A Defense of Fishermen 



The Finny Hypnotist 



All true fishermen who hsten to his 

 plain, unvarnished tale accept with 

 absolute faith the declared length and 

 weight of the lish that was almost 

 caught; but with every presumption, 

 besides positive statement, against 

 them, carping outsiders who cannot 

 fish, and who love to accuse fishermen 

 of lying, are exposed in an attempt to 

 originate or perpetuate an envious 

 and malicious libel. 



The case of our fraternity on this 

 point of absolute and exact truthful- 

 ness is capable of such irrefragable 

 demonstration that anything in the 

 way of confession and avoidance 

 ought to be considered inadmissible. 

 And yet, simply for the sake of argu- 

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