160 TROUT FISHING 



blind accident that the First Cause, pro- 

 viding that trout during the months when 

 they are fit to be the food of man should 

 feed liberally on flies, provided also that 

 man, who, in common with all animals, is 

 instinctively a hunter, should find feathers 

 and other materials out of which exact 

 imitations of the flies could be made ? 



This could be affirmed only on the 

 assumption that the First Cause lacked 

 foresight. If the imitation flies were 

 foreseen, they were ordained : in the 

 Omnipotent foresight and ordination are 

 indistinguishable. 



This thought is open to the objection 

 that it would make the First Cause 

 responsible for the evil that men do as 

 well as for their harmless or praiseworthy 

 actions. The Omniscient, that is to say, 

 must have foreseen evil as well as good, 

 and, if foresight and ordination are 

 ultimately indistinguishable, must have 

 ordained evU as well as good. Thus, 

 clearly, the argument from Design is not 

 a complete explanation of the universe. 



