384 TROUT AND ANGLING. 



all 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 humor, " My lord, I 

 shall work steadily at it when the fly-fishing sea- 

 son is over," as if this were a business of his life. 

 And I am rather reserved in introducing living 

 characters, or I would give a list of the highest 

 names in Britain, belonging to modern times, in 

 science, letters, arts, and arms, who are ornaments 

 of this fraternity, to use an expression borrowed 

 from the freemasonry of our forefathers. 



Physicus. — I do not find much difficulty in 

 understanding why warriors and statesmen, fishers 

 of men, many of whom I have 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 among phi- 

 losophers and poets. 



Halieus. — 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 



