THE FISHERIES. 5 



and less attractive pursuits should be overlooked 

 or undervalued. 



It is for these reasons, that we have been in- 

 duced to comply with a request to offer some 

 remarks on the history, nature, extent and im- 

 portance of the Fisheries. 



In the language of an early historian of Vir- 

 ginia,* " therefore, honorable and worthy coun- 

 trymen, let not the meanness of the word fish 

 distaste you, for it will afford as good gold as the 

 mines of Guiana or Potosi, with less hazard and 

 charge, and more certainty and facility." 



Sir Henry Wotton remarked of fishing, that 

 it was " a rest to the mind, a cheerer of his 

 spirits, a diverter of sadness, a calmer of unquiet 

 thoughts, a moderator of passions, a procurer of 

 contentedness ; and that it begat habits of peace 

 and patience." 



" The Romans, in the height of their glory," 

 says the celebrated Walton, " made fish the mis- 

 tress of all their entertainments," of which the 

 value and importance are confirmed not only by 

 their historians, but by their essayists and bards. 



It is not for us, however, to speak of the de- 

 licious entertainments which may be provided 

 from the treasures of the deep ; we shall remark 



* Smith. 



