INTEODUCTION. 



fPHIS work has for a period of years enjoyed a 

 degree of public approbation which few other 

 similar publications can boast of, and it may be 

 presumed has been practically useful in proportion 

 to the fame it has acquired ; it is, however, a truth 

 universally acknowledged, that art, though contin- 

 ually advancing towards excellence, is never known 

 to arrive at perfection. If this remark be true with 

 respect to the higher branches of human knowledge, 

 it is also applicable 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 Author, 

 hia condition in life and circumscribed course of 

 reading, prevented the possibility of his acquiring 

 correct information on literary subjects ; and it has 



