144 FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS. 



swete ayre of the swete sauvoure of the meede flowres, that 

 makyth him hungry ; he hereth the melodyous armony of 

 fowles ; he seeth the young swannes, heerons, ducks, cotes, 

 and many other fowles with theyr brodes ; whyche me sem- 

 yth better than all the noyse of houndys, the blastes of 

 hornys, and the scrye of fowlis, that hunters, frunkeners, and 

 fowlers do make. And," says the good old lady, " if the an- 

 gler take fysshe, surely their is no man merier than he is in 

 his spyryte." 



Angling, in modern times, is the most refined of all field- 

 sports. If the angler take a fish, he knows that it is only one 

 of a spawn of from a thousand to many hundred thousands, 

 and that all shoals which, can, prey on one another. Not only 

 so, but the old prey on their own offspring ; and from the 

 time when the mother fish appears in the spawning-pools, 

 there are several milt fish waiting to gorge themselves with 

 the ova ; and so, during all stages of fishhood, the larger eat 

 the lesser ones, and as cold-blooded animals they can not 

 be -susceptible to an acute sense of pain. These truths can 

 not be said in favor of killing a land animal, whose annual 

 procreative increase never amounte to a tithe of any individ- 

 ual of the oviparous fishes. 



The innocence of angling is therefore a feature which has 

 commended it to the good of all ages. " When bank and 

 meadow lie starred and enameled with flowers ; when the 

 trill of the song-bird issues from every thorn ; when all sounds 

 and all prospects are joyous and exhilarating, and the cloud 

 itself, sleeping high in the arch of heaven, is as the honored 

 presence of some benevolent watcher ;" with the soul toned 

 by the sights, sounds, and exercise into a state of harmony 

 with all nature, then the angler realizes that the precious gift 

 lie enjoys is 



" One of the spirits un withdrawn, 



That, erst the fall, were charged to minister 



To the earth's gladness, and continually, 



Out of their ample and unfailing horns, 



To pre-endow the advancing tracks of men. " 



