New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-01-07

Our fllibusters Of to-day, by wap of showing
come precedent forthe sort Ofprvate war whichthey
claim the liberty of carrying on against our Spanish
| American neighbours refer US, with much gusto to
several incidents N the past history Of this Cont
nent Prominent among these are the Spanish
conquest Of so large part Of America; the English
expeditions in Queen Elizabehs time against these
same Spanish settlements; and the like operations
carried on by the fibusters Of the West Indies in
the latter half of the seventeenth century 1t Will
| require however but very slight examination of
either Of these cases to show that they bore no sort
ofresembsnce 10 The operations which they are
now cited to justify.
1t is true that many, and indeed most, Of the es-
petitions Of conquest directed by the Spanisrds
against different parts Of America, within the first
half century after the discovery of the Continent,
were fitted ont and carried on at private expense.
| But al these adventures took care to furnish
themselves with commissions emanating directly or
| indirectly from the King Of Spain, in whom alone
was supposed to rest the authority of reducing
these States TO sutectiai-an authority confirmed,
| if not conferred by the famous Papsl bull for
dividing the Indas between Spain and Portugal
il was n virtue Of this authority, emansting from
| the Government of which they were subjects, and
not out of any private right Of conquest vested in
individuals that all these expeditions were under.
taken, thing sufficiently evident from the single
fact that the most successful of these Adventures
instead Of setting up any doctrine OF eXpatriatiOn,
and claiming by virtue Of it to be conquerors in
their own right, acknowledged themselves all the
time to be mere officers of the King of Spain, sub
cct to be displaced at his pleasure, and oil their
acquisitions as but parts of the Spanish dominion.
We come now to the English expeditions under
taken BY Drake, Hawkins, Granville ana vtirro, a..
the latter half of Queen Elizabeths reign against
the Spanish settlements in the West Indies and
South America. 1t is true that most of these ex-
petitions also fitted by private enterprise, aud
il is also true that the earliest of them had no com
missions from the Queen to make reprisas or COM
NIT hostihties against the Spaniards. But already
that misunderstanding had taken place between
Phillip III and Elizabeth which ended very soon
after in open war; and Drake aud his cOmpatriOts
acted in full confidence, justified by the event, that
their operations against the Spanish colonies would
be regarded by the Government hot ss undertaken
Moreover, il s to be observed of these operations
that they were in the nature of rcprisals upon
spain for alleged injuries received from her, and
that the conquest or permanent occupation OF any
of the Spanish colonies formed no part of the plan
of those who undertook them.
Nor will even the case of the famous buccaneers
and fbusters of the latter half Of the seventeenth
century serve at all precedent for our modern
Americanizers. The origin of the buccaneers was
this: 1t is well known that the Spsniards pre-
tended TO monopoly of the right of settlement in
America. This claim extended even to the north
en parts of the continent, but was enforced with
special wstchfulness and jealousy to the shores
| and islands of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf
| of Mexico. Ofthe settlements attempted there BY
I numerous Dutch, French and English adyenturers
great many were broken up by the Spsniards. Some
of the planters however cOntryed to escape to the
woods where they lived for while chiefly ON the
cured meat of the wild cattle and hogs which had
become numerous in many of the West India Islands
| "a circumstance whence was derived the name OF
Buccaneers. As opportunity occurred they renewed
their plantations and in the intervals the planting
season attempted some reprisals against the Span.
iards, whose vessels often laden with rich cargoes,
were alone seen at that time in the West India
| seas. These cruises were at first carried Oh in
small boats which without yenturing far from the
shore lay in wait for such Spanish vessels as might
pass by. These adventures, as they acquired
more means, possessed themselves of Vly-boats
"a Kind of small, swift-saing craft, built
originally on the river Wy, in Holland, the Bal.
| timore clippers of that day-frOm use of which
vessels these adyenturers obtained the name
Flpbnstrs, which, for ease of pronunciation. has
been since corrupted into Fiibusters. Uniting in
fleets and squadrons, these adventures no longer
limited their enterprises to cruises at sea, but at
| tackled and pluudsred many Spanish cities on the
coast of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
They even pushed across the lsthmus of Panama
and extended their raysges to the Pacific coast.
But in the first place, all this was done merely
in the way of reprissls and without any view 10
conquest or occupation, and in the second place,
even these adventures did not claim TO wage war
on their own authority, but undertook to Justify
their Plundering operations under commission
obtained, directly or indirectly, from some
| established government During the long war be-
tween France and Spain, from 1886 TO 1000, 1t was
chiefly under French commissions that the buccs-
neers, then in their infancy carried on their opera
tons. But as al offset to that Spanish arrogance
which had claimed TO exclude all other nations from
the West India seas, the Spanish commerce in
those seas was regarded BY the other msratime ma
tons OF Europe as even during peace, in certain
sense, fair plumber. Hence they were cOuntenanced
for time by both Holland and England One of
their leaders was knighted by Charles H.. and
/ nnnther Ma snnontnd Gnxarnnr &c I....;.. In