42 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [part i. 



he would say, " 'Twas an employment for his idle 

 " time, which was then not idly spent : " for Angl- 

 ing was, after tedious study, " a rest to his mind, a 

 " cheerer of his spirits, a diverter of sadness, a 

 " calmer of unquiet thoughts, a moderator of pas- 

 " sions, a procurer of contentedness ; " and " that 

 " it begat habits of peace and patience in those 

 " that professed and practised it. " Indeed, my 

 friend, you will find Angling to be like the virtue 

 of humility, which has a calmness of spirit, and a 

 world of other blessings attending upon it. 



Sir, this was the saying of that learned man, and 

 I do easily believe that peace, and patience, and a 

 calm content, did cohabit in the cheerful heart of 

 Sir Henry Wotton, because I know that when he was 

 beyond seventy years of age, he made this descrip- 

 tion of a part of the present pleasure that possessed 

 him, as he sat quietly in a Summer's evening on a 

 bank a-fishing. It is " a description of the Spring," 

 which, because it glided as soft and sweetly from 

 his pen, as that river does at this time, by which it 

 was then made, I shall repeat it unto you. 



This day dame Nature seem'd in love : 

 The lusty sap began to move ; 

 Fresh juice did stir th' embracing vines, 

 And birds had drawn their valentines. 



The jealous Trout, that low did lie, 

 Rose at a well- dissembled fly : 

 There stood my friend with patient skill, 

 Attending of his trembling quill. 



