The British "press gangs" would even go to the United States to capture sailors—they claimed those sailors were immigrants from England who still had obligations to serve in the Royal Navy and took them away to be stuffed into British warships.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the British Navy's battleship "Leopard" directly intercepted the United States Navy's "Chesapeake" in Boston Port and attempted to board the ship to press men into service.
As a result, the Americans immediately sounded the battle alarm, and after the exchange of fire, the "Chesapeake" surrendered, and the British took some of the sailors on board…
This was the famous "Chesapeake Incident," which became an important catalyst for the War of 1812.
As for why France did not adopt England's practices,