THE LAWS OF ANGLING. 



355 



speculative arguments will operate upon men of licenti- 

 ous principles, yet as the general tenor of this work sup- 

 poses the angler to be endued with reason, and under the 

 dominion of conscience, it may not be amiss to state the 

 obligation he is under to an observance of such laws, and 

 to point out to him the several instances where he cannot 

 pursue his recreation without the risque of his quiet. 



Property is universally allowed to be founded on occu- 

 pancy, the very notion of which implies industry, or some 

 act in the occupant of which no stranger has a right to 

 avail himself: he that first took possession of an unculti- 

 vated tract of land, provided it was no more than neces- 

 sary for the subsistence of himself and his family, became 

 thereby the proprietor of such land. 



Mr. Locke illustrates this doctrine by an elegant in- 

 stance : " The water running in the fountain," says he, 

 " is every one's ; but that in the pitcher is his who draws 

 it." On Government, Book II. Chap. V. Sect. 29. 



And, if this reasoning be admitted in the case of land 

 which is ranked among the immoveable objects of pro- 

 perty, it is much stronger in favour of things moveable, 

 the right of which is at once claimed, and fortified by an 

 actual possession and separation from that common mass 

 in which they were originally supposed to exist. 



But notwithstanding the innumerable appropriations 

 which in the present civilized state of the world appear 

 to have been made, there are many things which may yet 

 be said to be in common, and in a state of natural liberty; 

 in this class we may rank creatures /era; naturd, beasts of 

 chace, many kinds of fowl, and al\ fish. The fisherman 

 in Plautus admits, that none of the fish were his, while 

 they 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 law- 

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