The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-15 00:00:00

have come out with less of censure—the Commis-
sioners report In the great majority of the cases
the evidence seems to have been unobjectionable iu
character, and quite sufficient to justify the finding
of the court. It is right also to state, the accounts
given by the more trustworthy witnesses as to the
manner and deportment of the courts were decidedly
favourable.'
" That the Government earnestly desired to show
as much leniency as considerations affecting the
safety of other parts of the island permitted is evi-
denced by the early date at which an amnesty was
proclaimed, under which large numbers of persons
were absolved from the penalties of all lesser crimes,
though the more serious ones were still, for a limited
time (prescribed by act), to be dealt with by courts
martial.

"I may here state that as soon as it was known
that martial law was to terminate at the end of the
I statutory period of 30 days, I was waited upon by
members of the Legislature and custodes to urge
upon me an extension of it, and I am quite certain
that had I attempted to curtail the limited period
which by law it had to run consternation and ap-
prehension would have been universal.
" Even after martial law had expired, and not-
withstanding the very numerous trials which had
taken place under it, a large number of prisoners
charged with the graver offences committed during
the rebellion still had to be dealt with, of whom very
many were found guilty on trial before a special
commission, and were sentenced by a civil court in
some cases to death, in others to a long term of im-
prisonment.
" In reference to my not having been aware of the
excesses committed during martial law I would only
ask, how was it possible that I, necessarily detained
at the seat of government in watching over the
interests, and providing for the safety, of the island
generally, as well as in attending to the laborious
duties of a most important legislative session,
could make myself acquainted with occurrences
which even Brigadier General Nelson, the able offi-
cer commanding in the districts where they were
taking place, heard nothing of ?
" Those who know anything of the nature of the
country in Jamaica, and the few facilities which
exist for intercommunication, will readily under-
stand that at any time, but especially during the
rainy season, which was at its height during the
suppression of the rebellion, it is physically impos-
sible to learn or to control all that is going on
throughout a tract of country so extensive as that
occupied by our troops during martial law.
" But the truth is, that excesses must always take
place under martial law, and especially when black
troops, who are often wholly beyond the control of
their officers, are employed. No one can regret these
excesses more than I do. It is, however, upon those
whose acts made martial law necessary, or upon the
people who by not coming forward to uphold the
Queen's authority and protect life and property en-
couraged such acts, that these excesses are charge-
able, not upon the authorities who are compelled to
resort to that stern remedy to put down or prevent
the extension of rebellion.
" Did no excesses occur in repressing the Indian
mutiny ? or were the authorities there made respon-
sible for not knowing of or not preventing them ?
" In that ease it was not thought necessary, as it
was here, to appoint a commission of inquiry to rake
up and parade before the world every allegation of
injury which an ignorant and excitable population,
in many respects little removed from savages, whose
habit is untruthfulness, and vindictive at having
been foiled in their recent rebellion, could be induced
to bring forward, whether well or ill founded against
those who had the onerous and thankless task of
putting down that rebellion.

"With regard to the non-issuing by me of instruc-
tions for the guidance of the military I have only to
point out her Majesty's instructions to governors lay
down the rule that it is the duty of the governor to
give all necessary orders for the march and distri-
bution of troops, but expressly enjoin him to leave
all details connected with the carrying out thos%
orders to the military authorities.
" When martial law is proclaimed in a district
the case is even still stronger, for then all civil juris-
diction is absolutely superseded, and the entire and
sole management of the district so circumstanced
becomes vested in the general in command.
" I have thought it right to make these observa-
tions, not to repudiate any responsibility properly
attaching to me, or to excuse any shortcoming or
errors in my own conduct, but as feeling it due to
myself, to you, and to the British public to state
some few of the considerations which influenced me
in reference to the particulars in which my conduct
has been most strongly condemned.

