ALONE with NATURE. 197 
bird or sight of flower is enjoyed by the devotee, and as he 
casts his eyes aloft and around, the earth appears a paradise, 
and anglers the only appreciative recipients of its blessings, 
Hence, from the variety of emotions which entrance the mind 
of the angler, men of genius and learning, especially those of 
ideal temperament, such as poets, painters, sculptors, philoso- 
phers, and worshipers of nature, become so penetrated with 
the beauties which surround its pursuit, that the cold, caleu- 
lating outer world deems them mad upon a trivial subject. 
But it was owing solely to the pleasures which angling con- 
fers that Thomson, Burns, Scott, Hogg, and a host of other 
acknowledged worthies, succeded by Prof. Wilson, Words- 
worth, King Leopold, Dr. Bethune, and Daniel Webster, ea- 
gerly exchanged the gray goose-quill and the fellowship of 
books for the gently-tapering trout-rod and the music of the 
rills and caseades, older than the rhythm of Homer, and as at- 
tractive as the propositions of Socrates. “Therefore it was 
that Paley left his meditative home, and Davy his tests and 
erucibles, Chantrey his moulds, models, and chisel-work—each 
and all to rejoice and renovate themselves,” and to fish up 
new ideas as with the gentle wand they cast their lines in 
pleasant places, playing trout in sparkling waters, and enjoy- 
ing a sportive recreation which ever fills the mind with pure 
and joyous emotions, tempered by serene philosophy. 
