the Order of St. George

20

A Most Unusual and Significant Transfer of the Order of St. George

WHEN A VISITOR from London entered the Whaling Museum early in June, and quietly announced he had come for the specific purpose of presenting the famous British medal, the Order of St. George, to the whalemen of Nantucket, he was promptly introduced to the Director of the Whaling Museum, Renny Stackpole, who listened to the story with no little amazement.

The visitor had come to Nantucket for the purpose he had mentioned. His name was John Slater, and he was the owner of this prestigious medal, which had been presented to him in London by Queen Elizabeth II, for his work in establishing the Common Market. He did not mention that the award of the Order of St. Michael and St. George was but a step away from knighthood. Instead he told of his discovery of Melville and Moby Dick. "As I read this magnificent volume," he explained, "I was amazed by its many allusions to Nantucket and this Island's whaling history, But, when I arrived at Chapter 82, Knights and Squires, the idea of coming to Nantucket struck me."

He took from his pocket a copy of the book and read the following passage:

The Order of St. George 21

"Akin to the adventure of Perseus and Andromeda — indeed, by some supposed to be indirectly derived from it — is that famous story of St. George and the Dragon; which dragon I maintain to have been a whale; for in many old chronicles whales and dragons are strangely jumbled together, and often stand for each other. 'Thou art as a lion of the waters, and as a dragon of the sea,' said Ezekiel; hereby, plainly meaning a whale; in truth, some versions of the Bible use that word itself. Besides, it would much subtract from the glory of the exploit had St. George but encountered a crawling reptile of the land, instead of doing battle with the great monster of the deep. Any man may kill a snake, but only a Perseus, a St. George, a Coffin, have the heart in them to march boldly up to a whale."

Mr. Slater then produced from another pocket the medal itself, in its original box, and announced: "I am proud to present my Order of St. George to the Nantucket whalemen in Melville's name. I believe the Nantucket Whaling Museum is the proper place to so display it."

Without delay, Renny Stackpole rounded up members of his staff, invited some associates from the Peter Foulger Museum (including his father, Edouard Stackpole) and with some of the Whaling Museum guests also at hand, conducted the presentation ceremony. "This satisfies me greatly," declared Mr. Slater, "and I know that Herman Melville would have approved."

Mention was made of a ceremony held at the Whaling Museum some forty years earlier, when Melville's grand-daughter, Mrs. Metcalf, of Cambridge, had been present.

"This actually gives Melville a claim to citizenship in Nantucket," declared Renny Stackpole. "Through his own words he places a strong approval on this unusual procedure which you have made possible, Mr. Slater."

"I am in hearty agreement," declared John Slater, "and let me conclude the presentation with Melville's own words." He quoted:

"Thus, then, one of our own noble stamp, even a whaleman, is the tutelary guardian of England: and by good rights, we harpooneers of Nantucket should be enrolled in the most noble order of St. George. And therefore, let not the knights of that honorable company (none of whom, I venture to say, have ever had to do with a whale like their great patron), let them never eye a Nantucketer with disdain, since even in our woolen frocks and tarred trowsers we are much better entitled to St. George's decoration than they."

Thus, in this manner, an unusual and significant ceremony was brought to a fitting conclusion.