The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-14 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. that Governor Eyre, let the wisdom and real mode-
ration of his conduct be ever so signally vindicated,
TlMES.—There is nothing of which our daily can resume
await, the' a
post from which he is removed, to
experience more positively and more peremptorily criminal committed for trial by
like any
police magistrate, an investigation which, by coin-
informs us than our inability to foresee future mencing with his removal, presumes his guilt ?
events, and yet the mass of mankind find no em- Could Governor Eyre, with any degree of self re-
ployment more agreeable than that of predicting spect—with any hope of exercising power benefi-
them. The misfortunes of some hundreds of cially—return to the high office from which he has
weather prophets have not deterred Lord Port- been ejected as unworthy to hold it? The notion is
absurd. For his conduct in the suppression of the
arlington from coming forward in the same cha-
outbreak in Jamaica be has been removed from
ratter, and it somehow is still worth while for the office by the Home Government, which has further
publishers of almanacks to insert in them hazy pre- directed an inquiry, the object of which is to
dictions of wars and revolutions. This general obtain evidence to justify the removal and to
propensity to prophesy can only be explained by the warrant further proceedings against him. Had
existence of a corresponding tendency in the human its purpose been merely to inquire into
the circumstances and to obtain the infor-
mation to seek for and believe in such predictions, mation necessary to enable it to form a judgment
and to give a favourable hearing to any one who it would not have suspended Governor Eyre. That
foretells the future, on the simple ground that he information could have been obtained quite as well
would not be so positive in asserting his knowledge had he continued to act as governor. His suspen
of what nobody else knows if he had not also sonic sion will excite a general alarm throughout the
means of knowledge which nobody else possesses. It island. All persons concerned in any way in the
suppression of the rebellion will regard themselves
would seem that in matters of prophecy at least the as threatened, and, with the usual sauve qui pent
maxim of Hudibras holds good, and that " the rush, every man will seek to extenuate his own
pleasure is as great in being cheated as to cheat." conduct by seeking to throw odium upon the Go-
While, then, we find people delighting in predic- vernor. The enemies of Governor Eyre showed
tions on subjects entirely past the limits of human their animus in pressing for his recall. They knew
knowledge, we cannot wonder at the prevalence that it would put him to an enormous disadvantage,
and help them to destroy his reputation with his
of certain political superstitions which seem to have countrymen after destroying his career as a public
become ingrained in the mind of the present gene- servant. That Governor Eyre has been condemned
ration, more especially as we are at this very moment by the Government, although not in the possession
under the influence of one of them. It has long of a particle of evidence to warrant a condemnation,
we have th of both Earl ussell and Mr.
been a settled conviction in the minds of a large
Cardwell.e Thatevidence the suspension wasß extorted from
number of people in every country of Europe that
the Government against its own convictions we
the duration of the Belgian Monarchy would be have the evidence of the same Ministers. Mr. Card-
measured by the life of its late Sovereign, and that well " hoped" that the deputation of the Anti-
as soon as death had removed King Lopold from Slavery Society " would not press for Mr. Eyre's
the throne he had filled so ably and so honourably, recall"—he must, of course, have felt the recall to
the Government of Imperial France would revive be unjust, or he would not have deprecated it—and
the claim so often repeated since the death of Earl Russell, in announcing the suspension to
Charles the Bold, and claim once more for itself the another deputation, could not check a lingering
Sovereignty of Belgium. We are not aware that honourable impulse, and demonstrated to them the
this theory ever rested on any authentic evidence justice of Mr. Eyre's proceedings. It is beyond all
capable of production. It was a guess founded on doubt that when the inquiry was first resolved upon,
vague and general views of antecedent probability the maintenance of Mr. Eyre in his position was
—a position which could neither be verified nor dis- resolved upon too; but upon this point the Govern-
proved till the event on which it had fixed itself ment has yielded to the pressure which has been
should actually take place. There are not wanting brought to bear upon it. One of the organs of the
those who argue that the Emperor of the French black faction, expressing its dissatisfaction with Mr.
