HISTORICAL NOTES. 79 



and being so unfortunate as to catch nothing in the presence of 

 his mistress, he was very much vexed, and gave secret orders to the 

 fishermen to dive under the water, and put fishes that had been 

 fresh taken upon his hook. After he had drawn up two or three, 

 Cleopatra perceived the trick ; she pretended, however, to be sur- 

 prised at his good fortune and dexterity ; told it to all her friends, 

 and invited them to come and see him fish the next day. Accord- 

 ingly, a very large company went out in the fishing-vessels, and as 

 soon as Antony had let down his line, she commanded one of 

 her servants to be beforehand with Antony's, and diving into the 

 water, to fix upon his hook a salted fish, one of those which were 

 brought from the Euxine Sea." H. 



a William Perkins was a learned divine, and a pious and painful 

 preacher. Dr. William Whittaker, an able writer in the Romish 

 controversy, and Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of 

 Cambridge. They both flourished at the latter end of the six- 

 teenth century. I remark the extreme caution of our author in 

 this passage ; foj he says not of Perkins, as he does of Whittaker, 

 that he was a practise! of, but only that he bestows (in some of 

 his writings, we must conclude) great commendations on angling. 

 Perkins had the misfortune to want the use of his right hand, as 

 we find intimated in this distich on him : 





Dextera quantiumis fucrat tibi manca, docendi 

 Pollcbas mira dexteritate tamen 



(Though nature hath thee of thy right hand bereft, 

 Right well thou writcst with thy hand that 's left) 



and therefore can hardly be supposed capable of even baiting 

 his hook. 



The fact respecting Whittaker is thus attested by Dr. Fuller, in 

 his "Holy State," book iii., chap. 13: "Fishing with an angle is to 

 sonic rather a torture than a pleasure, to stand an rnur as mute as 



