The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-23 00:00:00

EVENING,

sheltered him and given him bread. Now, if ever it
were necessary to make an example of any man
under peculiar circumstances, these were the circum-
stances,
and this was the man, to call for severity.
By way of warning to- military adventurers, and
to Creole proprietors, punishment was called for,
and punishment was awarded. Irrespective of these
considerations, there was Spanish blood to be atoned
for and appeased. The most gallant and venturesome
soldier of Spain—the second in command to the Cap-
tain General Concha —Enna, had fallen with many
others of less note; and was the prime mover and
concocter of an expedition costing such an expendi-
ture of life and effort to escape all punishment ?
This cannot be contended by any candid or dispas-
sionate man. Though, therefore, no one properly in-
formed
can take just exception to the execution and
capture of Lopez, yet the mode of his capture and •
the manner of his death reflect no credit on Spanish
humanity. It should be considered that, though a
buccaneer, Lopez was a soldier; that he had exhi- •
bited bravery and humanity, and had sent a flag
of truce with Enna's body to the Spanish
authorities. To make such a man undergo the de-
grading and infamous punishment of the garotte
was an unnecessary aggravation of his sufferings.
As to the running Lopez down with bloodhounds—
' however inhuman it may appear to British ears, and
however much we may disapprove of such a prac-
tice, it should also be remembered that such a plan of
capture of marauders, murderers, and felons, had long
ago been introduced into the Spanish colonies from
the mother country, and that, according to Bryan
Edwards, the practice was followed by the Govern-
ment and Asietnhly of one of our own West India
islands against the Maroons in 1738. Every barracks,
says Edwards, in his "History of the West Indies,"
was also furnished by a pack of dogs provided by the
churchwardens of the respective parishes, it being
foreseen that these animals would prove extremely
serviceable.) not only in guarding against surprises in
the night, but in tracking the enemy. Again, in
July, 1795, when the Maroons broke out into open
revolt and waged a successful war against the Govern-
ment forces, one hundred bloodhounds were sent for to
Cuba, together with forty chasseurs or people of colour.
The wild and formidable appearance of men and dogs
spread terror through the negroes. The Maroons at
once submitted, and were expatriated to Halifax, in
North America. A Spanish Governor in Cuba
would conceive Lopez as much out of the pale of the
law as a British Governor some 60 years ago conceived a
Maroon. Let us not forget, too, that in former times
these bloodhounds, called by the Scotch sleuth-
hounds, were kept in great numbers on the borders,
and fugitive kings and moss-troopers were obliged to
study how to evade them. Warfare against an enemy
is not more civilised in a Spanish dependency or in
Spain itself, now, than it was in Scotland in the
days of Bruce and Wallace. We are prepared
for a great outcry in Louisiana, and more
especially in New Orleans, against the inhu-
manity of the Spanish Government ; but we
believe that in the northern states, generally, public
opinion is against these piratical undertakings. At
all events, the New York Herald, Courier and En-
quirer, Tribune, and Republican, as well as the Wash-
ington Reporter, have pronounced against them.
Generals Lane and Macalla, indeed cry out against
the American consul at Cuba, and proclaim that
much American blood has been shed. In read-
ing over the names of the victims, however, we per-
ceive that the sufferers have been chiefly Germans,
Hungarians, Poles, and men of Spanish or Irish
descent. The character of the crime, whatever the
nationality of the criminals, remains unaltered.
The Government of America must prevent bands of
adventurers from prostituting her flag to piracy,
. or must accept the consequences of her criminal
apathy.