The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-30 00:00:00

ral commanding the forces, and took means to send forces to
the.place wheys, the insurrection had broken rutty- He took
other means hlso promptly to suppress the rebellion, and
with- the, concurrence of the Queen'', Advocate and-of other
authorities he proclaimed martial law in the district which
was disturb-ed. The effect was immediate, and was, most
gratifying, because, as the Right Hon. Gentleman says, in a
very few days the armed resistance had ceased—those who
had been collecting together to proclaim the pretender as
their king, and those who were destroying the coffee plan-
tations, had dispersed in various directions, and though
4,000 men assembled at one time to attack the troops they
were completely driven back and dispersed. So far Lord
Torrington is not to blame for the steps he took. But the
Right Hon. Gentleman says that he continued martia.t law.
The Right Hon. Gentleman, however, omits one particular
circumstance, which is this—he acted in concert with the
Executive Council in this matter.—(Hear, hear.) He had
the opinion of one gentleman in this council strongly op-
posed to his own, but he had the opinion of four others in
his favour, which, with himself, made a preponderance of
five to one; and the Major-General commanding the dis-
trict, above all, was strenuous in advising that the powers of
martial law should be continued. Now, Sir, I submit to the
House that it is a totally different thing to act in the man-
ner which those resolutions describe—at his sole will and
sole caprice, and to take the deliberate advice of his
Executive Council, of those who were best acquainted
with the colony, and with their advice to continue martial
law fora short time.—(Hear, hear.) The whole time during
which that martial law was continued was ten weeks. I ap-
prehend, however, that it is a moat serious resolution for
this House to coins to, that to establish martial law in any
district or any part of the country was wrong. I must ad-
mit that those acts which have been gone into in. great
detail by the Hon. and Learned Member for Abingdon,
twhiet hwregard t
ao idrer
feeenuclea, r iat yn
di no tf hae
cmr
oosds e
xo fa
int
nkai nt
igo
ne,
whether accurately or not I will not at this moment inquire,
vi_inetenancei
of these circumstances are inherent and inseparable from
the proclamation of martial law, which the Governor thus
took upon himself; but the Governor at the same time had
to consider—and this will be the question for the Muse to-
night—that if on the one hand martial law cannot be con-
tinued without the risk of punishment which may reach,
not the most guilty, but at all events those who have ap-
peared in arms aid are guilty according to the law of high
treason and rebellion —if such may be the consequence on
the one hand; on the other hand the consequence of ceasing
to continue martial law may be that that rebellion, at first
weak and inconsiderable, may become formidable, and may
disturb the whole order of the colony; that the allegiance
due to the Crown may be destroyed; that property may be
ruined, and, above all, that humanity, for the sake of
which martial law was determined upon, may itself be lost
sight of, many more lives be lost in the struggle which may
ensue than would have been lost if martial law for a few
weeks had been withheld. Now that was the question Lord
Torrington had to decide. Lord Torrington is accused lin
the resolution before the House of departing from the usual
merciful administration of the penal laws of the country.
He is censured for pursuing conduct that was arbitrary and
oppressive; and I ask how can any man have such a censure
inflicted upon him, and say it passes over his head and
merely strikes the Government ?—(Hear, hear.) I do not
pretend to say with whom the share of blame would be the
greatest, but I ask could any man bear the censure of wan-
ton cruelty, of having put to death, without necessity, the
subjects of the Queen, and of 'having pursued arbitrary and
oppressive conduct, without feeling such a blow, coming from
the House of Commons, as one which would almost crush
him? When the question came before the Government at
home a dispatch was written which contains two very remark-
able paragraphs ; and I must say I think the Hon. Member for
Inverness-shire, in quoting from that dispatch, has shown the
blindness of prejudice under which he has generally appeared
to labour on these questions. The one paragraph has refer-
ence to the measures taken by Lord Torrington for the
prompt suppression of the rebellion; and upon that subject
I think almost every Hon. Member will agree that Lord Tor-
rington's immediate proclamation of martial law, and his
immediately sending Out troops, were measures of wise and
prompt action against an incipient rebellion.—(Hear, hear.)
