The New York herald., 1851-10-18

rvVIce6UJ8Lly0 crown
Belize legislative assembly, and . stpsndiary msgs
trste The 3lst 32d, and ssd articles follows
81 All perons now In occupation Of any land shs II
receive grants from the for the free Of
pent provided that such parties shall register their
peation for such grants within six months after the
arrival o. Inc Iagstrats and provided that such parties
shall pay Tor the survey and the preparation ana regis
trstion Of such grant.
81. All land fOs which no application is registered
within Elk months after the arrival Of the magistrate
shall be dee med the property OF the crown.
S3 All land the property Of the crown shall oe pu.
up to sale by auction lots and at the price OF and
a halt do. Jars per acre.
These paragraphs do not at first glance appear
to be at all alarming, and would, most likely, be
passed by the general reader, as ordinary items OF
news, somewhat obscure and ipexplcable, but OF
no serious import Yet they contain nothing more
nor less than the distinct announcement Of the ter
ritorial dismemberment of q sister republc-no-
thing more nor less than the seizure by Great Br-
tain of this "New Gibraltar" "ths key to the
Bay of Honduras" of another position of grea.
importance, both in commer: :al and political
point of view," in the Gulf of Mexico, AMI of the
forging of another link in that chain of ''com-
mandipg positions" which hem in the United States
from Labrador to Panama. The possession Of the
Bermudas, Jamaica, the Belize, and the Bay Islands,
enables Great Britain to form complete cA de sac
around the Gulf Of Mexico, and the eastern termi-
nus of the proposed great inter oceanic canal.
With this suggestion, we commend the following
passage from Fraa1s Magasine, to the attention of
every American reader
From her magnificent station at Halifax Great Britain
overhaDgs with her fleets the whole OF the Atlantic
board of America From Halifax she is within two days
sail Of Boston, within four of New York and within five
of the Delaware From Bermuda that lonely watch
of England the deep which is TO the southern
ports OF America what Halifax is to the northern she
within days FAIL of Cape May at the mouth of the
O Chesa apeak
bay-of Cape Fear the coast Of North Carolina-of
Charleston, the principal city Of South Carolina, and
chief seaport OF the Southof Savannah aud Daren the
main outlets Of the commerce OF Georgia-ani of st.
Augustine the Atlantic coast of Florida, and the
chief entreport Of that Peninsula Thus, from Halifax
she directly commands the coast from the Bay of Fuudy
to Cape May and from Bermuda, the remainder Of il
from Cape Msy to st Augustine The Halifax squadron
could blockade Boston and New York while the Ber-
muda squadron by cruising between the Delaware and
the Chesapeake might put Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Washington, and Richmond in state of blockade
After ffteen years of aggression, the State of Hon.
duras has at length been openly despoiled of the
Bay Islands, and they have passed into the grasp
England dependency of Belize, which is itself
British usurpation. Let no one be deceived as to
the nature of the deed, by the plausible terms in
which its contamination Is promulgated nor fall
into the error OF supposing that the general
NEE ting" Of August 10, was anything more than
sheer ,ton-the meek faced usher of an unblus hing
felony. Be it understood, it was no Mosquito
king" but general meeting" which transferred
the Bay Islands to British keeping-tho old charac
ter in a new mask, and under another name.
But our present object is to present a suseinct
sketch Of the history of these islands, and expose
the steps tt rough which their seizure has been ef
fected. Boanaca, then called Guanaja, was dis
severed by Columbus on his fourth voyage, in 1902
lie took possession of it on behalf of SPAN, and
discovered, and in like manner took
possession Of Ruatan. He went thence to the
southwark, discovering the coast of Honduras, and
aed along the continent to the isthmus of Darien.
Amongst all maritime nations, and at all periods,
discovery has been understood to convey the title of
sovereignty; and therefore, these islands, and the
adjacent coasts Of the continent were universally
recognized as pertaining to the domains OF Spain.
She remained in uHdisputed possession OF them uz-
til the swarming Of the buccaneers when the Gulf
Of Mexico ard the Caribbean sea became infested
by Iratical hordes A great majority Of these free
booters were Englishmen-not Alalays or Bornese;
their vessels were Of British build-not awkward
unks ard open prahus. Nor was there any feet, or
self constituted neighboring Rsjah, ready, with
British ofeers and seamen, TO infict terrible chas
tisement upon them by Wholesale butcheries, as in
he recent case Of the Sarbas Dyaks. On the cen
trary, they were openly aided by the English Of ia
n aiea who, with scarce an exception, were either
pirates the accessories Of pirates jamaica at this
time, was supported by the buccaneers, and it is
notorious that its governors themselves became
associated with their leaders, and shared their plum
der. 30 scandalous became the conduct OF some
Of them, that the crown, although little disposed
distr btch .,,h "a L..
its wealth and revenues, was compelled to remove
them. "The King Of England" says the pirate
Esqueneling, writing in 1910, "to satisfy the King
Of Spain, recalled some Governors of Jamaica but
this did not prevent the pirates from doing as be-
fore"
Not fatisfed with their depredations on the sea,
the pirates, embodied by success, made descents
upon the land, and captured, pillaged, and burn;
almost every accessible city or town the Spanish
Main. They organized q system Of land lcy,
in many respects more terrible than that which
they had practised on the ocean. They made ex.
cursions into Costa Rica. Nicaragua, Honduras
and Guatemala, as well as in the frontier pro.
vineos CT New Granada and Mexico. They even
de perm stations al various secluded places
On the main land ard on the adjasent Islands,
where they rcndezvoused after their various expe-
ditors to divide their spoils, re, ard organize for
new adventures. Bluefelds and Cape Gracias a
Dios, on the Mosquito shore, AMI that part Of
Guatemala now called Belize, we're favOrite locali-
ties with these outlaws. Bluefelds and Belize
10th derive their very names from pirate chief.
tains, and their subscquen; career has been in
entire harmony wi h their origin.
IL can readily be supposed that the island Of
Ruatan, with its safe and excellent harbors, ine
climate, and abundant supplies, could not long es.
cape the attention Of the cut throa: rovers. An
English detachment Of that honorable fraternity
made descent upon It as early as l6i2, and o. he
tame time captured Guanaja, or Bonaca, and the
neighboring Islands. "These positions" says the
historian Juarros, "were exceedingly advantageous
to them, and proportionatey injurious to the span.
iards, because, being near the main land, the
Enghth (pirates) were enabled 10 make their do.
scents whenever thew pleased and with