sidered, where the fishermen are both happy 

 and industrious, and would be much injured if his 

 plans were followed, they are quite as proper 

 objects of the protection of the Legislature, as being 

 the nurseries of seamen, and the source of much 

 national wealth, as any which the stake-net pro- 

 gress of amelioration may hereafter call into exist- 

 ence, if it should be rendered legal. 



The passage in page 1 of the Pamphlet, in which 

 the Author says, that he shall leave the Fisheries 

 of England and Ireland to those better acquainted 

 with them, and which I have before quoted, natu- 

 rally leads us to inquire what is the practice in 

 those countries? Now, if any one will consult 

 Gabbet's Digest, part 2, vol. 2, in the latter part 

 he will find the law of England and Ireland regard- 

 ing the Fisheries. He will be struck with the re- 

 markable similarity which pervades the statutes on 

 this head, and, except such changes as the diffe- 

 rence of terms and of climate prevailing in the 

 three countries necessarily occasions, he will find 

 the ruling principle is precisely the same. 



The Author of the Pamphlet will not hesitate to 

 say, that all laws which are found to prohibit the 

 use of stake nets in Fisheries, are founded in igno- 

 rance and prejudice. If he means that the system 

 of regulations, under which the Fisheries are now 

 carried on, will not allow the use of permanent 

 nets of any description and denomination, he is 

 quite correct. But he is wrong when he says, 



