stances, do you know, about that fish you gave me. I had no idea that the trout was SO voracious, but that one had swallowed a barbel.' 666 for the "I am astonished to hear your lordship say so,' rejoined an eminent naturalist. Trout may be voracious enough to swallow minnows-but a barbel, my lord! There must be some mistake.' "Not at all,' replied his lordship, fact got to my family that the cook, in cutting open the throat, had found a barbel inside; and as my family knew I was fond of natural history, I was called into the kitchen. There I saw the trout had swallowed a barbel, full half-a-pound weight.' "Out of the question, my lord,' said the naturalist; 'it's altogether quite unscientific and unphilosophical.' "I don't know what may be philosophical in the matter, I only know I am telling you a matter of fact,' said his lordship. "And the dispute having lasted awhile, explanations were given, and the practical joke was heartily enjoyed." Mark Pattison was an angler. Speaking of his Oxford worries at the period of 1852-3, he tells us in his "Memoirs " that what was in the end more useful to him than any honours, and employments, were long fishing excursions which he was in the habit of making in the North of England and Scotland. "Since my boyish days," he says, “I had dropped out of fishing-forgotten its charms; and, during the fever of Tractarianism, had not felt the want of its gently soothing properties. Fortunately, a year or two back the fly-rod had accidentally come into my hands; it was now precisely the resource of which my wounded nature stood in need. I arranged the classes of private pupils for Lent and Michaelmas terms only, keeping the summer term free. About the middle of April, after long and anxious preparations of rods and tackle, with a well-selected box of books, and large store of tobacco, I set out for the North. My first stage was Hauxwell, from which I fished the Ure or Swale; then passed on to the Eden; then up the Border, fishing everywhere where I could get leave-all the way to the Bridge of Tummel in Perthshire. This humble inn, kept by simple and friendly people, became my home for many weeks at a time." In this way he made lengthened excursions, and it was not until he became sufficiently tired of idleness, or satiated with solitude, that he thought of returning home. Another keen angler was Matthew Arnold, and Sir John Millais, writing to the Fishing Gazette, says:-"He was my guest at Birnam Hall, on the Tay, in 1866, and was on the water from morning till there was no more light to fish. I was in the boat with him when he killed two fresh nun grilse (casting), and I never shall forget his delight and the pride with which he told me they were the largest fish which he had ever caught. The run of water which afforded him so much pleasure had no name, so I have since christened it Arnold's Stream."" Among further anglers may be mentioned Lord Westbury. As a young man, his love of the river induced him to rent a farmhouse at Marlow during the summer months in 1828. He would turn out at daybreak to examine his lines, or to snare the jack which the floods, of the previous winter, had left in the neighbouring ditches. When the long vacation brought its leisure he would spend whole days, on the river, with his little party of friends to see who would hook most perch or gudgeon.* The late Duke of Roxburgh was a famous angler. From the early age of eight, at which he killed his first salmon, he pursued his favourite recreation in all parts of the world where the salmon is known to be found. As a proof of his skill, as a fisherman, it may be stated that when eighteen years of age he had caught in the Tweed ten salmon, by wading, before breakfast, and, ere the "Life of Lord Westbury," T. A. Nash, i., 51. day was over, he had killed twenty-five grilse and salmon. In legislation on the salmon preservation system, the Duke of Roxburgh took a conspicuous and active part, having, at his own expense, brought into Parliament and passed a Bill for the abolition of staked nets, and killing unfair fish in enclosed water.* And then there was John Bright, who, as everyone knows, took a keen interest in fishing. After the labours of his political life, there was no pleasure he enjoyed so much as visiting the Tweed in his angler's attire. He was a thorough fisherman. In one of his letters he says:-"I was only four days on the Tweed. The river was too low for Mr.'s water, but we had two days on the water. Wednesday and Thursday, a fortnight ago, we fished by turns. got a fish, then Mr. 's I began, and when I took the rod, and when he got one, I fished again. Wednesday we got six fish. Mine were three-25lbs., 211bs., and 17lbs." But, whether in the House of Commons, or by the river-side, his ever-welcome, and respected, appearance will long be missed, and not easily replaced. *Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes, 1869, 171. CHAPTER IX. WALKING. Sir W. Hamilton-Sir Rowland Hill-Wordsworth Robert Stephenson Charles Dickens-Charles Lamb - John Dalton-Swift-Southey-Keats - Sir Walter ScottMacready-Samuel Rogers-Wm. Cowper-Charles J. Fox-Prof. Wilson-Wm. Hutton-Henry FawcettEdward Miall-Archbishop Whately-Henry Kirke White -Lord Hatherly-Lord Chief Justice Denman-ViceChancellor Shadwell Thomas Stothard Faraday Horatio Ross-John Metcalf. As one of the healthiest and most pleasant recreations, walking has from the earliest period been justly in repute. Hence it has not failed to find enthusiastic advocates among the great and learned of all countries, who, seeking this mode of repose in their leisure hours, have fully realized The elastic spring of an unwearied foot, |