FREE ANGLING. 31 



and the yeomanry class, under the designation 

 of statesmen, is still a large one, though their 

 number is diminishing. In consequence, per- 

 haps, of there being few great properties here 

 with manorial rights, the rivers and lakes have 

 been considered in a manner free ; and not only 

 have the small farmers, but also the labouring 

 men, whether in village or country, indulged 

 themselves in angling, affording proof how 

 general is the taste for it. In the latter 

 county, on the contrary, this taste is checked ; 

 the landed properties are large; for instance, 

 the river, the Lathkin mentioned, and the 

 adjoining larger ones, the Wye and the Der- 

 went, run through the domains of two great 

 proprietors, the Dukes of Rutland and Devon- 

 shire. The aristocratic feeling is strong for 

 the preservation of game ; it is almost a dis- 

 tinctive mark ; no right than that of fishing 

 and shooting is more jealously maintained, 

 (ret permission, if you can, to wet a line in the 

 Lathkin, and be assured you will not be half 

 an hour, whether late or early on its banks, 

 Without having a visit from a keeper, and 

 probably from another and another in the 

 course of the day, who will reqiiire the pro- 



