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Show 106 NARHA'l'IVE OF piracy may exist without inflicting these nggravat.ctl wrongs. "Christian pirates luwc great regard lOr ihc welfare, temporal and spiritual, of their fcllow-b~:ing~, and oftentimes exercise the spirit of the most self-denying missionaries. Such men and women do lwnor to human nature. 'l'hey nrc the true friends of their race. "Now, here is piracy-a system of society and government which gives opportunity to inculcate among graceless men who fall into our hands the principles of the Gospel of Christ; and many an ungodly man has bad the opportunity in our cabin of hearing the doctrines of the cross, who, whilst immersed in the business, and cares, and plensu1·es of life, never darkened the door of a meeting-house on land. And many of them have been converted to the Christian faith, and have become excellent and worthy Christian pirates. •" 'l'hosc of our captains who have Christian sailors under them have the best-managed vessels; and really their crews do more of effective work, both in battle and in ship duties, than any ungodly crew that can be found. ALBERT A"D MAnY. 107 " No, Sister Mary, depend upon it, you have imbibed a prejudice against piracy, ancl you suppose it to involve all sorts of crime. nut the true question of issue between us is pruned to tl)is :-Is it ncccs· sarily a crime in the sight of Gotl to control the property, or curtail the personal liberty, or take the life of a bumnn being in any case? ' 1 Every government has necessarily a right to pass laws ·indispensable to its existence; and it hn.s n. right, also, to establish those regulations which shall best promote tl1c good of the whole population. Now, whnt political organization is most desirable for a particular people, depends on circumstances; but, whatever be tlu>t adopted, whether democracy, or despotism, or piratical confederation, the rights of man, as a human being, arc trenched upon j and visionary have proved ancl will prove all pr·ojects of constructing and fashioning society according to philosophical notions and theories of abstract unalienable rights. That piracy or any civil institution intericrcs with the property of a man, or a class of men (as, for . instance, merchants), does not then make it necessarily, and, amid all circumstances, a crime." |
