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    The impressment of seamen is for the purposes of war alone . They are forced to slay other human beings without being allowed to ask what are the motives of the man-catchers in setting them on to do it . Therein is their condition worse than that of the negro slaves , ' But , ' say the advocates of impressment ,

    e people are drawn for the militia and forced to fight if needful . For my own part , even setting out of the question the partial mode in which the militia conscription is conducted , I cannot in conscience approve of it ; but still the evil does not press unfairly on any particular class ; it falls upon the whole nation , whereas the evil of impressment falls on a very small number , thus making the hardship infinitely greater . * How can we resist invasion , ' ask our rulers , if we cannot have seamen ? The sailors

    prefer the merchant service ' . ' If they do , it is a proof that the merchant service ,, bad as it is , is a preferable condition to the king ' s service . Therefore the remedy is plain and simple .

    Increase the pecuniary and other advantages in the king ' s service , and abundant seamen will flock to it , Give good sailors the hope of becoming officers . Abolish caste , and let fair play exist to all alike , and there will be no need of force to get men to

    enter . There never was a time yet , when men could not be induced to volunteer even for unjust wars when the premium was made high enough , and there is little fear that they will refuse to fight for high pay when the cause is a just or a popular one . The rulers will perhaps reply , ' that the expense will become so great in such a case , that Parliament would not sanction the

    grants , and the people would refuse to pay the necessary taxes . ' If this argument means any thing , it must be that the Parliament and people will put off' war as long as possible , and will not be dragged into it , save by the most urgent necessity , on account of the expense . This is the exact conclusion which is desirable . The more expensive wars become , the less we shall have of them . People will not take up arms upon vague fears , but when violence approaches their firesides , they will spare neither purse nor

    person in resisting it . Even cowards become brave beneath an impending danger from which there is no retreat . The common argument of the man-catchers is this , ' The first duty of a government is to prevent invasion , and , as we live on an island , our easiest defence is " our wooden walls , " to man which

    we must have men and the cheaper the better . To talk about impressment being a hardship is a fallacy , for the seamen are used to it and don ' t mind it . The best seamen , and the least discontented , on board the navy , are impressed men / There is no doubt that sailors are a class of beinga whose habits are very plastic , but the very fact of a human being remaining a contented slave is a conclusive argument for the abolition of the practice of making slaves . We have been told that many of the negroes prefer the slave state ; and I know it to be

    Untitled Article

    Civilized Barbarism . 887

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1834, page 287, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2632/page/55/