66 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [PART I. 



and peaceable spirits, as indeed most Anglers are : these men, 

 our blessed Saviour, who is observed to love to plant grace in 

 good natures, though indeed nothing be too hard for him, yet 

 these men he chose to call from their irreprovable employment 

 of fishing, and gave them grace to be his disciples, and to follow 

 him and do wonders ; I say four of twelve. 



And it is observable, that it was our Saviour's will, that 

 these our four Fishermen should have a priority of nomination 

 in the catalogue of his Twelve Apostles, Matt. x. 2-4, Acts i 

 13, as namely, first St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. James, and St. 

 John, and then the rest in their order. 



And it is yet more observable, that when our blessed Saviour 

 went up into the mount, when he left the rest of his disciples 

 and chose only three to bear hu'm company at his Transfigura- 

 tion, that those three were all Fishermen. And it is to be 

 believed, that all the other Apostles, after they betook them- 

 selves to follow Christ, betook themselves to be Fishermen too ; 

 for it is certain that the greater number of them were found 

 together fishing by Jesus after his Resurrection, as it is recorded 

 in the twenty-first chapter of St. John's Gospel, v. 3, 4. 



And since I have your promise to hear me with patience, I 

 will take a liberty to look back upon an observation that hath 

 been made by an ingenious and learned man ; who observes, 

 that God hath been pleased to allow those whom he himself 

 hath appointed to write his holy will in Holy Writ, yet, to ex- 

 press his will in such metaphors as their former affections or 

 practice had inclined them to : and he brings Solomon for an 

 example, who before, his conversion was remarkably carnally 

 amorous ; and after by God's appointment wrote that spiritual 

 dialogue or holy amorous love-song, the Canticles, betwixt 

 God and his Church ; in which he says his beloved had eyes 

 like the fish-pools of Heshbon. 



And if this hold in reason, as I see none to the contrary, 

 then it may be probably concluded, that Moses, who, I told 

 you before, writ the Book of Job, and the Prophet Amos, who 



