The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-13 00:00:00

Addresses to Governor Eyre.

Addresses of thanks Co Governor Eyre continuo
to pour in from all the principal inhabitants of every
district in the island of Jamaica, and afford a very
unanswerable proof of the disposition which Pre-
vails to support him against the determined hostility
of a small section of the English public. The,
magistrates, clergy, and other leading residents 0'
Clarendon recently presented an address of the
description, in which they state that they are
" deeply impressed with a sense of the immensity
of the obligation " under which they are to the
Governor for the " promptitude, energy, and un-
tiring exertion " with which he suppressed "Ile
late wicked and unprovoked rebellion," thereby
" suppressing in the bud a most diabolical conspiracy
to murder all the white and coloured inhabitants of
the colony." They tender their thanks to Mr. We
especially :
"At a period like the present, when, in return for the
heavy responsibilities assumed and the self-denying exer-
tions and personal discomforts undergone by your e%ee'..
lency, a strong opposition has been got up in the mother
country against your excellency, composed of a portion of
the press, and certain parties, in which those very acts that
have been the means, divinely blessed, of restoring our
country to a state of order and tranquillity, have been
most maliciously inveighed against. Most sincerely do We
sympathise with your excellency in regard to all the
anxiety, discomforts, and additional trouble which this un-
happy rebellion has caused your °saliency, and also in re-
spect to the accusations brought against your excellency .
England, and against which we desire now to enter our
solemn protest, as being unfounded, untruthful, and lit:
just, and as being highly calculated to incite to fresh acts
of rebellion the disaffected subjects of the island."
In reply, the Governor thanked the gentlemen
who presented the address for the sympathy the/
had expressed with him.
" Under the trying circumstances in which I have lately
been placed, by the occurrence of a most atrocious rebel-
lion in the eastern provinces of the island, and also for
your generous protest against the unjust and calumniic,
aspersions cast upon me by a section of the English publ
who, without a correct knowledge of the actual facts, hay °
not hesitated to adopt any wild and absurd or unfounded
statements which have been circulated either from their
wantonness or for mischievous intentions. I rejoice that
the opportunity will soon occur of the British public Will
disabused of these exaggerations or untruths, and I feel
sure that the generous manner in which you have coin°
forward to denounce them will contribute largely to bring
about this result, and to satisfy ttie nnglieli pooph. tt.
_
measures taken by the local government to put down rebel,
lion, and as far as practicable insure protection to life and
_property, were only such as the safety of the colony impe-
ratively required."

An address of considerable significance, as coming
from such a quarter, has been presented to gri
Eyre by a number of dissenting ministers, some of
whom have been upwards of 20 years in the island'
engaged in their meritorious efforts to spread a Praf-
tical knowledge of Christianity throughout the
island. Among these gentlemen is the general
superintendent of the Wesleyan missions, two Bar
tist ministers, a Presbyterian minister, a rainisteer
belonging to the Church of Scotland, another to Of
London Missionary Society, &c. In the course
il
their address they made the following remarkable
observations :
" Sufficiently removed from the more immediate seen:
of action to be able with some degree of calmness to PI;
of its real nature, whilst sufficiently near to feel tr,st
emergency of the case, we cannot but express our s" t„
solemn conviction that to your excellency's Pr°l33,ll)s
energetic, and decisive measures we owe it that the se "de.
of Morant Bay were not enacted throughout the °ate
Unbiassed by political feelings, and with no party to ser
we feel ourselves the more free to express our conviciiti's
from the evidences of our own observations, as Well to
i
from the official and other sources of information open c
us, that a spirit of insubordination to law has long existed
among among a largo portion of the population of this island, 3'lo
that lately the teachings of ignorant and wicked mart Ii
served to fan the flame into sedition. Under such cireu-ni :t
stances we would record our firm conviction that the 131°11
energetic and stringent, and even severe measures w 1
the constitution placed within your Excellency's PeWe,s
were necessary for the protection and safety of her Maiestlire
peaceful and law-abiding subjects in the colony; au c
would gratefully recognise the hand of Providence in PIR
ing at the head of affairs one who so vigorously and at`e-:
tively determined to do his duty to the utmost in that 01:
of imminent peril. Without expressing any opinion 00
isolated acts, and regretting the great loss of life that 11%
occurred, involving we fear, to some extent, the ihil°`'eLl.o
with the guilty, we would nevertheless cordially exPre;
our conviction that the general policy pursued by Yellr ;
cellency was absolutely necessary to meet the exigeijc-te.f
of the case, and was dictated simply by a sense ofd 111
and of the responsibility which rested on you at a perioa o
vro
such alarm and extreme danger. At the same tires
00
would also express our regret at the unqualified census
pronounced by a large portion of the British press, arguqa
at a distance from our island and manifesting deplora'Nvo
ignorance of its population and condition ; and whilst:, air
would sympathise with your excellency as to the 111°‘10,
criticism of your acts, and the improper imputation of wi.138;
tives, we cannot refrain from also recording our feel:cv
that the sentiments so expressed in England are alr°: a,
producing a most mischievous influence on our
and are likely, when fully circulated, to go far, not o 19de,
reproduce the scenes of massacre which we all so vraeh.,,:,
plore, but also to paralyse the efforts of those in authoriv
Mr. Eyre, in reply, said :
t y I°o
"Accept my heartfelt gratitude for the sympathy
extend to me under the difficult and trying circuaassti..
in which I have been placed, and for the valuable 8061
mony (you bear to the necessity for the most proraPuioa,
decisive measures being taken to put down a red°frcra
which having in three days and a half extended in
Morant Bay forty miles in one direction and tvierareat,
another, required but a few days longer to overrun yotion
portion of the colony, spreading destruction and de'
tbreitic
in its course. In crushing out so formidable an en_bich,
it bacame my painful duty to exercise a severity' 76edt..
Populatioto
whilst justly punishing the guilty, might terrify the +beta
tious and evil disposed of other districts, and restrain ;tops
from making any similar attempts ; and if in thong or
taken to effect this object some isolated acts of Wrillo,vix
injustice have occurred I can only say they were 1111'
and
to me and could not be controlled by the Executives %se,
la are .
trust, too, they will be found to be only such
,11
parable from a state of warfare and the existence °'
re
the
law—both great evils in themselves —but forced lirPere'sted,
Government by a peril which, if not promptly
ea
only
would have endangered the entire colony. I. c, the
assure you, gentlemen, that I have been actuattue
_Jeopis
single desire to do my duty to my Queen and actuates
and
of this island, and amidst all the misrepresentati
tip been
the
frolic,
heaped upon me by those who being at a distance
censures which have so unsparingly
danger could neither realise its magnitude nor e innate
ness of the means available to meet it, I have the and
satisfaction of feeling that I did that duty faith
fool
the proud conviction that in doing it I avel"
Jamaica a general and sanguinary war."
and unjustly