THE ANGLER'S SOUVENIR. 



of hornys, and tlie crye of fowlis that hunters, 

 fawkeners, and fowlers can make. And if he take 

 fysshe, surely there is then noe man merrier than 

 he is in his spyryte." 



So the ramble in the country, its pleasant sights 

 and sounds, the chance meeting with a friend of 

 kindred tastes, and the conversations, rich and 

 rare, into which those who know him well are 

 irresistibly beguiled, make the days pass pleasantly 

 and happily. There is a certain old-fashioned 

 quaintness in his manner which he must have 

 caught from his favourite Spectator. His friends 

 call him Sir Hoger de Coverley, and the name is 

 an apt description. Piscator says that " angling 

 is somewhat like poetry men are to be born so ; 

 I mean with inclinations to it, though both may 

 be heightened by discourse and practice ; but he 

 that hopes to be a good angler must not only bring 

 an inquiring and observing wit, but he must bring 

 a large measure of hope and patience, and a love 

 and propensity to the art itself ; but having once 

 got and practised it, then doubt not but angling 

 will prove to be so pleasant that it will prove to 

 be, like virtue, a reward to itself." 



From what we have observed, we doubt that the 

 angler whose portrait we are sketching was born 

 to the art ; we think he was rather led into its 

 exercise by the delight he takes in its accessories ; 

 therefore he is, as a rule, not a successful angler, 

 His pursuit of the fish themselves is not keen 



