Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1852-09-30

at home and in case of absence or death are
brought forward to the stranger within their
fathers gates, as proof of the genius of the
son. The more truly industrious apply them
selves to some useful branch of improvement,
such as the study of navigation, or the con-
tlnuatlon of their winters lesson. All have
ample time for study and recreation, and the
work Is never hard in the sense which il is on
the Grand Banks or on the coast of Labrador
Green hands are fortunate who take this
branch for their first lesson in fishing instead
of either of the others mentioned; for while
their labor will not be excessive. They will
gain all the healthful influences of the sea
without the tenfold dangers pertaining thereto.
On the approach of fall, most of the vessels
engaged in catching mackerel return to their
homes, and, if opportunity offers for farther
efforts in their line, 90 down to Cape Cod, or
TO some of the small banks in the vicinity, thus
finishing out the season. The writer has seen
fleet estimated at five hundred of these ves-
sells, east of the Cape, late in the fall, lying as
close together as was possible for them, and
all apparently doing well but these grounds
are not depended upon. These fish, like the
game upon the shore, have in a great measure
retreated before the advance of civilized men,
and probably will continue to decrease accord
ing to this advance. Old fishermen can re-
member when they came annually in laroe
schools to Massachusetts Bay, but it is not sur
prislng that fish so sought after should be
driven almost entirely away, or consumed BY
the millions.
Having thus specifically enumerated some
oil the marks of difference characterizing the
fishermen in each of the three classes. and the
circumstances surrounding him, both as as a
fisherman and in common with all who spend
a larger portion of their lives upon the ocean,
let us follow him TO his home, and contemplate
him In the domestic circle, by his own fireside,
and within the pale of his native village
And, as the first of those concentric circles
radlating around every man whose influence is
exerted to give complexion TO society, let us
witness his fidelity or laxity in the parental ca
paclty We find that his protracted absence
does not weaken but rather tends to strengthen
his affection for his children, and that he is
even more solicitous for their comfort and edu-
cation than is generally true of landsmen To
this end his house is supplied with all the con-
venlences which the day affords.
He spreads proverbially good table, and is
hosPltable to all that ask or have claim upon
him. His children while on land, have liter
rally nothing to do but to attend school, and
this he amply provides for them; holding out
The very best inducements 10 school masters
found in New England. Beyond the home
circle, ard connected with the affairs of the
village and the State, we find him no politi-
clan, no stickler for party rights. nor sectarian
opinions. His circumstances are such that it
Is extremely difficult for him to keep posted
up with the times. and consequently he en-
tlrely abandons the field, leaving such drudpery
to lawyers and learned savans, while he reaps
the fruits of good laws and beneficial institu-
tons. His manner among strangers is charac-
terlzed by none of the open, loqnacions bear
lug OF the denizen of cities; he is distant and
taclturn; mindng his own business, and car
ing little about that of others. Yet, from The
very circumstances surrounding him, he is ex-
tremely excitable, and capable of influencing
and being influenced TO acts of vieor and de-
clslon. He hardly seems a part of the COM
munAy of interest upon land the greater part
OF his life is wasted among the winds and
storms OF the ocean, battling between hope and
lear, and the scanty remnant passed on shore
is hardly more than enough to regulate affairs
of a purely domestic nature, and secure the
growth and completion of those schemes which
every man in his prime desires TO see pro-
crossing, tending to render his old age com
Portable, and the decline of life happy. When
the years of his activity are over, he delights
to sit by the blazing hearth and recount the
dangers he has escaped and the thrilling ad-
ventures witnessed in his younger days; and
he finds nothing more congeneal to his taste
aside from the study of that book whose teach
ings are dear to his heart, and whose doctrines
he has ever endeavored to promote-than to
sit the live long day upon some elevated posi-
tion, watching the passing voyagers and listen
ing to the music of those old companions of
his pilgrimage, the rolling waves of the ocean,
N. H. Statesman
The four Pistareens.
When John was about thirteen years old he
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