But there is another part of the dispatch which relates to
the punishments to be inflicted. The Hon. Member for In-
verness-shire read that part of the dispatch only which refers
to the prompt suppression of the rebellion, and omitted
altogether the part which relates to punishments. I will,
however, ask permission to read to the House the paragraph
omitted by the Hon. Gentleman. Lord Grey, in that dis-
patch, says—
" I concur in Your Lordship's opinion that it is necessary
to punish with severity the leaders and promoters of this in-
surrection, which will prove the most merciful course in the
end. But while it is necessary to vindicate and maintain the
law, it is desirable that acts of justice and severity should be
strictly limited to what is inevitably called for by the occa-
sion, and that the prevailing character of measures consequent
upon excitement and insubordination should at all times be
that of moderation and clemency towards those who have
been misled. This implies no indulgence towards the
I guilty contrivers of sedition, nor any forgetfulness of the
claims to consideration and protection of the loyal, peaceable
and industrious, who constitute, as I am happy to find, the
great majority of her Majesty's subjects in Ceylon."
' Now, I ask the House whether these are not sen-
timents which it was befitting a Secretary of State to
approve and express? But I must also ask, where was
the candour of a Member of this House, who, on bringing
an accusation of wanton severity against the Government,
could have totally omitted the paragraph I have just read?
—(Hear, hear.) It is quite true, as has been said by the
Hon. Member for Dorsetshire and the Right Hon. Member
for the University of Oxford, that the Government have not
collectively expressed any disapprobation of the conduct of
Lord Torrington in punishing the authers and contrivers of,
and the partakers in, the rebellion in Ceylon. -In the last
dispatch written by Lord Grey, part of which has been read
by my Honourable and Learned Friend, it is stated that the
Government still believe that Lord Torrington was guided by
the opinion he had conscientiously formed, supported as it
was by those who ought to advise him in the colony; and
that, in proclaiming martial law and punishing those who
suffered, he was acting, as .he believed, in the only way
that could maintain the tranquillity of the colony and
provide for the welfare of her Majesty's subjects. That,
Sir, is our opinion. -- It is our belief that when you send a
governor to a distant part of the globe, and when you find
that he is zealously performing his duty—that ha is endea-
vouring, by all the means in his power, to preserve the
colony he is appointed to govern in allegiance to her Ma-
jesty, and is at the same time consulting the peace, the
welfare, and the prosperity of such eolony—confidence
ought to be evinced in that governor—(Hear, hear)—and
that we ought not as a Government to throw censure upon
acts with regard to which, if there be any difference of
opinion, he is much more likely to judge rightly, with the
assistance of his advisers, than we—who mast form our
judgments at a distance—can be expected to do.—(Hear,
hear.) I believe we have adopted a just opinion on that
subject—(Cheers)—and I think, having regard to colonial
government in general, that this House and the Govern-
ment ought to come to an entirely opposite conclusion
to ;that which the Honourable Member for Inverness-shire
has adopted. I believe that if, at the beginning of an in-
insurrection a colonial governor was obliged to say to
himself, " I must take care how I act ; I must beware how
I punish offenders—(Hear, hear)--or my conduct may be
b ought before a Committee of the House of Commons,
I may be censured . by the Government, I may be sub-
jected to the pains and penalties of a censure of the House
of Commons—(Hear, hear)—and therefore I must be careful
not to exceed the verge and boundary of strict law—
I believe, if you teach such a lesson to the governors of
your colonies, that while you diminish their energies, and
while you will diminish the security of her Majesty's
subjects in the colonies, you will do nothing for humanity,
--(Hear, hear)—but on the contrary, whenever an insurrec-
tion takes place, you will have a long and bloody contest—
you will have the lives of her Majesty's troops sacrificed on
the one hand, and you will have the lives and property of in-
nocet. t colonists destroyed or endangered on the other. I
therefore come to a conclusion entirely opposite from that
adopted by those who support the motion of the Hon. Mem-
ber for Inverness-shire. I agree with the Right Hon. Mem-
ber for the University of Oxford that this is a most impor-
tant question for the House to decide. I for my own part
would wish that none will join in this censure upon Lord
Torrington, upon Lord Grey, and upon the Government, but
those who feel that, looking at all the merits of the case,
they have no alternative. I trust none will join in the vote
but those who have considered this colonial question, and
who feel that they are bound to pronounce censure upon the
late Governor of Ceylon, upon the Colonial Secretary of
State, and upon the Government. If that be the case, I
shall cheerfully leave the decision to this House, believing,
whatever that decision may be, that those rules and maxims
that we have laid down must be the rules and maxims by
which any Government will be guided which seeks to pre-
serve this empire; and that if any Government were to take
y, that Government, while it
, would meet with the repro-
the dastardly part of sacrificing a governor—(" Hear, hear,"
and cheers)—because a clamour was got up against him withpeople of England.
