The power of impressing sea-faring men for the sea-service by the king's commission, has been a matter of some dispute, and submitted to with great reluctance; though it hath very clearly and learnedly been shown by Sir Michael Foster, that the practice of impressing, and granting powers to the admiralty for this purpose, is of very ancient date, and hath been uniformly continued by a regular series of precedents to the present time: whence he concludes it to be part of the common law. The difficulty arises from hence, that no statute has expressly declared this power to be in the crown, though many of them very strongly imply it. The statute 2 Ric. II. c. 4, speaks of mariners being arrested and retained for the king's service, as of a thing well known, and practised without dispute; and provides a remedy against their running away. By a later statute, if any waterman, who uses the river Thames, shall hide himself during the execution of any commission of pressing for the king's service, he is liable to heavy penalties. By another (5 Eliz. c. 5.) no fisherman shall be taken by the queen's commission to serve as a mariner; but the commission shall be first brought to two justices of the peace, inhabiting near the sea-coast where the mariners are to be taken, to the intent that the justices may choose out and return such a number of able-bodied men, as in the commission are contained, to serve her majesty. And by others, especially protections are allowed to seamen in particular circumstances, to prevent them from being impressed. Ferrymen are also said to be privileged from being impressed, at common law. All which do most evidently imply a power of impressing to reside somewhere; and if anywhere, it must, from the spirit of our constitution, as well as from the frequent mention of the king's commission, reside in the crown alone.—After all, however, this method of manning the navy is to be considered as only defensible from public necessity, to which all private considerations must give way.

The following persons are exempted from being impressed: Apprentices for three years; the master, mate, and carpenter, and one man for every 100 tons, of vessels employed in the coal trade; all under 18 years of age, and above 55; foreigners in merchant-ships and privateers; landmen betaking themselves to sea for two years; seamen in the Greenland fishery, and harpooners, employed, during the interval of the fishing season, in the coal-trade, and giving security to go to the fishing next season.