Should it be said, that, by living under the dominion of a prince, which one might leave, every individual has given a tacit assent to his authority…We may as well assert, that a man by remaining in a vessel, freely consents to the dominion of the master; though he was carried on board while asleep, and must leap into the ocean, and perish, the moment he leaves her.
Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary (ed. T. H. Green and T. H. Grose, 1875) 'Of the Original Contract' (1748)