AT78WT 25, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



67 



" TAB RECREATIOKS OP A COUNTRY PARSON." 



Editor Fared and Stream : 



Though I'm u clergyman, of the orthodox stamp, T have 

 eo patience with ih t, class of pieiisis who repudiate all lac- 

 am e which is not distinctively r ligious. Siidilur hooks and 

 papers, no matter how refined and instructive they may be, 

 they have trained tbemse ves to regard with feelings of hor- 

 ror ; -wilfully ignorant of the fuel. that, much that V ey enjoy 

 of art and science, civiltz nion aid even leligion, they owe 

 Janrely to these very publications. They remind one of those 

 festidlous folk Who are afraid to pin* k moe hat there be en- 

 folded in it. the sting of a wa-p. Poi the most part, ihey are 

 one sid d, narrow-minded, warped specimens of humanity. 

 N<r am I in any sympathy with tha' oilier class of exireme- 

 ists who turn in i Isgust I mm everything religious and who 

 are wholly absorbed in secular reading, much of which may 

 be of questionable refinement. 



In this age, when of making books and papers there is no 

 end, iheteis need, as everybody knows >«f wise dbcri mi na- 

 tion in se'eclion. These n yriad pub'ic -ti ns are spread be- 

 fore i lie people, who have the liberty of choice; ami batseen 

 the two ex'rrmes referred io there is a middle, ground which 

 all may occupy, and which never fails to fulfill its promise of 

 measure and profit to the reader. 



Now, H , person's occupation goes far to determine the char- 

 acter of the reading which he makes a specialty. I', will be 

 in a line with his business. The artisan lakes natU' ally to 

 treatises on mechanics : the merchant to commerce ; the far- 

 mer to agriculture; the attorney to law; the clergyman to 

 tin oloay and the physician to medicine. But ihen it is not 

 Wi-e to keep the mind on a constant strain over these special 

 Bubjecls. AH have need of mental relaxation, and general 

 information, and this two fold neces ity is met by our dai y 

 papers and weekly and monthly magazines, which are large- 

 ly miscellaneous in their make up. They who do not avail 

 Ihem-elves of one, two "or more of these "access hie avenues 

 of current ue ' s and intelligence live behind the privileges of 

 their a -e. They are not abreast with the times ; and recent 

 happenings, when hey chance to be to d of them, sound to 

 their cas us much like fiction as old-time fables. 



If mental rest is the immediate need give ihe mind some- 

 thing as to ally different as po sible from that which it has 

 been steadily occupied with. My parish numbers one hun- 

 dred families. After a tour of pa torial vi-nation, or after I 

 have been engag d for several hows in study pertaining di- 

 rectly to my profes ion, 1 feel the need of test, mental r. crea- 

 tion ; and one of my favorite lesrtsis Ihe Fokkst and 

 Btkbam, which dunes new am) fre h every week to my sanc- 

 tum from the Times Building Of ihegrcut metropolis. Though 

 sitting at home, leading graphic, descriptions i f fore-t, lake 

 and river >cenery, and gl wing aecouns of adventures with 

 the rod and gun, ami of rifle and bow, ami bo t contests, yet 

 it does not rl quire a great, stretch of the imagin lion to trans- 

 pant one's se f rgbt in Urn midst of the wild woods and 

 gr-ssv lakes, and among the happy groups of pleasure-seekers 

 on the! md and on the sea. Thus, *e s a. -at homes are per- 

 mitted lo enter into Iheir sports, participate in their pleas- 

 ures and partake i f their joys. From their repose beneath 

 tie hemlocks our weary heads gain rest. From their exploits 

 our high-s'rm g nerves snatch sp lis of neede l relax tion, and 

 BO our lives, as wel as theirs, ate sweetened and prolonged. 



I a'so glean thoughts and suggestions here which help me 

 in my work. I » hip illustrations out of fly rods, shake I hem 

 out of yacht's canvas and shoot them outof gnn«. I find them 

 in the hem bow and flying arrow, and perceive them in the 

 leaping cataract and the music of the woods: 1 am remind d 

 of ihe happy hit which the sainted Dr. Bethune once made. 



