258 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 



the accidents of birth and fortune; men who are superior to 

 any of the dignities of public stations, and worthy to be 

 classed among the examples for anglers to follow. Of these, 

 the good old patriarch of fishermen, Izaak Walton, to whose 

 name the epithet of "honest" is universally attached, as 

 comprehending in it, numerous and varied virtues, will 

 most readily occur to you all; and with him will naturally 

 be associated in your minds, his friend and disciple, the 

 worthy Cotton, the imitator of his virtues, and associate of 

 his fame. To their characters the world has learned to do 

 justice; and to them it is chiefly indebted for the means of 

 justly appreciating the pursuits of the angler. Their names 

 and their fame are familiar and dear to us all. 



By the death of the celebrated Sir Humphrey Davy, not 

 • only have the cultivators of the sciences, but the lovers of 

 angling, lost a friend, whose good taste and highly culti- 

 vated mind induced him to give that preference to their 

 favourite sport, to which he is entitled, and led him to value 

 his own fame as an angler more highly than the celebrity 

 which he acquired from all other sources; and the last of 

 his works — those works which have not only immortalized 

 his own name, but added to the glory of the nation and the 

 age in which he lived — bears testimony to the pleasure 

 which he derived from, and the esteem in which he held, 

 this manly and honourable recreation. 



Of Sannazarious, Davors, Chalkhill, Markham, Wynkin 

 de Worde, and many other worthies, I regret that we have 

 so few memorials preserved that we cannot make our minds 

 familiar with their characters. Their respect for our art is, 

 however, a proof of their merit, an assurance that their cha- 

 racters were amiable — and presumptive evidence of the 

 soundness of their minds. But it is unnecessary to bring 

 forward any examples to the members of this club for the 

 purpose of showing them what are the virtues they ought 

 to cultivate. You all know that both your tempers should 

 be smooth and uniform — that, as your manners, so should 

 your rods be, graceful, and adapted to the occasion that calls 

 them out into use — that your hooks, like your wits, should be 

 sharp, and carefully guarded, that they may not hurt either 

 yourselves or you friends; that your fishing tackle in gen- 

 eral, as well as your%omestic afiairs, should always be kept 

 in good order, and receive all the attention which you are 

 required by your duty to pay. In short, that you should ex- 

 hibit to the community such examples of the social and civil 

 virtues as are befitting those who are worthy to be mem- 

 bers of this honourable club. 

 My brethren, 

 Although the chief object of our association is to spend in 

 healthful and rational recreation, those hours of relaxation 

 from the toils and labours of life, which the constitution of 

 our nature requires; yet our recreations are not those which 



abase or degrade the faculties of either mind or body, but 

 on the contrary, they are such as give to each that salutary 

 exercise which is essential to its preservation and improve- 

 ment. They are such as inspire a love of nature and of 

 nature's works — a keen susceptibility to her beauties, and a 

 lively enjoyment of her varied bounties. These are the 

 legitimate sources of human pleasures. They are the plea- 

 sures of the angler. For the enjoyment of such gratifica- 

 tions, he adjures the influence of sloth and idleness, as you 

 all have done on the present occasion, and goes forth as soon 

 as the "high lawns appear" "under the opening eyelid of 

 the morn," and long before " the star of day" flames "in 

 the forehead of the morning sky," enjoying the delights of 

 invigorated health and the anticipations of successful exer- 

 tions. The vigor of body, the elasticity of mind which he de- 

 rives from early exercise — the excitement of hope, the view 

 of the beauties of nature, which he has learned justly to ap- 

 preciate, and the sounds of the varied " melodies of morn," 

 all combine to excite feelings of the highest order of enjoy- 

 ment, feelings which tend to make him, on his return to 

 duties and his employments, a more amiable and more use- 

 ful man. For such pleasure and such sentiments as he cul- 

 tivates, are not those which excite the desire of concentrat- 

 ing in self, all the good things of life, and all the gratifica- 

 tions which are presented to his view, but on the contrary, 

 their tendency is to strengthen and cherish those kindly af- 

 fections and warm charities which constitute all the value 

 of social life, — without which, existence would be a burthen, 

 and reason a curse. 



The influence of our mode of recreation on the temper 

 and feelings, is healthful and benignant, softening their 

 asperities and correcting their deformities — exciting none 

 but benevolent wishes to our neighbours, and general phi- 

 lanthropy to mankind. Scandal, backbiting, all manner of 

 evil speaking, with all the diseases of querulous idleness, 

 are therefore incompatible with the characters of those who 

 are worthy of the honourable certificate of membership in 

 the Cincinnati Angling Club, and any appearance of a dis- 

 position to indulge these vices, should be considered as 

 indicative of a diseased state of body and mind, which 

 ought to call forth renewed exertions and unceasing vigi- 

 lance, for its entire eradication. 



It has been very correctly remarked, that men are civi- 

 lized by their amusements far more than by their serious 

 occupations, and these vices of which I have just spoken, 

 are among the strongest marks of defective civilization. 

 They will, therefore, doubtless, be excluded from this so- 

 ciety, and considered as decided proof of unworthiness of 

 its honours, and incapacity to partake in a suitable manner 

 of its enjoyments. 



The pleasures of the social board, of which we have now 



