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[1], 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[2], 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 chuſe out and return ſuch a number of ablebodied men, as in the commiſſion are contained, to ſerve her majeſty. And, by others[3], eſpecial protections are allowed to ſeamen in particular circumſtances, to prevent them from being impreſſed. All which do moſt evidently imply a power of impreſſing to reſide ſomewhere; and, if any where, 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.
But, beſides this method of impreſſing, (which is only defenſible from public neceſſity, to which all private conſiderations muſt give way) there are other ways that tend to the increaſe of ſeamen, and manning the royal navy. Pariſhes may bind out poor boys apprentices to maſters of merchantmen, who ſhall be protected from impreſſing for the firſt three years; and if they are impreſſed afterwards, the maſters ſhall be allowed their wages[4]: great advantages in point of wages are given to volunteer ſeamen in order to induce them to enter into his majeſty's ſervice[5]: and every foreign ſeaman, who during a war ſhall ſerve two years in any man of war, merchantman, or privateer, is naturalized ipſo facto[6]. About the middle of king William's reign, a ſcheme was ſet on foot[7] for a regiſter of ſeamen to the number of thirty
