Though according to the strict letter of the law as defined by various
decisions of the courts a press-warrant was legally executable only by
the officer to whom it was addressed, in practice the limitation was
very widely departed from, if not altogether ignored; for just as a
constable or sheriff may call upon bystanders to assist him in the
execution of his office, so the holder of a press-warrant, though
legally unable to delegate his authority by other means, could call
upon others to aid him in the execution of his duty. Naturally, the
gangsmen being at hand, and being at hand for that very purpose, he
gave them first preference. Hence, the gangsman pressed on the
strength of a warrant which in reality gave him no power to press.

While the law relating to the intensive force of warrants was thus
deliberately set at naught, an extraordinary punctiliousness for legal
formality was displayed in another direction. According to tradition
and custom no warrant was valid until it had received the sanction of
the civil power. Solicitor-General Yorke could find no statutory
authority for such procedure. [Footnote: _Admiralty Records_ 7.
298--Law Officers' Opinions, 1733-56, No. 102.] He accordingly
pronounced it to be non-essential to the validity of warrants.
Nevertheless, save in cases where the civil power refused its
endorsement, it was universally adhered to. What was bad law was
notoriously good policy, for a disaffected mayor, or an unfriendly
Justice of the Peace, had it in his power to make the path of the
impress officer a thorny one indeed. "Make unto yourselves friends,"
was therefore one of the first injunctions laid upon officers whose
duties unavoidably made them many enemies.