The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1829-02-11
From the .4muIet for 1929.
THE FISHERMAN.

1t was as calm an evening as ever came
from heaven-the sky and the earth were
as tranquil, as if no storm from the one had
ever disturbed tho roPoSo of the nthnr; end
even the ocean, lay as gentle as if It's bosom
had never betrayed-as if no traveller had
ever sunk to death in its embrace. Tue
sun had gone down, and the pensVe twl-
light would have reigned over nature, but
for the moon, which rose in her full orbed
beauty, the queen of an illimitable world,
to smile upon the goodly things of ours, and
to give a radiance and glory to all she
shone upon. 1t was an hour and scene
that led the soul to the contemplation OF
Him who never ceased to watch over the
works he has made, and whose protecting
care displays itself alike upon the solid land
and the trackless wastes of the deceltful
sea.
On the Western coast of the county of
Devon, which has been termed, and it may
be added, justly, the garden of England"
bled around one Of the fshermen's cottages.
The habltation was built in the true style of
the old time, when comfort WAS the princi-
pal object of the protector. At either side
of the door were scattered the lines and
nets and baskets that betokened the calling
of the owner, and the fisherman was taking
his farewell for the night, Of his happy, low
ing family, who were, bidding him Sod
speed" on his voyage. A fine old man was
leaning his arms on the railing, and talking
to an interesting girl whose hand lay upon
! the shoulder of a younger sister. The stout
fisherman, dressed in his rough jerkin, and
large boots that reached far above the knees,
was in the act of kissing little cherub, who
seemed half terrified at being elevated so
high as the fathers lips; while the wife and
mother, with her infant nursing on her lap,
was looking anxiously upon her husband as
she breathed the parting blessing, and the
| prayer for his safe return. A little boy,
the miniature of bis father in countenance
and in dress, Learing a huge boat cloak
across his shoulders, and the lantern that
was to give light when the moon departed,
completed the group,-if we except noble
Newfoundland dog, some steps in advance
of the party, watching for the nod to com
mence his march to kind of pier where the
fisherman and his boy were to embark
Good luck, good luck ~ exclaimed the old
man. "good luck, and safe home again,
John We want no more but Gods blessing.
and that We may have for asking; but We
may as well take mine too,-God bless ye
and good bye to ye."
The blessing was heartily ecnoed by his
kind partner and his children, and, whist
ling as he went, with his boat-hook on his
shoulder, his dog Neptune before, and his
boy following, he trudged along to the
beach.
With the earliest dawn of morning the
fsherman's family were astr; the elder
girl was busily arranging their little parlor,
while the younger was preparing the break
fast table, and the mother spreading before
the fire the clothes of her husband and her
boy. An hour passed, and she grew some
what uneasy that he had remained abroad
beyond the usual period of his return. An
other hour had elapsed, when she said to
her father, "Father, go out to the hilock,
and try if you can see his sail upon the
water; he seldom stays ont so long when
the sea is calm and the weather fair; my
little boy too was not quite well last night,
and this alone. should have FASTENED him
home."
| The old man won't forth, and one by one
his grandchildren followed him, until the