A i eighboring minister said to him one day. ''Brother, how 

 has it happenedthat wh le I have lab red as diligently as % on 

 have, and preached h t'er sermons, and moieof them, my 

 parish has been scattered to the winds, and yours remains 

 stro'g and unbroken?" Pr. Bethune thn facetiously re- 

 plied, " 0, I'll tell you, hrother. When you eo fishing, you 

 first «et a great, rough pole for a handle, to which y u at- 

 tach a large cod lb e, and a gr at hook, and t*iee as much 

 bait as the fish can swdlow. Wilh these accouterments you 

 dash up to the br ok and throw in your hook w th, ' There, 

 lite, you dt<g*: Thus yon scare away all the fidi. When / 

 go fishing 1 get a little switching pole, a small line and ju-t 

 ench a hook aud bait as the fish cau swallow. Then f c ee^ 

 up to the brook, and gently s ip them in, and I twitch 'em 

 out, twitch 'em out, till my bosket is full." Hix. 



To all of which the Fokest and Stream says amen ; and 

 to this will be joined th- endorsement ot ihe "many clergy- 

 men who »re among our readers. " llix" will be recogniz d 

 as the name appended to many letters in our columns ; in 

 this way of contr billing hi* share of the good things to the 

 general fund he follows out ihe custom of his profession. 

 And just here let us teprint from the Independent this rhyme 

 of 



A FISHING PARSON. 



In a quiet village, far away, 

 The pulpit was vacant many a day. 

 Candidates came from far aud near, 

 Every Sabbath for nearly a year. 



Si 



3 to. 



,-d ; some preached with ease 

 But no one nas able them all to please. 

 At lenglh there came from a dUant place 

 A man of unusual power and grace. 

 His frame was strong and his eve was clear, 

 Aud all were pleased who came'to bear. 

 This is our man !" said the elders all, 

 Aud old and young united to call. 

 The call was accepted, and earlv in May 

 The new parson came wilh his household to stay ; 

 But after the toil of the setlling duwu 

 In his pleasant home in the little town, 

 The parson was ouedav seen to stroll 

 AoroBB the street «itb his banket and pole, 

 Aud take Ins way o'er field aud biake, 

 To a rip hug stream that entered the lake 



. "What does i'tnean?" 

 id all who him had seen. 

 parse,,, /" exclaimed the men, 

 u we so deceived have been?" 



:i : •■ 'Twas a shame and sin — 

 ; lo be eugag-ed in 

 Such worrf/lly sports !'' 'Twas late in the day 

 When Ihe parson look his homeward way, 

 With well-filled basket, and tetter still, 

 A glowing cheek and a healthful thrill, 

 Caused by the blood that flowi d through his veins 

 As torrenca how aftw summer rains. 

 Borne said, with boldness : "Thev nevermore 

 Could respect and. love him as before." 



Jnst below the town 

 Asked the gossips ai 



AJM 



" A fishing parson .' Who ever heard 

 Of a fishing man who preached the Word?" 

 Thus spake t lit- elders and deacons and all, 

 And before them at once the parsou they call. 



" A paiuful duty," the eldest said, 

 Devolves upon us," aud shook his head 

 In a serious way, " Never before, 

 For eight aud seventy years or more, 



" Have we as a church been called upon 

 To reprove our p stor for what he has done,' 



'.' You went a-li-hinrr the other .lav, 

 We think it unseemly in every way, 



" 'Twill injure the cause with the young and the gay, 

 Tin scandalous ! \\ hat have you to Bay ?" 

 A smile came over th ■ parson's fac, 

 As h, rus, to r. spond wilh b coming grace. 

 He « i ake of Peter and brethren three, 

 v no once went rishiug on Galilee. 



" These were the men that the Master chose 

 To carry HIh gospel to friends and foes." 

 Ho spake of IMhtmu and lie spake of Todd— 



" fishing parsons ! ' Ln.lt men of God. 



" Fishing parsons !" yet hotter men 

 To preach the Word aud wield the pen 

 The church has not known for many a day, 

 They loved to preach, they loved to 'pray ; 

 Not their Lord the less because as well 

 They loved the mountain slream and dell. 

