8 HINTS ON ANGLING. 



time, to shed a species of poetry upon that on which he 

 has long looked, which is felt by all minds. The comic 

 representations of Congreve, Etherege, Wycherly, Van- 

 burgh, Farquhar, etc., etc., were, when first written, 

 merely witty portraits of every-day characters, scenes, and 

 events; they are now poetical, because they belong to 

 another age. Time throws a halo around them, which 

 they did not at first possess; and that which originally 

 tickled the intellect, now excites and fills the imagination. 

 Hence it is, that all records and pictures of old times are 

 pleasing, and have ever been so; and hence also, is it, 

 that books written in a quaint and familiar style, have 

 ever retained a firm hold on the public mind. 



We find from History, that this has been an interesting 

 species of literature in all ages. Pliny the elder says 

 that he always felt inexpressible pleasure in perusing 

 works full of incidents and personal familiarities. It is 

 said of the great Grecian lawgiver, that he read with 

 avidity all local and personal chronicles of his time, and 

 considered them more improving than profound and for- 

 mal essays on political topics. Lord Bacon had a similar 

 turn of thought ; for it is related of him that the members 

 of a club-house in Paternoster -row, which he frequently 

 attended, gave him the name of Lord Gossip, from his 

 delight in anecdotes, and his propensity to individual and 

 personal matters. 



Walton, too, has been a fortunate writer, in point of 

 literary reputation. This may easily enough be accounted 

 for. The ordinary history of literature tells us, that many 

 authors have established a fame as durable as the rocks 

 themselves, by a lucky and well-timed selection of a 

 particular subject. There are many things which come 

 within the sphere of literary treatment, which will never 



