The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-30 00:00:00

just grievances will be remedied.

This is one o:

most hopeful symptoms that one can trace, and
amid so much that is gloomy and that suggests
decay in things material as well in things political,
it is agreeable to note any hopeful symptom.
Meanwhile the course which will be taken in Eng-
land with regard to the future Constitution of the
island is awaited with some anxiety. The Imperial
Government may propose to Parliament, as Lord
Melbourne proposed upon the dead-lock in 1839, a
suspension of the Jamaica Constitution for a term
of years, during which the affairs of the island may „

be administered provisionally, and political parties
may reach a higher standard of feeling, and at the
end of it—both electors and elected—deserve to en-
joy the full privileges of freedom. I have not heard
this course suggested here, and consensus communis,
so far as one can ascertain it, certainly points to the
entire revocation of the Constitution of Jamaica,
and the creation of the island into a Crown colony.
Less attention is bestowed here upon the case of
Mr. Gordon than might be expected from the pro-
minence assigned to it in England. Particular stress
is laid, however, upon the statement made in his
last letter that he knew nothing of Paul Bogle—a
statement which is declared to be notoriously un-
true. The two men were in frequent communica-
tion, and knew each other perfectly. Gordon died
very much in debt ; and one of the documents
found among his papers was a list of signatures,
over 150 in number, headed by Paul Bogle himself.
Several other black men, accused of complicity in
the rebellion and executed as rebel leaders, figure in
the same list. No writing is annexed to it, and the
list may have been a harmless one, in connection
with some legitimate political organisation ; but the
fact is pointed to as a suspicious one. I have been
shown a Bible, which was found in Paul Bogle's
chapel, at Stoney-gut, on its capture by the troops
after the rising ; and the inscription in Gordon's
handwriting, partly rubbed out, but still to be read
is this :—" Presented by George W. Gordon to Mr.
Paul Bogle, with wishes." The date is No-
vember 2, 1862, and there is a reference to Isaiah
chap. xxx. verse 18. The gift was not a costly one.
It was a Bible printed by the British and Foreign
Bible Society, and bears a stamp, "Sold under %ost
price—tenpence" upon the cover. The writing, if
genuine, clearly shows that Gordon knew Paul Bogle
perfectly well. It is only fair, however, to give an
explanation which is offered by Gordon's friends
here. They say that the statement in the letter was
an inadvertence excusable in a man who was to die
in an hour or two, and that what Gordon must have
meant to say was not that he knew nothing of Paul
Bogle, but that he knew nothing of Bogle's com-
plicity in any outbreak or rebellion. This is a point
on which Englishmen are as competent to offer an
opinion as any one on the spot. A gentleman who
has seen the original letter assures me that there is
no hiatus, and that, whatever their meaning, the
words are clear. Setting aside the first presumption
that a man just about to die would tell the truth,
it appears unlikely that Gordon should at that mo-
ment invent a clumsy lie which hundreds of wit-
nesses could disprove. But another statement has
reached me which, if accurate, as I believe it to be,
proves conclusively that Gordon could not have
meant what his written words express. During the
court-martial he admitted, I believe, that Bogle was
a political friend of his ; and it is not likely that he
would have denied in his letter what he had admitted
verbally. As yet the evidence upon which Gordon
was hung has been kept back here ; but some notes
taken at the trial by one of the local reporters have
been sent to England, and may very likely have
been published there. It is necessary, therefore, to
mention that, as a record of the evidence upon
which the conviction was founded by the Court and
approved by Brigadier-General Nelson, such a re-
port must be quite incomplete, because it does not
comprise documents which were chiefly relied on for
the prosecution. This caution is the more neces-
sary, because the publication of the notes taken by
the reporter will be a violation of the pledge given
to the military authorities, and under which alone
they allowed reporters to be present.
With reference both to Gordon's case and the
general measures taken in suppressing the outbreak,
white people here complain loudly that in England
too little allowance has been made for the position of
difficulty in which Mr. Eyre and the military autho-
rities wereplaced, and the danger both the white and
coloured population were hourly exposed to. This is
a point on which, so soon after my arrival in the
colony and pending inquiry, I offer no opinion, and
simply reflect the very strong views of those around
me. lam assured that the blacks in this place did
not conceal their exultation when the news arrived
of the massacre at Morant Bay, and that thcirlooks
and words were such as to inspire the greatest dis-
trust of what they would do if the rebellion were
allowed to gain ground. " Hurrah for Gordon ;"
one negro was heard to say, " he shave off old
Ketelholdt's head !" There is something in the re-
tort which an Englishman hears on all sides :—" It
is very well for people at home to talk of panic
fears ; but suppose they had been out here—a mere
handful of whites in the midst of a disaffected and
inflammable race, with barbarous murders enacted
close by—how soon to be repeated in our midst no
one could tell." Speeches made by Gordon in the
Legislative Assembly are quoted to show that he fa-
voured revolt. Some of those delivered in 1864 arc
now before me in the authorized reports. A few of
the passages relied on will suffice. " Per se," as the
hou. member for St. Catherine said, " the people
would be quite right to break out into open rebellion.
If an illegality is permitted in the Governor, an
illegality may be permitted on the part of the people.
. . . I have ueverseen an animal more voracious
for cruelty and power than the present Governor of
Jamaica lf we are to be governed
by such a Governor much longer the people
will have to fly to arms and become sel

