90 THE SALMON. 



ton, in bits of paper or leaves of ledgers ; ye weary- 

 crawlers through the streets of mammon, who think the 

 world is bounded by the four walls of your ambition ; 

 ye who have been brought up to work, as though work 

 were the aim of life instead of the means of its improve- 

 ment ; ye who have laid up a few hxmdred for some pet 

 dissipation, a visit to Saratoga or Newport, or a fight 

 with the tiger — ^that man-eater — and ye who must watch 

 every day over your accumulated millions, lest a penny 

 slip into a cranny and be lost, go to the woods, where 

 you wiU be surrounded by the sombre trees, where the 

 rocks will be your companions and the wind whisper 

 and the stream prattle to you. There you will learn 

 how little it takes to render man comfortable and happy, 

 how but for his reckless passions and extravagant desires 

 all might be satisfied and plenty crown the human race. 

 There, where nature speaks to you in her beauty, in her 

 grandeur, and occasionally in her stupendous power; 

 where the wonders of the universe by day and night are 

 ever present, like old friends ; where there is naught but 

 the thin air between the Maker and his beings, you may 

 learn what will be more valuable some day than any 

 treasure of gold or silver. Breathe the pure air, shake 

 off every ill that flesh is heir to ; add to your life, if you 

 love it so well, a week for each day, and that a day of 

 never wearying enjoyment. Take rod and gun, aspire 

 to cast the line far and straight and light, feel the strug- 

 gle of patience, perseverance, skill, resolution, with brute 

 strength and cunning ; know the pleasurable anxiety of 

 the chase, the alternate hope and fear, and the final 

 glory of success. Learn the woodsman's art, the " gentle 



