Page:A general history of the pyrates, from their first rise and settlement in the Island of Providence, to the present time (1724).djvu/439

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it happen through his own Folly, then no Contribution is to be made.

If Subjects in Enmity with the Crown of England, are abord an Engliſh Pyrate, in Company with Engliſh, and a Robbery is committed, and they are taken; it is Felony in the Engliſh, but not in the Stranger; for it was no Pyracy in them, but the Depredation of an Enemy, and they will be tried by a Martial Law.

If Pyracy is committed by Subjects in Enmity with England, upon the Britiſh Seas, it is properly only puniſhable by the Crown of England, who have iſtud regimen & Dominnm excluſive of all other Power.

If Pyracy be committed on the Ocean, and the Pyrates in the Attempt be overcome, the Captors may, without any Solemnity of Condemnation, hang them up at the Main-Yard; if they are brought to the next Port, and the Judge rejects the Tryal, or the Captors cannot wait for the Judge, without Peril or Loſs, Juſtice may be done upon them by the Captors.

If Merchandize be delivered to a Maſter, to carry to one Port, and he carries it to another, and ſells and diſpoſes of it, this is not Felony; but if, after unlading it at the first Port, he retakes it, it is Pyracy.

If a Pyrate attack a Ship, and the Maſter for Redemption, gives his Oath to pay a Sum of Money, tho’ there be nothing taken, yet it is Pyracy by the Law Marine.

If a Ship is riding at Anchor, and the Mariners all aſhore, and a Pyrate attack her, and rob her, this is Pyracy.

If a Man commit Pyracy upon the Subjects of any Prince, or Republick, (though in Amity with us,) and brings the Goods into England, and ſells them in a Market Overt, the ſame ſhall bind, and the Owners are for ever excluded.

If a Pyrate enters a Port of this Kingdom, and robs a Ship at Anchor there, it is not Pyracy, becauſe not done, ſuper altum Mare; but is Robbery at common Law, becauſe infra Corpus Comitatus. A Pardon of all Felonies does not extend to Pyracy, but the ſame ought to be eſpecially named.

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