said,—l admire, Sir, the
Ministerf of the Crown, who
b agw roemt
would
ol trdp.
statesmanlikep_bDe
er
Is
hes sacrificing
ed
Ar
eassEnpe
reiiet
dattohnhrf
edee
tnphicrneoordl
boEousani set: t
iseraots
do
feels it to be his paramount duty to support the representa-
tives of the Sovereign in the exercise of their duties in dis-
tant (Hear, and a laugh.) I admire the
Minister ies
country, who is determined not to sacrifice
depen
of dependencies.—(Hear,
this nc .
a governor to public clamour; but that being the feeling—
the conscientious conviction—of the Noble Lord, I may be
yielded to the glamour he so
pmenrmthitteddeptroanaatseka
andhim why b
denouences,
and why he so easily
granted the Committee—(Laughter and cheers) —whose pro-
tracted investigation he now finds it convenient to criticise?
( Hear, hear.) I ask the House to remember (indeed it is
impossible to forget) the character of Lord Torrington, as
just now not only sketched but coloured by the First Minister
of -the Crown. Why, it is the character of a perfect gover-
nor—of an administrator who perfectly accomplished the
f
highest duties under Circumstances the most difficult. He
a deficient revenue—he leaves an ample surplus. He
encountered a terrible rebellion—he delivers to his successor
a peaceful community. And this is the governor whom—at
the very first moment when a murmur is heard against hie
administration in this House—the same Minister we have
just heard lauding him feebly defends, and then ignomi-
niously deserts ! (Cheers and laughter.) The Noble Lord,
after all the remarkable circumstances connected with this
inquiry, seems to think, too, that he is to escape from all the
merits of the case, by delivering some abstractions like those
contained in the paragraph of Lord Grey's dispatch, which
he blames my Hon. Friend for' not quoting. The Noble
Lord, instead of entering into the merits of the case, or
offering to the House a vindication of his own conduct two
years ago, delivers some general observations upon the duty
of a Minister of England not to desert the representatives of
the Sovereign, and not to allow a Governor to be sacrificed
to clamour. The Noble Lord said, in his ingenues's address,
"I think it would have been only candid and just and fair if
the Hon. Member for Inverness-shire had not narrowed the
issue in this petty manner; if he had, at leas`, in a spirit of
justice, called the attention of the House to the general
.effects of the Administration of Lord Torrington, and had
shown them how successful Lord Torrington had been as
a financial administrator, as well as in quelling an insurrec-
tion." Why, whit is the reason we hive been obliged to
narrow the issue ? Does the Noble Lord know that the Com-
mittee on Ceylon was prevented from entering into the ad-
ministration of Lord Torrington and the mode in which he
changed the fiscal arrangements and affected the revenue of
the colony ? The Noble Lord can scarcely be ignorant of the
fact. He mast recollect that when this question was first
brought before the House one of his ardent supporters rose
and said it was a covert attack upon free trade.—(Laughter
and cheers.) The Noble Lord supported his friend, and we
were in consequence obliged to narrow the instructions of the
Committee merely to the causes and conduct of the insurrec-
tion. I myself had some experience of the Ceylon Commit-
tee. Ido not pretend to have attended so diligently as
soma ; my attendance was sometimes short ; and why ? I
found the Committee embroiled in investigations which I
thought could lead to no creditable consequence.—(Hear,
hear.) I found the proceedings too often partaking some-
thing of the character of the intrigues of country towns, and
of the passions of a parish..., (Hear, hear, and a laugh.)
I cannot but feel that the same character, with some excep-
tions, has too much pervaded this debate. We hear a great
deal of the character and the feelings of the Governor