Mr. Hallam makes the following excellent observations upon the
frequency of piracy in the middle ages:--"A pirate, in a well-armed,
quick-sailing vessel, must feel, I suppose, the enjoyments of his
exemption from control more exquisitely than any other free-booter;
and, darting along the bosom of the ocean, under the impartial
radiance of the heavens, may deride the dark concealments and hurried
nights of the forest robber. His occupation is indeed extinguished by
the civilization of later ages, or confined to distant climates. But
in the 13th or 14th centuries, a rich vessel was never secure from
attack; and neither restitution nor punishment of the criminals was to
be obtained from governments, who sometimes feared the plunderer, and
sometimes connived at the offence."
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