FISHING. 



FISHING may probably claim origin with the ex- 

 piration of the poet's golden age. When the vitiated 

 palate of man first imbibed the savoury gratification of 

 animal food, the weak and the indolent, alike too 

 supine to share in the fatigues of the chase, contrived 

 the obtainment of a viscous substance by a less labo- 

 rious but more cunning depredation upon the tenants 

 of the deep. As mankind increased in number, and 

 nations were formed, the art became general; nor 

 was the simple character of the fisherman finally un- 

 important. Upon the foundation of the mild doc- 

 trines of the Christian religion an <c astonishing and 

 rapid propagation of it [took place] by a few illiterate 

 tent-makers and fishermen through almost every part 

 of the world." * From that period, in the earliest his- 

 tory of every country, it may be gleaned, that fishing 



* Lecture I. upon the Gospel of St. Matthew, by the present Bishop of 

 London. 



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