scientific angler;. 5 



was thy wrath awakened, O jolly miller ! White in 

 apparel, but rubicund in complexion, you sally forth, 

 portly and irascent : lofty is your language. 



" Who gave you toleration to fish in my mill tail ? " 

 In return, Mr. Miller, you are called an uncivil brute, 

 and you well deserve it ; for, in civility, you should first 

 of all have remonstrated, and, in prudence, should after- 

 wards have endeavoured to exact a handsome fine for 

 the trespass. But you did neither of these ; on the 

 contrary, I am sorry to say, you were personal and un- 

 pleasant, and forcibly deprived our amiable friend Mr. 

 John Poplin of his rod ; so that he returned to London 

 with an accumulation of bile, and scolded his wife, maid, 

 and footboy. Hard was the fate of the caster of the 

 green granam ! 



Mount we now one step higher, nay, a goodly stride 

 or two ; and let us celebrate the real scientific fly-fisher, 

 to whom fortune has been more propitious. Possessed of 

 ample means, he roves from river to lake, rich in rods of 

 various dimensions, and the joyful possessor of all the 

 flies that have been named or engraved in all the ninety- 

 nine books that have been published on the art of 

 angling, not forgetting that distinguished fly called the 

 professor. We have a boundless respect for this young 

 gentleman. We like his custom of roving about. He 

 does not scruple to mount his tilbury, and to flourish his 

 rod over the rivers and lakes of Wales, and to lash also 

 with zeal all the waters of Westmoreland and Cum- 

 berland. He is not a mere angler, but somewhat of an 

 artist also ; at least he thinks so himself. So when the 



b 3 



