CHAP. I.] THE FIRST DAT. 67 



together, and do most properly belong to the most honest, 

 ingenuous, quiet, and harmless art of angling. 



And first, I shall tell you what some have observed, and 

 I have found to be a real truth, that the very sitting by 

 the river's side, is not only the quietest and fittest place for 



contemplation, but will invite an angler to it : and this 

 seems to be maintained by the learned Peter du Moulin, 1 

 who in his discourse of the fulfilling of prophecies, observes, 

 that when God intended to reveal any future events or high 

 notions to his prophets, he then carried them either to the 

 deserts, or the sea-shore, that having so separated them, from 

 amidst the press of people and business, and the cares of 

 the world, he might settle their mind in a quiet repose, and 

 there make them fit for revelation. 



And this seems also to be intimated by the children ot 

 Israel, Ps. 137, who having in a sad condition banished all 

 mirth and music from their pensive hearts, and having hung 

 up their mute harps upon the willow-trees growing by the 

 rivers of Babylon, sat down upon those banks, bemoaning the 

 ruins of Sion, and contemplating their own sad condition. 



And an ingenious Spaniard 2 says, that " rivers and the 



1 Dr. Peter du Moulin, Prebendary of Canterbury, and chaplain to 

 Charles II. He was author of several pieces on the Romish controversy. H. 

 The volume here referred to is " The Accomplishment of the Prophecies," 

 translated by J. Heath. Oxford, 1613. ED. 



2 John Valdesso, who wrote in Spanish "The Hundred-and-Ten Con- 

 siderations of Signor Valdesso," which was translated into English by 

 Nicolas Farrar. Oxford 1638, small 4to. H. 



F 2 



