The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-10 00:00:00

rur,e.raticll tus:
Bristol and Exeter 4 per cent stock, b 3
Great Eastern, E. Anglian, A stock 5 per cen
North Eastern, York, 11. and Selby purchase,
StoCktun and Darlington B, 6 per cent., 3
YUItI:J(IN RAIL WA
Antyerp and Rotterdam, 81
Banta and Situ l'rancisco, gua, 7 per Cent., 141
lireat Luxembourg, Si 9
South Austrian and Lombardo Venetian, 15
West Flanders, 8

BANA.b.

',.. 86

Alliance. 141
•
Bank of Egypt, 31
Chartered ki.er. of India. London, and China, 31 30)
Colonial, 36 51 ' • ••`
onsolldaten dank. lim., 4
imperial Ottoman, lim., 71 I
London and County, 57 (1
London and ‘1 cstminster,E;93l
Midland Bank, lim., 18)
New South Wales, 45}
Provincial Bankiug Corporation, lim.,
Union of Australia, 47 62-
ALISCELLAN/COUB.
Anglo-American Telegraph, 17
Atlantic l'elegrapn,
Dit o, 8 per cvnt., 80 771
Cit Offices, lim., 51
Credit toucher ut . 2e
Gen. Credit and Discount, Ow.. 4)
Hudson', Bay, 16
London tieneralOmnibus Company, lice, 3
Lon oa and Provincial Marine,
Nr.ttoual viscount ...ompany, 111
Rio de Janeiro City lthprovcments. 20
Royal .11.,i1 Steam 91 3
Te.e.irapti Consauc. and Mainten., lima,
Ditto, 121

At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 29.968 in.
The barometrical reading increased from 29.63 in.
on Sunday to 30.30 in. on April 1, The mean tem-
perature of the air in the week was 48.6 deg.,- which
is 3.7 deg. above the average of the same week in
50 years (as determined by Mr. Gl.tisher). The
highest day temperature was 62.1 deg. on April 3
The lowest night temperature was 30.5 deg. on Mon-
day. The entire range of temperature in the week
was, therefore, 31.6 deg. The mean of the highest
temperatures of the water of the Thames was 48.1
deg.; that of the lowest was 44.6. The difference
between the mean dew-point temperature and air
temperature was 7.0 deg. The mean degree of
humidity of the air was 77, complete saturation be-
ing represented by 100. Rain fell to the mea-
sured amount of 0.03 in. The general direction
of the wind was W.S.W. and N.W. According to a
return furnished by the engineer of the Metropolitan
Board of Works, the average daily quantity of
sewage pumped into the river Thames at the
southern outfall works, Crossness, was 42,679,908
gallons, or 193,914 cubic metres, equivalent to
about as many tons by'weight. .

Cential Criminal Court—(This Day).

OLD COURT.

THE JAMAICA REBELLION.

This morning the Lord Chief-Justice of England
attended at the Central Criminal Court to charge
the grand jury with respect to the indictment pre-
ferred against General Nelson and Lieut. Brand,
charging them with the wilful murder of Mr. Gor-
don. The court was crowded in every part, and
when the learned judge took his seat on the bench
he was accompanied by Mr. Baron Channell. There
were also on the bench—the Lord Mayor, Earl
Granville, Aldermen Copeland, Finnis, Moon, Rose,
Lawrence, Gibbons, and Bosley, and Sheriff Water-
low and Sheriff Lycott.
The jury having entered the box,
Ilis lordship sail,—ln consequence of the learned
Recorder having taken part in certain inquiries that
had been made into matters in connection with
which an indictment for wilful murder was pre-
ferre2 against General ~Nelsoo and Lieut. Brand, he
had taken upon himself the duty of charging the
Grand Jury with respect to the indictment. It was

a matter of the gravest importance, and one which
would call for their most serious and attentive con-
sideration. In the year 1865 disturbances broke
out in the island of Jamaica which resulted in the
execution, with others, of Mr. Gordon, whose sen-
tence, it was contended, was against the law, and

consequently Colonel Nelson and Lieut. Brand, who
were officers in her Majesty's service, were to be
held criminally responSible for the consequences.
His Lordship then proceeded to narrate the cir-
cumstances connected with the outbreak in Jamaica,
in which he said 18 persons were killed and more
than 50 wounded. At the time of the disturbance
in the island the white population were a very small
minority, and it was thought desirable that the Go-
vernor, with the advice of his Council, should place
the whole of the county of Surrey under martial
law, with the exception of Kingston. A force of
military was sent, and as soon as the soldiers made
their appearance their presence was sufficient to
quell the outbreak. Martial law was proclaimed on
the 13th of October, after which Mr. Gordon, who
resided a short distance from Kingston, and was
seen there some time previous, was arrested.
It was not necessary to enter into the merits
of the charges brought against Mr. Gordon—that
might occur by and bye—but it appeared to be the
general opinion amongst all the white population
that he was the instigator of the rebellion, and an
active accomplice in all that had taken place ; and,
therefore, it was thought necessary and right to make

