2 8 IZAAK WALTON AND HIS FRIENDS 



of our acquaintance with phenomena, better than 

 any fresh supply of vital force drawn for man from 

 the mutilated beast, better than a brief span 

 possibly added to our earthly sojourn, is the pure 

 consciousness that we have not broken down the 

 barriers of a holy reverence, or sought relief for 

 our own pain by inflicting it on some weaker 

 being." No man by reason of his philosophy need 

 be afraid to adopt this reasoning. The words are 

 noble and fearless. 



Franck wrote : "The creatures in the creation 

 (we must grant) were designed for nutrition and 

 sustentation ; yet no man had a commission so 

 large to take away life upon no other account than 

 to gratify his lust. Then the next question arising 

 will be, whether the rod or the net is rather to be 

 approved of. I have only this answer (since both 

 contribute to health and maintenance), the apostles 

 themselves used the one, why then may not the 

 angler plead for the other ? " 



Walton insists strongly that angling is an art, 

 and an art worth the learning, and worthy the 

 knowledge and practice of a wise man ; he dis- 

 cusses the question whether the happiness of a 

 man consists more in contemplation or in action, 

 and declares his own belief to be that in angling 

 both meet together. The very sitting, he says, 

 by the riverside is the fittest place for contempla- 

 tion and for revelation. He learnt much about 



I 



