THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANGLING. 351 



is doubtful if there is a sweeter liue in human language, or 

 one more expressive of perfect bliss, of lasting peace, of 

 complete rest, of true happiness, of quiet contentment, than 

 that of the Psalmist: ''He maketh me to lie down in 

 green pastures : he leadeth me beside the still waters." 



But tlic question : where can rest be found ? has already 

 been answered in the crowds of tired pilgrims — they are 

 called pleasure-seekers, but they are looking for rest — who 

 are seen each summer-time wending their ways by rail and 

 steamer, to the mountains, to the sea-shore, to the Adiron- 

 dacks, to the Great Lake region, to the wilds of Maine 

 and Canada, to the charming streams and lakelets of Wis- 

 consin, Michigan, and Minnesota, or simply to "the 

 country" — any place, in fact, is their Mecca, where may be 

 found rest and quiet, green fields, green hills, green trees, 

 and clear, cool water. 



Then, the season for angling, coming as it does during 

 the midsummer vacation, in the pleasantest weather and 

 during the lull in active business matters, presents at once 

 the means and the opportunity for enjoyment and rest, for 

 recreation and peace. Horace Greeley once said to the 

 writer, that he had been for years eagerly looking forward 

 to the time when he could lay down his pen, for a few 

 days, and "go a fishing;" but that time never came dur- 

 ing his busy life. His dreams of a brief season of what he 

 considered the very essence of rest and contentment, were 

 never realized — he died a martyr to an overworked brain. 



Rest and recreation to the active mind does not mean 

 mere idleness, or as it is more poetically expressed : dolce 

 far niente; this, to many, would be more irksome than the 

 hardest work. Many men have a horror of going into 

 the woods, to the wilderness, to the lakes, or the sea-shore. 



