The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-03 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1868.

It is with feelings of unmixed satisfaction that
we regard the result of the trial of Mr. EYRE at the
Court of Queen's Bench, before Mr. Justice BLACK-
BURN and the grand jury of Westminster. The
charge delivered by Mr. Justice BLACKBURN occu-
pied two hours, and was most luminous and com-
plete. He directed the jury to inquire into the
case of Mr. EYRE, in order to determine if the
steps he took were legal and the breaking out of the
insurrection in Jamaica. It was not disputed that
he did proclaim " martial law" with the assent of
his Council, and that this was continued for the
period of thirty days. The question before the
court was, whether in so doing Mr. EYRE had
made himself criminally responsible. Mr. Justice
BLACKBURN stated the question resolved itself into
this—" What is the rule or test of the criminal re-
sponsibility which may be incurred by a Governor
when acting, as Mr. EYRE undoubtedly was, as
Governor, and for the purpose of putting an end to
an insurrection ?" This is certainly a question of
great importance to be decided, for it is necessary
that the Governors of colonies should rightly un-
derstand how far they are responsible in any act
of repression which they may deem it advisable to
adopt. Some thirty years ago the Mayor of Bris-
tol was prosecuted for not being sufficiently on
the alert when riots broke out in that city, which
case was the converse of Mr. EYRE'S. The task of
those in authority at such awkward times is of
course to steer clear between excess and failure of
duty. It was indeed, as the learned Justice ob-
served, hard to define the exact limits of the case,
but they must take all points into consideration,
and determine when and where there was a failure
of duty, and if so, if it was such as to be crimi-
nal. One part of this charge was particularly ex-
plicit, which was where the jury were told to put
themselves as much as possible in Mr. EYRE'S
place, and to look at the facts as they appeared
to him to be, and to take. into account what he
heard and believed. - This duty has been
entirely overlooked by those who have made
themselves very active in pre-judging this case,
and they have all along spoken, and written, and
jumped at conclusions, as if they, at a distance
from the scene of disturbances, and quite ignorant
of the condition of affairs at that juncture, were far
more competent to give an opinion than those in
the very midst of the conspiracy, and who had the
whole of the transactions before them.
Mr. Justice BLACKBURN disposed of the point as
to whether the Colonial Legislature could alter the
laws at will, and make new laws to bind the colony.
It was so laid down by the Privy Council, when
there was an appeal from the island of Jamaica,
and he showed that it would be "perfectly mon-
strous to make a man responsible for obeying a
law which had been clearly defined, although it
might be open to doubting parties to protest against
it, and take the question to the House of Lords
to be decided. It is not justifiable to make
a Colonial Governor " criminally responsible" for
carrying out the law of the colony. if Mr. EYRE
were to be judged by the common law prerogative
of the Crown, a true bill would most probably have
been found against him ; but the law has been com-
pletely altered by the colonial statutes, which
" gave an immensely extended power to the Gover-
nor beyond what was possessed by tile Crown, ex-
cept as in Ireland, by statute." The Jamaica colo-
nists were well aware that theirs was a colony liable
to insurrection, and they therefore passed these
stringent regulations. Two checks were put upon
the proclamation of martial law—first, that the
Council should assent ; and, secondly, that it
should not extend over a period of thirty days.
The state of the case was this: that if Mr. EYRE had
not employed the means that were in his power,
and disasters had ensued through his omission, he
would have been punishable for neglect of duty. For,
looking at the question as to whether martial law was
continued too long, Justice BLACKBURN said that
the terms of the Colonial Act permitted it to be
continued so long as any danger existed. He had
considered the point carefully, as to whether it
was justifiable for persons to be seized out of the
district where martial law was not in force, and
carried into the district where it was enacted. " I
have considered that point carefully," said Mr.
Justice BLACKBURN, " and have come to the con-
clusion that, looking at what martial law was, it
might under proper circumstances be justified.'
Regarding GORDON, he considered him a "pestilent
firebrand, using the most violent language, which
probably conduced to cause the insurrection." Mr.
EYRE might have been mistaken in the matter, but
there was no ground for " charging him criminally,"
if they believed he honestly thought that GORDON
was at the head of the insurrection, and that it was
necessary that he should be tried summarily in
order to stop the spread of the disaffection.
Concluding this part of the charge, Justice BLACK-
BURN told the jury " that they must put themselves
as much as possible in the position of Mr. EYRE
himself at the time referred to, and make an
allowance for his responsibility and position, not.
like ourselves, sitting here calmly and quietly con-
sidering the matter after the lapse of two or three
years thousands of miles away from the scene, but
putting yourselves in his position, every one urging
him forward and no one holding him back, with the
general belief in the colony which he shared, if you
come to the conclusion that under all these circum-
stances he acted as a man of repsonable resolution
and firmness might have acted under such circum-
stances, then you ought nit to present a criminal
charge against him." It is of interest to him
that this charge was approved of by the
other Judges of the Court, and they all authorised
i it. Referring to some of the charges, the learned

