7: Manners and Customs of Nantucket
<< 6: Description of the Island of Martha's Vineyard; and of the Whale Fishery || 8: Peculiar Customs of 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. The advantage of being able to convey themselves
by sea, to within forty miles of the spot, the richness of the soil,
etc., made them cheerfully quit an island on which there was no
longer any room for them. There they have founded a beautiful
settlement, known by the name of New Garden, contiguous to the
famous one which the Moravians have at Bethabara, Bethamia, and
Salem, on Yadkin River. No spot of earth can be more beautiful; it
is composed of gentle hills, of easy declivities, excellent low
lands, accompanied by different brooks which traverse this
settlement. I never saw a soil that rewards men so early for their
labours and disbursements; such in general with very few exceptions,
are the lands which adjoin the innumerable heads of all the large
rivers which fall into the Chesapeak, or flow through the provinces
of North and South Carolina, Georgia, etc. It is perhaps the most
pleasing, the most bewitching country which the continent affords;
because while it preserves an easy communication with the sea-port
towns, at some seasons of the year, it is perfectly free from the
contagious air often breathed in those flat countries, which are
more contiguous to the Atlantic. These lands are as rich as those
over the Alleghany; the people of New Garden are situated at the
distance of between 200 and 300 miles from Cape Fear; Cape Fear is
at least 450 from Nantucket: you may judge therefore that they have
but little correspondence with this their little metropolis, except
it is by means of the itinerant Friends. Others have settled on the
famous river Kennebeck, in that territory of the province of
Massachusetts, which is known by the name of Sagadahock. Here they
have softened the labours of clearing the heaviest timbered land in
America, by means of several branches of trade which their fair
river, and proximity to the sea affords them. Instead of entirely
consuming their timber, as we are obliged to do, some parts of it
are converted into useful articles for exportation, such as staves,
scantlings, boards, hoops, poles, etc. For that purpose they keep a
correspondence with their native island, and I know many of the
principal inhabitants of Sherburn, who, though merchants, and living
at Nantucket, yet possess valuable farms on that river; from whence
they draw great part of their subsistence, meat, grain, fire-wood,
etc. The title of these lands is vested in the ancient Plymouth
Company, under the powers of which the Massachusetts was settled;
and that company which resides in Boston, are still the granters of
all the vacant lands within their limits.
Although this part of the province is so fruitful, and so happily
situated, yet it has been singularly overlooked and neglected: it is
surprising that the excellence of that soil which lies on the river
should not have caused it to be filled before now with inhabitants;
for the settlements from thence to Penobscot are as yet but in their
infancy. It is true that immense labour is required to make room for
the plough, but the peculiar strength and quality of the soil never
fails most amply to reward the industrious possessor; I know of no
soil in this country more rich or more fertile. I do not mean that
sort of transitory fertility which evaporates with the sun, and
disappears in a few years; here on the contrary, even their highest
grounds are covered with a rich moist swamp mould, which bears the
most luxuriant grass, and never-failing crops of grain.
If New Gardens exceeds this settlement by the softness of its
climate, the fecundity of its soil, and a greater variety of produce
from less labour; it does not breed men equally hardy, nor capable
to encounter dangers and fatigues. It leads too much to idleness and
effeminacy; for great is the luxuriance of that part of America, and
the ease with which the earth is cultivated. Were I to begin life
again, I would prefer the country of Kennebeck to the other, however
bewitching; the navigation of the river for above 200 miles, the
great abundance of fish it contains, the constant healthiness of the
climate, the happy severities of the winters always sheltering the
earth with a voluminous coat of snow, the equally happy necessity of
labour: all these reasons would greatly preponderate against the
softer situations of Carolina; where mankind reap too much, do not
toil enough, and are liable to enjoy too fast the benefits of life.
