tures come to all the brethren of the angle, but they come in full measure to but few besides; because the true angler, "born so," as good Sir Izaak hath it, has within himself, more than those who have no sympathy with his craft, the elements which are necessary to bring him thus en rapport with Nature. And I say all this, not to elevate the art above what is becoming, but to show that the angler, in the quiet pursuit of his craft, finds other attractions, purer and higher and more ennobling, than the mere act of taking fish. Let not those who are so “of the earth earthy” as to be unable to find any other pleasure in this pastime than that derived from "striking" and "killing" their prey, write themselves down as the disciples of the quiet and gentle Father of the art. For they are "bastards and not sons," and merit a place rather among the pot-hunters of the guild than among its appreciative disciples.

But fondness for fishing is no proof of sanctification. The selfish man at home is selfish in his pleasures; and there is no pastime where one is oftener tempted to be selfish than in angling. Few, indeed, are those who would send a friend to a favorite pool before he himself had tried it. To do so is the very highest proof of magnanimity. I have known a few such in my experience- men who, if asked for their coat would give their cloak

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also; but they are so rare that I can count them on my fingers. There comes up before me, as I write, the grandest specimen of unselfishness, in this regard, who ever cast a fly or kindled a campfire. If he chanced to strike a "school," or discovered other signs of abundant sport, his cheery shout would always indicate to his companions his desire that they might share his good fortune. And this was but a type of his character. He was and still is a living illustration of the scripture assurance that it is more blessed to give than to receive." And I have just received a note from another friend of kindred spirit, who knew no way by which he could better emphasize his appreciation of a trifling favor than to say: "It will give me great pleasure to reciprocate your kindness; and should we ever again meet in the forest, and beside a pool where the speckled beauties await our deceptive lure, I will yield it, and grant to you its undisturbed possession." And he would keep his promise; for thirty years of angling has rendered him as unselfish in his amusements as he is genial in his social life.

CHAPTER III.

moo.

ANGLING AS A MEDICINE.

Yf a man lacke leche or medicyne he fhall make thre thynges his leche and medicyne: and he shall nede neuer no The fyrfte of theym is a mery thought. The feconde is labour not outrageo. The thyrde is dyete mefurable. Fyrste that yf a man wyll euer more be in mery thoughtes and have a glad spyryte, he muft efchewe all contraryous company, and all places of debate where he myghte haue any occafyons of malencoly. And yf he woll haue a labour not outrageo he muft thenne ordeyne him to his hertys ease and pleasaunce, wythout studye, penfyfneffe or traueyle, a mery occupacyon, which may rejoyce his herte: and in whyche his fpyrytes may haue a mery delyte. And yf he woll be dyetyd mefurably, he must efchewe all places of ryotte whyche is cause of furfette and fykneffe: and he muft drawe him to places of fwete ayre and hungry and ete nourishable meetes and dyffyable also. -[Treatife of Fyffhynge with an Angle, 1496.

CONCUR with those who speak of the pastime of angling as a medicine, not alone from my own experience, although that may count for something, but from the great number of strong men with whom I have been brought in intimate contact during my more than thirty years of out

door life, and who, from their youth up, have found nothing so invigorating as the pure air of the mountains; nothing so sooth

ing, after the toil and worry and fret of business, as the silence of the woods; nothing so pervading in its mellowing influence upon nerve and brain and spirit as the pleasant murmur of the flowing river; nothing so health-giving as the aroma of nature's grand forest laboratory; and nothing so exhilarating as the rise and swirl and rush of trout or salmon. Those whom I have thus known, with scarcely an exception, have preserved the vigor of lusty youth longer and more uniformly than their contemporaries who have sought other means of recuperation and other sources of enjoyment;-from which I infer either that few but those who are blest with robust constitutions ever acquire a passion for angling, or that the pastime itself creates the healthful vitality which insures a vigorous old age. But whether the pastime is merely preservative or is really curative in its medicinal effects, it is certainly beneficent, and deserves the high place it holds in the affections of its happy, healthy and enthusiastic votaries.

However angling may be classed by otherswhether as a fool's pastime or as a wise man's recreation-I have always found great pleasure in recognizing what its indulgence costs me as so much saved from my doctor's bill. And as my doctor, who passed his seventy-fifth year before "the grasshopper became a burden," was himself

a life-long disciple of the gentle art, he never chided me for my tastes nor coveted what was kept from him by their indulgence. And now, when this "beloved physician" is "wearing awa' to the land o' the leal" as gently and as peacefully as the summer's sun retires to its rosy couch, his eye receives new lustre as he recalls the pleasant hours of his early youth while angling in the lochs and burns of his native land and in the brooks and rivers of his adopted country.

And just here is where too many of our people make their great mistake. They seek recreation to regain health, not to preserve it. If half the time were given to keep strong that is consumed in the hopeless effort to get strong, there would be fewer invalids in the land — fewer men prematurely aged, and fewer women bent and broken in the midst of their years. "Prevention is better than cure," and no class of men are more fortunate than those whose love of angling frequently draws them from the wearisome cares of business and the suffocating atmosphere of absorbing trade, into the green fields and shaded forests, where brook and river and lake afford ample pastime and healthful recreation.

I think our people are improving in this regard. There are more who appreciate the curative properties of change and repose to-day than ever before; and the time is coming when the expenses of a