32 SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR'S LIFE. 



warm fellow-feeling, and placed him at his ease with 

 all with whom he came in contact. 



We have in the preceding pages attempted to in- 

 troduce the reader to a familiar conception of the 

 man as he appeared in his own walk of life, from an 

 impression that the naked publication of the work 

 on angling would have been meagre without some 

 light being thrown upon the character and occupa- 

 tions of its author. We might have enumerated 

 some of the subjects which he illustrated by his de- 

 scriptive pen ; many of them were fugitive sketches, 

 but in good hands, they would bear a reappear- 

 ance in a volume of selections. His poetical effu- 

 sions, always marked by merit, were more a proof 

 of his varied ability than of any strong natural bias 

 to the cultivation of the muse. In summing a notice 

 of his life, it may not be out of place to present a 

 specimen of his success in this department of literary 

 craft. The first piece was written in 1837, and 

 abounds in the home feeling which marked his 

 domestic history. The second breathes a spirit of 

 the tenderest conjugal love, and as a memorial of 

 their married life, is as creditable as it is delicately 

 expressed. John was in the fullest sense a domestic 

 man, a kind and indulgent father, and a faithful 

 husband. For the partner of his life he cherished 



