72 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. 



of the whale fishery, when a homeward-bound whaler 

 was sighted from the tower, a large blue flag having 

 upon it the letters SHIP was hoisted ; and the whole 

 town was on the qui vive to know what ship it was, and 

 how much " ile " she had. 



It would indeed be strange if with all their faults, 

 the Nantucketers did not possess many good qualities. 

 They are, as has been before asserted, hospitable ; 

 they are intelligent, even above the average ; they have 

 many times perilled life to save shipwrecked seamen ; 

 they have always been up to the reforms of the day ; 

 never other than patriotic, as is evidenced by the isl- 

 and's history; peaceable always, law-abiding, and hon- 

 est. To sum up with, they are hale, hearty, healthy, 

 hospitable, honest, intelligent, brave, inclined from cir- 

 cumstances to be moderate and apathetic, possessed 

 of characteristics and peculiarities always noticeable 

 in isolated localities; and are after all just like the rest 

 of the world, neither better nor worse. 



Churches. 



The churches of Nantucket have had in times past 

 many able clergymen to minister to them, among 

 whom may be found the names of such men as Dan- 

 iel Wise, John S. C. Abbott, Henry Giles, George II. 

 Hep worth (who was ordained here), L. K. Wash- 

 burne, and many others who have been famous. 



In one of his letters to the Boston Courier, Mr. Wm. 

 M. F. Round says: " In 1830 this town was the third 

 commercial town in the Commonwealth, — Boston, 

 Salem, Nantucket. There were great congregations 

 in the churches then. Solid men sat in the pews. 



