8 



living thing that moveth upon the earth ; " and a 

 very large proportion of the human race, either from 

 motives of necessity or recreation, exercise the 

 powers thus given them either in killing or sub- 

 jugating the lower branches of the animal creation. 



Without wishing to detract from other sports, I 

 think Walton was quite right in claiming for angling 

 a decided preference. In the present day it is 

 followed by men of all classes, from the nobleman 

 who owns miles of salmon river to the East-end 

 mechanic or apprentice, who trudges off to the Lea 

 river on a Sunday morning with his eighteenpenny 

 roach-rod, and many of whom, but for this angling 

 opportunity, would have no relaxation from the dull, 

 mill-horse round of their daily lives, save some kind, 

 perhaps, far more demoralising; but who, by its 

 judicious indulgence, by breathing the pure air of 

 the country, and by being brought into contact with 

 beautiful river scenery and animal and vegetable life, 

 re-invigorate their bodies, exalt their minds, and 

 beget a state of quiet contentment, patience, and 

 perseverance exceedingly useful in these days of 

 high-pressure wear-and-tear. Sir Henry Wotton 

 says of angling, he found it " a cheerer of the spirits, 

 a tranquillizer of the mind, a calmer of unquiet 

 thoughts, a diverter of sadness." Ladies, too, ever 

 since the time of Cleopatra, have liked to " betray 

 tawny-finn'd fishes," and Dame Juliana Berners has 

 shown by her " Boke of St. Albans " that she had a 

 minute and practical knowledge of " fyshynge with 

 an angle " far beyond the previous writers on the 

 art ; and with the present rage for out-of-door amuse- 

 ments among the fair sex, fishing has its votaries, 