 ■ " And as for myself, I cau boldly say 

 I preach the hetter, from day to day, 



" For tho strength I gam in my walks about, 

 While casting my fly lor the speckled trout. 



" And when in tho forest, alone, oppressed, 

 God speaks to me aud I am blest." 

 tin more was sft'd, but as time rolled on 

 The pews iu the church rilled, oue by one. 

 And as never hefore, from far and near, 

 The people Hocked to the church to hear 



" The fishing parson!" 1 for so he was known 

 By boys aud girls aud men full-grown. 

 And at length the meeting-hoii-e, which before 

 Had held thum all, wilh room for more, 

 Became so cro*. ded that ere the fall 

 An effort was set ou foot by all 

 To build a new house, with am leroom 

 For all the people who wished to come. 

 And though the years rolled sw ftly by 

 Tiie lire still gloned in the parson's eye ; 

 Aud he often said iu his pleasant way, 

 As he labored on from day today, 

 That his p wer to » ork, with a steady plod 

 Was due to his love of the creel and rod. 

 The parson lived long, and r< joiced to think 

 Of the t.ouls that • ere saved from Kuiu'a Prink. 

 True fisher of men ! he had tried to be— 

 As taiUiiul as those of Galilee. 

 •T as at eighty and three, and preaching still, 

 Aud serving his Master with heart aud Bill, 

 That the ..elcomo smninou.-i at last was sent 

 To call him i.omo from banishment. 

 And t is tl ey cut ou his tombstone deep, 

 Wuen ha at lasl r ad '• lalleu to sleep : ' 

 " Here li- th Ihe fishing parson! ' »nd t 1 en, 

 " Bis master made him a fisher of men " 



JaiiesH. Hoadlev. 



"THE FORESTER SC HOOL OF BATHOS." 



The following editorial is by request reprinted from our 

 is-ueof Dec, 18, 1879: 



" We have already spoken of the fa-hion set by Forester, 

 and folio .>ed by his disciples, of making the potations of the 

 sports nan a prominent feaune of ti-Kl stories ; and we have 

 sometimes thought that the author has had a ven- apimxia- 

 nle influence upon the literary sty.e of amateur wriiers upon 

 sporting topics. There •& a class of young rhapsodisis who 

 profess lo find in F tester beauty of sm timeut aud stvle ex- 

 hib ted by no other English author: and who, cou i queutly, 

 model their own effusi ns a'ter his style. Now, without de- 

 li acting in the least from Forester's deserved great fame, we 

 may suggest ihat in common with iu-cy writers of bis time, 

 he is somewhat out of fashion so far as mode of express on 

 is concerned, ihe adjeciive does not play so important a 

 part-now as it did then. We have n wadays le-s of vague, 

 expansive soaring, and more o' common sense, straighi for- 

 ward, plain Eigi sh prose. One reason of this i, that, one 

 hundred authors are now writing where ten were writing 

 then. To find an audience ih ■. one hundred must be much 

 mure terse and explicit lhan it was nee ssary for ihe ten to 

 be. Washington living's Sketch liodt is not read as much 

 as fornnrlv; not alone because it is crowded out by the 

 ib. .us nd and one new b oks of like rliaraeUr, but because 

 its style is too rambling and diffuse for the d .y. The in en 

 sity and compactness which mark the American's c aracter 

 in other fields, h s its influence also in lite ature. In the 

 literary world it is true this new ord r of I hours im y be a 

 mistake, but at all events the tendency becomes "well defined 

 to any one who will lake the pains to compare the old aud 

 the new books in h s library. 



" We have, in .the writings of some of the sel'-constituted 

 sporting liteniur Oracl s of the day. a survival of me crudi- 

 ties and faults of the American literature i f Ihe past. This 

 is not difficult to explain. It is always easier to imitate 

 faults than ex-ell neies; lo catcli the hollow form of a 

 writer's style wiihout at. all entering into the spirit of his 

 writings. And again, ihe influence, of a writer who is the 

 ouly author, or one of a very lew am has, read by ihe ama- 

 teur wielder ol ihe pen, is -o unuiUlak file that lie falls un- 

 Cousci usly into the same sel pbr ses and turns of exp e'- 

 siou When a y ung man -ays of Frank F reat-r*S writings, 

 that "Ail bear the indelible im ress f a master mind, and 

 hive Uie qualities of imperishable works," and lhat "the 

 bright thoughts oi his surpassing genius, as embalmed in his 

 -writiigs, will ever re i am a grind and indstruciible monu- 

 ment to his memory, more durable than bronze or granite me- 

 morial, as these shall remain fresh and beau iful when the 

 more perishable male ial would hive crumbled or been con- 

 sumed hy iust ;" and, still farther, ihat " <be spirit i f Her. 

