Shining
Talents And University Knowledge, Would Be Entirely Useless Here,
Nay, Would Be Dangerous; It Would Pervert Their Plain Judgment,
It
would lead them out of that useful path which is so well adapted to
their situation; it would make
Them more adventurous, more
presumptuous, much less cautious, and therefore less successful. It
is pleasing to hear some of them tracing a father's progress and
their own, through the different vicissitudes of good and adverse
fortune. I have often, by their fire-sides, travelled with them the
whole length of their career, from their earliest steps, from their
first commercial adventure, from the possession of a single whale-
boat, up to that of a dozen large vessels! This does not imply,
however, that every one who began with a whale-boat, has ascended to
a like pitch of fortune; by no means, the same casualty, the same
combination of good and evil which attends human affairs in every
other part of the globe, prevails here: a great prosperity is not
the lot of every man, but there are many and various gradations; if
they all do not attain riches, they all attain an easy subsistence.
After all, is it not better to be possessed of a single whale-boat,
or a few sheep pastures; to live free and independent under the
mildest governments, in a healthy climate, in a land of charity and
benevolence; than to be wretched as so many are in Europe,
possessing nothing but their industry: tossed from one rough wave to
another; engaged either in the most servile labours for the smallest
pittance, or fettered with the links of the most irksome dependence,
even without the hopes of rising?
The majority of those inferior hands which are employed in this
fishery, many of the mechanics, such as coopers, smiths, caulkers,
carpenters, etc., who do not belong to the society of Friends, are
Presbyterians, and originally came from the main. Those who are
possessed of the greatest fortunes at present belong to the former;
but they all began as simple whalemen: it is even looked upon as
honourable and necessary for the son of the wealthiest man to serve
an apprenticeship to the same bold, adventurous business which has
enriched his father; they go several voyages, and these early
excursions never fail to harden their constitutions, and introduce
them to the knowledge of their future means of subsistence.
LETTER VII
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS AT NANTUCKET
As I observed before, every man takes a wife as soon as he chooses,
and that is generally very early; no portion is required, none is
expected; no marriage articles are drawn up among us, by skilful
lawyers, to puzzle and lead posterity to the bar, or to satisfy the
pride of the parties. We give nothing with our daughters, their
education, their health, and the customary out-set, are all that the
fathers of numerous families can afford: as the wife's fortune
consists principally in her future economy, modesty, and skilful
management; so the husband's is founded on his abilities to labour,
on his health, and the knowledge of some trade or business. Their
mutual endeavours, after a few years of constant application, seldom
fail of success, and of bringing them the means to rear and support
the new race which accompanies the nuptial bed. Those children born
by the sea-side, hear the roaring of its waves as soon as they are
able to listen; it is the first noise with which they become
acquainted, and by early plunging in it they acquire that boldness,
that presence of mind, and dexterity, which makes them ever after
such expert seamen. They often hear their fathers recount the
adventures of their youth, their combats with the whales; and these
recitals imprint on their opening minds an early curiosity and taste
for the same life. They often cross the sea to go to the main, and
learn even in those short voyages how to qualify themselves for
longer and more dangerous ones; they are therefore deservedly
conspicuous for their maritime knowledge and experience, all over
the continent. A man born here is distinguishable by his gait from
among an hundred other men, so remarkable are they for a pliability
of sinews, and a peculiar agility, which attends them even to old
age. I have heard some persons attribute this to the effects of the
whale oil, with which they are so copiously anointed in the various
operations it must undergo ere it is fit either for the European
market or the candle manufactory.
But you may perhaps be solicitous to ask, what becomes of that
exuberancy of population which must arise from so much temperance,
from healthiness of climate, and from early marriage? You may justly
conclude that their native island and town can contain but a limited
number. Emigration is both natural and easy to a maritime people,
and that is the very reason why they are always populous,
problematical as it may appear. They yearly go to different parts of
this continent, constantly engaged in sea affairs; as our internal
riches increase, so does our external trade, which consequently
requires more ships and more men: sometimes they have emigrated like
bees, in regular and connected swarms. Some of the Friends (by which
word I always mean the people called Quakers) fond of a
contemplative life, yearly visit the several congregations which
this society has formed throughout the continent. By their means a
sort of correspondence is kept up among them all; they are generally
good preachers, friendly censors, checking vice wherever they find
it predominating; preventing relaxations in any parts of their
ancient customs and worship. They everywhere carry admonition and
useful advice; and by thus travelling they unavoidably gather the
most necessary observations concerning the various situations of
particular districts, their soils, their produce, their distance
from navigable rivers, the price of land, etc. In consequence of
informations of this kind, received at Nantucket in the year 1766, a
considerable number of them purchased a large track of land in the
county of Orange, in North Carolina, situated on the several spring
heads of Deep River, which is the western branch of Cape Fear, or
North-West River.
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