PLEASURES OF ANGLING. 11 



the freshness and vigor of its own vitality ; in the 

 crackling of the newly kindled camp-fire ; in the 

 restored health, and in the thousand other indescri- 

 bable and delightful realities and recollections of 

 the angler's camp-life on lake or river during the 

 season when it is right to " go a-fishing." It is 

 these, and not alone or chiefly the mere act of 

 catching fish, which render tl e gentle art a source 

 of constant and ever-growing pleasure. But to at- 

 tain unto the full measure of delight which the 

 pastime affords, the angler must not be merely an 

 expert in the mechanism of the art. Unless he 

 can, withal, appreciate the beauties of nature, and 

 " look from nature up to nature's God," he has 

 neither the spirit of the old masters of the angle, 

 nor a just comprehension of its refining and ele- 

 vating possibilities. 



While plying his vocation in these quiet places, 

 with no noisy babblers to break in upon his medi- 

 tations, with every nerve thrilling with the intens- 

 est satisfaction, with the mind as free from rasp- 

 ing care as the pure atmosphere in which he is en- 

 veloped is from the miasma of the far-off lagoon, 

 and with heart and brain in harmonious accord and 

 sympathy with the peaceful serenity of the scene 

 and the occasion, is it strange that sometimes he 

 makes the old woods ring with his shouts in the very 

 abandon of delight ? It may not be that these rap- 