" And I the more gladly make these statements
to you, gentlemen, because fro.n your having been
in the colony at the time, and from your long and
practical acquaintance with the country, the people,
and the circumstances which existed during the
period referred to, you are in a better position than
other persons can be to judge of the value of them,
and to know how far I did my duty to the colony and
to my Sovereign in the hour of difficulty and danger.
" Even the Royal Commissioners, labouring as
they did under all the disadvantages of unacquaint-
ance with the character of the country, the people,
and the circumstances of the moment, and making
their inquiries after the event from a people na-
turally untruthful, and stimulated by
the impres-
sion sedulously instilled into them by designing
persons, that the Queen was on their side, and
desired to obtain evidence against and punish the
authorities engaged in suppressing the rebellion—
even the Royal Commissioners, labouring under all
these disadvantages, have been compelled to admit
that though the original design for the overthrow
of constituted authority was confined to a small
portion of St. Thomas in the East, yet that the dis-
order in fact spread with singular rapidity over au,
extensive tract of country ; and that such was the
state of excitement prevailing in the island that had
more than a momentary success been obtained by
the insurgents their ultimate overthrow would have
been attended with a still more fearful loss of life
and property.' And they have very justly remarked
that 'sometimes the success of the measures adopted
for the prevention of an evil deprived the authors of
those measures of the evidencethey would otherwise
have had of their necessity.'

"Had I hesitated there would have been evidence
enough of this necessity ; but what would have been
said of me for not having prevented the still more
fearful loss of life and property ?'
" The Royal Commissioners and her Majesty's
Government have been pleased to give me credit for
skill, promptitude, and vigour' on the occurrence
t
of a great emergency, and to state that 'to my
exer-
cise
of these qualities the speedy termination of the
insurrection is due.' lam told that I ' showed my-
self superior to the feelings of alarm expressed
Majesty's
entertained by those around me ;' and her
Government further express their sense of the
promptitude and judgment with which I submitted
to the Legislature the views which I entertained,
and in which they so readily concurred, as to the ex-
pediency off effecting a decided change in the mode
of government of the colony'—views which have
since been confirmed by the sanction of the Crown
and an act of thelmperial Government. Whyshould
they not equally give me credit for having exercised
a sound judgment in the lesser matter of continuing
martial law for a limited time after the proclamation
of the amnesty, although they, acting as my judges
after the event, without the necessary local experi-
ence, and when the very success of my measures had
deprived me of the evidence of their necessity, are
unable to appreciate so clearly the force of the con-
siderations which influenced me in this matter, as
they do in the circumstances which surrounded the
commencement of the rebellion or the change effected
in the constitution ?

"With regard to the case of Mr. Gordon the Royal Com-
missioners, labouring under the disadvantages
as lawyersalreadytages
natu-
rally ad-
verted to, and looking at the proceeding
would do, that is in connection with the strict rules
and practice of courts of law (though I have already shown
the court before which Mr. Gordon was tried was not a
court of law, though a perfectly legal court), whilst express-
ing their opinion that they cannot see in the evidence
which has been adduced any sufficient proof (that is, I pre-
sume, according to the strict rules and practice of courts of
law) either of his complicity in the outbreak at Moiant
Bay, or of his having been a party to a general conspiracy
against the Government,' -yet distinctly record, We have
formed the opinjoia that tb.e, true caplanatien of Mr. Cier-

don's conduct was to be found in the account he has given
of himself—" I have just gone as far as I can go, but no
further. If I wanted a rebellion I could have had one long
ago. I have been asked several times to head a rebellion,
but there is no fear of that : I will try first a demonstration
of it ; but I must first upset that follow Herschel!, and
kick him out of the vestry, and the baron also, or bad will
come of it !" '

"Mr. Herschell was not kicked out of the vestry, nor the
baron upset; and they were two of the first victims of the
insurrection.
" Again, the Commissioners distinctly record their opi-
nion Gordon might know well the distinction between
a rebellion and a demonstration of it ; ho might be able to
trust himself to go as far as ho could with safety and no
further ; but that would not be so easy to his ignorant and
fanatical followers. They would find it difficult to restrain
themselves from rebellion when making a demonstration
of it.

