A Captain Unafraid
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C O N T E N T S I Tm! Lm or Tnou nu mWA'rms II A m I N TwovontmON s III . mn or A n I V. T CALL CUB Luan V VI OUTWI 'I ' I 'I N G AN Am or Su m'ma How Fu n FUN smN WM 10 CUB A Mm WALSH B a Aws Bmon I! m m M FAI L . W Or m ’ m an ! . GE N ER AL e m s Tama r Am I m BLI N D ! . Wm m LAW Go Tmn Smn N oor m Tu m Mr FLAG ! I I I . UN nm OWN ' n rm ! V. A PLAN roRn cu Dn A C A P T A I N U N A F R A I D A CAPTAI N UNAFR AI D I TH an unbridled passion for the sea and n the love of adventure which it enge dered , it was inevitable that I should drift into fili b ri 18 n r sa uste ng. It o ly fai to y, however, that I have not been recklessly ru nning around ’ smashing statu tes and setting all of society s regulations at defiance . I have never knowing ly violated any law except the one against fili b ri as uste ng, and that I regard an immoral instrument , for the reason that it seeks to des of troy the spirit liberty , while its only effect is to promote perjury . Not that I have ever been compelled to perjure myself or to procure false witnesses to avoid conviction on the charges that have been brought against me, but it gen erally happens that it is only through testimony x which , at least , does not fully state the e act i facts that fil busters escape punishment. If the ( 1 1 A C A P T A I N U N A F R A I D United States law against filib ustering had been f n — e fectively e forced and let it be recorded here, i before the unfolding of secrets beg ns , that its avoidance was accomplished through no shadow i instru of connivance at Wash ngton , for every ment at the hand of this government was exerted to the utmost to prevent its infraction and to might still be the victim of Spain ’s murderous misrule, the acquisiti—on of our en—tering wedge into the West Indies Porto Ricowould have a l been postponed for ye rs , and the Fi ipinos Laws against filibustering are eminently fit in rc s. m ting mona hial land No e peror, whether r d to see another emperor deth one , and , perhaps, compelled to work for a living along with the ff u nanointed , for fear of the e ect the proceed ing may have on his own su bjects ; but su ch antiquated theories of government by suppression l have no place in a republic . Fi ibustering, of surreptitiously conveying munitions of war to ho re a people, or a part of a people, w are in bellion against a government whose overthrow, in generally speaking, is sought beca use it is efficient or corrupt , or both . Ordinarily the means of warfare are held by the ruling power, 80 it is necessary for the insurgents tosecure l 2 l T R O U B L E D WA T E R S their arms from the outside . It is my doctrine u that this is an altogether la dable ambition, and that they should be allowed to buy all they can pay for, with no interference save from those with whom they are at war. Certainly it does not come with good grace from a country which prides itself on the principle that the will of the people is the law of the land to say to its neigh bors that they shall not oppose tyranny and fight with every means in their power for what they believe to be their rights . We should not forget that we were rebels once ourselves , and filibuste rin warmly welcomed g aid from France . The la w which forbids the departure of fili bustering expeditions from the territory of neutral powers is simply an act of comity be as tween nations , and is b ed on no moral prin ciple ; it really amounts to one of the entangling alliances which Washington warned this country to avoid . This is not to be interpreted as an fili rin excu se for buste g, for to no man will I make any sort of an apology for anything I have ever done; it is merely sta ting a theory and mak ing plain a condition which is not clear to many people . In the persistent and enthusias tic violation of this obnoxious law I worked much harder and for much less money than I could have easily earned by adhering to the life of a pilot , free from danger, but also free from excitement , Whereas I could have made a fortune by running [ 3 1 A C A P T A I N U N A F R A I D counter to other laws , but refused to do it. It was the spirit of the thing which appealed to s n me ; I felt that I wa , to the full le gth of my ability and in the way to which I was best suited , helping mankind by aiding the cause of s venturou ambition . I tried to fight for my o l wn country, and when that fai ed I fought for fare I was several times arrested for filibuster ing, but never convicted ; so , u nder our law, which presumes every man to be innocent until he is proven guilty , it must be considered that I am entirely innocent of the high crimes and misdemeanors to which I here confess for the first time ; until now I never have told a word I I of what have done or how did it . Whatever divergent views may be held as to agreement as to the proposition that it is ex z tremely ha ardous business . This was par ticularly tru e with reference to the Cuban revo lution we w , for there ere constantly watched r its n th ough navy, Reve ue Cutter Service, u s os c rs c and c t m offi e , spe ial Treasu ry agents , i ul and ts powerf Secret Service, in addition to es Pinkerton detectiv , and an army of spies , to u he u s Nat rally , in t co r e of my activities, I have I ” T R O U B L E D W A T E R S than once I have been at such close grapples Yet I have never been afraid I can reca ll no time when the presence of danger excited or i m F r d sturbed e . othis I claim no I credit . - i have always had the old fash oned faith m God . It 18 my religion that a man should do the best i he can in everyth ng, and let the Almighty take People tell me I have out raged governments . This may be . B ut I have never knowingly wronged a fellow-man i After—all , what is bravery, if not an nborn quality the heritage of clean lives, of fighting blood and unwea kened nerves? The world is full of it . And if some portion of this heritage I has been mine am gr—ateful, for in my —warring were times many of them when , afraid to die, I should undoubtedly ’ have found myself without delay in Davy Jon es s Locker . Bravery is confined to no longitude or latitude, and knows no race . I have found r s brave men everywhere, as will p e ently be told , s and it was my fortune to be intimately asso cis ted with some of the best of them . Some times we were accused oi recklessn ess . If by this is meant foolish ru nning into danger with out taking account of the odds, the accusation will not stand . I have taken some long chances f in my li e, but I always knew exactly what I [ 5 ] A C A P T A I N U N A F R A I D was doing and precisely what the probabilities of success were , even though it frequently took quick thinking to figure them out in a few sec ouds . It is at su ch times that one needs all of his wits , and only the fool lose s them . “ ” I was born in the old Dry Dock section of New York, almost on the bank of the East 20 1837 . M River, on April , y parents came from the County Longford , Ireland, where they were neighbors of and related to the parents of Gen . ’ B ri n Phil . Sheridan . The O e and Sheridan families, so my mother told me, came to this country on the same ship not long before I was n bor , and my father turned from farmer to ’ i . mach nist George Steer s shipyard , at which the famous yacht America and all of the Sandy - Hook pilot boats were built, was only a block from my home , and other yards celebrated in — ’ ’ ’ those days Webb s, B rown s , Collier s, Mack ’ ’ ’ e s os y , Westervelt s, R o et Joyce s, and ’ — English s were clustered clw e about . Near - by were the Morgan and Novelty iron works, where boilers were built.