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PIRATE AND PIRACY
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PIRATE AND PIRACY . See also:Sir See also:Edward See also:Coke (Instit. iii. 113) describes a pirate (See also:Lat. pirata, from Gr. rreepcerrls, wecpav, to See also:attempt or attack), as hostis human generis, and as a robber upon the See also:sea. Sir J. Fitzjames See also:Stephen in his See also:Digest of Criminal See also:Law defined piracy as follows: " Taking a See also:ship on the High Seas or within the See also:jurisdiction of the See also:Lord High See also:Admiral from the See also:possession or See also:control of those who are lawfully entitled to it and carrying away the ship itself or any of its goods, tackle, See also:apparel or See also:furniture under circumstances which would have amounted to See also:robbery if the See also:act had been done within the See also:body of an See also:English See also:county " (cf. A. G. for Hong-See also:Kong v. Kwok-a-Sing, 1873, L.R. 5 P.C. 179). Piracy, being a See also:crime not against any particular See also:state but against all mankind, may be punished in the competent See also:court of any See also:country where the offender may be found or into which he may be carried. But, whilst the practice of nations gives to every one the right to pursue and exterminate pirates without any previous See also:declaration of See also:war (pirates holding no See also:commission or delegated authority from any See also:sovereign or state), it is not allowed to kill them without trial except in See also:battle. Those who surrender or are taken prisoners must be brought before the proper tribunal and dealt with according to law. Piracy has been dealt with in a large number of English statutes, from 1J36 down to the Territorial See also:Waters Jurisdiction Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. C. 73), which provided for the See also:maintenance of the existing jurisdiction for the trial of " any act of piracy as defined by the law of nations." During the See also:Spanish-See also:American War the Spanish See also:government issued(1898) a See also:decree declaring that "captains,masters and See also:officers of vessels, which, as well as two-thirds of their See also:crew, are not American, captured while committing acts of war against See also:Spain, even if they are provided with letters of marque issued by the See also:United States" would be regarded and judged as pirates. This was not in accordance with the See also:international practice on the subject. A public ship or one which is entitled to See also:fly the See also:flag of a belligerent ,end navigates under the See also:cover of state papers, by the very sense of the See also:term, is not a pirate. Again, during the Russo-See also:Japanese War, the word " piracy " was freely applied in See also:British See also:news-papers to the seizure of the " Malacca " and other vessels held up by the " Peterburg " and " See also:Smolensk," two cruisers belonging to the See also:Russian See also:Black Sea volunteer See also:fleet, which in See also:July 1904 passed as merchantmen through the See also:Bosporus and See also:Dardanelles and were transformed to their real See also:character on the open sea. The application of the term in this See also:case was equally inaccurate. The See also:conversion of See also:merchant into war See also:ships was one of the subjects dealt with by the second See also:Hague See also:Conference (1907), but it was agreed that "the question of the See also:place where such conversion is effected remains outside the See also:scope " of the agreement." Piracy is essentially a crime under international law, and although any state may apply its penalties to its own subjects by See also:analogy, as was done by See also:Great See also:Britain and the United States in connexion with the repression of the slave See also:trade, they cannot be lawfully applied to subjects of other states. (T. BA.) See also:Historical See also:Sketch.—It has at all times been more difficult to enforce See also:good See also:order on the sea than on the See also:land; or perhaps we ought to say that the See also:establishment of law and order on the sea has in all ages of the See also:world's See also:history followed, but has not accompanied, and has still less preceded, the creation of a good See also:police on the land. The sea robber, or pirate, cannot make a profit from any See also:part of his See also:booty except the See also:food which he consumes, or the vessels which he may use, unless he can find a See also:market. But so See also:long as he is sure that he will somewhere meet a purchaser for the goods he has taken by violence, he has every encouragement to pursue his trade. Therefore from the times described in the Odyssey, down to the days when Sir See also: Sufferers by See also:naval See also:commerce-destroyers See also:call it " a piratical form of warfare." But the pirates of the See also:Roman See also:Republic were no See also:mere " gang of robbers." They were the victims of a See also:time of See also:conquest and " See also:general See also:overture "—" the