 belt is still with us," and that " we feel its presenc ■ ; wc are 

 cheered ly Ihe insp red te idling*, and under the cnn<oation 

 thus afford d, are hetter able to bear the loss i f his mat rial 

 form aud aweinspiri g pr. senc- ;" ami when we read such 

 stuff as ths, writ en by u person of th- masculine gender, 

 and published in Ihe Year of Grace, One thousand, eight 

 hundred and seventy-nine, we may safely conclude thai some- 

 thing mure lhan the literary taste of the writer is affected by 



Ihe devo ion to " the lamented twister of the craf 1 j" a devo- 

 tion so intense, indeed, ihat we aic tl rea ened wilh its out- 

 growth at a future dte, in the shape of a " work," illustra- 

 tive of the literary achievements of the spirit aforesaid. 



" it is a relief to turn from this balloon style of adj ctive 

 flving to the numberless common sense and valuable papers 

 which are written by sportsmen, f> r sp rt men, and pub- 

 lished in the sportsmen's j mmals of th • day The Forester 

 school is only a little orbit wil bin itself, growing gradually 

 smaller from year t.> year. The majority of those who em- 

 ploy Iheir pens in •writing to Fohk.-t ami StkbAm, even 

 though ihey arc non-prof ssioual writers, put, their ideas iuto 

 p'aiu, intelligible prose. Were tl is not the I a-e we sh uld 

 long since have been forced lo suspend publicnion ; for, how- 

 ever much the Funster school may enjoy comp sing iheir 

 effusions, it is cer ain that people will not pay four dollars 

 per year for the privilege of reading them. 



"While the writh gs of Forester hold a deservedly high 

 place in the library of the sp nsman, and re likely to itiain- 

 i ain Ihat place for a long time lo come, we are gratified to 

 see the influence of their style g'adually decreasing among 

 writeis. 



"tjome have been found to argue that composition is a di- 

 rect means of culture; that if a person has appeared in print 

 — even though it be only sandwiched in among the adverlis- 

 int columns of a tail r's monthly — it is a slep in intellectual 

 growth. The mere puhlicatiou of the article does not, in it- 

 self, argue such an ad vane , but its subject, ml Iter may. Pos- 

 sibly, too, even in the latter case, it would have been better 

 worth the 1 terary aspirant's lime and trouble to have ab- 

 sorbed Ihe writings of some standard 'huiker, than to have 

 palm, d off his own crudities upon ilv.< world. 



"The be-t writing is that of him who has something to 

 say. The plain satement of an observation in natural his- 

 tory, projec. iles, or mechanics, a prac ical descriplio i of a 

 shoeing or fishing trip, and kindred communications, are 

 more acceptab e to the spotsman lhan all the inflations of 

 aping imitators of blank verse. Posing on the pinnacle of a 

 church s'eeple may make the populace open wide its mouth 

 in w..n.ler, but it is, on the wh ile, neither a useful nor a lu- 

 crative performance." 



It may be added that the sixteen goodly volumes nf the 

 FoiiHsr and t-TUKAM, with Ih cur ent numbers of its Seven- 

 teenth Volume, afford a b ight and shining example of what 

 is wanted by the American sporsm in of tu-day. 



Natural W^ ior U 



An Exhaustive Ri-vibw of Gunther's " Introduction to 

 the Study of Fi hes" and "Ichthyology," trom the pen of 

 Prof. Theodore Gill, is now in type and will be published in 



our next i sue. 



■» — . 



THE MUCKING BIRD'S SONG. 



Spuingvtli.'e, N Y., Aug. 23. 



