205 



ihe daily labours of his life. These are the properties for which 

 he who knew what was in man, the Saviour of mankind, sought 

 his first, and found his most faithful, ardent, and undaunted disci- 

 ples among the fishermen of his country. In the deadliest rancours 

 of national wars, the examples of latter ages have been frequent 

 of exempting, by the common consent of the most exasperated ene- 

 mies, fishermen from the operation of hostilities. In our treaties 

 with Prussia, they are expressly included among the classes of men 

 ''whose occvpations are for the common subsistence and benefit of 

 mankind;'' with a stipulation, that in the event of war between 

 the parties, they shall be allowed to continue their employment 

 without molestation. Nor is their devotion to their country less 

 conspicuous than their usel'ulness to their kind. While the hunts- 

 man of the ocean, far from his native laud, from his family, and 

 his fire-side, pursues at the constant hazard of life, his game upon 

 the bosom of the deep, the desire of his heart, is by the nature of 

 his situation ever intefttly turned towards his home, his children, 

 and his country. To be lost to them gives their keenest edge to his 

 fears ; to return with the fruits of his labours to them is the object of 

 all his hopes. By no men upon earth have these qualities and disposi- 

 tions been more constantly exemplified than by the fishermen of 

 New-England. From the proceeds of their " perilous and hardy 

 industry," the value of three millions of dollars a year, for five 

 years preceding 1808, was added to the exports of the United 

 States. This was so much of national wealth created by the fish- 

 ery. With what branch of the whole body of our commerce was 

 this interest unconnected ? Into what artery or vein of our politi- 

 cal body did it not circulate wholesome blood ? To what sinew of 

 our national arm did it not impart firmness and energy ? We are 

 tbld they were '* annually decreasing in number :" Yes ! they had 

 lost their occupation by the war ; and where were they during the 

 war ? They were upon the ocean and upon the lakes, fighting the 

 battles of their country. Turn back to the records of your revo- 

 lution — ask Samuel Tucker, himself one of the number ; a living 

 example of the character common to them all, what were the fish- 

 ermen of New-England, in the tug of war for Independence ? Ap- 

 peal to the heroes ot all our naval wars — ask the vanquishers of 

 Algiers and Tripoli — ask the redeemers of your citizens from the 

 chains of servitude, and of your nation from the humiliation of 

 annual tribute to the barbarians of Africa — call on the champions 

 of our last struggles with Britain — ask Hull, and Bainbridge, ask 

 Stewart, Porter, andMacdonough, what proportion of New England, 

 fishermen were the companions of their victories, and sealed the 

 proudest of our triumphs with their blood ; and then listen if you 

 can, to be told, that the unoffending citizens of the West were not 

 at all benefited by the fishing privilege, and that the few fisher- 

 men in a remote quarter, were entirely exempt from the danger. 



But we are told also that '• by far the greatest part of the fish 

 'aken bv our fishermen before the present war, was caught in the 



26 



