The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-01-29
llu baEon De CuseyIs BOOK on Marat-
Rights.
THE ANCIENT FILIBUSTGRS.


THK ANCIENT FILIBUSTERS.
A Lea from History-DarlBg and
! AIroeieRs Bceds OF the Old Bneea-
neeTs.
While the everyday life OF fiiibus-
ters IS signalized By depredations .of
all kinds On the sea-the piilage OF YES
sells. massacre OF crews, dc, resemb-
ling IN this the life OF every pirate who
wages war on his own account, for
plunder--still the association of fili-
busters ought not to be eonfounded
with ordinary pirates. However, we
I must acknowledge that the definition
given by Alzuni is applicable 10 both:
4 s"Ibe pirate is he who trayerses the
seas with an armed ship, without COM
mission or patent of any prince or SOW
ereign, but only on his own private
authority, with the view Of seiZing
and appropriating, by force, all the
ships he may meet" The only differ
enee, in effect, between pirates aud
filib0sters IS that the former have ex-
Isted in all times, do still exist, and
are met with in every latitude, while
the fllibusters existed only at = par
ticular period, and composed an asso-
citation of French and English cor
ssirs, the theatre OF whose depreda-
tions was especially the seas of the
Antilles, and which came to an end
toward the close OF the 18th century.
This strange association, without
! Law, without real discipline, without
any other esprit de CORPS than that Of
lbsseaads, was formed before France
and England had formed regular es-
/ tsblishments in the Antilles. 1t di-
reeted its efforts more especially
| against the Spanish ships commits,
stoned to transport 10 Edrope the
gold, silver and precious stones OF
America, rarely attacking vessels re-
| turning from Europe. The Associa-
ton ceased to exist when the govern
ments of France and England had or
| ganized a strong administration in
| their colonies in the Antilles, and had
determined to promote and foster the
development Of those Islands.
We shall not abuse the indulgence
of the reader retracing here in long
detail the history OF the Association 4
of Filibusters. its expeditions, its rap
id increase, and its end; but it seems
difficult to refrain from some remind /
er of that Association of eorsairs which Z
played so important role in the Nth
century, and which, although it was /
beyond the pale of the law of nations, I
was vet in avowed relatione with the /!
authorities of San Domingo, who I
placed no obstacles in the way OF its
expeditions, its robberies, or its divis- [
ion of the spoils. We must Lot for I
get that the Association of Filibus-
ters, so we'll known to cur readers, I
wSs neither pursued nor fought by the !
regular governments, and that it can I
not, therefore, furnish any useful in
struction in the maritime law OF ma .
tions with all its acts Violated.
At first the islands of TOrtugas and 1
st. Christopher, which were taken 1
from the Spaniards, served as place /!
of rendezvous for the cOrsairs belong /
ing to the association, but later, and .
when il came to the division Of the 4
spoiIs, the English resorted to Jamaica I
and the French to San Domingo.
The association of iilibustar>, /
known also as "brotheTs of the coast" /
has counted among its members men
of great daring and intrepidity, but I
also Of extreme cruelty. III it had had /
leaders capable Of disciplining it, ana |
bringing it under a regularly organ !
lied control, it would probably have |
been able TO preserve its conquests, |
and to form an independent state /
which would have taken rank among |
the Christian nations CT the earth. |
Rome had not more honorable be-
ginning.
Among the Instances of daring CT
which the remembrance has been pre- /!
served, the following are worthy of |
mention: Pierre lie Grand,O of Dieppe |
comm 3nded an armed vessel OF /
four guns, with q crew of % men. He /
boarded the ship Of the Spanish Vice /
Admiral, who was conducting some 1
galleons TO Madrid f; he took posses |
sion of the persons OF this command !
er, and Of the officers OF his staif, and |
put them on shore at the first Oppor-
unity, and then conducted the ves-
sci, with its rich cargo, to the princi- |
pal rendezvous Of the association.
Before Cartagena, two Spanish ves- I
sells OF war having come out to give /
chase to three small vessels manned 4
by French filibusters, they were cap I
tured by the pirates whom they had
been sent to destroy, and their crews
were contemptuOusly returned 10 1
Cartagena.
A French fiIibuster named Laur- /
ent, commander of a small vessel, is !
surprised by two Spanish ships pre-
senting together 120 mouths of fire 4
Laurent, by his vigorous resistance,
and with an intrepidity which seems
almost supernatural, Intimidates the
crews of the Spanish vessels, kills a
large number of Spaniards, and es-
capes, after having inflicted great in
jury upon the ships which had attack
ed him
A gentleman of LanguedOc, named
Montbars, joined the filibusters, i'm
PEELED by the hatred which he had
borne the Spaniards from his infancy |
whose atrocities in their establish
ments in America had excited his de-
testation. He became one OF the most
daring chiefs of the association. His
feroeiOus character, which won for
him the title of iExterminator, "gave
a new impulse TO the fillibusters, aud
terrified the SpaDiards who lived on
or near the sea. He was hardly
equaled in ferOcity by L'OlOnais; but
the rage of Montbars, while venting
llSEll kt1C sJBahlGAAo oAAAIAy
cause they were Spaniards, never i'm
PEELED him to kill unarmed men,
whereas L'OlOnais seemed to feel the
most wolfish pleasure in Uurder, and
exulted at the sight of the sufferi1gs
and the blood of the unfortunEtes
who fell into his hands. Montbars,
who commanded the cOrsairs of the
fiiibusters for twenty years, sustained
with advantage several combats with
the English men-of-war, and the1
commander of one of those vessels,
having been compelled to lower his
flag, and seeing Montbars and his fol-
lowers about to board his ship, blew
her up. Montbars reached the eOsst
of Guinea, where he was put o.
board an English ship to be taken to
barbados and held as a prisoner, but
he was afterward released, and he re-
turned to Bordeaux, where he died in
100.
Among tue English fiitusters,
Morgan, or MOrghan, was the most
conspicuous. He attacked ana took
Porto BsllO, where he made blood
flow in streams and carried off an i'm
mense booty. He captured st. Cath
Arine, and in crossing the Isthmus of
Panama he made an incursiOnn into
the Spanish settlements of Central
America, carrying away everywhere
immense amounts of treasure, and
committing unheard-of cruelties on
Spanisrds and Indians, in order to
extort from them disclosures as 10
where their treasures were hidden.
Under the leadership of Van Horn,
who belonged to the French part Of
the association, an expedition was
undertaken against Vera Cruz; the
principal leaders, whose names have
been preserved, being Grammont, Of /
Paris, and Godfrey, JOuque. aud Lau-
rent de Giraffe, Dutehmen. The city
was piilaged and the prisoners were.
held to ransom at 100000 francs,
half Of which was paid in one day
This expedition, which was in 1858,
was followed little later by the one
against Peru, which lasted four years.
On their return, the greater Number
of tIiese audaeious adventures per-
ished by shipYreek in II g Strait Of