Robbery

.—Many people confound robbery with conquest: they contend, that it consists equally in possessing by force the property of others. But there is a prodigious difference. A robber is frequently solus in his enterprizes, or at least has but few associates: it is commonly an individual possessed of neither title nor crown. The conqueror, on the contrary, is almost always a prince or a king, and is followed by thousands of men: and the pirate who was bold enough to compare himself to Alexander, regarded the difference as nothing. Yet history, both ancient and modern, proves it sufficient to render robbery infamous and dishonorable, whilst conquest is held both lawful and glorious.