" 'lf a man like Paul Bogle was in the habit of hearing
such expressions as those contained in Gordon's letters, as
that the reign of the oppressors would bo short, and that the
Lord was about to destroy them, it would not take much to
convince him that he might bo the appointed instrument in
the Lord's band for effecting that end; and it is clear that
this was Bogle's belief, as we find that after the part be had
taken in the massacre at Odorant Bay, he, in his chap,2l at
Stony Gut, returned thanks to God that he had gone to do
that work, and that God had prospered him in his work.
"'lt is clear, too, that the conduct of Gordon had been
such as to convince both friends and enemies of his being a
party to the rising.
"'We learn from Mr. Gordon himself that in Kingston,
where he carried on his business, this was the general belief
as soon as the news of the outbreak was received.

" ' But it was fully believed also by those engaged in the
outbreak. Bogle did not hesitate to speak of himself as
acting in concert with him.

" When Dr. Major was dragged out of his hiding-placo

on the night of the 11th October, he saved himself by ex-
plaining that Mr. Gordon would not wish to have him
injured; and when Mr. Jackson made a similar appeal for
his own life to the murderers of Mr. Hire, it appears to have
been equally successful.

" ' The effect which was likely to follow the meetings which

took place during the spring and summer of 1865, in some
of which Mr. Gordon took a part, was foreseen by one of his
most ardent supporters, who, writing to a common friend on
the subject of an article he had inserted in a newspaper re-
specting the Vere meeting, used these words :—" All I
desire is to shield you and them from the charge of anarchy
and tumult, which, in a short time, must follow these
powerful demonstrations." '
"Again the Commissioners report:—' It appears exceed-
ingly probable that Mr. Gordon, by his words and writings,
produced a material effect on tho minds of Bogle and his
followers, and did much to produce that state of excitement
and discontent in different parts of the island, which ren-
dered the spread of the insurrection exceedingly probable.'
" The British public may judge from these extracts from

the report of the Royal commissioners how far Gordon was
morally guilty of causing the rebellion, and therefore justly
punished, whatever may be the doubts entertained as to
the proof of his complicity haring been sufficient, in a
strictly legal point of view, to satisfy a court of law ; but
they can never know the full weight and pressure of the
circumsthnces which made it necessary, in order to save
the colony from the general massacre and pillage which
further risings would have occasioned, to act promptly and
decisively upon proof only of his moral guilt (and this, bo
it remembered, is all that is required before a court-martial
under martial law).

"I am not a lawyer, but I understand there are legal
gentlemen of high ability who dissent entirely from the
opinion expressed by the Royal commissioners, that there
was not sufficient proof (that is, such as would be received
in a court of law) of Gordon's complicity in the outbreak
at Morant Bay, and who consider that the evidence ad-
duced before the court-martial, taken in connection with
concurrent circumstances, would have been both legally ad-
missible in a civil court, and sufficient to satisfy a civil
jury of his guilt.
"Be this as it may, I had myself no doubt whatever as
to Gordon's having occasioned the rebellion, or of the
danger to the colony if his ca se was not promptly and
summarily dealth with. Under such circumstances, it was
impossible to hesitate as to the course which I considered
my duty to the Crown and to the colony made it impera-
tive on me to take.

"And now, gentlemen, I come to the hardest part of my
task, that of saying farewell to those who have been kind
to me; who supported me in the difficulties and dangers
through which the colony has so recently passed, and who
now sympathise with me under the obloquy and misrepre-
sentations to which I am subjected.
"I have lived amongst you for nearly four years and a
half, during which you well know I have had more than
the usual share of hard work and political strife.
"You will, I am sure, do me the justice to believe that in
these, as in all other matters, I have been actuated by the
single desire to do what I conscientiously believed to be my
duty.

"I have necessarily sometimes had to say or to do hard
things, but you will, I know, at least acquit me of mixing
up any personal feeling with my public action.
"And in taking leave of you I would only add that, as 1
bear no ill-will to any individual, I trust that none is borne
towards myself, but that when I am gone from amongst
you all will unite in believing that I wished well to the
colony and to yourselves, and that I did my best to serve
you.

" I now retire into private life, dismissed from the public
service, after nearly a lifetime spent in it ; but I have at
least the consolation of feeling that there has been nothing
in my conduct to merit it, nothing to occasion self-reproach,
nothing to regret.

