The New Zealand Herald. AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, FEB. 24, 1866. THE INSURRECTION IN JAMAICA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume III, Issue 712, 24 February 1866, Page 4

The New Zealand Herald.

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, FEB. 24, 1866. THE INSURRECTION IN JAMAICA.

SFECTEHUR AGENDO. " Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice ; Take each man's censure, bnt reserve thyjudgnient. This above all, —To thine ownselfbe true; And it must follow, as the niijht the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."

This insurrection and the punishment awarded to the participators in it have caused no slight stir in England, and a good deal of notice generally. From the excited state of the public feeling in England,, and the manifest partizanship ol the Press, it is impossible to arrive at a safe and satisfactory conclusion respecting the conduct of the insurgents on the one hand, and the authorities on the other. The Times and Daily Telegraph uphold the authorities, the Star and Du.il,/ JSTeics as bitterly condemn them, and take the part of the blacks. ¥e can only give a resume of the principal tacts of the circumstances attending this sad affair, so far as these can be gathered from the reports in the public prints. ]\lr. Keuter's telegram of tiio news makes the following statement: —The insurrection t-eems to be a premature outbreak, resulting from the arrest of one ' of the conspirators, who was to figure ill the general rising of natives on next Christinas-day. A number of mon, some of influence, had been, travelling the country for some time, addressing meetings on the subject of negroes' wrjngs, telling them they were oppressed anci ground down by taxes. This excited the people, and they determined to seize the land from all the landowners, white and colored, and after killing all the males and children, to share the land and women amongst themselves. A leading man of the party was wanted for some crime, and on an attempt being made to arrest him lie raised a rovolt in liis'district, fortunately for the people of Jamaica, prematurely. Had the* natives risen nil over the island at Christmas, the whites and better class of coloured people would have all probably been murdered. The Colonial Standard thus describes what were the objects of the insurrection : — " The documents that havo been discovered, the confessions of the rebels, and other authentic proofs, shew the preconcerted object of the rebels to have been the indiscriminate murder of every wliite and coloured man in the island, and the confiscation, of all tho property for the benefit of the blacks. A more diabolical programme could scarcely be conceived ; coloured and white men were to be killed first, and 1 children afterwards, but the white and coloured women were to be preserved, to be used as servants i and for tho pleasures of their captors. No lands or : buildings were to be destroyed, and machinery was to bo only temporarily maimed, so as to be rendered ■ j-c-rviceable afterwards without mncli trouble. After , the accomplishment ot this plot, these lands, build- • ing 3, aud machinery would be divided among the > rebels; hence their preservation was decided upon. Mr. George William Gordon and certain of the chiefs were to proceed to England as delegates, to obtain tho sanction of Her Majesty to the new state of things. , " The manner in which the rebels conducted them- . selves bears out this plan thoroughly, and the cool- , ness and system with which they proceeded prove j the force of the organisation under which they acted. . Even whilst their wo-st passions might have been aroused by the opportunity o£ gratifying personal v animosities, and by the temptation of plunder, they ' kept in vie w the conditions of tho programme Eel out for them, and exhibited enough self restraint to respect the property of the Maroons, whose interfer- : enco they faired to provoke. I'lie leaders among them, and indeed none except the rioters whe followed tlifcir steps took liquor, although the night before sturting for Slorant Biy tiuy had deliberately swallowed rum !ind gunpowder t-o fortify themselve: for the bloody deeds of ths morrow. ■' The confessions mado show Sir. Gordon to havi commenced agitating this rebellion three years ago but most actively for the last three months, and nov that the plot lias come out it may be a matter of surprise how it coald have been matured without at trading the knowledge of the authorities ; but neithe: was it suspected even by those who were to becoan the viet in;?, which is no less a mutter for surprise Mr. Gordon, it may be remembered, was the origin i - introducer ro this island of the demoralizing; mania '• style! by his deluded followers ' the revivals,' u-hicl l. spread among beings bo excitable and superstitiou as negroes like an epidemic. A cunning hypocrite, h took the opportunity of exciting fanaticism, and o using it for his own purposes. An oath was admin ' j istored to the rebels, so awful that not one has ye I ventured to reveal its terms entirely, although tellinj - I everything else readily. Secret societies were sooi formed under his auspices by some intelligent bu ambitious men among the blacks, as unscfrn pulous as himself, and even private companies . o v volunteers —all black men —were formed and exercisei with wooden guns and swords. When these matter ■, were pointed to, and the danger called to attention a cry was raised against the presumed alarmists, am :r it was protested that the lower classes wanted amuse ment, and were only indulging their love for imita tion. Suspicion was thus allayed, aud a false securit; 8 induced." THE OUTBREAK. On Saturday, the 7th October, a court of pettr sessions was held at Morant Bay. Whilst the busi : e ness of the court was being proceeded with, a grea noiso arose in the court house which increased to sucl a pitch as to compel a temporary suspension of thi proceedings. The justices ordered the party makin; d the disturbance to be brought before them, npoi which one Charles Geoghegan (a head rioter) left tin court house, followed by the police, who capturec d him on the steps, il e was immediately rescued bi Paul Bogle and several other persons, who had largi j 1 bludgeons in their hands, aud taken into the market' square where some one hundred and fifty more per . sons joined them, also with sticks.; the police wer< s verely beat, and had to retire back to the cour t house without their prisoner. On Monday, the cour; i, of petty sessions again meeting an J proceeding wit! the business, a man mimed Lewis Dick was triec for a trespass on MiddL.-ton plantation, adjoining 1 Stony Gut. It may hero bo mentioned that tht t pooplo of Middletonhave been for many years pasl under the impression that tho place belonged to nc r one, and that no one had any right to it but them- - selves. Middleton belongß to W. M. Anderson, Esq Aa soon as the case of trespass was called, Bome one 7 hundred and fifty persona, tho same who rescued Geoghegan, entered the court house with sticks. The 1 magistrates convicted Lewis Dick on his own plea ol • guilty. Paul Bogle immediately stepped forward, and ' told the man not to pay any lino, but to appeal, which he did, and entered into tho necessary recog- . nizances. On llouday the 9th, warrants were issued against Paul Bogle, and twenty-seven others, for riot and assault on the Saturday. On the police going t > . iSoglo's house and attempting to arrest him, a horn sounded, and about 300 persons, armed with deadly a weapons, made their appearance from Paul Bogle's > chapel, and a c.me-piece near to his house. It appears the rebels attacked the Court- , House, and killed and wounded a large number of whites, including officers, justices, volunteers, and one or more clergymen. Great was the excitement in Kingston. ;• Councils of war were held, volunteer companies raised, and every precaution taken to protect the city. '• It having been ascertained that, the main body of the rebels who had committed the outrages at Mol rant Bay had moved on to Port Antonio, in the paiish of Portland, and seized a large lot of ammunition by the bay s His Excellency the Governor at

