50 
FISHES. 
artj may be said to characterize man in his 
highest or intellectual state; and he who fishes 
for Salmon and Trout with the fiy, employs, not 
only machinery to assist his physical powers, but 
applies sagacity to conquer difiiculties : the plea- 
sure derived from ingenious resources and devices, 
as well as from active pursuit, belongs to this 
amusement. Then,* as to its philosophical ten- 
dency, it is a pursuit of moral discipline, re- 
quiring patience, forbearance, and command of 
temper. As connected with natural science, it 
may be vaunted as demanding a knowledge of : 
the habits of a considerable tribe of created 
beings, — fishes and the animals they prey upon, — 
and an acquaintance with the signs and tokens of 
the weather and its changes, — and of the nature 1 
of waters and of the atmosphere. i 
As to its poetical relations, it carries us into 
the most wild and beautiful scenery of nature ; 
amongst the mountain-lakes, and the clear and 
lovely streams that gush from the higher ranges I 
of elevated hills. How delightful is the early i 
spring, after the dull and tedious time of winter, , 
W’hen the frosts disappear, and the sunshine 
warms the earth and waters, to wander forth by !i 
some clear stream, to see the leaf bursting from i 
the purple bud, to scent the odours of the bank ji 
perfumed by the violet, and, enamelled, as it 
were, with the primrose and the daisy. To 
wander upon the fresh turf below the shade of , 
trees, whose bright blossoms are filled with the I 
music of the bee, and on the surface of the waters |; 
to view the gaudy flies sparkling like animated M 
gems in the sunbeams, whilst the bright and i 
beautiful Trout is w^atching for them below; to | 
