o be done with respect to those who are deaf to all
invitations, and blind to all offers of advantage? Are they to sit at
ease only because they are idle, or to be distinguished with indulgence
only for want of deserving it?

It seems generally granted, sir, that such drones are the proper objects
of an impress. Let us then suppose that every man who is willing to
serve his country, has laid hold of the reward proposed, and entered a
volunteer. The fleets are not yet sufficiently manned, and more sailors
must be procured. Warrants are issued out in the common form. The
negligent, the imprudent, the necessitous, are taken. The vigilant, the
cunning, and those that have more money, find shelter and escape. Can it
be said, that those whose circumstances, or good fortune, enable them to
secure themselves from the officers of the impress, deserve any
exemption from the publick service, or from the hardships to which their
companions are exposed? Have they discharged their debt of gratitude to
the publick so effectually by running away from its service, that no
search ought to be made after them? It seems evident, that if it was
right to seize the one, it is likewise right to pursue the other; and if
it be right to pursue him, it is likewise right to hinder him from
escaping the pursuers. It is then right to vest some persons with the
power of apprehending him, and in whom is that power to be lodged, but
in the civil magistrate?

Every man, sir, is obliged by compulsive methods to serve his country,
if he can be prevailed upon by no other. If any man shall refuse to pay
his rates or his taxes, will not his goods be seized by force, and sold
before his face? If any particular methods are proposed for obliging
seamen to contribute to the publick safety, it is only because their
service is necessary upon more pressing occasions than that of others;
upon occasions which do not admit of delay, without the hazard of the
whole community.

I must confess, sir, there are instances in which the hardships of the
seafaring part of the nation are peculiar, and truly calamitous. A
sailor, after the dangers and toils of a long voyage, when he is now in
the sight of the port, where he hopes to enjoy that quiet which he has
deserved by so long a series of fatigues, to repair the injuries which
his health has suffered, by change of climate, and the diet of the
ships, and to recover that strength which incessant vigilance has worn
away; when