In our preliminary remarks it is necessary to mention two individuals
who played a conspicuous part in the Buccaneer's realms.
We have already mentioned one honest sailor, the old coxs'n, Jack
Commonsense by name; but there were two women, not to say a third, who
also had a permanent abode in his island. The one was called Patriotism,
the other Liberty. The first of these was allowed to live for the most
part in neglect, and though at times she was made much of, her position
was little better than that of a beggar woman, to-day she would sit at
the table of the great, and be taken into their councils, to-morrow she
would be thrust aside, and occasionally thrown into prison. She was made
a shuttle-cock for the battledoor of Madam Party, who was the other
celebrity above alluded to, and who pretty well ruled the roast in the
Buccaneer's island. Everything had to give way to her, whilst except on
extraordinary occasions the beggar woman, Patriotism, was thought but
little of. Everybody swore they loved her; but men were deceivers ever,
if not liars.
With Liberty it was quite a different tale, she could do pretty well
what she liked, and had over our Buccaneer for good and for evil a
wonderful influence. At her instigation he allowed the island to be made
an asylum for rascals of every kind, who having been kicked out of their
own homes, came over and plotted, and sowed broadcast among his people
the most pernicious seeds, which bore their fruit in due time. Indeed,
Madam Liberty played the part of a veritable wanton, and flirted with
blackguards of the deepest dye. The consequence of this was, that one
fine day, she gave birth to a boy, named Demos, the father being King
Mob. This boy grew to be a most unruly fellow, and caused much trouble
wherever he went.
It is said that neither man nor beast can stand prosperity for any
length of time, the horse becomes restive, and occasionally kicks his
stall to pieces, or otherwise misbehaves himself. Even the ass; the
gentle and long-suffering ass, if too well fed, disturbs the whole
country round, braying out in his husky tones of repletion his
discontent at the very best of corn, when at one time he would have been
glad enough to fill his stomach with thistles. So it was with Madam
Liberty. It was through her that the Buccaneer first opened his doors to
a host of cheap-Jacks, and to merchants and pedlars from all parts of
the world, until in the streets of his principal sea-port towns and
chief city, could be seen a strange mixture of costumes and features.
Swarthy Orientals with their finely cut profiles, and proud bearing.
Broad-faced, oval-eyed Mongols, who always look half asleep, but are
generally found to be very wide awake. Flat-nosed, thick-lipped,
woolly-headed negroes, and as a matter of course, the ubiquitous Jew was
well represented. The Jew is found everywhere, but stay, exception must
be made to the northern-most part of the Buccaneer's island. A Jew could
not live there, not on account of the severity of the climate, though
that was bad enough; but on account of the habits of the people. It is
said by some that the object of the Jew is to skin the Christian and the
Gentile, with the view of buying back Jerusalem, or, perhaps, the whole
of the Holy Land. Many wish that this laudable desire may be
accomplished, and that quickly. With all these different nationalities
it was a wonder that the Buccaneer retained his individuality, or even
kept his language from corruption, but he did, though a broken patter
often saluted the ears, while the signs of many different races were
stamped upon the faces of the people. There is a belief in the world
that mongrels and cross-breeds will not fight. This is a mistake. Our
Buccaneer was made up of ever so many nationalities, and yet he had
fought in his day well enough. Showing, indeed, an absolute love for the
fray. May not the very best blood, of the bluest kind, which flows
through the veins of some haughty descendant, have taken its rise in
some sturdy cur of low degree, who snapped and snarled himself to the
front?
It would be as well to mention that our bold Buccaneer had had a quarrel
in early times with one of his sons, who had emigrated and established
himself, after the fashion peculiar to his father, on a large and
fertile tract of land in the far west. This son, who was called
Jonathan, was a tall, lanky, raw boned fellow, with a good head upon his
shoulders and a strong will of his own. Modest diffidence had never been
a stumbling block in his way. As to whose fault the quarrel was, well,
some said it was entirely the old man's, but it is probable there was
much to be said on both sides, and that Jonathan was not altogether
blameless. At any rate blows were struck, and Jonathan handled his
father somewhat roughly, and so there was an estrangement, and a
separation, and Jonathan set up business for himself upon the old man's
lines; except perhaps he was not quite so religious, and a great deal
sharper.
Jonathan did wonderfully well. He had a keen eye for the main chance,
and at driving a bargain, or getting the better of a friend, he could
not be beaten. In this, to make use of an expression of his own, he
pretty well licked creation. In his early days, he was not altogether
scrupulous; but what he called sharp practice, other people might put
down as something approaching more closely to dishonesty. The proof of
the pudding is in the eating. Jonathan prospered, and cheating, it is
well known, never does, so he must have been an honest fellow. He loved
to do his old father; to get the better of him in a bargain, to get his
money out of him either by fair means or foul. Talk to him of honour and
he would laugh in your face at your squeamishness. He had many of the
eminent qualities of his parent, had Jonathan. He generally managed to
keep what he laid his hands upon, and as the saying is, he was not
altogether the man to drink with in the dark. By trade he was a packman,
or a cheap Jack.
Between Jonathan and the Ojabberaways there was a great friendship. The
former used to send over money to the latter to help them in their
campaign against the old gentleman. Then the Ojabberaways used to plot,
and make infernal machines in Jonathan's country, and come over to the
Buccaneer's island, where they frequently carried out their designs, and
occasionally used the knife into the bargain.