PHILOSOPHIES OF A FISHERMAN 17 



their fellow-men individually and avoid them 

 in mobs. A mob is often an evil thing, ignorant, 

 prejudiced, easily led by an appetite to slaughter 

 or destroy, far more prone to shout " Away 

 with him ! " than " Hosannah ! " Taken indi- 

 vidually, its every member if you can only 

 get him to yourself is a very good fellow, 

 better in many respects than you are. Taken 

 collectively, a mob of men is capable of any 

 enormity. For instance : there was talk some 

 time ago about a " Union " of honest and kind- 

 hearted men starving a whole nation into sub- 

 mission because of some petty question as 

 to how many months should be allowed for 

 discussing a question of wages. Is it possible 

 to imagine any individual in that Union de- 

 liberately starving man, woman or child in 

 order to attain his ends, be they just or unjust ? 

 The thing is inconceivable. It was talked of 

 seriously as a praiseworthy and desirable pro- 

 cedure, if carried out collectively. No. Human- 

 ity is not at its best in crowds, so fishermen 

 know better than to mingle in them ; they 

 place too high a value upon friendship with 

 their fellow-men ; and, if friends fail, they are 

 happy alone, trying to learn a little about 

 Nature's laws. Izaak Walton is their prophet ; 

 he lived in times of turmoil and of civic strife, 



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