giment, and the 1st West India Regiment) highly
distinguished themselves by their patience, perseverance, and general
good conduct." He might have added that the fidelity of the black
soldiers of the 1st West India Regiment could hardly have been put to a
more crucial test. Nine-tenths of those men were Jamaicans, born and
bred, and in the work of suppressing the rebellion they were required to
hang, capture, and destroy the habitations of not only their countrymen
and friends, but, in many instances, of their near relatives. Yet in no
single case did any man hesitate to obey orders, nor was the loyalty of
any one soldier ever a matter for doubt.

Governor Eyre having, by his prompt and vigorous measures, saved the
colony of Jamaica from a repetition of those horrors which devastated
the French West India Islands in the early part of the century, was
subjected to a most vindictive and ungenerous attack on the part of the
Exeter Hall party in England. By that party the judicial executions of
the rebels were stigmatised as "atrocities," while the massacre at
Morant Bay and the murders of the planters were only spoken of as
"unfortunate occurrences." Owing to their clamour, a commission was sent
out from England to inquire into the state of affairs in the colony. The
commission arrived at the following conclusion: "That though the
original design for the overthrow of constituted authority was confined
to a small portion of the parish of St. Thomas-in-the-East, yet that the
disorder, in fact, spread with singular rapidity over an extensive tract
of country, and that such was the state of excitement prevailing in
other parts of 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."

Many of the disaffected negroes, finding that they were being backed up
by an influential party in England, preferred the most unfounded charges
against several of the officers who had been most active in the
suppression of the rebellion. Amongst others, Ensign Cullen, of the 1st
West India Regiment, was charged with having had three men wantonly shot
at Duckinfield Suspension Bridge, on the 21st of October, while on the
march from Manchioneal to Golden Grove; and Staff-Assistant-Surgeon
Morris, who had been in medical charge of Ensign Cullen's detachment,
was charged with shooting a fourth man.

After these charg