138 THE ANGLER'S GUIDE. 





opinion that they must all be in a similar state 

 of ignorance, or they never could tolerate a 

 system of religion so full of follies, errors, 

 absurdities and abominations. 



The favourite fish of Mrs. Bigings was 

 salmon, but her spouse assured her that a 

 really good trout of five or six pounds was 

 to be preferred, and he was quite sure that 

 she would be convinced of it when he brought 

 two or three brace home. And under such 

 circumstances, if they did not make presents 

 of any of them to their friends, the best plan 

 would be to boil them all and sup off them, 

 and then pickle the rest ; and he'd not the 

 least doubt that it would be very far superior 

 to the finest Newcastle salmon in the world. 



And then as to jack, and carp, and chub, 

 and all the other fresh- water fish, though some 

 people did say they cared nothing about them, 

 he believed it was only because they could 

 not get them, and he'd wager that if they 

 had a dish of them nicely cooked, they'd pretty 

 soon begin to clear some of their bones, espe- 

 cially if they had been fasting for two or three 

 days previous. And if even the priest declared 

 that they should not have a single modicum 

 of fat to fry them in, he'd warrant they'd go 



