hare? activity!

How doth it preserve health, and increase strength and

And for the dogs that we use, who can commend their excellency to that height which they deserve! How perfect is the hound at smelling, who never leaves or forsakes his first scent, but follows it through so many changes and varieties of other scents, even over and in the water, and into the earth! What music doth a pack of dogs then make to any man, whose heart and ears are so happy as to be set to the tune of such instruments! How will a right greyhound fix his eye on the. best buck in a herd, single him out, and follow him, and him only, through a whole herd of rascal game, and still know and then kill him! For my hounds, I know the language of them, and they know the language and meaning of one another as perfectly as we know the voices of those with whom we discourse daily.

I might enlarge myself in the commendation of hunting, and of the noble hound especially, as also of the docibleness of dogs in general; and I might make many observations of land creatures, that, for composition, order, figure, and constitution, approach nearest to the completeness and understanding of man; especially of those creatures, which Moses in the Law permitted to the Jews, which have cloven hoofs, and chew the cud; which I shall forbear to name, because I will not be so uncivil to Mr Piscator, as not to allow him a time for the commendation of Angling, which he calls an art; but doubtless it is an easy one; and Mr Auceps, I doubt we shall hear a watery discourse of it, but I hope it will not be a long one.

Auceps. And I hope so too, though I fear it will.

I

Piscator. Gentlemen, let not prejudice prepossess you. confess my discourse is like to prove suitable to my recreation, -calm and quiet. We seldom take the name of God into our mouths, but it either to praise him or pray to him: if others use it vainly in the midst of their recreations, so vainly as if they meant to conjure, I must tell you it is neither our fault' nor our custom; we protest against it. But, pray remember, I accuse nobody; for as I would not make a watery discourse, so I would not put too much vinegar into it; nor would I raise the reputation of my own art, by the diminution or ruin of another's.* And so much for the prologue to what I mean to say.

And now for the water, the element that I trade in: The

*This affords, I think, an irrefragable answer to Lord Byron's libel on our excellent author, where he says,

And angling too, that solitary vice,
Whatever Izaak Walton sings or says:

The quaint old cruel coxcomb, in his gullet

Should have a hook, and a small trout to pull it. ~J. R.

D

water is the eldest daughter of the creation, the element upon which the Spirit of God did first move, the element which God commanded to bring forth living creatures abundantly; and without which, those that inhabit the land, even all creatures that have breath in their nostrils, must suddenly return to putrefaction. Moses, the great lawgiver and chief philosopher, skilled in all the learning of the Egyptians, who was called the friend of God, and knew the mind of the Almighty, names this element the first in the creation;* this is the element upon which the Spirit of God did first move, and is the chief ingredient in the creation: many philosophers have made it to comprehend all the other elements, and most allow it the chiefest in the mixtion of all living creatures.

There be that profess to believe that all bodies are made of water, and may be reduced back again to water only; they endeavour to demonstrate it thus:

Take a willow, or any like speedy growing plant, newly rooted in a box or barrel full of earth, weigh them all together exactly when the tree begins to grow, and then weigh all together after the tree is increased from its first rooting, to weigh an hundred pound weight more than when it was first rooted and weighed; and you shall find this augment of the tree to be without the diminution of one drachm weight of the earth. Hence they infer this increase of wood to be from water of rain, or from dew, and not to be from any other element and they affirm, they can reduce this wood back again to water; and they affirm also, the same may be done in any animal or vegetable. And this I take to be a fair testimony of the excellency of my element of water.

The water is more productive than the earth. Nay, the earth hath no fruitfulness without showers or dews; for all the herbs, and flowers, and fruit, are produced and thrive by the water; and the very minerals are fed by streams that run under ground, † whose natural course carries them to the tops of many high mountains, as we see by several springs breaking forth on the tops of the highest hills; and this is also witnessed by the daily trial and testimony of several miners.