him responsible for the consequences. v He was,
accordingly, arrested and put upon his trial at Moran t
Bay ; Colonel Nelson being in command of the
military force in that place. The court-martial
before:whom Gordon was tried consisted of Lieu-
tenant Brand, Lieutenant Errington, and Ensign
Kelly. He was found guilty of high treason, and sen-
tenced to suffer death. The sentence was
sent to Colonel Nelson for approval, and by him it
was transmitted to General O'Connor, and, finally,
it was submitted to the Governor, who approved of
it, and it was accordingly carried into effect. It
was in respect of that execution that the present
proceedings arose. The first question that pre-
sented itself for consideration was whether the
Governor had authority to proclaim martial-law
under the circumstances which he did, and that they
would find to be a question of the greatest import-
ance. A governor, as such, had no such power until
some proceedings, either imperial or local, giving
him the required authority to do so. There were
two classes of possessions of the British Crown
called Crown colonies and settlements. Crown
colonies were those dependencies acquired by
conquest or cession, in which the power of the
sovereign became absolute, the inhabitants being
governed by their own laws. Very different was a
Crown settlement—that was land taken possession
of in the name of the Crown of England. Here
all had the rights of Englishmen, and every subject
of the Crown proceeding there took with him
that which no Englishman could forfeit, viz.—his
allegiance to the Crown. He took with him all the
rights and liberties, and became entitled to all the
privileges such a position gave him. It would,
therefore be necessary to ascertain in what position
Jamaica stood; either it was a Crown colony or a
Crown settlement. The matter was referred to in
Cumtning's "Digest," and also in Clarke's able work
on Colonial Law. Jamaica was acquired by con-
quest by the English from Spain. An attempt was
made to regain the island by the Spanish, but it was
unsuccessful. After which the whole of the Spanish
subjects who remained after the conquest, and who
fled to the mountains, quitted the place, and Charles
the Second soon afterwards issued a proclama-
tion confirming all the rights of Englishmen,
or those persons proceeding thither, and from all
the authorities he had been able to consult, he had
arrived at the opinion that Jamaica was entitled to
the privileges of a settled colony, because, when the
English family went there, they found neither
Spanish subjects, laws, nor authority. After this
the Assembly of Jamaica and the British Govern-
ment for years disagreed with respect to the right
of the one to tax the other, until, in the reign of
George 11., the laws of England were formally de-
clared to be in force. With respect to mar-
tial law, it was right to clearly understand
what it was, and how it was to be declared
in form. It appeared clear that it could only be
declared in existence by the authority of the Crown
and Parliament, and that no person, on his own
responsibility, has the power to proclaim it. The
greatest uncertainty also existed as to the powers
defined as martial law—law it could scarcely be
called at all, because it over-rode all law, and it was
but right and high time that it was brought to the
test of judicial settlement; and if it was found to be
such as it at present existed, then it was time that
Parliament should interpose to put a stop to a
power so arbitrary and despotic, and clearly
lay down for the future what was to be
the law. • There was the greatest difficulty in the
case ; but before such doctrines as those with which
they were acquainted were accepted, they ought to
examine the matter most minutely. They ought
never to forget that a rebel—one guilty of high
treason—before he was convicted, had a right that
his life should be held sacred until after his convic-
tion. This safeguard was e sential, as it was the
essence of justice, and it prevented men being
treated arbitrarily in times of trial and passion.
What he wished to arrive at was, whether there
was such a thing as martial law, in the sense they
understood it, known to the law of England.

He had lOoked through everything, that bore upon
the subject, and the first instance he found recorded
was in the reign of Edward II.; but there it was not
such as we understand the term. Then, again, a
case was found in the reign of Richard II.; during
that time many of those taking part in the proceed-
ings of Wat Tyler were put to death without any
form of trial. Then, again, in the wars
that occurred between the houses of York and
Lancaster, those taken on the field of battle were
put to death by some sort of tribunal similar to
that we now'call a court martial. An instance was
to be found in the reign of Henry VII., but it was
not such as they were familiar with, because it was
not an instance where a prisoner was brought to
trial after the rebellion was suppressed. Queen
Mary and Queen Elizabeth both issued proclama-
tions declaring martial law, but it appeared to be
clear that in many cases they were issued in terroreni,
and had they been carried into effect in the manner
indicated it would have been in violation of all
powers of the Crown. Then, again, martial law
was threatened during the apprentice riots in the
City of London, but had it been carried into effect?
Queen Elizabeth must have gone beyond the power
which the constitution gave her. He had searched,
he believed, every case in which instances of martial
law were recorded, but he could find none
in which it had been carried into force
in putting down rebellion in this country.
With respect to military tribunals known
as courts-martial for the trial of military offences,
they were all conducted with even justice and high
honour. An officer in command had a right by
law instantly to repress mutiny by force, but
whether that system could be applied to the
trial of civilians was a matter that required
the most careful and calm consideration. He