AND HOW TO CATCH HIM. 33 



who classed all anglers as sober, honest, quiet, inoffensive men. 

 Amongst these unworthy brethren comes first the drunken angler, 

 who stops and drinks at every public house and beer shop both 

 out and home ; the latter of which he never reaches sober, and 

 not unfrequently, for want of cash or credit, is compelled to leave 

 his angling rod behind him in pawn for his reckoning. Next is 

 the poaching angler, who, not having the statute 9 Geo. 4, c. 29 

 before his eyes, and the penalties thereby imposed, is never con- 

 tented unless he is fishing in some preserved water, without the 

 owner's permission, and who notwithstanding he can descry a keeper 

 an immense way off, yet could never manage to see a notice not to 

 trespass, though directly before his nose, in the whole course of 

 his life. Closely allied to the last is the sneaking, skulking angler, 

 who always endeavours to steal a head of every body, and appears 

 almost as desirous of spoiling the sport of others, as he is to obtain it 

 for himself. Then there is the lying angler, who recounts the 

 most marvellous tales about his angling exploits, and of the strange 

 sights and adventures he has met with by the water side ; in all of 

 which he is of course the hero : multiplies the fish he has caught 

 most prodigiously both in number, weight, and dimensions; and 

 who if you meet him after his return from fishing, is certain to tell 

 you he has hooked, and all but caught, a trout, or some other fish 

 of such a size as you yourself never yet saw, and probably never 

 will. And there is also the passionate, swearing angler, who 

 invariably leaves some of hia tackle dangling on the trees 

 and bushes by the river side ; who commonly retires from his 

 occupation with a broken rod and a considerable loss of line, very 

 early in the day ; returning homewards in no very tranquil mood, 

 blaming his ill luck instead of his temper every inch of the way. 

 But after all we sometimes meet with the contented angler, who is 

 by far the best specimen of the whole race : one who can patiently 

 endure ill fortune, should it chance to cross his path, and as 

 thoroughly enjoy prosperity when he has the happiness to light 

 upon it. Who, as an angler, can follow the sport in its true spirit, 

 indulging in it as a recreation, instead of pursuing it as a business, 

 or to use the words of Sir Henry Wotton, to follow the sport "as 

 a rest to his mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a diverter of sadness, a 

 calmer of unquiet thoughts, a moderator of passions, and a pro- 

 curer of contentment," and who, like the angler depicted by Izaak 

 Walton, " can enjoy Ihe blessings of Providence with a meek and 

 cheerful heart." v 