There are many I know who would despise my opinion, and think me a
bad judge; let those go and settle at the Ohio, the Monongahela, Red
Stone Creek, etc., let them go and inhabit the extended shores of
that superlative river; I with equal cheerfulness would pitch my
tent on the rougher shores of Kennebeck; this will always be a
country of health, labour, and strong activity, and those are
characteristics of society which I value more than greater opulence
and voluptuous ease.
Thus though this fruitful hive constantly sends out swarms, as
industrious as themselves, yet it always remains full without having
any useless drones: on the contrary it exhibits constant scenes of
business and new schemes; the richer an individual grows, the more
extensive his field of action becomes; he that is near ending his
career, drudges on as well as he who has just begun it; nobody
stands still. But is it not strange, that after having accumulated
riches, they should never wish to exchange their barren situation
for a more sheltered, more pleasant one on the main? Is it not
strange, that after having spent the morning and the meridian of
their days amidst the jarring waves, weary with the toils of a
laborious life, they should not wish to enjoy the evenings of those
days of industry in a larger society, on some spots of terra firma,
where the severity of the winters is balanced by a variety of more
pleasing scenes, not to be found here? But the same magical power of
habit and custom which makes the Laplander, the Siberian, the
Hottentot, prefer their climates, their occupations, and their soil,
to more beneficial situations, leads these good people to think,
that no other spot on the globe is so analagous to their
inclinations as Nantucket. Here their connections are formed; what
would they do at a distance removed from them? Live sumptuously, you
will say, procure themselves new friends, new acquaintances, by
their splendid tables, by their ostentatious generosity, and by
affected hospitality. These are thoughts that have never entered
into their heads; they would be filled with horror at the thought of
forming wishes and plans so different from that simplicity, which is
their general standard in affluence as well as in poverty. They
abhor the very idea of expending in useless waste and vain luxuries,
the fruits of prosperous labour; they are employed in establishing
their sons and in many other useful purposes: strangers to the
honours of monarchy they do not aspire to the possession of affluent
fortunes, with which to purchase sounding titles, and frivolous
names!
Yet there are not at Nantucket so many wealthy people as one would
imagine after having considered their great successes, their
industry, and their knowledge. Many die poor, though hardly able to
reproach Fortune with a frown; others leave not behind them that
affluence which the circle of their business and of their prosperity
naturally promised. The reason of this is, I believe, the peculiar
expense necessarily attending their tables; for as their island
supplies the town with little or nothing (a few families excepted)
every one must procure what they want from the main. The very hay
their horses consume, and every other article necessary to support a
family, though cheap in a country of so great abundance as
Massachusetts; yet the necessary waste and expenses attending their
transport, render these commodities dear. A vast number of little
vessels from the main, and from the Vineyard, are constantly
resorting here, as to a market. Sherburn is extremely well supplied
with everything, but this very constancy of supply, necessarily
drains off a great deal of money. The first use they make of their
oil and bone is to exchange it for bread and meat, and whatever else
they want; the necessities of a large family are very great and
numerous, let its economy be what it will; they are so often
repeated, that they perpetually draw off a considerable branch of
the profits. If by any accidents those profits are interrupted, the
capital must suffer; and it very often happens that the greatest
part of their property is floating on the sea.
There are but two congregations in this town. They assemble every
Sunday in meeting houses, as simple as the dwelling of the people;
and there is but one priest on the whole island. What would a good
Portuguese observe?—But one single priest to instruct a whole
island, and to direct their consciences! It is even so; each
individual knows how to guide his own, and is content to do it, as
well as he can. This lonely clergyman is a Presbyterian minister,
who has a very large and respectable congregation; the other is
composed of Quakers, who you know admit of no particular person, who
in consequence of being ordained becomes exclusively entitled to
preach, to catechise, and to receive certain salaries for his
trouble. Among them, every one may expound the Scriptures, who
thinks he is called so to do; beside, as they admit of neither
sacrament, baptism, nor any other outward forms whatever, such a man
would be useless. Most of these people are continually at sea, and
have often the most urgent reasons to worship the Parent of Nature
in the midst of the storms which they encounter. These two sects
live in perfect peace and harmony with each other; those ancient
times of religious discords are now gone (I hope never to return)
when each thought it meritorious, not only to damn the other, which
would have been nothing, but to persecute and murther one another,
for the glory of that Being, who requires no more of us, than that
we should love one another and live! Every one goes to that place of
worship which he likes best, and thinks not that his neighbour does
wrong by not following him; each busily employed in their temporal
affairs, is less vehement about spiritual ones, and fortunately you
will find at Nantucket neither idle drones, voluptuous devotees,
ranting enthusiasts, nor sour demagogues. I wish I had it in my
power to send the most persecuting bigot I could find in——to the
whale fisheries; in less than three or four years you would find him
a much more tractable man, and therefore a better Christian.
