Barratry
or Barretry.
Qui fait barat, barat lui vient
(French). With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you
again. Barratry is false faith to one's employers. It is a sea term,
and means the commission of a fraud on the owners or insurers of a ship
by the captain or the crew. The fraud may consist of many phases, such
as deserting the ship, sinking her, falsifying her cargo, etc. The
French have other proverbs to the same effect: as, La tricherie
revient presque toujours à son maître. “He made a pit and ... is
fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his
own head.” (Psalm vii. 14, 15, 16.)
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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