ruined men of all nations, the hunted refugees of all vanquished parties, everyone that was wretched and daring—and where was there not misery and violence in this unhappy See also:age? It was no longer a gang of robbers who had flocked together, but a compact soldier state, in which the See also:freemasonry of See also:exile and of crime took the place of See also:nationality, and within which crime redeemed itself, as it so often does in its own eyes, by displaying the most generous public spirit." Such men are akin to the fuorusciti of See also:Italian history or the Dutch Beggars of the Sea, the victims of party strife in the cities, who took to the See also:sword because they had no other resource. Mutatis mutandis we may say as much for the intruders beyond the line, whom history calls the "See also:Buccaneers " (q.v.). The " Vikings " (q.v.) were a portion of the See also:Barbarian invasions. The " See also:Barbary Pirates " (q.v.) stand apart. As for the piratical character of the commerce-destroyer, or See also:privateer—why are we to See also:brand Captain See also:Fortunatus See also:Wright, the Englishman who captures a French merchant ship, or Captain See also:Robert Surcouf, the Frenchman who captures a British See also:East Indiaman, as piratical, and not make the same reproach against Admiral Lord See also:Howe, or Admiral See also:Don Luis de See also:Cordoba, who with a fleet captures whole convoys? The pirate pure and See also:simple is that member of an or See also:Jerry community who elects to live on the sea, by violence and robbery, making no distinction between his own city or tribe and any other. The old adage that " war makes thieves and See also:peace hangs them " has ever been peculiarly true of the sea. War has always been conducted there by the See also:capture of an enemy's See also:property, and by See also:division of the spoil. A portion of the naval forces of all nations has been composed of privateers, letters of marque or corsairs, who plundered with a See also:licence. They have ever found a difficulty in See also:drawing the line between enemy and neutral; when peace returned some of them found it hard to be content with honest See also:wages earned by dull See also:industry. See also:Nelson declared that all privateers were no better than pirates. He was See also:borne out by the experience of Great Britain, which at the beginning of the Seven Years' War had to take strong See also:measures to repress the excesses of its privateers, and to hang a good few of them as mere pirates. The pirates suppressed by Pompey did not all submit to remain in the settlements he made. Some continued to rob at sea. If we can See also:trust the See also:Pastoral of See also:Longus, and the other Greek romances, the pirate was a known type even under the Roman peace, but it is highly probable that he was more of a stock See also:literary figure than a reality. Before the Roman peace, and during long centuries after it had been shattered, piracy was See also:common. It See also:grew out of a state of war. In See also:modern times—even down to 1815—a recrudescence of piracy has followed See also:regular hostilities. But there are other conditions which have a material See also:influence, such as the need for a lurking-place and for a See also:receiver of the plundered goods. An See also:archipelago provides the best lurking-places, and next to it a coast of many inlets. Therefore the Greek Islands, the British Isles, the See also:Antilles, the See also:Indian Ocean, the coast of See also:Cilicia in See also:Asia See also:Minor, of See also:Dalmatia, of See also:Malabar and of See also:Norway, have all at one time or other, and some of them for centuries, been haunts of pirates. The convenience of the place had to be completed by the convenience of the market. In the See also:ancient world, and the See also:middle ages, the market never failed. One city or tribe had little care for the sufferings of another. The men of the Cinque Ports who plundered the men of See also:Yarmouth knew that their own townsmen would never call them to See also:account, and therefore they had a safe See also:refuge. Even when the See also:medieval anarchy had come to an end on land, the sea was lawless. When peace was made with Spain after the See also:death of See also:Queen See also: It was his boast that he had cleared the Irish coast of pirates, but we know that they were common See also:late in the reign of See also: Even when she renounced her full pretensions, several of the islands remained unoccupied except by the lingering remnants of the native races. See also:Swine and See also:cattle had been let loose on many of them, and had multiplied. The turtle was abundant and succulent. There was no want of food. A See also:population with predatory instincts had been formed in the See also:early days of hostile settlement and buccaneering. See also:Jamaica was full of the so-called " private men-of-war " whose doings are prominent in the See also:correspondence of the early See also:governors, who were not uncommonly their associates. Add to this that the commercial policy of Spain denied to her colonists the