The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-08 00:00:00

and succinct manner in which, under all the great
difficulties of his position, Governor EYRE had been
enabled to communicate the narrative of the trans-
action." In the despatch dated December IG, we
find that Mr. CARDWELL implies, if he does not
openly express, censure upon the Governor for not
having been more explicit in his details, and upon.
this view of the question he founds the necessity-
for instituting an inquiry. At all events, he gives
no other reason for the extraordinary resolutions
come to by the Home Government. It is impossible
to peruse this first despatch, and then to go en to
the study of those which follow, and not come to
the conclusion that a great " alteration," as Lord
DERBY said, was made in the plans of the Govern-
ment. Nothing can possibly show the indecent
haste which Ministers made in this matter of the
suspension more than the fact that, four days after
the date of Mr. CARDWELL'S communication to the
Governor, informing him of Sir HENRY STORKS
being deputed to act as his successor, Mr. EYRE
dates a letter, which contains most conclusive evi-
dence of the outbreak being a general and not a
4 local one. It is one of the most strik-
ing things in the affair that the notion
of a rebellion being imminent was entertained
before the outbreak at Morant Bay. In this letter
of the Governor's to which we refer, he declares
that there can be no question that for months prior
" to the rising in St. Thomas-in-the-East, those
capable of forming opinions from the opportunities
which they possessed, were confident that some
such intention prevailed among the negroes nor,
he states, was the rising confined to Morant Bay,
but, on the contrary, it spread with rapidity from
district to district, until the military met the rebels
and prevented further progress. The negroes rose
as the wave of rebellion advanced towards them."
The statement of the Hon. H. WESTMORELAND shows
what mistakes people often make from being too
incredulous. Another important communication
made by Governor EYRE to Mr. CARDWELL is that'
in which he informs him that he sends a copy of a
report which he has received from the Inspector of
Police in Spanish Town, which shows that illegal
drilling had been going on. After the garbled re-
ports and the one-sided statements which appear
continually, it is a great satisfaction to know that
each member can peruse the full, true, and parti-
cular
account of these proceedings for himself ;
and who can doubt as to the decision he
will arrive at. The Governer also sends
another significant statement from Colonel
FYFE, Colonel-in-Chief of the Maroons, which com-
pletely sets aside the assertion of Sir L. M'CLIN-
TOCK that have excited such wrath and indignation
in this country among certain virtuosi. It is suffi-
cient notice to state that the Governor remarks—
" I cannot imagine upon what data Sir L. M'CLIN-
TOCK based his opinion." He goes on to explain
that in colonial communities canards are always rife,
and often obtain credence and currency at a dis-
tance ; but "an officer in Sir L. M'CLINTOCK'S
position ought not to take notice of any such un-
authorised rumours, or embody in an official
report opinions conveying such injurious reflec-
tions upon a race " which had so recently rendered
such valuable service to the colony without being
very sure that his opinions were well founded."
Really it would be difficult to find any event of a
public character in which so much misrepresenta-
tion has taken place as in this affair of the Jamaica
outbreak. The only consolation is that Governor
EYRE is a man of spirit and determination, and will
neither be bullied by overbearing demagogues nor
bewildered by official uncertainty and vacillation.
He stands his ground firmly, and so far has repelled
the charges so wantonly made against him, and given
the lie to the extravagant statements made by unscru-
pulous and ill-judged individuals, both in England
and tliG colony. Colonel Fvie.:g. Iftct.., -z. ~.....j,
strong, and reflects credit upon that officer. He
concludes by saying that in the mutiny in India
British sailors were not called to account for every
life that was taken, and it is only when the " rebel"
happens to be a " negro," and is supported by an
influential party in England in his desire to exter-
minate the white race, that loyalty becomes a
crime, and every rebel finds a reporter and a lawyer
at his elbow.