INTRODUCTION. 5 



instruments of modern science, however rude and imper- 

 fect in their earlier structure, yielded up their secret har- 

 monies to the touch of Jubal ; if the crude and unmanage- 

 ble iron and tin became elastic and obedient in the hands 

 of Tubal Cain ; why may we not suppose that suitable 

 instruments for hunting and fishing, those very first 

 employments of the noble fathers of our race, would be 

 invented and adapted with all speed, for such an important 

 and, indeed, necessary purpose ? 



In the days of Moses, we know the Israelites ate freely 

 of fish (which was served up with cucumbers as salmon 

 is at present), in the land of Egypt, as is recorded in the 

 eleventh chapter of Numbers ; and through the works of the 

 later prophets continual allusions are made to the practice 

 of fishing, and the implements, such as nets, hooks, etc., 

 employed in the process. It is recorded of the great 

 Solomon, that he " spake of beasts, and of fowl, and of 

 creeping things, and of fishes;" and we may well regret 

 the loss of these works, as a book on angling by the 

 wisest of men would have been a treasure indeed. That 

 the art was sufficiently common in the days of the Saviour, 

 must be obvious to the most casual reader of the New 

 Testament ; and it has always appeared somewhat ex- 

 traordinary and suggestive to our minds, that the greatest 

 revolution the world has ever witnessed the greatest 

 change which has ever been effected on human society, 

 and which is destined to advance and increase, until all 

 mankind shall share the benefits of its influence, both in 

 this world and in another state of being, was brought 

 about by the agency of a few poor fishermen. It would 

 seem as if the innocency and harmlessness of their gentle 

 occupation had acted as a becoming preparation for that 

 life of gentleness and charity, and purity and benevolence, 



