ECONOMIC SOCIAL 133 



of promotion produced that same enthu- 

 siasm in the American sailor which had 

 distinguished the French recruits in the 

 early days of the French Revolution. 



The influence of the American sailor was 

 profoundly felt in the religious, political 

 and social life of that day, not only in the 

 coast towns, but far back in the country. 

 The narrow and somewhat gloomy religion 

 he had learned from his fathers was broad- 

 ened and lightened by intercourse with 

 those of different religious belief, and he 

 brought back to his home a greater toler- 

 ance and a broader catholicity. 1 In politics, 

 where party lines were drawn so sharply on 

 questions of trade, its protection or restric- 

 tion, his opinion could not be without great 



"Mars." The crew numbered thirteen. He says in his 

 Diary, "All have risen to be masters and made first-rate 

 captains." 



1 The sailor as a rule was religious but not sectarian. 

 It was the custom in Kennebunk in 1800 for the master 

 and crew to attend church in a body, the Sunday following 

 their return from the West Indies or any long voyage. 

 BOURNE, History of Wells and Kennebunk, p. 580. 



