So much of mind,

Of such good kind,

That none need be afraid,

Caught by thy cunning bait, this book,
To be ensnared on thy hook.

Gladly from thee, I'm lured to bear

With things that seem'd most vile before, For thou didst on poor subjects rear Matter the wisest sage might hear.

And with a grace,

That doth efface

More labour'd works, thy simple lore Can teach us that thy skilful lines, More than the scaly brood confines.

Our hearts and senses, too, we see,
Rise quickly at thy master hand,
And, ready to be caught by thee,
Are lured to virtue willingly.

Content and peace,

With health and ease,

Walk by thy side. At thy command

We bid adieu to worldly care,

And joy in gifts that all may share.

Gladly, with thee, I pace along,

And of sweet fancies dream; Waiting till some inspired song, Within my memory cherish'd long, Comes fairer forth,

With more of worth;

Because that time upon its stream Feathers and chaff will bear away, But give to gems a brighter ray.

C. C. 1812.

And though the charming and intellectual author of this poem is not an angler herself, yet I can quote the example of her lovely daughters to vindicate fly fishing from the charge of cruelty, and to prove that the most delicate and refined minds can take pleasure in this innocent amusement. One of these young ladies, I am told, is a most accomplished and skilful salmon fisher. And if you require a poetical authority against that of Lord Byron, I mention the philosophical and powerful poet of the lakes, and the author of

"An Orphic tale indeed,

A tale divine, of high and passionate thoughts,
To their own music chanted ;"*

who is a lover both of fly fishing and fly fishermen. Gay's poem you know, and his passionate fondness for the amusement, which was his principal occupation in the summer at Amesbury; and the late excellent John Tobin, author of the Honey Moon, was an ardent angler.

PHYS.-I am satisfied with your poetical authorities.

HAL.-Nay, I can find authorities of all

*The Friend, page 303, by S. T. Coleridge.

kinds, statesmen, heroes, and philosophers; I can go back to Trajan, who was fond of angling. Nelson was a good fly fisher, and as a proof of his passion for it, continued the pursuit even with his left hand. Dr. Paley was ardently attached to this amusement; so much so, that when the Bishop of Durham inquired of him, when one of his most important works would be finished, he said, with great simplicity and good humour, "My Lord, I shall work steadily at it when the fly fishing season is over," as if this were a business of his life. And I am rather reserved in introducing living characters, or I could give a list of the highest names of Britain, belonging to modern times, in science, letters, arts, and arms, who are ornaments of this fraternity, to use the expression borrowed from the freemasonry of our forefathers.

PHYS.-I do not find much difficulty in understanding why warriors, and even statesmen, fishers of men, many of whom I have

* I have known a person who fished with him at Merton, in the Wandle. I hope this circumstance will be mentioned in the next edition of that most exquisite and touching Life of our Hero, by the Laureate, an immortal monument raised by Genius to Valour.

known particularly fond of hunting and shooting, should likewise be attached to angling; but I own, I am at a loss to find reasons for a love of this pursuit amongst philosophers and poets.

highest or intellectual

HAL. The search after food is an instinct belonging to our nature; and from the savage in his rudest and most primitive state, who destroys a piece of game, or a fish, with a club or spear, to man in the most cultivated state of society, who employs artifice, machinery, and the resources of various other animals, to secure his object, the origin of the pleasure is similar, and its object the same: but that kind of it requiring most art may be said to characterize man in his state; and the fisher for the fly employs not only machinery to assist his physical powers, but applies sagacity to conquer difficulties; and the pleasure derived from ingenious resources and devices, as well as from active pursuit, belongs to this amusement. Then as to its philosophical tendency, it is a pursuit of moral discipline, requiring patience, forbearance, and command of temper. As connected with natural science, it may be vaunted as demanding a knowledge of the

salmon and trout with

habits of a considerable tribe of created beings -fishes, and the animals that they prey upon, and an acquaintance with the signs and tokens of the weather and its changes, the nature of waters, and of the atmosphere. As to its poetical relations, it carries us into the most wild and beautiful scenery of nature; amongst the mountain lakes, and the clear and lovely streams that gush from the higher ranges of elevated hills, or that make their way through the cavities of calcareous strata. How delightful in the early spring, after the dull and tedious time of winter, when the frosts disappear and the sunshine warms the earth and waters, to wander forth by some clear stream, to see the leaf bursting from the purple bud, to scent the odours of the bank perfumed by the violet, and enamelled, as it were, with the primrose and the daisy; to wander upon the fresh turf below the shade of trees, whose bright blossoms are filled with the music of the bee; and on the surface of the waters to view the gaudy flies sparkling like animated gems in the sunbeams, whilst the bright and beautiful trout is watching them from below; to hear the twittering of the water-birds, who, alarmed at your approach, rapidly hide them