GENERAL REMARKS. 19 



such a thing might be. Insects are called into 

 being in a variety of mysterious ways, as all the 

 world knows ; for instance, the animalcula that 

 appear in the neighborhood of departed horses ; 

 and, as" Ned says, if death can create life, what is 

 the reason a smart man can't ? Good fishermen are 

 generally great lawyers ; ecce signa, Patrick Henry 

 and Daniel Webster. I have known this rule, how- 

 ever, to have exceptions. But the true sportsman 

 is always at least a man of genius and an honest 

 man. I have either read or heard some one say, 

 and I am sure it is the fact, that there never was an 

 instance of a sincere lover of a dog, gun, and rod 

 being sent to bridewell or penitentiary .... If I 

 were governor and knew a case, I would exert the 

 pardoning power without making any inquiry. I 

 should determine without waiting to hear a single 

 fact that the man was convicted by means of perjury. 

 There is a plain reason for all this. A genuine 

 sportsman must possess a combination of virtues 

 which will fill him so full that no room can be left 

 for sin to squeeze in. He must be an early riser 

 to be which is the beginning of all virtue ambitious, 

 temperate, prudent, patient of toil, fatigue, and dis- 

 appointment ; courageous, watchful, intent upon his 

 business ; always ready, confident, cool ; kind to his 

 dog, civil to the girls, and courteous to his brother 

 sportsmen." 



To constitute a sportsman, therefore, it is not suf- 

 ficient merely to be able to catch fish ; although a 

 very important element in the angler's composition, 



