THE !AWS OF ANGLING. 



remained in their proper element ; and insists, only, on 

 his right to those which he had caught : Rudens, Act 

 4, Scene 3. And both the Jewish and Roman lawyers 

 assert, that wild beasts and fish belong only to those 

 who take them *. 



This notion has led many persons to imagine, that, 

 even now, there subsists a general community of these 

 creatures ; and that, at this day, every one has a right 

 to take them to his own use wherever he finds them. 

 Not to insist, that if all men promiscuously were per- 

 mitted the exercise of this right, it would be of very 

 little benefit to any, it may suffice to say, that there 

 are few civilized countries that have not found it ne- 

 cessary either for promoting some public good, or 

 averting some public mischief to controul it, by ex- 

 press prohibitions : And how far such prohibitions are 

 deemed lawful, and binding on the consciences of those 

 on whom they are imposed, will appear by consulting 

 the authorities in the margint. And it is worth not- 

 ing, that laws made to prohibit the taking, of crea- 

 tures fercB naturd, by persons unqualified, do not 

 take from a man any tiling which is his own ; but 

 they barely forbid the use of certain methods of ac- 

 quisition, which the law of nature might, perhaps, 

 allow of. Pujfendorfi de Jure Nat. $ Gent. Lib. IV. 

 Cap. 6. 6 J. 



Agreeable to the principles here laid down, we find, 

 that the laws of most countries, at least of this, have 



* Selden De Jure Nat. W Gent.jwxta Disc'tp. Ebraor. Lib. IV. Cap. 4. 

 Instit. Lib. II. Tit. 1. De rerum divisions & acqttirendo earunt Dominio* 

 However, this is to be understood only in cases wherein there is no 

 law to forbid it. Grot. DC Jure Belli ac Pads, lab. II. Cap. 2. 5. 



f Puffendorff De Jure Nat. to" Gent. Lib. IV. Cap. 6. 6. Gudelin 

 J>e Jure Novusimo, Lib. II. Cap. 2. D. Lib. XLI. Tit. 2. De acqui- 

 rend, vel amiUand. Possess. See also Garcilasso de la Vega, Cotnm. Rcg^ 

 Lib. VI. Cap. VI. Where it is said, that in Peru, hunting, by the 

 inferior sort, is prohibited, lest, says the author, " men betaking 

 " themselves to the pleasure of the field, should delight in a continued 

 * course of sports, and so neglect the necessary provision and maintenance 

 ** of their families." 



\ See also Arnold, Vinn. </ S*(t. IS., De far, JDhis,; and Zieflfr on 

 Grtins } Lib, II. Cap, 2, 5, 