regards with no very strong dissatisfaction the in- Cardwell's answer, consoled itself with the belief
roads of large States upon the independence and that the language of the deputation would not fail
liberty of their smaller neighbours, and that he to have an influence upon the Ministry. It was right.
treasures up each successive violation of the rights The Government has been simply bullied into the
of nations as useful elements of the precedent which suspension of Governor Eyre. Even on Tuesday
it is his ambition to establish. The second Empire, newspapers known to enjoy its confidence stoutlY
protested against the suspension as a gross injustice
it is said, could establish no more solid claim on the
gratitude of France than the annexation to herself to Mr. Eyre, and a measure quite unnecessary to
of those wealthy provinces on the north-east whose the purpose of a fair inquiry. They did not know
history she has illustrated by so many feats of des-
their patrons well enough. Lord Russell takes noisy
perate valour, and whose soil she has fertilized by public meetings for an expression of public opinion.
such torrents of her best and noblest blood. The When the old machinery of agitation is put in
councils of Germany are divided, the power of motion, and half a dozen enthusiastic meetings are
England does not penetrate very far beyond high- held which do not represent public opinion enough
water mark, and Belgium herself might tolerate to return half-a-dozen members of Pexliament, and
and even approve a gentle violence which would he is bored by deputations in which all the old stock
unite her to the most powerful Empire in the world, names of men whose opinions count for nothing
which should give to her citizens and commerce the bristles, he fancies that the country is moved. When,
protection of French influence, and open to her moreover, he receives a distinct intimation from
talent and energy the vast and brilliant career of Mr. Bright that the disgrace of Governor Eyre must
French literary, industrial, military, and political be the price of his support, the noble lord loses all
life. It is true that Louis Philippe, while his throne his wits, and is only too impatient to earn the corn-
was new and his power not yet established, shrunk pliments which the agitators have prepared for him
from an acquisition so brilliant and so perilous. beforehand. The power of England has been rudely
But that which he did not dare to do in the first shaken by this most unjust and most unwise act. A
days of a reign which, after all, was not destined to warning has been given to the public servants to
found a. permanent dynasty, might well be risked whose vigour the maintenance of so large a part of
by the inheritor of the name and title of the Great her dominion and the safety of the lives of so many
Napoleon, strong in fourteen years of successful of her sons is committed, that they must expect no
and vigorous administration, and confident in his support from the Government if they bravely meet
power to keep down the revolutionary elements a great emergency and avert a terrible peril by sharp
that underlie French society. Well, the time has at and determined measures. We shall never more
last come when this prediction is to be submitted hear—unless it be in the case of some rare man who
to the only test by which it can be finally disposed prefers his ungrateful country's interest to his own
of—the test of actual events. King Leopold is fortunes—that an insurrection has been nipped in
dead, and the world looks curiously rather than the bud, and that the lives and the honour of Eng-
anxiously for any symptom that can justify the lish men and women have been saved by summary
apprehension of a coming change. We shall measures against the scoundrels who plotted to take
probably be told that it is as yet too early for any from them both. Who will dare to redress the
such indication to show itself. But, at any rate, we inequalities of numbers by sharp and sudden punish-
may say, with some confidence, that nothing can ment if his vigour is to be treated by his Government
look less like the symptoms of approaching revolu- as a crime, and he is to be flung defenceless amongst
tion than all that has happened in the days which a crowd of ravening sectaries who have constituted
have followed the demise of the late King. In Bel- themselves the standing counsel for the crimes of
gium herself the announcement of the death of Leo-
the black race. Weakness, irresolution, and
pold has been coupled with expressions of the most
cowardice are the qualities, it is now officially an-
devoted loyalty to his son and successor, and the nounced, by which the governor of an English
feeling of Belgium, so far as we can read it, seems colony can alone obtain the approbation of the
to be, very naturally and reasonably, that the best English Government.
