Old Virginia and her neighbours

THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATES. 345favourable to the growth of piracy. At the sametime the temptations were unusually strong. Therewas a vague widespread belief that America wasa land abounding in treasure, and there Spanishwere facts enough to explain such a be- *'^^*^"''®lief.Immense quantities of gold and silver werecarried across the Atlantic in Spanish ships, to saynothing of other articles of value. This treasurewas used to support a war which threatened Englishliberty, and therefore English cruisers wereright in seizing it wherever they could. But itonly needed that such cruising should fall into thehands of knaves and ruffians, and that it shouldbe kept up after Spain and England were reallyat peace, for this semi-mediaeval warfare to developinto a gigantic carnival of robbery and murder.And so it happened.It was toward the end of thesixteenth century,in the course of the great Elizabethan war, thatthe West Indies witnessed thefirst appearance ofthe marauders known as " Brethren of the Coast."They were of various nationalities, chieflyFrench, English, and Dutch. They all buccaneerregardedSpain as the world's great bullythat must be teased. The Spaniards had wonsuch a reputation for tyranny and cruelty thatpublic opinion was not shocked when they weremade to swallow a dose or two of their own medicine.After peace had been declared, any foreignadventurers coming to the West Indies were liableto be molested as intruders, and their ships sometimeshad to fight in self-defence. Wherefore themore unscrupulous rovers, expecting ill-treatment,