8? 4 I M P 
farveying the works of the creation, leaves us this gene¬ 
ral imprefs or character upon them, that they were exceed¬ 
ing good. South .—Device ; motto : 
To defcribe emblazon’d fhields, 
bnprejf'es quaint, caparifons, and {feeds, 
Bafes, and tinfels, trappings. Milton. 
Act of forcing any into fervice; compulfion ; feizure. 
Now commonly prefs .—Ajax was here the voluntary, and 
you as under an imprefs. Shakefpeare. 
Your drips are not well mann’d ; 
Your mariners are muliteers, reapers, people 
Ingroft by fwift imprefs. Shakefpeare. 
IM'PRESS-MONEY.yi The money paid for a man who 
is preffed into the public fervice. 
IMPRESSING, f. The aft of forcing into the public 
fervice. Clarendon. 
The power of imprefling fea-faring men for the fea-fer- 
vice by the king’s coimniflion, has been a matter of fonre 
difpute, and fubmitted to with great reluftance ; though 
it hath very clearly and learnedly been fhown by fir Mi¬ 
chael Folter, that the praftice of imprefling, and granting 
powers to the admiralty for that purpofe, is of very an¬ 
cient date, and hath been uniformly continued by a re¬ 
gular feries of precedents to the prefent time; whence he 
concludes it to be part of the common law. The diffi¬ 
culty arifes from hence, that no ftatute has exprefsly de¬ 
clared this power to be in the crown, though many of 
them very ftrongly imply.it. The ftatute 2 Ric. II. c. 4, 
fpeaks of mariners being arretted and retained for the_ 
king’s fervice, as of a thing well known, and praftifed 
without difpute; and provides a remedy againft their 
running away. By a later ftatute, if any waterman, who 
ufes the river Thames, fliall hide himfelf during the exe¬ 
cution of any commiffion of prefling for the king’s fervice, 
he is liable to heavy penalties. By another, (5 Eliz.c. 5.) 
no filherman (hall be taken by the queen’s commiffion to 
ferve as a mariner; but the commiflion fliall be firft 
brought to two juftices of the peace, inhabiting near the 
fea-coaft where the mariners are to be taken, to the intent 
that the juftices may choofe out and return fuch a num¬ 
ber of able-bodied men, as in the commiflion are con¬ 
tained, to ferve her majefty. And, by others, efpecial 
proteftions are allowed to feamen in particular circum- 
ftances, to prevent them from being imprefled. Ferrymen 
are alfo faid to be privileged from being imprefled, at com¬ 
mon law. All which do moft evidently imply a power of 
impreifing to refide fomewhere; and, if any where, it muft, 
from the ipirit of our conftitution, as well as from the 
frequent mention of the king’s commiflion, reiide in the 
crown alone. After all, however, this method of man¬ 
ning the navy is to be confidered as only defenfible from 
public neceftity, to which all private confiderations muft 
give way. Thus, in the cafe of the king v. Tubbs, lord 
Mansfield faid, “ The power of prefling is founded upon 
immemorial ufage allowed for ages. If not, it can have no 
ground to ftand upon; nor can it be vindicated or jufti- 
fied by any reafon but the fafety of the ftate. The prac¬ 
tice is deduced from that trite maxim of the conffituti- 
onal law of England, That private mifehief had better be 
fubmitted to, than public detriment and inconvenience 
fhould enfue. Though it be a legal power, it may, like 
many others, be abufed in the exercife of it.” And in 
that cafe the defendant was brought up by habeas corpus, 
upon the ground that he was entitled to an exemption; 
. but the court held that the exemption was not made out, 
and he was remanded to the ihip from whence he had 
been brought. 
The following perfons are exempted from being im- 
preffed : apprentices for three years; the matter, mate, and 
carpenter, and one man for every 100 tons, of veflels em¬ 
ployed in the coal-trade; all under eighteen years of age, 
and above fifty-five ; foreigners in merchant-{hips and pri- 
I M P 
vateers; landmen betaking themfelves to tea for two years s, 
feamen in the Greenland fiftiery, and harpooners, employ¬ 
ed, during the interval of the filhing feafon, in the coal- 
trade, and giving fecurity to go to the filhing next feafon. 
