4 INTRODUCTORY. 



by hot rooms and fires than by exposure, and as 

 for the comfort of the thing, that is according to 

 taste. It is surely better to have fresh air and ex- 

 ercise, even in wet, than to be spending the whole 

 day in some country inn, yawning over some second- 

 rate novel for the third time, the amusement agree- 

 ably diversified by staring out of the window at 

 the interminable rain, by poking a peat-fire, and 

 possibly by indulging in a superfluity of that in- 

 stitution of the country, pale ale. 



" Though sluggards deem it but an idle chase, 

 And marvel men should quit their easy chair, 

 The toilsome way and long long league to trace ; 

 Oh ! there is sweetness in the mountain air, 



And life that bloated ease can never hope to share." 



That angling is good for exercise is certain. 

 That it is also good for amusement is equally cer- 

 tain ; but the pleasure derived from the catching 

 of fish, like that derived from other field sports, is 

 more easily felt than described. There can be no 

 doubt, that by the great majority of people an amuse- 

 ment is valued in proportion as it affords room for 

 the exercise of skill there is more merit, and 

 therefore more pleasure, in excelling in what is diffi- 

 cult and though we may astonish some of our 

 readers, we assert, and shall endeavour to prove, 

 that angling is the most difficult of all field sports. 

 It requires all the manual dexterity that the others 

 do, and brings more into play the qualities of the 

 mind, observation, and the reasoning faculties. In 



