The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-07 00:00:00

Eyre Defence Fund.

Lord Bury, in a letter to the Times, writes as follows :
The committee of the Eyre Defence Fund have just sent
round to every officer commanding a regiment of Volun-
teers an appeal for co-operation in raising funds to assist
Mr. Eyre at his approaching trial. He is to be arraigned,
we are told, at the Old Bailey next mouth. It does not
appear desirable that the organisation of the Volunteers
should be made available for the purposes of the Defence
Fund. If for the defence—why not for the attack ? No
such appeal should be made without the sanction of the
Secretary of State for War.
But time presses, and something must be done. I have
never till now subscribed to either defence or attack, nor
have I declared any partisanship on either side. Will you
allow me, therefore, as a dispassionate spectator, to ask why
any subscription at all is necessary ? Is it not the duty of
the Government either to bring Mr. Eyre to trial or to de-
fend him ? _ _ _

The course pursued by Mr. Eyre's assailants seems to
me inconvenient and wrong, irrespective of the question
whether or not ho is technically amenable to the law for
the death of Mr. Gordon. No one attempts to palliate or
deny—l know no one who does not deeply regret—the
excesses which took place while martial law existed in
Jamaica. But every one should surely see that there are
grave public reasons why Mr. Eyre, if brought to trial at
all, should at any rate not be arraigned by private persons.
Mr. Eyre was at the time of the alleged murder in the ser-
vice of the Crown. The Government either believe that
he committed murder or that he did not. If it be not the
duty of the Government to prosecute him, surely he has a
right to be defended by the Crown lawyers from a private
prosecution.
No generous person would consent to see a brave gentle-
man, already deeply wounded, placed in an additionally
painful position, unless the spectacle were destined to result
in some great public good. But Mr. Eyre's trial by public
subscription, however it may end, will be an unmixed evil.
It will paralyse the authority of future Governors in
times of emergency, and distract them with doubt whether
vigorous action will be upheld at home. As Lord Russell
once said, humanity will not be the gainer if hesitation
takes the place of timely severity—for the cautious pro-
ceedings and mild sentences of law are not applicable to
times of revolution. That which is but petty larceny in
peace is marauding in war ; in ono case a month's impri-
sonment is the punishment ; in the other it is hanging by
the provost-marshal on the nearest tree.
It is easy to understand why the Government should de-
cline to try Mr. Eyre. The same reasons should still more
forcibly deter private assailants from proceeding against
him. I have lived long enough in colonies to feel keenly
that a Governor needs all the support which can be de-
rived from the certainty of cordial co-operation at home.
A painful sense of isolation is produced by long absence
and want of contact on equal terms with other minds.; the
Governor of a colony is particularly subject to this feel-
ing. It would be unbearable if, in addition to his other
anxieties, he were constantly in doubt whether he would
be supported at home; uncertainty whether his judgment
would square with that formedin England would result in
imbecile vacillation when the moment of danger came.
In ancient as well as in modern times every great Gene-
ral, every great statesman has seen the necessity of up-
holding officers who were called upon to judge and act
promptly, not for the subordinates' sake alone, but for the
sake of the moral force which such countenance secures to
the public service.
I do not argue that a great public officer who commits a
crime should be allowed to escape with impunity. If he
commits a fault let the Government judge him; upon
them—and upon them alone—the responsibility lies. But
for private individuals to direct against such a man the
machinery of the law, after the Government award has
been pronounced, must be looked upon as an act of vindic-
tiveness subversive of public decency and detrimental to
the public weal. I trust, sir, that the Government will
shake off its inaction. If it believes Mr. Eyre to be guilty ;
let it impeach him ; if not, let it undertake the defence of
its officer. At least let Englishmen intrusted with high
office in times of peril know that they will not be left by
the nation whom they serve to defend life and honour un-
noticed and unassisted.

A NEW GUNPOWDER.—G. A. Neumeyer, :of
Doblitz, near Leipsic, originally a blacksmith' by trade, has
invented a new gunpowder, which, by experiments made
at Hassfurt, Zwickau,
Leipsic
has been proved to possess the' and Bouchet, near Pads,
superior advantages of not
exploding so long as the air has access to it, with acting
with greater force in an airtight enclosure, and of leaving
less residuum there than the ordinary powder, and of pro-
ducing less and more evanescent smoke. In the Mansfeld
mining operations, where it is largely
employed, the smoke
emitted has been ascertained not to exercise any injurious
influence whatever on the health of the miners. An addi-
tional recommendation is its being cheaper than the ordi-
nary powder. M. Neumeyer has taken out patents in
England, France, Belgium, and Holland, and is at this
moment in treaty with the French Government for a sale
of his patent in that country.