The Pirates Own Book

In the mind of the mariner, there is a superstitious horror connected
with the name of Pirate; and there are few subjects that interest and
excite the curiosity of mankind generally, more than the desperate
exploits, foul doings, and diabolical career of these monsters in human
form. A piratical crew is generally formed of the desperadoes and
runagates of every clime and nation. The pirate, from the perilous
nature of his occupation, when not cruising on the ocean, the great
highway of nations, selects the most lonely isles of the sea for his
retreat, or secretes himself near the shores of rivers, bays and lagoons
of thickly wooded and uninhabited countries, so that if pursued he can
escape to the woods and mountain glens of the interior. The islands of
the Indian Ocean, and the east and west coasts of Africa, as well as
the West Indies, have been their haunts for centuries; and vessels
navigating the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, are often captured by them,
the passengers and crew murdered, the money and most valuable part of
the cargo plundered, the vessel destroyed, thus obliterating all trace
of their unhappy fate, and leaving friends and relatives to mourn their
loss from the inclemencies of the elements, when they were butchered in
cold blood by their fellow men, who by practically adopting the maxim
that "dead men tell no tales," enable themselves to pursue their
diabolical career with impunity. The pirate is truly fond of women and
wine, and when not engaged in robbing, keeps maddened with intoxicating
liquors, and passes his time in debauchery, singing old songs with
chorusses like

"Drain, drain the bowl, each fearless soul,
Let the world wag as it will:
Let the heavens growl, let the devil howl,
Drain, drain the deep bowl and fill."

Thus his hours of relaxation are passed in wild and extravagant frolics
amongst the lofty forests of palms and spicy groves of the Torrid Zone,
and amidst the aromatic and beautiful flowering vegetable productions of
that region. He has fruits delicious to taste, and as companions, the
unsophisticated daughters of Africa and the Indies. It would be supposed
that his wild career would be one of delight.

But the apprehension and foreboding of the mind, when under the
influence of remorse, are powerful, and every man, whether civilized or
savage, has interwoven in his constitution a moral sense, which
secretly condemns him when he has committed an atrocious action, even
when he is placed in situations which raise him above the fear of human
punishment, for

"Conscience, the torturer of the soul, unseen.
Does fiercely brandish a sharp scourge within;
Severe decrees may keep our tongues in awe,
But to our minds what edicts can give law?
Even you yourself to your own breast shall tell
Your crimes, and your own conscience be your hell."

With the name of pirate is also associated ideas of rich plunder,
caskets of buried jewels, chests of gold ingots, bags of outlandish
coins, secreted in lonely, out of the way places, or buried about the
wild shores of rivers, and unexplored sea coasts, near rocks and trees
bearing mysterious marks, indicating where the treasure was hid. And as
it is his invariable practice to secrete and bury his booty, and from
the perilous life he leads, being often killed or captured, he can never
re-visit the spot again; immense sums remain buried in those places, and
are irrecoverably lost. Search is often made by persons who labor in
anticipation of throwing up with their spade and pickaxe, gold bars,
diamond crosses sparkling amongst the dirt, bags of golden doubloons,
and chests, wedged close with moidores, ducats and pearls; but although
great treasures lie hid in this way, it seldom happens that any is so
recovered.

By the universal law of nations, robbery or forcible depredation upon
the "high seas,"
animo furandi
, is piracy. The meaning of the phrase
"high seas," embraces not only the waters of the ocean, which are out of
sight of land, but the waters on the sea coast below low water mark,
whether within the territorial boundaries of a foreign nation, or of a
domestic state. Blackstone says that the main sea or high sea begins at
low water mark. But between the high water mark and low water mark,
where the tide ebbs and flows, the common law and the Admiralty have
divisum imperium
, an alternate jurisdiction, one upon the water when
it is full sea; the other upon the land when it is ebb. He doubtless
here refers to the waters of the ocean on the sea coast, and not in
creeks and inlets. Lord Hale says that the sea is either that which
lies within the body of a country or without. That which lies without
the body of a country is called the main sea or ocean. So far then as
regards the states of the American union, "high seas," may be taken to
mean that part of the ocean which washes the sea coast, and is without
the body of any country, according to the common law; and so far as
regards foreign nations, any waters on their sea coasts, below low water
mark.

