WHY PETER WENT A- FISHING. 175 



modern angler. "Was it possible to forget it when I 

 first wet a line in the water of the Sea of Galilee ? Is 

 it any less likely to come back to me on any lake among 

 the hills when the twilight hides the mountains, and 

 overhead the same stars look on our waters that looked 

 on Gennesaret, so that the soft night air feels on one's 

 forehead like the dews of Hermon ? 



I do not think that this was the last, though it be 

 the last recorded fishing done by Peter or by John. I 

 don't believe these Galilee fishermen ever lost the love 

 for their old employment. It was a memorable fact for 

 them that the Master had gone a-fishing with them on 

 the day that He called them to be His disciples ; and 

 this latest meeting with Him in Galilee, the commis- 

 sion to Peter, "Feed my sheep," and the words so 

 startling to John, "If I will that he tarry till I 

 come," — words which He must have recalled when He 

 uttered that last longing cry, "Even so come, Lord" 

 — all these were associated with that last recorded fish- 

 ing scene on the waters of Gennesaret. 



Fishermen never lose their love for the employment, 

 and it is notably true that the men who fish for a liv- 

 ing love their work quite as much as those who fish for 

 pleasure love their sport. Find an old fisherman, if 

 you can, in any sea-shore town, who does not enjoy his 

 fishing. There are days, without doubt, when he does 

 not care to go out, when he would rather that need did 

 not drive him to the sea ; but keep him at home a few 

 days, or set him at other labor, and you shall see that he 



