Excerpt from The Correspondence of John Adams, Esquire, Late President of the United States of America: Concerning the British Doctrine of Impressment; And Many Interesting Things Which Occurred During His Administration

U'on. As it is natural to csvciy human mind to sympathize with its native country when in distress or danger, it is well known that con sidrmhlc numbers of British commonly rctum home lwm various foreign countries. In consequence of these invitations by proclama tion. The British ambassadors, consuls. Agents, governors and m 111, r olliccrs give thc proclamations a general circulation, stimulate the people to ruurn. And contrive many means to encourage and la ilitaic their passages. All this is very Well; all this is wubin the rules of modesty, decency, law and justice no reasonable man will objcrt to it. But none of those till this last, ever as 3ci°lcda right to take British subjects, by force. From the ships of fo rcign nations, any more than from the cities and provinces of foreign nations. On the other hand. It is equally clear, that British subjects in lo rcign ountries are under no indispensable obligation of rcligion, mora lity, law or policy, torcturnincompliance with such proclamations. N o penalty is annexed by English laws to any neglect; no, nor to any di rect or formal disobedience. Hundreds, in fact, do neglect and dis obey thc proclamations to one who complies with them. Thousands who have formed establishments and settled families, or become na turalized, or made contracts, or enlisted on board merchant ships, or even ships of war in foreign countries, pay no regard to these or ders or invitations of their former sovereign. Indeed, allwho have become naturalized in foreign ountrics, or entered into ccontracts of any kind, public or private, with governments or merchants, or farm ers or manufacturers, have no right to return until they have fulfilled their covenants and obligations. The president of the United States has a legal' authority to issue similar proclamations, and they would he as much respected by American citizens. All over the globe. But every Ameritan would say his compliance was voluntary, and none, whose engagements abroad were incompatible, would obey - But it is an acknowledged principle, that every nation has a right to the ser vice of its subjects in time of vxar.' By whom is this principle acknow ledged? Byno man, Ibellevc, in the unlimited sense in which it is here asserted. \vith certain qualifications and restrictions it may be admit ted. The realm and his own dominions the king has a right to the service of his subjects at sea and on land, by voluntary enlistment, and to send them abroad on foreign voyages, expeditions and enter prizes - but it would be dilllcult to prove the right of any exechtivc authorityof a free people to compel fr conscriptions orimpressmcnts, like galle bayonet. Or be fore the imperious necessity, itis said, have no law and necessity must be very obvious to the iv will not, comply. Impressnwnts of seamen men 111 port or at sea, are no better than the by Napoleon or Lewis XIV. Who set him th for that part of the: proclamation, which' the viewx Now for the other part. Which it has.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.