once proceeded that place with troops and artillerr and issued nn sddress calling upon the Blareons wh * quickly answered his call, to come out and aid the authorities to put down the rebellion. The rebels travelled about it seems from place to place destroying property on their journey, much as our friends the Maoris have done among us. Thus one person says:— They captured and utterly destroyed Mr. Shortridge's cart; they had also pillaged his (llr. MagilT.^ shop, and that of Mr. Strathio, helping themselves d all the rum they found there; and that they had become so greatly intoxicated that they were obliged to lie down on the sea beach to sleep it olf. The special constables, who had taken the Golden Grove direction, were attacked by a large mob laden with their plunder from the store of Mr. Tavares The villains attempted to atop the constables wh boldly charged them, shooting two or three of'their number, and eventually cutting their wav with mif lasses through them. Many of the wretches were inebriated ; but those who were sober Beemed nara ; Iyeed by this gallant and determined charge, which i had the number of the constables been larger would' have effectually repulsed their autagonists.' Ag it happened, this small but valiant band had at onoe to disperse and gallop for their lives. j at seven o'clock pm. the rebels had recovered from I their drunkenness. They then proceeded to Euclfen field Estate, destroying the Great House with bludgeons and cutlasses. Some of them set fire to tha rum stores, but the flames were speedily extminii*h<>,i by o'hers, who stated that they must on no account fire the works or buildings of anv estate as thev would be wanted by-and by. All'the liquor found was forthwith imbib d or taken away, the very beds and icattressas being cut and torn to pieces so as to render them of no value hereafter. Proce»fl,V„ thence to Amity Hall Kstatt Works, the rebels werU through the same routine of depredation and destrnc tion. With fiendish yells ani shouts, which we™ distinctly heard by the ladies et Hordlev tW rushed up to the G-reat House vowimr ' Mr. Augustus Hire. The nearer "fev the House the louder became t^ e £r cries 30 fh! entering the dwelling they were me f c f - ' Justice Thomas Witter Jackson, S?** in; a few words to them was f?™ 3 ' tongue. He was immediately cruelly beaten by the cowardly scoundrels for dead. The nextvicS was a worthy old gentleman named Crichton, on \ whom they perpetrated great cruelties, leaving him \ in a lite condition, to that of Mr. Jackson. Mr. iTiri; and his non next fell under the clutches of these demons; both were beaten and chopped mercilessly, to the satisfaction of their relentless assailants. Then commenced the pillage of the stores, after which, returning to the house the rebels found Mr. Jackson bad been placed in a bed, in which Dr. Crowdie was also lying dangerously ill. With another yell they at once set fire to the bed, with the view of burning Mr. Jackson alive, but ere the flames had gained way they were quiekly extinguished, as the rebels stated they must save the doctor's life, he having sworn to be on their side, and not to dretstha wounds of any white man Such is an outline of the action of the infuriated mob of negroes fiends. Many of their intended victims escaped with their lives by secreting themselves in negro houses, and in ravines and gullies, until they were removed by men-of-war. It is for dealing severely with such wretches as these, that Governor Eyre is reprehended by a portion j of the English Press. Court-martials were, held, and the rebels who were found guilty and sentenced, speedily had that sentence executed upon them. Colonel Hobbs, in one of his despatches, ! says:— I have the honor to report we have been most suei cessful in our advance, and I think in a great mea- . sure crushed the rebellion in this quarter, lha i troops under my command have behaved not only > with gallantry, but with that crder -which becomes > British soldiers. Private Thomas Murton, of tho 6th Boyal Eegi- • ment, captured the rebel chief William Carr, who ■ antered this house in search of Mr. Paterson, -with ) the