The Washington herald., 1915-05-13
The "Brethren of the Coast"
Published by special ihh the President through
The NC MGR hnhcn Sru6ic

I Al first they contented themselves with
an Illicit trade at the unguarded ports of
quiet. half-desertcd islands like Hispa nj
| GA. where they could get hides and tai
low. smoked beef and sailed pork. in
exchange for goods struggled in from
| Europe.
But they did not long stop at that
/ The exciting risks and notable profits Of
the business made 1t grow like story
| OF adventure The ranks Of the lawless
| traders filled more and more with every
sort of reckless adventurer and every
sort of unquiet spirit who found the or
binary world stale and longed for a
| change of luck. Is we'll as with hosts OF
common thieves and natural outlaws.
| Such men. finding themselves newt
ably consorting. felt their comradeship.
| heiped one another when they could,
ana made common cause of robbing
spain. calling themselves Brethren of
the Coast"
They took possession. as their number,
increased. or the little twin islands Of
ST. Christopher and Nevis for rendez-
vous and headquarters, and fortified dis
tant TortuSa for a stronghold; and their
power grew apace through all the seven
teenth century. until no Spanish ship was
safe on the seas though she carried the
flag Of an admiral. and great towns
either to buy them of or submit to be
SdChcu at tHtlT
They mustered formidable fleets and
counted their desperate seamen by the
thousands.
They were most numerous most power
full. most to be feared at the very time
the English colony was begun at Charles
ton Q6ao. All the English sea coast at
the South. indeed. was theirs in a sense
They were regulars. not outlaws. when
France or Holland or England was at
Or nj h.
ments did not scruple to give them let
tiers of marque when they needed their
assistance at sea
English buccaneers had helped Sir VIII
liam Penn take Jamaica for Cromwell
i'll 1853. And when there was no war, the
silent. unmatched harbors OF the long
American sea coast were their favorits
places of refuge and repair.
New Providence. England's best an
choraGe and most convenient port Of rem
devious in the Bahamas became their
chief place of welcome and recruiting
The coming of settlers did not disconcert
them 1t pleased them. rather
The settlers did not modest them-nad
secret reasons. as they knew. to he glad
to see them. There were the English
navigation laws as well as the Spanish
to be evaded. and the goods they brought
10 the closed markets were very chear
and very welcome-and no questions
were asked.
They were abundantly welcome too. to
he goods they bought. For thirty years
their broad pieces of gold and their
Spanish silver were almost the only cur
'ency the Carolinas could get hold of
Governors winked at their coming ant
allowed them to sell their
spanish prizes in English ports.
Charleston. too. and the open bays OF
AlbemarIe Sound were not more open to
hem than New York and Philadelphia
md Providence. and even now and again
he ports of Massachusetts,. They got no
mall part of their recruits from among
he lawless and shiftless men who came
'ut Of England or Virginia to the Caro-
mas for a new venture in a new coun-
ry where law was young.
Tomorrow: PENIS Return to Power.