GENERAL REMARKS. 19 



such a thing might be. Insects are called into 

 being in a variety of mysterious ways, as all the 

 world knows ; for instance, the animalcula that 

 appear in the neighborhood of departed horses; 

 and, as Ned says, if death can create Hfe, what is 

 the reason a smart man can't ? Good fishermen are 

 generally great lawyers ; ecce signa, Patrick Henry 

 and Daniel Webster. I have known this rule, how- 

 ever, to have exceptions. But the true sportsman 

 is always at least a man of genius and an honest 

 man. I have either read or heard some one say, 

 and I am sure it is the fact, that there never was an 

 instance of a sincere lover of a dog, gun, and rod 

 being sent to bridewell or penitentiary .... If I 

 were governor and knew a case, I would exert the 

 pardoning power without making any inquiry. I 

 should deteymine without waiting to hear a single 

 fact that the man was convicted by means of perjury. 

 There is a plain reason for all this. A genuine 

 sportsman must possess a combination of virtues 

 which will fill him so full that no room can be left 

 for sin to squeeze in. He must be an early riser — 

 to be which is the beginning of all virtue — ambitious, 

 temperate, prudent, patient of toil, fatigue, and dis- 

 appointment ; courageous, watchful, intent upon his 

 business ; always ready, confident, cool ; kind to his 

 dog, civil to the girls, and courteous to his brother 

 sportsmen." 



To constitute a sportsman, therefore, it is not suf- 

 ficient merely to be able to catch fish ; although a 

 very important element in the angler's composition, 