I NOTICE in the last issue of the Fo'kEST anh Stream an 

 article from "Robert West in the Advance" on the 

 mock ins; bird, in which he clai i s that this peerless singT is 

 n isn med. that he is not a mocking hi d at all. but merely 

 a wouderlul bird, who sings an original song, but which 

 somehow singularly happens to be composed of Ihe ideniical 

 notes of ober songsters or a< iuials. and attempts to prove his 

 asserti n by the fact that, a young bird raised apart from o It- 

 er birds acquired, or originated, according to Mr West, the 

 same notes as birds grown under the tuteage of old singers. 



It proves nothing of the kind. It seems strange thitany 

 one should assume such a posi ion. Did ' Bob White" and 

 the innumerable company of other b'ros ger their no es • f 

 the mocking brd ? Will a blue bird r*r robin, raised in con- 

 finement, fail to pipe the noe of bis parents? It is heredi- 

 tary as much as his shape. »rd so to a great degrre is the in- 

 comparable potpouri of the m ckimr bird, yet nol altogether. 

 Centuries of practice bav • bred in this bird his wonderful 

 pow- rs as surely as his individual plumage, aud raised iu con- 

 finement he will na orally reproduce s me, if not all, the se- 

 lections of his ancestors. N.venheless, he is a mocker as 

 much as wine is. To say be is not is to assume that he orig- 

 inated tie not- s of other birds. Birds of different species do 

 not have the same song. He either <v igin led these songs or 

 he belongs to several dozens of .afferent species, or he is a 

 mocker. 



And Mr. West says " a first-cla=s singer invariably excels 

 th t which he is popularly supposed to be initialing, and 

 oilier birds lecognize ard acquies e in this without any ex- 

 ception." Can perfection be excelled ? Wr en a mocking 

 bird reproduces ihe note of a mar in or kingfisher lo a 

 ••guat'- heel " how i, he going to excel it ? He may play a 

 few variations on it, by supplementing or prefacing it to 

 some other imitations, hut on imitation pure and simple he 

 can't . xcel, in the sense Air West uses the word. 



As to the statement that other birds recogn ze and acqui- 

 esce in the mocking bird's sviperiorily, it is or e of the pretty 

 things t' at can't be proven. 1 don't deny thai Ihev wed 

 might do so, but that ihey do so " without.' am "xoeptiou" 

 iss8umingap sition which no circumstances warrant. 



My home is in Fl rida; T have heard quite a number of 

 mocking hirils and, being a lover of mu-ic. I have paid 'on- 

 sideraole alien ion to the wonderful powers nf ibis star sing- 

 er. The comb of my r rrif is the st-ge wi ereon a couple or 

 uio-e exhibit iheir acquirements to ihe public daily. The 

 orange trees are alive with Ihem, and many have i he same 

 succession of notes, 1 quid drops nf sweetest, wonderul 

 niel dy wnich ihey trail after them as they flic trom tree to 

 Iree. He runs over with song. Even « he.', sitting he c n't 

 kep quiet, but spreads and folds hs wings ecs ate ally, 

 while th it unsu passed song pou-s from his throb iug throat, 

 lie perches • n the chimney top and begius his ovetiure with 

 the loveliest little pianiss nio roulade, and when once the 

 d or is opened he must s ng or die. He warbles, he trills, 

 h' shades, he whistles, he gives you note of q mil, yellow- 

 hammer, night-hawk, whipporw 11 and a y number o "oth' rs, 

 while interwoven inextricably are his nwn inimitabl corn- 

 men la on t' cse. At interva's during this entert inment he 

 lifts himself by an impassioned wing beat, O' two into the air, 

 a sort of explosive of his sentiments, and settles ringing 

 a ain on his petch to continue with crescendo and diinio- 

 neudo, letra-o and staccato, repe.t ami da capo. Ihe im- 

 prisoned melody presses up n him, and when the surging, 

 quivering notes escape him tney soar abronl through all the 

 delighted air in won'rous harmony, at e-ting the love and 

 omnipotence of the (.'reamr. In the stillest hush of night, 

 wLen the stars li ok forth from ihe lake, when n > sound but 

 the hoot of the owl in the distant swamp mars the quiet, the 



