The First Day 29 



And first, I shall tell you what some have ob- 

 served, and I have found it to be a real truth, that 

 the very sitting by the river's side is not only the 

 quietest and fittest place for contemplation, but will 

 invite an angler to it : and this seems to be main- 

 tained by the learned Peter du Moulin, who, in his 

 discourse of the fulfilling of Prophecies, observes, 

 that when God intended to reveal any future events 

 or high notions to his prophets, he then carried 

 them either to the deserts, or the sea-shore, that 

 having so separated them from amidst the press of 

 people and business, and the cares of the world, he 

 might settle their mind in a quiet repose, and there 

 make them fit for revelation. 



And this seems also to be imitated by the 

 children of Israel, who having in a sad condition 

 banished all mirth and musick from their pensive 

 hearts, and having hung up their then mute harps 

 upon the willow-trees growing by the rivers of 

 Babylon, sat down upon those banks, bemoaning 

 the ruins of Sion, and contemplating their own sad 

 condition. AJU! 



And an ingenious Spaniard says, that " rivers and 

 the inhabitants of the watery element were made 

 for wise men to contemplate, and fools to pass by 

 without consideration". And though I will not 

 rank myself in the number of the first, yet give me 

 leave to free myself from the last, by offering to 

 you a short contemplation, first of rivers, and then 

 of fish ; concerning which I doubt not but to give 

 you many observations that will appear very con- 

 siderable : I am sure they have appeared so to me, 

 and made many an hour pass away more pleasantly, 

 as I have sat quietly on a flowery bank by a calm 

 river, and contemplated what I shall now relate to 

 you. 



And first concerning rivers ; there be so many 



