204 THE COMPLETE ANGLER 



With what ease might thy errors be excused, 

 Wert thou as truly loved as thou'rt abused 1 

 But though dull souls neglect, and some reprove thee, 

 I cannot hate thee, 'cause the angels love thee. 



YEN. And the repetition of these last verses of music, 

 has called to my memory what Mr. Ed. Waller,* a lover 

 of the angle, says of love and music. 



Whilst I listen to thy voice, 

 Chloris, I feel my heart decay : 



That powerful noise 

 Calls my fleeting soul away : 

 O suppress that magic sound, 

 Which destroys without a wound I 



Peace, Chloris, peace, or singing die, 

 That together you and I 



To heaven may go ; 



For all we know 

 Of what the blessed do above 

 Is that they sing, and that they love. 



* As the author's concern for the honour of angling, induced him 

 to enumerate such persons of note as were lovers of that recreation, 

 the reader will allow me to add Mr. John Gay to the number. Any 

 one who reads the first canto of his " Georgic," entitled Rural Sports, 

 and observes how beautifully and accurately he treats the subject 

 of fly-fishing, would conclude the author a proficient : but that it 

 was his chief amusement, I have been assured, by an intimate 

 friend of mine, who has frequently fished with him in the River 

 Kennet, at Amesbury in Wilts, the seat of his grace the Duke of 

 Queensberry. 



The reader will excuse the following addition to this note, for the 

 sake of a beautiful description of the material used in fly-making, 

 which is quoted from the above-mentioned poem : 

 " To frame the little animal, provide 

 All the gay hues that wait on female pride : 

 Let nature guide thee ; sometimes golden wire 

 The shining bellies of the fly require ; 

 The peacock's plumes thy tackle must not fail, 

 Nor the dear purchase of the sable's tail ; 

 Each gaudy bird some slender tribute brings, 

 And lends the growing insect proper wings ; 

 Silks of all colours must their aid impart, 

 And every fur promote the fisher's art : 

 So the gay lady, with expensive care, 

 Borrows the pride of land, of sea, of air ; 

 Furs, pearls, and plumes, the glittering thing displays, 

 Dazzles our eyes, and easy hearts betrays." H. 