Singular as it may appear to you, there are but two medical
professors on the island; for of what service can physic be in a
primitive society, where the excesses of inebriation are so rare?
What need of galenical medicines, where fevers, and stomachs loaded
by the loss of the digestive powers, are so few? Temperance, the
calm of passions, frugality, and continual exercise, keep them
healthy, and preserve unimpaired that constitution which they have
received from parents as healthy as themselves; who in the
unpolluted embraces of the earliest and chastest love, conveyed to
them the soundest bodily frame which nature could give. But as no
habitable part of this globe is exempt from some diseases,
proceeding either from climate or modes of living; here they are
sometimes subject to consumptions and to fevers. Since the
foundation of that town no epidemical distempers have appeared,
which at times cause such depopulations in other countries; many of
them are extremely well acquainted with the Indian methods of curing
simple diseases, and practise them with success. You will hardly
find anywhere a community, composed of the same number of
individuals, possessing such uninterrupted health, and exhibiting so
many green old men, who show their advanced age by the maturity of
their wisdom, rather than by the wrinkles of their faces; and this
is indeed one of the principal blessings of the island, which richly
compensates their want of the richer soils of the south; where iliac
complaints and bilious fevers, grow by the side of the sugar cane,
the ambrosial ananas, etc. The situation of this island, the purity
of the air, the nature of their marine occupations, their virtue and
moderation, are the causes of that vigour and health which they
possess. The poverty of their soil has placed them, I hope, beyond
the danger of conquest, or the wanton desire of extirpation. Were
they to be driven from this spot, the only acquisition of the
conquerors would be a few acres of land, inclosed and cultivated; a
few houses, and some movables. The genius, the industry of the
inhabitants would accompany them; and it is those alone which
constitute the sole wealth of their island. Its present fame would
perish, and in a few years it would return to its pristine state of
barrenness and poverty: they might perhaps be allowed to transport
themselves in their own vessels to some other spot or island, which
they would soon fertilise by the same means with which they have
fertilised this.
One single lawyer has of late years found means to live here, but
his best fortune proceeds more from having married one of the
wealthiest heiresses of the island, than from the emoluments of his
practice: however he is sometimes employed in recovering money lent
on the main, or in preventing those accidents to which the
contentious propensity of its inhabitants may sometimes expose them.
He is seldom employed as the means of self-defence, and much
seldomer as the channel of attack; to which they are strangers,
except the fraud is manifest, and the danger imminent. Lawyers are
so numerous in all our populous towns, that I am surprised they
never thought before of establishing themselves here: they are
plants that will grow in any soil that is cultivated by the hands of
others; and when once they have taken root they will extinguish
every other vegetable that grows around them. The fortunes they
daily acquire in every province, from the misfortunes of their
fellow-citizens, are surprising! The most ignorant, the most
bungling member of that profession, will, if placed in the most
obscure part of the country, promote litigiousness, and amass more
wealth without labour, than the most opulent farmer, with all his
toils. They have so dexterously interwoven their doctrines and
quirks with the laws of the land, or rather they are become so
necessary an evil in our present constitutions, that it seems
unavoidable and past all remedy. What a pity that our forefathers,
who happily extinguished so many fatal customs, and expunged from
their new government so many errors and abuses, both religious and
civil, did not also prevent the introduction of a set of men so
dangerous! In some provinces, where every inhabitant is constantly
employed in tilling and cultivating the earth, they are the only
members of society who have any knowledge; let these provinces
attest what iniquitous use they have made of that knowledge.
