Following out the train of his argument,
88
the leamed Attorney General then proceeded to cite
a number of definitions and authoritative statements
contained in the works of international jurists.
A universal definition of piracy has never been adopted. The opinions of jurists can be cited in support of the proposition that an attack at sea without the occurrence of a robbery may constitute a piracy. I do not however propose to discuss these definitions because I am adopting for myself the view that the definition of the crime of piracy, for the purposes of a trial either in Eng and or in thí s Colony, depends in the first instance not upon the law of nations but upon the meaning attached to piracy
in the English statutes and in decisions of the
English courts. I am fortified in my opinion by the opening statement in the chapter on piracy con- tained in East's "Meas of the Crown" (1803 Edition) volume 2, at p. 794, as follows "By the civil law the punishment of piracy was capital, of which the Admiral took cognizance: but it does not fall within the scope of this work to consider the offence otherwise than as it is a marine felony triable under the King'a Special Commission by virtue of the statute 28 Hen.
VIII, c. 15."
It is not necessary here to consider in
what circumstances the admiral, acting within his
jurisdiction, may be empowered to suppress or exterminate subjects of a foreign state whom he may find following a career of pirary, as that word is
understood in the common speech of mankind.
It may
be
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