The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-08 00:00:00

LONDOIV, FRIDAY, FEB. 8, 1867.

The public will learn with regret that the Jamaica
Committee have actually put their threats into exe-
cution, and have commenced the prosecution of Mr.
EYRE and those of his officers who were immediately
concerned in the Jamaica affair. Such a course is
deeply to be deplored in many respects, and we
cannot see any possible gain that can come from it.
It is not usual for private individuals to settle
questions connected with the laws, and the Govern-
ment is, or ought to be, competent to determine if
the representatives of the Crown in the colonies
and elsewhere have rightly fulfilled their duties.
So far as Governor EYRE was concerned,
in the memorable matter of the Jamaica insurrec-
tion, there was only one opinion as to the propriety
of his conduct with all• who were well acquainted
with the matter. The House of Assembly expressed
its warmest approval of his spirited action, and all
the leading inhabitants of the island concurred in
this view. It is, indeed, surprising to find so strong
a feeling against him and all who acted with him
in certain quarters in this country. It was surely
enough, and more than enough, to disparage their
doings in all places and at all times without pro-
ceeding to the extremities which the Jamaica Com-

mittee have, done. There is no knowing to what
extremes people will go when they get prejudiced,

and we have a notable instance of this in the steps
but recently taken. Those who believed that the
affair was more talk than action, and would even-

tually come to nothing, were startled to hear that
on Wednesday last an application was made to the
magistrate, at Bow-street, for the issue of warrants
against Brigadier-General NELSON and Lieutenant
BRAND. These were granted yesterday, but not
without some difficulty. Mr. EIRE is not in the
country, and hence the proceedings against him
are suspended. it is understood, however, that
he is quite willing to meet all charges
against him, and it is so far satisfactory
to know that Mr. STEPHENS iS prepared to conduct
the case in as considerate a manner as possible. He
remarked that he did not desire these gentlemen to
suffer any needless restraint or annoyance, and that
it would be sufficient if Lieutenant BRAND gave his
word to attend at the court in a specified time to
answer the charges preferred against him by the
committee. After the very insulting manner in
which many of the members of the committee have
spoken and written about those concerned in the
Jamaica insurrection, it is certainly gratifying to
meet with this reticence on the part of those who
conduct their prosecution.

Of Mr. EYRE himself Mr. STEPHENS expressed
himself in terms of great courtesy, and even went
so far as to state that he apprehended he would be
ready to meet all charges against him. It certainly
might puzzle the most astute to determine how a
gentleman and a man of honour could be answerable
on a charge of murder ; but at any rate it was more
fitting that those gentlemen should be spoken of in
the wanner they deserve, instead of being insulted
as they have hitherto been done in many quarters.
When we consider the long time which has elapsed
since the melancholy events referred to took place in
Jamaica, it seemed all the more inconsistent that
this extraordinary stepshould be taken respecting the
chief actors in that affair. From the first outbreak
of fanatic zeal at Exeter Hall until this time there
has been, on the part of the faction, an exhibition
of intolerance and prejudice rarely witnessed in this
country. For the credit of their reputations we
could have wished that many of those whose names
figure on the Jamaica Committee did not appear '
there ; and we are grieved that one who so ably
served his country at a momentous crisis should
be so traduced and insulted. The English public
will, we feel assured, estimate at its true value all
this virtuous indignation on the part of those who
are in no way called upon to decide the question.
A more ill-judged and ill-timed case has sehl.om

been seen in our courts of law, and, as we before
stated, we do not see what is the object of the pro-
secution. Is it so to constitute matters that
it shall be rendered impossible for a repetition of
the occurrences in Jamaica to take place. A court
is not the proper place to decide as to the rights of
martial law and the manner of its observances. The
points concerning which inquiries will be made will
not immediately relate to the very acts so dwelt
upon, but will refer to the legality of the Court
which tried GORDON more than to the culpability
or innocence of those who composed that Court.
There can be little doubt in the minds of those
most initiated into the affair that these efforts of
the Jamaica Committee will result in failure, and
that Mr. EYRE and his fellow-accused will be
cleared from the charges preferred against them.
" For the sake of the cause of the principle therein
involved," it is argued, the matter must be pro-
ceeded with, and zertainly it requires the greatest
ingenuity to explain how this can be achieved by
pushing on the trial. Mr. EYRE may be injured i❑
fortune, but he cannot be assailed in character by
such absurd and groundless imputations. Universal
condemnation has no effect upon those who are so
predetermined to carry out their intentions as the
Jamaica Committee have shown themselves to be,
and it is therefore idle to expect that even now they
might have the sense togive up their vexatious course.
We live in strange times, it is often said, and surely
nothing stranger and more unsuitable in the pre-
sent day than that a man who has saved an im-
portant dependency of the British Government
should be charged with murder for his energetic
efforts in putting down sedition and rebellion. It
seems almost inconceivable that public men should
so far confuse themselves as to what is their duty,
and at any risk should attack and persecute those
whose only crime is that they displayed spirit and
energy, such as are rarely witnessed, in the suppres-
sion of the outbreak. While we regret that these
gentlemen should thus be exposed to so much need-
le .=.s and uncalled-for inconvenience, we feel con-
vinced that the verdict will be in their favour, and
that the public generally will denounce the course
pursued by those who have shown themselves so deaf
to all reason, and so perverse as to follow no other
dictates but those of prejudice carried to an inordi-
nate excess.

The relations between master and workman seem
likely to receive a good deal of attention this Ses-
sion. There are many reasons why it should do
so. The great and continued depression of trade
during the last year had its origin, no doubt, in
many things beyond the control of the English
mechanic or artisan, and could not in fairness be