THE ANGLER 



fish. What completeness of happiness 

 for him to be allowed to go fishing with 

 his father or grandfather or the acknow- 

 ledged great fisherman of the neighbor- 

 hood, a good-for-nothing ne'er-do-well, 

 but wise in all the ways of fish and their 

 taking and very careful of and kind to 

 little boys. 



The high-hole never cackled so mer- 

 rily, nor meadow lark sang sweeter, nor 

 grass sprang greener nor water shone 

 brighter than to the boy when he goes 

 a-fishing thus accompanied. To him is 

 welcome everything that comes from the 

 waters, be it trout, bass, perch, bullhead, 

 or sunfish, and he hath pride even in the 

 abominable but toothsome eel and the 

 uneatable bowfin. 



Well, remembering that we were once 

 boys and are yet anglers, though we sel- 

 dom go a-fishing, we wish, in the days 

 of the new springtide, to all the craft, 

 whether they be of high or low degree, 

 bent and cramped with the winter of 

 age or flushed with the spring of life, 

 pleasant and peaceful days of honest 

 sport by all watersides, and full creels 

 and strings and wythes. 

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