6 HINTS ON ANGLING. 



which was to distinguish them above all men, and give 

 them their glorious pre-eminence in the universal church 

 of Christ. 



As we descend the stream of time, we find the Greeks 

 and Romans, as well as all the people of the wide East, 

 in the full practice and approval of the art of fishing, 

 not merely as a means of livelihood, but as a source of 

 recreation and pleasure. The ancient Athenians had a 

 law about the sale of fish, which might be adopted with 

 advantage by the sage gourmands who preside over the 

 rules which regulate the London markets. " Fishmongers," 

 says the Greek law, " shall not lay their stinking fish in 

 water, thereby to make it more vendible." And again, 

 " that fishmonger shall incur punishment, who shall over- 

 rate his fish, and take less than he first proffered them 

 for." The Eomans held fish in the highest estimation ; 

 and the accounts which have descended to us of their 

 magnificence and extravagance, in breeding and preserving 

 them for the purposes of luxury and recreation, are 

 scarcely credible. In later times, the attention of the 

 legislators of Europe has been frequently directed to the 

 subject ; and the gentle art for centuries ranked amongst 

 the necessary accomplishments of the finished gentleman. 

 In our own day, the love of the craft seems to have lost 

 none of its old ardour and influence; and, despite the 

 sneer of shallow pride, or the smirk of pompous dulness, 

 the votaries of the angle still bid fair to be as numerous 

 and enthusiastic as during any former period. In England, 

 the taste for this healthy, rational, and innocent enjoyment, 

 increases every day ; and in France, the enactment of a 

 wise law on the subject, secures an abundance of 

 sport for the fair and genuine angler, the hater of nets 

 and traps, and trimmers and ground baits, the veritable 



