A GENERAL SURVEY. ii 



zines awakened popular interest ; and it happened that a 

 revolution in the means of communication had come at an 

 opportune time, to add to their teachings the necessary 

 opportunities of putting them into practice. Anglers have 

 now an organ of their own in the Fishing Gazette; 

 Mundella's Act was passed for the especial behoof of 

 bottom -fishers ; railway companies are recognizing the 

 brotherhood as of sufficient influence to be considered in 

 the granting of special privileges ; and the Fish Culture 

 Association, of which the Marquis of Exeter is President, 

 would never have been started, had not the necessity 

 been felt of looking after the stock of coarse-fish in rivers 

 frequented by the many. It must suffice, however, to 

 take these things for granted, and so I pass on with the 

 hearty wish that all societies, and all movements which 

 aim at assisting and encouraging the fair general angler, 

 may prosper abundantly. The man who is a fair fisher- 

 man, though his ambition soar no higher than a plate of 

 gudgeon from the well-raked gravel, has his place in the 

 common confraternity, and is deserving of consideration. 



The general angler at the present time is not altogether 

 without his apprehensions. Angling Associations have 

 befriended him, but the awakened interest which he has 

 himself helped to extend, threatens to curtail his privileges. 

 Claims to the ownership of waters hitherto considered 

 public are being advanced with the view of keeping him at 

 a distance. As, however, the Defence Associations should 

 be able to prevent wrong-handed or high-handed proceed- 

 ings, this, though a vexatious sign of the times, is a dif- 

 ficulty that will be removed, one way or another, by 

 appeal to the law. Still, it should be mentioned in a 

 general survey of the English angler's present position. 

 I confess I see most cause for alarm in the snapping-up of 



