The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1873-10-02
John Paul" Goes Fishing.
A Pungent History.

other day, and, having been allowed to
catch his own fish from the pond, tells
the story Of his angling thus: II is n
nice pond, pebbled and weeded like n
natural one, and black bass, varying in
weight from n TO four pounds, swim
round in it contented and happy as
CLAIMS at high water. Before catching
u fish we thought it best to select II
fat one, 30 one Of the party went up to
Moons to get something to call them to
the top of the water with. He returned
with a paper Of fried potatocs-the
cheapest thing he could get-and we
threw them in. A fine young bass came
up to inquire the price, but Immediate
ly retired below, remarking in q deep
bass voice that he couldn't afford any
thing from Moons. Spying a big fellow
lying in the shade Of a plank that is
stretched over the water, to tempt visi-
tors to walk out and fall in, and so
furnish cheap food for the fish, We de
termined to drop u line and, if possible,
persuade him to Join us at dinner. IN
response he opened and shut his mouth
slowly once or twice. His foundR did
not get up to MS, but we guessed he was
asking "WheIe?" So as the old moon
was reflected in the water we pointed
at her yellow disk. He bit at our mean.
ing at once-I mean he caught the re
Election without further calculation.
And he again began making at MS those
slow, solemn mouths in which you've
seen fishes indnlge-Uide gold fish in Il
glass globe or brook trout in mn aqua
rum. DR.. Hollands beautiful lines
where n child il supposed to be lost in
abstract contemplation of II prattling'
parent-camo wildly TO my mind;
What II the sardiuc talking about2
Very wonderful tins, no doubt.
But my manufacturing friends from
Meriden, who, among other things,
make tis%h-spoons-I mean "]Bpoons"
for trolling, supplying fish with Il
"plate which il instrumental in land
ing them on one oventualIy-had little
trouble in understanding this unspoken
and only suggested language. Accord
ing to their Interpretation, our big bass
remarked that he had nm engagement to
sing tenor for the first time ut Il small
fish supper, that evening, and thought
1t was about time to be taking uis place.
Besides, he could not think Of Joining
our party If we were going to dine at
Moons. Such invitations had fallen in
his way before, but he always Hteercd
clear Of them; he knew what was expec-
ted. As for furnishing the dinner, 10
That no had no particular objection; and
being eaten up was n destiny which he
contemplated in II cheerful spirit rather
thar otherwise, since. among other
lines, the celebrated ones of Pope-or
Pagan, he was not exactly sure which
had met bis eye:
Sure tho pleasure i8 o. great,
Ia being eaten aH 10 cat.
He thought nm lrishman ought 10 reel
oil the last line to make the rhyme por-
ioct or even allowable, but would not be-
betrayed into Il criticism which, after all,
might be considered iinical. But ho did
object, decidedly object, to furnishing
the dinner himself, and then boing cx-
pectcd to pay for it besides. He could
never bring himself to believe that be
ing dcvourcd was II personal favor for
which II should show gratitude To the
gulper, and he understood that this was
what Moon demanded of his guests.
"We'd be all in the same boat. if we
dlncd up there, gentlemen, he said in
conclusion: '4t would be the last of
every mothers son of uB :" and waving
his tail in gentle ndieu he swan AWAY.
did not hear his tale, but ] understood
its end got Mt the finale, 80 to speak.
And the nnb Of it was exactly like that
OF IN editors letter when, after p~rnisinp
the article you "have honoted him by
submitting" he tapers gracefully OF
with, declined with thanks" We
then tried to net the fish, but failed, and
had to content ourselves with getting at
their weight in gross. Tempting them
with spoons " plated by the rival man
niactnrers present proved equally in
eflcctual; they looked Mt the trademarks
about which so much fuss is made, but
declined to be betrayed by either. But
why amplify when II word tells it all ?
The dinner was bad, and fish had place
thereat. In the very front of it figured
our big bass, just as | thought he would
while he was doing all that mouthing.
He imagined himself 80 smart and so
frequently expressed nm intention not to
be caught, that | guessed he'd soon pick
up II worm that would trouble him. I've
seen such people before.
TIM MIRACLE OF GENIus.-We can
never prophesy the exact limits Of intel.
lectual power. History warns ms against
doing 80. The genius of Plato was
naturally evolved from the capacities of
the Pelasgic race. But who in Homer's
time could have conceived the POSSIBLE
ty of PlatOnism? IL would have been
a revelation-strange enough-in the
heroic age. Cultivation prepares the