right of trading with foreigners, and yet that she could not See also:supply their needs herself. Hence arose a See also:smuggling trade which had See also:affinities with piracy. The lawless trader was not liable to be asked awkward questions, as to the origin of his See also:cargo, by the Spanish American who See also:purchased it on the sly for See also:money or by See also:barter. Nor were any questions asked him when he brought his cargo to Jamaica, See also:San Domingo, the Carolinas, New England or even See also:Europe. In the decay of Spain her See also:navy was not to be feared. But it was not the commercial policy of Spain alone which helped the pirate. Great Britain, and See also:France also, insisted that their colonists should trade exclusively with or through them. The colonists were always ready to buy " good cheap " from the smuggler, and never ask him whether the East Indian produce —See also:tea, See also:silk, spices and so forth—he offered for See also:sale were purchased or plundered in the Red Sea or on the coast of Malabar or of Coromandel. Add to all this that the police and See also:patrol See also:work of regular navies was but superficially done even in peace, and hardly at all in war, and that in the British colonies there was no judicial machinery for trying pirates till the 11th and 12th years of William III. (1700, 1701), and it will be seen that all the conditions favoured the pirate. In the East the decadence of the See also:Mogul See also:Empire was plunging See also:India into anarchy,and it had no navy. Yet a large native trade existed, conducted by " See also:Moors," as they were called, and See also:Madagascar, a great " no-See also:man's-land," afforded ample anchorage and food. To get possession of a ship, to See also:sail to the East, to See also:plunder the " Moors," to sell the booty in New England or the Carolinas, to spend the produce in riotous living, and go to sea on the same errand again, was the See also:round of life of the large class of known pirates, who formed a recognized See also:element of the population of See also:Massachusetts and New See also:York at the end of the 17th century. These are the men we know best, for they were encouraged by the tolerance shown them to come into the See also:light. Others are buried in, or only dimly visible in, obscurity. Some trace of these latter may be found in the See also:Letter Books of the Old See also:Providence See also:Company, a puritan society formed in the reign of Charles I., of which See also:Pym and the See also:earl of See also:Warwick, afterwards the See also:Parliamentary admiral of the Civil War, were governors. It was founded to colonize Old Providence on the coast of See also:Honduras, a place not to be confused with another pirate haunt, New Providence in the See also:Bahamas. It took to plain piracy and was suppressed by the Spaniards in 1638. Warwick made a regular business and large profits by fitting out " privateers," which were in fact pirates on the " Spanish See also:main," not the seas of See also:America, as some have thought, but the coast of the mainland. The lives of the later and better known pirates may be illustrated by the career of Captain Avery, or Every (See also:alias See also:Bridgman), whose renown was great at the end of the 17th century, and who has the See also:credit of having inspired See also:Defoe's Life, Adventures and Piracies of Captain Singleton. Avery was See also:mate of a See also:Bristol ship hired by the Spaniards in 1694 to serve as a See also:coastguard See also:vessel in See also:South America. She was called the " Charles II.," commanded by one Captain See also:Gibson, and mounted 40 guns. While the " Charles II. " was lying at See also:Corunna, in company with another vessel also hired by the Spaniards, waiting for the See also:payment of wages which was delayed, Avery persuaded part of the two crews to seize her and sail with her on a piratical voyage to the East. The enterprise was carried out without bloodshed or, apparently, See also:coercion of those who were unwilling to go. Avery and his crew sailed to Madagascar, a regular haunt of the pirates. Many of them ended by remaining for life among the natives. The adventurers in the " Charles II.," who had already made some small prizes, English and Danish, were joined at the See also:island by others of the same character who had come from the West Indies. From Madagascar they went to the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, to See also:lie in wait for the trade from India. Several prizes were taken, and finally a large and valuable ship, belonging " to the Great Mogul and his subjects;" was captured about ten See also:miles from See also:Surat. Avery and his crew now hastened to New England to sell their booty. The " Charles II." was disposed of as a privateer at Providence, and the pirates bought a See also:sloop in which they sailed along the coast of the English colonies, selling their spoil, with the consent of the colonists and the connivance of the officials, who were bribed. In an evil See also:hour for themselves they decided to come to England. The Indian governments, exasperated