and 40%. less in his pocket. Who will ever attempt this again? The power of the magistrate to convict and enforce the laws is gone for ever; and the salmon fisheries left to the mercy of any individual who may think proper to abuse them. The river Dart, and other rivers in this county, are to be seen blocked up with fish-locks in the face of open day; in defiance of all law, they may be seen, not merely drawn, but swept, the water being absolutely strained through a net of a one inch mesh, when the law requires that such mesh shall be never less than two inches and a half broad. No other notice is taken of these outrages, than that persons look at them, cry "Shame!" and so dismiss the matter. But if these trespassers were vigorously resisted by a powerful body united for the purpose, such flagrant abuses would speedily cease. To shew the perplexity and contrariety of the present system, it need only be remarked, that by one act the remedy is by indictment; by another, by information at the suit of the King; under others, by summoning a jury and qui tam. All these difficulties create entanglements, and are dismaying; no individual will ever embark in such a sea of trouble, expence, and danger. No position is, indeed, more true than the homely one, that that which is every one's business, is no one's. I well know the difficulty of bringing persons forward on public undertakings, where there is not some strong incentive of private interestsomething which operates more powerfully on the mind than principle; but on the present occasion it may be said, that the city of Exeter is particularly interested in the success of this question; for the principal part of the salmon and sea-trout which are taken in the river Dart, are sent thither at a very exorbitant price; when, if these fish were as plentiful as they would be if the laws were put in force, the metropolis of Devon, with a very great and still rapidly increasing population, together with the whole county, (and what is said of the river Dart and the county of Devon applies to every other river and county in the kingdom,) from such an example, would have abundance of this rich fish, at a reasonable and moderate price. At present, as Mr. Heald lately observed of the practice of the Court of Chancery, "It is enough "to make a man's blood curdle in his veins, who has "a head to think or a heart to feel," to see the wanton and wicked devastation that is every day and in every place, committed upon the property of the community, for want of public energy, and wise laws for its protection. August 2. 1824. POSTSCRIPT. SINCE this pamphlet was written and ready for the press, I have seen the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons on the subject, and have made an abstract of its contents, which I annex. I have the satisfaction of finding, that in all material points it confirms the ideas I have here submitted, and which were first published in May, 1820. September 11. |