Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-02-08
From The New Orleans Crescent.
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BpCcAEEERkNG.
Recent transactions along the hanks Of
the Rio Grande, recall to memory the
bistoryof the Buccaneers. Francis Drake,
although h0nored with the patronage
and sanction Of Queen Elizabeth, in an
expedition, during a time of profound
peace, against the Spaniards and Portu-
guese who traded on the shores Of the
Pacific Ocean, then termed the South
Seas, and although he performed deeds
sufficiently daring and adventurous to be
entitled heroic unto an posterity, was,
nevertheless, as much a pirate and Free
bOoter, although a licensed one, as Nor
gan or Lolon0is.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries Spain and Portugal enioved
the monopoly Of the great mines Of gold
and silver and precious stones on the
continent Of South America, on the 18TH
mus, and in Mexico. Their seamen and
soldiers, though still a race Of bold, brave
men, had sadly degenerated from the
contemporaries Of PiZarrO and COrtez. and
were no match for the athletic despera-
does from the shores of Great Britain,
France and Holland.
In those days might made right.
Drake, full of ardOr and genius, obtained
an interview with Elizabeth. He in
famed her naturally c0vetous mind and
her Unsuitable ambition with descriptions
of the fabulous wealth annually brought
over TO the Spanish Peninsula in un-
wieldly and ~defenseless conveys from the
South Seas and finally, in violation of
all law and national comfy, prevailed
on the Queen to send him in command
Of a piratical expedition against these
treasure ships on their annual voyage
from the Spanish Main. The feats
Of Drake more of the fc-
tons related by poets and rO-
mancens Of Orlando and Amadis than
of the occurrences Of actual life. The
great armada had not then been de-
stroyed, and The supremacy OF Spain
was undisputed on the ocean but the
fearless Drake, with two or three cranky
little ships, sailed boldly out through the
British Channel, rounded the stormy
cape, attacked the Spanish man-of-war
that conveyed the precious arg0sies, and
after scattering or sinking ten times his
numbers and strength, returned to the
Thames with millions sterling of III got
ten wealth, and received the honors of
KnighthOod at the hands Of the Queen
herself.
Stimulated by his successes and by his
fame, other adventures, more obscure
and less able than Drake, bent their
course toward the Spanish Main. Estab-
fishing themselves upon the u~nfrequent-
/ ed islands along the coast, they built
vessels and formed crews to prey on
/ Spanish commerce. The Southern and
/ Central American colonies of spain had
dOurished with remarkable vigor under
the mild government Of the vicer0ys,
who, however, had no consideration for
the unfortunate aborigines. These poor
I people, together with the imported
slaves, were forced 10 toll without rest in
the mines, whist the faculties Of the COL
onists and the rulers were too much en-
crossed in adding to theirglittering heaps
to heed the ~defenseless condition of their
towns.
brakes operations had not been con-
fined to the sea he had attacked and
carried more han one of the strongest
Spanish works along the shores OF the
Pacific, against odds with which none
but a mailman ora freebooter would have
thought of c0ntending. his easy con-
quests exposed the weakness as well as
the riches Of the Spanish and Portuguese
colonies, as sherman, by pushing boldly
and ~recklessiy forward, exposed the
weakness Of the C~OnfedeTaCy. The egg
once made TO stand on end, the result
was plain. From every quarter OfNOrth-
ern and Western Europe, d~esperadoes
fOcked TO the standard of him from
amongst them who had given proofs OF
the most reckless cruelty and the most
fragrant disregard Of law.
Their rendezvous were uufreQuenUed
and desolaUe islands along the Spanish
Main where, in full security and out Of
the way Of commerce and intercourse,
they could strengthen their numbers and
mature their plans. They poured upon
the treasure laden g~alleous and the I'M
thinking and defeuseless towns with q
fury that admitted Of no resistance. They
committed atrocities unparalleled, and
after pillaging everything within their
reach and carrying OF the women, would
indulge in their remote island nests, in
orgies at which the b-acchaualians Of the
later Empire would have stood aghast.
But the OUtrages perpeUrated by them
finally became so terrible and Unnatural
as to exciue the horror and execration Of
the world. Even the Government of
Great Britain set its face against them, J
and the pirates were totally extermi- !
mated or scattered over other regions Of
the globe.
But the trouble Of the I1erian Colonies /
did not cease with the destruction Of the
buccaneers. Discussions succeeded
amongst the petty vice royalties, which
have kepto on increasing to the present J
day in ~virulence and b~loodshed, so that,
when theyokeof the parent countries had :
been thrown of, there was initiated a
system Of invasion by the stronger State
upon the weaker, as cOvetOusness or vim c
d~ictiveness prCmpted-a system which !
still endures in allits hideousness. {
The term bUccaneer was derived from
the habit the pirates of those seas were 5
addicted to, Of smoking the meat of their |
cattle in order TO preserve it. OF late
years it bias been exchanged for that of I
F1fhr7gr1p w~f7f4h =TwmrEru F-aannnraw or Z
one who depredates in q small vessel upon !
the high seas. The fIbusters who lately :
crossed from the Texan side Of the Rio !
Grande and pillaged the Mexican town :
of Bsgdad, were not Of so steadfast and :
reckless a nature as their truculeut protO- {
types, the buccaneers; the deed was I
boldly conceived, but the acbors did not I
keep pace in the sequel with the hardi- :
hood ard courage which were expected
Of them. They carried the u~nsuspecting 2
town in a perfectly lawless style, andvi0-
lated every human and divine law with
the same indiscriminate u~DcOucern but I
they abandoned the scene Of conquest in
inglori0Us haste, bundling OF the plum
der which now seems 10 have been their
chief aim, EuOt their only incentive.
1t is unfortunate in some respects, that {
this affair was cOncocted on the United r
States side Of the Rio Grande; for that :
circumstance will have exceeding weight /
in the negotiations Of this country with t
the governments Of Mexico and France.
can hardly believe the United States
authorities were c0gnizant Of the inten- b
tons Of the outlaws: but when the mat p
ter comes up for explanation and arbitra- 8
it viii be difficult to persuade the il
great powers Of Europe that a band of v
men, principally negroes, clothed in the
ofthe army Of the United States,
and carrying weapons and ammunition of q
The kind furnished to the soldiers of that Il
army, and even transporting PaTrott ar
lllery from one bank Of the river TO the "
other, could have accomplished their de- c
without the knowledge of those c
very authorities. a