4 A Plea for Angling. 



Those who, like the sportsman alluded to above, fail in 

 a successful take, are seldom at a loss for excuses ; and 

 though these may be in some cases very plausible, yet are 

 they too frequently foreign to the real cause of failure. 

 This, in nine cases out of ten, arises from what they are 

 unwilling to acknowledge, namely, their own inefficiency; 

 caused most undoubtedly by that want of method, obser- 

 vation, and practice, in the various points connected with 

 the art, which are so constantly and collectively de- 

 manded. 



But, however this may be, it is a very strong argument 

 in favour of the amusement, that the unsuccessful prac- 

 titioner is not always like the one just spoken of; for, 

 however often some may return home with empty creels, 

 yet their desire to try again does not flag, as is generally 

 the case in other sports, but seems to gain a stronger 

 hold upon them, and the next fine day many of these 

 votaries are again to be seen by the water side, vigorously 

 plying their task. 



First amongst its many recommendations is to be 

 ranked that peculiar and almost immediate relief which 

 Angling yields to the distressed or uneasy mind, by calm- 

 ing the perturbations which misfortune or other vexatious 

 circumstances may have excited. For here, in the words 

 of the poet, men 



" bend their way 



To streams, where, far from care and strife, 

 From smoky house and scolding wife, 

 They snare the finny race." 



Here, too, alone with Nature, men may hold communion 

 with her God. 



It is the natural bent of inclination which induces 

 any man to prefer a particular pursuit; and where so 

 many are competitors for the same prize, no wonder the 

 majority fail in the realization of their hopes. 



