The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-04-29

-AAAs --F NN
yarn. and thread. sewing silk. and
nearly all Of the tissues and filaments
| for which Great Britain IS famous to-
day. Better than these. a leasc 80 far
as The. wants Of the age concern
| I'd. these foreigners brought over the
| good, practical knowledge OF metal
| lurgy and m~etalsrniIhery. They start
| ed f1rges and f~ouaderies: introduced
new systems in making wrought iron
| and steel; they taught how TO found in
| brass and bronze. and h0.. 20 produce
| the best n armOr. From
this period on daces the superiority Of
| English metal work. Up 10 that time
| the Flemings had been the great mas
tiers. and from now il was the English.
Much OF the tale IS told in many fam
lily names, such as Fleming, Holland.
Weaver. instead Of Webster. Wallfng.
and butcher.
!! THE EVOLUTION OF ENGLAND.
What * of no less value was the
average Immigrant himself. He was
rugal Industrious. intelligent, and
trained. He was OF the right blood for
improving the English stock He add
ed The qualities which Were TO make
England the head of the greatest en-
pire the world has ever known. In this
early development Queen Elizabeth
took a deep interest and A14ped il
NA---S I" ADACAAA iANAA 49, -
too highly extolled. She saw in a dim
way that the future depended upon a
powerful navy. and probably was in
fiuenced, if not inspired, by he sea
captains and heroes who We're so prom
inent a feature OF her court. The Gus
toms duties were remirted in hol or
part 70 subjects who imported goods
in native bottoms, while in many in
dusrries and ~monopolies foreign boz
toms We're prohibited 10y law. AS early
as the eighth ear of her Teign the cor
poratiOn of Trinity House was made
the great naval institution which il
has been ever since.
Under this policy the royal navy was
soon second only 10 that Of Spain and
the mercantile marine became numer-
Gus and prosperous. rad was estab-
lished with Russia, Armenia, Persia,
and Turkey: the gold coast OF Guinea
and Brazil, n a lucrative commerce
was begun, which has " ceased in
three centuries. During his time pri-
Watering reached probably its highest
development. This is Of interest today
on account of the fact that the United
States and Spain are two of the three
countries which refused to sign the
treaty of Paris abOlishing the practice.
The general idea of privateering in
those years was that a person who had
suffered loss at the hands of a for
eigner, and who could not obtain re
dress by law, applied to his sovereign
for letters of marque, so that he could
make reprisals upon ships belonging
to hat foreigners fellOW-countrymen,
and thus recoup his losses.
HONOR TO THE FREEBOOTERS.
The English race owes much TO the
~freeboOters and of the six
tenth century. Among hose Were
Sir John Hawkins, Robert Baker, Sir
Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh,
Martin FrObisher. John and Sebastian
Cabot, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and
Lord Charles Howard. They were su-
perb types of men, physically and men
tally, and While their morals might
NOT pass muster according to modern
standards, they are better in many re-
spects han those which prevailed at
the time. In war they fought like
lions, while in peace, and especially
in commercial transactions, they were
remarkably truthful and honest Thus
while they struck terror into the Span
ish min they made warm friends
and admirers among the merchants Of
other nations. 1t was no uncommon
thing for the great ~freeboOters to car
ry gold and other valuables for friends
from ONE country to another, and no
case is on record of a complaint against
their fair dealings and probity in such
matters.
In another point Spain has Indirectly
affected the development of the Anglo
Saxon race. Her cruelty, bigotry, and
craft infused so much dread i'm SenSi-
tive. men and women in the Neither
lands that it caused them in many in
stances to leave their homes forever,
in order to reach countries where there
was nc danger from the land of the
inquisition. Many, as related, Went to
England, and many went to the new
world and became settlers of the col
onies. 1t is difficult to estimate the
extent of this EXODUS, but it is certain
that thousands of Hollanders, FIeEn-
ings, H~uguenots, Frisians, and Wal
looms came to this continent in the
siXteem century largely on account
of the infamieS and atrocities Of Span
iSh rule and Spanish warfare.
There is :. certain justice, therefore,
in the prospect that the youngest mem
| Der of the AnglO-SaXOn race shOul he
| the instrument selected by providence
| for the destruction of the last VeStiges
of Spanish power in the new world,
and of Spanish prestige in both old
and new.
1t was the success of the f~reebooters,
and the glowing reports that they
| brought back of the new landS be
| yond the sea, that began the move
| menC OF continuation. IlHS SldIteu
| practically when the first settlement
was made I'M Newfoundla) in 1888.
This was followed in rsa~<succession
| by colonies in Virginia, maryland, and
| New England, and by the beginning of
| the flow of a human river which, in the
| course of three centuries, has become
a perfect Amazon of humanity.
SPAIN IN THE INDIES.
The story of the colinization of the
| West indies throws another interesting
| sidelight upon the bloodthirsty career
| of Spain. AT the time of the discovery
of the new world by Columbus these
islands We're peopled by a docile, af-
f~ectionate race known as Caribs- They
appear 10 have been like the
Malays of the far east or possibly the
Aztecs and Tolecs than like the red
sknns of either North or South America.
They were of a browniSh or reddlSh
brown color, we'll built and OF pleasant
mien and demeanor. Those that We're
taken to Europe were spoken OF very
highly by the people Of thai period.