lii BIBLIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 



will be induc'd to relinquish those pleasures which are 

 obnoxious to choler or contention (which so disconapose 

 the thoughts that nothing during that unsettlement can 

 relish or delight the mind) to pursue that recreation, which 

 composeth the Soul to that calmness and sincerity which 

 give a man the fullest possession and fruition of himself 

 and all his enjoyments ; this clearness and equanimity of 

 Spirit being a matter of so high a concern and value in 

 the judgments of many profound Philosophers, as any one 

 may see that will bestow the pains to read Seneca De 

 Tranquillitate Animi, and Petrarch, De Utrmsque Condi- 

 tionis Statu : Certainlv, he that lives Sihi et Deo leads the 

 most happy life ; "and if this Art do not dispose and incline 

 the mind to a quiet, calm sedateness, I am confident it doth 

 not (as many other delights) cast blocks and rubs before 

 him to make his way more difficult and unpleasant. The 

 cheapness of the Recreation abates not its pleasure, but 

 with rational persons heightens it ; and if it be delightful, 

 the charge of Melancholy falls upon that score, and if 

 Example (which is the best proof) may sway anything, I 

 know no sort of men less subject to Melancholy than 

 Anglers : many have cast off other Recreations and em- 

 braced it, but I never knew an Angler wholly cast off 

 (though occasions might interrupt) their affections to their 

 beloved Recreation ; but if this art may prove a nohle^ 

 brave rest to my mind 'tis all the satisfaction I covet." . . . 

 Venables was in truth an excellent practical angler with 

 the fly as well as other means. Hawkins is more indebted 

 to him even than he admits for the information found 

 among his notes. I bring my notice of Venables to a close 

 with these words of Archdeacon Zouch : " The Expe- 

 rienced Angler, a little book written by Col. Robert Ve- 

 nables, is now before me. The perusal of it calls to 

 memory days of youth, the guileless scenes of earlier life, 

 spent with innocent companions in 'delightful walks by 

 pleasant rivers, in sweet pastures, and among odoriferous 



