INTRODUCTION. 



Work has, for a period of years, en- 

 joyed a degree of public approbation, which 

 few other similar publications can boast of; and 

 it is presumed that it has been practically use- 

 ful in proportion to the fame it has acquired ; 

 it is, however, a truth universally acknowledged, 

 that art, though it continually advances in ex- 

 cellence, is never known to arrive at perfection. 

 If this remark be true with respect to the higher 

 branches of human knowledge, it is also appli- 

 cable to the humble business of Angling, which, 

 whether pursued for pleasure or profit, is yet 

 capable, as an art, of constant and indefinite 

 improvement. 



Whatever merit we may attribute to the Au- 

 thor, his condition in life ancf circumscribed 

 course of reading, prevented the possibility of his 

 acquiring correct information on literary sub- 

 jects ; and it has been found expedient to omit 

 the puerilities of an antiquated and obsolete 

 philosophy, to make room for extracts from mo- 

 dern writers, more useful and interesting. 

 B 



