as Ikings of tbe 1ftob, iRffle, anfc (Butt 



manner, or are brought into some ponds, some such 

 other ways as is past man's finding out, of which we 

 have daily testimonies." 



Now, in his knowledge of natural history and in 

 his practical skill as an angler, Richard Franck was far 

 superior to Walton, and how could he help scoffing 

 at the simplicity and ignorance of the writer who 

 could propound such theories as to the propagation 

 of pike! For the rest, Franck's rules for fly-fishing 

 are admirable, and show a wider knowledge of the 

 subject than those of Charles Cotton. 



He was a rolling stone, this Roundhead soldier, sports- 

 man, and theologian. When he came back from his 

 northern tour he lived for a while at his native place, 

 Nottingham, ever famous for its anglers, and then 

 betook himself to America. After some years of 

 adventurous wandering there he returned to England, 

 brought himself to an anchor at last in London at 

 the Barbican, wrote some fantastic and unutterably 

 dreary religious books in a style worthy of Don 

 Adriano de Armado, and gave up the ghost in the 

 year 1694. 



Another notable Roundhead angler and soldier 

 was General Robert Venables, a man of far greater 

 consequence than Franck. Venables had military 

 talents of a high order. His services in the Parlia- 

 mentary army both in England and Ireland were 

 distinguished. He was Commander-in-Chief of the 

 forces in Ulster, governor of Belfast, Antrim, and 

 Lisnegarvey, and took a prominent part in the great 

 battle near Dublin when the Royalists, under Lords 



