288 MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER. 



time may yet come when a fisherman will not think 

 himself a master of his craft until he is not only a good 

 angler, but also a good ichthyologist ; until he possesses 

 such an amount of scientific attainment as will enable 

 him to read with an intelligent eye the marvels of the 

 beautiful page of Nature that is spread before him, — a 

 page ever open, ever varying. 



It has been gravely said that a good angler must also 

 be a good Christian. Without literalizing the assertion, 

 it may well be admitted that there is much in the 

 contemplative character of his pursuit, and in the quiet 

 scenes of beauty with which it brings him face to 

 face, to soften and elevate, as well as to '' humanize." 

 The rushing of white water, and the deep greenery 

 of woods and fields, seem incompatible with what is 

 base or sordid. They act like a tonic on mind and body 

 alike, and the fisherman, solitary with his own thoughts, 

 shut out from the world, * shut in, left alone' with him- 

 self and perfection of scenery, can hardly fail to be 

 penetrated with the spirit that haunts solitude and love- 

 liness. A chord is touched that must find an echo in every 

 heart not utterly dead to gentle influences— awakening 

 what is good, silencing what is bad ; directing the 

 thoughts into purer channels, and leading them almost in- 

 stinctively to '* look through Nature up to Nature's God." 



THE END. 



