THE 111 V Ell. 147 



Walton, and probably from long before that, have been 

 proverbially a kind-hearted and poetic class of men, 

 models of mildness, as compared with any other sports- 

 men. A man who is amid the beauties of nature in 

 calm and silent contemplation, or intent only upon the 

 capture of a trout, is in a situation the very best calcu- 

 lated for forgetting animosity, and cherishing kindness 

 and good- will for all mankind ; and any means by which 

 that frame of mind can be ensured, are cheaply purchased 

 at the expense of any quantity of mere spoken senti- 

 ment, more especially of that very questionable kind, 

 which is just as forward to batten upon the fish, as to 

 condemn the angler. 



In Sir Humphry Davy's " Salmonia," there is a pas- 

 sage, descriptive of river scenery, which is so true to 

 nature, and, at the same time, so poetical and beautiful 

 that we cannot refrain from quoting it : " As to its 

 (angling's) practical relations, it carries us into the most 

 wild and beautiful scenery of nature ; amongst the 

 mountain-lakes, and the clear and lovely streams, that 

 gush from the higher ranges of elevated hills, or make 

 their way through the cavities of calcareous strata." (We 

 should not, for our fishing, give a preference to streams 

 that run through calcareous strata ; but n'importe.) 

 " How delightful, in the early spring, after the dull and 

 tedious winter, when the frosts disappear, and the sun- 

 shine warms the earth and waters, to wander forth by 

 some clear stream, to see the leaf bursting from the 

 purple bud, to scent the odours of the bank, perfumed 

 by the violet, and enamelled, as it were, with the prim- 

 rose and the daisy ; to wander upon the fresh turf, 

 below the shade of trees ; and, on the surface of the 

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