Nay, the increase of those creatures that are bred and fed in the water is not only more and more miraculous, but more advantageous to man, not only for the lengthening of his life, but for the preventing of sickness; for it is observed by the most learned physicians, that the casting off of Lent, and other fish days, which hath not only given the lie to so many learned,

*Pindar says, "Water is the best of all things." -J. R.

These are merely vague reports of inaccurate, or impossible experiments, at variance with all that is known in vegetable physiology or in chemistry.-J. R.

pious, wise founders of colleges, for which we should be ashamed, hath doubtless been the chief cause of those many putrid, shaking, intermitting agues, unto which this nation of ours is now more subject than those wiser countries that feed on herbs, salads, and plenty of fish ;* of which it is observed in story, that the greatest part of the world now do. And it may be fit to remember that Moses, Levit. xi. 9. Deut. xiv. 9. appointed fish to be the chief diet for the best commonwealth that ever yet

was.

And it is observable, not only that there are fish, as namely the whale, three times as big as the mighty elephant, that is so fierce in battle, but that the mightiest feasts have been of fish. The Romans, in the height of their glory, have made fish the mistress of all their entertainments; they have had music to usher in their sturgeons, lampreys, and mullets, which they would purchase at rates rather to be wondered at than believed. He that shall view the writings of Macrobius or Varro, may be confirmed and informed of this, and of the incredible value of their fish and fish-ponds.

But, gentlemen, I have almost lost myself, which I confess I may easily do in this philosophical discourse; I met with most of it very lately, and I hope happily, in a conference with a most learned physician, Dr Wharton, a dear friend, that loves both me and my art of angling. But, however, I will wade no deeper in these mysterious arguments, but pass to such observations as I can manage with more pleasure, and less fear of running into error. But I must not yet forsake the waters, by whose help we have so many known advantages.

And first, to pass by the miraculous cures of our known baths, how advantageous is the sea for our daily traffic, without which we could not now subsist! How does it not only furnish us with food and physic for the bodies, but with such observations for the mind as ingenious persons would not want!

How ignorant had we been of the beauty of Florence, of the monuments, urns, and rarities that yet remain in and near unto old and new Rome, so many as it is said will take up a year's time to view, and afford to each of them but a convenient consideration! And therefore it is not to be wondered at, that so learned and devout a father as Saint Jerome, after his wish to have seen Christ in the flesh, and to have heard Saint Paul preach, makes his third wish, to have seen Rome in her glory; and that glory is not yet all lost, for what pleasure is it to see the monuments of Livy, the choicest of the historians;

Nothing could be more opposed than this to the medical opinions which are at present held. Shell fish, indeed, is esteemed less stimulating than other animal food, for those affected with inflammatory disorders. -J. R.

of Tully, the best of orators;* and to see the bay trees that now grow out of the very tomb of Virgil! These, to any that love learning, must be pleasing. But what pleasure is it to a devout Christian to see there the humble house in which Saint Paul was content to dwell, and to view the many rich statues that are there made in honour of his memory! nay, to see the very place in which Saint Peter and he lie buried together! These are in and near to Rome. And how much more doth it please the pious curiosity of a Christian, to see that place on which the blessed Saviour of the world was pleased to humble himself, and take our nature upon him, and to converse with men to see Mount Sion, Jerusalem, and the very sepulchre of our Lord Jesus! How may it beget and heighten the zeal of a Christian, to see the devotions that are daily paid to him at that place! Gentlemen, lest I forget myself, I will stop here, and remember you, that but for my element of water, the inhabitants of this poor island must remain ignorant that such things ever were, or that any of them have yet a being. †

Gentlemen, I might both enlarge and lose myself in such like arguments; I might tell you that Almighty God is said to have spoken to a fish, but never to a beast; that he hath made a whale a ship, to carry and set his prophet Jonah safe on the appointed shore. Of these I might speak, but I must in manners break off, for I see Theobald's House. I cry you mercy for being so long, and thank you for your patience.

