138 



these two latter questions in the affirmative, 

 for every man that ever fished knows that 

 while the May-fly is on the water trout will 

 take no insect so willingly, no matter what it 

 may be ; and that, in the latter months of the 

 summer, trout will not take the May-fly at all, 

 whilst they will avidiously devour the diminu- 

 tive wren-fly. Those three assertions, then, 

 are reduced to their proper value. 



We come now to authorities. The learned 

 professor, in support of his " pretended-imita- 

 tion" heresy, says, " It tends strongly to corrob- 

 orate our principle [to wit, the aforesaid heresy], 

 that Bainbridge, who is the best authority on 

 the species of flies, expressly says, respecting a 

 gaudy artificial fly for salmon, that, ' However 

 fanciful, or varied in shade or materials, it will 

 frequently raise fish, wJien all the imitations of 

 nature have proved unsuccessful ; indeed so fas- 

 tidious and whimsical are the salmon at times, 

 that the more brilliant and extravagant the fly, 

 more certain is the angler of diversion.' ' : We 

 have placed certain words in the above passage 

 in italics, that the professor may the better un- 

 derstand it when he reads it again. What ! does 

 the professor teach to his classes, that an ex- 

 ception to a general rule, is the corroboration of 

 a principle ? Mr. Bainbridge simply says at 

 least such is the way we interpret the passage 