intention of taking his life. He was tried thii . day by court-martial; after due deliberation, found l guilty, and shot. This hag produced a wonderful I cllect throughout tho district. ' ince the execution, numbers of rebels have ecms t in, having thrown away their arms, and seeking pro- > tection. The men X cannot possibly undertime to - guard. They are embarrassing the troops, and I 3 believe they are all worthy of death, but 1 shrink K > from the responsibility of executing them, without M t first hearing your wishes respecting them. ■ s The G-overnor, in his despatch to Secretary 1 Cardwell, says:— II 3 Up to the present time no reagon or intelligible M . cause has been assigned as the origin of this rnoit gs v wicked and wide-spread rebellion. 11 I cannot myself doubt that it is in a great degree If - due to Dr. Underbill's letter, and the meetings held jf| r in connection with that letter, where the people v-ere |j| e* told that they were tyrannized over and ill-treated, s| i. were over-taxed, were denied political rights, had no E| 1 just tribunals, were misrepresented to E'er Majesty's i, Government by the authorities and by the phnterf, h and where, in fact, language of the most exciting and s ; seditious feind was constantly used, and the people o | fold plainly to right themeelves, to be up and doing, if to put their shoulders to the wheel, to do as tfcs - Haytians had done, and other similar adTice. g He ascribes various causes for the melann choly state of things that had occurred; the t two principal being a letter of Dr. UnderL " hill's to Mr. Cardwell, in which that gentleman details what we may call the grievances 3 of the blacks; and the action of a Mr. &. i, "W. Gordon, with some negro blood in his d veins, a member of the Legislature, and ivho lias taVen an active part in politics appary. ently, ranging himself on the side of the blacks, detailing their grievances, and advocating generally their interests. y £te seems to have been very obnoxious to - tlie authorities. He was taken into custody, sent from a place where martial law was not 0 j proclaimed to one where it was, tried and ||| 5 sentenced and put to death. 151 a This circumstance is tho great centre ffifl ° around which will converge the principal ra _ discussion for the future. The GovernorJfl EH e most severely, and we think justly, taken to gjS - task in reference to this matter, and is in gj - fact charged with compassing the death of lg| ® Gordon by sending him to the district whero Iffl (. martial law was proclaimed. In this one 9H 1 oet he has undoubtedly committed himself, BM I aud given the philo-negro party a handle |M J against him. The tone of the English press, HH f taken as a whole, is decidedly condemnatory MS , of the Governor and some of the militaij KM - officers, while the latter claim credit fur gj their vigour in at once checking a rising of Egfl ' the blacks, which might have become general, f and ended in a much greater loss of life than ||H f | that caused by these severe repressive EH II measures. j^H

So far as we can judge from the contra* dictory reports to hand, it appears that for some time there has been very great distress in Jamaica; that labour has been scarce, and clothing and other things high; that the labouring classes have suffered severely, that crime — petty larceny chiefly greatly increased; that political or social agitations have greatly stirred the negro mind, and that the latter have come to tne conclusion that it is the bad govei'nmen and the " bad whites " that have caused t distress, and not the usual course of natural and general laws, and that the ij e groes consequently determined to resist law, and becoming infuriated proceeded the brutal and disgusting outrages wind the gallantry of the military and the de ruination of the Governor nipped in ' bud. Governor Eyre will doubtless recalled from Jamaica and Gen ernoi Trt V

"<rht very profitably be re-called from Vow- Zealand. Both G-overnors might h verr gently let down by causing them to chau"®- Gr° vernor Grrey would suit tlie ?■ ds°of the negro, and Governor Eyre •ould soon settle the Maori rebellion.