THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 41 



weakened his memory, nor made any of the faculties of his mind 

 weak or useless." 'Tis said that angling and temperance were 

 great causes of these blessings, and I wish the like to all that 

 imitate him, and love the memory of so good a man. 



My next and last example shall be that under-valuer of money, 

 the late Provost of Eton College, Sir Henry Wotton,* a man 

 with whom I have often fished and conversed, a man whose 

 foreign employments in the service of this nation, and whose 

 experience, learning, wit, and cheerfulness, made his company 

 to be esteemed one of the delights of mankind : this man, whose 

 very approbation of angling were sufficient to convince any 

 modest censurer of it, this man was a most dear lover, and a 

 frequent practiser of the art of angling ; of which he would say, 

 " 'Twas an employment for his idle time, which was then not 

 idly spent :" for angling was, after tedious study, " a rest to his 

 mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a diverter of sadness, a calmer of 

 unquiet thoughts, a moderator of passions, a procurer of content- 

 edness :" and " that it begat habits of peace and patience in those 

 that professed and practised it." Indeed, my friend, you will 

 find angling to be like the virtue of humility, which has a calm- 

 ness of spirit, and a world of other blessings attending upon it. 



Sir, this was the saying of that learned man, and I do easily 



* See his Life, by Walton, No. Ixxxii. of this Library. The good provost 

 had a fishing-house in the Thames, near Windsor, where he used to enjoy 

 his quiet sport and the society of "the ever welcome company" of his 

 friend Walton, " at the time of the fly and the cork." " The whole scene- 

 ry," according to the description of Jesse (the naturalist, author of Angler's 

 Rambles)," appears suited to a lover of angling. A little green lawn slopes 

 gently down to the river, and on the top of it a modest fishing-house is seen, 

 such an one as we may suppose the provost and his friend might retire to 

 either for shelter or to partake of fishermen's fare. It stands on an ayte, 

 round which the delicate clear river finds its way. To the left, the tur- 

 rets of Windsor Castle are seen through a vista of magnificent elms ; and 

 to the right, the chapel and college of Eton, with their venerable and 

 beautiful architecture, add to the charm of the scenery; and . . . near by 

 are graceful willows, amonfrst wliich the sedge bird and the willow wren 

 sing in concert day and night. The property still belongs to Eton Col- 

 lege, and is rented by Mr. Bachelder, of Windsor, a worthy and expert 

 brother of the angle." — Si)' H. jXicholas. 



