SAILOR FISHERMEN OP NEW ENGLAND. 69 



has largely taken their place, although some, are still sold. The following are the weekly papers 

 taken by Gloucester newsdealers and read mostly by the fishermen : New York Weekly, 100 copies 

 per week; Saturday Night, 90 copies per week; Fireside Companion, 90 copies per week; New 

 York Ledger, 70 copies per week; Police News, 55 copies per week; Family Story Paper, 50 copies 

 per week; Yankee Blade, 25 copies per week ; Harper's Weekly, 20 copies per week; Frank Les- 

 lie's Illustrated, 20 copies per week. About 350 copies of the Gape Ann Advertiser are sold to the 

 fishermen; some daily papers, when the fleet is in port, for home reading; and about 1,000 copies 

 yearly of dime novels and cheap library stories, such as make up Seaside Library." 



It is by no means unusual to find on board fishing vessels some of the choicest books in the 

 English language — history, poetry, and biography. 



Dickens' works are very popular among many of the fishermen ; Shakespeare, Byron, Cowper, 

 and Abbott's "Life of Napoleon" are among the works which we ourselves have seen on vessels. 



Philanthropists might secure a very great influence over the fishermen of Gloucester and other 

 ports by systematically supplying the vessels with a small library of well-selected books, or, better 

 still, by establishing for the use of the fishermen a well-planned circulating library. The fishermen 

 are men of active minds, and many of them have refined and studious tastes. Such a library 

 should be in the charge of some person who could help the fishermen in selecting their books, and 

 who would take pains to stimulate their interest in literary subjects. 



In Gloucester alone are over four thousand men, half of whom, at least, would doubtless 

 rejoice greatly over the possession of some such facilities for mental improvement. 



39. MORALS AND RELIGION. 



The question of morals and religion is extremely difficult to discuss. The fishermen are, 

 doubtless, on an average, far superior iu moral character to other classes of sea-faring men. In 

 large ports, like Gloucester, whither flock the discontented, the disgraced, and the ne'er-do-wells, 

 as well as the most enterprising and ambitious of the young men from the whole coast, there is, of 

 course, less attention paid to the question of morals than in rural communities, and the general 

 moral tone of the fishing classes is below the average for the whole coast. There are, however, in 

 Gloucester hundreds of men of upright character and unimpeachable veracity, and hundreds more 

 whose character for honesty and truth is unquestioned, but whose views upon other moral ques- 

 tions might be subject to criticism. There are very few indeed of the men in the Gloucester 

 fleet who may properly be called religious. The very fact that they are at sea during all months 

 of the year, and unable to give attention to any subjects except those directly connected with their 

 occupation, accounts for the fact that fewer of them are identified with religious organizations than 

 in the smaller towns, where the fishermen are on shore for at least half the year, and are sur- 

 rounded by influences which would lead them to such association. 



Observance of the Sabbath. — The observance of the Sabbath is practically obsolete 

 among the fishermen of Gloucester, when on the fishing grounds; though when they are making a 

 passage to and from port it is not customary to perform any work except that which is necessary 

 for the management of the vessel. There are, however, a few Gloucester fishermen who observe 

 the Sabbath, a practice which is almost universal among the fishermen of Cape Cod and the smaller 

 ports of Massachusetts, and some of those of Maine. It is believed that the captains of vessels 

 from certain portions of Cape Cod would lose their commands, or would at least suffer much damage 

 to their reputation as respectable citizens, if they were known to fish on Sunday. When the vessels 

 are iu port, Sunday is very generally observed everywhere along the coast of New England. The 



