28 AN ANGLER'S SEASON 



from arm-chairs at the windows of the 

 Reform Club. I much prefer the method 

 of The Quarterly, which, when reviewing 

 a fellow's book, chuckles quietly, in a 

 genial Tory way, over the passages which 

 please, and makes no empirical protest 

 when you lead it out of its depth. 



At the same time, one has to take 

 note of another proposition. It is to the 

 effect that, even if the belief in a few 

 patterns as a sufficient basis for the 

 hope of the best possible sport has to 

 be abandoned, a limit is still desirable. 

 The pleasure of angling, it will be 

 said, lies less in catching trout than in 

 casting at them amid beautiful scenes ; 

 more than a few patterns lead to per- 

 plexity ; besides, as the stock must be 

 preserved, it is not well to take as many 

 trout as possible. 



This is not part of an imaginary con- 

 versation. It is what certain eminent 

 anglers sometimes say and always write. 

 It cannot be an affectation ; but it is 

 certainly strange doctrine. Does it not 



