Our Friend Angling 9 



I would almost as soon undertake to answer 

 the question, " What constitutes the chief 

 charm of a good wife ? " Angling is all 

 charms. It takes you into beautiful scenes. 

 It cultivates in you the virtue of patience. 

 It keeps your intellect from stagnating, for 

 you must always be thinking of what you are 

 doing. It flatters man's ideas of his superiority 

 over fish, and birds, and beasts. It encourages 

 you to exercise in the open air, which means 

 health. It fills you with satisfaction when 

 you are successful : it never causes you to 

 despair when you are not successful — " Hope 

 springs eternal in the angler's breast." I 

 do not know which of the charms is the 

 greatest. Together they make a whole 

 which promotes peace of mind and health 

 of body. The one thing certain to me is 

 that catching fish is not the chief charm 

 of angling. The days when I have taken 

 least have often appeared to me the best of 

 days.' For my part, I find myself in entire 

 accord with this. Some of the days that 

 stand out most pleasantly, in regard not only 



