Early habits fasten upon youth, and if good, they never Loose the salutary influence which result from them, but on the other hand, if evil, they grow more and more obtuse, until they bring their victims to destruction. At the period of which I am now speaking it was customary when an apprentice had attained the age of twenty-one for his master to give him a freedom treat, or collation. If the master was a generous man then it was ample, consisting of all sorts of spirituous liquors, cold meats. &c. The youngman went around the neighborhood and invited his friends, both young and old, to partake of the feast. Ali this would be well enough, were it not for the result.
On such days, many, both young and old, become intoxicated, and theVettino' clrunk at a freedom, was always looked upon with some degree of excuse. This custom and the serving grog to workmen has longsince been discontinued. It may be asked, how my fellow apprentice Mr. D. and myself escaped the general ruin. I answer, we pledged ourselves that we would not taste a drop of intoxicating liquor during our apprenticeship, and never during our lives if we saw tit to extend the pledge thus far. My master and mistress were both strict observers of the Sabbath, and in no case would they allow an apprentice to absent himself from Church except something very extraordinary prevented his going. I remember one Sunday in August, about the time of the first bells ringing, that 1 took a walk up to the ship-yard before meeting time, and it was evident that a shower was at hand, as it had already begun to look very black.
I saw also, that a heavy squall was near by, and as it began to rain I got under an old shed for shelter. Just as I had entered, a sharp peal of thunder broke near me, and the rain came down in torrents. At the same time a violent tornado swept along as if it would carry everything before it. Just before the tornado I saw a large sail-boat pass up the channel near to the wharf where I was standing. She had lowered her mainsail, ready for the squall, there were three men on deck, and in an instant as soon as she felt the force of the wind she went over, tilled, and went down. Instantly springing to the dock, I found a man near by, called and told him what had happened.
We jumped into an old canoe half full of water, and providentially found two oars near by. The man pushed the canoe out, while I bailed the water with my Sunday hat. \\ hen we got near the sunken boat her mast heads were about.six feet out of water. The three men were then o-oimr ashore in the small boat. We asked them if there were any more on board and understood them to answer " no," it was blowing so hard, that we probably could not distinctly hear; while at the same moment there were live souls in the cuddy. They had ffone in to keep out of the rain and had drawn the scuttle door over and fastened it.
Notwithstanding, had we known that there had been any one below, I could have dived down and possibly might have saved them. But we had hardly got up to this boat when we saw full a quarter of a mile from us another boat that had capsized and sunk, with live strapping Swedes holding on to the masts, and anything they could get hold of, neither of whom could swim. And when we reached the boat, encouraged them to hold on, and by no means to touch our canoe; for it was certain that if they got hold of our gunwale, they would capsize us, and then we should all struggle together. We placed our boat so as to haul them in over the bow, one at a time, until all were in.
They could not have held on much longer. Our boat leaked badly, and with these five clumsy fellows on board, brought her down to within six inches of her gunwale; but by keeping perfectly steady, and constantly bailing, we reached the shore in safety. These fellows were put upon the wharf, they turned about and went off without a thank or a single mark of gratitude. By the time we had reached the dock, the large boat had been hauled in, the cuddy opened, and five bodies were taken out; two of which 1 recognized; a father and his son. After all was over I met my master on the wharf, who rebuked me severely, for being absent from church.
Besides, I was dripping wet, my Sunday clothes and hat were spoiled. " But," he continued, "as you have saved these men I shall overlook it this time." I was not allowed to be absent after ten at night without special permission. This I did not consider as a restriction, for I had no desire to be out after nine, as my evenings were mostly spent at school or with my relatives. I also had plenty of books, so that on evenings when there was no school, I remained at home, and spent the time in reading. In 1812, war was declared between the U. S. and Great Britain; and if there ever was a justifiable war this most assuredly could be called one.