APOLOGY FOR ANGLERS. 



to the authority of Holy Writ, where we find that 

 fishermen were among the chosen servants of our 

 Saviour both before and after the resurrection; 

 and in various parts of the Old and New Testa- 

 ment, fishermen, angles and hooks, are mentioned, 

 but in no one instance is the practice condemned, 

 even by implication : we find in the book of Job, 

 and in the prophet Amos, fishermen and fishing- 

 hooks named, and again, in the nineteenth chap- 

 ter of Isaiah, it is said, " the fishers shall mourn^ 

 and they that cast their angle in the brook." 



Our blessed Lord made choice of several fish- 

 ermen for his apostles, and it was to those he ap- 

 peared after his resurrection, while they were 

 fishing, as may be seen by referring to the twenty- 

 first chapter of St. John's gospel ; and in order to 

 convince the most incredulous that catching fish 

 with hooks was never considered a sinful pursuit, 

 I shall quote, our Saviour's order given to the 



