50 THE COMPLETE ANGLEB. [PART I. 



upon those high steeples and magnificent palaces which we 

 adore and wonder at ; from which height I can make her 

 descend by a word from my mouth (which she both knows 

 and obeys) to accept of meat from my hand, to own me for 

 her master, to go home with me, and be willing the next 

 day to afford me the like recreation. 



And more ; this element of air which I profess to trade 

 in, the worth of it is such, and it is of such necessity, that 

 no creature whatsoever not only those numerous creatures 

 that feed on the face of the earth, but those various creatures 

 that have their dwelling within the waters, every creature 

 that hath life in its nostrils, stands in need of my element. 

 The waters cannot preserve the fish without air, witness the 

 not breaking of ice in an extreme frost ; the reason is, for 

 that if the inspiring and expiring organ of any animal be 

 stopped, it suddenly yields to nature, and dies. Thus neces- 

 sary is air, to the existence, both of fish and beasts, nay, 

 even to man himself; that air, or breath of life, with which 

 Grod at first inspired mankind, he, if he wants it, dies pre- 

 sently, becomes a sad object to all that loved and beheld him, 

 and in an instant turns to putrefaction. 



Nay more, the very birds of the air, those that be not 

 hawks, are both so many and so useful and pleasant to man- 

 kind, that I must not let them pass without some observations : 

 they both feed and refresh him ; feed him with their choice 

 bodies, and refresh him with their heavenly voices : 1 I will 

 not undertake to mention the several kinds of fowl by which 

 this is done : and his curious palate pleased by day, and 

 which with their very excrements afford him a soft lodging 

 at night. These I will pass by, but not those little nimble 

 musicians of the air, that warble forth their carious ditties, 

 with which nature hath furnished them to the shame 

 of art. 



As first the lark, when she means to rejoice, to cheer 



1 To these particulars may be added, that the kings of Persia were wont 

 to hawk after butterflies with sparrows and stares, or starlings, trained for 

 the purpose. Burton "on Melancholy," 1651, p. 268, from the relations 

 of Sir Anthony Shirley. And we are also told, that M. de Luynes (after- 

 wards Prime Minister of France), in the nonage of Louis XIII., gained much 

 fame by making hawks catch little birds, and by making some of those 

 little birds again catch butterflies. Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, 

 p. 134. 