Judge said that he had looked iu vain through the
evidence to see that Mr. EYRE had authorised this
or that act of cruelty or oppression. The Grand
Jury retired for four hours, at the expiration of
which they came into Court, and informed the
learned Judge that they returned " no true bill ;"
and thus ended the case, concerning which so much
interest has been felt. It is to be hoped that we
have now done with the prosecution of Mr. EYRE,
and that the Jamaica Committee will retire from
their unwearied notoriety, and cease to run counter
to public opinion as they have done. They have
rebuffs enough by this time in all crnscience, and
nondmore important and significant than that of yes-
terday at the hands of the Grand Jury of Middlesex.
This body was then well known by the straightfor-
ward view they took of the case, and the ready
manner in which they recognised the full bearings
of the matter before them for judgment. Had the
case gone for trial we feel sure that the evidence for
the accused would have so impressed and influenced
t he court as to the legality of Mr. EYRE'S proceedings
and the honesty of his intentions, that the result
would have been his acquittal ; but it is far more
satisfactory as it is, and the next thing to desire is
that the Government will resolve to indemnify M r•
EYRE for any loss he may have sustained. When
we come to reflect upon the particulars set forth by
Mr. Justice BLACKBURNE it seems indeed most
hard that Mr. EYRE should have been recalled from
his position as Governor of Jamaica, and we believe it
is generally considered. At any rate public indigna-
tion has not been wanting in this last attempt to
ruin on the assumption of deciding legal difficulties ;
and those who have acquiesced and carried on the
affair with so much eagerness will find that they
are on the losing side throughout. Mr. EYRE may
be congratulated, but we cannot look upon the case
yesterday decided at Westminster as a personal
affair, for it affected the public well-being of our
colonies, the welfare of our colonial fellow-subjects,
and the honour of the English name abroad. It
would indeed have been a sad spectacle to offer to
the world that we as a nation had so little regard for
justice and so vague a perception of propriety that we
allowed a man who passed the best years of his life in
the arduous service of his country to be attacked
and ruined to please the prejudices of a faction.
We are very much mistaken if the general impres-
sion will not be that the Jamaica Committee have
proved their utter ignorance of the particular law
of Jamaica with respect to martial law, and thus
confirmed the opinion already entertained in some
quarters that they set out by condemning Mr EYRE,
and then proceeded to justify themselves at his
expense, and at the sacrifice of reason, and in con-
tempt of real justice. The result of yesterday's in-
vestigation has made Mr. EYRE'S case clearer than
it ever was before, and so far it is not to be re-
gretted that it was brought forward, although it
would have been *ell if he had been spared the an-
noyance of the affair.
The fact is that the more perfect the inquiry into
the matter the more justly is it proved that in all
he did the ex-Governor of Jamaica had no object
in view but to protect the Colony entrusted to his
care, and that he did the best he could in a position
of great peril and anxiety—he has saved that
others may weep ; but as long as any recollection
of the insurrection remains in Jamaica, so long
will his name be held in grateful recollection, and
he will be regarded as the preserver of the colony
in a time of great danger. Like other men of merit,
however, the meed he has received has not been in
accordance with his deserts; but while this occa-
sions regret to his friends, it is some satisfaction to
learn that his enemies are overwhelmed with defeat
and mortification.

The exact terms of the resolutions adopted at
the Chicago Convention are now before us, and
deserve attention, not only from the influence which
it was believed that the meeting would exercise on
the Washington crisis, but because the resolutions
constitute, we may b€lieve, what is called in America
the " platform" of the Republican party. We may
sse in them, more especially in the sixth and eighth
resolutions, some traces of the influence of the ex-
treme Radical section, but for the most part they
are such as moderate, pacific, and reasonable men
of the party could honestly subscribe to. If they
are to be accepted as indicative of the policy to be
pursued henceforward by the Republicans, we may
hope for a decided improvement in the tone of pub-
lic affairs. Nevertheless, the inconsistencies and
unfairness which have marked the conduct
of too many of the leading Republicans
leave their traces. The Chicago Convention
was held in the ten days' interval between
the first and second votes of the Senate Court
on the Impeachment. Report says that the ad-
journment was moved with an especial view to it.
After the vote on the 11th Article had been taken
supposed that the Court would
itv o was
te o
nnthe
u naturally
Articles and settle the momentous
question, but the Radicals had other ends to serve
than the mere legal decision. They wished to ob-
tain an interval to put the pressure of direct and
indirect influence upon the wavering Senators, and
they were not without hope that the Chicago Con-
vention might produce some effect. The open
declaration of the Republican policy has often be-
fore now produced a change in doubtful members
of the party, and the Chicago Convention is always
looked upon as an important and authoritative as-
sembly. Resolutions condemning ANDREW JOHNSON
in set terms were passed at Chicago, and no doubt
the Radicals thought that no man dare set himself
so completely against his party as to vote for the
acquittal of one who was thus prejudged and con-
demned. The eighth resolution begins by deploring
the tragic death of ABRAHAM LINCOLN--an expres-
sion of regret which might seem rather late, only
that the reason for the sorrow is that the assassina-
tion of LINCOLN led to the elevation of JOHNSON.
After this preamble the whole formula of charges
is gone through. The PRESIDENT has acted
treacherously to the people who elected him ; he has
usurped high legislative and judicial functions ; he
has refused to execute the laws; he has rendered
insecure the property, the peace, the liberty, and
the life of the citizen ; he has abused the par-
doning power ; he has denounced the National
Legislature as unconstitutional ; he has persis-
tently and corruptly resisted 'every proper
attempt at the reconstruction of the rebellious
States; he has perverted the public patronage into the
engine of wholesale corruption. Such is the verdict
of the Chicago Convention ; and the resolution
winds up in characteristic style by declaring that
ANDREW JOHNSON has becn justly impeached and
properly pronounced guilty by the vote of 35
Senators—entirely ignoring the fact that the votes
of a minority sufficiently large to secure an acquit-
tal pronounced him not guilty. It might well have
been supposed that such unmistakeable language
would have startled the recusant Senators, but
happily such was not the case. The 19 stood firm,
and the Chicago Resolution was practically useless.
fhe interval between the votes was useful in
another way to the Radical Senators who wished to
bo present at the Convention, and wbo were thus
able to look after their interests at Chicago
without deserting their posts at Washington.
When it was known abroad that such men as
TRUIMULL and FESSENDEN—high legal authorities