Xll 



Preface. 



at noontide to the " dufky boikage of the wood," the 

 angler gathers in unconfcioufly, and ftores up in his 

 heart of hearts, and out of thefe, and fuch as thefe, are 

 his books made. Hence their many-fidednefs and 

 power of adaptation to various taftes, fo that, while 

 the hunting or hawking treatife is ufually but a mere 

 omnium gatherum of recipe and formula, the book of 

 nfhing acknowledges no fuch ring-fence, anddifcourfmg 

 of baits and tackle on one page, on the next it dimes 

 you up a favoury mefs of philofophy or fcience, poetry 

 or theology, as the cafe may be. 



For a high and pure code of fporting morals, for 

 inftance, revert to that ancienteft tome of all, 1 the 

 "Treatyfe of Fysfhynge wyth an Angle," in the brown 

 old * Book of St. Albans.' For poetry of great mark and 

 likelihood, unclafp that precious and rare volume (one 

 of the rareft, fays Beloe, in Englifh literature), the 

 " Secrets of Angling," by J. D[ennys], Lord of the 

 Manor of Owlbury-fur-montem. Or, if you are a 

 ftickler for recent rhymes, croon to yourfelf as you 

 wend ftreamward, while the lark winnows its way 

 through filvery mift, and 



" From leaf to leaf the foul o' the wind 

 Seems Aiding with the dew — " 



1 In a pifcatorial fenfe. 



