, only three were
women—Justina Taylor, Mary Anne Francis, and
Letitia Geogehan. It was shown before the com-
mission that many of these poor wretches had been
put to death under circumstances of shocking tor-
ture. Lieutenant Errington, who superintended
130 executions, says :—" Occasionally the sailors
had to assist them to death, pulling them by the
legs, or pushing the knot down closer to the neck
and we are told elsewhere, though not officially,
that sometimes large stones were put upon their
necks, to put an end to their fearful struggles. This
also ought to be noted, that on the 30th of October
Governor Eyre officially proclaimed " that the
wicked rebellion lately existing in certain parts of
the county of Surrey had been subdued."
He adds, " the cnief instigators thereof
and actors therein have been visited
with the punishment due to their heinous offences,
and lam certified that the inhabitants of the dis-
tricts lately in rebellion are desirous of returning
to their allegiance." Now, on and after the day
of the publication of these words more than a
hundred negroes were executed, of whom sixty-
four were executed at Morant Bay by the orders of
Lieutenant Brand. And note this, that of the sixty-
four men hung at Morant Bay after the publication
of this amnesty, forty-six were charged with rebel-
lion only, not with complicity in any murder. But
besides all these, 202 persons were flogged at Morant
Bay alone, and great numbers were also con-
demned to long terms of imprisonment.
It has been lately stated that Lieutenant Brand
has been promoted by the present Administration.
I am, &c., CHARLES BUXTON.
Fox Warren, Cobham, Nov. 19.

LIEUTENANT BRAND, R.N., TO MR. C. BUXTON, M.P.
(Private.)

H.M.S. Delight, Jamaica, August 8.

Sir,—Leurt mail brought me an English Standard, with
a letter from yourself about your Jamaica Committee,
with so many wicked and malicious lies in it, that I am
forced to write you to inform yon that " a couple of young
lieutenants and an ensign " did not, as you well know,
and all your committee too, go on hanging any one they
pleased, for I (the president) never ordered • single per-
son to be brought before me for trial. My duty was to
try those, and those only, who were sent for trial by my
superior, end every verdict was subject to the approval
and confirmation of the officer convening the court. That
is the first lie. The second is, " upwards• of 200 perished
by their orders alone."
You may be a very fine buckra amongst the polished
gentlemen at Exeter-hall who wanted Mr. Eyre sus-
pended " with a rope," and the old ladies of
Clapham, but when you come with your peculiar
little assertions in print, and such barefaced lies, too, I
think it's time for the trampled worm to turn. If you
have a spark of gentlemanly or generous feeling left, you
will contradict your letter relative to my court, or I shall
expect you to give me satisfaction in a way more suited to
my taste. ; and know this, sir, that it is • damned
cowardly thing for you to write officers (who did their best,
and whose acts were fully approved by their superiors)
down when you well know th►t they are not allowed to
write to • newspaper. However, England and the Ad-
miralty are my judges, not Buxton and Co.—l have the
honour to be, sir, your obedient servant,
(Signed) H. BRAND.
P.S.—I have written " private" on this by advice, as my
friends say, " He was not ashamed to write falsehoods
about the beardless boy, so he may sneak into the Ad-
miralty and say he is afraid of him," but you need not be
so. We have a new Admiralty, my friend. H. B.

Fox Warren, Cobham, Sept. 2:IW.

. _
Sir,—l have roceived your letter. It has not wholly re-
moved the doubt I had ventured to express, whether you
ought to have been entrusted for a full month with the
power of life and death over some hundreds of persons.
In a postscript you inform me that you have been advised
to mark your letter " private" lest I should " sneak to the
Admiralty for protection" from your vengeance ! You
cannot ask me to respect a mark of privacy which you
yourself assure me was affixed for the express 'purpose of
insulting me.
Nor can you call any one a liar, coward, and sneak, and
then shelter yourself by a mere dodge from the proper
punishment for such a letter, viz. its publication.
But, in fact, your letter is necessarily a public docu-
ment. You have no right to address any private communi-
cation to me on the subject. I Lid not mention your name
in the letter to which you allude. And you write to me in
answer to a public statement made by me in my public
capacity in your public capacity as president of the court-
martial whose acts I impugned.

. -
Nay, your letter demands from me a public contradiction
of my public statement.
I am advised therefore that I have a perfect right to pub-
lish your letter and I intend to do so. But I will spare
you this disgrace, provided that by the return mail I re-
ceive an ample retractation and spology.—l am, air, your
obedient servant, (Signed) CHARLES BUXTON.
P.S.—A colonel in the army, who is staying with me, is
confident that the letter I have received is a hoax, as no
officer could have written it. If so, I moat heartily apologise
for a mistake so injurious to your character ass gentleman.

Jainaica, Oct. 23.

Sir,—Your letter, dated September 2, I received at New-
castle on October 9, and it only confirms my former
opinion of your character as a gentleman.
Talking so arrogantly about your public capacity is all
nonsense, as you have before been told elsewhere.
Supposing I and a few more got up a society, do you
think I should be justified in stating and publishing false-
hoods about other people, and when they complained, then
say Oh ! I did it in my public capacity ? Nonsense, sir,
you are not a public man as far as Jamaica is concerned at
all. As for your saying my letter is injurious to my
character as a gentleman, it is simply an impertinence for
which I shall bring you to book. Don't imagine I am
afraid of the mighty Buxton who can write so cunningly
and say "I never mentioned your name." Oh !it makes
me ill, for I gave you credit for more pluck, Mr. Public
Capacity. You may publish this too if you like, also your
answer to my first, it will only be telling the world of
your own cowardice, only don't clip them at all. Fair play
s my motto, and true blue my colours.
Please don't write any more, as lam very nervous, and
you terrify ma—l am, your most obedient servant,
H. BRAID.
• My words were, " Nearly two hundred."—H.