FISHERMAN'S LUCK 123 



The cause of my drifting into this long pre- 

 liminary rigmarole, is that I have just now been 

 reading a book called 



FISHERMAN'S LUCK AND SOME OTHER UN- 

 CERTAIN THINGS. By HENRY VAN DYKE. 



The paper, printing, and pictures in this pretty 

 book are pleasant to look upon, and the contents 

 such as you may expect to find, being written by 

 the same accomplished and facile hand that wrote 

 Little Rivers, that charming book to which some 

 year or two ago I drew attention. I desire to do 

 the same with Fishermaris Luck; not critically, 

 for I am no critic, but just to gossip about it in my 

 usual rambling fashion. 



The writer is, I think, a popular preacher, 

 having one of the largest congregations in New 

 York ; but he would fain lead us to believe that 

 although to catch men is his daily occupation, in 

 catching fishes lies his true vocation, because he 

 was "born so." He himself acknowledges that 

 his chosen pursuit is angling, which he "follows 

 with diligence when not interrupted by less im- 

 portant concerns," a statement, of course, not to 

 be taken too seriously. 



Mr. Van Dyke is not only a great preacher and 

 an enthusiastic angler, he is also a charming writer, 

 and he adorns whatever subject he touches by the 

 cultivated tone of his style and the brightness and 

 daintiness of his humour. 



I shall, perforce, confine myself to some of 



