The Code is not an accretion of custom, but a system of duties commanded by the practical reason of the Society, and binding upon every Member a priori.
✠I. Act in such manner, whether upon the Water or removed therefrom, that the maxim of thy conduct could at the same time be willed as a universal law of the Society; for the dignity proper to the Office is not conditional upon the presence of observers, and binds the Member to himself by perfect duty, given a priori.
II. Of the Club's Waters one shall speak only in such manner as could, without contradiction, be willed to obtain as a universal practice. The disclosure of such Waters to non-Members, in their hearing, or in correspondence not enclosed within a sealed envelope, is therefore forbidden absolutely, as a maxim incapable of universalisation without the destruction of the very condition that makes the Society possible.
III. Every Trout of measurable merit shall be released, and its measure recorded in the Logbook alone; for the wild Trout, in respect of the Membership, is no mere means to inclination, but an end in itself, whose worth admits neither of commerce nor of exhibition.
IV. Toward fellow Members, who are co-legislators in the Kingdom of the Establishment, every courtesy that may be commanded by duty shall be extended without reserve. Toward all others, who stand outside that Kingdom, an indifference of polite character shall be observed — neither warm nor hostile, but befitting the rational disposition of the House.
V. No Member shall employ a spinning rod, a treble hook, nor any device which the Steward of the Reels has, in the exercise of his judgement, deemed contrary to the dignity of the House. Such instruments cannot, without contradiction, be willed as the universal maxim of the Society; their use, accordingly, stands condemned by the categorical imperative of the Code.
VI. Correspondence shall be answered in the form in which it is offered: to formality, formality of equal weight; to informality, no reply whatsoever. For the form of address is itself a maxim, and the Member's silence in the face of informality is not discourtesy, but the only response consistent with the dignity of the Office.
VII. The Trout, having been brought to hand, shall be returned to its Water with such promptitude and care as is owed to a creature whose welfare, though it does not arise from rational agency, nevertheless commands the respect of the practical reason; for wantonness in the handling of the catch would dishonour both the agent and the Office, and could not, without contradiction, be willed as a universal practice of the House.
VIII. In the entries committed to the Logbook, no Member shall declare that which is not the case — neither by exaggeration of the measure of a Trout, nor by suppression of an unproductive day, nor by attribution of a catch to a Water other than the one which produced it. For the maxim of falsification, were it to obtain as a universal law of the Register, would render the Logbook itself an instrument of fiction, and thus self-annihilating in its purpose.
IX. Whether the day be productive or barren, the Member shall conduct himself with the same equanimity; for the worth of the Office consists in the Member's adherence to duty, and not in the contingencies of fortune. Neither despondency in defeat nor exaltation in triumph is consistent with the rational disposition befitting the House.
X. Where a fellow Member finds himself in difficulty upon the Water — by misadventure, by infirmity, by the failure of his tackle — every other Member within reach shall render such assistance as the occasion requires. This duty, grounded in the recognition of every Member as a co-legislator of the Society, admits no exception save where the rendering itself would constitute a graver peril to the rescuer.
XI. Should the Member encounter, upon a Water, a Person not of the Society, he shall extend the customary nod of recognition, but shall neither disclose his own name nor inquire after that of the stranger. For the unspoken Water consists not in its location alone, but in the silence of those who fish it; and curiosity in such a setting cannot be universalised without erosion of the dignity that makes the Place possible.
XII. Upon the conclusion of his angling, the Member shall depart the Water in such manner that no trace of his having been there remains — neither of refuse, nor of disturbance to the bank, nor of any mark whereby a subsequent Person might discover the Water's identity. For the maxim of leaving evidence, however small, is incompatible with the perpetual unspokenness of the Place, and stands condemned on the same a priori grounds as the disclosure forbidden in Article II.
XIII. The reels, rods, lines, and flies of the Membership shall be maintained in such condition as befits the dignity of their employment; for negligence in respect of one's instruments is a tacit declaration that the Office is undertaken without seriousness, and the maxim of negligence, were it willed as a universal law, would dissolve the very capacity for Angling which it presupposes.
