day.

On shore the fishermen were a jolly set of fellows, social in their
dispositions, not given to vicious indulgences, but somewhat careless of
their earnings, regarding their resources as inexhaustible as "the fish
in the sea." They married early, made kind and affectionate husbands,
and were, in almost every case, blessed with a numerous offspring;
indeed, Marblehead fishermen of sixty years of age would remind a person
of the Bible patriarchs for the number of their descendants. Their
wives, fresh, blooming, spirited, and good-humored, were grandmothers
at six and thirty, great grandmothers at fifty-four, and great great
grandmothers at the age of seventy-four!

The fishermen were patriotic, too. They were dear lovers of their
country and its institutions, and prided themselves on their attachment
to democracy. In the war of the revolution the citizens of Marblehead
and Gloucester, and Cape Cod, no longer able to pursue their accustomed
vocations, joined the armies which fought for freedom, and rendered
important services on the land as well as on the ocean. In the latest,
and, we trust, THE LAST, war with Great Britain, they came forward
almost to a man, to assist in manning our frigates and privateers; and
no class of men rendered better services, or could be more confidently
relied on when deeds of daring were to be performed, than the
whole-hearted and hard-handed fishermen of Massachusetts Bay.

As a nursery for seamen for our merchant ships in time of peace, the
fishing business has proved of immense advantage to the country, and
that policy may justly be regarded as suicidal on the part of the
national government which would throw barriers in the way of its
success.

To those who are familiar with the extent and geographical position
of the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, it may seem surprising, perhaps
incredible, that fishing vessels have been known to seek for it, day
after day, in vain. Yet that such occurrences have taken place in "olden
times" is an established fact. But to the honor of our fishermen it may
be said that such blunders in plain navigation have been exceedingly
rare, and as much owing to a free circulation of the fiery liquid, which
addles men's brains, as to sheer ignorance.

Many years ago a schooner sailed from Gloucester bound to the Grand
Bank, in charge of a thick dunderhead of a skipper, and a crew of
about equal mental calibre. In putting up the stores the grog was not
forgotte