" Ou the contrary, I carry with me in my retirement the
proud consciousness that at all times, and under all cir-
cumstances, I have endeavoured to the best of my ability to
do my duty as a servant of the Crown, faithfully, fearlessly,
and irrespective of personal considerations.

" With such convictions, deeply as my removal from the
public service must necessarily affect my future and the
interests of those most dear to me, I can submit to the
forfeiture of position, to the sacrifice of 25 years' career in
the public service, or to any personal indignity entailed,
counting my individual losses as utterly insignificant when
so largely counterbalanced by the undeniable fact that the
very acts which have led to my dismissal have saved a
noble colony from anarchy and ruin.
" Your generous and valued testimony to the integrity of
my conduct in this my last and most important govern-
ment will ever be most highly cherished by me, and will be
handed down, to my children, and their children, as an
encouragement and a stimulus to them to do their duty also,
under whatever circumstances of trial they may at any
time bo placed.

"Again, gentlemen, I thank you, in Mrs. Eyre's name,
and in my own, for your warm-hearted sympathy, and for
your good wishes towards ourselves and our children.

" We shall always remember most gratefully your great
kindness and good feeling.
" Our best wishes and our fervent prayers for your indivi
dual and collective interests and welfare will still be with
you, and we earnestly trust that the change recently made
in the government of the country (and which I shall ever
regard as a proud monument of my administration amongst
you) will, when time has permitted its development, and
matured that reorganisation which is essential, lead to a
renewed confidence in Jamaica at home, and to progress and
prosperity within the colony itself, that must eventually
largely promote its material interests, and add to the comfort
and happiness of all within it. "E. EYRE.

" Kingston, July 23, 1866."
We may state hero that the address has 1,230 signatures,
613 of which aro those cif persons residing in this city, and
the rest aro of individuals from other parts.
The following address was also presented to Mr. Eyre, on
behalf of the bishop and clergy of Kingston, and the neigh-
bourhood :

"TO HIS EXCELLENCY EDWARD JOHN EYRE, ESQ., LATE
GOVERNOR OF JAMAICA, ON HIS DEPARTURE FROM THE

ISLAND.

"Sir,—We, the undersigned clergy of the neighbourhood
of Kingston, desire respectfully to convey to your excellency
on the eve of your departure from this colony the imperfect
expression of our feelings on this painful termination of the
period of your government. In conjunction with a largo
number of our brethren in other parts of the island, who
would, we doubt not, most cordially join with us on the
present occasion if time allowed us to invite their concur-
rence, we not long ago tendered to you the heartfelt ex-
pression of our gratitude, our esteem, and our confidence.
We desire to reiterate those sentiments now.

"No former governor has ever rendered to us greater ser-
vices than your excellency has done. You have not only
rescued the island from most imminent peril of general in-
surrection, by your courago, promptitude, judgment, and
administrative skill, but by the exercise of the same high
qualities prepared the way for such a reconstruction of the
form of our constitution as, while we are not forgetful of
our debt of gratitude to the House of Assembly for its
liberal support of our anciently established Church, the
present emergency seemed to demand—a reconstruction to
which, if any human means can avail to effect it, the
future prosperity of this colony will primarily be due.
"For ourselves we would gratefully acknowledge the
uniform kindness and courtesy which the clergy have ever
experienced at your excellency's hands, and the lively and
discriminating interest which you have over manifested and
exercised for the welfare of tho Church.

" But oven for these eminent services we could not thus
warmly thank you did we not know your excellency to
have been actuated by the purest motives, to be a devout
worshipper of Him whose ministers we are ; and to be in-
fluenced by feelings of true humanity towards the people
to whom we minister.

"But, knowing these things, we assure your Excellency
of our sincere sympathy with you, and our earnest hope
that you may ere long bo called by our gracious Sovereign
to another sphere of honourable and important public
service.

"It is our sincere desire and prayer that wherever your
lot may be cast the divine blessing may rest on you and on
all the members of your family ; and we would beg you to
accept, and to convey also to Mrs. Byre, who has concili-
ated to herself the esteem and regard of so many amongst
IA our respectful and most cordial tavowell.