New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-29

AN EARLY HISTORY OF THE BUCCANEERS
REPRINTED

REPRINTED
THE nrccASEERs OF AMERICA, True c AS-
Wed Of Late Year, ,s npcn the coass Gf iee
and rortu 2iS Goth EngsS and rcnc Where
in Are Contained More EspeciaIiy the nn-
English Jamaican Hero who Sacked Porto
Bello. Burnt Panama. etc. by John Esquemel-
at those tragedies. Now faithfully. rendered
into. English. With fac,similes Of all The
ported by Charles scribners Sons.
Piracy dill not wear the same aspect to the
view OF people in the sixteenth seventeenth
and much Of the eighteenth centuries that II
has worn to generations since those adventu-
rous and rufiianly times Though cruelty was
always deprecated by the few or the many,
the pirate was deemed. on the whole. a pictur-
esque and praiseworthy ADVENTURE. as long
as he preyed on the subjects Of power TO
which he owed allegiance Scafaring from
time imm emorial had been tainted with laWless
violence. and ut the opening Of the modern
period Of history religious controversy had en-
Uttered the national rivalries of Europe. and
had converted many a ship captain into
murderous partisan. Almost from the date Of
discovery the religious dispute had complicated
the question Of prOpretorship in the New
World. When the "Bishop Of Rome" as Eliza
beth called him with diplomatic contempt. ran
a line around the earth and gave Spain all
she could find in one part, and Portugal all
she could pick up in another the rest Of the
world simply went in to seize and carry off
whatever valuable and portable and to
settle down upon much Of the new land as
ii could hold by force Of arms On ,he most
gigantic scale exemplineG the fact that
earth make 1axv
judgment which will stand against the will
Of the majority. Under such conditions the
irregular and sangunary warfare Of wander
ing traders and adventurers, Of cattle-drivers
logwood cutters, planters and laborers, against
the colonies Of Spain seemed cxcusablc. if not
legitimate. "To applications addressed to the
various European princes by Spain. as re-
marked in the Introduction to the present To-
print Of Esquemeling's narrative. "for redress
OF injuries committed by their subjects in Amer
lean waters. the usual answer was to the ef-
feet that the King of Spain was at liberty to
proceed as he pleased against all persons act
ing without their commission. Elizabeth Of
England with greater frankncss. replied that
the Spaniards themselves were to blame for
the depredations complained OF. which were
brought on solely by their own severe and I'M
just dealing. She did not understand why her
SUBJECTS SNOulu De ucDdrIeu from Traffic In
America. would she acknowledge titles
given by the Bishop Of Rome To lands Of which
Spain not in actual possession. This un-
satisfactory state of affairs further aggravated
by religious differences lasted from the early
visits Of Hawkins, Drake and others to the
end of the Thirty Years War. during which
period the interopers were continually rein |
forced, first by the buccaneers proper from
HiSpdniOla and secondly ofa oil
nations serving under the Protestant flag such
as the Sea Beggars from the revolted Neither |
lands, French Huguenots, etc"
SPAIN alarmed by the exploits OF such men |
as Sir Francis Drake and by the gradual ad-
vance Of foreign colonies in America entered |
upon Of determination. The Adventures
simply redoubled their efforts. a blood-red flag
raised on a Spanish vessel was answered in
stantly with the same color on its pratical
opponent. 1t was under such conditions that
there grew up an ideal corsair, the embodiment
Of all the courtesy and chivary which afore-
time were credited to another armed brute, the
nailed knight Of the Middle Ages Compare
such picture with the reality as pcrsonlhed
n Pierre lie Grand Bartholomew the Portu.
suese, Roche Brasiliano, Francis rOlonos. Sir
Henry Morgan. Blackboard, England Low
Roberts, Kidd and Avery, and one may easily SEQ
no" Il cutthrOal VINO grained a national hatred /
might be envcoped in "A halo Of romance
But 1t must not be forgotten that the early
buccaneers ever at their worst. retained some
good traits They were uniformly friendly to the
natives and 1t was to the good Offices OF these
people. whom the Spaniards had often cruelty
nisused that they owed many Of their victories.
They were also often Economically faithful IN
ZACH other. 1T not an uncommon practice
or two buccaneers to swear brotherhood IN
stand by each other during life, and each N
make the other his heir. and these curious
once entered into were observed
With fidelity almost touching" On the other
iand outside OF these narrow friendships they
we're as Indifferent to each others veal or
voc as so many animals.
According TO the Dutchman EsQuemeling al,
his guerilla warfare. which finally ragged around
Utmost the whole circumference Of South Amer
ca, had a very insignificant beginning. Though |
lie called these volunteers against the Spanish
power In America pirates. he was careful TO / ,
ay mat he gave them this name only because
hey were not maintained upheld in their |
cuons by any Sovereign Prince" He him
en had been one of them. On going out TO
he New World, he had been sold as a slave
Iho "hen he was released he found almost
~ alternative besides the life Of an adj .
enturer' The same was the with hun
reds Of others. Such men, without means. '
Vi'h DEBT, perhaps. hanging over them for ,
heir liberty were ripe for anything and 1t I