70 SALMON - ANGLING. 



would have looked rather queer if an officious friend had 

 told him that all the sport was over when the forty-pound 

 fish he landed above Yair Bridge was first hooked. And 

 the great sculptor would have been equally astonished if 

 the struggles of a sixteen-pound Thames trout had been 

 treated with the like contempt ! Whatever may be the 

 reason, all true anglers know that the doubtful contest 

 with a monster-fish forms no inconsiderable part of the 

 enjoyment ; and his being laid upon the shelving bank 

 the crowning point of all. No doubt the philosophy or 

 the poetry of angling was one reason of its being the 

 pastime of so many great minds ; but when even contem- 

 plative Wotton had fairly landed a gorgeous fish, I will 

 venture to say that the triumph of success swallowed up 

 every other pleasure. 



But, without analysing their feelings, we know not how 

 much we owe to this recreation of departed genius. Might 

 not the safety-lamp have been lit amid the limpid waters 

 of the Tweed, and some of the most beautiful creations of 

 Chantrey's fancy been first conceived on the green banks 

 of Father Thames ? Great men, however, can sometimes 

 be great boys at the water-side. I have witnessed, with 

 some amusement, the late Sir Charles Bell's comical 

 vexation, when an unlooked-for rod bore down upon him. 

 His testy frown, when interfered with, was quite irresist- 

 ible proof enough of his eagerness in the sport. But 

 perhaps this unbending of the bow may have given it 

 double power when strung again. Sir Charles was only a 

 second-rate fisher, and it often seemed curious to me that 



