144 Fisuinc iv AMERICAN WATERS. 
swete ayre of the swete sauvoure of the meede flowres, that 
makyth him hungry; he hereth the melodyous armony of 
fowles; he seeth the young swannes, heerons, ducks, cotes, 
and many other fowles with theyr brodes; whyche me sem- 
yth better than all the noyse of houndys, the blastes of 
hornys, and the serye of fowlis, that hunters, frunkeners, and 
fowlers do make. And,” says the good old lady, “if the an- 
gler take fysshe, surely their is no man merier than he is in 
his spyryte.” ' 
Angling, in modern times, is the most refined of all field- 
sports. Ifthe angler take a fish, he knows that it is only one 
of a spawn of from a thousand to many hundred thousands, 
and that all shoals which can, prey on one another. Not only 
so, but the old prey on their own offspring; and from the 
time when the mother fish appears in the spawning-pools, 
there are several milt fish waiting to gorge themselves with 
the ova; and so, during all stages of fishhood, the larger eat 
the lesser ones, and—as cold-blooded animals—they can not 
be susceptible to an acute sense of pain. These truths can 
not be said in favor of killing a land animal, whose annual 
procreative increase never amounts to a tithe of any individ- 
ual of the oviparous fishes. 
The innocence of angling is therefore a feature which has 
commended it to the good of all ages. “ When bank and 
meadow lie starred and enameled with flowers; when the 
trill of the song-bird issues from every thorn; when all sounds 
and all prospects are joyous and exhilarating, and the cloud 
itself, sleeping high in the arch of heaven, is as the honored 
presence of some benevolent watcher ;” with the soul toned 
by the sights, sounds, and exercise into a state of harmony 
with all nature, then the angler realizes that the precious gift 
he enjoys is 
“One of the spirits unwithdrawn, 
That, erst the fall, were charged to minister 
To the earth’s gladness, and continually, 
Out of their ample and unfailing horns, 
To pre-endow the advancing tracks of men.” 