They are here what the clergy were in past centuries with you; the
reformation which clipped the clerical wings, is the boast of that
age, and the happiest event that could possibly happen; a
reformation equally useful is now wanted, to relieve us from the
shameful shackles and the oppressive burthen under which we groan;
this perhaps is impossible; but if mankind would not become too
happy, it were an event most devoutly to be wished.
Here, happily, unoppressed with any civil bondage, this society of
fishermen and merchants live, without any military establishments,
without governors or any masters but the laws; and their civil code
is so light, that it is never felt. A man may pass (as many have
done whom I am acquainted with) through the various scenes of a long
life, may struggle against a variety of adverse fortune, peaceably
enjoy the good when it comes, and never in that long interval, apply
to the law either for redress or assistance. The principal benefit
it confers is the general protection of individuals, and this
protection is purchased by the most moderate taxes, which are
cheerfully paid, and by the trifling duties incident in the course
of their lawful trade (for they despise contraband). Nothing can be
more simple than their municipal regulations, though similar to
those of the other counties of the same province; because they are
more detached from the rest, more distinct in their manners, as well
as in the nature of the business they pursue, and more unconnected
with the populous province to which they belong. The same simplicity
attends the worship they pay to the Divinity; their elders are the
only teachers of their congregations, the instructors of their
youth, and often the example of their flock. They visit and comfort
the sick; after death, the society bury them with their fathers,
without pomp, prayers, or ceremonies; not a stone or monument is
erected, to tell where any person was buried; their memory is
preserved by tradition. The only essential memorial that is left of
them, is their former industry, their kindness, their charity, or
else their most conspicuous faults.
The Presbyterians live in great charity with them, and with one
another; their minister as a true pastor of the gospel, inculcates
to them the doctrines it contains, the rewards it promises, the
punishments it holds out to those who shall commit injustice.
Nothing can be more disencumbered likewise from useless ceremonies
and trifling forms than their mode of worship; it might with great
propriety have been called a truly primitive one, had that of the
Quakers never appeared. As fellow Christians, obeying the same
legislator, they love and mutually assist each other in all their
wants; as fellow labourers they unite with cordiality and without
the least rancour in all their temporal schemes: no other emulation
appears among them but in their sea excursions, in the art of
fitting out their vessels; in that of sailing, in harpooning the
whale, and in bringing home the greatest harvest. As fellow subjects
they cheerfully obey the same laws, and pay the same duties: but let
me not forget another peculiar characteristic of this community:
there is not a slave I believe on the whole island, at least among
the Friends; whilst slavery prevails all around them, this society
alone, lamenting that shocking insult offered to humanity, have
given the world a singular example of moderation, disinterestedness,
and Christian charity, in emancipating their negroes. I shall
explain to you farther, the singular virtue and merit to which it is
so justly entitled by having set before the rest of their fellow-
subjects, so pleasing, so edifying a reformation. Happy the people
who are subject to so mild a government; happy the government which
has to rule over such harmless, and such industrious subjects!
While we are clearing forests, making the face of nature smile,
draining marshes, cultivating wheat, and converting it into flour;
they yearly skim from the surface of the sea riches equally
necessary. Thus, had I leisure and abilities to lead you through
this continent, I could show you an astonishing prospect very little
known in Europe; one diffusive scene of happiness reaching from the
sea-shores to the last settlements on the borders of the wilderness:
an happiness, interrupted only by the folly of individuals, by our
spirit of litigiousness, and by those unforeseen calamities, from
which no human society can possibly be exempted. May the citizens of
Nantucket dwell long here in uninterrupted peace, undisturbed either
by the waves of the surrounding element, or the political commotions
which sometimes agitate our continent.
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