OLD JOHN, TIM, & OTHERS 149 



fortunes would come to pass. Either, 

 being without what at present in relation 

 to the fisherman is an accidental instinct 

 of self-preservation, they would speedily 

 be all caught, leaving the waters empty 

 of their species ; or they would be so easily 

 caught that we should cease to think 

 them worth pursuing, and so lose one of 

 the greatest pleasures in life, an outdoor 

 sport. 



This may seem a crude thought, a frail 

 suggestion on which to recall the argu- 

 ment about design in nature ; and I know 

 quite well what many thinkers who may 

 read these lines will say of it. " What ! " 

 they will exclaim in impatience, "can 

 you imagine for a single serious moment 

 that the First Cause intended trout to be 

 caught by the methods of sport, so that 

 men might find pleasure in the capture of 

 them ? " 



I can imagine this, and purpose to 

 explain why ; but in the meanwhile let us 

 observe a most peculiar thing. In other 

 times the dominant philosophy was what 



