164 HINTS ON ANGLING. 



case ; and therefore it behoves the English angler to pro- 

 vide himself with the necessary information. 



It is a maxim of common sense and good feeling, as 

 well as of ordinary prudence, to yield a ready and willing 

 obedience to the laws of every foreign country which we 

 visit, either for profit or pleasure, whatsoever those laws 

 may be. In almost all cases, our visits are voluntary ; and 

 therefore we have no right to complain of their internal 

 principles of social policy. With reference to France and 

 Belgium, indeed, it must be confessed, our movements 

 are sufficiently free and unfettered for all rational purposes 

 of intercourse and amusement. 



In these countries, angling is not a general or fashion- 

 able amusement amongst the middle and higher classes; 

 nor, indeed, are field-sports of any kind. In-door, and 

 less robust modes of relaxation prevail ; and it is difficult 

 for an English gentleman to comprehend the country life 

 of his French neighbour, which passes without those 

 cheering excitements of field and flood which constitute 

 the charm of his own rural existence. 



It is true the English are rapidly spreading a taste 

 amongst the French gentry; but a sportsman cannot be 

 made in a day: and the genius and taste of the people 

 must undergo a complete revolution before they can 

 become sportsmen, in any correct acceptation of the phrase. 

 Their notions on the subject are laughable to our more 

 cultivated experience; and the very dress of a French 

 chasseur is generally the most ludicrous thing imaginable. 

 War, the presiding deity of France, exacts all the national 

 homage; and all other considerations, no matter how 

 valuable or sacred, must give place to the insatiable love 

 of military glory which characterises the entire people. 



Hence it is that angling is almost entirely confined to 