by the piracy practised at the expense of their subjects, were threatening See also:reprisals on the East India Company. The Company made complaints to the government at home, and energetic measures of repression were taken. Avery himself escaped capture, but several of his men were brought to trial, condemned and executed. It is to be noted that when first tried, on the 19th of See also:October 1696, they were acquitted. They were, however, re-tried on other See also:counts, on the 31st of October. The See also:charge of Lord See also:Chief See also:Justice See also:Holt to the See also:jury, and the address of Sir Charles Hedges, the See also:admiralty See also:judge, shows that they See also:felt both the importance and the uncertainty of securing a See also:verdict. The cruise of Avery is not only a typical example of a piratical venture, but it is an important date in the history of the policing of the sea. The English government was roused to a sense of the See also:necessity for strong measures to repress piracy. All the steps taken were not according to knowledge. The extra-See also:ordinary private venture of Lord Bellamont and his associates who sent out Captain Kidd (q.v.), a man of piratical antecedents,
to suppress pirates in the Eastern seas, brought deserved discredit upon them. The decision taken on the See also:advice of Burchett, the secretary of the admiralty, to offer a pardon to all who would surrender by a given date—for all piracies committed before the 3oth of See also:April to the east of the Cape of Good See also:Hope, and the 3oth of See also:June 1699 to the west—was an See also:error. It induced many to come in, but it also gave all pirates the hope that they would in the future be provided with similar means of See also:escape. The establishment of admiralty courts in the East Indies and America and the despatch of warships were more effectual methods. Yet it was long before piracy was thoroughly checked; indeed the See also:signing of the Peace of See also:Utrecht was followed by a recrudescence of this form of crime. The privateers who swarmed in the West Indies and, as long as the war lasted, used, in the phrase of the time, to join the squadrons of war-ships " on the plundering account," could not settle down to dull industry. They leagued themselves into a See also:species of pirate republic, with its See also:capital at Providence in the Bahamas. In 1718 a See also:special force had to be sent against them under Woodes See also:Rogers, who is best remembered now for having taken See also: The most notorious of these freebooters was Bartholomew Roberts, who was introduced to piracy by Howel See also:Davis. Roberts was the nearest known approach to the pirate of See also:romance, ostentatious, brave, not without touches of generosity. He was killed in See also:action with Captain See also:Chaloner Ogle, of H.M.S. " Swallo: -," on the coast of Africa, in 1722. As the American colonies grew more settled piracy became intolerable to them. Yet it lingered on the coast of See also:North Carolina, where the pirates could either terrorize the scattered inhabitants, or were encouraged by dishonest officials. Here flourished the See also:grotesque See also:brute known as Blackbeard, Edward See also:Teach, till he was run down and slain by Lieut. Milvain in 1718. It was noted that several of those who helped to suppress him afterwards " went a-pirating " themselves. So strong was the piratical tradition of the New World that even men of some See also:standing See also:fell into it. " See also:Major " or Captain Stede See also:Bonnet, who was condemned and executed at See also:Charleston, South Carolina, as a pirate, in 1718, was a gentleman of some property in Barbadoes, who first ventured to sea in a ship of his own. Stede Bonnet had taken See also:advantage of an act of See also:grace, had come in on a See also:proclamation, and had returned to a pirate's life. The last great See also:explosion of piracy in the West Indies followed the peace of 1815. Here again we find the old conditions—privateers and other unsettled men, the safe lurking-place and the receiver. The refuge and the market were supplied by the Spanish colonies, which were plunged into anarchy by their revolt against Spain. The pirates were able to masquerade as " patriot " navies. ' The See also:sloth and corruption of Spanish captains-general of See also:Cuba were no less favourable to the pirates. The south coast of the island became a haunt of these villains till the British and American governments were driven to combine for their suppression. When they had been followed into their hiding-places and their vessels sunk, they took to See also:brigandage on land, and were garrotted by the Spanish authorities in self-See also:defence. The piracy of the Greek islands went on to later years, and the See also:Malays were not tamed till nearly 1850. On the coast and the See also:rivers of See also:China piracy was and is endemic, but the sailing See also:junk has no See also:chance with the modern steamer. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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