In an entertaining essay on the pleasures 

 of anu^ling, the late " Harry Fernwood" gave 

 tlic following comments on the theory and 

 piactice: _ "And so these men, whose teaefe- 

 jngs 1 would emulate, wore awa\- their days 

 .Iranquilly into the nineties. They saw their 

 .^letlows pursuing intangible spectres — tlTfe„ 

 ^^iK&^rse of avarice, and the sham hapjjiness of 

 -, wealth, under which, in the heyday of man- 

 hood, they sank out of sight and retfoTIection. 

 Not that it is foil}- to get riches. The acquire- 

 ment of fortune is all very well if not taken 

 in exchange for health, which is at all odds the greatest 

 of riches, of comforts, and of blessings. * * * The 

 human system is like a bow, which, in order to preserve 

 the tension, must be relaxed occasionally, and which becomes a worthless 

 thing when its elasticitv is no longer apparent. 



" Why should Dame Juliana Berners write a work on angling? 

 Because she found a charm in it. Nor is she wanting in admirers of 

 her sex these five centuries past. On all my jaunts I meet the fairer 

 patrons of the craft. And proper it is for them — far better for their future 

 health than to become, like their fashionable sisters, listless, wan and 

 flounced for show, dozing away the genial warmth of a summer da}-, 

 invoking the ' tedious ' hours on speed, and then to vex with mirth the 

 drowsy ear of night, toying with fan and ammoniacal salts to coax the 

 senses back. 



"'To me more dear, congenial to my heart, 

 One native charm, than all the gloss of art.'" 



" When fatigued and worn by the cares of a sedentary profession I 

 have stolen away from the sultry town to some clear lake or stream, where 

 the dandelion flecked the new-made green, and the blossomed orchards were 

 fair to see. The sweet notes of the first birds of spring have cheered me 

 on the way, and my lure has gently rii:)pled the glassy pool ere yet the blue 

 smoke was curling from the cottage tops. I have known the struggle with 

 'the wiry genii of the stream, the sensations which thrilled my every nerve 

 w hen the hook was seized. The fears of losing the fish, and the hope of 

 safely landing him a prey to artful skill — the quietude of mind and rest of 

 body I have experienced in a day so spent, have altogether made me equal 

 to many an exigency of the daily 

 task. And that is why I am an' 

 .angler." 