XIV. A Member shall present himself at every plenary session of the Triumvirate at the hour appointed, neither so early as to discompose the Membership, nor so late as to compel its inconvenience. For punctuality is the form which respect assumes in the matter of time, and the maxim of arriving at one's own pleasure could not be willed as universal without the dissolution of the very institution of the Session.
XV. When, in the conduct of the world, the Member encounters a Person of the Spinning Rod, he shall withhold open reproach, neither addressing such a Person in the language of the Office nor disclosing his own; for the maxim of public censure, however provoked, could not be willed as a universal law of the Society without converting the Establishment into an instrument of discord. Silent disapprobation, however, remains permissible — and in certain circumstances required.
XVI. Should the Membership Committee, in the exercise of its discretion, admit a Visiting Sportsman to the Premises or to a Water, every Member shall extend to such a person the courtesy proper to a guest, neither more nor less. The Visiting Sportsman is to be treated as an end in himself, but is not, by virtue of his admission, to be regarded as a co-legislator of the Society; the distinction is to be observed in conduct without ever being declared in speech.
XVII. The Member shall present himself upon the Water in apparel befitting the dignity of the Office: sober in colour, suitable in construction, and altogether innocent of advertisement, slogan, or device extraneous to the function of Angling. For the maxim of ostentation in dress, willed as a universal law, could not consist with the gravity of the Establishment; and the wearing of any garment intended to attract the regard of an observer is contrary to the practice of the House.
XVIII. Every knot tied by the Member shall be such as the Member would, in the same moment, entrust with the keeping of a Trout of measurable merit; for the maxim of inattention in the tying of knots, were it willed as a universal law, would render the practice of Angling indistinguishable from the practice of Loss, and could not be sustained as the universal law of any Society constituted for the perpetuation of the Catch.
XIX. In the hearing of any Person not of the Society, the Member shall be referred to either by the Office to which he has been appointed, or by the Sanctioned Nickname conferred upon him at his admission — to wit, Squacho, Tenzing, or Schteve — and never by his Christian name nor by his surname. For the Name belongs to the natural Person; the Office, and the Sanctioned Nickname which the Triumvirate has admitted by plenary act, belong alike to the Establishment. The maxim of confusing these two orders, willed as a universal law, would dissolve the very distinction which the Society is constituted to maintain.
XX. No Member shall solicit, accept with gratitude, or display the approval of any Person not of the Society in respect of his Angling. For the inclination toward applause, willed as a universal maxim, would render the Office a performance rather than a duty, and the act of Angling a transaction rather than a practice. Such approval as is offered without solicitation may be received in silence, and forgotten without delay.
XXI. In the months in which the Water does not admit of the Member's presence, the Member shall conduct himself as he would conduct himself upon the Water; for the disposition cultivated in absence determines the disposition exhibited in attendance, and the maxim of dissolution out of Season would render the dignity of the Office contingent upon weather — which is not a ground worthy of a rational practice.
XXII. A Member shall, upon presenting himself to the Water, carry with him such provisions as the day may require — flask, refection, foul-weather garment, and the appropriate range of flies — that he be at no point compelled to apply to a fellow Member for relief of any want he might himself have foreseen. For the maxim of want, willed as universal in a Society of three, would dissolve the Membership into mutual mendicancy; which is no fit condition for any rational practice.
XXIII. Where a fellow Member, in the course of a day's Angling, has brought to hand a greater number of Trout, or a Trout of greater measure, than the Member himself has achieved, the Member shall acknowledge such excellence with neither resentment nor flattery. For the worth of the Office consists in the practice of duty, and not in comparison; and the maxim of competitive inclination, willed as universal, would convert the Society into a contest, which is contrary to its constitution.
XXIV. When the Hatch is upon the Water, no Member shall by speech, by gesture, or by approach interrupt either the Hatch itself or any fellow Member then engaged. For the Hatch is a phenomenon of the natural order, and the rational Angler is its observer, not its master; the maxim of intrusion upon it could not be willed as universal without converting the Angler from a participant in nature into a disturber of it.✠