54 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



measure of hope and patience, * and a love and propensity to 

 the art itself ; but having once got and practised it, then doubt 

 not but angling will prove to be so pleasant, that it will prove to 

 be, like virtue, a reward to itself. 



Venator. Sir, I am now become so full of expectation, that 

 I long much to have you proceed, and in the order that you 

 propose. 



Piscator. Then first, for the antiquity of Angling, of which 

 I shall not say much, but only this : some .say it is as ancient 

 as Deucalion's flood; others, that Belus, who was the first 

 inventor of godly and virtuous recreations, was the first inventor 

 of angling; and some others say, (for former times have had 

 their disquisitions about the antiquity of it,) that Seth, one of 

 the sons of Adam, taught it to his sons, and that by them it was 

 derived to posterity : f others say that he left it engraven on those 

 pillars which he erected, and trusted to preserve the knowledge 

 of the mathematics, music, and the rest of that precious know- 

 ledge, and those useful arts, which by God's appointment or 

 allowance, and his noble industry, were thereby preserved from 

 perishing in Noah's flood. 



These, sir, have been the opinions of several men, that have 

 possibly endeavoured to make angling more ancient than is 

 needful, or may well be warranted; but, for my part, I shall 

 content myself in telling you, that angling is much more ancient/ 

 than the incarnation of our Saviour ; for, in the prophet Amos, 

 mention is made of fish hooks ; and in the book of Job, (which 

 was long before the days of Amos, for that book is said to be 

 writ by Moses,) mention is made also of fish hooks, which must 

 imply anglers in those times. 



* Dr Franklin was in the habit of illustrating the patience of an angler 

 by mentioning, that as he set out from Philadelphia at six o'clock on a 

 summer's morning, to go about fifteen miles, he passed a brook where a 

 gentleman was angling ; he inquired what sport, and was told none ; 

 " But," added the gentleman, " I have only been here two hours." The 

 Doctor continued his journey ; and, on his return in the evening, found 

 the angler at the same spot, and repeated his inquiry ; " Very good sport," 

 was the reply. The query was naturally resumed, by asking how many 

 fish he had caught? " tfone at all," answered the "gentleman ; "but, 

 about the middle of the day, I had a most glorimts nibble." 



" The river Lea angler," says Daniel, " being daily seen at one particular 

 spot, a brother angler conceived it must be the resort of abundance of fish, 

 and there, one morning at daybreak, began his operations. The usual 

 attendant of the place arrived some hours after, and threw in his line. A 

 long silence ensued, when the first comer remarked, that he was out of 

 lurk in not having caught any fish in this favourite hole, ' which,' says he, 

 I am convinced it is with you, from the constant attention I have seen 

 you pay to it.' ' Sir,' replies the gentleman, ' I confess long custom has 

 rendered me extremely partial to the spot ; but, as for the fish, I assure you 

 that here have I angled fur forty years, and never had a bite yet.' " J. R. 



f This fabulous stuff is repeated as trustworthy in most of the works 

 on angling, including nearly all the Encyclopaedias. J. R. 



