AUTHORS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 83 



mind be so stayed with the fear of the Lord, that this verse 

 may not disagree with thy thoughts, viz. : 



" When weary anglers in the night do sleep, 

 Their fancies on their float still watching keep," 



It is almost impossible to conceive how any one could 

 dream of putting such mawkish trash into print. 



The century has been called a " leaden " one, and is not 

 undeserving of the title. The Secrets of Angling, by C. B., 

 in 1705, is little more than a compilation, though fairly put 

 together ; and the same may be said of the Cou7itry Gentle- 

 man's Vade-mecum, by Jacob, in 17 17. Saunders's Compleat 

 Fisherman, in 1724, is a very far better work, giving a good 

 deal of information on the English waters and fishing in 

 different parts of the Continent ; and it is interesting from 

 the fact that in it is the first mention in any book on 

 angling with "silk-worm gut." Pepys, however, in \\\s Diary 

 (March iSth, 1677), says : "This day Mr. Caesar told me a 

 pretty experiment of his angling with a minikin, a gutt-string 

 varnished over, which keeps it from swelling, and is beyond 

 any hair for strength and smallness. The secret I like 

 mightily." As a matter of fact gut came into pretty 

 general use after the middle of this century. The Gentle- 

 man Angler of 1726 does not contain much that was new 

 in the way of piscatory information, but, under different 

 names and in different forms, it passed through several 

 editions, and seems to have been appreciated. Its special 

 interest lies in the fact that it is the first book on angling 

 in which we read of rings for the rod and the use of the 

 winch : — 



" It will be very convenient to have Rings, or Eyes (as some 

 call them) made of fine Wire, and placed so artificially upon your 

 Rod from the one End to the other, that when you lay your Eye 

 to one, you may see through all the rest ; and your Rod being 



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