Piracy is an offence against the universal law of society, a pirate
being according to Sir Edward Coke,
stis humani generis
. As,
therefore, he has renounced all the benefits of society and government,
and has reduced himself to the savage state of nature, by declaring war
against all mankind, all mankind must declare war against him; so that
every community has a right by the rule of self-defense, to inflict that
punishment upon him which every individual would in a state of nature
otherwise have been entitled to do, for any invasion of his person or
personal property. By various statutes in England and the United States,
other offences are made piracy. Thus, if a subject of either of these
nations commit any act of hostility against a fellow subject on the high
seas, under color of a commission from any foreign power, this act is
piracy. So if any captain of any vessel, or mariner, run away with the
vessel, or the goods, or yield them up to a pirate voluntarily, or if
any seaman lay violent hands on his commander, to hinder him from
fighting in defence of the ship or goods committed to his charge, or
make a revolt in the ship, these offences are acts of piracy, by the
laws of the United States and England. In England by the statute of 8
George I, c. 24, the trading or corresponding with known pirates, or the
forcibly boarding any merchant vessel, (though without seizing her or
carrying her off,) and destroying any of the goods on board, are
declared to be acts of piracy; and by the statute 18 George II. c. 30,
any natural born subject or denizen who in time of war, shall commit any
hostilities at sea, against any of his fellow subjects, or shall assist
an enemy, on that element, is liable to be punished as a pirate. By
statute of George II. c. 25, the ransoming of any neutral vessel, which
has been taken by the captain of a private ship of war, is declared
piracy. By the act of congress, April 30, 1790, if any person upon the
high seas, or in any river, haven, or bay, out of the jurisdiction of
any particular state, commit murder or robbery, or any other offence
which if committed within the body of a county, would by the laws of the
United States, be punishable by death, such offender is to be deemed a
pirate. By the act of congress, 1820, c. 113, if any citizen of the
United States, being of the crew of any foreign vessel, or any person
being of the crew of any vessel owned in whole or part by any citizen of
the United States, shall be engaged in the foreign slave trade, he shall
be adjudged a pirate. Notwithstanding the expression used in this
statute, the question, says Chancellor Kent, remains to be settled,
whether the act of being concerned in the slave trade would be adjudged
piracy, within the code of international law. In England by the act of
parliament passed March 31, 1824, the slave trade is also declared to be
piracy. An attempt has been made to effect a convention between the
United States and Great Britain, by which it should be agreed that both
nations should consider the slave trade as piratical; but this attempt
has hitherto been unsuccessful. In the time of Richard III, by the laws
of Oberon, all infidels were regarded as pirates, and their property
liable to seizure wherever found. By the law of nations, the taking of
goods by piracy does not divest the actual owner of them. By the civil
institutions of Spain and Venice, ships taken from pirates became the
property of those who retake them. Piracy is every where pursued and
punished with death, and pirates can gain no rights by conquest. It is
of no importance, for the purpose of giving jurisdiction in cases of
piracy, on whom or where a piratical offence is committed. A pirate who
is one by the law of nations, may be tried and punished in any country
where he may be found; for he is reputed to be out of the protection of
all laws. But if the statute of any government declares an offence,
committed on board one of their own vessels, to be piracy; such an
offence will be punished exclusively by the nation which passes the
statute. In England the offence was formerly cognizable only by the
Admiralty courts, which proceeded without a jury in a method founded on
the civil law. But by the statute of Henry VIII. c. 15, it was enacted
that piracy should be tried by commissioners nominated by the lord
chancellor, the indictment being first found by a grand jury, of twelve
men, and afterwards tried by another jury, as at common law. Among the
commissioners, there are always some of the common law judges. In the
United States, pirates are tried before the circuit court of the United
States. Piracy has been known from the remotest antiquity; for in the
early ages every small maritime state was addicted to piracy, and
navigation was perilous. This habit was so general, that it was regarded
with indifference, and, whether merchant, traveller, or pirate, the
stranger was received with the rights of hospitality. Thus Nestor,
having given Mentor and Telemachus a plenteous repast, remarks, that the
banquet being finished, it was time to ask his guests to their business.
"Are you," demands the aged prince, "merchants destined to any port, or
are you merely adventurers and pirates, who roam the seas without any
place of destination, and live by rapine and ruin."