THE ANGLERS PLEASURES. 3 



childhood, my late esteemed friend Sir Anthony 

 Carlisle. The bare mention of such name, is surely 

 enough at once to deaden the barb of derision. 



Some writers have expressed surprise at the 

 enthusiasm of anglers, seeing that the produce of the 

 sport seldom appears to counterbalance the general 

 disappointment and dulness. But surely they 

 have not traced the subject up to its source. The 

 sportsman's real object is not, in general, to ac- 

 quire a quantity of game; else he might purchase 

 it at less cost and M^ith less trouble in the 

 public markets ; but it is, that he may enjoy the 

 pleasure of an art. The game is but the means 

 of his excitement. 



The quantum of success by no means consti- 

 tutes the test of pleasure in any field sport ; else 

 how insipid would be fox-hunting! But on the 

 average we fishermen catch as much per head, 

 compared with the expenditure of coin upon 

 tackle, as any other field sport produces under 

 like comparison. 



Dr. Johnson has the discredit of having defined 

 angling to be a stick, and a string, with " a worm 

 at one end and a fool at the other," this is a poor 

 illogical sarcasm. The doctor knew nothing of 

 the skill called for in the rare art. I know many 

 followers of the craft who by their skill would 

 have landed " the great bear'' himself, with a gut- 

 line not thicker than a single thread from his 



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