IMPRESS'IBLE, adj. What may be imprefled.—The 
differences of impreffiible and not impreffiible , figurable and 
not figurable, are plebeian notions. Bacon. 
IMPRESS'ION, f. [ impreffio , Lat. imprejjion, Fr.] The 
aft of prefling one body upon another.—Senfation is fuch 
an imprefjion or motion, made in fome part of the body, 
as produces fome perception in the underftanding. Locke. 
—Mark made by prelfure ; ftamp : 
Like to a chaos, or unlick’d bear-whelp, 
That carries no impreffion like the dam. Shakefpeare. 
Image fixed in the mind.—Were the offices of religion 
ftript of all the external decencies, they would not make 
a due impreffion on the mind. Atterbury —Efficacious 
agency; operation ; influence.—We lie open to the im- 
prejjions of flattery, which we admit without fcruple, be- 
caufe we think we deferve it. Atterbury. —Elfeft of an at¬ 
tach—Such a defeat of near two hundred horfe, feconded 
with two thoufand foot, may furely endure a comparifon 
with any of the braveft impreffiions in ancient times. Wot- 
ton. —Edition ; number printed at once ; one courfe of 
printing.—For ten impreffiions, which his works have had 
in fo many years, at prelent a hundred books are fcarcely 
purchafed once a- twelvemonth. Dry den. — Impreffion, how¬ 
ever, properly denotes the edition of a book, regarding the 
mechanical part only ; whereas edition, befides this, takes 
in the care of the editor, who corrected or augmented the 
copy, adding notes, &c. to render the work more ufeful. 
IMPRESS'IVE, adj. Suited to make impreffion ; mak¬ 
ing impreffion. 
IMPRESS'URE, f. The mark made by preflure; the 
dint; the impreffion: 
Lean but upon a rufli, 
The cicatrice and capable impreffiure 
Thy palm fome moments keeps. Shakefpeare. 
IMPRI'MERIE, f. [French.] A printing-houfe.—You 
have thofe conveniencies for a great imprimerie, which 
other univerfities cannot boaft of. Lord Arlington. 
IMPRFMING, f. [from in and prime.'] An effay ; a be¬ 
ginning.—Hence, impriming, with hunters, is the routing 
or diflodging of a wild beaft; a feparation from the herd. 
IMPRI'MIS, adv. [Latin.] In the firft place; before 
the reft. 
To IMPRIN'T, v. a. [ imprinter, Fr.] To mark upon 
any fubftance by preflure.—Having furveyed the image of 
God in the foul of man, we are not to omit thofe charac¬ 
ters of fnajefty that God imprinted upon the body. South. 
She amidft his fpacious meadows flows; 
Inclines her urn upon his fatten’d lands. 
And fees his num’rous herds imprint her fands. Prior. 
To ftamp words on paper by the ufe of types; to fix on 
the mind or memory.—There is a kind of conveying of 
effeftual and imprinting paflages amongft compliments, 
which is of Angular ufe. Bacon. —We have all thofe ideas 
in our underftandings which we can make the objects of 
our thoughts, without thy help of thofe fenfible qualities 
which firft imprinted them. Locke.- —Retention is the power 
to revive again in our minds thofe ideas, which, after im¬ 
printing, have difappeared. Locke. —By familiar acquaint¬ 
ance he has got the ideas of thofe two diiferent things 
dittinftly imprinted on his mind. Locke. 
To Imprint in is lefs proper.—When we fet before our 
eyes a round globe, the idea imprinted in our mind is of a 
flat circle, varioufly fhadowed. Locht. 
IM'PRINT,yi Any words ftamped on paper with types. 
By a late aft of parliament, the name and place of abode 
of the printer is to be annexed to every printed paper, 
whether book, pamphlet, or handbill, in any way pub- 
lilhed 