Auceps. Sir, my pardon is easily granted you: except against nothing that you have said; nevertheless, I must part with you at this park-wall, for which I am very sorry; but I assure you, Mr Piscator, I now part with you full of good thoughts, not only of yourself, but your recreation. And so, gentlemen, God keep you both.

Piscator. Well, now, Mr Venator, you shall neither want time, nor my attention to hear you enlarge your discourse concerning Hunting.

Venator. Not I, sir: I remember you said that Angling itself was of great antiquity, and a perfect art, and an art not easily attained to; and you have so won upon me in your former discourse, that I am very desirous to hear what you can say farther concerning those particulars.

Piscator. Sir, I did say so: and I doubt not but if you and I did converse together but a few hours, to leave you possessed with the same high and happy thoughts that now possess me of

* Walton's opinions on Livy and Cicero, are far different from those now commonly entertained, of the one being a tedious fabulist, and the other a mere builder of flowing sentences, without pith or point.-J. R. + Walton forgets that, independent of water, we might make an overland journey to Rome or Jerusalem. J. R.

it; not only of the antiquity of angling, but that it deserves commendations; and that it is an art, and an art worthy the knowledge and practice of a wise man.

Venator. Pray, sir, speak of them what you think fit, for we have yet five miles to the Thatched House; during which walk, I dare promise you my patience and diligent attention shall not be wanting. And if you shall make that to appear which you have undertaken, first, that it is an art, and an art worth the learning, I shall beg that I may attend you a day or two a-fishing, and that I may become your scholar, and be instructed in the art itself which you so much magnify.

Piscator. Oh, sir, doubt not but that angling is an art : is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly? a trout! that is more sharp sighted* than any hawk you have named, and more watchful and timorous than your high-mettled merlin is bold; † and yet, I doubt not to catch a brace or two to-morrow, for a friend's breakfast: doubt not therefore, sir, but that angling is an art, and an art worth your learning. The question is rather, whether you be capable of learning it? for angling is somewhat like poetry, -men are to be born so: I mean with inclinations to it, though both may be heightened by discourse and practice : but he that hopes to be a good angler, must not only bring an inquiring, searching, observing wit, but he must bring a large

* Fish may be sharp sighted enough within the sphere of their vision; but from the great projecting convexity of the eyeball in all of them, they must be very near sighted.-J. R

This is a mistake: it was Auceps, and not Venator, that named the hawks; and Auceps had before taken his leave of these his companions.

Markham, in his Country Contentments, has a whole chapter on the subject of the angler's apparel, and inward qualities; some of which are, "That he be a general scholar, and seen in all the liberal sciences; as a grammarian, to know how to write, or discourse, of his art in true and Åtting terms. He should," says he, have sweetness of speech, to entice others to delight in an exercise so much laudable. He should have strength of argument, to defend and maintain his profession against envy and slan. der." Thou seest, reader, how easily the author has despatched grammar, rhetoric, and logic, three of the liberal sciences; and his reasons are not a whit less convincing with respect to the other four.

A man would think, now, that with proper baits, good tackle in his pannier, and so much science in his head, our angler would stand a pretty good chance to catch fish! but, alas! those are little to the purpose, without the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity; and unless two at least of the cardinal virtues can be persuaded to go a-fishing, the angler may as well stay at home; for hear what Mr Markham says as to fortitude: "Then must he be strong and valiant; neither to be amazed with storms, nor affrighted with thunder; and if he is not temperate, but has a gnaw. ing stomach that will not endure much fasting, but must observe hours, it troubleth the mind and body, and loseth that delight which maketh the pastime only pleasing."

There is no doubt but Walton had this chapter of Markham in his eye; and as there is a humorous solemnity in thus attempting to dignify an art, which surely borrows as little of its perfections from learning as any that is practised, it was thought it might divert the reader to quote it.