governing." In England one would not incline
to attach over much importance to such passages
thus separated from their contexts, and Gordon
always based this speaking upon the assumption
that the Governor or his Council were themselves
violating the law. But upon ignorant negroes—it
is urged--this inflammatory language might have a
dangerous effect, and they would care little for the
constitutional principle which Gordon professed to
keep in view as a justification for his harangues.
Gordon spoke for two hours in defending himself
before the court-martial ; and he admitted, I am
told, that the circumstantial evidence against him
was very strong, though he added that he could not
help that. Men of position who have seen the whole

eviddnce say that it is strong and conclusive. Upon
this point I can only repeat what is told me.
While the colonists complain that sufficient
allowance is not made for their position at the time
of the outbreak, they equally complain of the ex-

aggerated stories upon which they say the public
feeling in Exeter-hall and elsewhere was founded.

So far as I have been able to investigate them,
many of these stories had their origin in the colony
itself, but do not deserve any greater credit on that

account. Even at this interval one has to be most

cautious in believing what one hears ; close inquiry

often discloses but—a
small residuum of truth in

statements which at first look very formidable and

very authentic. But, leaving all these points to be
dealt with fully by the Royal Commission, it seems
. . .

only fair to single out one or two on which, if people

here who ought to know are right, many people at
home are sadly misinformed. In the first place,
every Englishman will be pleased to learn that the

number of negroes who have been put to death has

been grossly exaggerated in England, principally on

the strength—it is only just to repeat—of unrelia-
ble and excited letters written, and often printed,
in Jamaica. I am assured that, taking into ac-
count those who were hanged, shot, or slain by
soldiers and Maroons in the bush, the number of

negroes who have lost their lives has not been
more than 400, and that 500 is an outside esti-

mate. Lamentable enough was even this loss of
life, but when mention is made of " miles of dead
bodies," and " the slain are counted by thousands,"
it is right that no time should be lost in declaring
these Statements to be due only to a fertile imagina-
tion. Much has been said in England about the
case of " Paul Bogle's valet," and the impression is
that he was a
youth of tender age, who denounced
anybody and everybody, while in mortal terror for
his own neck. The fact is, that he was more than
22 years old, is married, and has two children. He
was called " a boy " as even old men here are when
in service. Bogle gave him a gun, which, according
to his own account, he threw down a gully, and
after being taken by our troops Colonel Hobbs
allowed him to go free. He then volunteered to
accompany the detachment, and, as he knew Bogle
and the other ringleaders well, his services were ac-

cepted ; but he was warned—in all probability,
roughly warned—that, if he attempted to mislead

the detachment or to run away or to lie, he would

be shot. All the men whom he pointed out as

rebels were duly tried by court-martial, and those
executed were found guilty upon what was believed
to be sufficient evidence. I am told that, so far
from denouncing people by wholesale, he actually
saved many persons whose lives might otherwise
have been in jeopardy. We shall hear and see more
of him hereafter ; and I offer no opinion as to the
value of his statements, or the extent to which they
were corroborated. I believe he said that he saw
hundreds of negroes take the oath. In point of fact,
two oaths seem to have been administered—one of
them pledging to secrecy ; the other binding to
some plan of action ; but, though many of the
negroes admitted before execution that they had
taken these oaths, none would disclose their terms.
The following address to Mr. Eyre, dated Decem-
ber, 1865, is being largely signed throughout the
colony, and is only one of many to the same effect :
' To His EXCELLENCY EDWARD JOIIN EYRE, ESQ.,