New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-12-14

while the ontgoers carried. each If them, perhaps
| half bushel of letters upon the mere chance Of
| being able to deliver them. There came gtad news
and sad news from the soafarers-repcris of death.
of wreck, of il-fortuno and small catches. of good
lack and great takes. Somehow. the bG'inc-s was
regarded as SORT OF lottery with large priz's ana
| with mOurnful blanks. "A biOke1 voyage was
| the local phrase 10 express failuIe. Some
captains aud some ships were lucky-otEers got %
| had name and never did anything a,terwart. 50
that the men would not sail with sach masters. or
IN such vessels, and the owners were sladto get mi
of both.
The voyages were made upon shares and this sys-
TEN led to a good many small enterprises in fitting
ont ships. The property was divided into quarters.
eighths. sixteenths and thirty-seconds; and thus
people Of small means were able invest in spec
ulation which might prove fargcy profitable. We
| had good many parsons Of color in ihe town.
some Of them fugitive slaves, ct whom / may nave
something TO say hereafter. They were
thrifty Industrious aud exceedingly we'll
behaved, and some of them acquired fair
fortunes The town anti-slayery frou the start.
being full If Quakers-wls founded, IN TACT, by one
of that deaomination-and the people were ali Abo-
ltionists before William LLOYD Garrison began his
wonderful work. We had a cook in our family who
runaway, aud who kept long and exceed
ll-iN sharp Nhlit alWt16 al Ahio Si'
me in strict confidence. to my great terror. and
informed me that il was intended for the reception
of her old master il he should come after her.
A. she was afierwarl tired for the murder of her
baby though she was acquitted. undoubtedly she
would have made il uupl-asan for a dcputy-mar-
,hal with a warrant for rendition. / think 1t was
she woo. being of warm religions turn, told me
'ha; " he'll was HOT aud would burn me "a doe
t.ine which. aciug thena fierce hide Unitarian, |
pr ceri'd c0nfutc priori and IN various other
logical ways.
We bal ne .rors then Ia almost every branch Of
business Before my time there had been
CIp'ain r.u Cuii., bacl, man, who COM
irauicd \ bands ,me shin with white
owner aud while crew. believe that Captain
Cuiie rose 10 be dignity Of having his biogra-
printed SOM rlrs aftcrvard. anti-siaVery
document The colorcd people on one occasion had
pa, their money t0gt liner and purchased whaling
"ii, watch lore the patriotic nnGe OF " The Rising
-iair-.' II was manned mainly by blacks, who
pioH,ly held praYcr-mceilng before sailing, ~
which was PIT no one Of the most extraordinary
prtllions ever offered ~ the Throne. Without in
trndiug the least irrcverencc may venture to give
o. rs follows 80 Lord. look down upon dis brig, dc
y ,ing states. a-lt,rd out by The enterprise y our
cu!.ud hredcrcn. Por-uculariy. . Lord, We pray
,lo 10 look down up,n d. second mate-.iim rs is
a'tu next 10 Ms. lluiu, III h' nuit "h" VIC
,uck pauiaioou.w This IS The prayer a. / heard 1t
repeated; aud an sure 1t did no dlscrcdit 70 the
..nlple-mir icd and devout Christian who uttered
IL; W neither Heaven looked down upon the brig OF
not sire natc " 20 brokcn VOYAGE and the specnia-
ton an 81 Try to saw came 10 grief. Che small
specnlatons We're apt q do.
have mentioned that we had a great many
Qnakers in our town l Shall always esteem it q
privilege that knew something oi Quakerism while
il vet retaincd much of ATS primitive qulinfncss and
simplicity and before il began To- make those con-
ccssion- 20 he world, opni which diminish the
marked distiucsvcnes> of The sect, whether fortu-
nately or otherwise. Fifty years ago Qlakers had
q good deal of thc positive spirit which sent the
pr1to-Trond4 90 long mnr 1naert IN England ana
10 he scaiold in Boston. remember seeing a Qua
koI with lis bat ON IN one oi our couIi-rocms. Tie
sheriff. man of great tendency to apopgxg ordered
him 10 lake 10 oil and was answered by indoui-
table look such rs George Fox might have cast upon
the Ciiei-justcc Of England. The command was
repeated by the sheriff ~ hls best official way The
Friend remained covered thought that he officer
would then aud there have died IN his box. What
might have come Of it 30 not know; b1t the man
i'm the broadhriin having further occasion TO re-
main solved the problem and relieved the insult II
majesty Of the county by walking ont, which he did
after somewhat victorious fashion, rs If something
Of the natural still holl possession Of the terri
tory under his dfab coat. 40 Quaker nowadays.
fancy would in.s; upon tie ppuctlio; bu' lt would
be- Just jle refreshing 90 fad one willing to do so.
Ono or two stories not mnlapropos Of the
last, and ! may bring this mstalmcnt
IF nv "reminiscences TO conclu-
sion. Everybody knows what Was the hospl-
taty OF Friends in the oldon time. A. a matter OF
principle they seldom went 10 public hou es, for
George Fox long be ore hid proclaimed ms testi-
nony against doing so. They naturally entertained
each Other aud ans body who has eaten 0ld-fn,li
ioued quarterly meeting dinner, my word for IT, has
a pleasant memory thereof. We had rich old
Quaker merchant in town, liberal as the air,aud
unspeakably ho.puablo; bu- sometimes also I'M
speakablv tried 10y bogcs. There was q shTewd
Friend who again and again won't To the house
about dinner time 10 fish for IN invitation. H. had
no notion Of buying OIL aut with an air oi business
he would ask: Friend p, coulI thee tell me what
/ could buy sperm OIL tor now. bY the Ten gallons
or the twenty gallons ~ One day, PATIENCE being
exhausted, he cot his answer john. see 30 II IN 20
thee never comes 20 nv hOuse again to inquire he
price ol sperm 0il-about dinner time j And sup
pose thi. he didn't.
have sometimes Thought that pretty little
book might b. written about these old Quakers by
any one acquainted with their peculiar and charm
ins literature, and generally familiar with their
odd rhrasroiogy aud quaint ways. What could b.
funnicr than he report made h. a committee that
the monthly meeting in Il nrglibofing town was
rather on the dwnd."! Then thcir pertnacity
about matters Of smlu importance seems almost
Incredible. Nv ai-graudiather must have been
Friend OF extremely solid convictions; for having
once borrowed an cvercoat OF "wordy" acquant-
ance IN which to attend some yearly. quarterly,
,,,oftlV ,,natl- FIRST Dlv DreDarufj