50 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [PART I. 



that both feed him and afford him recreation. What pleasure 

 doth man take in hunting the stately Stag, the generous Buck, 

 the Wild-Boar, the cunning Otter, the crafty Fox, and the fear- 

 ful Hare ! And if I may descend to a lower game, what pleas- 

 ure is it sometimes with gins to betray the very vermin of the 

 earth ! as namely, the Fitchet, the Fulimart, the Ferret, the 

 Polecat, the Mouldwarp, and the like creatures that live upon 

 the face and within the bowels of the earth ! How doth the 

 earth bring forth herbs, flowers, and fruits, both for physic and 

 the pleasure of mankind ! and above all, to me at least, the 

 fruitful vine, of which when I drink moderately it clears my 

 brain, cheers my heart, and sharpens my wit. How could Cleo- 

 patra have feasted Mark Antony with eight wild-boars roasted 

 whole at one supper, and other meat suitable, if the earth had 

 not been a bountiful mother ? But to pass by the mighty Ele- 

 phant, which the earth breeds and nourisheth, and descend to 

 the least of creatures, how doth the earth afford us a doctrinal 

 example in the little Pismire, who in the summer provides and 

 lays up her winter provision, and teaches man to do the like ! 

 The earth feeds and carries those horses that carry us. If I 

 would be prodigal of my time and your patience, what might 

 not I say in commendations of the earth ? that puts limits to the 

 proud and raging sea, and by that means preserves both man 

 and beast that it destroys them not, as we see it daily doth those 

 that venture upon the sea, and are there shipwrecked, drowned, 

 and left to feed haddocks ; when we that are so wise as to keep 

 ourselves on earth, walk, and talk, and live, and eat, and drink, 

 and go a hunting : of which recreation I will say a little, and 

 then leave Mr. Piscator to the commendation of Angling. 



Hunting is a game for Princes and noble persons ; it hath 

 been highly prized in all ages ; it was one of the qualifications 

 that Xenophon bestowed on his Cyrus, that he was a hunter of 

 wild beasts. Hunting trains up the younger nobility to the use 

 of manly exercises in their riper age. What more manly exer- 

 cise than hunting the Wild-Boar, the Stag, the Buck, the 



