The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-21 00:00:00

- permitted to remark that had more care or caution
been used after the rescue of the negro from the
Court-house the results might have been less dis-
astrous. It is always wisest- to be on the safe side,
and surely so outrageous an action should have in-
spired some degree of apprehension into the minds
of the authorities. Governor EYRE took no time
in taking steps" to prevent the spread of the evil,
which he was prescient enough to see had taken
root, but so much time was lost before he was in-
formed of the riots that the lives of many of the un-
fortunate inhabitants of Morant Town could not
be saved. Still the arrival of the Wolverine was
moss opportune, because by this means the unhappy
refugees were rescued from their perilous position,
so that a great deal is due to the foresight and
sagacity of the Governor, and he must have rejoiced
at the result of his providential care and prompt
decision. So much depends, in circumstances of
this kind, upon energy and discernment, for while
doubts are arising and difficulties being weighed
over the opportunity for action may go by, and a
general confusion arise which cannot easily be set
to rights, nor can its consequences be soon for-
gotten. It is to be hoped that the Colonial Minis-
ter and the Cabinet in general will appreciate the
conduct of the Governor, for it is due to his exer-
tions and the zeal with which his orders were obeyed
that a complete and general outbreak did not take
place, which would have occasioned incalculable
distress to many in this country, besides a conside-
rable destruction of property. Besides the preven-
tive measures which were adopted, it was wise to
resolve upon the immediate execution of the ring-
leaders ; for, had a different course been followed,
the rebels could not have been so easily intimidated.
An affair like this outbreak in Jamaica can only be
put down by the exercise of stern justice, and it
was only acting with due regard to the safety of the
inhabitants, and, in the end, with consistency to-
wards the rebels, to enforce the penalty of the laws
in each case of flagrant rebellion.
Those who exclaim against such a course as being
too arbitrary seem to forget, in their zeal for the
blacks, that a still harder measure was dealt out by
them towards the unoffending inhabitants whom
they cruelly tortured and brutally massacred. It is
unfortunate that at this juncture any person should
be found eager or willing to advocate the cause or
put forward the claims of such miscreants, as the
ringleaders of the insurrection have proved them-
selves to be. When men get an idea into their heads
they are often apt to go to extremes, and persist in
their original notions, however much circumstances
may have changed since they first took them up.
Such prejudice, however, is no proof of their sound
judgment or good sense, and must cause regret to
all discriminating observers. When a catastrophe
like the one just recorded occurs, it is the proper
thing for all lovers of peace and promoters of order to
make common cause against those who offend against
the laws, and not to exhibit to the delinquents a want
of unity and a difference of opinion, of which ad-
vantage may be taken at a future time.
Dr. UNDERHILL has written a letter concerning
this affair, in which he attaches great blame to
Governor EYRE, and " disclaims the responsibility"
which he fastens upon him, the responsibility in
question being, he avers, the Governor's, and not
his. He publishes the letter to which allusion has
been made, and which was addressed to Mr. CARD-
WELL in January last by Dr. UNDERHILL. This
document presents a most unfavourable account
of the condition of the island of Jamaica.
The continually increasing distress of the
coloured population is said to give rise to
great apprehensions, and the following extract
from one of the letters the writer has re-
ceived from Jamaica is a very good illustration
of the style of the communication :—" Crime has
fearfully increased, the number of prisoners in the
penitentiary and gaols is considerably more than
double the average, and nearly all for one crime,
larceny. Summonses for petty debts disclose an
amount of pecuniary difficulty which has never
before been experienced, and applications for paro-
chial and private relief prove that multitudes are
suffering from want little removed from starvation.
The extreme poverty of the people is considered to be
the cause of the evil that exists, and Dr. UNDERIIILL
expresses his fears that unless something be speedily
done to afford employment and encourage the
outlay of capital in Jamaica, most distressing con-
sequences will ensue ; indeed he goes so far as to
prognosticate the " entire failure of the island."
There may doubtless be great truth in some of these
statements in the abstract, but an exaggerated tone
prevails in regard to the condition of the coloured
population, and nothing had occurred at the time
referred to to justify so wholesale a denunciation
as is found in these words. In reference to the
Government of Jamaica, it is said that it is a
course of;action " which, while it incalculably ap-
preciates the misery arising from natural causes,
renders certain the ultimate destination of every
class, planter and peasant, European: and Creole.
Whatever sufferings might have been felt by the
negroes they have entirely done away with the
sympathy that would otherwise have been theirs,
and they must adopt a very different course before
confidence can be reposed in them. It appears '
that too much latitude has been allowed to them
instead of too little, and they have abused their
opportunities and lost their chances of improvement
in so conspicuous a manner that it must be evi-
dent to all experienced persons that in future a
strict supervision must be kept over them.

Among the many encouraging items of news
which reach us from the shores of America, which
indicate the gradual restoration of tranquillity and
outward peace to the States of the Confederacy,
the people of this country are perhaps too much
inclined to forget the terrible devastation of the
war. The impressions of an English traveller in
the South, as addressed to a contemporary, are,
therefore, not unsuitable reading at this time, as
they serve to remind us that the struggle for South-
ern independence was something more than a hasty
resolution, a visionary
dream of fanatics and en-
thusiasts. It arose from the deep and resolute
conviction of a whole people, who believed that
they had a right to independent government, and
that it was within their power to achieve it, and
who made the most heroic efforts and endured the
most bitter sacrifices during a period of
four years,
during which they received little or no external aid,
while they had every disadvantage to contend
against. Had they had a smaller extent of country
to defend they might have had a better chance.
The stories of sieges and assaults in which the de-
fenders compel their assailants to retreat, and
outweigh numbers by courage and endurance,
have mostly been confined to towns or for-
tresses. Even in the memorable siege of
Malta the Knights had only an island to
defend, not a vast and expansive territory to which
their forces were totally inadequate. It is becom-
ing in some qUarters the impression that the South
collapsed because the people grew tired of the war,
and began to think that le jeu ne valait pas la
chandelle, and that as soon as the struggle really
came home to them they abandoned what had been
all along a matter of indifference. No doubt there
was a good deal of disaffection and unwillingness
at the last, especially among
,the planters, who