CHAP. II.
of
Captain Martel,
And his Crew.
I Come now to the Pyrates that have roſe ſince the Peace of Utrecht; in War Time there is no room for any, becauſe all thoſe of a roving advent’rous Diſpoſition find Employment in Privateers, ſo there is no Opportunity for Pyrates; like our Mobs in London, when they come to any Height, our Superiors order out the Train Bands, and when once they are raiſed, the others are ſuppreſſed of Courſe; I take the Reaſon of it to be, that the Mob go into the tame Army, and immediately from notorious Breakers of the Peace, become, by being put into order, ſolemn Preſervers of it. And ſhould our Legiſlators put ſome of the Pyrates into Authority, it would not only leſſen their Number, but, I imagine, ſet them upon the reſt, and they would be the likelieſt People to find them out, according to the Proverb, ſet a Thief to catch a Thief.
To bring this about, there needs no other Encouragement, but to give all the Effects taken aboard a Pyrate Veſſel to the Captors; for in Caſe of Plunder and Gain, they like it as well from Friends, as Enemies, but are not fond, as Things are carry’d, of ruining poor Fellowes
, ſay the Creoleans, with no Advantage to themſelves
.
