The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-06 00:00:00

Tw d .Iputations waited upon the Governor, who
display Jed great firmness, and declared that the law

must be enforced, and wisely stated that before all
thins ;s its dictates must be obeyed, and their

grief rances would be seen to and redressed.

In -consequence of this decided language, and the
representations of their friends, the squatters allowed

the lines to be " run ;" but this ebullition shows the

state of feeling throughout the place, and proclaims
the evil effects wrought by intemperate men.
Meanwhile the Commission appears at last to
sight the conclusion of its wearisome labours.
Colonel FIFE'S evidence was recently taken,
and it is interesting, as -it relates to
the Maroons. The Colonel Was formerly
Superintendent of the Maroons, and he furnished
some particulars concerning them which are sure to
meet with attention. He said that, " morally and
socially, they were of a much higher grade than
the neg,ro ; but he thought they used to be in a
better condition than they are in now, for they have
been left too much to themselves." Soon after the
recent outbreak Colonel FYFE went with Governor
EYRE to port Antonio, and there he found the
mountain warriors whom he had led in the insurrec-
tion of 1832, and who offered to follow him.
He was furnished with complete authority, in
order that he might render the services of
the troops under his command as efficacious
as possible. He went to Torrington, and the rebels
who had collected there were all scattered, not-
withstanding that they had sent defiant messages.
Colonel FYFE'S orders appear to have been as fair
as they possibly could. He ordered that those houses
should, be burnt in which stolen property was
found, but that one shelter should always be left
for the women and children. An immense quantity
of property was found in Torrington, and in reply
to Sir H. STORKS' question as to how they knew it
was " stolen," the Colonel replied that it could not
be mistaken—private houses and stores were gutted.
Colonel FYFE adduced some instances in which he
had to consider cases where law had been violated
by the Volunteers and Maories, and he appears to
have decided in a right spirit concerning them. The
Colonel also stated that he put a stop to all flog-
gings; and as for the " wire cats," which have given
rise to so much animadversion, he ordered them to
be burnt, properly denouncing those who had thus
exceeded authority. The Maroon witnesses who were
examined testified to the zeal and ability with which
the Colonel's orders had been obeyed. " Any
Maroon," said one of them, "would suffer him-
self to be shot rather than disobey Colonel
FYFE'S orders." Mr. WESTMORELAND was ex-
amined. He has lived in the island for
twenty-seven years, and has been a Member of the
Assembly for seventeen years; he is the chief member
of the Executive Committee. lle banded in let-
ters to the Commissioners, which showed the ten-
dency among the negroes to revolt on the 20th of
September ; but while at a store in Kingston he was
told that there was to be a rebellion, and seditious
conversation had been overheard. " The Govern-
ment," said Mr. WESpfORELAND, " were aware that
violent speeches had been made at public meetings,
and especially one had taken place at Kingston, of
which the newspapers said that it was too bad to
be reported." When he saw the letter written
to the Governor by PAUL BOGLE and others,
Mr. WESTMORELAND said he noticed the remarkable
circumstance that the names of several of the sig-
natures were similar to those which had figured at
the meetings of GORDON.

Mr. WESTMORELAND very properly referred to
the course pursued by the Legislature in the unani-
mous addresses which were passed to the Governor
in answer to his speech. On the whole, Mr.
WESTMORELAND'S evidence is among the best and
most conclusive that has appeared on the part of
the official autiloriciez yr cue “cia LILL ulolieS
abundant proof of the charges that existed, of the
spread of the rebellion, and also of the peril which was
incurred after it was apparently put down. Mr.
GORRIE and Mr. PANE have called several witnesses
to show that the disturbed state of feeling through-
out the island did not exist to the extent that has
been said, but they have not substantiated their
evidence very satisfactorily. Colonel FYFE, who is
evidently well informed, and of great experience,
has alleged, on the contrary, that the peasantry were
getting very excited before the outbreak, and that
the UNDERHILL meetings produced great harm.
There cannot be two opinions as to the disaffected
state of the island among any but those who are
partial or prejudiced in their views.