New-York tribune., 1891-08-27
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE FILIBUSTERs.


milan 4 Co.
The story of the alibusters Is certainly one which
could not consistently have been omitted from iho
Adventure series. II is that OF men who were Dorm
out of time: who belonged rather to the six.eentn
than to the nineteenth century; and who uhue'UooA
enterprises which In the nature of the general SITUATION
were hopeless. A strange defect OF mcn'ai .iSio"
prevented thenf from pcrcciving that the age anu CIR
cumstances were against them. not thai inc ase va"
superior to them In morals, for 1t was NOT ino wv
great powers with which they found tnemSe'e" @ az
Issue had both done many things more than the MI
hnstnrs at,cmnted put those iniquities were perpe
trated under the Shelter Of National pohcS, anu
therefore could not be compared with the ieeoie e
porments OF individuals. Yet the greau poMers '
not altogether escape moral fespohsipihV III '0
premises. They had set examples Oh ""io''"o''
which the simpleminded flbusters thought IL se 70
follow and their unsophistcafed reasoning Drousn'
them TO grief Filbustering in Its more pronouhcou
arnects naturally and tly took Its rise In California
Tho hrconants of 40 furnished by far the greater
part of the fighting force. The leaders usually hau
some more or less definite purpose IN Te"' rs .lo
conquest OF Lower California or Nicaragua o"' "0
rank and file were for the most part pure ~"
ventnrers who went quite as much for the SAKE Oh
xc,.eroont md the sheer love of fighting as In the
hope Of plunder
The earlier enterprises, such as those Of Nina ana
et-Boulbon, wildly hopeless from tne De
Ginning They were in the nature Of reckless a'epS
by small groups of rovers 70 wrest territories io
pcopes supported by strong Governments. They h"a
10 contend with the power OF Spain, OF Engahu, VI
the United States and they collapsed speedily Inc
expeditions OF william Walker in Nicaragua were more
serous and al one time looked though some denie
result would be achieved. Walker, no dOuo'' was
as eeitimately President Of Nicaragua as any OF MS
predecessors and he maintained his authority Ners
much as they had done, namely, by tho sworu' ~ ue
land OF anarchy and perennial revolutions where he
a
less counted for nothing The situation OF the country
could not be made than II was ana almost any
kind of strong government would have maze IL pe''e
Walker, however, handicapped from inc o"'So'
by fatally bad and immoral policy Jamaican pro
slavery man. main object to extend the area OF
slavery and that at the very moment when Tue >or'
and South were about to engage In deathgnp over
this question He had the courage OF MS coh'lc.ohS
but that only made his case worse Tor nc iurnsheu
his enemies with Qualifications for the most r'uch
measures against him. Mr.. Roche In telling the story
permits his admiration Of Walkers bodness and ex-
ecutive abilities to obscure the ibusers defects ana
10 make him appear good deal moro victim than ne
really was. It is true that the employment OF the
armed forces OF the United States against man who
was both "de facto" and "de jure" President OF
friendly neighbor Government. was wholly un]usuha-
HE II was in fact an nternatosal outrage; but Of
a kind unhappily which great powers have not In
frequently committed upon feeble ones
Nevertheless Walker was an intruder, an INVADER
n mischief making foreigner, who depended upon
violence to establish himself over people who had
not invited and did not want him; and the pro
slavery policy which be so openly announced lnVoNeu
the gravest injury to Nicaragua, threatened all Centra
America, and practically made the advocate OF II
ahostis humani generis.5 ID is unreasonable to
treat the flibusters and especially Walker, as men
In any way comparable TO the projectors OF LAWFUL en-
terprises They were essentially outlaws, ana then
undertakings were criminal We may admire the des
perate gallaatry with which they fought, ana the
cooness with which they met the fate which almost
invariably befell them; but we must remember con
anuaIly that they took their lives in their hands
when they ,set out, and that their schemes were
not less rcprehensbe than those of professional ps
ands The fact that the unscrupulous slaVe-o"hcrs
of the ,South made deliberate policy OF lust such
brirandage and through 1t drew on the country 70
the Infamous war with Mexico, must NOT blind us 10
,be reol nature OF those undertakings, nor can the
often heroic bravery of the fbuscrs alter the TACT
that they fought and died in an indefensolo cause
A. regards Walker, the United States has but one
really serious responsibility. The surrender OF him
70 the Honduras authorities on the failure OF his last
expedition was an act of perfdy and cruelty rot 70
he excused His captors knew perfectly well that
IN delivering him up they sending him TO his
DEATH and that death they therefore are as strictly
accountable in the OF ethics though they had
shot him themselves.
He was. however, an incorrigble outlaw and mis-
probably got himself killed, II not in battle or by
platoon as a prisoner then by the too common means
of assassination His success never could have bene-
nted any one, not himself. He does not appear
TO have been rapacious seseeking, but greedy ad
have never been as mischievous as the un-
selfish fanactics, and Walkers fanaticism was OF
peculiarly sinister stamp Mr. Roche has made very
interesting chronicle Of the rayeyed Of destiny
and certainly has put his in the best possible
Hight. Two hundred years ago such man might have
been "Conquistadcr' a buccaneer, and nave
achieved something permanent and even perhaps Deno-
cent In the present century his schemes were wholly
visionary and his energies wasted and to-day MS
story is interesting chiefly belonging to extinct
kind of awless adventure. The publishers have COM
pleted this volume by udiclously curtelled arrange
ment Of David Crocketts once famous autobiography
Apart from the Inherent Interest Of this naive and
simple narrative, which is undoubtedly great 1t
possesses quality which should mako 1t n classic
Not only is it the genuine unvarnishcd presentation Of
typical character the like Of which longer be
found, but II is storehOuse OF American slang and
arcllaism. which can hardly be overvalued.
Davy Crockett's autobiography offers and richer
specimens Of the old dialect Of the Southwest than
probably any other book extant In his pages be
found many words and phrases the genesis and mean
ing of which have perplexed phlologlsts and fire.
oienty his context illustrates the true Significance OF
these modes OF expression quite luminously. His lack
of education has here served him well. for. being
Ignorant OF all literary fashions or conventions, he
wrote as he spoke and his neghbors spoke and thus
produced a manual OF Tennessean dialect which is fun
of suggestion and enlightenment OF course. to the
average reader the chief interest OF the autobiography
st lies in the stirring character Of the record. and 1t
NAV be said without hesitation that 1t is one Of the
most yivacous as we'll of the manifest and most
Characteristic OF chronicles David Crockett Will
ALWAYS be a favorte hero with the American people.
and he deserves to be and though ii cannot be said
that he invariably lived to his own motto" BE sure
vou are right: then aheadS-he was unouestonably
an honest man as we'll as brave one