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" T h e C o m p lic a t e d P lo t o f P ir a c y " : A s p e c t s ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC o f E n g lis h C r im in a l L a w a n d t h e I m a g e o f t h e P ir a t e in D e fo e PONMLKJIHGFEDCBA J O E L H . B A E R T h e ocean is n ot on ly a p lace of ven tu re, su fferin g, an d ach ieve­ m en t for D efoe, it is also a p lace of crim e. L on g before P op e, h e h ad exam in ed m an 's p arad oxical n atu re an d fou n d in h is action s at sea an em blem for h is "d ark " sid e:mlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA What strange, what inconsistent thing's a man! Who shall his nature search, his life explain? If in the ocean of his crimes we sail, Satire, our navigation all will fail; Shipwreck'd in dark absurdities of crime.1 H e w ou ld h ave th ou g h t of a very sp ecific set of crim es, kn ow led ge­ able as h e w as of m erch an t sh ip p in g, naval w arfare, an d colon ial h is­ tory. B u t th rou g h ou t h is lifetim e, piracy, w h ich flou rish ed alon g all th e E u rop ean trad e rou tes, w as th e m ost flagran t crim e of all. P irates su ited h im w ell as su b jects, n ot on ly becau se th ey w ere in th e n ew s bu t also becau se th eir stories brou gh t togeth er so m an y of h is favorite top ics— travel, trad e, crim e, colon ization , th e n ation al secu rity, an d T his essay w on the A SE C S Jam es C lifford E ssay Prize for 1983. It is rep rinted w ith p erm ission from T h e E ig h t e e n t h C e n t u r y : T h e o r y a n d I n t e r p r e t a t io n , ed. R obert M . M arkley , Jeffrey R . Sm itten, and Joel C . W einsheim er (Lubbock: Texas Tech P ress, 1982). 3 4 / BAERZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA th e isolation of th e h u m an sou l. H is stories of Sin gleton , A very, G ow , an d th e oth ers in th e QPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA G e n e r a l H is t o r y o f t h e P y r a t e s (1724-28) m ay, in th e w id est sen se, be m otivated by th e u rge to see p irates as sym bols of Satan 's tem p tation s an d of ou r ow n sp iritu al w eak n esses;2 in th e w ord s of Joh n D u rant, "(O m y soul) thou carryest p etty p irates w ithin th ee, th at w ill n ev er figh t for th ee (flesh w ill n ot figh t again st th e w orld an d Satan ) n ay w h ich w ar again st th y sou l. L ook to it th erefore to w atch again st th ose w ith in , th at th ou m ayest th e better m ain tain e th y figh t w ith o u t."3 O r, as th e M a r in e r ' s D iv in e M a t e exclaim s, "T h e...

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