The Captain Lays down the Law
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Abstract
THE sights and sounds and smells of Buzzards' Bay provided the backdrop for the childhood of Joseph Bates. From the moment of his birth near New Bedford in 1792, he was surrounded by influences which inexorably led him to choose the life of a seaman. It was said of New Bedford in those days that one third of the population was away at sea, another third had just returned, and another third was getting ready to ship out. New Bedford, or that portion across the Acushnet River that was set apart as Fairhaven in 1812, was to be Joseph's home for over sixty-five years. Along with his love for the sea he carried within himself a strong bent for reform in virtually all the areas in which it manifested itself in antebellum New England. Also in early middle age he began to take religion very seriously. As he grew older he exhibited what today would be regarded as almost a fanatical devotion to moral and religious reform movements. The full extent and degree of Captain Bates's religious and reform convictions are apparent in his account of his final voyage on the brig Empress. The ships' Registry in the Melville Whaling Museum in New Bedford carries the following facts regarding the Empress: it was built at Rochester in 1824; Joseph Bates, Jr., is given as the Master. It had a single deck, two masts, and a square stern. It was registered as a brig of 125 tons. After the final voyage of Joseph Bates, his brother Franklin became the Master, and the following year the brig was sold at St. Catherine's. When the brig was only three years old Captain Bates took her for his last voyage as Master, and a unique trip it proved to be. On August 9, 1827, the Empress left the picturesque harbor of