40 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



Church of St. Paul's in London, where his monument stands yet 

 undefaced : a man that in the Reformation of Queen Elizabeth, 

 not that of Henry VIII., was so noted for his meek spirit, deep 

 learning, prudence and piety, that the then parliament and con- 

 vocation both, chose, enjoined, and trusted him to be the man to 

 make a catechism for public use, such a one as should stand as a 

 rule for faith and manners to their posterity. And the good old 

 man, though he was very learned, yet knowing that God leads 

 us not to heaven by many nor by hard questions, like an honest 

 angler, made that good, plain, unperplexed catechism which is 

 printed with our good old service-book. I say, this good man 

 was a dear lover, and constant practiser of angling, as any age 

 can produce ; and his custom was to spend besides his fixed 

 hours of prayer, those hours which by command of the church 

 were enjoined the clergy, and voluntarily dedicated to devotion 

 by many primitive Christians : I say, besides those hours, this 

 good man was observed to spend a tenth part of his time in an- 

 gling ; and also, for I have conversed with those which have 

 conversed with him, to bestow a tenth part of his revenue, and 

 usually all his fish, amongst the poor that inhabited near to those 

 rivers in which it was caught : saying often, " That Charity gave 

 life to Religion :" and at his return to his house would praise 

 God he had spent that day free from worldly trouble ; both harm- 

 lessly, and in a recreation that became a churchman. And this 

 good man was well content, if not desirous, that posterity should 

 know he was an angler, as may appear by his picture, now to be 

 seen, and carefully kept in Brazen-nose-College, to which he was 

 a liberal benefactor, in which picture he is drawn leaning on a 

 desk with his Bible before him, and on one hand of him his lines, 

 hooks, and other tackling lying in a round ; and on his other 

 hand are his angle-rods of several sorts : and by them this is 

 written, "That lie died 13 Feb., 1601, being aged 95 years, 44 

 of which he had been Dean of St. Paul's Church ; and that his 

 age had neither impaired his hearing, nor dimmed his eyes, nor 



he went an angling, forgot it in the grass, and found it a few days afterwards 

 •' not a bottle any longer, but a guriy" from the noise it made on drawing the 

 cork. — Hawkins. 



