The  first  Flibustier,  Lewis  Scott,  scared  Campeachy
with  a  few  canoes.  Grognet  grappled  the  Lima  fleet
with  a  whole  squadron  of  pirate  craft.  The  Bucca-
neer spirit  arose  from  revenge,  and  ended  in  robbery
and  murder.  At  first  fierce  but  merciful,  they  grew
rapacious,  loathsome,  and  bloody.  Their  early  chiv-
alry forsook  them — they  sank  into  the  enemies  of  God
and  all  mankind,  and  the  last  refuse  of  them  expired


THE  BUCCANEERS  213

on  the  gallows  of  Jamaica,  children  of  Cain,  unpltied
by  any,  their  very  courage  despised,  and  their  crimes
detested.  At  their  culminating  point,  united  under
the  sway  of  one  great  mind,  they  might  have  formed
a  large  empire  In  South  America,  or  conquered  it  as
tributaries  to  France  or  England,  Always  thirsty  for
gold,  they  were  often  chivalrous,  generous.  Intrepid,
merciful,  and  disinterested.
