New-York tribune., 1867-09-28
JaMAICA UNDER EYE 1ND UNDEE
GRfkT


In Carlylcs new Pantheon distinguished
niche has been assigned to cx-Governor Eyre
The Australian explorer whose name will be
forever infamousy associated with one OF the
darkest pages in the colonial annals oil Englahu'
is one of the model heroes of the great En-
glish writer He is a man of strong viii, we
are told by his devoted panegyrist, fully equal
to emergencies IN which prompt, vigorous. de-
cisiye action is demanded. He goes straight to
his end untroubled 10y those so-called conscl-
entious scruplcs whose alleged effect Is To be-
cloud the Judgment. and 10 partially unnerye the
strong arm upllfted to strike. He Is just the
man 10 deal with the "rabbe' an revolt. lie
believes in the power of the sword, and in the
efficacy Of the gallows To bring troublesome
people 10 their senses. His stern nature is
proof against yisitations of tenderness or of
conjunction. and when he ha- bloody work TO
do hc throws all humanitarian considerations
10 the wind, and dispatches men just as butch
ers slaughter pigs. true man ~ Eyre ana
no sham-according to the new evangcl OF the
Chelsea philosopher.
But there are true men, and strong men
men of great moral robnStncSs--of whom Car
lylc takes no account, but who are ncvcrthc-
less entitled, in our humble Judgment, to some
little share of the glowing culogums 1t IL our
philosophers habit 10 pass upon the dcmlgods
of his creation. They are the men who are
rcsoIute and inilexiblc in insisting upon justice
for all who set their faces like flint against
tyranny and oppression, who firmly hold the
doctrinc and consistently act upon the belief
that society is better served in every respect 10y
A. a.. ~ II nll IL
ont distinction of persons or of classes,
rather than by that policy which crimInaliy
allows the strong TO Opprcss the weak untll cXaS-
peration eliminates in revolt, and then makes
the sword drip with blood by way of terrible
warning TO the downtrodden and dsaiicctcd
masses Such man appears to be Eyre successor
in the governorship of Jamaica. Sir John Peter
Grant. under whose wise and energetic admin
;stratiop and impartial rule n decided change
for the better has already taken place IN the
affairs of that unfortunate colony lt Is true
that the country il still suffering in its material
interests from variety of causes, the two
principal of which are former bad government,
and the injury done To agriculture by series
Of severe and protracted drouths; but, as re-
CARDS the existing state of things, socially con
the contrast between the present under Sir
John Grant, and the past under Gov. Eyre
This is shown in the letter OF our Jamaica cor
respondent which we published yesterday.
For some time previous TO the disturbances at
Morant Bay in 1867 the greatest discomfort
prevailed among the black population of the
isand-the result Of the oppressive laws
passed by the Legislature, and OF the
systematic denial of justice To the people III
tho courts presided over by planter mags-
trates. Gov. Eyre was well aware OF this. The
people held public meetings, at which they
adopted strong resolutions expressive of their
grievances, aud protesting against the wrongs
of which they were the victims and those
resolutions were forwarded to the Governor; !;
but he needed them not. They prepared
memorials to the Queen; but in sending the
memorials to England, he wrote dispatches 70
accompany them, denying the statements they
embodied, and wilfully misrcprescnting to the
Colonial Minister those who had been princi
pally instrumental in preparing them. He was,
in fact, completely in the hands Of the old
| dominant class, with whom he heartily sympa-
| tbized and strong man as he is, according to
Carlyle, he was not strong enough to do JUS
tice at the risk of offending and alternating
that class. He knew that the people were being
grievously wronged, but he obstnatoly refused
redress and when a local disturbance occurred
his guilty conscience magnted it into the di-
mcnsOns of a formidable rebellion, and he
tramplcd it out after the terrible fashion with
which our readers are already acquainted
Matters are now very different from what they
We're two years ago. The black people, we are
told, arc i'll state of uncxamplcd quiet and
content; there has been a marked diminuton
of crime among them; and they arc paying