vi 



For that end, sir, I'll be brief in my de- 

 scription of Scotland, and as concise as pos- 

 sible in my Contemplative Angler ; so sum 

 up both as compendiously as I can. In 

 Cambridg, it's true, I had my education; 

 but travel having the ascendent over me, 

 I afterwards rambled the remote northern 

 tracts of Scotland ; where, to admiration, I 

 inspected that little artick world, and every 

 angle of it. It's true, travel always affected 

 me, and to travel by books, when nothing 

 else presented to transport me, was a soli- 

 tary kind of satisfaction, but no fruition. I 

 must confess 'twas in an ill juncture of time, 

 when the nation was alarm'd by the fatal 

 approach of an intestine war (that perplex'd 

 my anxious thoughts with various inquie- 

 tudes) because then to see a preternatural 

 cloud arise, that neither men nor counsels 

 were prophetick enough to consult, where- 

 by to stop the deluge of this hostile inun- 

 dation that threatned to involve the king- 

 dom in blood. 



In this dilemma I left the university to 

 seek umbrage in the city of London ; but 

 my retirements contributed equal trouble, 