way to show the true regret of the nation for the
loss of the father is to rally with-loyalty and con-
cord around the throne of his successor. The net-
gians know that in 1848 they had nothing to-do but
to express their wish, and the King, who had tried
either fortune, was ready to leave their throne
vacant to be swept away or filled by another Sove-
reign, as the wishes of the nation might declare
themselves. But Belgium knew in 1818, and she
knows still better in the 17 years that have suc-
ceeded, the mighty debt she owed to the Sovereign
she has just lost. We believe that Leopold I. has
not only endeared himself to his people, but has in-
spired them with a predilection for a form of govern-
ment which has been in his hands the instrument of
conferring upon them great and continually increas-
ing prosperity. They have not only enjoyed since
1830 a limited monarchy, but a limited monarchy
on the most favourable terms—a monarchy under a
King too wise to be ambitious, and who, without
seeking to be his own Minister, was able to establish
for himself a character which made it the highest
aim of every-succeeding Minister to deserve and to
obtain his approbation. Such a Government has
tended to keep alive and develope in Belgium a
national spirit of the best kind, consisting, not in
narrow and hostile prejudices against her neighbours,
but in a due and just appreciation of the inestimable
benefits she has received under the government of
her own statesmen, responsible to her own Legis-
lature, and acting in harmony with the feel-
ings and wishes of the majority of the Bel-
gian people. Belgium has so much to lose in
all ways by any alteration from her present
happy state that she is likely to look with great
dissatisfaction on any change in her destiny, how-
ever brilliant might be its accompaniments, and
when union with France is spoken of she can hardly
fail to compare the present state of her finances
with those of her great but heavily-taxed and
deeply-indebted neighbour. On the other hand, it
is only just to say that no conduct could be more
calculated to remove the apprehension of any change
in the relations between France and Belgium than
that which has been pursued by the French Em-
peror, His tone with regard to the loss that Bel-
gium has sustained by the death of its late King has
been that of the deepest regret, and the language in
which he has welcomed his son and successor to the
throne has been full of cordiality and kindness, in
which the most prejudiced mind would fail to de-
tect the slightest leaven of insincerity. Of course
the Emperor of the French, like the rest of the
world, is well aware of the predictions which have
been so frequently made with regard to the pros-
pects of Belgium after the death of King Leopold,
and he has done everything that lay in his power to
tranquillise the public mind of Europe on the sub-
ject. For ourselves, we are disposed to believe that
the Emperor of the French is perfectly sincere in
these declarations. We believe that a practical ex-
perience of peace and war has greatly strengthened
in the mind of this remarkable Sovereign the specu-
lative preference which every reasonable man must
have for the former. We believe that five years of
free trade have made an impression on the mind of
the Emperor which no mere abstract argument could
produce. As a man of the present age, we feel sure
that he estimates at their due relative value the
advantages of the extension of dominion as com-
pared with the extension of wealth, commerce, and
industry. Every year makes it more manifest that
States are prosperous and respectable not in pro-
portion to their area or their population, but to the
facilities of their external and internal communica-
tion, the means of association between their citizens,
the soundness of their finances, and the rapidity of
their accumulation of wealth. Whatever the Napo-
leon of 1853 might have thought, we believe that
the Napoleon of 1865 estimates all these things at
their due worth, and that he will not be turned aside
from the internal development of the prosperity of
France by prospects even more brilliant than are
afforded by the demise of-the Belgian Crown.
HERALD.—In suspending Governor Eyre the Go-
vernment has condemned him. It has passed the
severest censure in its power to pass, while confess-
edly without the requisite materials upon which to
form a judgment. it has passed that cer.sure, more-
over, in direct defiance of its own conviction that he
has only done his duty, and in cowardly deference
to the outcries of a small clique of its own party. Sir
Henry Storks is sent out to Jamaica, not to ascer-
tain whether there is any justification for the alle-
gations brought against Governor Eyre, but to find
a justification for them. His commission is not that
of a judge but of a prosecutor. The work required
of him is to rake up a case which will justify the
sentence pronounced before inquiry was commenced.
It is absurd to draw fine distinctions between sus-
pension and recall. The suspension of a governor
of a colony implies in any case a thorough want of
confidence in him on the part of the Government.
In a case in which the suspension is admittedly made
in deference to the clamour of a party which charges
him with murder, it implies a belief on the part of
the Government that there is at least a prima facie
case of murder against him. Does anybody suppose